I can hardly believe that it has been over two months since I've posted anything to the blog. It has been two months packed with adventure, get aways, a wedding, but also some challenges. In the beginning of September, Joe and I traveled to his Partner meeting in Captiva, FL. It was the first time we were away from Charlie over night and for 5 days! I was initially VERY apprehensive about leaving Charlie, especially since I am breastfeeding. I was worried my milk supply would decrease or that he would not want to have anything to do with feeding when I returned to him. Fortunately, neither of these things happened and when I returned Charlie picked up right where he had left off as if nothing had ever happened. This is a testiment to his truely laid back personality (which he did not get from me). The trip was relaxing and I enjoyed having uninterrupted sleep and mid-day naps so much that I was a little sad to leave.
I am proud to say that I went along with the guys flats fishing and caught the most fish in the boat. I even surprised the fishing guide when I got impatient and decided to reach into the live bait, pull out a fish, and bait the hook myself. I turned to the guys on the boat as they stared at me and stated, "What?! My uncle taught me how to do this! What's the big deal?"
When we returned on September 13th, Charlie was really crawling with purpose and determination. We quickly did laundry and repacked our bags to head to Bath, New York for Andrew and Georgia's wedding. I had decided that it was time for Ian to transition to life without the pacifier so early Thursday morning I headed to Michael's, purchased feathers, and type up a letter from the Paci Fairy. Ian was very brave and only gave a small protest when I read him the letter that requested that he pack all of his pacifiers into an envelope and mail them to the fairy for little girls and boys who needed them. We put the envelope in the mailbox and hopped into the car to head to the airport. On the way to the airport, I got an emergency call from a patient that needed to be hospitalized. That was stressful, but we managed to get onto the plane. I am so proud of Ian, because despite his high activity level he has become a very good traveler. Charlie did pretty well too!
Once we arrived in Rochester, NY we had to get into the rental van and drive to Bath. On the way we came across a huge field of Windmills and Ian was simply mesmerized. The rest of the trip, no matter where we went, he would announce that he was keeping his eyes open to spot windmills. Even now when we are driving down I-4 in Orlando, he mentions that he is looking for Windmills.
The wedding itself was a unique event. Held on Georgia's family's farmland in Howard, New York. In preparation for the wedding they cleared a field and path into the woods on the back of the lot. The guests were warned not to wear heels to the ceremony because of the walk into the woods that opened into a tiny clearing where Andrew and Georgia pledged their love under the blue sky surrounded by towering trees. It was definitely Andrew and simply beautiful. Ian's absolute favorite part of the ceremony was when Georgia and her bridesmaids came down the hill on a flatbed that was towned by a tractor. Ian's attention was also captured by Georgia who looked beautiful in her white wedding dress. From the moment she walked down the aisle to meet Andrew, Ian repeatedly stated to me, "Mommy, I NEED to talk to her." Ian enjoyed the reception. He ran and chased his cousin Kate in the field. Once the band started, we could not get him off the dance floor. The night was completed by a gorgeous view of the Milky Way. When we returned to the hotel, everyone was exhausted and we fell into bed.
The next morning, we woke and traveled with Grandma, Uncle Alex, Aunt Karen, Uncle Johnny, and Aunt Jenny to Niagara Falls. We wanted around the park surrounding the falls to get an idea of what was around because we planned to come back the following day to sight see. The next day had a bit of a rough start. As we all prepared to go to the Cave of the Winds, Ian had a melt down and refused to put on rain poncho and sandals. I had to send the rest of the family ahead. After about 15 minutes of time-out that included a lot of crying, screaming, and defiance, Ian finally agreed to put on his poncho. He would not compromise on the sandals, but I decided to let it go since the sandals where actually too big for him and he would have probably tripped on them anyway. Once he was down at the cave, he seemed to quietly take in the massive water fall with a sense of awe. We also went on Maid of the Mist. Ian was pretty amazing on this. He put on his poncho without complaint. Once we were on the boat and we were approaching the falls, he sat down, pulled himself and June entirely into the poncho and hunkered down until we were out of the spray and headed back to the dock. After exiting the boat, I ask Ian, "Wasn't that cool?" He stated, "Mommy, I'm wet. I need to change my clothes."
On Tuesday we headed flew home and Charlie demonstrated how quickly he is growing by showing me that he could sit by himself and pull himself up to a stand in the span of a couple of days. This was way too many gains all at once in milestones for mommy and it was a bit shocking. Joe and Ian worked diligently to lower Charlie's crib so that he could not launch himself over the side now that he was standing.
September ended with some difficult news. Alex had been experiencing some neurological symptoms and had an MRI. Soon after we found out that he has a Chiari I Malformation. This is when the bottom part of your brain is slipping through the opening of the base of the skull and often leads to increased pressure and a backup of spinal fluid. We quickly understood that this would mean a neurosurgery. The search for a neurosurgeon put me on a mission to identify the best physician in our area. At the same time, we were hearing more frequently from the teacher that Ian was struggling in school. He is having difficulty participating during center time, preferring to wander the class and socialize with his classmates rather than sit and participate in activities. In addition, he seems to really struggle with sitting still at circle time. He was exhibiting a lot of sensory symptoms where he was seeking out rough, and at time aggressive, interactions with peers and teachers. After some research, I started to read some more information about Sensory Processing Disorder and felt that this was describing Ian pretty well. However, he continued to have very moody and irritible days where he would wake up tired. I was extremely frustrated at this point so I decided to schedule him an Occupational Therapy appointment to learn more about SPD and how it may impact behavior.
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