Two Months Already?

It's hard to believe that two months have already gone by. Charlie is in much better spirits lately--less of the level four crying as his dad would say. Still growing at an amazing rate. We went for his two month appt and found out that he is now a whopping 13 lbs. 15 oz. and is 23 3/4 inches long. The doctor pointed out that he is the size of an average four month old! We're hoping this means he'll be tall, not just wide...we'll see! He had the first round of shots too and three Baby Elmo bandaids to show for it. Mom and Dad were extra nice to him that night:)

Charlie got to go to his first baby shower a couple weekends ago (I'm sure his Dad is happy about that:) Cousin Manda is closing in on her due date--due June 6, so we're all getting excited. It was fun to visit Alex--Lauren--Kyla's house and to eat some good food and talk about baby stuff...There are certainly a lot of willing baby holders around in the Bannister fam, which is a nice break for new Moms!

Charlie was so excited to meet his Grandpa and Grandma Adams at last! They spent the weekend and had lots of time to hold Charlie. It was a big weekend too--first time we ventured out with Charlie for dinner in public (we chose a really noisy bar and grill to be safe) and Mom and Dad got to go to the movies for the first time since parenthood began (grandparents were kind enough to babysit:) 

 

Charlie meets his Great Grandma Bannister!

 

Charlie Goes to the Hospital

Over the weekend, Charlie's eye began to look red and swollen. We thought it might be a blocked tear duct, so we tried putting warm washcoths on it and figured the swelling would go down. Charlie's Aunt Beth is a nurse and she recommended that we should call the doctor if it didn't get better soon. When Monday came, the eye was really looking awful. We made an appt to see the pediatrician that afternoon thinking that he would probably prescribe some eye drops for us to take home. We were shocked (and sad) to hear the doctor say that he wanted Charlie to be admitted to Rochester General Hospital immediately. I was so glad that Aunt Kathleen had come up for the day and she could go to the hospital with me.

Since Charlie is only 6 weeks old and has not had any of his immunizations yet, the doctor felt that he needed to have antibiotics quickly to make sure that the infection wouldn't spread and cause serious problems. We were scared, but God watched over little Charlie (and his parents) as we spent the next few days in the hospital. It was hard to see Charlie go through all the poking and prodding, but he is a tough little guy. All the nurses thought he was so cute and were fighting over his care! He received two days of IV antibiotic treatments and his eye looks almost back to normal. We were very happy to return home on Wednesday. Thanks for praying!

 

Hmmm... is this guy edible? 

Aunt Kat is one of Charlie's favorite babysitters!

Uncle Loren and Aunt Maureen meet Charlie!

Uncle Dave came to visit last week and brought Charlie a gym to play in. It's great for Charlie's exercises!

Charlie loves hanging out with Grandpa!

Charlie's cousin Kyla and his Aunt Lauren, came to visit the other day. Kyla was an expert at holding little Charlie and he quieted right down while she patted his stomach. Aunt Jan and Beth and Aaron came over too, so it was a real party. Thanks for the tasty lasagna and sweet treats AJ!

Uncle Roger's 50th/Bannister Family Baby Viewing

Friday, March 31, we loaded up Charlie and headed to Point Breeze. Aunt Christine succeeded in surprising Uncle Roger with a party to celebrate his 50th birthday. It was a nice time too for Charlie to meet a lot more of his relatives!

Charlie: The Heavyweight

On Tuesday, April 4 Charlie had his 2-week Doctor's appt. Bob and I were pretty anxious to find out how much weight he'd gained (Charlie doesn't fit in the bowl for kitchen scale weighing anymore). He looked a lot bigger to us, so we were guessing he'd gained a pound or so. Well, we were pretty shocked when the scale read 10 lbs. 2 oz! Apparently Charlie's seemingly incessant eating is doing it's job. He grew 3/4 of an inch too, bringing his length to 22 inches. This time Charlie showed the doctor another side of himself and screamed the entire time he was naked. We have decided that Charlie is either extremely modest or extremely sensitive to the lingering Rochester cold. His "schedule" is still pretty unpredictable, but good nights (in which Mom and Dad receive sleep in at least 3 hour stretches) seem to outnumber the bad (in which Mom and Dad begin to cry along with Charlie and cease to count the number of times they get up with him). He's having more alert time now and making good eye contact. We can't wait until the first smile!

Charlie's Family

Charlie's Pals

Charlie Goes to the Doctor

It's a little scary that it took 3 of us (Mom, Dad and Grandma) all morning to get the diaper bag packed and get Charlie clean and dressed to go to the doctor's appointment at 2pm. I couldn't believe how nervous I was too, eager to hear a good report and also extremely worried that Charlie would scream the whole time or pee on the Pediatrician (which he almost did). Our doctor works in the same practice where Aunt Beth is a nurse, so he came highly recommended and is wonderful. He was surprised to see that Charlie had nearly regained his birth weight already and said that he looked to be in perfect health. We stopped at Rite-Aid (where Bob works) on the way home to get some oohs and aahs from Bob's co-workers.

Jen and Charlie were resting peacefully on the couch when Bob had the bright idea to weigh little Charlie on the kitchen scale. He looked so small in the mixing bowl and the scale read 8 lbs. 7 oz. We didn't think it was accurate because that would mean he was almost back to his birth weight after just a few days, but when we went to the doctor's a few days later the weight was confirmed! OK, maybe it isn't the proper protocol for weighing. Grandma scolded us the next day and said, "so this is what happens when I go to bed..."













Grandma gave little Charlie his first (sponge) bath. Charlie HATES having any parts below his waist exposed, but quiets down as soon as he is wrapped up again.