Whoop for June 30th!

June 30th means July is finally here!!!

Here is a quick recap of the END of June at the Dean household...

June 20
Liam got his 6th month shots!
The penile adhesion that I had asked about at his 4 month appointment was "taken care of"...
I think that was worse than the shots... poor guy! 
Thankfully less than 36 hours later he was good to go! :-)
Unfortunately, because of this, we missed the last 4 days of swim class.. :-/ Oh well!

Liam and "Nolan" :-)

23 June
Liam had his right shoulder taped, to stabilize the shoulder blade/encourage use...
I removed the tape at home 4 days later. It didn't seem to bother him at all.

24 June
We got TWO packages from Nolan and FOUR post cards, 2 for me, 2 for Liam....
WHOOP for mail!
When Nolan deployed, I had requested just one thing from the different places he may visit...
A written and mailed post card... Of course, since Nolan is so very thoughtful.. he not only fulfilled my request, but he went one step further and wrote and mailed some to Liam... He is awesome! :-) <3 him!

Lots of goodies from Palermo, Sicily

Letters from... Dad! ;-)

I locked Sandi outside for over an hour one afternoon...

I rushed in (to keep Liam and I from being attacked from mosquitoes - Liam has red bites all OVER as they were getting him as I would go from the car to the house and vis a vis..) and fed Liam and such and then heard her barking on the side of the house that doesn't have a fence...
She seemed to enjoy her time out ;-) haha

I co-hosted a baby shower with my friend, Inga, for our friend, Amy
Sunday, the 26th

Inga (left) and Amy (middle) had hosted my baby shower.

A huge fire, started by lightening, is still burning North/West of us...
For a few days the house smelled like an ashtray... then burnt popcorn...
A week and a half later, we are getting ash on our cars...

This was taken at an Officer Wives dinner at Logan's Roadhouse...
Liam passed out shortly after this picture was taken...
He is holding a boot, that was filled with M&Ms

Liam thought he would be silly and get ANOTHER diaper..
I guess the one I put on wasn't the one he wanted...

I killed this.

It came slithering our from under the recyclables container,
scared the crud out of me and when I composed myself I decided it was going to be...
Snake 0 Paige 1
Mission Accomplished. :-)
 
 

With regard to what Nolan is up to...
He has been able to call quite a bit lately, which has obviously been a great blessing! :-) 
He called right after I had killed said snake, so he was quite surprised by my response to that day's "What are you up to today?"  LOL 
He had been doing roughly 6 days of days (6a - 6p) then 6 days of nights (6p-6a) and thankfully now, he is back to just days, at least for a while! :-)  He has been flying and writing the schedule often... if he isn't flying, he is writing the flight schedule, more or less.

I found this somewhere.. I forget... none the less... FYI

The MV-22 Osprey’s mission for the U.S. Marine Corps is the transportation of troops, equipment and supplies from ships and land bases for combat assault and assault support.

He is nearing 500 flight hours (in the Osprey) which means he can begin to work on becoming an aircraft commander... meaning the pilot in charge of the aircraft when they fly. Currently he is the co-pilot.  It is officially call TAC - tilt rotor aircraft commander.      

Nolan is looking at getting a tablet of sorts... to upload his flight pubs to... It seems to be the direction most military pilots are going... He was looking at a Galaxy, but I think he mentioned a Toshiba one the other day... it is in "the works" you might say. :-)

The ship has been "on the move" so the last package I sent, with the July calendar squares, took 19 days for him to get... thankfully he got it before July 1st! :-)  

The mail is so very weird... I ordered a cheese, sausage and cracker basket from Hickory Farms on June 12, it shipped on the 14th and Nolan got it on the same day as he got the calendar squares package that I had shipped on the 6th...  Who knows?! Just glad he DOES get mail! :-) 

It is kind of hard to tell, but that is an Osprey taking off... and the line of smoke!
I can't move the picture up.. not sure why...

Liam has been hard at work at OT... and is getting better and better at rolling from his back to his stomach... over his left and right arm... He was practicing this on a medicine ball on Monday... On the floor, he still isn't too confident with rolling from front to back, but in time. :-) This past week he began REALLY pushing up on BOTH arms - yay for Liam!

And on Monday at OT (while on his stomach) he was bringing his left knee up toward his left elbow.. yay for the starting position/skills for crawling!! :-)  Exciting!
It is funny that he will do more... at OT than he will do at home... I am starting to wonder if it is because we only have wood floors and maybe the rug he is on isn't enough cushion...?  

I purchased some 5/8 inch thick mats to put down to see if that will encourage him!  They are colorful and since our new house will also only have wood floors (down stairs) I figure they will make a great "play room" area for Liam! They come tomorrow - I can't wait! 

See you in JULY! WHOOP!

Allllmost July!

Thank goodness we are FINALLY! more than halfway through the month of June!

Unfortunately June has seemed to drag for both, Nolan and I... so we will be welcoming July with open arms! ;-) July was Nolan's original deployment date...

I ran into our FRO (Family Readiness Officer) at the O'club last week and she said it has hit everyone this past week or so.... I am kinda glad it isn't just me and Nolan that are I guess really starting to truly realize that the guys are gone, and won't be back for quite a bit longer... BOO!


To pass the time and stay positive through it all, Liam and I have been staying busy.... some days I think we are too busy, so I am starting to build in 1 day a week that we have nothing to do and we just hang out at home together!  As of late, it has been Wednesdays. :-) 



On June 1st, I took Liam to the O'Club pool around 4pm and he didn't object too much to having his feet in the water, as well as getting in a little bit.  The pool has a graduated entrance, much like a ramp, so I am able to sit in the extremely shallow water with Liam.  Since that went well I signed us up for a swim class here on base that started on Monday of this past week! (June 13)

June 4 

Melting Pot in Wilmington with the Thunder Chicks

Nolan's calendar square, July 2

The back of his square... since he winged July 2, 2009! :-)

July's morale calendar that I mailed to Nolan on June 6th.

On June 9th... the MOST beautiful flowers were delivered to our house!

Happy 5 years to us! :-)

Nolan had them delivered a day early so that I could enjoy them ALL day on our anniversary!  He is so very thoughtful!  He called shortly after they were delivered too!  They smelled just as good, if not better, than they looked! And it was amazing each morning (of this past week) to see more and more of the star gazer lilies turn from white to pink and then open up!  The roses opened up a lot more too!  They were so nice to have in the house - and they lasted a solid week!  :-)
Nolan was also able to call on the 10th as well!  What a blessing to have such an amazingly wonderful, thoughtful, caring and loving husband! :-)   

As I mentioned before, we share the same anniversary with another couple in our squadron, so we girls met for dinner at Texas Roadhouse (fitting right? since we both were married in TX) :-) 

Anniversary Dinner with Sherri and Nate
Nate wasn't too fond of the picture taking idea...

Back to the swimming....

I originally signed up for an evening class, in hopes that the water would be nice and warm, but since I was the only one, they moved me to the Parent/Tot class that meets from 940 - 1010, 4 days/week for 2 weeks.  The first day, Liam pretty much fussed the entire 30 minutes... I felt horrible, maybe he just wasn't ready for this/it was just too cold... I talked to the instructor about moving to a class later in the summer, but she said to try another day... Thankfully on day 2, he enjoyed about 20 minutes of it and then started fussing... On Day 3, the water was a lot more cold that it has been, so our class spent the first 15 minutes learning about pool safety, sunscreen, gear, etc. and then got in the water for a little more than 5 minutes... the rest of the time we sat at the graduated entrance and let the babies (6 months - 18 months) sit in the water/play with some pool toys and Liam and I both enjoyed ourselves! :-) Day 4 was cold, but Liam did great - Success! 

Yes, I make the poor boy wear that hat...
He doesn't have enough hair (although he is getting more on top) and I definitely do not want his head to burn!
We are still working on getting rid of the cradle cap - almost gone though!

We have been playing various games
humpty dumpty sat on a wall 
(and then falls in the water and pops back out a few times and then back onto the ledge ;-) ) motor boat, motor boat 
(which he floats on his stomach while we move in a circle... then the motor boat "steps on the gas and goes so fast!" and we go in a small circle in place FAST! )
tick, tock (where he is tilted left, then right, (repeat) and when the clock coo coos he goes up out of the water)
He enjoys reaching for various floating objects (these round saucer type things and rubber ducks) which end up in his mouth! :-) 
He is not really a fan of floating on his back (with his head on my shoulder and the rest of his body sort of laying on my arm)

I would say overall it is going well, and we are both enjoying it... he passes out as soon as we get in the car, so it is very tiring for sure! :-)  I am thinking about signing up for Session 4 which would be at the end of the summer... maybe he would like it even more when he is a bit older!

Liam has also had OT 2 times a week, for the first two weeks of June and last week he only had one session, since we had swimming during one his appointments and I wasn't able to reschedule...

Liam is making GREAT progress with regard to his right side/arm, however his occupational therapist, Megan, and I both agree that his stiff neck is still an area that needs more work/time... 

Most of Liam's sessions (50 minutes in length) begin with 20 minutes of manual releases, which are when Megan uses the body heat from her hands to warm the muscles around Liam's neck... so that during the rest of the OT session his neck is loosened up and he is more willing to turn it to the left... If you sit behind him, he is always looking at about 2 o'clock...
Over the past few weeks, Liam has been working on his back at reaching up (lifting his right shoulder off of the mat) to grab at toys, as well as on his stomach, to support himself with one arm and reach with the other (specifically practicing holding his chest up with his right arm).
He also practices rotating on his stomach, by twisting and moving his arms out in front of him to grab at toys.  He practices pulling his legs up and over (instead of extending his body/arching his back) to roll over.. specifically over his right arm, which he has to pull out from underneath himself.  In the same respect, he has been working on using that right arm to push himself back over to his back, from his stomach... He is not too much of a fan of being on his stomach, as that requires more work from his arm(s).  He is doing well though! :-) 
Megan has also given me some exercises to "wake up" Liam's lips before eating... He had done really well at eating rice cereal at 3 1/2 months and then at 5 1/2 months when we tried sweet potatoes and he would just let them sit in his mouth, wait for his mouth to fill up with saliva, then gag and spit it all back out... He has gone so far as to gag himself and throw back up the few ounces of formula that he ate prior, so that isn't such a great thing... So far he is liking squash and that is about it... although he will suck on/eat frozen pureed banana in a mesh feeder thing... so we will keep trying the peas, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal... as well as other fruits and veggies.. 
While it is important for Liam to learn to "eat", at the same time, however, I don't want to take away precious formula calories for baby food... Liam doesn't eat much to begin with... 10+ oz/day less than he "should" for his body weight.... about 24 oz in 24 hours.. He is, however, eating 6 oz bottles at a time, most of the time, which is a great new change/age appropriate! :-)

This past week, Megan, had him on a medicine ball, looking at himself in the mirror/grabbing at toys attached to the mirror, while she supported his waist and ever so slightly rolled the ball, forward and back, as well as left and right.  This is to continue to strengthen his trunk muscles, specifically to get his right side equal to his left.

Until next time!

Happy 1st Father's Day / Liam 6 months!

Happy 1st Father's Day Da Da! :-)
I love you and miss you! See you soon!

A "card" I made and sent in a care pkg...

Liam's foot print...
something we made at home and just sent Nolan a picture of! :-)
The first of many "home made" gifts Nolan will get as a Dad! :-) Whoop!

6 months old!

Our little family...
Happy 6 months Liam!
6/19/11
(the timer caught my hand mind grab, but I thought it was a pretty decent picture none the less!)

Below are 3 pictures that were taken on Saturday, June 18, by the same photographer who took Liam's newborn photos... 
Of course the one day that Liam decides to not take much more than a 30 minute nap... and once he did fall asleep in the car.. it was time for pictures...
I SURE hope she got at least one of him smiling, although I kept saying that was what I really wanted and I haven't seen any yet....  If not, I will be asking for a redo... to get one good laughing/smiling Liam... 
I do think these pictures are nice... but in my mind they do not represent the happy go lucky baby Liam that I know and love!

 

We officially have a SITTER!

He is sitting just in front of Sandi (which makes him look bigger than he is) but if he was closer to her, he would just fall over trying to grab at her! haha :-)

Since June 15th, Liam has been working really hard to STAY sitting...

He took a nose dive (well backwards and scared the crap out of both of us... because I didn't catch him and his head hit the rug, which has wood floor underneath) on the 15th, so on the 16th we didn't do as much practice at sitting...

Fast forward 2 days to today, June 17th...
I am SO intrigued by just how fast he has picked up on the skill!  He is falling over A LOT less... although if he gets really excited about something and jerks in one direction he can't overcome it and topples over...  He is able to tilt a little in all directions and still bring himself back to center... Amazing!  Seriously, in the last 48 hrs he has "gotten it" and just 2 days shy of his 6 month birthday!  Way to go Liam! :-)

He is able to lean forward to get a toy (and not just fold himself in half) and then go back to center... He is able to lean left or right and hold himself up with one arm, as the other arm grabs for a toy.... (This is something he has been working on (off and on) at OT)

I took some videos today, since my original attempt on the 15th is what led him to falling backwards and hitting his head.... I am still very cautious, obviously, but will get those uploaded to youtube.com soon! :-)

Recap of May!

April 30th, I celebrated 1 month down with my neighbor, Hilary, and our friend Jen and her son, Jackson!  We had veggie pizza that Jen made and funfetti cake and cookies! 

I also bought our (Nolan and I's) first bottle of wine... I am buying one for each month that Nolan is deployed, so that when he gets home we will have at least 10 (hopefully less and definitely not more - I hope and pray) different bottles of wine to try! :-)  

May, much like April, seemed to FLY by!

On the 1st, Liam rolled over from his back to his front... so that was exciting!  He must not have cared too much about it, because he didn't really roll over much for quite a while after that! haha I was still very proud!

We started 24 calories/ounce formula... to try to help Liam get some extra calories each day, since he doesn't each near the amount that a typical baby his age would eat in a day...

Liam woke up with pink eye in his right eye; we were able to get in to the doctor the same day and get medicine... and two days later both of his eyes looked even WORSE! I washed off the medicine, erythromycin, and pretty much instantly his eyes started to look a lot better... I suppose he had a negative reaction to the medicine... :-/  His pink eye did seem to go away even without more than 2 days of medicine... 

 

Liam started pushing himself up!
The box under his jumper (in the background - right) is full of military flat rate boxes...
As I mail packages to Nolan, the box of boxes decreases in height, which is perfect for Liam's growing legs! :-) 

At the end of the first week, I mailed the squadron's morale calendar, which started in June... for Nolan to hang in the ready room (where he briefs for flights and such).  I had volunteered to collect the squares each month, which I will continue to do, throughout the deployment.  It has been a blessing in disguise to have this "job," as many people are stopping by the house, to drop off their square, so in a sense I am getting lots of visitors to keep me company! :-)  

 

The calendar...
each square is 5 in x 5 in

 

The squares I made for Nolan... Another couple in the squadron share our wedding  anniversary, so I offered for the other wife to take the 10th and I took the 9th!  

 

No one chose Father's Day, so I took it and made an extra square... I used one of the pictures from our newborn photo shoot and made this...
I love how it turned out! :-) 

I also made a square for George, Nolan's good friend from flight school, who is single, so otherwise, he wouldn't get a calendar square... It was day 27, if you look at the picture of the calendar above... I had had George send me a few pictures of he and his family before the guys deployed.

For Mother's Day, the Chapel gave carnations to all of the moms and our squadron had a nice lunch at the Lejeune O'club and gave roses, so that was nice!  

The following weekend, I attended a Christian-based Military Wives Conference on Saturday, where I was brave and put Liam in childcare for the first time... for 5 hours! They never paged me to come calm him down and he was smiling when I went back to get him, so I would say it was a positive experience for both of us!  AND a highlight to the day was that Nolan called (from his cell phone) for the first time since he had left 6 weeks prior!  He had flown the Osprey to NAS Sigonella, Italy and we were able to talk for 11 minutes! :-)

The following day, we played hookey from church, and went to the airshow here on base for the sole purpose of catching a ride in a Huey... well for me to, not Liam... I convinced my neighbor, Hilary, whose husband, Adam, is on the boat with Nolan, to go with me to stroll Liam around while I went for a 10 minute flight and she wound up going too! Fun times!  It was so much fun that I went TWICE! 

  

Yes, I am expensive.. $50 for each flight, so $100 later, I had flown around Jacksonville for 20 minutes! haha  I videoed it as well and can't wait to show Nolan were we flew too.. it was so very cool!  And at the end of the second flight, it started to down pour, so we got wet (in the aircraft) because the doors were open!

FIRST time to Skype...
Family Photo
May 17

Happy 5 months Liam! :-)
(May 19)

The middle of May brought a new addition... Nolan's sister, Emily, had Keenan Michael on May 20th!  Yay - Liam has another cousin! :-) 

Toward the end of May, our referral for Liam's right shoulder/arm/neck, finally came through and we were able to go to his evaluation appointment.  In April I had taken Liam in to ask his doctor about it and she agreed with me that Liam was using his right arm a lot less and that because of his unique birth experience; too much fluid, coming down sideways and getting stuck, having to be suctioned out via c-section, she felt like he had a mild case of brachial plexus... 

After an hour and a half evaluation of Liam, the occupational therapist agreed that Liam's strength on his right side (truck and arm) was less than that of his left.  (for babies, the standard is for the left to match the right and vis a vis I was told) The evaluator, Megan, agreed, he did seem to be making progress, but that she believed he would benefit from OT twice a week (to continue rapid improvement) and eventually once a week, for the next 6 months, to ensure that he meets physical milestones... He was also less able to turn his head, completely, to the left side... unlike his right. 

We also discussed his 4 oz bottle/feeding intake, which for a 5 month old is not exactly the usual... she mentioned he may be silent refluxing and to maybe try Zantac again...
Liam's doctor disagreed with the reflux thought, although begrudgingly wrote a one month script for Zantac, although I haven't started him back on it yet... I might, because he has been coughing before and after he eats (a possible sign).

The last Thursday night in May was the Deployed Spouses Dinner at the base chapel, where Nolan and I have been attending services since we moved here almost 2 years ago.  There was a huge crowd - our squadron, in particular, really participates in things; so much so that they changed it back to monthly! (it had been changed to quarterly because no one was coming)
I love that it is at our church home and to see so many ladies come out and have a free meal and let their kids run around outside in the yard!  Liam never has any trouble finding someone to hang out with; someone always wants to hold him for me! :-) haha

TWO teeth!
May 23 
I am too cute in my bath tub! :-)

The last weekend of May brought Nolan's first port call to Palermo, which was amazingly wonderful for so many reasons!  First of all, Nolan got off of the boat, for an extended period of time, which meant that we were able to talk on the phone daily (FRI, SAT, SUN and MON) and we were able to skype on 3 of the 4 days... some days we skyped twice!  It was so wonderful to see him and for him to see Liam! :-)  There was a tiny piece of normalcy that returned in that I was able to call and text Nolan, just as I would if he was here in the states.... so wonderful! :-) 

Memorial Day with Hannah and Lucy!
Hannah's Dad, Rob, lives with Nolan on the ship

May 30
2 months down = wine night!
One sip for Liam and he passed out! ;-)
totally kidding... he had had a LONG Memorial Day!

Jen and Hilary recommended that the 2nd bottle of wine (for 2 months down) be a Prosecco, so the following day I got some!