Our Beginnings: Whirlwind

Well as you may have noticed there isn't a 5 month update. Mommy fail. However, I have a great excuse. We moved back to the US at the beginning of July! It has been one crazy month. I didn't even take A's 5 month photos :( but I did get some 6 month photos. So how has life been? It's been a whirlwind of a month. Here's our update:

On July 11th D, A, and myself boarded our final (well for awhile anyway) overseas flight to the US. It was certainly bittersweet. Italy holds a special place in our hearts. After all, D and I got engaged there, moved into our first home together, made many memories together, and we had our most amazing son there. I'd say Italy was a very special place. After 12 hours of traveling, in which A only slept 1 1/2 hours of, we landed in Detroit. It was nice to be on US soil. Luckily A adjusted immediately to the time change. And our first morning back we all headed to Walmart at 6:30am. Yea, typical America where you can go grocery shopping at 6:30 am. But more importantly is how much A has changed in the last couple of months.
Before we left Italy A was having some trouble with weight loss. D and I just didn't feel right when the doctor said that it was normal. And honestly, it could have been normal but not for A. Two days before we left Italy we found out that A had a severe lip tie and a posterior tongue tie that was most likely the culprit of his weight loss. Upon showing his pediatrician and the lactation consultant that we had been seeing since his birth, we were told that it was in fact something that shouldn't have been missed. Luckily after 3 weeks of jumping through hoops with another pediatrician we were referred to an amazing ENT who took care of his ties. It's been about 2 weeks since the procedure and although things aren't 100% better, they are getting there. On the plus side, my goal for breastfeeding was 6 months and we have made it to that point. We have been having to supplement with donor breastmilk and a little formula with the result of A gaining nearly 5lbs in the last month! So even though I'm sad that he has had to have some formula, I can't be sad at how much weight he's gained. I am trying to get back to exclusively breastfeeding him because at this point, every obstacle that could be thrown our way has been thrown our way, I'm determined to make it another 6 months. There's been plenty of tears, frustration, and thoughts of giving up BUT we are powering through. The good news is after A's recent check up he is back on the growth chart weight wise!
A has also changed in his mobility status. When we left Italy he was getting really good at rolling around. While in Michigan he started rolling around the entire room. He was so proud of himself. Now he is full on crawling and after any and all power cords. He has also started pulling up on anything and everything. He has one tooth and another that should break through any day. He is wearing 6-9 month clothes and weighs about 16lbs and 27 1/2 inches long. His eyes are hazel and he still has brown hair, although a lot less of it :( My favorite part about him is his giggle. He has recently become ticklish under the arms. It's the most amazing sound listening to him giggle and seeing his smile. We have started solids with him. So far he likes spinach, yellow squash, avocado, peas mixed with avocado, carrots, carrots and sweet potatoes, and zucchini mixed with avocado.
D and I are doing well also. We enjoyed our month long vacation tremendously. Michigan was perfect and relaxing, Tennessee was nice and filled with time being spent with family and friends, and Georgia has been good too. However, after such a long journey we were definitely ready to settle down. We finally moved into our home about two weeks ago. Our house is fantastic and we are loving it! We have been doing some painting. I put Dave to work with our kitchen. I think he will never want to paint again but he has been very patient and supportive of the changes and has done pretty much all the work.
So that's our update! Here are some photos from the past month: