Travis, the photographer

I took my camera outside today, to take some pictures of something Travis was doing (which you will see another time), and thought I would try and get a picture of Riley doing "big grin" and "eyes"...

" Give me a big grin Riley":



"Give me those eyes Riley" :


Then, Travis wanted to take some pictures of Riley and I together:



Big Grins:

Eyes:


Then Travis just started shooting pictures of Riley. Guess he is following in his Mommy's footsteps!





Belly belly belly:

So gnarly, yet so miraculous



So I go get Travis' camera, to take a picture of HIM taking pictures with MY camera!


He looks like the real deal, right?!

Weekend photo mish mash

First off...Riley is doing ok. Of course, "ok" is somewhat fluid with him, and relative to the current situation, but he's home still, and nothing seems WORSE. His belly is still bothering him, but the oozing area on his incision looks better on the outside to us. He has ate decently (although very picky) and has been decently active. But cranky. Much more cranky than my usual Rileybear. He goes to Duke this week, so we will see what they have to say also. So that is an update on him. Everyone wants answers (including us!), but that's all I got. Welcome to our world with Riley :o)

Next up....Miss Misty
She is about 4 months old now.
She is kinda crazy.
She seems to be over her biting everything phase, although she still loves to tug on Travis' pants (think there is some dominance issues going on there).
She loves to play on the playset outside.

And she slides down the slide, without coaxing, its her preferred exit method

She is still a little thing (about 11 pounds) which is so different for us former big dog owners.

She is never too far away from us (although we did have to put her on the underground fence collar)

She adores my boys! (speaking of adoring...notice Travis pushing Riley? :o) )

And every boy should have a dog, right?


Riley had a little fun outside today in Travis' old powerwheel racecar. It is meant for toddlers (read...it is very, verrrrrry slow), but couldn't quite get the hang of the button to make it go, so as you can see above, Travis just pushed him around. Jay modified it a little tonight, to make it easier for Riley to push.
Eitherway, he loved riding in it!


And today, was (is?) my birthday, and birthday's mean cake right? My mom made me my favorite...strawberry cake with white icing and fresh strawberries on top (and some chopped up too with sugar...YUM)


And welcome to our after-dinner world! If it's not obvious, click on this picture to see the details better!

When Riley is done eating, and ready to get down, he gets frustrated. (the crankiness of his sore belly didn't help either) Frustration means tugging at his hair/ears. Whatever is on his hands transfers to hair. See?


Travis' baseball season begins this week. He is very VERY excited. Jay is planning to be an assistant coach, and I volunteered to be the team mom. So that makes Scouts/Baseball/Golf that Travis has going on! He's going to be a busy little guy!

it's always something

 

Today, Riley and I spent the better part of the day getting his belly checked out. Yesterday, he began showing obvious signs of discomfort and guarding of his belly. It continued into this morning, so off to the pediatrician we went. The verdict at the pediatrician's office (after she called Duke), was that he has a stitch abscess in his incision line. The simple explanation is that a small abscess formed around one of the internal sutures in his incision. Now, it has or is rupturing, making it ooze on the surface and cause him discomfort. So...we wait, and watch for signs of increasing infection, and put ointment on it. He was increasingly miserable as the day went on. If that continues, he will be going right back to the Dr. If he vomits at all, that changes things dramatically.

When the pediatrician called Duke, and she told the surgery office people, that Riley's mom had brought him in for abdominal guarding, and discomfort, they IMMEDIATLY pulled his surgeon from clinic. Dr. H said that if I say he's guarding his belly and acting off, then HE IS. He also praised our knowledge of Riley and said it was ok for us to stay home and deal with this, as we know signs of infection/blockage etc and he trusts us. Of course as good as that made me feel, it is also very stressful looking at his belly, wondering if it looks just a LITTLE bit more red this time then it did 10 minutes ago. Does it look a little bigger? He cried longer that time than he did earlier, is he in MORE pain?

Fun times here.

Finding our new normal, again

Riley is doing ok. One day last week, he vomited several times, after a day of obviously not feeling well, and then he quit and returned to "normal". Not sure what that was about, but we are muddling through. As much as he seems fine, he has several issues that hopefully will just take time to resolve. His body has proven time and time again, that it is incredibly adaptive, so we just have to wait for it to adjust. I've been asked several times why we basically seem so calm about his success. I always thought I'd be throwing a huge party when this day came, and apparently a lot of other people thought so also. But now that he's reconnected, I've realized that he's still just my Riley. The same little boy that has overcome incredible odds before, has done so once again, and has had his (and our) 'normal' change once again. I am incredibly proud and happy about this difference, but mostly I am just thankful. Thankful that he is a fighter. Thankful for living within a couple hours of one of the top 10 medical center's in our country. Thankful for poop. Thankful for friends and family that supported us and HIM, different or not. Thankful for the prayers of thousands of people, who never seemed to tire of his endless antics and setbacks. And thankful for a little boy, who is constantly asking for his "momma".

How about some pictures from the past several days....

He has become very independent lately, and no longer allows us to feed him with a spoon. He has to do it himself. Which can be rather messy, but overall, he does a good job.He also seems to be a lefty. We'll see if that continues. (he's using his right hand in this picture, he does switch it up time to time but always returns to his left hand. He makes a much bigger mess with his right hand, and does it nearly perfectly with his left)

The wonder dog

Pointing out planes


What? Donut? I don't know what your talking about

Couldn't do this before

 

Enjoying some fresh air

Since the weather has been much milder the past few days, Riley has been able to play outside some, which means I too, have been able to get out of the house. We were outside a lot today. He tires out easily, and we would swing some then, but when Travis got home today, he did do quite a bit of walking following Travis around.

Misty gives one more slurp before bathtime

Sunshine and fresh air!

Trying to keep up with Travis unsuccessfully

"Look Mommy, I'm doing the luge" (we've been watching a lot of the Olympics)

Misty decided to try and catch an aggravating Mole

I can push OR ride. Sweet

Beep beep


Riley is doing ok. Small improvements everyday, although some areas seem like one step forward, two steps back sometimes. But he's pooping, and eating well. Drinking is still debatable . His belly is healing up nicely also.
A funny story. Costco sells these little cinnamon/pecan rolls called two bite cinnamon rolls. These things are delicious. Today, Riley, Travis and I had some after Travis got home from school then we went outside. While out there, Riley asked for milk (mi-mi), so I came in to get him some and he spotted the package of cinnamon rolls. He begged for them. So I got two out and we back outside and shared them. When we came in so I could cook dinner, he went over to where they were and pointed up to the cabinet and was begging. So I put him in his highchair and let him have one while I was getting food stuff together. After dinner, guess what he begged for?
But look how happy they make him!