Sweet Dream

No words... just photos:

Okay... a few words. Here is Walker enjoying a MUCH needed bath tonight. He's been busy in his new sand box which means lots of sand in funny places.

Neurology

Charlie had his first appointment with his Neurologist today. The Doctor was great. He spent a while with us - asking good questions about Charlie, listening and looking over Charlie's short but complicated medical history. He was very personable and very thorough. After a physical exam, he said that as far as he can tell, Charlie seems unaffected by the stroke. Charlie shows complete symmetry of movement. He mentioned that while physical and mental symptoms of the stroke may still arise, his current status is good. He recommended that we NOT begin work with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) because there is no current need. He said that as long as we keep engaging Charlie physically and emotionally (ie. massage and touch therapy, face time, singing, playing, audio and visual stimulation, etc.) we can help him to maintain and grow his range of motion ourselves without taking him to occupational therapy clinics. This of course could change if a left side weakness presents itself.

The Neurologist asked that we have a follow-up MRI in two months. He will then compare the picture of Charlie's 3 month-old brain with the MRI that was taken in the NICU showing the original bleed. If the MRI looks good and if Charlie remains seizure free between now and then, he'll consider weaning Charlie off of the Phenobarbital. As a side note - I have to say that the daily dosing of drugs is the most heinous thing about our day. I hate it. Charlie hates it. Don't misunderstand me - I am grateful that it keeps him out of woods for seizure activity, but Phenobarbital is a nasty barbiturate. After taking it, Charlie gets pretty loopy droopy- he can't maintain eye contact, his gaze darts quickly around the room, his breathing becomes a little labored, he chokes, he twitches, he gets dry mouth and dry eyes. So the sooner he can get off this drug, the better for us all. But all in all... it was a good appointment and we are thrilled to hear yet another doctor say that Charlie looks good and unaffected by his brain hemorrhage. Music to our ears!

...and now the gratuitous photo section:




...and here are some crude but cute cell phone
photos of the boys tonight before bed.

We've made the switch!

Cloth diapering rocks! Thank you Lisa for making all these beautiful diapers for Charlie. Because of you, we're going to save a bunch of money and we'll also stop filling our garbage can with poo. Seriously - cloth diapering is awesome.

Comings and Goings

Last night, we had a wonderful visit from the Smith Family, who showed up with dinner! Yay for good friends that come bearing food! Mackey is so big now, prancing all over the place and reciting verses from Beatrix Potter books. Anne and Ashely got to spend some time getting to know the newest Greenman and Mom, Dad and Happy spent some hands-free time having a glass of wine.

Here are this morning's photos of Walker with Charlie.

And a video of Walker singing to Charlie:

Grandma Happy had to go home today. All four Greenmans hopped in the car to make the journey to the airport. Mama, thank you for all you do and continue to do for our family. There will never be any adequate way to thank you. (Except that when you're old and gray and tired of Oregon, you can come live with us. And I'll make you all the gin and tonics you want.) Here are the boys in their car seats on the way home.

We took a detour home and stopped at NorthPark Mall for lunch. But first we had to check out the awesome water fountains.

...and the cool sculptures.

...and we had to have some ice cream too. You understand, I'm sure.

Also, this fabulous quilt showed up in the mail yesterday!
Thank you so much Aunt Jean! Its wonderful!

Charlie likes it!

Cupcakes and Cardiology

Mom and I took Walker and Charlie to our local spray ground yesterday. We needed to get out of the house and the weather was, once again, beautiful! We were met by the Friedli family who were celebrating their son, Owyn's, first birthday! We were also joined by our friend Takisha and her two beautiful kiddos, James Charles and Audrey.

Charlie wasn't interested in cupcakes.

Charlie is wearing a tee shirt that Grandma Happy made for him!

Charlie Update:
We met with the Cardiologist yesterday afternoon, where Charlie had a Doppler Echo and an Echo cardiogram and an EKG and some other stuff... at the end of which the doctor said that overall, he looks good. He has a bunch of little things like a Hypoplastic aortic isthmus (narrowing of the aorta), an enlarged PFO (funky little hole in the atrial septum) and something called an Innocent Pulmonary Brand Murmur. All of these things were noted at his first cardiogram in the NICU and seem to be righting themselves without any intervention. The Doc says these things will most likely continue to heal and lessen until the heart looks "normal" again. We'll do another check up in four months. So, good news all around. Next up, the Neurologist on Monday morning.

...and here is our gratuitous photo section:

Trying New Things

Here are some shots of Grandma Happy and Walker enjoying the cooler (86 degrees!) weather with some back yard fun. Walker tries drinking the water from the hose. "Pretty good", he says. We're also trying to get this kid potty trained. So, we broke out the Thomas Tank Engine underwear! Wish us luck. My goal is to get Walker out of diapers by Halloween!

Charlie Bear's First Bath!

Charlie's cord has FINALLY come off. Jeesh those things are nasty. So in honor of this momentous occasion and due to the fact that Charlie keeps up a steady stream of "Number 2", I gave him his first bath. I'm not so sure he liked it.

However, he certainly liked being all cleaned up, in fresh pajamas and nursing with Mama after the bath.

Here's Charlie's bed, tucked away in the corner of our bedroom. This bassinet is over 100 years old and was given to us by my Aunt Sue and Uncle Terry. Isn't it gorgeous? It's huge, too, so he'll be in it for a few months, at least, before we have to move him to his crib.

Charlie loves to be in Walker's arms. Walker loves it too!

Charlie spends some time with Grandma Happy while Walker and Mama make some art. I tried to explain to Walker that babies don't want to be painted... only paper wants to be painted.

Grandma Happy spent some time in Arizona before coming to Dallas. She found this beautiful bear fetish for Charlie. So Happy has given Charlie a new name: Charlie Fighting Bear. Perfect for our little wonder boy, Charlie Baird.

And now... the gratuitous photo section: