try again another day

My boys ended up coordinated this weekend, so I attempted to take some, what I thought would be, very cute photos. Only, Baby C decided not to cooperate in his own adorable manner and my flash was making me cringe. These are the outtakes, which I thought turned out pretty funny. Actually, they can't really be outtakes if they are the only pictures, can they?

p.s. any tips on getting the flash to not leave the horrendous shadow behind people? my old camera didn't do this! Grrr....

(1) Baby C: "I'm going to make it difficult for Mommy to take my picture by putting my hand RIGHT in front of my face while smiling"

(2) Brad, desperately trying to pull C's hand down, while I simultaneously screamed at spoke very nicely to the camera to come on and take the friggin' picture before C's hand made it's way back up to his face

(3) Baby C: "Hey Daddy! This is a fun game, isn't it? Why are you holding my hand down??? Come on and play along!"

for Charlie: GO HEELS!

Dear Charlie,

My mommy said this is what it's going to look like tonight when UNC is dunking on Syracuse!

Love,
Your Buddy Carter

p.s. for everyone else, this post is in response to Charlie's message HERE ~ just some friendly basketball badgering :)

au revoir, adios, ciao, and good-bye

I'm happy, thrilled, beyond excited...you get the picture...to report that as of today, Baby C is officially UNPLUGGED!!!!! Although he's been eating ALL of his food and Pediasure by mouth since he pulled out his NG tube 56 days ago on September 24th, his Doctor signed the order for us to return the equipment today. That means that his Duke team is confident that we are now TUBE-FREE and he no longer needs that old stinkin' tube. I can't tell you (unless you've been through it) how wonderful this feels.

It's so crazy for us to think that we had surgery scheduled to have a more permanent feeding tube (a G-tube) placed into his stomach on September 9 and just 2 months later, here we are -- kicking the pump, the IV pole, the tubes, the feeding bags, the tegaderm tape, and the syringes to the curb. I'm so proud of Baby C for accomplishing this and so thankful to his team of therapists and Doctors who hung in there while we kept pushing back the surgery date b/c we "just knew" he could do it.

And speaking of 2 months. Do you remember this post? For a quick refresher--we had a very nice stranger tell us on Sept. 10 that Baby C would be eating in 2 months. At the time, I was skeptical because we'd been battling with his feeding issues for almost a year, but we didn't give up. And she was right! We will be paying her a visit very soon.

In true fashion, we threw a going away party for the feeding pump. Here are some pictures from our party! As you can see in the last photo, Baby C is THRILLED to be D.O.N.E. with that ol' tube and pump.

Duke's CDH Page

Please check out Duke's brand new CDH page (and Carter's picture)! This has been a long time coming and we're so excited to have been a part of it. Visit it again in the coming days for more pictures of our CDH friends. I'll post a link to it in the right-hand column for easy access.

http://www.dukechildrens.org/services/congenital_diaphragmatic_hernia

Tractor

Carter and Cousin Andrew (baby Daniel's big brother)

"Hey Dad! Can I have one of these tractors?"

Psgetti

Mommy and Daddy have been too busy to update the blog, so it's my turn again. I went to see my Doctor today for my first set of RSV shots (this was after I had to go last week for the Flu and H1N1 shots) and I gained over a pound in two weeks. I now weigh 21 lbs, 14 ounces! It must be all that food I've been shoveling in and all the Pediasure I gulp down (20+ ounces per day). I've been without my NG tube for a month and a half now and it's been great (Super Sofie, your mom is awesome)! I had 3 molars pop through this week ~ OUCH! I feel much better when Mommy & Daddy give me that grape-flavored yummy stuff though. They call it "candy" but I know better! Candy doesn't come in syringes.

Here's what I've been up to:

Discovering and LOVING psgetti (aka: spaghetti)...

...dressing up like a Doctor, with trusty Nurse Daddy at my side...

...cheering for the Phillies and wearing the same shirt for every game of the World Series (I'm just preparing Mommy for my teenage years)...
...meeting my new Cousin Daniel..
...swinging at Uncle Mike & Aunt Tessa's House...

...keeping the neighborhood safe...

...reading with Mommy & Lucy...

...and celebrating Riley's First Birthday!

Thanks for stopping by. Please continue to think about my buddy, Andrew, who Mommy & Daddy say is an Angel now.

Love, Carter