BBQ at Uncle Re's New House

Saturday started out a little rough... Andrew hadn't slept much in 24 hours. Between adapting to the helmet and the getting tubes, he didn't feel too good. We took him to the pediatrician to make sure things were okay. The doctor said his tubes looked good and one ear was a little red. Of course after we went to the doctor, Andrew seemed to be feeling a lot better. Brad and I were also feeling a little relieved that everything was okay.

Rick (AKA- Uncle Re) had Heather, Carlos, Brad, Andrew, and me over for dinner! Andrew got all dressed up in his new outfit and shoes from Mimi! Dinner was delicious... We had burgers, corn on the cob, and baked beans. Everyone had a great time. Bear and Rufus (Rick's English Mastiffs) loved Andrew. Below are some pictures we took at the BBQ. Rufus was playing hide and seek in the bushes and Bear was cuddling up with Andrew! Also, I couldn't go without mentioning Aunt Heather (soon to be God Mother to Andrew)... She enjoyed holding and feeding Andrew.

Tubes Are In!

On Friday Andrew had tubes put in... It was so fast! From the time they took Andrew to the OR to the time he returned to us... only about 10 minutes passed! The doctor said his ears had some mucus in them, but the tubes went in easily and should do their job. He is doing really well and his ears don't seem to hurt at all! He is a brave little boy. We took a few pictures before the surgery and a few after! When we got home, Andrew took a long nap. Then he was ready to play. We went for a walk, played with his toys, and enjoyed a little Baby Einstein.

Helmet Today, Tubes Tomorrow!

What an exciting couple of days! Today we went to Cranial Technologies to get Andrew's helmet. Brad and I braced ourselves for the worst! Andrew hates hats on his head, so we feared he would be very upset about wearing a cluncky helmet. When the technician put it on him for the first time, he did not cry! He doesn't touch it and it seems as though he does not even know it is on his head. The helmet (properly know as the Doc Band) weights 4-6 ounces. It is soft on the inside and flexible. It is not meant to be tight on the head. For the first 2 days we will be taking it off every 3-4 hours to check for red spots on his head. If there are red spots, we leave it off until they clear up. The technician told us it usually takes about an hour, but with Andrew's fair skin it could take a little longer. On the third day he will wear the helmet 23 hours a day. The only time he can take it off is when we give him a bath. We clean the helmet with alcohol each day too. I've heard these helmets can get a little stinky, but if we get a round head out of the deal, we'll be happy! Our next helmet experience is going to be purchasing stickers for it! We're going to have some fun with the helmet!

Our next stop is surgery tomorrow morning for tubes. We are glad Andrew is getting tubes tomorrow. His ears are really bothering him and he is struggling to sleep at night. We'll take pictures of Andrew tomorrow and keep you posted on his progress!

Despite these little hiccups along the way, we are all doing really well. Andrew is changing so fast! He is getting bigger and bigger. Andrew is a very happy baby! We look forward to sharing more with you as he grows!

Andrew's Health Update

As many of you know Andrew has been struggling with a string of ear infections. In the past 6 weeks, he has had three ear infections, roseola, and pink eye! WOW! Right now we believe he is working on his 4th ear infection! We are going to take him to the doctor tomorrow. When he is off the antibiotic for 4-5 days, he starts getting the ear infection again. We are not sure if the ear infections are not clearing up or if he is getting them all in a row. Right now we are working to get the ear infections cleared up for longer than a week. Eventually Andrew may need tubes, but we are taking it slow and our pediatrician has been very helpful through all of this.

In addition, Andrew is going to be fitted on Tuesday for the "Doc Band" a.k.a HELMET! Andrew has had some flatness on the back of his head for a very long time. Brad and I have been concerned about it for several months. He is in the severe category, but it is fixable and will not affect any of his gross or fine motor skills. Apparently in addition to babies sleeping on their backs, the position they are in the uterus and the birth play a role in needing a helmet. He will have to wear the helmet for about 8 months. He will wear it 23 hours a day. Andrew may need to have two helmets since he will wear it for such a long period of time. Their heads grow a lot between four and seven months. I also learned that you can have these helmets painted or you can put cute stickers on them. I think we are going to go with the stickers so we can change his out! He will always be in style and we will have great pictures of him in his helmet.

As soon as we get more information, we will send it along! Have a great week!

Andrew's Relaxing Weekend

This was a very relaxing weekend for us... On Saturday Andrew and Daddy had some time in the "man chair". They watched a little golf. Andrew is going to be a St. Louis Cardinal's fan, so he was sporting a little outfit from Bagel! He still needs to grow into his Fred Bird hat! We had a barbecue with some friends and Andrew enjoyed entertaining everyone at the table. He was in a very good mood. Andrew has been eating so much formula each day that we decided it was time for a change. He tried his first vegetable this weekend... carrots! He seemed to really like them. On Sunday we went to the mall to go shopping and Andrew rode in his stroller without his car seat! He thought he was SO cool!

My First Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Today is Mother's Day and we had such a great day! We went to church this morning. Andrew was so well behaved that someone even told us that our baby had great behavior. Boy did we luck out on that today! Then we went to Breadwinners for breakfast. It was delicious. Again, Andrew did great! He had his bottle before church, so during breakfast he had a little apple juice. He played with a few of his toys and we all enjoyed Breadwinners. Brad and Andrew got me a gift certificate to a spa! I will be using it very soon!

Andrew's First Airplane Trip

On April 18th we flew to St. Louis. We planned a trip to O'Fallon, IL to visit Brad's family. Our nephew, Nathan, was having his first communion! Andrew was an excellent plane rider! He didn't cry one time! When we arrived we went to Bagel's (my grandma) house. She, my Aunt Cindy, and Uncle Mark met Andrew for the first time. Andrew LOVED Bagel! Then we went to O'Fallon, IL to Brad's parents house. Uncle Kurt and Aunt Nora were also visiting from NY for the first communion. Andrew had a very busy weekend of visiting his great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many friends! He was very happy and enjoyed all of the attention! Aunt Bevy and cousin Kelly met us at the airport before we left St. Louis so they could meet Andrew. It was a great trip!

Andrew's First Easter

Backing up a bit.... Here are a few pictures of Andrew at Easter. We went to San Antonio. We had to leave early because Andrew was very sick. He has had a lot of trouble with ear infections. He has had three in the past month. We did have time to teach him to dye Easter eggs and he had a visit with the Easter bunny at the mall!

We Finally Have a Blog!

Hi Everyone!

We finally have a blog! We will be posting pictures of our family and our little adventures!

To keep everyone in the loop, Andrew (Drew as I want him to be called... Brad is not so sure) is 4 1/2 months old. He is getting so big! He rolled over for the first time on Friday, May 8, 2009. He has been rolling over ever since and thinks it is a lot of fun! He smiles a lot and loves to play!

We'll try to keep our blog updated regularly! We hope you enjoy The Willson's Adventures!

Love,
Brad, Jen, and Andrew