finally....

At Carson's 2 month check-up on April 16, we received lots of great news:

• Carson has continued to gain weight and now weighs 5 lbs. 13 oz.
• The doctor was very pleased with his strength.
• He was surprised but pleased with his ability to roll over already.
• Although Carson is not overly social yet, the doctor reminded me that he was actually expected to arrive just 3 days prior to his doctor's appointment.
• He received 4 shots and took them very well. He stopped crying as soon as the needles came out.
• And the best news - we can skip the middle of the night feeding and get 6 hours of sleep - if Carson cooperates.

We have also switched to a store-bought formula, Enfamil Enfacare. It's not as readily available as most formulas, but I have been able to find it at Babies R Us and Kroger. Unfortunately, it is only available in 3 oz nursette bottles (expensive) and small 12.8 oz powder cans (small quantity compared to normal formula quantities). Up to this point, we have been using ready-to-use Enfamil Premature formula. Because we are still looking for more rapid weight gain, we have to use a special recipe to convert the Enfacare from 22 cal per ounce to 24 cal per ounce. When we switched to the powder formula, it seemed we were encountering more frequent and larger quantities of spit-up. We have since switched to the ready-to-use Enfacare and have seen some improvement. The doctor is leaning more towards acid reflux than a formula issue. We are also burping him 4 times through his whopping 2 ounces and sitting/holding him upright for at least 10 minutes after each feeding. This may be the reason for the improvement rather than the ready-to-use formula - time will tell. Since Ella had acid reflux, I'm not going to be surprised if Carson has it, too.

Next up - Carson's follow-up eye doctor appointment on Monday. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we have continued to see improvement.

Ella continues to be interested in Carson and wants to see him, check on him, hold him, talk to him, etc. She even sang Twinkle Twinkle to him. She has recently been singing the Barney song but she has revised the lyrics - I love you I love you I love you. If you sing it to her, she wants to hold her stuffed animals. As you sing, she hugs them and adoringly admires them. And last Sunday, she woke up and sang and talked to herself in her crib (normal for her). For some reason though, she started talking about the doughnut shop (which she can identify while driving). So, Vic took Ella to the doughnut shop and we had doughnuts for breakfast.

Ella also had a great playdate with her friends Aneesa, Jocelyn and Max. She was so excited to see her friends and I was excited to see everyone. It's been a long time coming and we had so much fun. Looking forward to the next outing. We are happy for the sunshine and warm weather and have been trying to get outside as much as possible.

Gotta get ready for the last feeding tonight... will post pictures soon.

An Ice Cream Cone...

Sorry that I haven't posted sooner, but better late than never, right....

Our feedings with Carson have improved; he is taking close to 2 ounces and the gagging has decreased. The first 3-5 days of feedings were scary because he seemed to gag and choke and then spit-up. We were rushing to get the bulb syringe sometimes 2-3 times per feeding - difficult during the middle of the night. He probably weighs close to 6 pounds. We'll know for sure on Monday at his first doctor's appointment with shots (ouch!). Carson is more alert, but still sleeps often. He usually eats and goes back to sleep except for one feeding per day. At that one feeding, he stays awake between feedings. He can sleep through the vacuum cleaner, television and Ella's screaming so I think we have a good sleeper. He enjoys his bouncy seat with vibration and his playard with vibration; I think it helps with his gas. His formula is rich in everything so he seems to have lots of smelly gas. When you look at his size, most would not expect his strength. He can hold up his head while laying on his stomach and while on my shoulder. And today, he rolled over from his stomach to back. We were late in giving tummy time to Ella and she hated to lay on her belly; Carson actually prefers his belly. He still sucks on his pacifier, but he seems to be trying to suck his thumb. We had a second eye doctor appointment and his eyes improved, but we still go back in two weeks. Thanks for all the prayers!

Ella is amazing with Carson. If he cries, she runs to get his pacifier and brings it to me. She also attempts to console him by saying "otay, Carson" meaning it's okay Carson. She loves to hold his hand and buckle him in. We've let her hold him a couple times and she is very pleased with herself. We just have to remind her about limits because she wants to do everything we do with him. She wants to pick him up, feed him, burp him and carry him by herself. She is a proud big sister and constantly wants to know where he is.

We celebrated Ella's birthday with my family and she had a few funny stories. My sister Amy gave her an outfit with a necklace and socks. Who would have thought that Ella's favorite part would be the socks? We had a meltdown when I tried to remove the socks for bedtime; she slept in them. My dad got her a fire engine; she loved it. She woke everyone up the next morning with the siren. My dad brought Carmen with him. Although Ella can say Carmen, she sometimes called her Caramel. Since Ella can repeat anything I say, I decided to ask her to say some bigger words such as Mississippi and Colorado. For some reason, she now refers to Carmen as Mississippi. Where'd Mississippi go? Mississippi has also been accused of taking mommy's coffeepot (I don't have one) and her lollipop.

What are aunts for? Introducing nieces and nephews to new foods such as Cheetos and ice cream. We usually get our ice cream in bowls so a cone was a new treat for Ella. As Vic was leaving Aunt Debbie's, Aunt Debbie gave her an ice cream cone - cookies and cream. Since Vic didn't bring the wagon, he had to carry her with an ice cream down the street; they both were wearing it by the time they arrived home. It didn't matter - she LOVED it!