Three Months Old

Little Joe will turn three months old in a few days and things have been going well, minus a few speedbumps we've encountered along the way.  He was recently diagnosed with several issues that have impacted his ability to breathe properly which has caused us to take him out of daycare after only a few days so that we can monitor him more closely.  Rachael had noticed that he made gasping sounds and seemed to struggle to breathe at times, despite the diagnosis of severe reflux from our pediatrician.  This led to some prudent online research and a visit to an ENT last week who used a camera scope down little Joe's nose and throat to diagnose the issue.  It was a very stressful week for all of us, but in the end we are happy to have a diagnosis that both accounts for the issues we've noticed and gives us a path forward.  As long as little Joe continues to eat well and his breathing issues don't get to the point where he cannot breathe we will continue monitoring him and look for him to outgrow his conditions in about a year.  In the meantime, Rachael has worked out an arrangement with work that allows her to bring little Joe into the office when she is in and will let her work from home when possible.

Last week Holly and Mike came to visit and had some great quality time with the baby.  They are the first of Rachaels family to come visit since Melody was here for the birth and we were very excited to have the chance to share little Joe with the family.  I had my own mother come down for an evening last month and we've had a few get-togethers with my sister as well, so all in all its been a busy month of show-and-tell with the little one and he's been getting a chance to be social more often.  We're still looking forward to seeing the rest of Rachaels family soon and hoping that it will be over the summer.  Rachael's brother Wes got engaged last week and his wedding plans are still falling into place, so it seems that a lot of things well depend on the details of that.

Little Joe has been a lot more interactive lately; he has started smiling somewhat frequently and even coos and makes noises at us during his most attentive moments.  They're still a bit far between, but things have been changing pretty quickly with him and I won't be surprised if in a few weeks he's completely different.  He's also started lifting his head up on his own for half a minute at times and turning his head toward sounds or familiar voices when he's active in the evenings and mornings.

All in all, things have been great.  I'm definitely looking forward to what this summer will bring for him and by my estimation he will be crawling sometime toward the end of the summer.