Deacon's 1st Haircut

Deacon's hair has been growing rapidly this past month and today we decided it was time for his very first trim! We have always kept Carson's hair short because it is wavy, so we are wanting to let Deacon's grow out a little shaggier for a change.

Deacon did great today! He was busy staring at the tv they had playing Toy Story and paid very little attention to what was going on with his hair.

By the end of the appointment he was pretty much over sitting, but let his stylist finish up.

And walked out looking like a stud muffin!

11 Months

Deacon - you are 11 months old and almost done with your first year!

• You weigh 21 lbs. 8 oz. and are 29.75 inches tall!
  
  
• You are almost exclusively in 18 month clothes and wear size 4 shoes.
  
  

• This month you celebrated your first Christmas and slept through your first New Year's. You also had your first eye doctor appointment and upgraded carseats.
  
  
• Your walking has improved even more and you can now get to every room in the house with no problem! You usually walk with your arms in the air (like the picture above). We first thought it was because you were playing with your hair, but now wonder if you may do it to keep from bumping your head while toddling around.
  
  

• You have learned how to hold your bottle while sitting up and can feed yourself large cookies and crackers! You still enjoy your level 3 baby food, but will sample food from our plates too. We are excited that this is our last month to purchase formula!
  
  
• You love watching tv and will stare at anything that comes on, from cartoons to sports. You seem to like Wow Wow Wubzy and Yo Gabba Gabba the best.
  
  

• You are now sleeping through the night almost every day and typically go to bed around 7:00 pm and are out for 12 hours! You have no trouble going down and love sleeping in your crib.
  
  
• Us worrying about you this past month has reminded us to appreciate every blessing you have brought into our lives. We are counting the days until your glasses arrive and cannot wait to see your reaction to EVERYTHING, just in time for your first birthday party!

Monster Truck Jam

Brian took Carson and our neighbor, James, to the Monster Truck Jam last weekend, while I enjoyed a nice, quiet house with my mom and Deacon. I was so impressed when he arrived home with some pictures of the evening!

Brian stopped before to pick up some earplugs because this event is known to get pretty loud. Carson of course didn't want earplugs, so Brian bought him a dorky hat that had flaps to cover his ears. (Another reason I am glad I didn't go!)

Brian captured this photo on the way in:

We bought the tickets at a discount with a promo code a radio station was giving out, and the seats actually turned out to be good ones!

Carson's favorite truck of the evening was the Monster Mutt Dalmatian, with his floppy ears and tail:

Here is Superman flying through the air:

James' favorite was the Grave Digger:

...even after it flipped:

The boys had a blast! And then had just as much fun rolling on the hill with all of the kids after the show:

A perfect guys night out!

47 Weeks

This week you had a couple of new changes: carseat and daycare. You are loving the extra space that your seat provides and we are loving your new daycare for prompting us to get you checked out at the doctor!

Birthday Boys

Last week two of my best friends went into labor!!

On the same day.

At the same hospital!!

Both with boys!

What is the chance!?!


This made visiting super easy, especially since their rooms were located directly across the hall from each other! (AND Amanda was in the exact room we stayed in with Deacon!)

When we arrived we visited Lindsey's son, Harrison, first because Amanda and her baby were feeding.

Harrison weighed exactly the same as his big brother, Hunter, 8 lbs. 5 oz. Here he is looking absolutely adorable:

This was Amanda and Adam's first baby and he was a big guy, weighing 9 lbs. 9 oz.!!

Spencer is gorgeous and reminds me of Deacon when he was born because he feels more like a 3 month old than a newborn!

Both families are at home and enjoying their newest additions! I am thrilled that my guys have more playmates!!

Deacon

At Deacon's 9 month check-up his doctor asked us to fill out a questionnaire about Deacon. He scored high in every area except social and fine motor skills. His doctor didn't seem too concerned, but asked us to work with him on getting him to do activities such as waving and clapping.


Over the holidays I became a little more concerned when seeing babies younger than Deacon smiling more when looked at and feeding themselves. Brian reassured me that everything was fine and that he had just been so focused on learning to walk that he would pick up those other skills soon.


Last week Deacon started going to Carson's daycare and by Thursday the director stopped me when I went to drop them off and asked if we had ever had Deacon's vision checked before. I told her that I think they did at the hospital when he was born, but not that I knew of since then. She told me to speak with his teachers to get further information on what they are seeing. Basically they repeated the same difficulties that I had noticed: lack of eye contact or tracking of objects, no interaction with toys or other people, and not feeding himself. They suggested we get his vision tested and I was thinking more severe: Autism.


In between crying spells, I went to work and got busy. I am fortunate to be a teacher because schools have such a wonderful variety of people and resources. I stopped by our nurses office and received information from her and steps to take to get started figuring out the issue.


I called and scheduled an appointment with his pediatrician and another to have his eyes examined. Our government has an amazing program called InfantSEE that pays for eye exams on babies. My friend also suggested contacting Early Childhood Intervention. They are through the state of Texas and do evaluations and therapies on young children who are delayed in some areas, and will even come to your home or daycare to help.


The pediatrician and eye doctor appointments were scheduled for today so Brian and I had all weekend to stress and watch over Deacon terrified of his future. We prayed constantly.


This morning we went to his doctor first and expressed our concerns. He was wonderful and listened to everything we had to say and came up with a plan. Next week he has an EEG and MRI, and we are waiting to find out when his hearing test will be.


Next was the eye doctor appointment. I had no idea how you could even check the vision of a baby, especially ours, who doesn't look where you want him to or track items. The eye doctor was so patient and took her time working with him. She first held up these paddle boards with stripes on them to see if he would track them; he wouldn't even look at them. Next she looked in his eyes with a light. She could tell by the way the light reflected back at her as to whether or not he needed a prescription. She immediately saw that he was near-sighted. She then dilated his eyes and we waited 45 minutes for it to kick in and checked his eyes again. The doctor saw then that he is ALSO far-sighted! Poor baby can't see close up or far away!


We worked to find the correct prescription and then created a practice pair of glasses by taping the lenses to a baby frame. He was so tired by this point, but we were able to put them on and put a toy in front of him. For the first time he tracked it with his eyes and reached for it!! The doctor and I cried together.


Our little guy will be getting glasses and see the world he has been missing out on for the past 11 months!

And will look something like this little girl in 5-10 days when they arrive (except in gray):



We have no idea if this will be the cure for all of our concerns, but we are hoping so. If not, we will face the obstacles as they come.

Canton

We spent all day New Year's Eve shopping at the greatest place ever: Canton! One weekend a month a HUGE indoor/outdoor market opens up in a small town to sell any and everything! It was like a craft fair and flea market on crack and was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

The trip is less than 2 hours from my parents, so we woke up that morning and rode in a caravan out for a shopping adventure. Look how happy my parents were:

Why??

Because they drove in the nice, quiet car while we traveled with these guys:


all four boys!

The day started out looking overcast, but by the time we made it the sun had came out making the weather cool, but comfortable.

I had to capture a picture of my dad with his "man-purse."


We ate lunch at a Cajun restaurant within the grounds; they had the yummiest bread pudding and Cajun eggrolls.

We did some major shopping! Poor Deacon's stroller was overflowing with our purchases so early in the day that we had to make a trip to the car just to unload.

Due to my nephews bone disease, he has a hard time walking long distances, so we rented him a scooter to drive around. Brian came up with the bright idea to make a train using it and our stroller, causing quite a few people to stare before I made him stop.

We were wore out by the end of the day, but I made out with some great items at really nice prices.

Valentine's yard decor:

At only $12, I went ahead and bought the St. Patrick's Day too!

I have been needing something to put above my kitchen cabinets, and finally found it!

This was on clearance for $5:

And my VERY favorite purchase, a large picture to put above the couch made out of an old window pane: