climbing trees and everything!

little Salem.. all grown up and climbing trees...
okay, not really, he's got some useen daddy help, holding him up...

Meaningful words

Salem is saying da-da more and more these days. And sometimes I think he means me! It's hard to tell if he really knows that da-da means me, or if he is just making sounds, but I want to believe he knows.

Last night Tree asked him "where's da-da?" he looked over at me, but again, we don't know if it was coincidence. We then asked "where's mama?" and he looked in her direction, but we still don't know if it was deliberate.

Slow and steady. Progress every day.

Tweedle dee & Tweedle dum...

Kage and Salem... 16 months apart...

the pictures are 10 months apart...

we call this sitting baby pose...

Salem has joined ranks with all us vertebrates...
using his spinal cord for something useful...
like sitting...


 

Salem is 11 months old today! Been planting his hiney for 5 days now... woo hoo.. way to go baby!

Peace!

No rest for the weary!

Salem has a double ear infection an has been very clingy. He is so sad when he gets put down and when you pick him up, he just just melts into you and sighs.

He is not sleeping well at night, either. Tree and I have been up a good deal of the night with him the past two nights holding him, taking his temp, and trying to convince him that it's OK and he should try to get some sleep.

Tree took him to the doctor yesterday and he got put on anti-biotics. Hopefully, he will get better quickly and we can get back to being spoiled with him sleeping solidly from 10:00 PM till 7:00 AM

If not, that's OK... I didn't want to sleep anyway!

Get in my belly!

Salem has been growing like crazy. He laughs and smiles, and almost holds his own bottle. He almost rolls over without coaxing. He holds toys and loves to play. He has two teeth and looks like he is getting some more with all the drooling and gnawing on stuff.

He is also getting some hair. It's about time! He had more hair at birth than scout or Kage and then went on a hair growing strike. It is finally coming in now, but I have a theory that it is just him being rebellious. We had planned on dressing him up as Ang, from the Last Air-bender for Halloween because he was bald. Now we will have to shave his head!

He's my baby-baby!!!

Little baby Salem...

Salem... Salemee?... We've been discussing what his nickname should/would be... we usually add an "e" or "y" on the end... or shorten it some how..
Salemee...Lem... Sal...

he has to date:
rolled over 6 times,
held his bottle twice,
blown 12 raspberries
eaten a total of 2 cheerios.
We are making progress.

Salem is 8 1/2 months old.. He still sleeps in a bassinet.. sideways even!!! (Scout was trying to climb out of her crib at the same age)

Salems little big brother turned 2 today...

He didn't seem all that impressed with the festivities...

He didn't care about the yummy birthday muffins,

...he got none!

He didn't care about snack time,

...he got the same thing he always does.. milk in a bottle.

He didn't care about bubble time,

...he got bubbles in his eyes.
He didn't care about fun time at the park,

... he doesn't walk, ride, swing or slide...

He didn't care about double layer chocolate cake with chocolate pudding and chocolate glaze,

...it's not like he got some pureed in his bottle.

So to Kages 2nd birthday he says... "Meh!"

to see/ read about big brothers b-day click the link....
http://crowecrew11.blogspot.com/

What a cute kid... whoa deja vu... again

It amazes me how much Salem looks like Kage. And it amazes me how much Kage looks like Scout.

The three of them are absolute clones. The only way to tell them apart is to check the bar code on their feet. OK - there's not really a bar code. And you can tell them apart, cause they are all roughly a year apart. But the real issue is when you are looking at pictures.

The other day, I saw a picture on the piano and asked "alright, who took a picture of Kage in a dress?" It was a picture of Scout from a year ago.

I have a picture of Scout in my office from when she was several months old. She looks exactly like Salem.

There are times (many times) when Tree and I have to ask each other which one is in a picture.

So where do I stand when people ask if I think cloning is ethical, moral, and legal? I guess by my actions I agree with it.

first lasts...

Salem is the caboose, but since our family of 9 kids, boasts 5 cabooses, I'd like to get off at the next station.

Therefore Salem is our Ender. He is also the last of all the firsts.
This very night is the last night that he will retain his 6 month old status.
In this 6th month...
he gained some weight,
tried baby food (didn't like it)
started smiling on cue.
started chewing on fingers, sometimes his own....
trys to wiggle out of a diaper change,
looks more like his daddy every day...
cut his first tooth... a last first...

little by littlest...

Salem exploring his cloth jungle.
he's a little wary... but curiosity gets the best of him and he reaches, kicks, pushes, pulls...he's really into it..

30 seconds later he's spent,its time to be chauffeured onto something new...

sześć miesiąc (that's pollock for 6 months)

I can't believe it's already been 6 months... It has been a very loooong six months.
Salem is doing well. Post-op is great.
His smiles are worth their weight in gold and his giggles, though few and far between are priceless.
~it feels like little Salem has always been a part of our lives.

Stats:
6 months.
11lbs 7oz 23 inches

almost up to par for a 2 month old.

Life threatening? a hernia.. for real?

Salem had a hernia that needed to be repaired. The surgeon said it could be life threatening. So he got to spend some time at Primary Childrens Hospital! Sterile & clean twinged with whimsy! I recommend it!

He had a great surgeon. They did a laparoscopy to make sure he didn't have any other holes or abnormalities.(hence the bellybutton owie!) He is recovering very well.
We are back to smiles!
:)

the "period of purple crying"

You have to watch a video and take a quiz about the period of purple crying now before you leave the hospital...

Well folks it's here and according to the video.. we have about 3 more months of this...

time & attention

Salem is enjoying the extra attention his hospital stay afforded him.
He got the IV removed from his head after it failed..and here he is sporting a full head wrap.
After much fluids and a massive dose of caffeine he is feeling almost spunky...
Little tough guy!

Resting and recovering

Salem and Tree spent the night in the hospital and Salem will be there for at least 48 hours. He is doing better and is finally eating. The doctor has cut back on his IV and Tree says his color is looking better.

They are not sure why he was not doing well. They say it is not RSV, not H1N1, but not really sure what it IS.

Hopefully we will find out soon.

Havin a bad day

Salem hasn't been feeling well for a couple days now. He has had a little cough, diarrhea, boogery nose, and way too much vomitting for someone this small.

Today he hasn't eaten hardly eaten anything and his coloring is very pale. He has just been laying around, not even crying. The few times he's tried to cry, it just comes out a quiet, sad, barely audible squeek.

His heart and lung monitor has gone off several times, which is very uncommon.

We are at the emergency room now.  I figured we would be up all night worrying about him till the doctor's office opens, we might as well be awake with someone in the medical field checking him out justin case he's very sick or quite dehydrated.

ER doc looking at him now.

Monitor, shmonitor....

okay so Salem wears an infant electrode belt kit. the belt goes across his chest, with electrodes (little black square) that attach on the right & left ribs, you have to put goo...or surgical lubricant on the electrodes.. its cold & wet & sticky.. he hates it.. a lot!     Attach the 'trodes to the lead wires, connect the lead wires to the monitor cable and there you go. All wired up and ready to go.

shot time! OUCH!

Salem got his 2 month shots! Grover tried to make him feel better...

5 lbs 11 ounces! little piggy! doing good! nothing much to report... he's 2 months -healthy & growing... but still just pretty much eats & sleeps..

VIP = Very Important Preemie!!!

Salem is our very important preemie right now... but last year Kage held that title...and the year before Scout was our VIP...

(the very cute onsie shirt is actually Kages that he got when he was in the NICU)

Salem & siblings

Salem is doing great! Growing & growing! His siblings seem to like him and Salem likes to be held by just about anyone....except maybe Kage! :)

Sweet Salem

This is Salems sweet baby blanky that he's had with him from the beginning. It was given to us by a lady who makes these precious blankys... http://www.dablings.com/

I had just given Salem a bath and wrapped him up in his super soft, super warm blanky...

Happy New Year!!!

Salem is doing great! He's eating & sleeping & growing! Yes, he can cry but for the most part he is a pretty laid back little boy. He is still tiny. Newborn clothes are still too big for him. He is still on the oxygen & monitors but hopefully those will go away soon. He is not suppose to be doing anything "newborn" for another 2 weeks, but he watches things, looks at movement, trys to hold his binkie in, grabs his blankie... so I think he's doing "newborn" things already.

Okay so it's been awhile....

Christmas time is a hard time to begin with, but when you have a baby unexpectedly and then have to spend 5 weeks commuting back & forth to the hospital..
then bring him home & have to stay home...
THEN.. wonder how you're going to get your christmas spirit on...
whew... the blog falls by the way side!