Hanging Out

Don't bother me -- I'm concentrating!

There's too much to play with -- where do I start?

I am one happy baby!

Just a few shots from daycare this week. He's starting to be more interactive with the world around him. Go Dexter!

Playing at Daycare

One of the cool things about the daycare we selected is that they send us pictures when Dexter is doing something new or cute or whatever. It's a really nice way to feel like we're still connected to how his day is going, even though we can't be with him all the time. Today they sent us this picture. Dexter is upside-down at the top of the picture, but I love that most of the kids are hanging out together, "playing." I know they are really too young to interact with each other much, but it's still good practice.

Austin First Steps Appointment

Austin First Steps is the group that manages the high-risk babies that are discharged from the NICU. Since Dexter was so early and spent so much time in the NICU, he's considered high-risk, so we do these developmental assessments every couple of months to make sure that if Dexter needs some extra help, we get it as quickly as we can.

The first appointment we had was shortly after his discharge from the NICU, and he was right on track...for a newborn. Yesterday morning, we had a few more milestones to be looking at for his 2-month (adjusted) assessment. On Sunday, we went through a checklist of activities to allow us to be purposeful about seeing how he's doing on those milestones.  We spent time with him on his back and tummy, looking at his interactions with us and with toys. I think the questionnaire was 5 pages long. They break things out into gross motor, fine motor, communication, social-personal, and problem-solving skills. He is doing great in all categories, but he is especially good at gross-motor and fine-motor right now. Who'd have thunk it?

Check it out! He's really going places now!

At Daycare

Daycare just sent us this little picture of Dexter from this afternoon.

Do you think he's feeling better?

Holiday Card Photos

We took some family photos this weekend to work toward getting our cards out. Have I mentioned how much longer everything seems to take with a little one around? I think that by this point last year, I had the card all designed and I just needed the pictures to plug in. This year, I haven't even thought about the layout of the card yet, but we'll get there. For the good pictures, you'll just have to wait for the car to arrive at your house, but here are a couple of the ones we won't be using.

I love fun socks and baby feet. Combine two of my favorite things here in this picture.

He's even cute when he falls over (he doesn't quite have the core strength for sitting, yet).

And after photos were done, he grabbed this bow and hung onto it for a bit. How could I *not* snap a picture of that?

Retro: Thanksgiving

Going back in time a little bit, we did just celebrate Thanksgiving recently.

This is Dexter's first time in the highchair. You can see that over on his right he has his own version of Thanksgiving dinner. Sorry, kiddo! Next year you can have mashed potatoes and turkey and stuffing and gravy and peas and cranberries and....Okay, I'm salivating again. 

I love this picture of Dexter looking at Bubbe -- I think they must be engaged in some deep philosophical discussion of some sort. 

The whole crew! You can tell that this is before dinner because I still have wine in my glass. Oh, and the Texans won their overtime game just before this picture, so you might detect a bit of relief in these faces, too. It was great having Bubbe and Uncle Brian in town for a few days to help with celebrating.

Tummy Time

This morning, while Momma's blogging, what's a Dexter supposed to do to pass the time? Tummy Time!

What are you doing, Momma? Can't you see that my head control is getting so good?

I knew you wanted to pinch those little cheeks, so here I did that for you.

He seems to like the blanket -- good thing, since I loved that blanket when I was a kiddo, too. It's nice to see it's back in use. Mom, did you make that (it's the blue and yellow reversible one), or did someone else?

Chillin'

After a long day, what's a kiddo to do?

Dexter: I just be chillin' in my vibrating chair with my pimpin' afghan from Aunt Martha.
Momma: Son, please enunciate.

Santa and a Firetruck?

Yesterday, our neighborhood put on an event for Christmas -- the local fire department brought a truck, and Santa made a visit. The older kids enjoyed climbing around on the truck and getting fireman badge stickers, but we just hung around for a bit.

Don't worry, says Dexter, I already know I'm the cutest elf ever. Next stop? Showing up the head elf!

Never could get a smile, but I'm sure once he's feeling better that will be back.

The Neverending Cough of Doom Might Finally Be Ending

So, Dexter has had this cough for just over 2 weeks now. Not one of those cute little baby coughs, but a throaty cough that he does 5-20 times in a row that upsets him. I took him to the doctor before Thanksgiving, and I was told he wasn't wheezing and it would probably go away soon. Well, it didn't. So, we took him to the doctor on Thursday, and we got to do this:

Doesn't he just look pathetic? It was so sweet when he passed out, especially since it was after screaming and arching and doing everything he could try to GET.AWAY.FROM.THAT.MASK.THING!!!

We are now the proud owners of our very own nebulizer, and after some more FWI (fun with Insurance), we have medication that appears to be making him feel better. He still coughs, but it's not for as long and not quite as upsetting.