JD's 2nd Visit with the Easter Bunny

I took Davis to visit the Easter Bunny today at the Emerald Grand on the Harbor. We had such a good time! He did not cry, but was very was pretty much stone-walled when he saw the big bunny. I got a couple of good shots, but unfortunately he never smiled.

After the Easter Bunny, we went to play with our friends. We met the Martin Crew... Erin, Kris, Kiersten, Elena, Marah, Nick, Campbell, Amanda and her twins. We walked around and watched the kids play. They danced to the "Kiddie Karaoke" and ate candy. We ran into Davis' teacher from school and 2 of his girlfriends from class. The weather was absolutely beautiful, we just missed daddy :-(

Elena was pooped! Big sister was on stage dancing with her cousins and about 30 other kiddos.

We ran into Kate as we were leaving. She is a friend from school. They gave each other a big smooch when we saw her and they played for a little bit, but Davis was starting to get sunburned so it was time for us to go.

One last shot with mommy before we go.

JD found his nose!!! I have been working with him and he never seemed to get it, but on the way home from school Friday I asked where his nose was and he pointed straight to it! He can point to his eyes too, but after that he starts getting a little overwhelmed. Here's a video of my smart little boy!

The Big Day of Surgery

Davis had tubes put in on Tuesday last week. His surgery was scheduled for 9:00 AM but we had to have him at the hospital at 7:00AM... why? I am still trying to understand. Davis loves his breakfast and his milk in the morning and as always, prior to surgery you cannot eat or drink after midnight the night before. I woke him up at 11:00 Pm the night before for a little Buffet party. Grandmommie came in town and was able to join us for the party. We ate a little lasagna, some chicken fingers and some Easter cookies. We had a big time! He was a little confused but thoroughly enjoyed it! After about 2 hours of gluttony and playtime he went back to sleep. He woke up on his own at 6:30 and was happy (and still full thankfully) and so our little adventure began. As you can see in the picture below, Davis did not have a care in the world. Just as happy as he could be.

In the hospital pre-op area there was a wagon to help preoccupy the children. Davis loved riding around the hallway in the wagon. We played games, watched TV and did everything in our will to keep him preoccupied prior to surgery.

When the nurse came to get him for surgery, it was probably the hardest thing I could ever imagine. They took him totally awake and unmedicated. She told me when they went back they would give him a mask to put him to sleep (Thank goodness, no IV). It broke my heart but I think that the fact we had been there for so long enabled me to get through it because I was just ready for it all to be over with. When he came to (seriously only about 15 minutes later) he was as mad as a wet hen. I promise, he woke up people in surgery that were under anesthesia because he was so mad. John and I went back to get him and he was bright red, splotchy, screaming and glassy eyed. I hope to God I never have to see him that helpless again. Once I got him to the car, he was happy as could be. I picked up some food on the way home and he slept for about 2 hours once I put him down. After his nap he was back to himself again! Ever since the surgery, he has been normal, happy JD! He is talking/ babbling more and seems to have a better balance when he walks. So far so good! No issues and hopefully no more ear infections!

Just hanging with the Brown Fam

Davis sharing his firsts "Peep" with Eddie.

Grandmommie gave Davis a Bunny Webkin for Easter, Davis is checking it out.

These pics were taken at the park down the road while Grandmommie was here for a visit. We played on the swing and the slide. It was so much fun.

Grandma and Grandpa Brown sent us an Easter Surprise for JD. Davis fell in love with the book, the chicken and most of all.... the box. He climbed right in it and stayed there for awhile.

Am I not the cutest boy in the whole wide world?????

John has been working a lot lately... Thank the Lord!!!! We are so blessed to have him so busy during such discouraging times in this economy. We surprised him last Saturday and brought him a picnic lunch on the beach so he could get away from work for a bit. Davis loves the beach! Unfortunately he loves the water even more and it is still too cold and was extremely too rough last week. We were only able to stay for a little bit because he kept darting for the water, but we had fun while we were there!

If only he knew what to do with the dust pan and broom when he picks them up. I'd be in business! The broom is one of D's favorite things to play with!

Davis loves flipping through books. This is the child version of "Marley and Me". Thankfully, the doggy lives happily ever after in this version. :-)

JD's Favorite Modes of Transportation

First of all, I wanted to comment that Davis has grown quite attached to a blankie that his Grandma Brown gave him. It is soft, blue fleece on one side and blue silk on the other side. He looks so cute carrying it around. He will actually lay on the ground with it and try to take a nap on the hardwood. He is also growing quite attached to his paci. I have taken great pride in the fact that he has been perfectly content all these months without a major security "crutch" but man they work in moments of stress. I know that I am probably creating a bad habit, but who cares if it makes him happy! I have some smaller "woobies" that I am trying to get him used to so we don't drag a big blankie around all the time. (Sorry for the red eyes, didn't go in and edit.) We have had so much rain over the last week or so! It seems like the sun is never going to shine again for a significant amount of time. Well, those of you that know our property, knows that we are prone to puddling... well, okay flooding. We have not had many issues since 2005 when we had all the hurricanes, but this past wave of thunderstorms created quite the lake in our front yard. I blew up the float Sunday morning and put little man in it. I laughed hysterically (thank goodness my neighbors did not see, they might have called DHR on me), but Davis seemed to have fun. I only let him play for about 5 minutes because he started to get too curious and even though the water was only about 3 inches deep, I'm sure it wasn't the cleanest of "pools". Our neighbor's children have fun in our driveway after storms like this. I joked that I was going to start charging admission :-)

As for Davis' other favorite mode of transportation, he loves his car! Grandmommy and Pa-paw gave him this for his birthday and he really hasn't paid much attention to it until this past week. He would push the horn, which plays little songs, but he recently figured out how to get in and out of it. He will push it around a little in the den, but does not get too far before he gets bored. What is really funny about the car though is that he gets in it Dukes of Hazard style and gets out like he is checking the oil under the hood (see the video). I will try to catch him crawling in soon.

The Girlfriend Story and Time for Tubes :-(

I do not have any new pictures to download right now (it has not stopped raining long enough to get outside) but I wanted to tell everyone about Davis's girlfriend Heidi. Davis has graduated from the infant room at day care to Suite B which is a transitional room until they are about 18 months old. From there they transition to Suite C until they are potty trained and then they move to Classroom 1. Anyway, we thought the transition would be terrible because they are not allowed bottles, lunch is at 10:30 and they only nap one time from 11-1 (on a cot, no less). He has done wonderful! I started only offering the sippy cup to him at about 10 1/2 months and it only took him about 3 weeks to transition solely to sippy cup. He totally forgot about the bottle overnight. He is always super tired and starving when he gets home, but I let him take a cat nap from like 5:30-6 before we eat dinner. Everyday at school I ask about his day and the only shortcoming he has is naptime. He will sleep great for about an hour and then he gets up and wants to play, which disturbs the others. Well, about 3 weeks ago when he woke up from his nap he crawled into the cot with Heidi and started cuddling with her. The teachers thought it was sweet, so they just let them lay there. Then when everyone started waking up they noticed that Heidi and Davis were lip locked!!!! From that point on Heidi and Davis have been a little munchkin couple, haha. They really are always together it is hysterical. There is another couple in the class, Kate and Brody. Those two even hold hands and will get jealous if the other is playing with someone else. They act like they are married. Who knew 13 and 14 month olds could have such behaviors.

Moving on to a not-so-fun subject... Davis had another ear Monday which makes about 6 in that many months. We had an appointment with Dr. McWilliams, ENT on Wednesday and he recommended beyond a shadow of a doubt that we get tubes. As a matter of fact, the right ear was infected on Monday but the left looked great and even after a shot of Rocephin the left ear still got infected. Every parent that has had them on their children say it makes a world of difference. The tube itself is smaller than a "braces" rubber band and they are only under anesthesia for about 5 minutes. Dr. McWilliams said he will even be able to go back to school the next day. The surgery is scheduled for April 7 so hopefully after that we will have no more ear infections!

Playing Catch Up

My poor baby has another ear infection! This makes 5 in the last 6 months so we are definitely looking at tubes. We have an appointment with the ENT on Wednesday and will get all the details then. I went ahead and took off today so I could take him to see his pediatrician. Davis was coughing all weekend and had a low grade temp, but woke up with 102 this morning. His pediatrician treated him with an antibiotic shot and he is already feeling better! He is napping right now, so I wanted to take the time to upload some new pics.

These 2 pics were taken on The Ryals boat. They are friends of ours from Birmingham that were in town for their Spring Break. There was enough room in the cabin for JD's pack and play so we had a very nice relaxing afternoon on the water. Notice in the first pic how he is trying to get to the water. I swear he is part fish!

I love this picture! Harborwalk Marina had a big to-do on St. Patty's day, so after work on Tuesday, I picked up JD and met some friends down there so we could see the action. JD made friends all over the place. He is such the social butterfly.

Probably running to go say hey to someone else. He may be Destin's future mayor.

(Pics got out of order but this is him napping on the Ryals boat. Sleeping Angel.

JD's new sunglasses, which NEVER stay on. Kinda like his shoes.

JD loves rolling his tongue! He will look in the mirror while he is in the car and do this for at least 5 minutes after school. He thinks it is hilarious. Notice the "drool!" He has also picked up a "cute" trick of taking a full sip from his sippy and spitting out a full mouth full. That is why all of his pictures show him with a wet shirt.

Again, out of order, but another pic from the boat last weekend.

These were at his 1 Year Well Check. He loves playing with the tongue depressors.

Last but not least..... I finally got him blowing kisses on video. He will never do it as well in front of the camera as he does when he is just hamming it up, but nevertheless it is still really cute.

Gotta go for now, he is waking up. I will try to post the story about his girlfriend at school as soon as I get a chance, it is so funny!

12 Month Checkup

My goodness it seems like only yesterday we were going to Dr. FitzHarris for Davis's 1 Week checkup. This year has absolutely flown by! Davis is always such a good boy at the doctor's office. Nurse Charlene and Nurse Karen love him and are so good with him. Dr. Suzie is amazing. She has such a great touch with him and he never seems the least bit scared when he is there. We experienced a couple of milestones at the visit today: we weighed on the big kid scale (standing instead of sitting), we got his height on the wall ruler as opposed to laying down and we almost got a successful temperature reading with the Oral thermometer! Poor thing had to get 4 shots and at least 2 of them were the bad, stingy ones. He cried for a little bit and then pouted on the way back to school. It broke my heart but he has already forgotten about it and is back to my sweet little man. He did spike a fever this afternoon so I had to pick him up from school a little early, but it is normal again thanks to tylenol.

Dr. Suzie always asks me what my favorite thing about Davis. I think they ask this to make sure you don't have any postpartum issues because she asks it so routinely and always makes notes. But I remember on our very first well check, all I could say is "Everything!" I felt so cliche' but I truly did love everything about him! I couldn't pick one quality. (Plus I didn't sleep much so I couldn't think too methodically). The subsequent well visits I always had something new that would come to mind like his first laugh, his "gummy" smile, his hugs. But today after all the changes that have happened since our last well check, I get back to "Everything!" I could have said how he runs across the room for me with his arms spread for a hug, how he dances at the first sound of a good beat, how he lays in my lap and will go limp while I rub his back, how he comes towards me for an open mouth forehead kiss, how he claps his hands when I say his name, but truly... it is just every single thing that he does and is that makes me so unbelievably happy! We love Davis so much and cannot imagine life before him! We are so blessed and thank God every day for him!!!

Oh yeah, one last thing.... measurements

Height- 29 3/4 inches (but they said since he was a little bowlegged we should probably add an inch, hehe). He was in the 50th percentile

Weight- a whopping 26.6 pounds which puts him in the 90th percentile

Head circumference- I forget the exact measurement, but was in the 90th percentile