Surgery

This is an update on Ethan's surgery!
Ethan was born with two ureters on his left kidney. Normally you only have one. This second one of his attached incorrectly to his bladder and wasn't draining. We saw this on his prenatal ultrasounds, so we knew that there was an issue long ago. The surgery was to take that ureter, taper it down because it had become so swollen it would have overwhelmed the bladder at its current size, connect it to the bladder to flow the correct way and then connect it to a drain to help relieve some of the swelling from the surgery. Phew. So, they did all of this and it all went really really great! The doctor said that everything went exactly as they would have wanted, and that everyone was loving having him around. (I mean, is that really a surprise? The kid is like perfect.)

Pre-Op Pictures: Ethan did fabulous in Pre-Op, even after they bumped his surgery a half hour. He was playing and talking to everyone, and didn't even care that he hadn't eaten in six hours.

Post-Op Pictures: When Ethan came out of surgery (after being under for almost 3 hours) I (Whitney) got to go and meet him. It was so sad. He was so groggy and confused and a couple of nurses were trying to get him to calm down. He wasn't in pain, because the doctor had given him and epidural type shot, he was just hungry and confused. After eating a little, we met up with Dad and headed up to our room. We met our nurses, and Ethan downed a few ounces of Pedialyte, and was out. And was out for about 3 hours. He woke up again to eat a bunch more, and look around all confused, and then slept again. He basically spent the whole day sleeping, and eating.

           

Saturday (the day after surgery) he woke up at about 4 am, and was ready to go. He was crawling around the crib, spitting, and talking. We were glad, but not because it was stinking early. :] For the rest of the day he carried on just like nothing had happened, climbing all over the place and getting tangled in all his medical related cords. The doctors came and told us he was doing great (Uh, obviously.) so we were discharged! Woo hoo. We came home, and Ethan decided he was ready to crawl. It's just an army crawl, but this was not how mom and dad pictured the day after surgery! But, he's so tough that it hasn't even phased him.

 

6 months

1/2 of a year!
Holy cow.
We have the most awesome 6 month old around.

At 6 months Ethan loves:
*Smiling. He is the happiest kid around.
*Talking. He jabbers and jabbers like there is no tomorrow. He has this weird alien voice he uses sometimes when he is really focused on one toy. It is so funny.
*Ethan is trying to figure out how to crawl. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but can't pull himself forward. He can push backwards and all around, but just can't move forward. He's really close though.
*Ethan has learned to shake his head back and forth. He does it when he gets excited. It's really cute. :]
*He has learned to be shy, and doesn't really like strangers.
*Ethan loves to be held. His new favorite game is to climb all over mom and dad. He is very much an attention hog.
*He likes to bury his face in things and yell. Your arm, the couch, the pillows or blankets.  It's weird and quirky, but he does it to everything.
*Ethan still doesn't sleep very good, but we are working on that every day.
*He is such a flirt. He likes to flirt with the ladies and is rather talented.

At his 6 month appointment Ethan was:
17.8 lbs (40th percentile)
and 28 inches (90th percentile)

Holidays in Review

We had a great first Christmas and New Years!!
We got to spend a ton of time with family, from far away and close by.
Ethan had such a fun time opening presents, and getting all the attention in the world. :]

 We got to visit Temple Square. It was so crowded! But the lights were pretty. 

Ethan opening his first Christmas ornament! 

Christmas Pajamas 

Mom and Ethan in their Christmas PJ's. :] 

Waking up Christmas morning! 

Please find me a photo that is more adorable than this right here: 

Opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa's 

Ethan and his buddy Jenny! 

For New Years we had a shin dig with our good friends. His sister has a 13 month old that became Ethan's new buddy. :] It was a fun night, we played a ton of minute to win it games and ate delicious food! 

We got 2nd place!!! 

Ethan fell asleep for a few hours before midnight, and woke up at about 11:30. It was perfect! He was getting pretty grouchy, but we kept him up to have a midnight kiss-two in fact!

(He looks half asleep I know. We are not bad parents, it is just an untimely photograph. :] )