Family Photo shoot before the move

I asked my dad to take some pictures of us before we left, but we all ended up passing around the cameras and taking pictures of each other!

The Earwell

Not sure how many of you know this, but our little Aramis was born with a deformed ear.  Looking at it on it's own, I guess you wouldn't know, but compared to his other ear you would.  His left ear is kinda folded down, like a little cauliflower ear.  Unfortunately, no one said anything to us about it (doctors or nurses….) so we didn't know there was a way to fix it early on.  I thought he would need a surgery when he was older if we decided to fix it, which is an option.  The other is called the Earwell.

After my mom and Nick's mom both mentioned something about him being made fun of at school because of his ear, I realized his cute little elf ear might become a problem when he was older.  Yes, kids are perfect just how they are, but kids are also cruel.  So, I did some research and found a plastic surgeon blog where he talked about the Earwell, and how it is used to reshape a baby's ear in the first two months of life.  The problem is not too many docs out there do it.  There was a list of providers in Utah who did it on the Earwell website, there were only three.  Luckily, one was in Salt Lake, so I gave him a call.  

It was about a 2 1/2 week wait to get in.  I was very afraid we would miss our window; if the treatment isn't started in the first month, it's unlikely it will work.  Fortunately, the doctor explained to us at the appointment that breast fed babies have a larger window, because due to mommy's estrogen, their cartalige stays soft longer.  So he was optomistic it would work, and we decided to go ahead and do it.

The only problem is we are moving and will not be here for the duration of the treatment.  It takes about 6-8 weeks, and we are leaving here in 3.  I told the doctor after watching the tutorial, I felt comfortable doing it if he wanted to show me, and he agreed.  He will go over with me the steps  of how to apply the device every time we go in so I can finish the treatment in Iowa.  This plastic surgeon was a very kind and generous man, and we are very glad we found him, and are also grateful for everyone else who helped make this possible for little Aramis.

His normal right ear

His left ear, you can see its folded over, knobby and pointed

We had to shave his hair to apply it

The outer part

The little retractor piece that pulls the deformed ear up

The covering to hold it all in place

And here he is all finished, hopefully it yields some good results for him, and we spare him a surgery when he is older.

Getting ready to move

My parents brought over a few big totes, now I just need to hunker down and start packing them up!  It's a little hard though when you've got the Tazmanian devil following behind you…...

My three boys

Gotta say, they are all pretty cute!

Tristan really loves to hold his little brother.  He is always asking to now.  

Happy 4th of July! ( A little late) We celebrated by going out and raiding JoAnns (they were having a sale on scrapbook paper, how could a stay at home mommy resist??)

Tristan showing Aramis what tummy time is all about.

Comfy Lilly?

She loves hanging out with her daddy

Tummy Time

Tummy time was always the hardest thing for Tristan, because of his neck.  So it's weird to me to have a baby who at just over a month can hold his head up.  He can get up on his elbows on his tummy, and if you hold him over your shoulder, he likes to peek around with his head up.  It's just crazy!  So I bet he is going to be crawling and walking really fast as well, especially since he has an older brother to watch.

Another cute thing he has started doing is making baby noises.  I mean the real ones, like cooing.  Tracking is starting to get better, he still won't look directly at you, but he watches thing, he'll follow a lit phone back and forth.

The worst?  He's very very needy.  I mean, sometimes it's cute that he wants to be cuddled nonstop.  But not when I'm trying to take care of other things, like Tristan or the house.  If you put him down and he wants to be held still, he lets you know.  And if you try to put him down after he eats, he has a full on meltdown.  Every time!  He has to be snuggled after he eats or his world is over.  It's hilarious, but dang horrible at the same time.  So I usually spend the better part of my day feeding him and holding him.  Thanks though to my mother, we now have a swing that sways instead of rocks, and he loves it.  I just wrap him up nice and tight, put him in, and do the dishes as fast as I possibly can!

But it is fun to see just how much he is growing and changing.  And I can't help but compare his development to Tristan's, and it's always exciting when he does something I remember Tristan doing.