Finally some good news!!!

It seems like everytime we take Max to a doctor's appointment they always say "he looks great, but let's keep an eye on..." Well, today Max saw the eye doctor to be re-evaluated for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity- caused by being on oxygen while the eyes are still developing). In the NICU his eyes were "maturing right on track" but with Max there is always a curve ball! Well, he told us there was no sign at all of any damage and to top it off he has some normal near-sightedness (difficulty focusing on far away objects) and lacking any far-sightedness- which would be abnormal. Best News... statistically he will never need glasses. He gave us a 75% guarantee even! Woohoo Max! He got his daddy's eyes for sure, color and sight!

I forgot to mention, speaking of doctor's appointments, Max saw a surgeon last week about his hernia. The first doctor that saw him said "it looks like a hernia, so let's get him scheduled for surgery." A few minutes later another doctor (the one we were supposed to see) came in and in detail explained why a hernia could cause the fluid in his testicle and what the other causes could be. Basically, if the testicle gets bigger when he is mad, crying or playing and is smaller when he is sleeping or resting, then there is still an opening in the abdominal muscle (definition of hernia:)) and he would need to have it repaired. The other possibility is that some fluid got trapped in his testicle before the muscle closed up and it will just absorb over the next year or two- we would not see a change in size in this case. Which leads to... we are just going to keep an eye on it at home and watch for the signs that would prove it is a hernia. If we see those signs we are to simply call and they will schedule him. The good news is that they won't do the surgery for at least a few more months so that he will be bigger and stronger and not have to spend the night in the hospital. The only time I can remember to pay attention to the size is when he is playing in the bathtub. I think I see it change sizes, but I could be crazy. I am going to try and remember to look in the morning and then throughout the day and see what happens. See what I mean, "he looks great, but let's keep an eye on...!"

Max continues to do so well with his feedings. He LOVES oatmeal, bananas and applesauce. Doesn't seem crazy about peaches, definitely didn't like the combo pears, apples and bananas. His face was hilarious, he acted like it was sour and I think he almost gagged even! What a goof. He pretty much is ok with any veggie so far, just has a love of carrots. Still doing awesome on the new formula. We got him a sippy cup today and the handles fit on our bottles (thanks aunt Becki for the tip!) so we are working on him holding the bottle. He looks so stinking cute trying to get it in his mouth! He is also still rolling like crazy. Yesterday at OT he rolled once in an hour. I swear at home I can't keep the kid on his back anymore! What a brat, he didn't feel like showing off. At occupational therapy Ashley works on more fine motor skills so he showed her how well he is holding toys and putting them in his mouth. He did ok with food for her, again he didn't want to show off!

Yesterday Max started to seriously get a tooth... ugh! Drooling, fussy, and diarrhea. What a joy! He is doing better today because we kept up on tylenol and motrin. Hopefully he'll sleep good. Last night we went to dinner with some friends, Bart, Paige and their boys. We had a really nice time and best of all Max slept through it. I think we found the secret to going to dinner... timing. If we go early he is awake and fussy. If we go around 7:30, he is supposed to be in bed and he will sleep. It was so nice to have him there with us but not being a pain!

By the way he is doing so great without his monitor, ok, I am doing great without it! It is such a relief and a weight lifted. One less reminder of his past. I like to think of him as a "normal" baby. I am no longer going to worry about explaining him to anyone. His size, his development, etc is PERFECT. He is sooo adorable, so sweet, and has come so far to be held back with excuses. I just love him! I know Clark and I look at him all the time and think how lucky we are to have him here and we could have never imagined a love like this. It also really has made us appreciate and love each other that much more. We are a very blessed family!

Enough mushy stuff! Good night!