New Monitor Invention

Charlie and I went on another mommy walk today with some ladies we met at Sacred Heart. The purpose of my post is not to talk about my walk though. It's to sing the praises of this new mommy I met that had a preemie and dealt with the whole monitor situation as well. She gave me a tip that I think is going to make me more productive around the house and even allow me to work on the computer more (Yea! More cool posts about stuffed animals!).

She told me to put the baby in the front pack and put his monitor in a backpack. Genius! No dragging the monitor around with me, now I just get up and go!

This is me getting up and going...

First Photographed Smile

Charlie has been super smiley for the past weeks but we've never got one on camera. I just assembled his new stroller and he was super happy about it. The new stroller folds up really small so it fits in my trunk much better than our other two. So now going to the park and the mall will be so much easier (really just the mall). He hasn't seen it yet, but I know Matt's thrilled that the mall will be easier for Charlie and I to visit now. I think we'll head over to Northtown to try it out right now...

Mommy Walk

Charlie and I just got back from a 3 mile walk on the Centennial Trail. It's gorgeous over here today, I think it was around 80 during our walk. We started at Riverfront Park and took the trail along the river, through the Gonzaga campus, and to a nice little park. We walked with 4 other mommies and babies, Charlie slept the whole time but I enjoyed chatting with the other mommies.

Apnea Yet Again

Great-Grandma Nancy came over today to baby-sit the boys (Matt worked from home today). From what I gather she spent equal time taking care of Matt as she did Charlie (i.e. she made BLT's for lunch and pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner, none of which was for Charlie).

Anyways, while she was holding Charlie he stopped breathing again. His monitor went off and he snapped out of it quickly.

We should hear from the doctor on Monday or Tuesday as to whether or not we'll have to have the monitor for another month. I don't think there's any way we're getting rid of it now though, which is just fine with Matt and I.

Why is she doing this to me?

My mom's going back to work tomorrow, thank goodness. Hopefully Great-Grandma Nancy won't torment me like this.

Monitor

Charlie just set off his apnea monitor twice in a row again. Same scenario, we were holding him while he was sleeping and he just checked out. I might actually be ready to change my position on the monitor, I think I'm going to ask the doctor if we can keep it until he starts kindergarten.

Sleeping Through the Night

He doesn't. This is the most common question I get after people ask his weight so I thought I'd put it out there. We're currently at about 3 hours. Some nights I get lucky and he goes 4, however those nights are followed by nights where he only goes for 2 so the average is still 3.

Some nights (actually all) we slip him some formula, which takes him longer to digest, so that he'll sleep longer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

He just passed out so I better get to bed since I'll likely be up in 2-4 hours...

Monitor

So the latest monitor update isn't a good one. We spent the weekend at the lake with the McPhersons and Matt's family. While Matt and I were out enjoying our Reese's S'mores Charlie was inside with Grandma. He was sleeping against her chest and he stopped breathing. By the time she realized why the monitor was beeping he had self-corrected and started breathing again. I ran in to see what was going on and was, of course, devastated to hear he had set it off again.

I went back to the fire to tell Matt what happened and as I finished telling him I heard it go off again. So Charlie set it off twice in about 10 minutes.

He hasn't set it off since the first week of June, however we will likely have it for another month due to his 2 episodes this weekend. Sucky.

I take it in on Friday to have the memory downloaded and sent to the doctor. We're hoping he'll let us explain that Charlie came out of his little episodes on his own and would likely be fine without the monitor. We'll see though.

The photo above has nothing to do with the post, just wanted to include a photo for those of you who prefer to look at pictures rather than read...

Charlie's gaining on newborn Uncle Pete!

Charlie got weighed today and he's 10 pounds 9 ounces. Uncle Pete was 10 pounds 10 ounces at birth so Charlie's catching up!

Risky Business Charlie.

Regular 10 pounds 9 ounces Charlie.

Weekend at the Lake

Below are a few photos of our weekend at the lake...

Grandpa Ken and Grandma Cheryl holding Charlie shirtless.

Great-Grandma Nancy

Great-Grandpa Ralph doing a swan dive.

Tristin, Charlie and Alanna going for a walk.
Matt and me.

First Kiss

Well. Charlie received his first kiss last weekend. The lovely, older lady was none other than his dad's cousin's daughter Alanna.

As you can tell she totally initiated the kiss. Little Charlie didn't see it coming.

Weight Update

Charlie and I just got back from our Mommy and Me group where we get to weigh in. Charlie's up to 9 pounds 14 ounces. Not too bad for someone who's technically only 7 weeks old.

Western WA Tour

Little Charlie and I just got back from our tour of Western Washington. I've got photos from most of our stops. Friday all 3 of us headed to Ellensburg to stay with Aunt Katie and Uncle Cage for a night. Sorry no photos, you'll have to take my word for it.

Saturday morning we took off early and headed to the ferry. Not only was this Charlie's first ferry ride but it was his first ferry ride with Krusty. I think its necessary at this point to say that Krusty and Maleah were on time to our meeting place...they are in no way responsible for us missing the ferry by 1 car. We prefer to blame McDonalds strict policy of not surving burgers until 11 on Saturdays. And by blame McDonalds I actually mean blame Matt for standing in McDonalds from 10:30 to 11:00 waiting for someone to make him a hamburer instead of an Egg McMuffin.

Moving on. So while on Orcas Matt, Krusty, Maleah and I ate oysters, drank, hiked (and by hiked I mean walked to a view spot and agreed to call it a day), drank, and played with Charlie. Below are a couple photos of our "hike".

Krusty and Maleah took off on the 3rd so we celebrated the 4th with my family. For some vain reason there are no photos of them. Just more of us...

So on Wednesday we packed up and headed back to the ferry. We had to get Matt to the airport so he could work the rest of the week to keep food and breastmilk on the table for little Charlie and me.

After dropping Matt off at Seatac we headed to Tacoma to stay with Brenda. See photo.

We stayed with B for 3 nights and she totally spoiled us. We had a gift basket waiting for us, homeade lasagna, 3 Netflix to choose from. Frankly it was hard to leave.

While staying with B we headed up to Mill Creek for an evening to see some friends from high school. Below is a photo of Lori, Kelly, me, Charlie, Katie and Amber. It was good to see everyone and hear what they've been up to. Little Lori is 5 months pregers. Can't wait to meet Baby Dyk!

So on Saturday we picked up Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Justin from the airport. Above are a few photos of them playing with the baby. On a side note Aunt Char is 2 months prego with a cousin for Charlie. Hopefully she doesn't kill me for saying that on the internet. Hopefully no one's reading to closely and I won't get in trouble for that.

The last official stop was in Shoreline to see Aunt Sue, Uncle Greg, Uncle Jim and Aunt Carla. No photos to prove this stop really happend but trust me it did.

So that was Charlie's trip to Western WA. Hope you enjoyed the photos!