Colton Update

Colton had his appointment with the pediatric opthalmologist yesterday and he checked out just fine.  They dilated his eyes which wasn't bad but not really fun either but they were able to get a good baseline for him.  He's not nearsided or farsided at all and no lazy or deviant eyes.  They said he probably have what's called pseudoesotropia which is when the eyes appear to be crossed but are actually straight. It affects 20% of infants and is due to their facial structures.  Colton's wide nose bridge and small folds of eyelid skin on the nasal side of his eye contribute to this appearance by covering the "white" of his eyes. It's more apparent when he looks to the right or the left because nearly all of the "white" is covered and the eyes appear crossed.  As he gets older and his facial structure matures, the illusion of crossing his eyes will improve and probably disappear completely.

When Colton woke up yesterday it looked like he had pink eye (good timing huh?) but after we talked to Dr. Roberts he explained that his tear duct was probably blocked due to his drainange and congestion.  We told him that he had a blocked tear duct when he was born and he said that it probably still hadn't developed fully yet.  He said we'll notice this "pink eye" when he get really congested and that if it hasn't cleared up by the time he is one, then we can choose to put a tube in his tear duct to open it up.  Yeah ... I think we'll pass!  We go back August 17th for a followup and if everything still looks the same we won't have to see him again!  (Although he was a very good doctor to Colton and the staff was very accomodating to children!)

Another little update for Colton.  He went to the doctor Saturday because of a fever of 101.5 for over a day.  He did have an ear infection in his right ear and didn't break his fever until early Sunday morning.  He was put on Amoxicilin and we began the Albuterol treatments again to help with the congestion.  He's getting much better but still not quite well yet.  It was a rough weekend for us because he just kept crying and wouldn't go to sleep and he had dark circles under his eyes and was grumpy and that's just not like Colton at all!  But our happy little guy is slowly coming back to us as he gets feeling better.  It doesn't help either that his top tooth keeps rising and lowering!

He's getting really good at hopping around on his butt to get places and actually rolled left from his back to his belly and left again from his belly to his back to get to a toy the other day.  He's doing really well on pushups and can get everything lifted off the ground to his knees.  He'll rock for a little while in this position but then falls back down.  We're going to start babyproofing the house this weekend so we'll be ready for him once he does get to crawling!  I'll post some picutres soon!

Happy Half Birthday Colton Parker!

Yesterday was Colton's half birthday! His mommy and daddy love him past the stars and back again!!



Quick update on his crazy eye. He has an eye appointment on Tuesday, February 16th at 10:00 AM at the Midwest Eye Institute. I'll update everyone on what they say after his appointment!

6 Month Update

He won't officially be 6 months until February 3rd but he had his 6 month wellness check on Friday so I thought I'd update everyone while the information was still fresh in this tired brain of mine.

*Can you see my 2 teeth?*

Colton weighs 20 pounds 9 ounces (95th percentile) and is 29 inches long (97th percentile).  He got 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine and did really well.  No crying on the first two shots but the second one really made him scream.  But Nurse Christina made it up to him by giving him the yummy oral vaccine.  He had the usual lookover and everything looked great other than his eyes which I'll mention in a minute.

I asked about his cough and that isn't anything for us to worry about.  Basically it's just mucus that his stomach muscles aren't strong enough to spit up.  Putting him back on the nebulizer would put moisture in his lungs to help break it up but it's up to us whether we do that or not.  His "cottage cheese" poopies just mean his stomach is upset and the acid isn't breaking down the 2 proteins in the formula correctly.  We don't have to switch his formula or anything.  I also asked about him crossing his eyes and unfortunately this is something we have to look into.  We've been referred to a pediatric opthamologist to see if it is amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismum (deviated eye).  I asked if this was hereditary since I had a lazy eye as a child and Dr. Duck said nope.  It's just bad luck.  There are only 3 pediatric opthamologists in Indiana so it could take up to 8 weeks before we can get in but I'll keep everyone posted.  The daycare had mentioned that Colton has one side of his neck and face that appears weaker than the other so maybe this is all related.  I'm hoping it's just a matter of doing some strengthening exercises and we'll be good to go.  I'm trying not to worry about it but I have been noticing it more now.

Anyways on to some fun stuff.  Our little guy is absolutely amazing!  Here are some fun facts about Colton at 6 months:

• He eats 4 to 6 ounces every 2 hours as well as rice cereal in the morning and 2 servings of fruit and vegetables during the day.
• He is now eating 2nd foods and really loves the banana orange medley!  He's also had some biter biscuits and enjoys those too!
• He is sitting up really well and can even look up and around while sitting.
• He's really good at transferring toys from hand to hand.
• We've had to move his bouncer up a notch and now he can grab the dangling toys and he's so proud of himself.
• He's got 2 perfect bottom teeth!  His smile is absolutely adorable now!
• He's getting really good with his sippy cup.  We just give him water but he definitely understands bringing the cup up to his mouth and he can handle the sippy cup with handles pretty well.
• He's sitting in the bathtub on his own (no slings or bumbos).  We definitely need to add a mat or something to the floor to help him from sliding around but he loves playing in the bath!  He sticks his tongue out whenever Chad puts the stream of water towards him and he's gone under the water a couple of times but doesn't act scared at all.
• He's talking up a storm!  He can say "dada" really well and he is really imitating our sounds now!
• He's getting good at giving razzies.
• He'll pat your back when you're holding him (something his momma always does to him.)
• He loves the mirror and will look up directly at himself and smile when you ask him "Where's Colton".  He definitely knows his name and will turn to look at you when you call out his name.
• He's working on clapping but he only seems to clap if he's holding something.
• He loves to open and close things (When I attempted to write this blog on Sunday he kept trying to close the laptop lid while I typed!)
• He is starting to lean over and put out his arms when I walk up to him and someone else is holding him.  He definitely prefers mommy over daddy when he's tired or not feeling well. 
• I think he's going through his stranger phase.  He loves to watch kids but doesn't quite know what to do when there are lots of people around or when someone he doesn't really know comes up to him.  He does pretty well if mommy or daddy holds him when we are out in crowds but we're going to start taking him out more so that he can be more comfortable out in public.  He does wonderful in daycare and loves to look around when we do go out in public but we're going to try socializing him more now.

Here's some pictures you just have to see:

*Sticking out his tongue in the bath*

*Here Comes Trouble*

*First Day Sitting Up*

*Check out those cheeks*

*I think he liked it*

*Or he just got messy so he could take a bath*

*Learning to clap*

*I'm going to get you*

*Big boy cup!*

*Big and strong just like daddy - check out those eyelashes*

*Got him mom!*

*Holding the cup on his own*

Our next appointment is April 30th and luckily there are no shots!  We're hoping we don't have to make any visits to the doctor until our 9 month checkup but we've been having a hard time keeping Colton and Chad healthy these past few months.  I'll keep updating Colton's blog as he learns new things.  We've been teasing him with the remote trying to get him to lean forward and be more comfortable on his hands and knees.  While we don't want him to grow up too fast, we're excited for him to learn to crawl!  It's really amazing to see him learn new things and to really observe what Chad and I do.  We're currently working on babyproofing the house for a mobile Colton and I'm trying to clean my mouth up a little so that his first few words aren't the bad 4 letter words mommy likes to use!