Tubes

Will developed a cold last week that turned into a bad, runny nose - coughing and sneezing - with a temperature Saturday morning. It is so pitiful to see his eyes all watery and droopy ... Anyway, we went to his pediatrician and, as I feared, ear infection #3 had reared its ugly head. Will has now had an ear infection just about every 30 days in the summer months. Because we are in the middle of summer, when kids are least likely to get them, we want to stop these infections before the "bad" seasons approach. So, we are seeing an ENT soon and, I am fairly confident, we will get tubes put in.

Ellis and I knew this would need to happen - although I was hoping Will would be a little older. Unfortunately, and I guess fortunately, Will is too young for anesthesia so the tubes will be put in while he is awake. The idea makes me tear up to think about. But the doctor said it would be about as painful as when he scrapes Will's ears of wax so he can check for an ear infection. Will screams bloody murder when the pediatrician does it, but he tolerates it well. Although it will not be fun for Will - or his parents - I think tubes are the best option for him, even if he is only 7 months old. Other than these ear infections, he really has been pretty healthy. And if it will prevent the pain of ear infections down the road, I think we should do it.

Of course, final decisions will be made after we discuss it with the ENT. But if any of you parents out there have some pearls of wisdom for us about tubes, they would be much appreciated! :-) (I know most kids get them nowadays and that it is a fairly minor procedure.)

On a happier note - I was able to post some new pictures of Will over the weekend, so check out the posts below.

Crawling . . . almost.

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Will is getting so close to crawling. I'm enjoying these last days of not having to chase him around the house. Since these pictures and video, Will has gotten better and better at moving. He usually ends up going backwards on all fours, but he is not bad at moving forward on his hands with his feet and legs dragging behind. (As in, he'll move forward a little bit after much effort when a toy he wants is put just out of his reach.) Once in a while, a knee will move forward with a hand, and we all stare with both pride and horror! :-)

More Pictures from the Beach ...

Will really had so much fun at the beach. The ocean intimidated him the first time or two - but by the last day, he loved watching those waves come up and soak him. :-)

Will took his first boat ride at Edisto. He loved it at first, then got mad at that life jacket, but calmed down after a bit and seemed to have a great time. Many thanks to Durham and his parents for sharing their boat with us!!

And here is my favorite picture we got of Will in a highchair from the vacation. He is still a bit wobbly in the highchairs at restaurants, but he loves being up where he can see everyone.

Having Fun in the Sand

As you can see, Will had lots of fun playing in the sand ...

Napping hard on the beach ...

And falling dead asleep after a morning at the beach, bath and lunch ...

First Time in the Pool

We're Back!

We had a fabulous vacation with a couple of days at Isle of Palms with my parents and the rest of the week with friends in Edisto. I think Will had a better time than anyone - being in the middle of a lot of excitement all week, watching Alex and Charlie and Alex play. He napped beautifully every day, taking at least 2-3 good naps, and slept through the night in his pack n play. All the excitement just wore him out, I think.

Although it was great to spend time with our family and closest friends ... by far, my favorite part was spending a whole week with Will without having to drop him off at day care and head to work. He is so much fun. I loved being able to cover him in kisses each day. And this past week has been a week of many firsts for Will, and I'm happy to report that he loved all of them: first time in the sand, first time having ocean waves lap at his feet, first time in a boat, first time in a pool, first time eating at a restaurant in a high chair, and, yes, first time on his hands and knees rocking back in forth in an excited effort to crawl.

This week definitely gave new meaning to the word "family vacation" for us. :-) And it has been a very hard morning for me to leave Will and head back to work. Daddy has promised to send me Will Fixes today to get me through it.

Pictures to follow throughout the week (you know I have tons). But with no internet at home (STILL!) I have to do it at the office when I can.

Leaps and Bounds

It was an exciting moment before bedtime last night. Its official! Will is sitting up on his own. He was doing it better and better over the last couple of weeks, sitting up for about 5 minutes at Nanny's on Saturday before toppling over. But now he can reach and move and look up while sitting up without wobbling all over the place and tipping over.





And before breakfast this morning, I couldn't resist taking tons of pictures as Will played on the floor sitting up. Such a big boy!

(He is laughing at his cat, Mitzi, in this picture.)


Will just seems to be changing by leaps and bounds lately. I swear he gets cuter and more fun every minute. Its been hard lately to leave him in the morning when I head to work because I want to spend more and more time with him. I'm extremely excited about our first family vacation next week. We will get a whole week with Will - something I haven't had since I came back to work after maternity leave. And I sorely need it. We are headed to the beach and will have cameras in tow for first dip in the pool, first look at the ocean, first time on sand, etc. Can't wait!

Will is becoming more and more observant of everything. And he is so curious about all objects. I have to remember that when I put him down somewhere, he will reach for whatever is within eyesight! He has learned to take his pacifier in and out of his mouth, which I think he thinks is fun because he will do it over and over again. He is also getting better and better at holding his bottle. I know it will be any day when he can feed himself. (Which will be a relief and a sad day at the same time.) He is also about to pop his first tooth on his bottom gums.

And his new favorite sleeping position is on his tummy, butt high up in the air, like this ...
To think only a month ago he HATED to be on his stomach.

My latest "Will fix." I had not received one in a while, so I asked Ellis to send me some pictures yesterday and he delivered! :-) Will absolutely loves this jumperoo at the day care. He just jumps and jumps and jumps in it, staring at the kids around him and smiling at anyone that catches his attention.

"Huh? Who you lookin' at?"

6 Month Well Visit

Will's 6 month visit to the doctor yesterday went very well. He is right on track and looking healthy. We are, unfortunately, getting over his second ear infection, which started last week, but he is responding well to the antibiotics. But, otherwise, he got a clean bill of health! The doctor seemed pleased with how Will is eating solids and was happy for us that Will is sleeping through the night. His eyes just about popped out of his head though when we told him that Will takes no real regular naps during the day. He was letting us know that his nap schedule may begin to consolidate into a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. Ellis and I laughed and said, "Nap schedule? 3-4 hours in one stretch?" Will is more of a "cat napper," taking little 30 minute (or less!) naps randomly throughout the day.

Will is definitely beginning to learn what is in store for him at the doctor's office. He cried as soon as I laid him on the table to be examined by his doctor. :-( Just when he quit fussing, those horrible shots came, and WOW has that boy learned to use his vocal cords. But he was very brave and stopped crying as soon as it was over. The shots seemed to have affected him a little more this time, so, although today is July 4th, the family took it easy today. Ellis assured me I wasn't scarring Will for life if we missed any swimming, cook outs or fireworks celebrations. Instead, it was a nice, quiet day at home, which I think all of us needed.

Here are Will's measurements:

Height - 27 1/2 inches (80th percentile) (still growing tall!)
Weight - 16 lb 10 oz (35th percentile)
Head Circum - 17 1/4 (50th percentile)

Lightning Strikes Again

Is it possible to have your computer fried by lightning twice in less than a year? YES! Apparently the probability of lightning striking twice in the same place is higher at our house than everywhere else. I'm determined not to have the 4 month outage like we had last fall. I can blog with Ellis's laptop and on my computer at work ... but posts may be a bit delayed nowadays. (As if they aren't already. I admit my updates have been very slow lately!)

As a quick note -- Ellis and I had our first "grown-up" weekend this past weekend. He was in Atlanta for work and I met up with him on Friday. It was wonderful sleeping in, being lazy, going shopping, and eating great food. Saturday was the first full day I did not see William since he was born. It was really hard when I said goodbye to him in the hands of Gamma on Friday, but SO wonderful to see him again yesterday. I think he had an absolute blast with his grandparents!! He even slept through the night for them! YEA!