A Big Day for Wade

After 4 ear infections in less than 4 months, we decided that it would probably be best for Wade to get tubes in his ears.  So yesterday was the day of the big surgery!  Wade's last bottle was at 6:30 pm on Sunday and then he couldn't have anything to eat or drink on Monday morning.  That was perhaps what made us the most nervous.  He did great though!  He was awake from 5:45 to 7:30 am without anything to eat and only got a little fussy toward the end.

The surgery was very quick, less than 15 minutes, and he recovered for about the same amount of time before we got to see him again.  When we went into the recovery room, he was hooked up to oxygen and under a blanket.  He looked pretty tiny and helpless.  The nurse gave him ear drops which woke him up.  Then we were able to finally give him a bottle.  He cried after that and most of the way home.  He took a big nap when we got home.  He was a little fussier than usual, but was mostly in good spirits.

Today, things are 100% back to normal.  Wade is on ear drops for the remainder of this week and has a follow-up appointment with his ENT in five weeks.  Hopefully he will be ear infection free for the remainder of winter.

He celebrated with his first spaghetti dinner.  What a blast!

Visit to Indiana

We went to Indiana to visit Aunt Chris, Uncle Brett and cousins Connor and Evan for the weekend.  Due to Ryan's snow day on Friday (that's two in a row, if you're counting!), we were able to hit the road by lunchtime Friday which helped make the short weekend visit a little longer.

With cold winter weather and a baby who naps 2-3 times a day, there's not a lot of activities that you can plan.  We saw Connor and Evan play basketball and then mostly just hung around the house.  Here are a couple other pictures from our weekend:

40 Weeks Versus 40 Weeks

 

What a difference 40 weeks - in any direction - can make!  In the first picture I am nearly 40 weeks pregnant and in the second picture, Wade is almost 40 weeks old.  (Technically, he is 40 weeks old today and I took the picture a few days ago.)  I thought 40 weeks old made for an interesting milestone to point out.

Wade turned 9 months old on Saturday and that meant he had a well visit to the doctor this week.  Finally, no ear infections!  He is still >97th percentile on everything - 31 inches long and 26 pounds, 5 ounces for weight.  His doctor gave us the okay to give him any food (except for the possible allergy foods) so last night he had chicken parmesan (and pureed veggies) for dinner!  He liked it a lot!

He's still a crawling machine and he's standing, but still needs help in that department.  Things are going well!

Happy New Year!

Last night we celebrated New Year's Eve with good GREAT friends by doing another seafood boil.  I was very impressed that all the kiddos (non-babies) stayed up to ring in the new year and did so with great attitudes and few tears.

Not pictured above, Wade and Jackson, who definitely could not make it until midnight...

2010 was obviously a big year for us and such a wonderful one. 2011 might not bring such a monumental change in our lives, but we are looking forward to many more milestones in Wade's life.  The baby gates are up and we are ready!

A White & Merry First Christmas

As you know, Christmas takes a lot of preparation.  And before you begin any serious present opening, you really need to stretch your muscles...

Once Wade was nice and limber, he was ready for Christmas to really begin! 

After the three of us (plus Annie) opened presents, the Brueckmanns came over for brunch.  In the afternoon, we spent time at the Lesingers'.  We were very happy that the Emsleys drove in from Indiana. 

 

We went back to Waterloo on the 26th to visit again and to conquer the sledding hill on my youth.  Wade got to try some sledding of his own (minus the big hill).

Eight Months Old

Wade was 25.5 pounds on his 8 month birthday earlier this week.  We shouldn't have been at the doctor for 8 months, but he was back for another case of pink eye and surprise, another ear infection (#4).  Luckily he continues to be a happy baby who fusses very little and doesn't seem to mind things like pink eye or ear infections.  (He doesn't so much like the eye drops though!)

This week he got a letter from Santa in the mail and then he met him in person!  What a big week!  He didn't even know the guy existed before this!

Wade wasn't too sure about the visit to Santa though.  Santa was a great sport as he never stopped smiling but we couldn't get Wade to smile no matter what we did. 

Would you call this crawling?

Wade has been moving around on the floor a lot lately and I captured this video this morning.

I guess it's crawling, or perhaps "army crawling."  He's not quite up on his hands and knees, though he does sometimes get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth.  Either way, he knew what he wanted (that dog kennel!!) and it definitely motivated him to move from point A to point B.

I think Ryan and I better start baby proofing.  I don't think the outlet covers that we installed are going to be enough for much longer.