Count Down to Gotcha Day: Post-Op recheck

Tuesday we headed down to St. Louis for Konnor's 2 week post-op recheck. He is doing so amazingly well. He has been home with us for 6 weeks and has gained 2 1/2 pounds and 3/4". He is getting chunky and it is great!! I can actually get him in 6-9 month shorts now (he was in 3-6 mo when we got him home) and 9 month tops. He can wear a 12 month top but it is pretty baggie still and he is almost out of his 9 month jumpers. Yay, little man is growing!!!

The Dr. was very happy with how he is doing following surgery. He did pop a couple of stitches towards the back of his mouth and has a pencil eraser size hole. The Dr. said it looks like he only broke thru the first of 3 layers of tissue and it should close up on it's own. If it does not or he breaks thru the other 2 layers then they would have to go back in and repair it. He said the soonest they would do that would be next summer, b/c he wants to make sure the mouth has had plenty of time to heal. Other than popping those couple stitches the Dr. said that the rest of his mouth is healing well. He did recommend that we continue the soft diet until we see him again at the end of the month. Poor kid has got to be getting sick of a soft diet. Luckily, enough of his stitches have dissolved that he is able to start eating a few things with thicker consistently. We have found in the last few days that he LOVES eggs!! He also is a pretty big fan of chicken and stars. We are having to get creative with his food since they extended his soft diet. Unfortunately they also extended his wearing of the splints by another week. BOOOO!!!! He is still not sleeping well at night and we can't wait until those splints can go away. I think towards the end of next week we will be able to start leaving them off for naps and see how it goes. He is able to go most of the day without his restraints on. We just have to stay close to him and make sure he doesn't put anything in his mouth. He mostly just needs the restraints for when he is tired. Truthfully he hasn't tried to suck on his fingers since surgery. Occasionally he will put his finger in his mouth, but it is more out of him being onery than b/c he wants to suck on his finger : ) I am hoping that we have officially broken him of sucking on his finger so that when he has his next surgery he won't have as much difficulty.

Poor little buy is cutting another tooth. This is only his 3rd tooth and he is almost 15 months. I am anticipating alot of teething in the coming months as his little mouth fills up. He also went to the Pediatrician on Friday and got another round of immunizations. Poor kiddo got 5 shots and his little legs are so swollen. Tylenol, Ibuprofen and baths are our friend for the next few days.

Konnor's next surgery will be to repair his lip and is scheduled for Halloween. He already looks so different that I can't imagine how he will look after his lip is repaired, but I also can't wait to see his complete smile after surgery. His smile is already so infectious that it will only get better. Speaking of smiles....this little guy is hilarious. He is so happy and smiley. Even the Dr. on Tuesday said "Wow, he is such a happy little guy." Truthfully as long as he gets his naps and food then he is just a smiley playing machine. He loves to look in mirrors and will just sit there and make silly faces at himself. He is just such a joy that words will never be able to express how we feel about him. He just lights up our small little corner of the world.

On an attachment front I think we are doing incredible. Konnor will still go to either Mark or I freely. He is also starting to reach for his Grandparents. Other than these few people he won't actively seek anyone else out. This is a great thing. He will run up to someone (when we are in small group settings--not randomly in public), smile at them and give them a high five, but he won't let anyone else pick him up. If we let someone else hold him then we have to hand him to them and we stay right by him. He thinks this is fine for about a minute or two then he is ready to go back to Mama and Baba. Even with the Grandparents he seeks us out regularly, which is a good thing. If he is around alot of people he will walk around and play, but he will make sure to keep Mark and I in eyeshot. These are really good things as far as showing his bonding/attachment to us.

Overall we are still doing great. Hopefully the sleep issues will resolve once he is able to go without his restraints. Keeping fingers crossed....