November 27, 2011

Where has November gone? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess! Here are some photos from the past few weeks and of course, a medical update.

Charlotte got some fun dress-up clothes from our very kind neighbors, and she can now dress as the princess she is.

All ready for bed with a book, her PJ's, and Fraggle.

Here she is on Thanksgiving morning! Charlotte's G-tube site has been causing her pain for a while now and TV serves as an effective distraction/alternative to pain medication. One of her favorites is Annie, which you may recognize on the TV.

Move over Thanksgiving, 'tis the season! One of the benefits of working in higher ed is a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun including a trip to the MOA with Grandma and Grandpa Russell and decorating our 8-foot Christmas tree. We learned that 8 feet of tree looks pretty manageable outside. Inside, well another couple of inches and we'd have replicated a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It fits just perfectly.

Only a couple of ornaments suffered at the hands of Charlotte, but nothing a little super glue couldn't fix. She loves the tree lights!

Charlotte's G-tube starting causing her pain a few months ago and we started by treating irritation on the skin and granulation (skin-like buildup around the tube site) and also by giving her a few rounds of antibiotics to rule out infection. As the pain steadily increased our pediatrician referred us to a surgeon to see what might be causing the pain, and we learned last week that because she has grown since her G-tube was placed in January 2010, the tube is now rubbing against her rib.

This Friday she'll undergo her second G-tube surgery to have the tube site moved away from her rib. While we're not looking forward to another surgery we're hopeful that Charlotte will be pain free for the holidays.

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

On Saturday we kicked off Halloween weekend with pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin carving.

We were happy the Behlings were able to join us, and here are Broden and Charlotte posing in front of our carved pumpkins.

The best part of carving pumpkins? The hand washing that followed.

After the morning's excitement ended Charlotte decided to read her baby a story in her tent.

Introducing Charlotte as Punk Pirate

Our evening started at the playground...

...where Charlotte was fine playing but burst into tears when it came time for a group photo. We think she gets so excited to see our neighbor girls that she can't help but cry.

After this photo we took Charlotte to the Halloween party at the University of Minnesota's president's home. The house is beautiful, but Charlotte was clawing to get away from Goldy (s0 no mascot photo this year).

October 28, 2011

Getting some air.

Charlotte's GI doctor got back to us with the biopsy results from her procedure last week.  Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.  Although it would be somewhat of a relief to have some ailment to blame for Charlotte's vomiting, it's better knowing that she is an otherwise healthy child with no serious medical conditions. She just needs what Dr. Wu used to call Vitamin T(ime).

Last weekend we got out to enjoy the waning fall season.

October 18, 2011

Here's Charlotte sporting a new hairstyle during her bath. This photo gets to be included in this post because we had to use antibacterial soap the night before her procedure.

She was a champ today! She didn't fuss during her vitals, even when her blood pressure was being taken, and she bounced back after just a short while in the recovery room. Her GI doctor said everything looked normal and we'll get the biopsy results by the end of the week. The doctor was even nice enough to brush Charlotte's teeth while she was anesthetized. She vomits when we try to brush her teeth, so once was better than never!

Here she is with the pillow she got in the recovery room at Amplatz Children's Hospital. The hospital staff were great and made her feel very comfortable! She has never been interested in sleeping with a pillow but refused to even read bedtime stories tonight without holding her new pillow.

We let Charlotte watch Yo Gabba Gabba today as a reward for doing so well. Here she is doing a dancie-dance.

October 16, 2011

Charlotte will be happy to see October come to a close. Earlier this month she developed the worst diaper rash her daycare provider had ever seen, and it was that statement that inspired me to take her to see a doctor. While at the doctor we learned that indeed her diaper rash was bad - so bad it was as though her skin had been burned - but that's not all, she also had a double ear infection and she was wheezing. So, the last few weeks have been filled with prescription butt paste, 2 antibiotics, and the nebulizer.

Despite all of this Charlotte has been absolutely delightful. She is incredibly resilient, and it's that resiliency that we know will carry her through the scope she is undergoing on Tuesday. Her GI doctor has decided that vomiting at this point is not normal, so it's time to take a more scientific approach. We'll finally get to learn if her esophagus is irritated by any allergens or if there truly is no explanation for her vomiting.

On a lighter note, we had a great weekend. This morning we enjoyed Target Free Sunday at the Children's Museum (thank you, Target) and yesterday Grandpa and Grandma Distad took us to the Apple Orchard.

It'll be fun to see how much she grows over the next year!

Charlotte was nice enough to ride the Apple Train with Patrick so he wouldn't be scared.

Charlotte's first hay ride! It was also my and possibly Patrick's first hay ride.

A pumpkin for my punkin'

We survived the corn maze!

Please send positive vibes Charlotte's way on Tuesday. We arrive at the hospital at 6 a.m. for the 8 a.m. procedure which should take only 10 minutes. Hopefully she wakes up from the anesthesia easily and we're home by late morning.

October 1, 2011

Twin Cities marathon weekend! Patrick isn't running the marathon due to a painful hamstring, but he was able to run with Charlotte in her first Toddler Trot!

But first, an adorable picture of Charlotte from the morning of the race. She pulled out this quilt and requested to be covered up by saying "cover!" and running to the rug and laying down.


This is the quilt I made Charlotte while she was in the NICU. The March of Dimes has a staff person at the NICU who planned activities for parents and quilt making was one of the best because it gave me something to do at Charlotte's bedside. I also got to imagine with the other moms that one day our toddlers would cuddle up with the quilts we were making, and now I feel very blessed that it's a reality.

We had a great time at the Twin Cities Family events this morning watching Charlotte run her first race, the Toddler Trot.

Go, Charlotte, Go!

Proud Daddy with Charlotte and her medal. She loves wearing Patrick's medals around the house, and she's excited to now have her very own.

Charlotte had a big cheering section this morning: Grandma and Grandpa Russell, Grandma and Grandpa Distad, and Uncle Dan (and of course mom and dad).

We don't have many pictures of the three of us, so a special thanks to Sonja Decker for taking this one after the race.

How sweet is this photo? We were happy to run into Sonja, Kira, and Evan after the races, and Charlotte loved playing with Evan.

Just in the last few weeks we've noticed that Charlotte has become very interested in playing with other kids. Tonight at the playground she was ecstatic when other kids arrived at the park and goodbyes lasted until we were out of sight of the park. So fun!

Good luck to all the marathoners tomorrow, we'll be cheering!

September 26, 2011

Saturday was a big day for Charlotte because we turned her car seat around. She is now forward facing! Can't say we've noticed a huge difference, but she seems to enjoy the new view.

Here are a few photos we've taken over the past few weeks.

Charlotte found a comfortable place to read and enjoy the sunshine of one of our last warm summer days.

Grandpa and Grandma Russell, Aunt Kelly, and Charlotte dressed as Goldie Locks and the Three Bears for the Suds Run 5k near St. Anthony Main and downtown Minneapolis. They took second place in the parent/child costume division!

Tickle fingers...

Are going to get you!!!!

And she found her pumpkin! Grandma and Grandpa Distad had a very successful pumpkin patch this year, and Charlotte picked out her pumpkin as well as a couple for the girls who live next door to us. Halloween will be here soon. Boo!

Dear concerned Viking fans: we discovered Charlotte has grown into her hand-me-down Viking apparel, so have no fear, she'll be splitting her time between her Viking, Packer, Wisconsin, and Minnesota apparel.

9/27 addendum: Charlotte weighed 23 lbs 6 oz at the doctor tonight! She's growing!