Inspector Gadget

As Charlie reached his 100th day on August 15, we pulled out the set of "good fortune" wooden alphabet blocks that "Uncle" Chris bought for him. Based on a Korean tradition, these blocks were supposed to tell of his future profession, by observing which block he touched first.

Since he was not quite grasping onto things well enough to actually pick up a block, we were challenged to get him to reach for one at all. But at last, he chose the "I" block-- which said "Inspector."

We are not sure what type of "inspector" he will be, but given his father's penchant for the latest gadgets, we decided that Inspector Gadget would be a fitting nickname for our little guy.

On other notes, we have had to purchase a new trashcan with a firm lid. Lucy has demonstrated that she has a new fondness for digging in the garbage since Charlie came along, and it does not appear to be going away. The other day she dug in for a piece of chicken, and when I came home, I found on the floor a pop rocks wrapper, a ding dong wrapper, a diaper (dirty), a napkin (also dirty), a straw, a pop cap, and a plastic bag of some sort. She managed to get all of that out to get to the chicken, without dumping over the trash can. Such a skilled dog!

First Professional Photographs

Charlie's first professional photographs were taken on Saturday-- by an x-ray technician. We took him back to the doctor because he had gotten worse the night before, not really eating much at all, and coughing more and more. They heard a bit of noise on the right side of his chest, so they sent us for xrays to rule out pneumonia. The xrays were not conclusive, so we got an antibiotic to try and treat him either way.

The x-ray process was difficult-- it took both John and I to hold him into place properly for the two films that they took. He also vomited all over his car seat while we were registering-- spitting up everything he had eaten that morning. But now we know where the Children's Hospital Outpatient center is. It's good to know for future reference that they have an urgent care there, and it's very close to our house.

We headed on up to Cleveland as planned after that, figuring that he'd sleep just as well (if not better) in the car than he would at home. All the Robenalts were happy to see him-- we just warned them that he was sick in case they were concerned about holding him. The antibiotics seemed to help, and he was much better on Saturday night, sleeping for a good 4 hour stretch when we first put him down. On Sunday morning he seemed more himself, kicking away in the bouncy seat, which we'd taken with us on the trip.

Sunday night he seemed to take a turn for the worse, coughing much more and resisting feeding again. The pediatrician had asked us to bring him back in today (Monday) anyway, since they had seen some swollen lymph nodes on the x-rays on Saturday, so we made an appointment for first thing. They listened to him again, and heard just a little bit of noise in his chest. Since we already had him on the antibiotic, and there wasn't much we could do if it was viral, they just suggested using a breathing treatment to see if it eased his symptoms and helped him to get better. So he has a neat little contraption that connects to an inhaler, which we'll use every few hours. We will also keep giving him Tylenol at night to try and make him more comfortable for sleep. You can look at John's flickr site for photos of Charlie taking a breathing treatment at the doctor's office.

In the meantime, I myself got a sore throat and fever last night. Tylenol broke my fever, but I still have a sore throat. I went in myself this morning after we took Charlie in, and got an antibiotic. I'll stay home from work again tomorrow and hopefully we'll both be feeling better after that.

Got Formula?

Well, my breastfeeding days (at least with Charlie) are officially over. Between going back to work, and Charlie being sick, my half-and-half formula and breastmilk plan has gone to the dogs. On the positive side, this means I can now go back to taking my allergy medication, which is definitely a good thing for my well-being. The pollen counts have been quite high lately, and I've been suffering my usual itchy eyes and sneezing a good deal. I also did not feel too guilty today when I needed a good dose of caffeine to keep me going through the day at work. These last two nights with Charlie were pretty rough-- neither John nor I got much sleep.

We hope to take the little guy back to daycare tomorrow. He's doing much better now.

For those of you who've been asking about his weight, they did weigh him at the doctor on Monday, and he was 13 pounds, 8 ounces-- but that was with a diaper. So he's probably around 13 pounds.

A Quarter of a Year!

Charlie is 3 months old today. His pink eye was looking much better, until late this afternoon, when it was obvious that it was spreading to his other eye. About that same time, we noticed that he had suddenly lost his voice. We can barely hear him cry now. I think I will have him sleep in our room with us, lest he wake up screaming and we don't wake up because we can't hear him. We will probably keep him home from daycare another day, and possibly take him back to the doctor as well.

In the meantime, we did take some 3-month photos. I'm sure John is posting some to flickr as we speak.

As for this week's milestones, he is starting to grasp onto the bottle as you are feeding him. He also reaches out and grabs the toys on the tray of his swing. Every day, he is easier and easier to carry around in a vertical position.

First "Sick" Visit

Charlie made his first "sick" visit to the doctor today. He was fine when I dropped him off at daycare at 7:30, but they called me at 11 to say they thought he had pink eye. John picked him up at 1, and by then his left eye was completely swollen shut and all goopey. We were able to get him into the doctor at 1:30, and by 3 he had his antibiotic ointment and was on the way back to mend. By the time I got home from work, he had started eating again, and his eye was half open.

Other than this small incident (it was bound to happen sooner or later), things are going well at daycare. Charlie received good reports all last week, and the extra stimulation during the day was helping him go down easier at night.

Over the weekend, we had Grandma Robenalt over for a visit on Saturday while we babysat for Oscar Piedrahita, so his parents (Ricky and Teresa) could go to a movie. Oscar did fine, enjoying our bouncy seat for much of his visit. Afterwards, we all went out to dinner. On Sunday we visited the Tunnings for brunch. I brought the ingredients for a quiche over to their rental apartment (they don't move into their house yet since relocating back from Oxford in the UK) and we caught up on all sorts of topics while we adored our babies. John got some great photos this weekend on his new camera-- see his flickr site for some of the best ones.

Tomorrow is Charlie's 3 month birthday, so we'll have to take some more photos. Hopefully his eye will be more photogenic by then!