Sunday, January 31, 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Samson Sellers: 1 yr old

Likes: Food, freedom, big brother, baths, popsicles
Dislikes: being told no, eardrops, diaper changes
Stats: in 18 mo clothes, naked weight just under 25 pounds
Status: a total player. In love with a cute 6 month old that he showers with kisses and affectionate hair pulling. Except on the days she is gone and then he kisses the 2 yr olds.
Moves: A few steps here and there. Can crawl at the speed of light.

Sappy notes from mom: Sam - you are the light of our hearts, and I have no idea how our life was ever complete without you. You are feisty and scrappy and can hold your own against your brother (who tolerates your hair pulling and face slapping extremely well). You are fiercely independent until it comes to bedtime and then you want nothing else but to snuggle up to me. I can't say I mind. Your Dad can't pick you up soon enough when he gets home and you LOVE wrestling with the big boys. You are well on your way to walking, you have about 15 words in your arsenal, and at day care have abandoned your bottle for a sippy cup. Samson, it's going way too fast. I am so excited to see the little boy you will grow into over the next year, but am so sad that we already have one year behind us. We are so proud of you and love you forever and always.


Birth Day. Mom got to hear the words "Do you want to hold your baby? He's stable." Dad followed you to the NICU and spent the night up there with you on a super uncomfortable too small for him pull out "bed"16 days old, passing the car seat test in the NICU. You were calm for about a second, then ripped out your feeding tube as if to say "I'm ready, send me home". 24 hours later, we were in the car.

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old
6 months old
7 months old
8 months old
9 months old

10 1/2 months old

Stay tuned for pictures of our big 1 yr old!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

On the Mend

Well, sorta

Sam is feeling better, the rest of us are feeling worse. Last night he only woke up a couple times with coughing fits, and today at day care he started eating solids again. He also took 15 steps across the room!

I suspect he probably has RSV, but is healthy enough to handle it. He is coughing up so much wet stuff, but so far it seems to be hanging out in his throat and not settling down into his lungs. RSV is no big concern unless it starts to wipe a baby out, and dehydration or not getting enough oxygen saturation sets in. You may remember Gavin being hospitalized around this time in 2006 - but Gavin was a lot less hearty in the immune system department.

Sam is more more prone to throwing up due to his reflux, but that's really been the biggest issue. Even when he has coughing spells, he throws up before his lungs get tired. It's more messy this way, but in the grand scheme of things, I'll take extra laundry over crappy lungs and a higher propensity to need medical intervention any day.

Gavin got a sucker today at school for being really good all day. Yay Gavin!

I also need to give a shoot out to my hubby who despite catching the crud went to our rentals and continued working on them anyway in order to be able to hand the keys to the renters tomorrow. He's been missing from "family nite" at my mom's and it's because he's been working 7 days enough week. He doesn't get enough credit, so here's an attempt to remedy that. Chad, thanks for all you do for our family. It's often a thankless job, but your efforts don't go unnoticed.

Check back tomorrow at 6:59 pm Central time for a Samson birthday post!

March for Babies

For ^Ella^ (18w) who we miss every day, Gavin (27w) now 5 and thriving, and Sam (33w) our little fireball, I ask for your support of this important cause. This year I have teamed up with a friend that I have been lucky enough to get to know, although through unlucky circumstances. We've bonded through our experiences and are looking forward to doing many great things together to help preemies and families in the NICU. March of Dimes is just a small part of what we hope to eventually accomplish, but we need your help! Please keep reading for our team message. The walk is May 8th, 2010 at Blank Park Zoo.

Amber Willier and Bridie Sellers are "Mommies with Hope". Hope that someday no mother will experience the heartache of leaving the hospital with empty arms. Hope that no mother will have to wait days, weeks, or months before holding their tiny baby. Hope that no parent will have to make heartwrenching medical decisions on the fly, or watch a NICU team care for their baby in the first few months of life.

Hope that one day ALL babies will be born healthy.

The March of Dimes (MOD) mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. What you may not know is that if you have a healthy full term baby, you may owe it to the MOD. Doctors working for the MOD have urged Congress to pass bills for vaccinations, promoted the use of RH immunoglobin, pioneered perinatal health, helped develop the polio vaccine, and discovered and promoted the importance of folic acid supplements for pregnant women.

This is just a short list of the March of Dimes accomplishments. The point is, we ALL owe a debt of gratitude to this organization.

There is still a long way to go. Amber and Bridie know first hand that there is a need for more research, more preventive measures, more solutions. We walk to celebrate (a true miracle) full term Schuyler, 29 week London, 27 week Gavin, and 33 week Samson. Please help us honor our families by joining us in this walk or contributing to our goal. For those that would like to walk and contribute $25, we will provide team T-shirts. With your help, we can help carry out our mission of hope.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Cute and Cuter

But I don't know who is which

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

No, this post has nothing to do with showers, but I do feel like a broken record when I say Sam has another ear infection and upper respiratory infection. The congestion is so bad he is gagging on it and can't eat solids without choking. Last night he threw up three times from coughing so hard - well, it actually wasn't that hard. It seems that due to his reflux his gag reflex is pretty sensitive and it doesn't take much to make it spasm and send it's contents flying. Gross. I changed pj's (mine) three times last night. And just when he was starting to sleep better too!

I know it will get better. I know Gavin was way more sick than this. I guess I just got used to him (G) being so healthy lately I forgot about the constantly sick first winter.

The Dr. prescribed ear drops and told me to try Benadryl for the congestion - even though it's not technically recommended for 1 yr olds, we're just giving him a small amount in the hopes of drying him out. If we don't see improvement in a couple days I can call back for a prescription for an antibiotic, but we're worried about him getting a resistance since he's been on quite a few in a short span of time and we've had a hard time finding ones that work as it is.

His ears must really hurt because this morning I was trying to peek in and see how much the tubes were draining and he looked at me, slapped his hands over his ears, and shook his head at me. It was so cute! But so sad at the same time that he hurt enough to not want anyone messing with him. Other sad but cute things he's doing lately - letting me know when he wants his teething tablets for his teeth (two stubborn ones on top trying to break through), and he's been handing me the ear thermometer and then putting it up against his ear. I think he likes the sound of the beep it makes.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Long Time, No Post

And even longer without pictures I know! Life just keeps getting crazier and it's hard to keep up!

Sam is doing GREAT dairy free. His rash is gone and he's sleeping better. In fact the last couple nights he only woke up once and he only drank a couple ounces and fell back asleep. I've been giving him almond milk before going to bed, and this weekend I've been trying him solely on almond milk and he hasn't seemed to notice any difference.

He is growing up so fast! I can't believe he will be a year old in five more days! At day care they retired his bottle and he's now just drinking from a sippy cup. At home he still likes his bed time bottle. He can stand on his own for as long as he wants and then carefully lower himself to the ground. He'll take up to five steps and will also venture away from the furniture he is cruising on, even without someone standing with open arms to receive him. He is into everything - cabinets, toilet paper, all that fun stuff.

His language and cognition is also really coming along. The other morning he heard Gavin in the other room and he sat up and said "bubba....bubba....bubba" til I would take him in to see him.

Gavin has dealt pretty well with his erratic schedule due to all the weather related school closings. We've been doing vitamins every day (omega 3, multi-v and calcium gummies, vitamin c tablets, veggie tablets, and a vitamin d drop), and also really been pushing drinking water. It makes a big difference in his temperament. We were pushing water big a couple weeks ago, then let it slide and his behavior got worse. So he picked out a cool 24 oz water bottle at Costco and we keep that in the fridge for him all the time and that's what he mostly drinks when he's at home now.

Gavin went to basketball camp yesterday through community ed - it's just 3 Saturdays, one hour sessions. I couldn't see much of it as I had to let Sam crawl/walk the hallways so he wouldn't dart out among the 40 Kindergartners (and 40 flying balls!). He seemed to be doing pretty well and last night he told me "I got a hoop!".

I volunteered in his classroom on Friday which is always fun. He has officially mastered recognizing 1 - 20 and being able to sequence them. We also worked on sight words and he is doing really well on those too! He's one of a group of 7 kids that get a little extra 1 on 1 time with a parent volunteer - it's nice to know that they recognize the kids that need the extra attention, and of these 7 he's definitely doing better than most of them. I can handle that as long as he's not the worst or super behind (and if he was we would deal with it but it helps my anxiety that he's not that far behind!). I do need to see if I can find some flashcards to work on more sight words, although the ones he didn't get, none of them got so they may not have even started working on those in class yet.

That's about it in our world. I will get some pictures up. Soon I promise!

Monday, January 18, 2010

And then I heard a *pop*

Last Friday I dropped Gavin off at school like I do most mornings. It was Friday, I was running late (again) - not late for work late, but not-getting-there-early-therefore-not-leaving-early late. You know.

Gavin was great getting ready to go - some mornings are better than others, and this was a great one.

I signed him in, gave him a couple hugs and kisses, said "Have a good day buddy" and turned to leave.

I glanced back and he was standing there with the sweetest smile on his face. And very softly he said "And you have a good day too."

And that's when it popped. My heart, spilling love and joy all over my body.

I'm a seriously lucky mommy.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I Scream, You Scream

Unfortunately Sam won't be screaming for ice cream on his first birthday....we've eliminated dairy from his diet since Monday, and we already have two nights in a row of 7 hours of sleep! That hasn't happened for SIX months! His rash is also clearing up nicely. And he's so happy, well he was happy before, but now even happier.

I'm going to wait until his rash is completely gone and then try the soy milk one more time. If that doesn't work, I'll have to figure out what his milk alternative is going to be. Most kids that can't handle cow or soy milk can handle goat's milk, but I don't know where to find it around here! Annie - my cousin's wife who is a GI nurse, thinks he will outgrow it and recommended giving him til he is a year old adjusted (March 15) and then trying the dairy out again.

I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it, for now I will just enjoy my happy sleeping baby!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Soy Baby

Emailed our ped last night and got a msg to go ahead and switch to soy milk and see if that helps. I'm going to be sad if Sam is allergic to cow's milk. No pizza or ice cream! What's a kid to do? Although, I must say it makes sense since he had both those things Sunday, and that's when things really started to flare up.

So, we will see.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Reflux, Eczema, Puking....Oh My!

My poor Sam!

Sunday night he threw up all the food he'd eaten at dinner and the afternoon before. When he got to day care today he refused food and drink and then threw up the bottle he'd had at 6:30 am (6 hrs later). Chad took him to the Dr who was basically worthless and gave him a bottle of pedialyte and told him if he kept it down he could have milk then food.

He kept it down, he had milk and food and at 10:15 tonight it ALL came back up over the couch, ottoman and floor. ALL six ounces of milk came up following one measly cough.

Oh, and the rash that I thought was just dry skin that he's had for a couple months is eczema.

So, I'm starting to think he has a food allergy. He is fine otherwise, no fever, his stomach is just revolting. You can hear it start to gurgle and then everything comes up. I have an email in to his ped to see what he thinks. He's close enough to a year that I asked is we could try him on soy milk and eliminate dairy and see if it helps.

I just feel so bad for my little man...his tummy must be hurting a lot.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sam, our littlest Monster

Sam is a little monster! He just laughs and laughs when he is told no, not a care in the world. We're having trouble keeping his hands off the cable box and dvd player on the shelf under our TV.

He's also still not sleeping great, waking up a lot. Also showing signs of nasty reflux despite his meds, hiccups, coughing, etc. I'm trying to hold out til his 1 yr (1 yr - gasp!) appt to address it with his Doctor.

He also may be walking by his birthday! At day care this week he started taking a few steps. Today at home I was able to get him standing on his own and take a few steps to me. More often than not he's pretty unstable still, but every once in a while he catches his balance and can walk a few solid steps. I can't believe my baby is a soon-to-be toddler!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Gavinisms

Gavin and I have been talking a bit about Colorado and skiing there. Friday morning we had this discussion:

Gavin: Mom, in the summer, do they color there?
Mom: Where?
Gavin: In Colorado, do they color?
Mom: What? (we always have these discussions in the car, so I usually get confused, not able to give him my full attention)
Gavin: You know, in the summer, do they color.....since it's Colorado
Mom: Why yes, I think they do

I think it was so funny (and smart) that he assumed they color there because of the name, but even smarter that he asked if they do it in the summer...it's hard to know all the connections his little brain is firing at the time, but I am guessing that he thought through the fact that it snows there in winter, and people ski there in the winter, so they must just color in the summer.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Reflux, our foe

Sam is back on his reflux meds. He was not sleeping well at all at night, up every hour or so. It finally occurred to me that this could be the problem, and he's been doing better the couple days he's been back on them. My goal is to get him sleeping in his crib this year, but I need to make sure he can sleep a decent stretch at a time before I attempt it.

Yesterday at day care he took two unassisted steps! He is also getting very proficient with the sippy cup and straw cup.

Gavin is getting back in the swing of things at school, but he misses his teacher. She is out on maternity leave until the middle of March.

Gavin's ski's (that I bought on eBay) came in the mail yesterday! Now I just need to get boots and the bindings adjusted and we will be good to go on our ski adventure.

I am taking Gavin to Monster Jam this weekend. I think that's all our news!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Gavinisms

Weird - I typed this up and posted this morning and the text disappeared!

Gavin: Next year I'm going to be 6, then 7, 8, 9, 10....
Mom: What am I going to do when you go away to college?
Gavin: whimpers I'm going to miss you when I'm at college

Boys wrestling on floor
Gavin: Mom, it's your turn to wrestle!
Mom: Not right now
Gavin: Oh yeah....girls can't wrestle cuz they might break a nail....right?

After school where they were watching "Night at the Museam 2"
Mom: How did you like your movie?
Gavin: It's ok, 1 was really exciting, but 2 was pretty boring to watch.

Gavin continues to crack me up with the things he says, and the big boy things that come out his mouth.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Pictures

https://www.photoshop.com/user/supersellers
Click the link above to see all our pictures from the last month. I have uploaded a couple favorites.