Grandma

Grandma passed away last night. She was in her own room, peaceful, warm, comfortable and surrounded by love.

Pictures taken from Christmas 2005 to present.

A Bit Derailed

I know this blog has been a bit neglected lately. In an effort to try and make as many Christmas presents as possible this year (to save some $$), I've had to be on a pretty rigorous 'production' schedule...one which I can't claim success. There are a few things still to be finished up and hopefully I will be able to do that while my office is closed this week.

I owe several weeks worth of Photo Project photos that are in various stages of being ready to upload and post, so those will be coming shortly as well as *hopefully* a recap from the holidays...and by holidays I mean beginning back at Thanksgiving. I feel that I don't want to let Elliott's first Thanksgiving and Christmas go by without some sort of commemoration, but unfortunately thanks to my craptastic camera, I don't have many - scrap that - any decent photos to share.

I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. There seems like an infinite list of things to do and no time to do them in. Fortunately, one of our Christmas presents this year is a new vacuum, so (theoretically) keeping our place clean in the new year will be a bit easier. (PS - you know you are truly a grown up when you get a vacuum for Christmas and you are STOKED.) We are also in line to drop some major cash this week to get both cars (over $500 a pop) and Jenny (*hopefully* only $500 for a teeth cleaning) fixed up for the new year...add to that tuition ($300), books ($200), and car registration renewal ($230) and our savings account is taking a pummeling this (and next) month. Ugh. Sometimes I really hate money.

However, none of these things are really all that important...what I think is really is coloring these days is what is going on with my grandmother. There really isn't any other way to say it except that she is dying. I've been able to visit her a couple of times in the last week or so, for which I am very thankful. Given that she is 94, this is an eventuality we all knew was on approach, but it is here. It is so difficult to see someone's body slowly giving out. She's still there, but it is almost impossible for her to communicate with us and even eating has become a daily challenge. Fortunately, she is surrounded by people who love her. Even the staff at her private board and care home truly love her and are as saddened by this turn of events as her own family. I will of course post here as things progress and in the meantime we would gladly accept your positive thoughts and prayers.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it) and are anticipating a positive beginning to a new year.

Recommended Listen

Brad and I are both fans of the music from Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, also known as the Swell Season. They are the musicians responsible for the movie Once, which really is a great little indie movie if you haven't already seen it. They even won an Oscar for best original song for their efforts!

Anyway, the Swell Season has a new CD and NPR posted a truly wonderful stripped down concert of some of their songs. Even if you just listen through your computer, it is a great performance and recording. They also give you the opportunity to download it, which we will also be doing.

Their Tiny Desk concert video is also super cute to watch and listen...you can watch it here.

I hope you give them a listen and enjoy!

10 down, 2 to go!

I thought I'd simply share a few of the 'new' things that Elliott has been doing this month.

1. He started sharing. There are a few favorite toys that he'll carry around and after a while, he'll hold it out for you to have...but he wants it right back. ;)
2. Speaking of favorite toys - right now it has to be, hands down, Jenny's glow in the dark dog bone. (I washed it...not that it still doesn't end up in the dogs mouth now and then, but at least it doesn't 'look' dirty.) He will crawl that bone all over the house. Sometimes you can even hear him coming as the bone squeaks with each stride.
3. He has also learned how to turn the pages in his books. If he's not already ready for it, if I ask him "will you turn the page?", 9 times out of 10, he will. I do have to get the page ready first...or else he just closes the book.
4. He went from two teeth with nothing else in site, to cutting all four top teeth at once. They are all in various stages of immersion, but the only way he will let you see them is if you hold him upside down.
5. He is perfecting his standing. Mostly this happens when he is doing something else and not thinking about what his body is doing. This is leading us to believe that he could probably walk now too, but he just doesn't know he can or thought to try.
6. He is "talking" a lot. He carries on conversations with us, with himself, and with his toys. He's even started saying certain "phrases" in common situations. He says something that kind of sounds like "i gots, i gots" when he's roaming the house and finds a toy. He stands up, pats the toy with one hand and says "i gots, i gots", which is a pretty funny coincidence if you ask me.
7. He thinks shaking our hair is really funny right now...especially while we are saying 'gesundheit'.
8. He apparently likes getting mucky:

Just before I took this photo he was wringing his hands together
like he was conceiving a diabolical plan

Photo Project 52.27 - The Swine Edition

Sickness infected out humble abode last week. Brad got sick last Thursday and I came down with it promptly after work on Friday (nice timing, right?). It was rough with both of us sick at the same time, but we are well on our way to being healthy again.

Me 52.27: Sickness

Fortunately (this round), Elliott didn't get sick. I kept thinking 'how strange' because its not exactly like we could keep him away from us. I still had to nurse him and we both had to carry him. We had to fix his food and change his diapers. But despite continued face-to-face contact he didn't get sick. Then I saw a news report about how this year's H1N1 was particularly mild and people were actually throwing swine flu parties to self-immunize themselves against it...when I realized that's what we had. I know its just a flu, but it just sounds so gross. Anyway - oink, oink!!

Elliott 52.27: Blurry but cute

I also really thought I wouldn't be able to take my Photo Project photos this week (since I usually take them over the weekend). But luckily by Sunday, I was feeling a lot better despite still having serious head cold symptoms (think really, really bad allergy attack). I also took Monday off from work and am glad I did because today I feel close to 95%. A couple more cups of honey and lemon today should do the trick! Thanks again Shan for the perfect cold remedy!

Other 52.27: Favorite sick remedy

P.S. I may have a second favorite cold remedy now as well! Thanks to a very opportune email forwarded from Brad's Aunt Carol, we've been virtually cough-free the last few nights with no medication! The trick? Vicks Vapor Rub on your feet. Basically put a decent amount on the entire bottom of your feet and then put on a pair of socks. You end up getting the benefit of the vapor rub without the smell...although a certain little doggie in our house is NOT happy about this treatment. She won't go under the covers AT ALL! For those of you who know Jenny, you know this is a serious distaste for Vicks.

Photo Project 52.26

We headed to the zoo on Black Friday thinking it would be a light day, since everyone would be shopping. Boy were we wrong! It was literally the busiest I have EVER seen the zoo. But it did result in last week's photos.

(P.S. be sure to click on the 'other' picture and see it bigger...talk about a little scary!)


Me 52.26: Close Encounters

Elliott 52.26: Rarrrrr

Other 52.26: Unsettling

Thrive

We took Elliott back to the doctor the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for his 9 month checkup. We are perpetually behind by 2-3 weeks in his well-baby checkups because of the timing of his vaccines, which take precedence over actually being seen at his birthday times. Anyway, the nurse got him measured and no surprise to us he had grown a full two inches since the last appointment. We figured as much, as he is now in age appropriately sized clothing and seemed 'taller' to us. He is now 28 inches! Which means in a couple more, he will officially be done with the bucket car seat and into his convertible car seat (which also means mommy and daddy will be switching cars soon). He is in between the 25th and 50th percentiles which is up from where is has been in the past. His head circumference also measured in this range (although I forget the specific measurement at this point).

However, what we were not prepared for was his weight. At his six month check up, he weighed 16 lbs 2 oz. I put him on the scale and both Brad and I went 'huh', when it reported he now weighted only 17 lbs 6.2 oz three months later. The doctor explained that he was still okay because he had gained weight and that at this point kids are often settling into their growth rates. But this low weight put him in the 5th percentile for his age. At this range, he likes to monitor kids a little more closely to make sure they don't start declining. He wants to see Elliott back in a month to check on his weight, since a lot can happen in the three months before his next well-baby at the 1 year mark.

Elliott's vaccination band aid. "Thrive" is the tag line for Kaiser Permanente (his health care provider), but also very appropriate given the topics of this post.

While I was initially surprise at the low weight (I had been expecting more like 18.5 lbs), it makes sense. We've been so cautious about what he is eating because of his constipation issues, that he has basically been eating as much as he was when he was six months old. With the exception of more night feedings in recent weeks...again, which now make a lot of sense...he needed more calories and was trying to make up for those he wasn't getting during the day. Fortunately, we were able to talk to the doctor and he explained (something the nurses for some reason could never confirm for me over the phone) that constipation generally stems from two issues: fluids and fiber bulk. We were starting to get things under control because of the addition of more fluids, but now we needed to work on bulk.

Fortunately, Elliott loves food, so in the last week and a half, he has thoroughly enjoyed his larger meal times. We've also decided to start giving Elliott some formula. My milk supply has slowly started to decrease over the last few months and I am now only pumping an average of about 8 ounces a day at work, which puts him about a bottle behind. So now, first thing in the morning Elliott's getting a bottle of formula. He is also getting cereal two times a day, at least 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, and a meat (so far just turkey). Once he gets the finger food thing down, he will start eating more snacks as well. We were also given the green light to start giving him more variety of foods. I just can't tell you how happy this makes me.

One other thing I thought I would mention about the food issue with Elliott, is that his low consumption makes since for an entirely different reason as well. For so many things, we have been relying on 'listening to the baby' for him to tell us what he needs. This has worked so well in other aspects of his life that we hadn't questioned it as it relates to food, yet in retrospect all the signs were there. Elliott doesn't tell us when he's hungry. He did when he was a new baby, so we assumed he still would, but not so much any more. If you let him, Elliott will just play all day. Its not until you put him in his highchair that he's like: 'oh yeah! I'm hungry! Give me food NOW!!' So we are realizing that we need to have Elliott on a true mealtime schedule or it is really easy for him to miss meals. And now that we've seen a potentially tangible reflection of that, its become something we have to put as a priority over other things during our day.

The other thing that we did while at the doctor's office is get Elliott vaccinated against the flu and H1N1. Part of me still doesn't understand what the big deal is about H1N1, but after a local story a couple weeks ago about an otherwise healthy 4 month old that died and was later found to have H1N1, we decided it was worth it. Plus, with Brad going to school and the number of people he is exposed to on campus, we didn't want to put Elliott at a higher risk for getting the flu anyway.

Poll: Rediculous or Redonkulous?

Brad and I have a differing of opinions on this one.


I personally think Elliott is redonkulously cute in his tigger sweatshirt (don't worry it wasn't a full suit). Brad does not agree. I keep telling Brad I have a very limited window in which I can get away with dressing him in stuff like this and you can't deny a Winnie the Pooh fan the chance to dress their son in a Tigger sweatshirt*, right?

So what says you? Rediculous or redonkulous?


*sweatshirt courtesy of a very timely gifted batch of 9-12 month hand-me-downs.

This time last year...

The last week or so has been very reflective. Its strange to think about what was going on just a year ago. This time last year I was on my way to Mary Birch to get checked out after our unexpected ultrasound results. Little did we know that visit would park me in a hospital for 9 days and on bedrest for nearly 10 weeks.

When you go through something like that, you don't really have any other choice but to steel yourself and deal with it. That's not to say there weren't some hard days, but what does feeling sorry for yourself accomplish? In my experience, it generally just makes things worse, so its better to roll with the punches and make the best of the situation.

What I didn't expect was how traumatic looking back on it all would be. The scariest day, well night really, was the night I was admitted into the hospital. We obviously didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but they had made it seem like I was going to be monitored overnight and would be on bestrest the rest of the pregnancy. Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, there were a ton of people there (trying to deliver before the weekend...how that works, I have no idea ;) and no spare partner sleeping chairs. We thought that since I was just in for monitoring and Brad had no place to sleep, it would be fine if he slept at home. Unfortunately, it didn't really play out like we expected. I ended up undergoing a series of very scary tests, was given an IV for the first time (which almost put me over the edge), and had a very intensive ultrasound by the perinatologist. This was also when I realized I might not be going home anytime soon. I remember willing myself not to cry, wishing that Brad was with me, and feeling very, very alone.

I also look back on my bedrest with absolute amazement. I don't know how I did it. There was a point, I didn't leave the house for two weeks! And its not like I had full use of our house either. But except for a couple particularly hard days, there wasn't anything to do but make the best of it. When I think about the idea of laying down for 9+ weeks, I actually get a bit claustrophobic now. But I didn't feel that way at the time. I guess a lot of it was just being so thankful I was still pregnant. Plus, I had a very important job to do.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't fully acknowledge that it was only possible because of the help of others. We got through it because of so much thoughtfulness and downright elbow grease...after all it wasn't exactly like we were ready for a baby anytime soon...and our place was pretty much trashed.

So in honor of this Thanksgiving Holiday, we are saying 'thanks' to everyone who made that time bearable, passable, manageable, and tolerable. And 'thanks' to everyone who helped us this year as we brought Elliott home, became parents and began our life as a family. We couldn't have done this without you either!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Photo Project 52.25

Me 52.25: My work friends

Elliott 52.25: Wave bye-bye

Other 52.25: Not a turkey

Overdue Randomness for a Thursday

1. I've had a few updates rambling around in my head for the last week or two. I need to get better at just sitting down and writing one or two line posts.
2. Elliott and I went resale shop trolling last week and we scored some great deals in the toy department. We were able to pick up a like-new standing play table for $25 (regularly $43) (see last week's Elliott photo) and a push and ride fire engine for $10 (regularly $35).
3. What we didn't have luck finding was fleece jammies. Apparently I should have been shopping for these over the summer when that was all there was.
4. I ended up finding one store that carried them, but the prices were so high ($5 for extremely worn and almost used up jammies), that we ended up buying a few new pairs at Target for $8/each.
5. Almost overnight, Elliott's gone from waking up three (!!!) times a night to once. Apparently I was right about him getting too cold in his regular cotton jammies.
6. He looks heartbreakingly cute in fleece jammies.
7. We discovered a new tooth the other night...but its not where you would expect it to be!
8. Instead of sprouting one of his two top front teeth, it looks like he's skipping to an eye tooth next door. That, or Elliott's going to have teeth like sloth. ;)
9. Elliott's saying 'dada' and 'mamamama' pretty regularly. He also says 'nennie' - often times when he hears Jenny barking in another room.
10. I don't really believe that we've heard his first word, but when he woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago, he said 'nennie' when he saw Jenny come out from under the covers. I said 'yes, that's Jenny'. Then he looked at me and said 'mamamama' and I said 'yes, I'm mama.' Coincidence? You decide ;)

Photo Project 52.24

Me 52.24: No Knitting

Elliott 52.24: 'It's learning time!'

Other 52.24: Caprese

Urologist Update

We heard back from the Urologist yesterday regarding the results of Elliott's follow up ultrasound from last week. They had measured his kidney to see how it was doing and went looking for his undescended testicle (may he not kill me when he gets older for talking about this on the internet!). The doctor said his kidney is measuring 9 mm which is only marginally enlarged and within normal ranges. He suggested that he get a follow up ultrasound done in about 6 months to monitor how its doing.

As for the testicle, this is where we got a bit of a surprise. They couldn't find it. This means that they are going to schedule exploratory surgery probably/hopefully in January. The doctor will go looking for it in his lower abdomen laparoscopically. If its not there, they will go looking in his pelvis. Either way the outcome will be the same: if they find it, they will determine whether its worth saving or not. If it is, they will put it where it belongs. If not, it will be removed so as to eliminate an otherwise increased risk for testicular cancer. Ugh.

The doctor/surgeon is cool, though. He even offered to schedule an appointment with us a couple weeks before the surgery so that we can go over everything again and it will be fresh in our minds. Elliott's risk for complications from the surgery are about as low as they are ever going to be at this point, but I know it will take a lot of mental preparation for me to be able to see him go into surgery. (I felt like I was getting my heart cut out when they took him away for his circumcision.) Luckily it is an outpatient procedure, so hopefully recovery won't be too long and he won't be in too much pain.

Photo Project 52.23 - The On-time Edition

Me 52.23: Happy Friday

Elliott 52.23: Home Fry

Other 52.23: Lamppost

Nine Months!

Here we are again! Only its nine months this time! Every day Elliott is more and more like a little boy to me than a baby. Part of me never really saw him as a baby, just a little person. But its even more pronounced now. He can do so many things and the way he relates to us has started to mature.

He has started to mimic our actions a bit. He loves to slap his open palm on things (almost as much as he likes giving everything a good scratch) and in playing with him the other day, we realized he can (more or less) mimic the number of times we bang on things in reply. We have also been trying to be more consistent about 'waving' goodbye and hello. And he seems to be watching what we are doing pretty intently. Occasionally, he's even raised his hand, but so far he hasn't made an official wave.

One of the more fun things he's been doing lately is laughing when we laugh. You know when you start laughing just because others are and you don't even really know what's funny? He's been doing that. Grandma Mary had me in a giggle fit the other night with her nearly old school rap rendition of the 'official' Name Game song lyrics. I was dying. And the next thing I knew, Elliott was laughing right along with me.

He's also really started getting into things. He will see something and need to have it. You move it, and he goes after it. My mom had some fun with that the other Saturday when she was helping us clean out our office. And if it is something he can play with, he's started getting pissed if you need to take it away for some reason...like my knitting bag below...which clearly isn't a toy, but was letting it slide a bit too long so I could get some more pictures...oh well, lesson learned!

Physically, his activity level is climbing exponentially. He loves pulling up on everything (which he can do very efficiently now using almost just his legs), standing at things and banging the tops of surfaces with those open palms I mentioned. The coffee table is awesome for this. He has also started climbing around things to get where he wants to go. Before I used to be able to put a chair in front of the dog bowls and that would deter him enough. Now he just climbs over whatever obstacle lies in his path...this even includes us.

He's also started the very cute habit of following us around the house. The other evening I was going from one room to the other and back again putting things away and he just kept crawling after me. It was a great game for me because he was focused on following me (not getting into something he shouldn't - we're still working on getting the house more baby-proofed) and used up a ton of energy. Although towards the end his little face flashed - not again! when it was clear he thought I needed to sit down.

Elliott can also palm objects. He's taken to rolling Jenny's favorite ball around the floor and we noticed he could pick it up with an open palm. I then noticed him picking other things up that way, too. I have no idea if this is something all babies do, but we like to joke that he's going to be a basketball player...or a really great magician ;)

He still has just the two front bottom teeth and we honestly don't see any signs of any more any time soon. He's also back to eating more things than just pears. After the doctor's suggestion of increasing his liquid intake, his pooping issues have improved quite a bit. Certainly far from perfect, but at least he's no longer in pain while it happens. He's still on our self-imposed restricted diet of poop-friendly foods, but the peas and oat cereal have come back. We also keep a sippy cup of water within his arm's reach most of the day and he gets a small glass of diluted juice during bath time (I'm still trying to build up my tolerance to the idea of sticky babies and toddlers). We've also been signing to him consistently at meal times. He now clearly understands "do you want some more?" and can apply it to not only eating food, but also drinking more juice.

A couple weeks ago we also went through a major baby clothes reshuffle. He's now in 6-9 month, 9 month, and 6-12 month clothes. We packed up everything else. We also took stock of what we have and picked up a couple more pairs of pants and some long sleeve shirts to last him (theoretically) through the winter. This also marks more or less the last of the gift clothes. He has a couple 12 month outfits and a few toddler outfits to grow into, but that's it. So we are going to need to start frequenting the resale shops soon to get an early start on stocking up.

He also went on his first forward facing stroller ride last weekend. I could kick myself for not having done this before we went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. Not only was he facing the wrong way to easily look at the animals, but the height of his car seat bucket was right where the hand rails were mounted. Needless to say, we are looking forward to going back to the zoo soon!

He took to the stroller ride well, but did look rather stoned through most of it. But at least there was no screaming! One thing I didn't like about it, is the lack personal interaction. Before when he was facing us, we could always talk to him and interact with him. Now its even hard to tell if he's dosed off. The good thing is that Elliott's always been an observer and this gets him an unobstructed front row seat to the world.

So what stopped him in his tracks? A nasty bird feather. So gross.
He's building up his immune system, right?

Finally, we are really feeling the pinch of a rapidly growing little boy in our present living arrangements. As it stands, he usually wakes up twice a night...once when I come to bed and once when Brad comes to bed. Who knows how long he would sleep if we weren't waking him up! We are as silent as possible but as soon as the door jam pops, he's awake. Clearly we are going to need to remedy this situation, but we also don't want to move to another rental if we don't have to. So we are saving like mad and hopefully buying will be an option for us in the relatively near future.

Photo Project 52.22

Me 52.22: I Won!

Elliott 52.22: Really, Mom?

Other 52.22: Favorite Tree

Happy (belated) Halloween!

Since we don't get any trick-or-treaters at our place and Elliott's a little too young for that himself, we celebrated Halloween this year on Friday. My office loves Halloween. Its been a tradition for as long as I've been there to dress up and over the years we've even added on a costume contest. The office was a bit smaller this year, but we still had a good group who dressed up.

Behind left to right: Octamom, Flapper, The Dude, Lady Gaga, Bowler, Vampira, Hippie, Mail Lady, Fortune Teller, Zombie Prom Queen and a California Raisin
In front: Bear Cub Zookeeper and a Gangster Leprechaun (whatever that is, Kanji!).
(The only one missing from this photo was Michael Turko)

Elliott joined me at lunch time for our potluck as a bear cub! In fact, my job as a zookeeper for the San Diego Zoo is to raise the orphaned bear cubs and teach them how to be bears...its pretty hazardous work!


I'm a big fan of found item costumes and with the exception of the bandages and band-aids, both of our costumes were made from stuff around the house. If you are interested, you can read more about what I did on the craft blog.


Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and we still managed to get some work done! And best part? Meagan and I both won the costume contest! She got the ribbon for scariest costume and I got the most original prize.

I've never won before, so I was really surprised! Although, Brad assures me that it was because my costume was in fact 'really good this year'! Ha! Hey I've got to hand it to him. I was just going to be a mauled bear zookeeper. He had the idea of making me the bear cub surrogate!

Anyway, hope you all had a fun Halloween. And if you didn't dress up this year, there's always next year!

Photo Project 52.21

Me 52.21: Sunny

Elliott 52.21: Lots of Fluids

Other 52.21: Title

Photo Project 52.20 - The Zoo Edition

Elliott and I met up with some of my friends and their kids last Saturday at the zoo. I had a great time. It was fun to be around other new moms and other babies. Since all the kids were different ages, it was also fun to see where Elliott's been and where he's headed. I do believe the kids had a good time, too.

Me 52.20: Skyfari

Elliott 52.20: Tree Watching

Other 52.20: Just a Little Kitty

Happy Inside-Out Day Elliott!

Elliott has officially been with us on the 'outside' as long as he was with us on the 'inside'. A silly thing to commemorate really, but kinda fun, too! ;)

Fun times in the tub

Just thought I'd share a little video we got of Elliott in the tub last night. I had to use Flickr to upload it since it's about a minute long...which seems to be beyond what Blogger can handle.

I love the quick recovery after his slip! And his ducky managed to be the perfect censer, so we can keep this blog clean. ;)

Suggestions?

Okay, we need some help on a couple things and I thought I would solicit some suggestions from people who may have dealt with similar issues.

First up: How do you take a shower when you are by yourself and your baby can't use a bouncy seat anymore? Elliott is *this* close to being done with the bouncy chair and except for Brad's suggestion of duck taping him to the wall, we are at a loss with how to deal with this scenario that will be upon us very soon.

Second: What do you do when your baby spends his bath time trying to stand up and leaning over the baby tub? He is no longer content playing with the ducky or the water cup, now he wants to see what's in the rest of the tub. For background, we've been using a plastic baby tub in our regular tub. I'd rather not have to bathe with him every night as a solution because I'm not as comfortable getting myself out of the tub while holding a wet Elliott. And there are nights I have to do this by myself. Would one of those tub chairs help? Do we just need more toys?

Any thoughts?

Photo Project 52.19

Me 52.19: Stolen Moment

Elliott 52.19: Cute Drool

Other 52.19: Bon Voyage!