Had another visit to the paediatrician for Kadon’s control and he now weighs 9.450 kilos and measures 69cm…..a big difference from the little premature baby who weighed 2.495 kilos and measured 48cm when he was born

I know it’s a long time since I’ve managed to do any updates but our time is pretty much filled with Kadon…..he’s changing daily and growing so well, it’s hard to believe that he was a prem baby and is now almost 6 months old…..where has the time gone???

So much has happened over the last couple of months that I’m bound to miss stuff out, but Kadon now rolls over, can sit on his own with his hands in front of him, chatters away to himself and is very much aware of everything that goes on around him…..he likes to be up on his feet as much as possible and can pull himself up very easily with the help of our fingers.  He now has a walker/rocker which he loves, and is very much aware of his toys.  He’s now eating solids (home-made, he’s not so keen on the jars from the shops) and sleeps through the night (usually about 10/11 hours) in his own room.  He’s adapted really well to the heat, which has definitely come much earlier than previous years and is already reaching mid 30′s during the day…..but that’s where the swimming pool comes into it’s own and we get to spend most afternoons lazing around the pool with a dip to cool us all down…..and Kadon absolutely loves his time in there and although we’ve had some very surprised faces, he doesn’t seem to mind too much when he’s dunked

Kadon’s had a few appointments now at the Materno Hospital in Malaga and they’re keeping a close eye on his heart valve…..they have said that he’s definitely going to need to have the stent put in sooner rather than later and are talking about doing it after summer.  In the meantime we go every month for a revision and scan, and although it’s scary for us to know he’s got to go through an operation, we know that he’s been monitored very closely and we know that if he’d not arrived early and had to spend time in neonatal, then this wouldn’t have been picked up….so for that we’re grateful.

We’ve started going to a baby/toddler group once or twice a week which Kadon seems to enjoy…..well he takes a little more notice normally than Kayla and Gabriel, so I think that’s a good sign……and now that the weather is warming up we’ve had quite a few days laid out in the garden where Kadon loves watching the palm trees blowing.  He’s also had his first little toe dip into the pool, but not quite sure whether he was impressed or not.

We’ve had a couple of hospital appointments to check on his heart – one at Marbella where he also had to endure an enema to help clear him out, which wasn’t very pleasant for any of us……Kadon screamed the place down, and it was heart breaking having to hold him down for the nurse, but since then and the introduction of a little powder to mix in with his milk every now and then, he seems to be back to full working order.  We also have our first appointment at the Materno Infantil hospital in Malaga, where he will now be seen every month…..the peadiatric cardiologists there have told us that his condition is between medium to severe and he will have to have a stent put in at some time soon, however they prefer to wait until he’s one year’s old before doing so unless things get any worse before then.  They also told us that it’s highly likely he will have to have surgery to replace the valve in the future.  If we didn’t know about his condition, nobody would guess…..he’s putting on lots of weight and becoming a right little chunky monkey and seems to be doing very well, which the doctors have assured us good.

Kadon’s also had his first two sets of injections and drops…….the first one’s didn’t seem to cause him a problem whatsoever, but after the second injection he was a little grumpy and clingy for a few days.  He’s cried at both lots of injections but only for a minute or two until he can be picked up and cuddled and then he’s settled straight down.

He’s still getting lots of presents bought for him including a Spanish football strip with his name and number on the back from his aunties at Bar Granada…..they absolutely adore him and we think he’ll be thoroughly spoiled in the years to come by them

We started introducing a baby cereal and rice in with his milk a couple of weeks ago, which he’s taken to very well.  We only mix in enough to slightly thicken the milk and he still takes it through the bottle, but he did have his first taste of mashed potatoe and white sauce last week which went down a treat.  He also loves Milky Bar white chocolate, which his Nanna and Grandad bought him for Easter, in fact every thing he’s tasted so far has gone down a treat.  I’ve prepared lots of vegs/fruits for him this morning which I’ve frozen in ice-cube trays and today is the first day of starting to wean….he’s had banana mixed with a little milk for lunch and again he loved it……the way he’s going I don’t think they’ll be much he’ll turn his nose up at….hopefully!!!!

He had his first “control” appointment at the Centro de Salud in Estepona and the paediatrician said he was excellent and doing very well, he weighed him on the scales there are said he was 4.6kg (but not sure how accurate this is because they weren’t electronic scales). We’ve made the appointment for his first set of injections as well, so not looking forward to them.

Grandma & Grandad came for their visit since Kadon was born and we spent a lovely week together, with lots of cuddles and signing from Grandma We had our first night out with Kadon on their last night, and Kadon was really good and slept the whole time we were out……unfortunately he then decided to have play time when we put him to bed and kept us “entertained” until 2.30am before settling down for a couple of hours and waking again at 5.30am……think we’ll give the nights out a miss for the time being.

Tuesday was Kadon’s hospital appointment for another ultrasound of his heart……nothing has changed really since his last appointment, the valve has grown but not thinned out but he still continued to be monitored regularly and an appointment should be through soon for him to go to the Materno Infantil in Malaga to meet the doctor there.

Kadon now weighs in at a massive 4.18kg (9lb 2oz), which means he’s put on 1kg in 3 weeks…..mind you if they’d weighed him before his scan he’d have weighed more……needless to say he left his lovely doctor another present…..2 in fact

Tuesday night was also our best sleep so far, he went 6 hours from his last night feed at 11pm…….mind you I was still awake every couple of hours checking him, so don’t think I benefited very much.

Saturday was Kadon’s due date and we met Sarah, David and Gabriel for lunch at the tapa’s bar along with Sarah’s mum and dad who were over from England.  It was good to catch up and compare notes on the babies and what they’ve been up to.  It still seems strange to see Kadon next to Gabriel, Kadon looks like the size of a newborn baby now where Gabriel is much bigger…..his hands are about double the size of Kadon’s   Needless to say, neither of them took any notice of the other

Kadon was weighed again and now weighs 3.075 kgs which is a good weight gain overall from his birth weight, but if the scales at his last appointment were correct then that means he’s put on almost 500 grams in 11 days!!!!

We’ve taken loads of photos and videos of Kadon and you can see the difference in him from when he was first born.  I put his scruffy bear outfit on him again this week which is the one he came home from hospital in and although it’s still a little big you can really see that he’s starting to fill it out now……will be interesting to see what he weighs when we go to the hospital next week.

The appointment went well, Kadon has put on a little more weight and now weighs 2.570 kg which is 160 grams since he was discharged and he was given a thorough examination by the doctor and the cardiologist who also listened to his heart.  She said she could still hear the murmur and wanted to see him again in a couple of weeks times for an ultra sound scan to check whether the valve was growing and narrowing.

We also took the opportunity to register Kadon’s birth at the Registro Civil in Marbella.  We were prepared for the usual long wait and masses of questions/paperwork, but to our amazement we were seen immediately and it was very simply and straight forward.  They completed the Libro de Familia straight away but we have to go back in a week’s time for a copy of the certificate.