Catch up!

I haven't posted anything in awhile. It's been a busy few weeks.

Ethan had his first round of four month shots and his follow up appointment at Dupont Children's Hospital. He's been cleared for any return visits to Delaware, and the Walking Pneumonia is still the prime suspect for his 9 month hospitalization. He's growing big and tall. Now a whopping 26 inches, putting him in the 90th percentile for his height!

In the past few weeks, we've been though a four month growth spurt, complete with sleep regression. (Full nights of sleep--I miss you, please come back soon!) Ethan is also working on teething (poor little guy).

On the fun side of things, Ethan's big personality just keeps getting bigger and bigger. My favorite new trait is his desire, nay ability, to own the room. He's a rock star. He loves going out in public so he can solicit attention from passers by. He'll even resort to letting out loud happy screams, look around mischievously to see who looked at him, and flash them his winning smile. It's very deliberate. The world is wrapped around his little finger, and that's just the way he likes it!

He's also dying to be mobile. He's so close he can taste it. Of course, as I have mentioned before, he can walk assisted. Putting him down on the floor and letting him toddle to the thing he wants to investigate is quite amusing and interesting. It sure solves a lot of "what do you want?" mysteries. He's also starting to roll around quite a bit. He's long since mastered rolling onto his side, but occasionally makes it over to his belly, and sometimes from belly to back. I take back any comments about him not wanting to crawl. The fire in his eyes has ignited. He's a quick learner. It will be soon soon.

Oh, and he's eating baby cereal! It was love at first bite! Some nights are more of a struggle than others, but it is helping him sleep a little better at night, so it's worth it. Sometimes he fusses, sometimes he grabs your hands and jams the spoon in his mouth. We all have our moods I suppose!

So, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Santa is coming early this year, and we're celebrating with my family tomorrow. Stay tuned as photos are sure to follow!  Here's a sneak peek from our holiday so far:

Happy Holidays!!!!! :) :) :)

I got a brand new pair of roller skates...

If you've spent time with Ethan, you know how extremely high energy he is.  I love this HP commercial, and it reminds me of Ethan every time (seriously, I now know not to get him a walker). Good job HP.

Enjoy!

Wall Decor

It's been awhile since I've written a post about something other than Ethan's growth and development.   I've been meaning to add this how-to, but imagine... slacking when you're adjusting to life with an infant!

This is a name banner that I made for Ethan's room.  I had seen these letter banners sold by The Land of Nod.

I liked them, however they didn't really seem to fit the nursery.  Additionally, I hate paying for something that I can easily do myself.  I wanted to stick with an animal theme for the letters.  I started in the scrap book section at the craft store, and purchased a few animal print pages. I used the computer, picked a letter style, and typed out ETHAN in a large font size (I believe I used 72pt).  I printed out the letters, traced them, and cut them out.  Stopping now would make the paper too flimsy, and leave it prone to curling over time.  To give the letters strength and shine, I used a spray on acrylic spray (a matte spray would reduce the amount of shine). The acrylic should be applied to both sides of the letters to keep them nice, solid, and without curl.  Then it's just the trusty hot glue gun and some ribbon.  I used a sheer white ribbon to not clash with the animal print, but some pretty polka-dot ribbon could be really nice with some bright patterned letters. 

Anyway, its a great way to add some good fun on the cheap!

These Legs are Made for Walking

If you've spent time with Ethan, you know that since before he was born he's been on the go, on the go, on the go.  There's nothing I love more that watching the expression on his face as he makes a discovery, and watching him grow and develop.    

Before you think I'm completely crazy, let me explain.  Ethan has always been a big fan of trying to stand.  Anytime you would hold him as a baby and he could get his feet against something, he would push with all his might.  When he's trying to figure something out, you can so obviously see the gears spinning.  A little help and some encouragement goes a long way with him.  He's a quick learner.  He wanted to stand, we worked on standing.  Now he stands all the time (with assistance of course...balance is a whole other story).  So we stand and stand and stand.  Of course, that can only last for so long before he gets bored.  He sees something and wants to be near it.  So he leans, almost to the point where he's completely horizontal.  The problem?  He gets very frustrated that leaning doesn't make him go the way he thinks that it should.  To keep him happy, I started walking him across the floor (you know, the way you would make a stuffed animal walk).  He would get to the object he had spied and would let out a shriek of joy.  He enjoyed it, so we kept doing it.  A few days later, I started to notice that he was trying to pick up his leg.  I would hold him with his weight shifted on one leg, and slide his other leg forward.  We did that for a few days and it became evident that he was starting to figure it out for himself.  Everyday I was having to do less and less weight shifting for him.  

So here we are, about two and a half weeks after we started our little "walking" game.  Last night Charlie was helping him stand when Ethan lifted his knee up high and took a step forward.  Daddy couldn't believe how he'd done it all by himself.  Ethan took off across the living room and into the dining room (until he got distracted by the larger than Ethan sized plant...or maybe that's what initially caught his eye in the first place).  I ran upstairs and grabbed the camera.  Last night was the first time that he went quite a distance and with a much increased speed.  Like a light bulb, you could see it completely click. He was really lifting his knees up high too! How funny looking it is to see such a little person, not even 4 months old, motor across the room.

Now what do we have?  Well, we have a fun game to play.  We have a baby who can take some control over where he is.  No, he's not "walking," (and thank goodness!!)  but there's no arguing...he's well on his way!

What a Long Strange Week it's Been!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving Cyberspace!

We had a happy Thanksgiving with family, but I can honestly say that I'm glad it's over!  Ethan was having a rough week last week, as well as though the weekend, so all the extra holiday hoorah was quite tough on him.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again...he's such a trooper!!  His mood swing and the sleepless nights lasted about a week and a half, but he seems to be on the up and up.  Every time Ethan is crabby, Daddy says "I think he's having a growth spurt."  It's become a bit of a joke in our house.  Well, let me say it, "I think he's having a growth spurt."  I have a favorite set of Ethan jammies right now.  He was wearing jammies from that set all week, and one day he woke up and we had this (it's like the incredible Hulk---I can't believe the fabric didn't split!):

He also gained almost a whole pound in two days!  That's a lot of weight gain for a baby who weighs 16lbs!

Ethan took his first road trip to see Aunt Karen on Saturday.  He did pretty well with the car ride, and really enjoyed our trip to the diner.  He tried to catch the eye of anyone who walked by the booth, and flashed a winning smile at anyone who would smile at him.  My favorite part of the dinner was when he grabbed my basket of food and almost pulled it right off the table.  That will teach me!!

As for my world...well, it's BUSY!  We're juggling a lot right now.  I'm of course, still back to work.  It's been hard, but it's really nice to get to be creative everyday.  We are working on refinancing our house to a lower interest rate, replacing our shower in our master bathroom, and of course getting ready for CHRISTMAS! We also have quite a few appointments for Ethan coming up...three with doctors, one with daycare!  Fa la la la la :)  It's exhausting, but I'm ready to love every minute of the upcoming holiday season, and all the excitement we have in store!

As I wrap this up, here's a few pics of Ethan having himself a good ol' time!

Gotta Start 'Em Young!

Creativity and artistry run through my family in a variety of different ways.  Photography has specifically been interesting to a number of us.  In my last post, I showed you a number of photos of Ethan playing, full of expression, with his soon to be Christmas presents.  After we were done taking the photos, I decided to show them to Ethan.  As you can tell by his intense focus that he was instantly fascinated by the mini television like display on the back of my camera.  Could I be prouder of my incredibly curious little guy?!?  Once I realized what was happening, I immediately recognized the photo opportunity.  Thank goodness for self timers!  Hopefully we'll be passing the camera along to yet another generation!

See Daddy, there IS a valid reason to own more than one camera!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

I walked outside on Friday night and thought, "wow, it smells like December out here."  So crisp, cold, and clear.  And then I realized, it is almost December!  While the weather was still warm this afternoon, I made it outside to hang the Christmas lights (although I won't light them until after Thanksgiving).

On that note, I introduced Ethan to some of his friends he'll be getting for Christmas this year.  Please don't tell Santa!!  Specifically, I purchased some Dr. Seuss plush toys from Kohl's.  Interested?  The proceeds go towards their Kohl's Care's charity and can be purchased for just $5.  I wanted to get some photos of them with him while they are all still the same size!  He loved them!!  Warning: Here come tons of photos because I love them all! (Don't worry..more blog to follow them...)

Could it get any cuter? Seriously!

I wish I could bottle all that happy.

I love how his feet are up in the air just like Mr. Bird!

We had a pretty good weekend just the three of us.  Tonight I had him laughing from his belly so hard (complete with the sound of real honest to goodness laughter) that it's a good thing he wears a diaper!

It's amazing to me how much Ethan is starting to recognize things.  His bottle for instance.  If you hold it up in front of him, and he's hungry, he'll start to talk.  Or is buddy "Nigel."  Nigel (named after the pelican in Finding Nemo, of course) is his bath rinser.  He knows exactly what that guy is going to do...dump water all over him!  The minute he gets close to Ethan, his grin gets so big that it just might pop right off that little face.  When I got Nigel, I was a bit unsure about spending $8 on a rinse cup, but I'm sure glad that I openly spoil him.  Ethan has always loved him, but now that he's starting to associate faces, he loves him even more!  What's $8 for a little joy?

He's how old?!?

So, I officially had to count exactly how old Ethan is.  I've already completely lost track.  Well, he's 16 weeks old.  Wow.  He's such a little person now.  His giant personality shows through in almost everything he does.  Baby boy through and through.  The world around him just keeps getting bigger and bigger all the time.  And happy.  He's so happy all the time, sometimes even smiling between cries.  He plays with his toes constantly.  Must be nice to carry your toys everywhere you go!  Of course, there are inopportune times for playing with those little piggies.  For example, 2 am.  We'd found that these middle of the night wake ups can often be cured by turning on Ethan's rain forest mobile. Occasionally though, Ethan trumps our efforts when we hear him laughing at those crazy jungle friends.

Friday he discovered that those piggy toes taste good too!  Mmmm, baby toes.  Ethan also continues to find his voice.  He talk to his toys (especially anything that has a face on it) and he squeals in delight when he plays.  Sometimes it sounds more like we have a a bird residing in our home, not a baby!  Recently, the monkeys I put on his nursery wall caught his eye.  He loves their smiling faces.  So glad that he so clearly approves of my nursery decorating skills.  On the flip side, he frequently exchanges a good cry for a good angry ear piercing scream of discontent.

Last Sunday we had a reunion for our Centering Pregnancy group.  It was so fun to see everyone, and of course, all the cute little babies!!  Each and every baby was healthy and equally precious.  Ethan was so well behaved.  He enjoyed looking at everyone, babies included, and even took some time out to watch the football game.  My favorite moment is when three of the little girls were crying though a photo-op.  Ethan was watching football at the time, looks at the girls with curiosity. "What on earth are they doing?"  He quickly realized however, that he'd rather just be watching the game.  Daddy of course told him some nonsense about how women do that, and he should learn to ignore it now.  Thanks for the good parenting Dad!

Ethan, of course, is too busy watching football to pose for a photo.

And of course, I have to leave you with another photo full of cuteness.

All you need is love.

Words of Wisdom Inside My Honest Tea Lid

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."  -Unknown

Three Months Already!

Ethan is officially no longer a "newborn."  Wow.  Time went so quickly, but it's already hard to remember how little he once was!  Daddy talks about how he misses "that baby from the hospital," but it's so fun to watch him grow and develop.  Of course, we are overwhelmed with pride for every little thing he does.

Last week I started back to work.  It's always a hard decision to go back, but I know ultimately that it's the right one for everyone.  My first week went rather smoothly.  Ethan was sleeping at night, and my days were well planned and went smoothly.  This week has been a bit of a different story.  I partly blame the time change for getting him all out of whack, but Ethan has started waking up at night again.  I've been exhausted, but still happy to be back to using my brain again.  It's just so easy to knock the whole house of cards down.  As the week is coming to a close, sleep is moving back to normal, and I couldn't be happier!

In more exciting news, our curious Ethan is so delightful.  I can't explain enough how much he loves to play.  He continues to be so curious and energetic.  It can be hard to keep him constantly entertained, but luckily he just absolutely loves those toys....and have I mentioned he loves the TV (especially when football is on)!  He is most excited about faces.  He's becoming more and more chatty.  He babbles quite a bit.  He squeals with delight, and screams in frustration.  If it has a happy face, he's ready to talk.  This video is his monkey talk.

Ethan discovering his toes.  He loves to grab them!

ETHAN LOVES STANDING!  Really.  Nothing makes him constantly happier.  He does such a great job too.  Just hold his arms and watch him go

I go away for one minute and he rolls over to watch TV.  He can find it anywhere.  I'm pretty certain he learned to roll over just so he could get a better view of the television.

The little guy playing in the gym.  His legs are always kicking through the air, and he grabs everything in sight.

The holidays are right around the corner, and we tagged our Christmas tree last weekend.  Ethan's daddy makes sure that we go early in the season so Mommy doesn't drag him out in the cold for hours to find the perfect Frasier Fur. We also have Ethan's Christmas list just about complete.  By Christmas, he will be just about ready for all those super fun 6 month old toys.  They look like so much fun.  I can't wait to try them all out....I mean, watch Ethan play with them.  Regardless, I look forward to it!! :)

Can't wait to trim the tree!

Curious Little Monkey

One of the first things that people always comment about Ethan is how curious and alert he is.  Often it's followed by "Wow those are long eye lashes." or "Wow, look at him hold up his head!"  In weeks 10 and 11, his great curiosity turned into some great playtime.  Of course, his chair is still a favorite, but he's now also fascinated by his baby gym.  He loves to grab at the toys, and put them in his mouth.  His hands are almost always in his mouth now, or he's grasping one in the other.

The monkey is his favorite!

He loves when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus."  Most times you don't have to sing more than "THEEEEE..." before he starts to laugh. He also likes "If All the Raindrops," especially the "ah ah ah ah" part. His legs are getting really strong, and he loves to be held in a standing position. In fact, he wants to stand all the time!  He can hold himself so well that loosely holding his upper arms to help with balance is all he needs. He is finding his feet, and can be quite enchanted by them- looking and grabbing.  It's also fun to chatter and coo, especially when Mommy or Daddy repeat back in conversation.  He can be quite chatty! Ah-goo!

Playing in the baby gym.  He really enjoys the flat stuffed frog, and he likes to grab the elephant.  Somehow, they both made it to his mouth at the same time!

We've been working on sitting in the Bebe Pod since he was able to bobble his little head.  He does pretty well in it now, and yesterday we added the toy tray to the mix.  It's really hard for him to reach something right in front of him, but you can see the concentration in his eyes... and SUCCESS!

In other news, I start back to work tomorrow.  It's of course a bittersweet transition, but one that still leaves me feeling rather confident.  In the last week, I've been busy getting things together for his days at Grandma and Grandpa Savko's and for his days at home with Momma Liskey.  We got a membership to Costco so we don't go bankrupt on formula for daytime.  We also officially have his daycare lined up.  He starts January 3rd.  The program is great, and I'm actually excited for him.  I think a Learning Center is a great fit for him.  He's a little boy through and through...so active and interested in everything.

They also finished reviewing Ethan's case at the Children's Hospital.  They are still leaning towards his reaction being to the Atypical Pneumonia, however, based on the time frame, they are not ruling out a possible reaction to his DPT immunization.  To be on the safe side, we have a follow up in December with the hospital to be sure that his Pneumonia has cleared and to do a checkup.  There is still a slight chance that the immunizations could be at fault.  Specifically, there are cases in some medical journals of similar outbreaks following DPT.  The next step is that Ethan will receive his next DPT immunization from his local pediatrician on a Monday separate from the rest of his shots.  This way, if there would be a reaction, it would be evident that it was the DPT.

Oh, and the best news yet!  Ethan did his first full "through the night" sleep two nights ago (10pm-7am).  Last night he slept from 9:30pm until 7am, and then went back to sleep from 7:30am until 10am!!  Just in time for me to get a good nights sleep for work!  Good job little dude!!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun-filled Halloween.  Be sure that there will be Halloween photos to follow!

How to Make a Baby Oompa Loompa Costume

I have some fabulous friends, Eric and Dustin, who have a theme Halloween party every year.  This year it was Willy Wonka/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Well, of course, I couldn't resist that the little man be a little Oompa Loompa!!  My plan worked perfectly!

The costume came together quite easily.  The pants were from an all white two piece pajama outfit, one size too short!  The long sleeve brown onesie was already in the wardrobe too.  For the overall straps, I used fabric ribbon and cut it to length.  I sewed (more like poorly tacked) Velcro to the inside of the pant waist and to the ribbon.  The self adhesive Velcro would have been better, but I somehow grabbed the wrong pack at the store (I was too busy talking to Ethan at the time).  I used the Velcro so that there were no sharp pieces (like a safety pin) and would be removable so not ruin the pants.  This way they also could be left unassembled until we arrived at the party (so not to risk Ethan getting wrapped up in them).  I was going to make the buttons by cutting circles out of felt and adhering them with Velcro (real buttons would clearly be too dangerous), but then I found button stickers!!!  Possibly not the best solution for a kid old enough to pull them off, but great for Ethan.  What a time saver (not to mention they looked so great)!  The finishing touch was the hat and booties.  I actually had considered the costume complete without them.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to use a wig or anything.  Then two nights before the party it hit me.  We had no green hats so I went online, thinking I might just be willing to pay overnight shipping to make the costume a success.  Low and behold, Target had the perfect hat and booties on clearance!  The catch?  The nearest Target store that had them in stock was West York.  So, the next morning, Ethan and I got in the car and put our hands on that amazing hat!  Had I not found the perfect cap, I planned on finding a white one and dying it green.  Glad I didn't have to go to all the trouble!  Now all we needed was a cute baby...and heck, we had one of those!  (Gotta love having a little boy!)

Not the best photo, but great for seeing the little booties!

The Results are in...Kind-of...

First of all, thanks again to everyone for being so concerned for Ethan and sending so much love our way!  As you may remember, they were working on Ethan's case at the Children's hospital this week.  The specialist called on Friday to give us their latest findings.  First, they were trying to determine if he had hives, or if he had Erythema multiforme.  They were unsure because the rash that he had presented signs of both.  The major determining factor that it was the multiforme is that he was not itchy like hives.  As I said before though, Erythema multiforme is one of those things that has a million causes.  The pediatrician we worked with at the Lancaster General ER said that it basically means "unexplained red rash."  Drug reactions and Hepatitis are the two leading causes of the rash.  Before we left the Children's hospital last week, they had taken blood samples.  All his platelets looked great.  What they did find however is that he had built up an antibody to Atypical Pneumonia (also know as Walking Pneumonia).  Somehow medically they could tell that the antibody was relatively new.  Atypical Pneumonia can cause Erythema multiforme, and is common in young children (although less common in infants).  Although he had no other signs besides his mild fever, it is possible to have the bacterial lung infection without presenting symptoms.  Thinking back, I do remember mentioning the Thursday before when we went to the gardens that he had coughed a few times Wednesday or Thursday (by few I maybe mean 4 times in the whole day), although they didn't seem to me to be anything alarming they seemed like more of a gag than a cough).  Who knows if that's even related.  So the doctor was excited for these particular results.  One reason being that it would mean that we can be less fearful of his next immunizations.  Second, it shows that Ethan has a good healthy immune system.  They are making the decision right now not to treat the Pneumonia.  He seems back to normal, and the benefits of doing nothing outweigh the risks of treatment.  He will have to have blood work done in the near future just to make sure that the infection is gone.  The fellowship is going to review his case together on Wednesday to see if we need to take any further actions concerning the immunizations, and to concluded if in fact the rash was from the Atypical Pneumonia.  So, that's where we stand.  Our little guy is such a trooper. :)

The Latest

Last Friday, we packed Ethan in the car, and headed to the Dupont Children's Hospital in DE.  We were seeing an Allergy Immunologist specialist at one of the country's leading Children's Hospitals to try and determine what exactly happened to Ethan the week before.  We were there for three hours.  The diagnosis?  Well, there still isn't one.  They took more blood, and are reviewing his case study this week as a full team, but it appears as though this one might just remain a mystery.  At this point, we have a follow up appointment in December.  Ethan  however, is doing fine, and is completely back to normal.

What else is happening in the world of Ethan?  Well, he's finding himself much more entertained by his toys and for longer periods of time.  He still loves playing with the toys on his chair.  He likes his baby gym and his mobile.  He still LOVES the bathtub.  We have to be really careful because he hops around so much!  He actually cries when we take him out.

On Sunday, Ethan went with Grandpa and I to see and Ansel Adams, The Early Works, exhibit at Lebanon Valley College.  Ethan wasn't really in the mood to be there, but at least we can refer to him as cultured now! He even wore his special shirt for the occasion!!

Hey, That's my Mommy!

This afternoon Ethan wasn't sure what he wanted to do, so I finally just laid him down on his blanket in the living room and decided I would make some lunch, hoping he'd chill himself out on his own.  First things first, he immediately found the TV.

He must have watched that TV for a good 20 minutes to a half hour.  (I know...great parenting Kristin...)  By now, he was really kicking and moving about, and I decided to take some video.  It's not real exciting video, and it's really rainy today (so its super dark) but it's cute.  He's completely unaware of me until about 20 seconds into the clip.  I know the beginning is boring, but make sure to watch that far....

Hey, that's my mommy!

Paging Dr. House...

All during my pregnancy, Charlie and I spent a good deal of time catching up on House.  We had never watched it before, and so we had a good deal of catching up to do.  We looked forward to Saturday nights when Bravo would run House marathons.  Little did we know that out little man would be presenting us with our own diagnostic mystery.

Friday was Ethan's two month well baby visit.  Our little munchkin had grown quite a bit, weighing in at 12 pounds 12.2 oz and measuring 23.75 inches!  That puts him in the 75 percentile for both height and weight.  Keep growing little dude!  At any rate, he was vaccinated with all the normal two month vaccinations at this appointment.  Friday he had a low grade fever and clearly didn't feel very well.  He just wanted to cuddle, sleep, and had a low grade fever.  He was clearly uncomfortable, but none of these things were too alarming.

Saturday he was fussy all day, but hey, we all have our bad days.  Saturday evening around 7 pm he was fussy almost to the point of being inconsolable...something that is very unlike Ethan.  The only way to calm him was in the bathtub. He was still running a low grade fever, and we noticed a few small red dots on his skin.  They were about the size of small bug bites.  We called the pediatrician.  She said it was most likely a food allergy, and told us to give him Tylenol for his fever.  In the morning the rash was much worse.  We went to the urgent care and the doctor thought the rash appeared to be a virus, but he wasn't ready to rule out a food allergy.  He said to keep Ethan on formula only (to rule out a food allergy) and thought the rash was at it's worst.  We were to just let it run it's course because regardless of the cause of the rash, there wasn't really any medications that would improve things.  He told us to take some photos and see the pediatrician in the morning.

This is how poor Ethan looked when we got home from urgent care.

As bad as this looks, it got MUCH worse!

We went home and Ethan slept with me (after sleeping all morning in my arms) on the couch for three hours (an abnormally long nap, especially for Ethan).  When he woke up, we noticed that not only did he appear worse, but he was getting very swollen.  Almost all of his skin was covered in the rash and it was starting to turn purple. We called the pediatrician right away and she said to head to the ER.  It didn't take very long for them to get us in to be seen (you get pretty fast tracked at 9 weeks old).  All of Ethan's vital signs were perfect.  The ER doctor could identify the rash, but it's one of those things that can be caused by a million different things.  He had blood tests run and chest x-rays done to rule out infections and diseases.  All the tests came back negative.  That's when they called in a pediatric doctor from the pediatric wing of the hospital.  She and the pediatric resident agreed with the diagnosis of the rash, but were also stumped by the cause.  They took some cultures to rule out any other diseases and called an infection control specialist from DuPont Children's hospital. He too was stumped.  Turns out that this particular rash (I never did get the name--it was long and Latin, but basically means "unexplained red rash")  is very very uncommon in children Ethan's age.  Drug reactions are one of the most common causes.  Food allergy had been completely ruled out.  At this point, they were trying to connect the rash to some Ibuprofen that I had taken, even though after my C-section I took large amounts of Ibuprofen without any problems.  They had not ruled out the immunizations, but the chance of a severe reaction to the shots would be 1 in 1 million.  Not very good odds.

We were admitted for the night and Ethan was monitored by EKG and they continued to watch his vital signs.  At this point, he was not treated with any medications for fear of any drugs clouding results.  He was given Tylenol to control his fever and to help keep him comfortable. Ethan was made a cozy little bed by the nurse and Charlie and I slept on a cot and on some pillows.  We hadn't eaten since lunch, so at 12:30 am, Charlie ran out to the house to pick up a few items for us, and stopped and got some horrible burgers at Wendy's for "dinner."  Ethan slept through the rest of the night, and even slept through the nurse flipping him all around to check his vitals (including weight and that uncomfortable baby temperature). By morning, the team of doctors at Lancaster General and DuPont had read journals and done their research. At this point, they had decided that it was not the Ibuprofen to blame at all, but the immunizations were in fact suspected.  Every pediatric doctor in the hospital was by to see Mr. Ethan and work towards his diagnosis.  Lastly, they did a urinalysis for a few last tests, and had no negative results.  The rash looked better by morning, and by late afternoon it was much improved.  Although it had continued to spread, the new patches were much less severe, and the old patches were fading.  Ethan spent most of his hospital stay sleeping.  Luckily, Daddy got the Sleep Sheep on that late night trip home (good thinkin' Mommy)!  It really helped him relax.

Ethan starting to look and feel better!  He's telling Daddy all about it!

If you put the rails all the way up on the crib, Daddy would tell Ethan he was in "Baby Jail"

We were released around 6 pm, about 24 hours after we had arrived at the ER.  At this point, our Ethan was showing signs of his old self again (talking, moving around, not sleeping...).  The staff at the hospital were great.  They definitely did everything they possibly could for our little guy, and we are thankful for their hard work.

So where are we now?  There was still one urine test out last night when we left.  They are looking for proteins that would appear during an allergic reaction.  We should get those results when we see our pediatrician tomorrow.  In the next few weeks we will be off to Delaware to the Children's Hospital to see an Allergist/Immunologist to develop a plan going forward.  Most likely, his next next round of vaccinations will have to be done under the observation of the Immunologist.

Until then--Ethan is feeling (and looking) much better. Today has been a bit rough as we are trying to get back into our routine (and I'm sure Ethan is still feeling a bit lousy).  Thanks everyone for all your kind words and love over the last few days!  Ethan appreciates it.  He truly is one in a million!

Wooo Two!

What day is today?  It's Ethan's two month birthday!  Holy smokes!  Also, Ethan broke 1,000 hits on his blog today (Mommy hits excluded)!!!  Way to go little man!!

This week has been exceptional in the world of Ethan.  I say no more for fear of jinxing myself!!

Today we went to Longwood Gardens with Momma Liskey.  We had a great time!  You couldn't have asked for any nicer weather.  It was perfect, and great for relaxing and spending time outside.

Pretty pretty orchids.

A special Longwood Garden's lily hybrid.  They can grow up to 7ft wide!!!  Holy cow!  The white flower is a first day female flower.  The second day, the flower turns a deep red and becomes a male flower.  Crazy, right?

OH my goodness!  Happy Baby!!

Ethan and Mommy!

Ethan was became totally chill listening to the waterfall behind him.  Gotta love white noise!

Just to reflect a bit on what a difference a month can  make....

Then.

Now.

Then.

Now.

Then. (Stacey Brooks, photo)

Now.

Then.

Now.

We love you, baby! :)