Good Times/Bad Times

GOOD TIMES
Yesterday while at daycare, I rolled over for the very first time!! I first rolled from my back to my front and then continued the motion from my front to my back a few moments later. Mommy and Daddy tried to get me to do this once they got me home, but I'm holding onto some of my tricks for later.

BAD TIMES
Last night at about 6:30PM as Daddy was getting me into my car seat to head to PEPS. No sooner than he had me buckled in, I projectile-vomited about 2 ounces of breastmilk all over myself and the car seat. Yikes! Daddy and Mommy worked together to get me out of the seat, get the soaked fleece liner off of the car seat, wipe me down, and get me into a new outfit. Then it was deja vu all over again when we basically repeated the same scenario.

At this point we all knew PEPS was off for the night and that we'd just be staying in. But as I continued to barf, Mommy get more and more freaked and suddenly we were rushing to Urgent Care at Swedish Hospital in Ballard. Oh man, here we go. I was checked into an exam room where my temperature was taken and a nurse used a stethoscope to listen to my breathing. All seemed completely normal. A doctor finally made a visit to our room, asked us some redundant questions that the nurse had already documented, and then departed to place a call to my pediatrician.

We were sent home with some basic instructions and told to see my pediatrician in the morning. Once home, I slept like a log for like, six hours. When I finally woke up I was HUNGRY! According to the instructions we were sent home with, my parents were to give me 2 teapsoons of Pedialyte to see if I could keep it down. To hell with that... I needed food right then!! I gobbled for a good long while and went immediately back to sleep. Since then I've barfed a couple of times, but have remained in good spirits and upbeat. The worst is behind me as my system cleans out.

So, as Mommy and Daddy spoke about what may be wrong with me, Mom made a little discovery last night... Breast milk she was giving to daycare for them to feed me was most likely spoiled. She came to that conclusion last night when she was transferring some milk out of bottles to put into freezer bags. She uncapped one that obviously reeked of spoiled milk. This bottle was from a batch that she brought back from her business trip in Dallas. No use crying over spilled milk, but definitely when it comes to spoiled. Needless to say, she dumped all of the milk cache that she had. From now on it's just the fresh stuff for me!

Mother, father and baby are at home resting, recovering and watching a couple of movies.

Mommyless In Seattle

MONDAY, JAN. 17
Ok, here we go. Let the games begin. Early this morning Mom woke up at about 2AM to start getting ready for her trip to Dallas, TX. She hired a car to be at the house at 4AM so that she could make to Seatac airport in plenty of time for her 6AM flight. At this time we did a little feeding and then I went back to sleep. As Mom was getting ready to head downstairs, she dropped her suitcase or something, which caused me quite a stir. Mom informed Dad that "the beast is awake," gave him a peck on the cheek, and was out the door.

Daddy did his best to sooth me, but the writing was on the wall: Mom was gone and this week was going to suck. It wasn't intended to be personally directed at Daddy, but with no one else to take out my anguish on, he got to suffer through my hour long tantrum. And hence, I was surely setting the tone for what he should expect for the week. Heh heh.

Since it was MLK day, my daycare was closed. Daddy stayed home from work to look after me. I showed my gratitude by being more temperamental the usual and giving him lots of scream therapy. He/we did get up the courage to attend our weekly PEPS meeting. Tonight it was over at Eric, Pam and Erica's house. Everyone was there except our facilitator and was giving Dad lots of supprt. The guest speaker was a nurse practitioner and field all kinds of questions from everyone. I was on my best behavior for the group, but socked it to Daddy just as soon as we got home. Poor guy, poor me. We want Mommy.


TUESDAY, JAN. 18
Up and at 'em a little earlier today so that Daddy and I get our acts together for daycare. I've gotta hand it Mr. Mom... He did a great job. Admittedly, I was a little out of sorts today and really only managed a couple of 10-15 minute naps at daycare. When Daddy came to pick me up and Amy communicated this to him, it was funny to see the dread on his face as he was imagining the another sleepless night. We went home and had a pretty chilled evening. The Sonics were on and LOST to Denver despite them having two of their starters out of action and a new coach holding the reigns. What was up with Ray Allen tonight... He was like 2 for 24. Yikes!


WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19
Mommy's birthday!! Daycare was really fun today and I'm feeling like I'm back in my groove. Obviously things aren't quite the same without Mom here, but Daddy and I are doing a really great job. The real treat of the day was that Grandma H. and Papa Jack came over to the house to see me and ease Daddy's pain. Grandma H. had stopped at Whole Foods and picked up some amazing steaks for Daddy to grill on his beloved Weber. We all hung out and had a great time. Daddy gave me a quick bath because I was smelling like the expensive cheese Mom blows all of our money on. Just kidding... It's because the Aquaphor that Dad puts on my to treat my dry skin enhances the rate in which I collect dirt. Mom called and we had a speaker-phone conference and wished her a happy birthday. She celebrated by going out for BBQ with her team. In case you don't know, Mom has a thing for BBQ... She becomes possessed!


THURSDAY, JAN. 20
Another smooth morning at home before getting me to daycare. You'd never believe how good Dad is at this... I don't think he can either. Today we did a fun painting project. Amy has got this cool non-toxic foam paint that she let us push around on paper plates. The paint was yellow, the plate round, so it kind of an interpretation of the sun. Yeah, that's it. Daddy showed a little early this afternoon to throw in the car and head out to Newcastle. Anne-Marie and Brett were hosting us, Grandma H. and Papa Jack, along with the Grubers's from Miami. Apologies are due here because I came unglued almost immediately upon arrival. For about one solid hour I inconsolably screamed. I was dry, not particularly hungry, just tired. Tired of my mom not being with me. Tired of eating that disgusting soy formula. Tired of only taking one giant dump per day (damn that formula). And just plain tired. Eventually I pulled it together long enough to be passed around from person to person like a hot potato, but Daddy packed me up and we made a hasty exit. It was great seeing everyone... I hope that next time I'm in a better mood. Oh, Jack and Martha gave Daddy a CD by a country band called Lonestar that contains a hilarious song called "Mr. Mom."


FRIDAY, JAN. 21
11:30AM Mom is HERE!! Reunited and it feels so good! Gimme those boobs!!

Food Of This Earth

Mom is going to be in Dallas, TX next week for a work-related workshop. So today I was sent to daycare with 4 bottles of Mom's milk and a can of the soy formula my pediatrician recommended. The intention of my parents was to have me feed on the breast milk all day but to have my caregivers work in a few ounces of the formula to see how I'd do with it. Having me on formula is necessary because Mom didn't have enough milk reserves to get me though next week..

Well, what wound up happening is that I was given the soy formula exclusively and have now experienced my first food other than Mom's. How old am I today... Like 3 months and 3 weeks? I hate the soy formula, but now I guess I'm ready for other terrestrial foods: pizza, Guinness, Red Mill burgers, etc. It's going to be a hard week without those boobs around. :(

Daycare

Today was my first day of daycare at a place called Cosmopolitan Kids, which is right around the corner from our house. Mom has been dreading this day since I was born. After spending almost every minute of my first three months on Earth, she was anxious to let the care of her little buddy go to someone else. But alas, she had to go back to work and my parents truly feel like this is the best solution (for now).

All in all, it was a great day. The caregivers there are getting to know me and the few other kids are fun to be around. There is a boy there named Owen that is 8 months old and won't keep his hands off of me... Papa keeps telling me that boys are thugs. I believe him! Mom even managed to hold back the tears when she and Daddy dropped me off. Although, she was so excited to see me when she picked me up that there was no holding them back. Tomorrow will be day two of many more.

New Year's 2004/2005

Instead of rubbing elbows with over-partying amateurs, a snowy cabin retreat deep into the Eagle Creek Valley outside of Leavenworth, WA was where Dad, Mom, Grandma H, Papa and I celebrated. The cabin was very comfortable with a long list of appreciated ammenities: hot tub, wood stove in the living room, TV with satellite, BBQ, stereo, oven, and two comfortable bedrooms. The weekend was very, very relaxing and gave me a lot of quality time with all my peeps. Other than the beautiful scenery and wonderful company, the highlight for me was a horse-drawn sleigh ride. Perhaps next year they'll give me a taste of their Dom Perignon when it comes time to toast the new year.