A day in our life...

Fall’s first fickle breeze

2012-02-01T21:37:00.001-05:00

November. Fall has arrived for real – even in Knoxville. The leaves have finished their show of blazing colors. And now they lay all brown and lifeless all over the backyard.

And in our backyard – it means a little more than in most. You see – we have “a lot” of trees in our little back yard. And when the trees decided to let go of their leaves – they end up laying like a brown blanket. Completely covering our yard about a foot deep.

Leaving this “ultra thick” blanket of leaves on the ground is not an option. Not when you’ve spent as much time and energy trying to get our feeble little amount of grass to grow. If the leaves lay all winter – no grass will return in the spring. So the leaves have to go.

It is far from “quick and easy” – and ‘The Dad’ will take the help of anyone who volunteers – no matter how old (or young) they are…

“Dad? do we have to move ALL of these leaves?”

We have a pretty good leaf blower. And it does a really good job at the “clean-up” work. But to move the big pile – a simple rake works best…

“Whew! This is hard work!”

“Time to work on this side a little bit…”

“Looks like we are starting to make some progress!”

And to get around all of those “child labor laws” – we asked Mike how he wanted to be paid for his extraordinary leaf raking effort. He decided that riding around in the wheel barrow (for an hour or so) would be considered payment in full.

“Weeee! This is worth every bit of that hard work!”

Happy Halloween

2012-02-01T21:16:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh – Halloween with a nearly two-year old. A time when you can still dress them up in cute little costumes – but also when they are a little more opinionated about it.

This year – we decided to dress Mike up as a skunk. After all – aren’t all two-year-old boys really skunks at heart? And we found this adorable “'Lil Stinker” costume. It was fabulous!

Or at least we thought so!

We dressed Mike up in some black sweat pants and a turtle neck. We got out the costume – just knowing that he would want to jump right in. Turns out (as you might have already guessed), he was a little less enthusiastic about it than we were.

“You want me to wear WHAT??!?!!”

“Listen guys. I have a reputation to think about. You wouldn’t understand…”

But all it took was a little persuasion. A little from mom. And a little from dad. And in the end – he decided that it might be ok (and maybe even a little fun) to wear the skunk costume.

“See Mike – Skunks CAN be cute!”

“Skunks are such regal animals! Real ‘lady getters’”!

“And being a skunk can be super awesome!”

After a few minutes of the shenanigans (well – ok. Maybe it was somewhat longer than a ‘few’ minutes), Mike decided that being dressed as a skunk was at least worth a try…

“…I can’t believe I’m actually doing this…”

…and before long, we were all loaded up and headed to the zoo for “Boo at the Zoo”! At some point, you have to point out the irony that we dressed our son up as a skunk and took him to the zoo to trick-or-treat.

“Ummm – there are a LOT of other animals here. You aren’t going to try and leave me here, are you?”

“Hey – I don’t remember these bats being here the last time I can to the zoo!”

We made our way around the zoo. Saying “hi” to all of the animals that were still out. And stopping by each and every booth o pick up our loot. Of course, there was one booth that we ALL enjoyed stopping at. Yes indeed – Krispy Kreme had a booth!

“Yummmmm. Doughnuts!”

The trip through the zoo ended at the “Haunted Carousel”. How did we know that it was ‘haunted’? Because it went around backwards!

“Hey! This thing is going backwards!”

And in the end – even though we were a little hesitant at the start – we can absolutely say that we had a fabulous time!

“Hey guys. You were right. Being a skunk was LOADS of fun!”

What are you doing in Indianapolis?

2012-01-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

A lot of people by now have noticed that “the dad” has been spending a rather large amount of time in Indianapolis for the last three months. So – what HAS he been doing in Indianapolis?

The short answer is “working on improvements to the Verizon Wireless network for the Super Bowl”.

But – this week, the media has began to descend on the area. And Verizon has been hosting media events and giving tours of Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Convention Center. And – a couple of days ago, the first article (that I’m aware of) was published.

I found it to be a pretty good read. It really is remarkable to see all of the preparation that goes in to an event like the Super Bowl. And “the dad” is certainly proud to be a part of “the big game”.

To read the article – just click here.

The logic of a two year old…

2012-01-18T20:57:00.001-05:00

Just by the title of the post – you already know that I am not going to reveal anything earth shattering. Anyone who is a parent of a child (who is at least two) certainly already knows this. And for anyone who is not a parent – there is nothing here that will come as a big surprise.

But it’s funny none-the-less!

Obviously, two year olds are miraculous creatures. In just a few short months – they have mastered enough of their “native” language to be able to communicate effectively – and for the baby sign language users – they have mastered two languages. They have learned to navigate through their environment. They have made monumental achievements in coordination and motor skills.

But logic? Not so much.

Here are three prime examples of the logic that our two-year-old has…

Diaper changing has become quite the ritual at our house. It starts normally enough. Off with the shoes (if they were on to begin with). Then off with the pants. Then you try and take the diaper off. That’s when the disagreements begin. Mike begins saying “no mommy – no!” and raising his feet in to the air and squirming around. And so it goes. A minor disagreement to be sure. But Mike is resolute. You can ask him why he isn’t letting you change his diaper. His answer? “I’m taking my socks off”. To which the logical parent replies, “but honey, you don’t have to take your socks off to change your diaper”. And the response? Mike will look at you as if you have a toe growing out of your forehead and says “yes you do mommy”. So – for the last couple of weeks, we simply let him take his socks off (and he insists that he has to throw them on the floor) and diaper changes proceed smoothly.

And speaking of diapers – we’ve been introducing Mike to the “potty”. He has taken to it pretty well. He is curious when we go “potty”, and he seems to enjoy “putting pee in the potty” himself. He is also excited about “drinking more milk because it makes more pee”. So we are considering starting “potty training for real” fairly soon. Especially since we had a “major” breakthrough this past weekend.

You see – Mike has one funny quirk when he goes to “sit on the potty”. He has to be completely naked. No socks. No shirt. Nothing but naked baby. Why? Two-year-old logic. Our big breakthrough? This weekend, Mike peed in the potty with his shirt on! We are hoping that the trend continues.

The last little episode of two-year-old logic (man – I should save all of these. In the 365 days that Mike will be two, I bet I could have 365 examples of “two-year-old” logic!). This one happened while taking Mike up to his room for bed. Remember – two-year-olds have no logic to begin with. And when they are sleepy, they have even less (is there such a thing is a “negative” amount of logic?). I was carrying Mike up the stairs to his room when in that sleepy whiny cry-like voice he says “I want down! I don’t want to go upstairs any more right now!”. So – I put him down. And he immediately started crawling up the stairs. “Where are you going, buddy?” He turns around and looks at me with an expression that can only mean “DUH!” and says, “I’m going up stairs”. Since this is what I wanted in the first place – I let him continue on up while I followed behind. Halfway up the steps he turns around and looks at me with pleading eyes and says “hold me”. And I thought to myself, “Hmmm – this is right back where we started…”

I’m sure that logic skills will come soon enough. But until then – it’s fun to try and figure out what is going on in their little heads. Who knows – perhaps they have it right? I don’t wear diapers anymore – so I can’t try the sock trick. But I do use the “big potty” – maybe next time I’ll try it naked…

Only 3 months behind…

2012-01-10T22:01:00.001-05:00

I know. I know. I’m still behind. And at my current rate, the number of tales I want to tell will quickly outpace my telling! But I promise – I’m going to work on getting caught up…

And it starts with a beautiful fall weekend in the middle of October. The weather was perfect. We hadn’t had the opportunity to go camping all year (the current arrangement of working in one state while living in another makes weekend camping trips fairly difficult!).

So – with a fabulous weather forecast and an extra day off – we loaded up the camper and headed to Norris Dam State Park.

Mike REALLY loves being outside. And he REALLY loves wearing his jacket (both indoors and out). And he LOVED his previous camping trips – even though the last one had been nearly a year ago. So we were fairly confident that he would have a wonderful time.

And we were right! It all started from the moment we arrived. We backed the camper in to the spot and all got out of the truck. Mike immediately started walking around the camper and studying various parts as if he was performing some sort of inspection. After walking the entire perimeter, he declared that the camper was a garbage truck!

While “The Dad” finished setting up the camper, “The Mom” took Mike and the dogs inside to keep them all contained. “The Mom” flipped on the satellite radio to the bluegrass station. Yes – for you camping purists – our camper is indeed a rolling Holiday Inn. Complete with stove, oven, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, shower (with HOT water), and – yes – satellite radio.

From the outside, “The Dad” heard what sounded like a thundering heard of elephants coming from inside the camper. Turns out, all of that thundering stomping was Mike! He was cutting a rug dancing to the Bluegrass music. He absolutely LOVED IT! And with that little discovery – the “Kids Channel”is now on MUCH less. After all, “The Mom” and “The Dad” also prefer Bluegrass to “Kids Place Live”…

After camp was set up – Mike came back outside. He walked out – took a few steps around – and with a very surprised look on his face he exclaimed, “It’s NOT a garbage truck! It’s a CAMPER!”

And that set the tone for the rest of the weekend. Lots of laughs. Lots of fun. And the best part? We were all three together…

Mike decided that the chairs were his “tunnel”…

…and he climbed through his “tunnel” all weekend!

“I need a little more dirt on this carpet…”

Mike and “The Dad” play with Matchbox Cars!

“See daddy – this one goes like this…”

“Why throw the rings when you can just drop them on to the pole?”

Pick some leaves up…

…put them in the bucket…

…and dump them on the carpet!

Boys and dirt just go together. The cool part? Most of these cars belonged to “The Dad” back when he was Mikes age!

The Great Pumpkin Metric

2011-11-15T21:52:00.001-05:00

Ahhh – the Great Pumpkin Metric. A sure sign that fall has arrived! This is not to be confused with “The Great Pumpkin” made famous by Charles Schulz. Nope – this is a bike (pedal – not motor) ride in Evansville Indiana.

We’ve ridden it in the past. We’ve ridden the 100K route several times. We’ve ridden the 50K route a time or two. But we had never ridden the 25K route.

25 kilometers. It works out to be about 16 miles. It’s a route that many people ride with their children. And this year – we decided to take OUR child on the ride!

We weren’t sure how it would go. Mike had certainly enjoyed his rides in the bike trailer – but this would be farther (and longer) than he had ever gone. So – with a “why not” attitude, we registered for the ride…

The morning of the ride was exceptionally nice! The sun was bright. Not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was not to hot and not to cold. It was going to be a perfect day for a ride! We started unloading the bikes and the trailer. As we unfolded the trailer – Mike wanted in right away. We explained that it would be a little while before we actually started riding – but he didn’t want to hear it. He was excited and ready to get started!

We finished getting the bikes ready. Aired up the tires. Picked up our packets. Pinned on our numbers. Stretched a little. Gloves – check. Sunglasses – check. Helmet – check. Hooked the trailer up.

By this time, Mike was PAST ready to go! He was ready to skip all of this silly nonsense and get on the ROAD! So off we went on our epic journey…

“Ummmm – can we go now?”

We had ridden about a mile. That first mile. On a long ride – it’s always the first mile that is the hardest – knowing that you have sixty-some-odd miles to go. But for this short ride – it was the hardest because we didn’t know how Mike would do. Then – all of a sudden – we heard it. Mike. In the trailer. And he was….

…not crying…

…not screaming…

…not throwing a fit…

…not wanting out…

He was SINGING! It was Old MacDonald (the Mike remix version). “With a moo moo here and a moo moo here and a moo moo here and a MOOOOOOO!”. At that point we began to relax a little and enjoyed the ride.

Halfway through the ride (about 8 miles or so) was our SAG stop. SAG – Support And Gear – would be know to most “non-cyclists” as a rest stop. A chance to get a bite to eat and a little something to drink (and a potty if you need it). Since this was Mike’s first ride – he had no idea about SAG stops. But he walked right in and handled it like a pro!

“WOW! This is a SAG stop? I love it!”

“Dang! We need a SAG stop at home!”

“Alright guys – let’s saddle up! I’m ready to get back on the road!”

We finished up the ride with no problems. Mike sang some more songs to us. Some “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. A little “Thomas and Friends”. An encore performance of “Old MacDonald”. He even took a short nap (one of the MANY benefits of riding in the trailer!). Mike had a fabulous time – and “the mom” and “the dad” had a good time too! We are looking forward to riding again next year! And who know – perhaps we will take Mike on a couple of different rides next year!

Mike and “the dad” finishing the ride! Notice that Mike is taking a drink from a cycling water bottle! Gotta train them early…

“That was FUN!”

“All that riding sure made me thirsty…”

Pap would be proud!

2011-11-15T20:59:00.001-05:00

Ok – I understand that it has been a while since the last post! However, if everything goes right this week – then you might be in luck. There may be another post or two later this week!

But that is for later. And this is now…

There is SO much that has changed since August on the “Mike development scale”. He really is – quite literally – changing every single day. But if you are going to tell a story, you’ve got to start somewhere. And since Mike truly is “all boy” – then we might as well start this story at “the boy’s store” (known to many as ‘Lowes’).

We had been working on painting / remodeling the upstairs bathroom. It was one of the first rooms we did when we moved in to the house – which means that it had gone the longest without much done to it. Of course, that means that we needed to make a trip or two to to Lowes to buy some tools and supplies. One of the things we needed to get were some new “white” plugs and switches and eventually found our way to the electrical isle. Mike stood in front of the all those display light switches and said “WOW!”. Twenty minutes later he was still flipping all of the switches on and off!

I just stood there and watched him with a big smile on my face. Because in my heart – I know that Mike’s “Pap” was looking down on the two of us and telling all of the angels in heaven, “That’s my grandson!”

Off and on and off and on and off and on…

Mike learns to play Corn Hole!

2011-08-09T21:46:00.001-04:00

On many evenings, Mike will walk over to you and grab your hand saying “Walk! Walk mommy! Walk!”. He will lead you to the front door and proclaim that he wants to go outside. Once he gets outside – he’ll announce that he is going to Todd and Maureen’s house.

This weekend, Todd and Maureen were having a gathering at their house (a small party for Angie) and they invited us over. Mike grab our hands and said “Walk!” and we said “ok…”. We went to the front door and Mike said “outside” and we said “ok…”. Mike said “Go to Todd and Maureen’s” and we said “ok…”.

He was obviously only Todd and Maureen to be there. At most, he was expecting Angie and her dog Max. He certainly wasn’t expecting a house full of folks! We actually got to see a small “shy” streak! But it only lasted for a minute before he was socializing…

We made our way out to the deck and sat down. Mike started watching on ongoing Corn Hole game. Just in case you’ve never heard of it – it also goes by other names like Bean Bag Toss or Hillbilly Horseshoes. The goal is to toss a “corn bag” (same as a bean bag) on to a board. If it lands on the board you get 1 point. If it goes in the hole on the board you get 3 points.

Mike watched and watched and watched. Teams changed. New games started. And Mike kept watching and studying. He would occasionally point as if he was going to make a grand proclamation about what he was watching. But then he would put his arm down and study some more.

He was obviously studying the game. Learning the rules. I’m sure he was doing “toddler level” calculations on inclined planes and projectile motion (Sid the Science Kid IS one of his favorite shows – and they have “toddler level” episodes on things such as this!).

After some time, the Corn Hole players took a break. Mike grabbed my hand and said “Walk daddy” and he led me to the Corn Hole boards. He stood next to one board for a few seconds – taking it all in. Then he reached down and picked up one of the bags and studied it. Then he looked down at the other board. I said, “Go ahead buddy. Give it a try!”

He looked up at me – then looked at the board some 30 feet away – then looked at the board right next to him – and looked back at me with a very expressive look that said “why throw it all the way down there when I can throw it in the hole right here”…

…which is exactly what he did! And then turned and looked at me with his big grinning face as if to say “see daddy – that was MUCH easier”!

“This game is a lot easier using MY rules!”

The first step towards potty training…

2011-08-03T21:30:00.001-04:00

We’ve never been ones to rush Mike’s development. Well – except for the walking. But I’m guessing that everyone who might be parents to a child with clubbed feet would be at least a little anxious about that…

But as for everything else, we’ve completely taken the attitude of “it’ll happen when it happens” and we simply enjoy the current moment rather than trying to usher in the next.

And the same goes for potty training. Sure - it seems like it would be nice to not have to mess with diapers anymore. But that is the last little tidbit of “babyhood” that we are hanging on to.

However, Mike has certainly started to take an interest. And while we don’t want to rush him in to anything – we also certainly don’t want to hold him back either. So we have some “potties” (thanks Jim and Allison!) and we are take the first little step.

It’s not exactly “training” – at least not yet. It’s more of an “introduction”. Potty – meet Mike. Mike – potty. And there are already some funny stories to tell.

One of the clues we had that Mike was interested in the potty was that he started showing a keen interest when “The Mom” or “The Dad” went to potty. It’s dangerous when he goes to watch “The Dad” potty. He has seen shooting streams of water at the water park. They sure were fun to play in! Hey look! Daddy can shoot a stream of water! That sure looks like it would be fun to play in!!!

It’s less dangerous when he goes with “The Mom”. But he is learning by observation. So – here’s how it goes. You sit on the potty. And sit a little longer. Then a second longer. Then you grab some paper and throw it between your legs and in to the potty. Cool – got it!

All of our “more experienced” parental friends have told us that you also need some sort of “reward” for using the potty. Some sort of “incentive” so that they’ll keep wanting to come back. Something like a sticker – or a small piece of candy. Candy? Mike? Giving something sweet to Mike would be more of a punishment.

But we do have a small “reward” for Mike when he uses the potty. Something that makes him extremely excited. So happy that he can’t wait to get his hands on it.

What is it?

A single square of toilet paper for him to throw between his legs and in to the potty…

“Umm – can I have a little privacy please?”

Shopping with Mike

2011-07-20T21:44:00.001-04:00

This past weekend – JCPenny’s was having a white sale. And we have been needing some new pillows for our bed. And there you have it – supply meets demand…

We all three loaded up and headed to the mall. Shopping with Mike has never been much trouble. He usually enjoys it as long as you don’t loiter in one area too long. And after loitering in the pillow section for longer than what we should have, Mike reminded us that it was time to move on. “The Dad” took him out of his stroller and they went for a walk while “The Mom”stayed to search for that perfect pillow.

Mike wound his way through the bedding department. After a few minutes, “The Dad” realized that Mike was stopping and looking at each of the display beds that were set up. He would walk up to them, look at the design on the comforter, the pillows on the bed, and then shake his head and quietly say “no”.

After stopping by a dozen or so beds, he found the perfect one. A simple, green colored comforter with green and brown pillows on it. He turned around and looked up at “The Dad” with an excited look in his eye and began patting the top of the bed. Even “The Dad” could figure out what that meant – so he picked Mike up and sat him on the foot of the bed. Mike immediately made his way up into the middle of the pillows, rolled over on to his back, looked over at “The Dad” and said, “Night night”. Then closed his eyes and did his best fake snore.

After a good chuckle (19 months! Where do they get this stuff!) “The Dad” looked at Mike and asked, “Hey buddy – is this the one you like?”

With all of the seriousness of a jury handing down a verdict – Mike looked up and answered “Yep”…

“This is the bed that I liked the best!”

The Color Train

2011-07-13T21:25:00.001-04:00

I’m sure that many of you have never heard of the book “The Color Train. A First Book of Colors”. As a matter of fact – you can’t even find out anything about it from Google. And if it’s not in Google, then it doesn’t exist!

Except this book does exist. I have a copy of it sitting right here next to me! I’m guessing it’s about 37 years old (there is no copyright date in it). It was printed by “Western Printing Company” before they became “Little Golden Books”. It’s one of “the Dad’s” books from when he was Mike’s age. So you know it has to be older than dirt…

And right now – it’s Mike’s favorite story! He absolutely loves it and we read it to him nearly every night – at least once (if not two or three times). And as soon as he sees it, he gets excited and starts bouncing up and down and clapping his hands and saying “Color Train! Color Train!”. You can’t help but to smile along with him…

This past weekend, we took a very rare trip to the mall. We came in through a JCPenny’s entrance – wound our way through the store towards the mall. As we were exiting Penny’s and entering the mall – there it was.

THE COLOR TRAIN!

And it was chugging around the mall! And kids were riding in it! It had the red car! And the yellow car! And the blue car! And the engine! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!!!

Mikes eyes were absolutely as big as pie pans. He couldn’t believe it! The color train was REAL! For Mike, it was every bit as amazing as finding out that Santa Claus was real. Of course, we had to follow it around the mall to find out where it stopped. And as we walked up to it – Mike kept saying “Color train! Color train!” as if he couldn’t understand why I wasn’t as excited as he was! and then it happened. He touched it! It really was real! Again – Mike was stunned with disbelief. His eyes really WEREN’T deceiving him! The color train REALLY WAS REAL!

It was absolutely the best trip to the mall I’ve ever had. And I know it was Mike’s favorite too!

“Holy cow! I’m sitting in ‘The Blue Car’! You never told me The Color Train was REAL!!!”

Mike sat and patiently explained about all of the cars. “This is ‘The Yellow Car’. Up there is ‘The Black Car’. Behind us is ‘The Blue Car’ and ‘The Red Car’. ‘The Engine’ is up front!”

A Trip to Lowes

2011-07-11T20:58:00.001-04:00

Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse. The quintessential “Man’s Store”. Not saying that there aren’t plenty of women that shop at Lowes – there certainly are. But it just doesn’t seem like the women in the store have that same gleam in their eye. That little sparkle that all of the men have as they wander aimlessly down the aisles. Like a kid in a candy store. That “Wow – look at THIS! And THAT! Would you look at THAT!!!”

You might think that this is a “learned” behavior. I do it because I saw my dad do it and he saw his dad do it. And so on and so on. Throughout the history of hardware stores.

But I’m here to tell you that this behavior is at least partially genetic. And here is why I think so…

A couple of weekends ago we took Mike to Lowes. It wasn’t his first trip – but at 18 months, it was the first time he’s been since he’s been “aware” of his environment. We walked in the front door to be greeted by several shiny lawn tractors.

“Tractor! Tractor!” he announced and took off running. Not once did he ever turn around to see that “twinkle” in his dad’s eye. At that point – he didn’t even care if his dad had eyes! He was 100% on his own…

“That’s right Mike! And how does a tractor sound?”

“blub-blub-blub-blub-blub”

We spent the next 45 minutes investigating every last feature of every last lawn tractor. Tested every seat. Kicked every tire. Inspected each mowing deck. Yanked on every steering wheel. Mike pointed out every color – “green” and “yellow” (obviously for the John Deer’s), “red” (those were the Toro’s)…

And on it went until it was finally time to walk the next 20 yards in to the store (are those grills I see up ahead?). Before we left, I asked Mike which one was is favorite. Without hesitation, he immediately walked up to the Husqvarna and excitedly announced “Orange!”.

That’s my boy! You can take him out of East Tennessee – but he’ll always be a Vol…

“You guys never told me that Lowes would be SO MUCH FUN!”

What happened to June?

2011-06-30T22:23:00.001-04:00

Boy it sure has been a while since I posted something! So much has happened that I’d never be able to put it in one post. And I’ll never get caught up if I put it all in separate posts. So I’ll give you the highlights for June.

First of all, Mike, “the Mom”, and “the Dad” got to spend an unusually large amount of time together! “The Mom” ended up not teaching for the first summer session. And with some planning, and also some very “unplanned” trips, we all three got to spend most of the month of June together. And what did we do with our time? Why – we enjoyed being a family!

And here’s the where the whirlwind highlights begins…

We spent lots of time at parks. Mike discovered slides!

“Weeeeee!!!”

We got a new train set. Thanks Tanya!!!! This has been a BIG hit!!!

“Now I can say ‘woo woo’ and ‘chugga chugga chugga’”!

We learned how to do some chores – like washing dishes!

“Washing dishes is fun at my age!”

We discovered (or re-discovered) the Fun Fountain…

“Wow! The clown head sprays out water and lifts the hat in to the air!”

“I like to catch the water and eat it!”

We went to the zoo too!

“That red fox looks like our dog ‘Foxy’!”

We took Mike swimming for the first time.

“Look at me! I’m fearless!!!”

And Mike turned 18 months old! A year and a half. How can that be? He was just born a couple of weeks ago. Or maybe it was a month or two ago. Certainly not more than three months ago…

“I’m a year and a half! And I’m growing like a weed!”

We did have on really sad moment during our “month of June”. Our Aunt JoAnne lost her battle with cancer. She always had a knack for making you smile – no matter how you might be feeling at the moment. And while we will miss her, we are so very thankful that she is no longer suffering.

That about sums it all up. We had such a wonderful time together. And we got to see a lot of friends and family too! I’ll be sure to post more 18 month pictures (they turned out very nice!) and I’ll try to be better about keeping you all updated!

So – until next time – as Mike would say, “bye bye”!

Another trip to the Orthopedic Surgeon…

2011-05-16T22:51:00.001-04:00

It’s that time of year! Spring has sprung. Trees have leaves. Grass needs to be mowed. Allergies are in full swing.

All of that can only mean one thing. Mike is 18 months old!

And THAT means that it’s time to make a trip to see our favorite Orthopedic Surgeon for a club foot prognosis and update!

I won’t hem haw around. Or beat around the bush. Or unduly draw out the conversation. Or add any extra words. Or be redundant. I’ll just come right out and say it. Spill the beans. Give you the full scoop. The truth – the whole truth. For better or worse. Through thick and thin. Straight from the horses mouth.

We had our usual anxiety with this appointment. But we were relieved that Mike has done so well walking! And because of that – we were cautiously optimistic.

Of course, Dr. Crawford noticed right off the bat that Mike was walking (even a non-trained observer can see that!). He asked how long (4 weeks) and he was stunned! He said that Mike had the balance and ability of a toddler that had been walking four months rather than four weeks. And our cautious optimism stepped up a notch.

Off with the shoes. Off with the socks. Poke. Prod. Twist. Turn. Stretch. Squeeze. Rub. Pull.

And it was time for the prognosis.

Dr. Crawford: I can tell you’ve been very religious with the brace!

Us: Yes we have. Every day.

Dr. Crawford: It shows. Mike’s feet have better flexibility than a child without clubbed feet.

Us: Wow! That’s great!

Dr. Crawford: His feet are so good and flexible and the muscle (the one that helps keep the feet from turning back) has good strength. I think we are ready to try it without the brace!

Us: Really?

Dr. Crawford: Yep. He is walking so well that the time he spends on his feet will be a substitute for the time in the brace.

Us: Cool!

Dr. Crawford: Unless there is a problem – I won’t need to see him again until is 4.

Us: Four YEARS????

Dr. Crawford: Yep

Us: Wow! But if we aren’t comfortable or if it looks like something isn’t right – we can come before then – right? I mean – you’ll take our money – right?

Dr. Crawford: Ummm – sure! We are always happy to take your money! And certainly come back if you see his feet start to turn in. But of the hundreds of clubbed foot babies I’ve treated – his feet look the best and he has responded best to the treatment. I’m quite certain that you won’t have any problems whatsoever.

Us: Wow. That’s great!

And so it is. Mike spent the first weekend ever sleeping without his brace. How did he do? He flopped all over the bed! And we were happy for it…

Is it over? Not yet. We still keep a close eye on his feet – more now than ever. And will continue to do so. Looking for the slightest relapse. But our hopes are high that we have hiked up this clubbed foot mountain and are most of the way down on the other side. He’s been in either casts or foot braces since he was 16 days old. What a better way to celebrate 18 months than to sleep without shoes or socks and flop around on the bed!

Happy Easter!

2011-05-05T22:03:00.001-04:00

Easter has come and gone. Well – unless your Catholic in which case you are in the second week of Easter. Or I’m sure that other religions might do something similar. But I’m certainly not a Theologian…

But we certainly celebrated Easter at our house! We started by getting all dressed up for church. Mike even wore a vest and tie – which is somewhat a big deal. He isn’t much on buttoning that top button on his shirt! But he decided to let “mommy and daddy” play their little dress-up game. And the result? A very handsome young toddler!

Mike and ‘the Dad’ are ready for church.

“Stand back ladies – there’s enough to go around!”

While we were at church, the Easter Bunny mysteriously broke into our house and left an Easter basket. This wasn’t your traditional Easter basket. No chocolate bunnies. No peeps. No jellybeans. Nope – nothing like that at all. It was almost like the Easter Bunny knew that Mike doesn’t like sweets! Instead, there was a variety of Nutri-grain bars and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish (two of Mike’s all time favorites…) along with some great new outfits for the summer! He loved digging through the basket!

The Easter basket!

“All of this is for me?”

“Wow! Nutri-grain bars! I love Nutri-grain bars!”

(and yes – Mike’s shirt says “Girls Dig Me”!

“And Goldfish! I love Goldfish!”

Rain, Rain–GO AWAY!

2011-04-26T22:28:00.001-04:00

Sorry folks. This isn’t a post about Mike and how much fun he had over Easter. Once again, I’ve ran in to that age old issue of “the computer is in one state and the camera (along with it's memory card) is in another”. And while I’m not sure that many of you often have this same problem – I’m sure that you can all relate…

Instead, this is a post about water. Lots and lots of water. Not quite record breaking (at least not yet – let’s hope it stays that way) – but its at least epic in proportion.

You see – a few weeks ago here in southern Indiana (once upon a time we used to call it “sunny southern Indiana” – but it lost that title some time ago) it started raining. And it’s rained and rained and rained. For days and days and days. And I’m not talking about the “Seattle style drizzle”. No sir. I’m talking about several inches per day (along with a tornado or two per week).

And the epic part? The flooding. I stopped by some of my childhood stomping grounds – the park by the Newburgh Lock and Dam. Ahh – the days of playing Lazar Tag at that park. But I digress…

I’m sure that not all of you are from a river town. A quick course on the “lock and dam”…

Most folks know that a dam is a solid structure that holds back the water. In this particular case, it’s concrete “weir” on the south side of the river with “Tainter gates”, located in the middle of the lock-n-dam structure. The gates control the upstream and downstream water level while the weir is the overflow spillway. Raising the gates lowers the upstream level and raises the downstream level. Lowering the gates causes the opposite. The “lock” part of the lock-n-dam (on the north side of the river in this case) allow all river traffic to pass from one side of the dam to the other. For example – a barge enters the lock on the upstream side. The lock doors are closed, and the water level is lowered to match the downstream side. The exit doors are opened and the boat steams away. It works remarkably well – and when a series of “lock-n-dams” are placed along the length of the river, water flow can be controlled very well – preventing droughts and floods. Unless…….

Well – every lock and dam has a maximum capacity. Once the water level is higher than the “dam” portion of the lock and dam then the water simply flows over the top and you can no longer control the depth. This is currently the situation for most of the dams along the second half of the Ohio River.

Normally, this isn’t too big of a deal. The walls that make up the lanes of the lock are significantly higher than the dam so river traffic isn’t affected. Low lying areas around the banks of the river begin to flood, but that isn’t all that unusual.

But every once in a while, it continues to rain and the river continues to rise. In Newburgh, the “flood stage” is 38 feet. This is when minor flooding in the low lying areas begins to happen. At 46 feet, some primary highways and secondary roads begin to flood. The current reading is 48.2 feet – the seventh highest level since things like this have been recorded (somewhere back in the late 1800’s). And if anybody is an Evansville history buff – you’ve heard of the “ ’37 flood” – the highest on record at 56.6 feet. Or possibly the more recent “ ’97 flood” which crested at 50.5 feet.

And right now, I can hear the thunder of the next approaching storm – predicting another 2 to 5 inches of rainfall with this one… So – if anyone has plans for an arc, please let me know. I’d like to begin construction right away…

The Ohio River at US HWY 41 between Evansville Indiana and Henderson Kentucky. The tree line is the southern bank of the river.

An “unflooded” picture of the Newburgh Lock and Dam. You can see the nine large “Tainter gates”in the middle (notice they are lowered in the water to control the upstream and downstream levels) and the “weir” to the right of them. The “locks” are in the foreground of the photo. You can see the tall walls that make up the lanes with the control house sitting in the middle.

A “flooded” picture of the Newburg Lock and Dam. You can see that the gates are raised up completely out of the water and the weir is completely underwater. You can also see that the walls that make up the lanes for the lock are nearly under water.

You can’t hardly see it – but the sign on the control house reads “47.1”. That’s 47.1 feet deep as of yesterday. It’s up to 48.2 today.

Language Skills–Stage 2

2011-04-14T22:54:00.001-04:00

Mike has been building an impressive vocabulary recently. I would guess that the number of words that he can speak is now over 100. He’s full of the single word sentences. Some of his favorites are mommy, daddy, Izzy, Foxy, Harper, Avery, fish, bath, outside, pacey, hungry, eat, juice, milk, fish, and snack.

He has started learning body parts. He’ll say eye and point to his eye, or teeth and point to his teeth, or nose and stick his finger up his nostril up to the second knuckle. Or sometimes he’ll say nose and try and stick his finger up YOUR nostril! We try and tell him that he can pick his friends – and he can pick his nose – but he can’t pick his friend’s nose (or his mommy’s or his daddy’s).

He has recently been picking up animal sounds – words like woof, meow, baaaa, grrrr, and roar. You can ask “what do cats do” and he will say “Meeeeoooooowwww” or “what do sheep do” and he will say “baaaa baaaaaa”.

His all time favorite (and his answer to nearly every question you ask) is “no”.

Us: “Mike. Are Izzy and Foxy dogs”?

Mike gets a serious look on his face as if he is seriously pondering the question. Then he looks up and answers “no”.

Us: “Mike. Do you love mommy?”

Again – the pondering expression for a moment or two followed by his answer “no”.

Us: “Mike. Do you like playing with your toys?”

Pondering look followed by “no”.

Us: “Do you like the word no”?

Ponder for a moment. “No”.

Us: “Is ‘no’ your answer to everything?”

“No”.

Us: “Do you want some yogurt?”

Quickly, with no hesitation – “Yo! Yo! Ungree! Ungree! Nack!” all in conjunction with the sign language for hungry, eat, please, and more. This loosely translates into “Yogurt? Why come to think of it, I am a little hungry and could use a small snack. Thank you mom!”

But recently, he reached a new milestone in language development. He has begun to put words together.

Which brings me to the biggest smile I’ve ever had. I recently walked in to Mike’s playroom where he was happily playing with his toys. He looked up at me with his bright blue eyes, smiled his big seven-toothed smile and said “hi daddy”!

Mike’s First Bike Ride

2011-04-14T22:43:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, the weather was gorgeous! Warm sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. Leaves coming out on the trees. Dogwoods in full bloom. A wonderful site to see!

It was absolutely necessary that we take advantage of this beautiful weather. Somehow. Someway.

Mike was there to encourage us. “Outside?”, we would repeatedly ask in his own little way (which comes out sounding more like “ow sigh”). “Yes honey. We are going outside today. And we are going to do something NEW!”

We had decided to take Mike on his very first bike ride!

And by “bike ride” – I mean he did just that. Ride.

A couple of weeks ago, our good friends, Matt and Karen, let us “borrow” the bike trailer that there son had recently outgrown. It was a fabulous “try before you buy” offer. Especially important since Mike seems to have become very opinionated about things. If Mike liked riding in the trailer – then it was ours for the asking. If not – then we would simply give it back.

So we loaded up the bikes and the trailer and headed to Third Creek Greenway. A nice, wide, paved, mostly shaded trail that winds along Third Creek through west Knoxville We hitched the trailer up to “the Dad’s” bike (“the mom” wasn’t quite ready to try towing mike…). We strapped Mike in. Made sure he had his sippy cup in one pocket and his goldfish crackers and pacey in the other. And then we headed off!

We rode at a nice, leisurely pace from the trailhead to Tyson Park. Along the way, the trail snakes along, climbs up and down some small hills, and is full of joggers, walkers, and other cyclists. Every time we would go down a little hill, Mike would shout out “WEEEEE!!!” or “WWWOOOOWWWW!!!”. Perhaps the cutest thing of all was – he didn’t know the word “bicycle” so he called it the “daddy go”. He would periodically pull out his sippy cup for a little drink or take a few nips on the pacey (he’s taking it less and less these days…). All in all, he rode in the trailer like he was a king being served by his minions. And perhaps that’s not too far from the truth…

Once we arrived at Tyson Park, we stopped and let Mike play for a little while. Swing? Check! Slide? Check! Big thing that looked like a boat that he could climb around on? Check! What was his favorite thing? The pea gravel. And interestingly enough – he didn’t call them “rocks”. He called them “bubbles”. And he had a whale of a time grabbing handfuls and pouring them over his head!

Then we all mounted back up and headed back down the greenway. Mike still had a few “WEEEEE’s” and “WWWOOOWWWW’s” in him. It turned out to be a fantastic afternoon! And it sure did feel good to be back on the bike after a long, cold winter.

So – Matt and Karen – it looks like we’ll be taking that trailer off of your hands!

“This isn’t my regular stroller! What in the world is this thing?”

“Am I hooked up to the ‘daddy-go’?”

“Mommy and daddy say that pre-ride hydration is very important.”

“Let’s get this party started!”

“Rocks are cool!”

Springtime at the zoo

2011-04-05T23:21:00.001-04:00

Ahhhh – spring has sprung. Or at least it is springing. And after our long winter hibernation, we decided to go out and see what was happening at the zoo!

It’s been several months since we took Mike to the zoo. It just didn’t seem right to take him over the winter. After all – it was one of the coldest winters on record with now than we’ve had in recent memory. Needles to say – Mike is significantly more aware of (and interactive with) his environment. So we were excited to see what his new reactions would be to all of the animals!

He wasn’t much on the black bears. And he only had a passing interest in the elephants. He started to get a little excited at the zebras. And he was still interested in the meerkats.

"Look at that meerkat!”

Then we moved on to the Giraffes. I’m not sure who was more interested! Mike LOVED the Giraffes – but there was one Giraffe that was just as interested in Mike. It cam right up to the edge of the fence – peeked over and said “hi”! It hung out with us for a little while – but then it was time for dinner (you really should see a Giraffe trot at least once in your life…)

“Howdy Mike!”

“Whoa! Look at that!”

After the Giraffe – it was “game on.” Mike started paying attention to all of the animals. Especially those that are in the books he “reads”. Things like lions, tigers, birds, snakes, monkeys. You could see that he was really making the connection between the animals in his books and the animals he was seeing at the zoo. It really was a fantastic moment.

And speaking of the monkey’s – we’ve been keeping track of the “newborn” chimp at our zoo. He’s about a year older than Mike and the first time we saw George. The first time we saw him, he was nursing with his mommy “Daisy”. It was pretty cool because it was during the time that Mike was still nursing. During our most recent trip – there was apparently a “family disagreement”! One of the “teen” chimps was jumping around and causing a ruckus. Eventually he started running around and he chased George around. Daisy came in a scooped George up and ran outside with him. The other chimp ran outside too but there was a surprise waiting for him. The other chimps did not like the fact that he was scaring baby George! They chased him all around the entire compound until eventually he settled down. In the end, everybody was happy (even if some of the older chimps were a little out of breath!).

Daisy with baby George

George with blanket!

Mike telling the chimps “ACK! No no!”

By the time we got the the red panda, Mike was getting a little tired of being in the stroller. It’s the perfect place to let him out to wander around. It’s a relatively small area and he can’t open the doors to get out of the area. Apparently, door that are good for keeping red panda’s in are also good for keeping little boys in too!

The cute little red panda

Mike in the red panda cage!

Mike strikes a pose while he’s in the red panda cage!

On this trip, we decided that Mike was big enough to go to the petting zoo. He got to pet goats and sheep. One of the workers put some “Mardi Gras” beads on one of the goats. She immediately fell in love with her new “bling”. The worker had to chase her around the pen for about 20 minutes to get the beads back! It was a riot and Mike loved watching them all run around. They also had a nice play area. He got to play in some “animal houses” – which were eggs, nests, and even a tree stump! He had an absolute BLAST playing in them. In fact, he had so much fun that “The Mom” decided to join in!

Goats love bling!

“Mike – meet Goat. Goat – meet Mike…”

Mike LOVED petting the goats!

“Stumps are FUN!”

“And so are nests!”

“Come on in mommy! It’s a blast!”

“Wow! Eggs are fun too!!!!”

It was a wonderful day. One of the many wonderful days that we get to share! The only unfortunate part? Mommy and Daddy had to wait until they got back home before they could do this…

Mike fell asleep on the way back to the car. It was a big day for a little boy!

The new favorite toy

2011-03-31T23:58:00.001-04:00

Mike has so many toys that we have an entire room dedicated to them. And even with the “play room”, we only get a few toys out at once. Otherwise, Mike goes completely ADD on us. He’ll play with a toy for 2.8 seconds before moving on to the next. And the next thing you know, all 185,284 toys have been thrown about the room by the “boy tornado”.

And I find all of this interesting. Perhaps someone should study adults and why they provide so many toys for their children. Particularly when children seem to be happier with toys that aren’t really toys. Like the lid from the disposable “tupperware” container (they are 4 for $1 – and the four “magic toy lids” also come with four bowls. Bonus!). Perhaps some budding psychology major needs a research idea for their PhD thesis.

But I have digressed completely! I meant to talk about Mike’s new favorite “toy”. Which isn’t the tupperware lids (that was SO last week!). And it’s not really a toy at all. It’s his rocking chair!

Mike wasn’t sure what to think about it for the first couple of weeks that we had it. Then, one day he realized that he could get in to the chair “all by myself”. And this suited him (and his newly developed independent streak) very nicely! Shortly after that, he realized that he could also get back out of the chair without assistance. Suddenly, the chair was becoming a symbol of things he could do “all by myself”. And – what’s this? It also rocks? Holy moly, batman! This thing just keeps getting better and better! And the latest in the the “rocking chair bag of tricks”? It scoots across the floor and Mike can push it to wherever suits him.

Check out my new rocking chair!

“I can get in it all by my self!”

“This thing ‘rocks’!!!!!”

A floor clean enough to eat off of…

2011-03-22T22:50:00.001-04:00

We may not be the best housekeepers in the world. OK. We probably don’t even make the top half of the list. Not that our house is “dirty” (although it certainly has its moments). Not that our house is “cluttered” (although we have plenty of these moments too).

But let’s face it. We have a toddler…

Mike has been fairly understanding of our “momentary lapse in household cleanliness”. And while his vocabulary might only consist of 50 or so words (and none of them are “momentary” or “lapse” or “household cleanliness”) – he can still communicate rather effectively.

And how does he tell us that he doesn’t mind the occasional clutter. Or perhaps the rug that should have been vacuumed a day (or two or three) ago? How does he let us know that these things don’t bother him? That he understands that he demands a lot of attention and things like “mopping the kitchen tile” might slip a little?

Well – I’ll tell you how he does it! In just a minute…

But before I just “spill the beans” – Let me tell you about one of Mike’s favorite foods. It’s yogurt. And while he’s somewhat partial to the “Yo Baby” yogurt (because it’s not as sweet) – he will certainly not turn down any other brand or flavor.

As a matter of fact, as soon as he sees the container he will point and say, “Yo. Yo! YO!!!”. From that point you have approximately 3.8 microseconds to have a spoon and yogurt in his hands (did I mention that he is “really turned off” when we try to feed him? He can do it himself – thank you very much!).

In that 3.8 microseconds – you usually don’t have time to get him up in the high chair. Which brings me back to the not minding that the “kitchen tile needs to be mopped”. So – what does he do to let us know that the floor is more than clean enough to eat off of? Why – he eats off of it!!!

“Mmmmm. Gimme the YO!”

“I LOVE IT! And eating from the floor is FUN!!!”

One year pictures!

2011-02-23T21:43:00.001-05:00

Ok – just to let you know upfront. Call it “full disclosure”. There will be no long post this time. Nothing wordy. Not a lot of mumbo jumbo. Today, we are going to get straight to the point. No beating around the bush. We are going to say it using as few words as possible.

…or maybe it’s already to late for that…

At any rate – We have our 12 month pictures back! We’ve had them for a little while now – but I’ve had trouble getting the pictures and the computer in the same room (or the same state…).

So – without further ado – here are some pictures for you to peruse! And if you want to see more – just click HERE and you can see them all!

“Baby needs a new pair of shoes”

2011-02-16T00:30:00.001-05:00

It’s been a little while since there has been a “club feet” update. Mostly, because there has been nothing to update you on. It’s been a few months since we’ve seen the orthopedic surgeon – and it’s still another couple of months before our next appointment.

But we HAVE been putting off on task. Mike has been wearing the same shoes for several months now. So long, in fact, that his toes were sticking out over the end of the shoe (yes - they are open-toed shoes!) and the straps were hanging on by a thread (literally!).

We were hoping that Mike would start walking and we could ditch the shoes (and the brace) altogether. And while he has no problems standing up (as long as his hand is touching something that at least appears stable) he still hasn’t taken those first “solo” steps yet. That’s not to say that he doesn’t walk. No sir! he will walk behind anything that he can stand behind and push around the room. Chairs. Walkers. Cardboard boxes. You name it.

But that’s not enough for our orthopedic friends! Nope – they want him to be fully walking with no assistance before they will consider dumping the brace.

So it was off to our favorite orthotics place. The folks at Hanger’s really are fantastic. The will bend over backwards and do whatever it takes to make the orthotic device fit as good and comfortable as possible – which is certainly important for clubbed feet kids (remember those pressure points? We sure do…) but it’s just as important for people with artificial limbs – or any other type of orthotics device.

So – we walked in the door and handed them the shoes and brace. A quick look resulted in a “Wow! These have been around the block a few times”. A quick measurement of Mike’s foot – a quick trip to the back – and viola! New shoes mounted on the brace.

So – how long have we waited for these new shoes? Let me put it this way. His original shoes were a size 00. The shoes we just replaced were a size 0. His new shoes are a size 3! And boy – they sure do go on his feet easier!

Fare well Queen City – we have left the building…

2011-02-07T22:11:00.001-05:00

It was a wonderful ride. Filled with a bunch of fabulous folks who helped us out (and in the famous words of Julius: by “us” – I mean “me”). And while I may not have ever found WKRP or Johnny Fever, I did find a great job with a great group of people – even if it was only for a temporary “contract”.

And while I’m not much on your weather – especially the winter weather – I did enjoy following your beloved Reds and beleaguered Bengals. You provided safe harbor for a stranger and shelter from the storm. You took me in and treated me as if I was one of your own.

But not everything is permanent – especially in these current times. I hope that everything continues to go well for you all! And I’m sure we will be back for a visit (to stock up at Jungle Jim’s if for no other reason!)

In the meantime, we’ve already loaded up the U-Haul and vacated the “Cincinnati Vacation Home”. And that was quite an ordeal! It sure would have been easier to carry all of that stuff out if there wasn’t all of that snow in the way (did I mention the winter weather yet?). But it’s done – and our possessions are now consolidated into two locations (even if they are in two different states!).

And the weekend was not all “packing and loading”. There was some fun involved too! There always is when Mike is around!

One of the best times was after running the vacuum in the bedroom. Mike crawled over to the vacuum and started pushing it around the room making a “WRRRRRR” sound. I can’t wait to get a toy lawn mower so he can follow me around the yard! Heck – I might even skip the toy lawn mower and just let him push the real thing around! After all – he didn’t need a “toy vacuum” to push around…

And while he was there, “the dad” was giving him tips on cell phone testing. He spent several hours comparing the Blackberry with the DroidX – including the “infant toss test”. In the end – I think he preferred the Blackberry – but only because it had more buttons! He wasn’t too impressed with the Droid’s touchscreen…

“This blackberry has a BUNCH of buttons I can press! The droid only has eight tiny ones – what fun is that?”

The (not so) secret big news!

2011-02-02T22:59:00.001-05:00

Not that it was every really a secret – but we had some big news happen recently. Many of you already know the news – but there are plenty of folks that we don’t get to talk to on a regular basis and I’m sure that you don’t yet know.

“The Dad” has a new job! This time it’s a permanent position (no more contract work – yea!) and it’s with a nice, stable company (have you ever heard of Verizon Wireless?). And the job is in “The Dad’s” hometown – Evansville Indiana!

In some ways – it’s really exciting. Mike will be closer to family. He’ll be able to visit a LOT more with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And we still have friends in the area. So it’s certainly not like starting over in a brand new city.

In some ways – it’s a bummer. Lot’s of friends in Knoxville, “The Mom’s” job is in Knoxville. Our house is in Knoxville. But we stay focused on the positives!

But the absolute best part? We’ll be together – living in the same house – in the same city – as a family! This road as proven to be a long hard detour – and there are still a lot of things to get done before everything is worked out. But we are hoping that soon the wind will soon be at our back and the sailing will finally be smooth…

Finally! A few Christmas pics!

2011-01-26T21:28:00.001-05:00

Should I be excited that I’m only one month behind? As hectic as things seem to be right now – I suppose that I should be happy that I have a few minutes to post anything! But the alternative is to be taking a quiz for my class. Blogging is WAY more fun than that!

Our Christmas was very different this year. “The Mom” had finished teaching the fall semester and decided to bring Mike up to Cincinnati to visit with “The Dad”! While it was strange to be spending Christmas in a temporary apartment in a temporary city – it was fabulous being able to spend it as a family! We even went to the effort of decorating a Christmas tree! After all – what kind of an example would we be setting for Mike if we didn’t have a tree…

We woke up Christmas morning and opened up our presents. Mike is at the age where he will tear the paper off – but then he is more interested in playing with the paper than he is with what’s in the box! We had a lot of fun watching him…

After Christmas, we spent a couple of days visiting “The Mom’s” family – then a couple of days visiting “The Dad’s” family. Perhaps it is the holidays, or perhaps it’s that we don’t get to spend much time together as a family, or perhaps its celebrating Christmas with Mike – but this year seemed to be extra enjoyable. We had an absolutely wonderful time visiting everyone!

It was also great to be spending a couple of weeks together rather than the usual weekend. All in all, we couldn’t have asked for anything more…

And without further ado – here are some pictures from Christmas day!

“I can’t wait to get the paper off of this box!”

Tickle-me Elmo was a big hit. “La la” is one of Mike’s favorites!

The “Pillow Pet” was another favorite. He loves to crawl over and lay on it!

Mike tried putting on some of his new clothes…

…he may need some more practice at it!

“I hope you all had a merry Christmas and happy new year!”

I know…

2011-01-20T21:24:00.001-05:00

I know I know I know. Excuses excuses. We said that we would keep you updated and we have failed miserably!

And there were so many things that we wanted to share with you, but most of them seem so long ago. And I know that we should have already had a Christmas post with lots of pictures – but I can’t do that either. A small technicality. The camera (with the pictures on it) is some 300 miles from the computer. Hopefully, they’ll be reunited this weekend and we’ll have something posted next week!

In the meantime, I’ll share a story about a Christmas party. This happened a couple of weeks before Christmas. We had it all planned out. “The Nan” was going to come down and watch Mike while “the Mom” and “the Dad” went out to the party. An adult night out! And not just any Christmas party either. This was our church’s Christmas party.

Now many of you might be wondering – “church Christmas party?” and immediately be filled with thoughts of fried chicken and green bean casserole in the church basement while Christmas carols play on an vintage 1945 radio in the corner. However, while our church does indeed have some events like this – the annual Christmas party is not one of them.

And many of you might still be questing. But you need to remember – the pastor of our church is an Irish priest who loves to dance. So instead of thinking of it as a church Christmas party – think of it as a party that your old Irish buddy planned for 600 of his closest friends.

There was much eating and drinking and merriment. And dancing (of course) until the wee hours of the morning. Every year we watch in amazement as Father Michael dances with everyone he can coax out on the dance floor. He’ll whirl and twirl the girls until they are panting. Then he’ll let them sit back down and rest while he finds another partner. He truly is an amazing little fellow – and his dancing ability is just on of the smaller reasons why we like him so much…

So – until next year! Perhaps we should start looking for a baby sitter now…

It’s been a while!

2011-01-06T22:04:00.001-05:00

Howdy folks! It’s certainly been a while since you’ve heard from us! We’ll try and get you all caught up. There has been so much that has happened since the last post that it will certainly take a few posts to get all caught up. But have no fear – we will get you all up to date!

Remember that last post? If not, it was about Thanksgiving. A whopping six weeks ago! And it’s here that we will begin our journey from the past to the present.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, Mike had his one year checkup. There were the usual questions, poking, prodding – and the shots. For this visit, Mike’s “awareness” of the shots changed. He now recognizes what is going to happen as soon as the nurse walks in the room with the needle. And he will let you know that he’s not happy about it! The interesting part is that he was crying before the shot – but once it was over he looked around with an expression like “that was no big deal” and the crying immediately stopped! That’s much better than him wailing for 5 minutes after the shot is over!

His checkup was fine. He’s in the 45th percentile for both his weight and head circumference and a little lower percentile on the height scale. The doctor paid extra attention to his ears since he’s had a history of ear infections. Again – it was great news! All clear on the ears! No signs of any residual infection or fluid build up. Yippee! So all the news was good and all was right with the world and we packed up our bags and headed home.

Then came the weekend…

A few short days later (the following Friday night), Mike woke up several times crying. Uh oh. We have learned that this is one of his “ear infection signs”. So Saturday morning, we load up and head back to the doctor’s office. A quick look in to his left ear and we got a “yep – this one’s got it”. The other ear was clear, but that gave us little comfort. Just more proof that it only takes a few days of just slight congestion before the fluid builds up in the inner ear and gets infected. We are still hoping that he won’t need tubes. And at least the ear infections are getter fewer and farther between.

And remember that every cloud has a silver lining! And this one does too. Our pediatrician (and I’m sure that most other’s are this way too) has kids books in the exam room so that you can keep your little tike somewhat entertained while you are waiting. On this particular “ear infection” trip – Mike had only a passing interest in the kids books. Only the Sesame Street book (Elmo is his favorite) held his attention – and that was only for a few seconds. But what happens when you give him one of the info packets in the room that is meant for the parents to read? Why he will sit on the exam table like a good little boy and read it himself! Interestingly enough – he paid the most attention to the diagram of the ear…

“I like this ‘grown-up’ reading material. It’s much more interesting…”

The update (Part 3)

2010-12-15T22:32:00.001-05:00

Hmmm. At the rate we are going, this “three part update” might turn out to be a continuing series!

If you recall from the last post, we had left off with Mike’s birthday – which was three weeks ago now! And we are back to that old cliché – time fly’s when you’re having fun (or is it time’s fun when you’re having flies – I never can remember…). The next day was Thanksgiving…

Thanksgiving certainly was special this year. The holiday’s are time for celebrating with family. Sure – technically this was Mike’s 2nd Thanksgiving. But last year, we had just brought him home from the hospital. As “brand new parents” (ahhh – those were the days), we were having trouble keeping up with AM and PM – we certainly had no idea what day of the week it was.

And with our current job “situation”, any time that we get to spend together as a family means so much to us! And being able to spend five whole days together – it was the first time we were able to spend five days in a row for over 7 months – it really was something to cherish.

Mike’s “Nan” had come in the day before. And we had one more visitor joining us. After some successful visits to the “eye doctor”, Mike’s “Grandpa Lee” was cleared to make the trip to K-town! So he hoped in the car Thursday morning and headed our way.

We had a wonderful time with some fabulous food. A really wonderful “long” weekend and a great way to officially kick off the holiday season! And have no worries if you weren’t able to make it to our house this year. We plan on having Thanksgiving dinner at our house again next year! It’ll be a “double party” since Mike’s birthday will be on Thanksgiving next year. Come and join us!!!

Mike and Nan checking out the “Black Friday” adds. Mike is already picking out toys!

We fixed so much food – there’s not an inch of counter space to spare!

Mike and Grandpa discus their dinner plans

Is this stuff done yet?

Mike is suited up and ready to eat!

Everybody’s happy after a full belly!!!

The Update (part 2)

2010-12-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

Part 2 of our “catch up” series takes us back to this past Wednesday. Wednesday, November 24th. It certainly was a big day! It was Mike’s FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

To coin a phrase, what a long strange trip it’s been (I don’t think Jerry would mind…)

From a parents point of view – it has all gone by so very fast. We’ve always taken the time to enjoy each of Mike’s “stages”, but it seems like they are here today and gone tomorrow. It’s just so incredibly hard to comprehend that a year ago, we were sitting in the hospital holding our newborn son.

From Mike’s point of view – I would say that the trip has been even longer and stranger! Going from a nice comfy cocoon to a bright world full of casts and surgery and braces. Baths and diapers and changing clothes. Bottles and food. Cutting teeth and recovering from colds. Going from completely stationary to fully mobile. Talking, sign language, books and toys. Thanksgiving, Christmas (who’s the dude in the red suit?) to Halloween (why am I dressed like a dog?) and all the crazy holiday’s in between. Snuggling on laps and taking naps. Mom and Dad and grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even dogs for “sisters”. Don’t forget the magic ceiling fans. And he takes it all in – studies every little detail – and always has a smile to give you. Even with all of that craziness…

And how would you celebrate surviving a full year of all that? With presents, cake and home made ice cream, of course!

It took just a second for Mike to get the hang of ripping the wrapping paper. Then it became a game! Not to get the presents open, but to see how many pieces he could tear the paper in to!

“Check this out!”

“Whoa! The paper comes off!”

After the presents, we gave him some home made ice cream. At first he wasn’t too sure of it – he’s not much on sweet foods. But the cold felt good on his gums (we think he’s cutting about 37 teeth since he’s puts out around 24 gallons of drool per day).

Then came the grand finale. His very own birthday cake. A yummy carrot cake with home made cream cheese icing! Again – he’s not much on sweets. but he loves squishing things through his tiny little fingers! Perhaps the best part was after he had made a grand mess – he decided he didn’t really need the plate and dumped the whole thing. The dogs ended up eating more of the cake than Mike did!

“What in the heck is this?”

“It sure is squishy!”

“Did someone say they needed a plate?”

“Maybe I’ll try eating a bite…”

“Ummm – guys? Have you seen how dirty and sticky my hands are?”

“Dang! Cake and ice cream aren’t so bad after all!”

One year. A whole year. It’s such a cliché to say that it feels like yesterday. But it is so true. The cool part? It’s just the first step down the path of a long, beautiful journey…

Once upon a time…

…I was such a…

…beautiful little baby.

Now, I’m turning…

…into a…

…beautiful little boy!

The update (part 1)

2010-11-29T23:14:00.001-05:00

Obviously, the Thanksgiving holiday has kept us pretty busy and the blog posts have suffered a bit. But never fear – we are going to get you all caught up and back on track!

And this is “part one” of our installment. This will take us back to the Sunday before Thanksgiving. For the whole weekend, Mike had been sleeping a little more than usual and eating a little less than usual. He was due for another “growth spurt” where he grows “up” instead of “out” and we had decided that the time had come. We really had no reason to think otherwise…

“The Dad” was just getting ready to leave and head back to Cincinnati. Mike was just finishing up his supper. And then it started. Just a little cough. That turned into a bigger cough. Then bigger. And bigger. Then some gagging. And a little more. And some more. And then the whole digestive system went into reverse. He had primarily eaten peas and yogurt. You can imagine what THAT looked like after it all came back up!

By the next (Monday) morning, it had stopped coming out of that end – but it all started coming out of the other. Oh joy! Eight outfits before lunch. After calls to the doctors office and about a hundred gallons of Pedialyte, it had started to slow a little. By Tuesday, he still had a touch of diarrhea, but we had definitely crossed over to the recovery side of “the event”.

By Wednesday, Mike was nearly 100%. And not a moment too soon! Because Wednesday was Mike’s first birthday!

But for the details on that, you’ll have to wait until part 2…

The results are in…

2010-11-18T22:40:00.001-05:00

We woke up this morning with a little bit of apprehension. Today was the day of “THE BIG DOCTORS APPOINTMENT”. It’s been the same with every appointment with Mike’s orthopedic doctor. The same ol’ questions / feelings / concerns / nervousness – and throw in a dash of hope. It can all be summed up into a common theme. “I hope everything is ok”…

We loaded up and headed out. Walked in to the doctors office and signed in. We waited a short time before the nurse called us back to “the examination room”. Oh – the memories. Memories of being in this room while they put casts on our 16 day old baby. Memories of being back a week later to cut them back off with a Stryker saw and put on the next set of casts. After his series of casts – which all went from the top of his hips to the tip of his toes – I can’t believe that he didn’t get even one nick from the saw.

The memories of getting the first brace. Meeting with the orthotics specialists. Pressure spots developing on Mike’s feet. Lots and lots of crying (mostly by Mike, but some by mom and dad too…). Sitting in this very examination room and discussing the tenotomy surgery on a 9 week old baby. General anesthesia? On a 9 week old? A timely message from a fellow blogger who has a child with clubbed feet (Thank you JoAnne! You’ll never know how much that little message about the tenotomy set our minds at ease…).

Checking in to Children’s Hospital. Watching them roll our son – our little 9 week old baby – through the double door with the bright red letters “SURGERY”. Waiting and waiting and waiting in that little waiting room…

More casts. More Stryker saw (I can’t believe he still has all 10 toes!). Then more of the dreaded brace.

No – I can’t say my memories of this room are especially fond ones. But with each visit, the news kept getting progressively better and better. Perhaps today, that trend would continue.

In comes Dr. Crawford. A quick examination of his feet. It all goes much quicker when all you have to take off is his socks! The usual bending, twisting, turning. Then the prognosis…

Dr. Crawford looked up and smiled (did he just smile? He never smiles… Is this a good? Is he smiling because he is getting ready to give us bad news? Trying to soften the blow? Is he trying to…)

“Mike’s feet are absolutely excellent!” (WHEW!)

He went on to say that Mike had more maneuverability and flexibility in his feet than some non-clubbed foot kids. Things were CERTAINLY looking up!

We still have to wear the brace at night until he starts walking. Given that Mike is already pulling himself up with no problems and has begun a little “furniture surfing”, Dr. Crawford’s estimates (both as a dad and an orthopedic surgeon) – he (Mike – not Dr. Crawford) should be toddling around in about a month. Once that starts – we can stop using the brace altogether!

And that is what we call “GOOD NEWS”! And while that was certainly the bulk of the good news – we also received another little tidbit of good news. Dr. Crawford told us that the chance of Mike’s feet regressing are “essentially zero”. We now only have to see Dr. Crawford for “routine checkups” – when Mike turns 18mo, then yearly until he turns 5 just to make double sure that there is no regression.

Really? I’ve only got to sit in the little examination room 5 more times? Really? Seriously? AND there’s a chance that he could be out of the brace by Christmas? Now THAT’S what I call a successful visit to the orthopedic doctor!

Two more days…

2010-11-16T21:10:00.001-05:00

Two more days. Two short little days until it is Thursday. Thursday, November 18th.

And what is it about Thursday, November 18th? We have an appointment that day. And by “we”, I really mean “Mike”. And it’s not just any appointment. It’s a doctor’s appointment. “But”, you say, “Mike has doctor’s appointments all the time.”

True, my friend. Very true.

But this one is with Doctor Crawford – Mike’s orthopedic doctor. It’s been month’s since we’ve seen him. The last appointment was stellar. Mike’s feet were doing fantastic.

But there is always that little bit of dread that starts creeping in. After all, bilateral clubbed feet can certainly become a lifelong struggle. Sure – Mike responded extremely well to the serial casting. And after a short struggle with his brace, we had the tenotomy procedure done. After that, Mike responded very well to the brace which holds his feet in position. So well in fact, that for the last 3 months, he has only had to wear the brace at night when he’s sleeping.

And his feet have had no relapse. They are still fully corrected. They still have plenty of pronation. When he stands on them, he stands flat footed and not on the outside edges. To the untrained eye – they look perfectly normal. If we didn’t tell you that he was born with bilateral clubbed feet, you would never even suspect it.

But the key phrase is “to the untrained eye”. Sure, we might know a little more about bilateral clubbed feet than your ordinary average Joe – but we are still very far from the “expert” range. The “expert” in our case is Dr. Crawford. His is the final word.

So, we will cross our fingers, say our prayers, kiss the Blarney stone, rub the Buddha belly, and whatever else we can think of that might bring us “luck”.

Our little helper…

2010-11-11T18:26:00.001-05:00

Mike has reached the age where he is beginning to understand “helping”. Things like he will “help” you with his bottle – or he will “help” you get the spoon up to his mouth. He will help you put his arms through his shirt sleeves or put his arms through the straps on the car seat. When it’s time to get out of the car seat, he will help be sitting up and making it easier to grab him. There are a ton of other examples, but here is his most recent attempt at “helping”.

We were trying to get some of his clothes folded and put away. He decided it looked like fun and wanted to help. He reached in the laundry basket and pulled out some clothes and threw them on the floor. Then reached in again and pulled out some more. Then some more. And some more. And more. He had a blast – and thought it was hilarious when we would put the clothes back in the basket. I have to admit – it was a lot of fun! More fun than laundry has ever been before. Now – if we could only get him to fold the clothes instead of throwing them on the floor…

“Look at me ‘folding’ the laundry!”

No no!

2010-11-10T19:04:00.001-05:00

I’m sure all parents have stories about when they started trying to teach “right and wrong” to their children. A couple of examples would be things like – “it’s wrong to eat the dog’s food” or “it’s wrong to try and remove the ‘childproof’ cap from the electrical socket so you can stick your finger in it”.

Of course, you can’t use long winded sentences like that to a 11 month old – so you say the traditional “no no”. Perhaps you even waggle a finger at them as a signal for “don’t do it –or else”.

I know that we certainly do! And it seems to be working. The events that occurred at daycare today seem to be proof!

Mike and Harper were sitting at a table. The teacher in the room had apparently just finished changing a diaper and was on her way to put the wipes away when a group of parents showed up to pick up their children. The teacher sat the wipes (securely sealed in a rubber maid container) down on the table where Mike and Harper were sitting. Shortly afterwards, some of the parents starting laughing. The teacher turned around and saw that Harper had managed to get the lid off and pull all of the wipes out. She was wiping her face, the table, the floor. And there sat Mike – looking over at Harper and saying “No no. No no. No no.” all while wagging his finger at her!

That’s my boy!

Mike the teacher…

2010-11-05T07:42:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning we were dropping Mike off at his “school” when we ran in to Harper’s mom. Apparently, Mike has been teaching Harper some sign language!

Remember back a few months ago, we took an infant sign language class. It turned out to be really good – especially with how to teach sign language to an infant. We’ve been working with Mike – especially with the signs that are “most useful” (like hungry, eat, more, please, mom, and dad – and a few “non-standard” ones like “go vols”!). And he’s getting pretty good at them too!

So good, in fact, that when he is getting fed at “school” (he eats with Harper, of course), he’s been showing Harper things like hungry, eat, and more. It turns out that Mike must be a pretty good teacher because (believe it or not), she has started using them! Just imagine to 11 month old babies “goo goo” and “gaa gaa” back and forth while signing “more please hungry”. How cute is that!It’s too bad the teachers aren’t allowed to take pictures of the kids (it’s horrible that we live in a world where something like that is considered a “security risk”) – I would LOVE to see it in action

So yesterday morning, we gave harper’s mom the quick rundown – “this is eat – this is hungry – this is more – this is please…”. Oh, and if she raises her hands over her head giving the “touchdown” signal – that’s “go Vols”!!!!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T21:13:00.001-04:00

As hard as it is to believe, it is already November! In three short weeks, we will be celebrating Mike’s 1st birthday. And that seems absolutely unreal!

But before Mike’s first birthday comes Mike’s first Halloween! Since Halloween was on a Sunday this year, we started the day out with our usual Sunday morning trip to church. Mike was his usual angelic self (and spent a large amount of time flirting with the ladies in the pew behind us). Afterwards, we went to lunch with our neighbors Todd and Maureen. Maureen was convinced that we should try something for Mike from the kids menu. She is well aware of our difficulty in getting Mike to try solid food, but she insisted.

We decided on the macaroni and cheese. We ordered our food with a “just you wait and see – he’ll spit it all on the floor!” attitude. After all, we tried the same thing from the same restaurant just 3 weeks earlier. We would have tried something else, but “chicken fingers” just didn’t sound like it would cut it!

The food came. We got out the “travel spoon” for the mac-n-cheese. We put on the bib and made sure it was strategically positioned so that when Mike spit out the mac-n-cheese, it would be deflected to the floor rather than in his lap. We dipped the spoon in to the huge (and soon to be wasted) mac-n-cheese – help the spoon up the Mike’s mouth – and…

He ate it!

He actually ate it! And the next spoonful and the next spoonful. Before long, he was using his baby sign language (which he has recently starting using fairly regularly) to say “more please more”! Unbelievable! And he ate and ate and ate. We have never seen him put away so much food. We were absolutely shocked and stunned.

Of course, Maureen thought we were a bunch of leg pulling liars…

“Hey man! This mac-n-cheese is great! I could eat this whole bowl!”

Later that afternoon, we got Mike all dressed up in his Halloween costume and took him to his first Halloween party at the church. He was absolutely adorable! It was fun just watching his expressions. He simply stared at everyone in amazement wondering why everyone was dressed so oddly. Then we would look down at himself and realize that he too was dressed somewhat oddly.

“Look everybody! I’m a puppy!

Once he realized that it seemed to be “normal” that everyone wasn’t dressed “normally” – we decided to be a little social. We went around and took his picture with several of the folks…

Mike and the Scarecrow!

Mike and the pirate

Mike and the bumblebee

Mike, “the Dad”, and our neighborhood fireman!

“Don’t I make a cute puppy?”

After the fun, we went back home. We stopped by a couple of the neighbors houses to show off our new puppy. Everyone absolutely gushed about how cute he was! And – let’s be honest. There’s nothing that a proud parent likes to hear more! We ended the day with a quick “family portrait”. We tried to get Foxy in the action – but (as usual) she had her own agenda to attend to and didn’t have time for “those silly human activities – there are squirrels to chase from the yard!”

“Hi Izzy! I’m a puppy!”

“Mike, “the Mom”, and “the Dad”

“Happy Halloween everybody! Forget the candy – send mac-n-cheese!!!”

Random kid things…

2010-10-21T21:37:00.001-04:00

Kids are the most amazing things! Everyday there is something new – some new discovery – some new event – some new amazing thing from a world that is nothing but fascinating to them! It is something wonderful to watch (and be a part of!). And it really makes us “adults” put on our kid goggles and look at the world from the perspective of a child…

Mike is certainly no exception. Here are three of his more recent items…

First – he has begun to “study” his toys. He will stare at them silently for long periods of time trying to figure out how they work. For example, he has a motorized toy that rolls along and drops balls as it goes. He loves crawling after it and gathering up the balls that it drops. Recently, he decided to turn it over and see what made it roll. He spent several minutes studying the wheels – trying to figure out why the back wheels spun on their own while he had to use his fingers to spin the front wheels. You could see the gears turning in his little head. A true engineer at heart! And that makes dady proud!

He has also started to “repair” his toys. He will pick up a small toy, like a block or some keys, and crawl over to a larger toy, like his exersaucer or his car. He will then crawl underneath the larger toy and begin banging on it with the smaller toy. And to top it all off – he will make occasional grunting noises as if he were doing some seriously hard work!

Time to do a little vehicle maintenance…

Ahhh – here’s the problem!

This little “whack” should do it!

There – that’s MUCH better!

Another thing Mike has started to do is playing interactive games. One of his favorites is one that everyone knows. Peek-a-boo! He absolutely loves it. You do it a couple of times (where’s mommy?) – then he will do it a couple of times (where’s Mike?). And he is not afraid to let you know that he is a big boy and can cover his own head!

He also has a game that he made up all on his own. It’s called “share the passy”. He will yank his passy out of his mouth and hold it out to you. But he doesn’t want to hand it to you – he wants to plop it into your mouth! He finds this extremely funny, and after a few giggles, he will grab the passy back and plop it back in his mouth. Then it starts all over again until he is propelled into a full-out gut-busting belly laugh!

“Here Dad – you take the passy!”

“Give me that passy back! ”

“Here Dad – you take the passy!”

“Give me that passy back! Are you hiding another one in there?”

And the last new development with Mike is the discovery of the joy of being naked! I’m positive that this enjoyment will only grow – especially once he figures out how to disrobe on his own. And he doesn’t necessarily have to be completely naked to have some “naked fun”. Apparently, running around with no shirt is nearly as fun!

“If I hurry, I can get away before they get this diaper changed…”

“Quick! Here’s my chance to get away!!!”

A busy fall break!

2010-10-20T22:59:00.001-04:00

What do you do when you and your spouse live in two different cities and one of you happens to have a four day weekend? You plan a road trip of course!

Mike’s mommy was on fall break this past Monday and Tuesday. So she packed up the mom-mobile and loaded up Mike and the dogs and headed to Cincinnati for a four day weekend!

It was a great time! Saturday morning was spent relaxing and enjoying each others company. Something we don’t get to do as often nowadays – and we certainly cherish every second that we get! Mike was so cute! With all of his toys spread all over the living room, the thing he kept crawling back to was his books…

“I always enjoy a good book…”

“Polar Bear, Polar Bear. What Do You Hear? is one of my favorites!”

“I can even read one book while I use the other as a pillow! Who needs all of these other toys…”

Saturday afternoon we went wine tasting. Who knew that Ohio was the leading producer of wine in the United States until the 1890’s? Prohibition all but killed the industry – but it is now beginning to make a comeback! So we tried several varieties – and ended up buying several bottles! They even let Mike join in the tasting. He got to try the “100% Concord Grape Juice”. And while it might not have ranked #1 on his list of drinks – he did indeed drink it!

Sunday was museum day! We started with the Museum of Natural History and Science. We weren’t exactly sure how Mike would do. But all of our worries were over when we entered the museum and the first thing Mike saw was an extremely large stuffed polar bear! Mike’s eyes got as big as pies! He pointed at the polar bear, looked at us and said (in his best baby voice) “oooooohhhhh”! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get a picture (the polar bear was simply too big!) – but we did take several others!

“Wow! Look at that!”

“Are you sure that thing isn’t going to get me?”

“Look at the teeth on this wolf!”

After the Museum of Natural History and Science, we moved over to the Cincinnati history museum. It was very interesting to say the least! Perhaps the most interesting thing was how in the mid to late 1800’s, the Irish were thought of as “immigrants who are coming to our country – legally and illegally – to take our jobs and escape their debt. They have no interest in learning our culture and stay together in ‘herds’ rather than trying to integrate into the community. They have absolutely no allegiance to this country”. It’s almost funny now – we once hated the Irish with a passion and now they are one of our most endeared heritages. Substitute “Mexican” for “Irish” and “2010” for “1850” and you have a similar story. It also was the beginning of the resentment towards Catholics (since the Irish were Catholic after all). People were convinced that the Pope was trying to end U.S. political independence. People even tried to pass laws to prevent the Irish from becoming citizens (so they couldn’t hold political posts and the Catholic Church couldn’t take over). Very interesting stuff…

“Irish need not apply” was very common in the mid 1800’s…

Sunday evening, we went to church. We decided to go to St. Lawrence since it was close to the museum and and a 7pm mass. What an interesting coincidence to discover that the St. Lawrence Parish was founded in 1868 (see how that figures in to the dates above!). The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1886! The entire building – inside and out – was absolutely beautiful!!! It’s not the oldest church in Cincinnati (that would be “Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church” – and yes, old is indeed part of the name), but it’s traditional gothic design could keep you wandering around the church for hours…

An photo of St. Lawrence Catholic Church circa 1896. It still looks the same today!

Monday was “back to work” day for “the dad”. It was almost like being a a normal family again! Leave for work, then come back home to find the family waiting for you! It sure does warm your heart and soul…

“Welcome home from work daddy!”

And that was the end of the break. Tuesday, “the mom” loaded up the car. Before she could head back to Knoxville, she had to have a tire replaced – there was a screw through the sidewall that couldn’t be patched. But the day ended up being a good! “The mom” took a quick detour to see Aunt Diane, Uncle Jessie, and all the cousins! Mike had a great time playing with Amber, Jessica, and Anthony! And then it was on to Knoxville and back to the normal routine!

The sippy cup adventure

2010-10-14T22:44:00.001-04:00

Ahhh – my little boy has developed quite the personality. His latest trick? Pulling our leg. Let me explain…

It all started when we decided to try moving towards the sippy cup. As with most things that involve parenting or raising children or childhood development – we were clueless. So we started by pouring some juice in the sippy cup sitting it on the tray in front of Mike. And he responded by picking it up, shaking it, turning it upside down, and throwing it on the floor. Then he looked up at us with his “How did I do?” expression…

We tried several more times over the next few days. We tried to show him how he could raise the cup to his mouth and some yummy juice (or formula) would come out. It all met with the same fate. Some shaking. Some banging. Sometimes he would turn it upside down and suck on the bottom (“Is this how you do it”?). Sometimes he would stick the handle in his mouth and suck on it (“Is this how you do it?”). Sometimes he would simply take his arm and sweep the sippy cup off his tray and send it crashing to the floor. We tried drinking from the sippy cup ourselves thinking that Mike might “follow our example”. We tried a half dozen different styles of sippy cups. Try, try, try as we might – no matter how many times we showed him how to drink from the sippy cup – he stubbornly refused.

Then comes daycare. We asked his teacher Mandy for some advice. She, after all, gives sippy cups to kids all day long! Her advice? Bring in the sippy cup and let me give it a try. So we did (laughing all the way). Surely she doesn’t know how mighty Mike’s will is!

With great anticipation, we pick Mike up from daycare. To our flabbergasted surprise – he drank a full 4 ounces from the sippy cup. AND he ate some puffs, a mum mum biscuit, and a biter biscuit (and we have had very little luck with any solid food!).

Now it’s official. The joke is entirely on us! Mike knows all about drinking from the sippy cup (he probably learned it from his girlfriend Harper). He has simply been pulling our leg all along…

“Do you bang it like this?”

“How come nothing comes out from here?”

With our ego’s a little bruised, we decided that we couldn’t be outdone by a 10 month old boy. So we tried the sippy cup at home once again. Although this time we gave it to him with no fanfare and paid no attention to him while he had it (except to occasionally pick it up off the floor). The result? When he was convinced we weren’t looking, he raised the sippy cup up and took a drink! Fortunately, we had the camera ready and he was BUSTED!

“Dang! They caught me red handed!”

In other news – the weather has been fabulous here! We decided to spend some time outside in our wonderful backyard. Of course, we had the camera with us. And while we may know next to nothing about child rearing, we are bound and determined to capture it all on film! Here are a few of the pictures we took…

Mike looking like a little man!

Mike on the deck doing his best “Let me out of jail” pose…

“Howdy everybody!”

Another ear infection? Are you kidding me????

2010-10-12T19:45:00.001-04:00

Yes – this past weekend, those exact words came spilling over my lips. Mike does indeed have another ear infection. This time in the right ear.

We made this glorious discovery a mere 6 days after he finished his antibiotic and a paltry 3 days after the pediatrician gave us the “all clear” from the last ear infection. This makes his fourth ear infection since August 30th.

As we have come to expect – there were no outward signs of an ear infection. No tugging on the ear, no decrease in appetite. This time – he didn’t even have a fever. Instead, he was playing happily on the floor with his new ball (which he quickly mastered rolling back and forth to mommy and daddy). Suddenly he began crying and couldn’t be consoled. After a few hours of crying (which is WAY out of the ordinary for Mike), we called the doctor and took him in. One peak in his ear brought out the “wow – that ear drum is red a bulging”. Tubes might be in Mike’s future – although the doctor is not keen on them just yet. Apparently because of Mike’s age, the tubes don’t stay in very long (which would mean a series of tubes over time). But if the infections keep coming then we might be left with no other alternative.

The good news? The next morning after the antibiotic shot and Mike was back to his normal happy playful self! And if you ever wanted a strange prayer request – we REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want Mike’s Eustachian tubes to start a growth spurt!

Even more good news? Mike has been practicing his standing! That’s great news for his clubbed feet. While we have never been the type of parents to “speed his development along” – this is one thing we really want to see happen. Once he starts putting weight on this little feet and walking around – we should (hopefully) be able to get rid of the brace!

I try to pull myself up – but I’m not quite strong enough yet…

…but with a little help, I can stand up like a pro!

The ear update…

2010-10-07T20:20:00.001-04:00

Just a short post to update you on the status of Mike’s ear. We went back to the pediatrician this past Tuesday. She took a quick peak in his ears and declared them both un-infected! Or would that be “disinfected”…

Whichever it is – I’m pretty sure that the grammar police don’t read this blog! If they do – then they’ve been extremely lenient!!!

So hooray for Mike and his lack of infected ears! Hopefully, we won’t be making any more trips to the doctor in the near future. However, there is an orthopedic appointment just 5 short weeks away………

Another big weekend…

2010-10-04T20:48:00.001-04:00

Last weekend was quite an adventure! It all started when Mike and his mom were trying to meet dad in Evansville. We had planned the trip on the spur of the moment – Mike’s dad had decided to ride in a bike ride. And that makes a perfect excuse for visiting family and friends!

So with happy hearts, Mike and his mom loaded up and headed out. About 2 hours later, the joy came to an end when the interstate was closed to to an accident. What is normally a 5 hour drive is already extended to a 6 hour drive with Mike. And being stuck in traffic on I-40 turned the drive into a wonderful 9 hour epic saga. Needless to say – once they arrived, everyone (including the 2 dogs) were much relieved!

But we all made up for it on Saturday. Much lounging around and a lot of doing nothing. Mike got to play all day with his nan. And he really enjoyed the attention that he gets when cousin Lucas and cousin Kiersten come over to play!!! And later that evening, he got to try some Turoni’s pizza (he spit it out – just like all of the other solid foods except the previously mentioned cheese grits). But he still enjoyed seeing Sara and Nathan (and mom and dad enjoyed visiting with Matt, Karen, and Mark).

Sunday was the big bike ride – Mike’s dad rode 50 kilometers. Not too bad for an old guy! Not as far as previous years, but considering it was only 50 degrees when the ride started and the wind was blowing like crazy – he was more than ready to stop and get in the car and turn the heat on “high” when he was done! Next year, he’ll be back in shape and will ride the 100K with Mark (especially since the gauntlet has already been thrown down!). The coolest part about the whole thing was having his picture in the paper! You can check it out by clicking here.

After the ride, we got to go visit grandpa! And much to our surprise, Aunt Tracey and cousin Kylie were there! We played and visited and visited and played. The best part of the visit was seeing Kylie in her Halloween costume – she was so cute!!!

But like all good things – our visit had to come to an end. We loaded up the vehicles, and said our goodbyes. The best part of the trip home? It only took the usual 6 hours!!!

Link to Mike’s Pictures…

2010-09-30T19:46:00.002-04:00

Oops! The link I had to Mike’s pictures in the previous post didn’t work! I have fixed the link now – and you can click here to see to pictures…

The pictures are in!

2010-09-29T21:27:00.002-04:00

It’s official! I hold in my hand – a CD containing all of the pictures from Mikes 9 month “photo shoot”!

Megan Parker was (once again) the photographer responsible for the wonderful pictures. We can’t thank her enough for sharing her wonderful talents with us!

It’s hard to believe that Mike is already 10 months old. Eight short weeks from today and we will be singing “happy birthday” to him! I’m not sure where the time has gone – lost somewhere between the diapers and bottles and diapers and baths and diapers and naps and diapers and bottles and whirled peas and diapers. Not to mention the clubbed feet and casts and doctor visits and runny noses and casts and crying and corrective braces and crying and surgery (and no more crying!) and more runny noses and ear aches. Oh – and there was the smiling and the giggles and the da da da and the ma ma ma and more laughs and more jibber jabber and more laughs.

We look at him now and think “he hasn’t changed that much – he’s still that same little boy”. But tonight, while I was trying to remember where the last 10 months have gone (I’m pretty sure that a large chunk has gone to empting the diaper genie), I thumbed through his 9 month pictures. Then his 6 month pictures. Then his 3 month pictures. Then some newborn snapshots. And I realize that our little boy has been doing plenty of growing – no matter how much we want to “Peter Pan” him and keep him young forever!

How much has he changed? Take a look at the pictures below and decide for yourself! And if you would like to see his 9 month pictures – you can see them here.

Here is “Newborn Mike” getting ready for the trip home from the hospital…

Here’s “Three Month Mike” after his first “photo shoot”. Modeling is exhausting work!

Here’s “Six Month Old Mike” coming to getcha!

Here’s “Nine Month Mike” plotting some mischief…

…and “Nine Month Mike” cheering for the Vols!

The Weekend Update…

2010-09-27T21:27:00.001-04:00

First off – several people have asked about Mike’s ear infection. He seems to be doing a lot better! His appetite is better than ever. He is as happy as he has ever been. And he is not having any trouble laying down or sleeping. That is all good news! Of course, his appetite has always been good. He’s always been happy. And it has been a rare occasion indeed when he has had trouble sleeping. But nonetheless – we feel that he is finally on the mend! But we are still keeping our fingers crossed until after the follow-up visit with the pediatrician…

A while back, we mentioned that we have been trying to introduce Mike to solid foods. We figured he was about ready. He’s at the right age, the pediatrician said to “go for it”, and he intently studies us when we put food in our mouths. So we gave it a shot.

We’ve tried a wild conglomeration of things. Puffs. Mum-mum’s. Biter biscuits. Mashed potatoes. We even tried mashed sweet potatoes since sweet potatoes are his favorite. Applesauce with chunks of apples. And the list goes on (and on and on and on…).

Every food met the same fate. If it was finger food, we wouldn’t put it in his mouth – even after watching us do it. I find this ironic since he crawls around to every corner of the room looking for specs of dirt to put in his mouth. And if we put it in there for him (or put it on a spoon for him) he quickly spit it back out and looked at us like we were trying to poison him. And the score on who has eaten the most puffs? Mom – 675. Dad – 523. Mike – 0.

Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes met the same fate. A little dab on the spoon was met with a “what are you doing to me” quickly followed by a long, juicy, blowing raspberry (which I have recently discovered is more properly called an “unvoiced linguolabial trill”!).

We knew that we only had to find the right food and Mike would be happy. And it has turned in to quite an adventure – Mike now gets a small bite of nearly everything on our plate (all met with the same results).

Until this past weekend…

We were sitting at our Puleo’s Grill (for all of you folks in Knoxville – if you haven’t been then shame on you!) enjoying our Sunday afternoon lunch. We decided to splurge a little and ordered an appetizer of fried green tomatoes. Did he like the tomatoes? Of course not…

But the tomatoes also come with something extra. Stone ground cheese grits with Tasso gravy. Yep – that’s gravy made with Cajun Tasso ham. And yep – it’s a little on the spicy side.

So we loaded up a chunk of grits and gravy on a spoon and held it up to Mike. He looked at it. Then looked at us. Then opened his mouth. And we stuck it in!

He chewed a little (already a positive sign since it wasn’t an immediate spit-out). Then he chewed a little more. Then we swallowed! Then he opened his mouth for more!!!

Incredible. Of all of the food we’ve tried – it turns out that the first “solid” food that Mike eats willing is from our neighbor’s restaurant. And it’s grits. With a Cajun gravy.

Our son really is from the south!

And what did our neighbors think of this? Well – lets just say that I’m pretty sure that Mike will get free grits and Tasso gravy whenever he wants it…

Hey mom – how come you never gave me these grits before? Dontcha know I’m a southern boy?

The ear infection update…

2010-09-23T22:32:00.001-04:00

Mike had a follow-up visit at the pediatrician today. She wanted to check on his ear infection. In case you need a quick update – here it goes…

Back 3 1/2 weeks ago, we discovered that Mike had an ear infection in both ears (which is a story all by itself – you can read all about it here). As of today, we have completed two round of different antibiotics and made the trip to the pediatrician to see how his ears were doing.

So we had the usual battery of questions.

Have you noticed any discharge from the ear?

Nope.

Any Fever?

Nope.

More fussy than usual?

Maybe a little, but not really.

Reduced appetite?

He did have, but his appetite certainly returned yesterday – he ate and ate and ate!

Has he been tugging or pulling on his ear?

Yep – he pulls on the right ear a lot. Particularly when he is sleepy.

Ok. The doctor will be in shortly!

And sure enough, a few minutes later the doctor whisked in the door and jokingly said, “Didn’t I just see you the other day”?

She flipped through the notes on the laptop and said, “Hmmm – Mike’s lost a little weight (1.5 oz to be exact). And it says here that he is pulling on his right ear a little. Let’s take a look at that…”. And she whips out her otoscope and snapped on a new speculum (oh how I love using the medical lingo!) and takes a peek in Mike’s right ear. “Well – that looks all clear!”

One down, one to go. She rolls Mike over, takes a peek in his left ear and says “Eeeewwww!”. And anytime you hear a doctor say that, you can be fairly sure that the diagnosis is not going to be what you wanted to hear.

And sure enough, she told us that Mike still has a decent case of acute otitis media (more of that lingo!). She prescribed a third antibiotic that we started this evening.

Here’s hoping that in 10 more days it will all be clear.

What comes around…

2010-09-16T23:09:00.001-04:00

We’ve all heard it before. What comes around goes around. And it has certainly been going around at our household this week!

It started with Mike’s dad this past Monday afternoon. Low grade fever. Chills. Ache all over. Queasy stomach. And incredibly weak. Went to bed Monday night thinking that work was certainly out of the question.

Then came the good news! He woke up Tuesday morning feeling remarkably better – about 90%! By lunch time, he had forgotten he had been sick at all. Less than 24 hours from start to finish!

Then came the bad news. Mike’s mom started in Tuesday evening. Same symptoms but with a little “extra” on the queasy stomach. She woke up Wednesday morning feeling like a truck had hit her.

Then came the good news! By Wednesday afternoon she was feeling remarkably better! By Wednesday evening, she had forgotten she had been sick at all. Less than 24 hours from start to finish!

Then came the bad news. Late Wednesday night, Mike started feeling bad. He was up all night, had a low grade fever and that little whimper “I don’t feel good” cry. Since he hasn’t mastered the English language yet (and his parents haven’t mastered baby babble yet) – they can only assume that the rest of the symptoms are there too.

They took Mike to the doctor today – and she added an extra symptom. He has a moderate inner ear infection (yipee!). Since he just stopped his medicine a mere 9 days ago from the last ear infection, we can only assume that the last one didn’t completely clear up.

He’s been cranky most of the day, but is now sleeping peacefully in his bed. Here’s hoping that it’s going to be less than 24 hours from start to finish for him too. Except for that ear infection, of course…

Mike’s new discoveries

2010-09-15T19:44:00.001-04:00

There have been some new discoveries by Mister Mike at our house! The first one (it will come as no surprise to most) is that he has become even more mobile. Not quite a crawl yet – but more of an “army man slither”. It’s certainly exciting watching your child grow and learn – but this one comes with some “nervous apprehension”.

Why?

I call it the “remember when” syndrome. In just a few short weeks (perhaps even days), we will say to each other, “Remember when we used to put him down in one place and he would stay? We could go to another room and come back 15 minutes later and he would be happily playing in the same spot.”

We are now on the verge of having to childproof our house “for real” (aka “not for fake”). Outlet covers. Cabinet locks. Child gates (our very own gated community!).

Sure – we could put on our rose tinted “new parent” glasses and say “but OUR Mikey wouldn’t do those things”!

Yea – right! Today he squirmed over to one of the dog’s water bowls (he LOVES water!) and started splashing around. It certainly was adorable! But only a “sneak preview” of things to come!

And speaking of adorable – we had the nine month pictures taken this weekend! Again, Megan did a fantastic job! The pictures have been ordered – and we will certainly share them with you all as soon as we get them. But until then – here’s one of the proofs!

Who – me? Play in the dog’s water? You must have the wrong guy!

Just look at that adorable baby! Beautiful, blue eyes, pretty little pig toes, little tuft of hair on his head – and that little pink tongue giving you a raspberry!

That’s my boy!

Labor Day – Goodbye to the “dog days” of summer…

2010-09-08T23:14:00.001-04:00

Labor Day. The unofficial end of summer. Good bye sweltering heat. Good bye to triple digit temperatures (and even higher heat indexes). Hello to cool breezes…

And this year, Mother Nature was right on cue. She packed away the heat (at least for the weekend) and let the sun shine on us in a more gentle fashion. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for getting together with family and celebrating another summer behind us. Or perhaps we were celebrating the beginning of another season of college football!

Mike’s new trick for the weekend was the “Go VOLS!” pose. We got the idea from the quad squad. When we saw them do it, we thought it was absolutely adorable! All you have to do is say “Go VOLS!” and Mike raises his hands in the air in the “touchdown” pose. He has added his own twist by waving with one hand while he does it – almost as if waving goodbye to the other team.

Of course, the lady’s at daycare (who are big Vol fans) can’t get enough of it. Mikey – he’s turning into such a lady’s man!

And we got to see a lot of family this Labor Day weekend. It’s funny how when your closest family is 200 miles away (and many of them are more than 300 miles away) – you really cherish every moment you get to spend with them. This weekend, we were able to see so many more family members than we are usually able to squeeze in. Of course there was “nan” and “grandpa Lee” – we would be drawn and quartered if we didn’t visit them while we were in town! But we also got to visit with Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim, Aunt Joann and Uncle Kenny, Aunt Jenny and Derrick and cousins Lucas & Kiersten, Aunt Tracey and Uncle Chuck, and Aunt Andrea and Uncle Larry! It was such a special treat.

So – goodbye summer. You may try to make us sweat it out with some more warm days, but we all know that your days are numbered. Week 2 of college football starts this weekend (Tennessee and Oregon – a big challenge, but you know that Mike will be saying “go vols” all weekend!) – and the NFL begins regular season play this weekend. It won’t be long now and we’ll be planning Mikes first birthday party!

Mike says “GO VOLS!”

Mike and Nan playing away!

Mike and Lucas playing “Joe Cool”…

Mike and Grandpa Lee

Mike and grandpa wait for the food…

It’s a rare treat to have this clan all in one place!

“It sure was fun visiting with everyone”

“I had such a great time”

“But all of that traveling and visiting sure makes me sleepy!”

Mike’s 9 month checkup – with a surprise (or “it can happen to anyone”)!

2010-09-02T22:33:00.001-04:00

Today was Mike’s nine month checkup. It was typical as far as baby check-ups go. Measure, weigh, poke, prod, etc, etc.

The highlights are that Mike is now pushing 20 pounds (believe me – I feel every ounce!) and his doctor is especially pleased with his eating. He certainly has his favorites (like pears), but he will eat anything that we give him and has not turned away anything that we’ve tried. It is to the point now where we are searching the baby food isles for any sort of food that he hasn’t already tried!

The only ting we’ve had trouble with (in recent memory) is solid food. It is very much a “texture” thing. He likes the flavor and will put it on his tongue – but he doesn’t like the texture and he spits it back out. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s almost cute (and a little funny) to watch him do it. His doctor told us (and we already knew) that it’s nothing to worry about – he’ll munch down on it when he’s ready. And I’m sure that it will be on his terms!

And his doctor checked his ears. There is still a little infection in them, but they are on their way to healing. It wasn’t an “outer” ear infection, so it wasn’t caused by us getting bathwater in his ear. She confirmed our suspicion that it was a “middle” ear infection caused by his congestion. She gave us some much welcome news – it’s now ok to give Mike some children’s Zyrtec to help with his congestion! Words can’t describe how excited we are by this! For the last 6 months, Mike has spent more days with a snotty nose than without. We are hoping that the Zyrtec will provide more relief (or at least more relief than the “saline and snot sucker” method).

But the big surprise of the visit is that Mike’s doctor is officially “up the duff”, “up the spout”, “has a bun in the oven”, “preggers”, “prego”! That’s right – Mike’s pediatrician is pregnant!

It’s certainly not a surprise that a pediatrician would want children – and Mike’s doctor is no exception. What makes it a surprise is that she already has children, and has previously told us that she is happy now that her youngest was starting school. So we were a little surprised that she and her husband decided to start over with another.

That was when she admitted that it was one of those “wait a minute – how did that happen?” moments. I had to chuckle a little at that – because I’m pretty sure that she wouldn’t have made it through medical school without knowing “how that happens” (did I mention that she is a Cornell graduate?). Oh – and her husband is an orthopedic surgeon – so I’m pretty sure that he knows “how it happens” too!

So remember – if an “oops” can happen to two doctors, it can happen to you! As for “how it happens”, I’m no doctor – but I’m pretty sure it’s caused by kissing…

Last weekend. The good, the bad, and the ugly…

2010-08-30T23:05:00.001-04:00

What a whirlwind weekend this past weekend was! As incredible as it may seem, it was the first weekend with just the three of us together at our house in Knoxville since July 16th! We were certainly looking forward to spending some quality time together as a family unit.

And we started out doing just that! Beginning Friday evening, we were all in the living room, smiling at each other, and marveling at just how “right” it all felt and how it was good to be “back to normal”.

Saturday morning was just as nice. Doing more of those “normal” things. Mowing the lawn. Cleaning the house. All of the things that most people would not enjoy at all, we were relishing – soaking up every wonderful minute just for its shear normalcy. With as crazy, topsy-turvey, upside down, crazy, spinning out of control as things have been lately, it as absolutely marvelous to be so “normal”.

And “the good” continued as the “quad mom” agreed to watch Mike for us while “mommy and daddy” got to go out on a date and celebrate their anniversary! It was a great night with great food and great wine. Thank you Jim and Allison for watching Mike for us!!! Someday (after a lot more practice) we’ll be qualified to watch the quads and we’ll be able to return the favor!!!

As the date drew to a close, so did “the good”. We went to pick up Mike it just seemed like he was a little whiney. Not anything that anyone would ever notice – except that Mike is NEVER whiney. He whimpered most of the way home and his congestion, which had been sounding better just a couple of days before, was now back in full force. We got home, put on his brace (hopefully we’ll be able to eliminate that from the bedtime routine in another 3 or 4 months!), and put him to bed. He wasn’t asleep for long before we heard him crying in the monitor. That’s REALLY uncharacteristic! Mom trekked up the stairs and calmed him back down. An hour or so later, he was crying again. Again, mom trekked up the stairs and calmed him back down and he fell back asleep. just a few minutes later, he was crying again. This time, daddy made the trek to Mike’s room. Three times in one night – something is certainly not right. Mike doesn’t wake up crying in the night three times in a month! Three times in a night? Hmmm – something isn’t right. And then, like turning on a switch, out pops a fever!

So we start the Tylenol regimen. That get’s him through the night, but by mid morning on Sunday, it wasn’t keeping the fever down. We decided to call the “nurse line” since the pediatrician wasn’t open on Sundays (because kids NEVER get sick on Sunday’s!). The nurse asked all of the routine questions and then asked to hear Mike’s breathing over the phone. That’s when things started slipping from “the bad” in to “the ugly”…

When the nurse heard Mike’s breathing coming in a raspy pant (and since the pediatrician's office was closed), she felt that we shouldn’t wait until Monday to see a doctor. Of course, that means a trip to the ER at Children’s Hospital! We were concerned that the nurse might be over reacting a little – but what kind of parents would we be if we didn’t follow the advice (especially if it turned out to be bronchitis or pneumonia or H1N1 or………). It’s certainly better to be safe than sorry. So, off we go.

We get to the hospital and waltz in through the ER doors. We are whisked from room to room and see several different nurses (who all assure us that it was better to come in than to wait for the doctor’s office to open). After much poking and proding and taking his temperature a half dozen different times (we assured Mike that when he gets older, there is a better way to take his temperature) we saw the doctor. He listened to his lungs (“hmmm – they sound a little congested”) and then looked in his ears (“Oh! That one’s infected. And looky there – it looks like we’ve got a double!”). They took some x-rays of his lungs just to make sure nothing serious was going on there (especially since mommy has asthma). The x-rays looked good – at least there was one little piece of good news!

Now it’s been 24 hours and Mike has had three doses of his antibiotic. He already seems like his normal little playful self. And looking back on it all (hindsight is 20-20) – it really wasn’t over reacting. He ears were bothering him enough that it hurt when he swallowed which is why he hadn’t been much interested in eating. Every time he coughed, it would bring out this long moaning cry. And Tylenol had stopped controlling his fever. I’m sure that by Monday, he would have been beyond miserable. It’s too bad he didn’t have some of the “classic” ear infection symptoms that everyone has told us to look for – like red ears that he tugs on all the time!

And why is it that pediatrician offices are closed on Sunday’s? Maybe we just haven’t told Mike that Sunday’s are off limits for sick days…

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-25T06:34:00.001-04:00

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear daddy!

Happy birthday to you!

Today is my daddy’s birthday. Happy birthday daddy!!!

Sad news once again…

2010-08-23T21:58:00.001-04:00

Sometimes it seems that in the game of life, you can never get over the hump. Just when things start looking up a little bit – here comes another hit out of nowhere and knocks you back down the hill again.

And so it is again. The seemingly harmless phone call to let us know that Mike’s “pappy” had suddenly passed away.

The shock is always a little deeper when it is this unexpected. He hadn’t been sick. There weren’t any health concerns. He had even been working out in the backyard just minutes before.

But we have faith that there is a “great plan” and that he has been called home to do bigger and better things than he could accomplish here with us. And while pushing our grief aside might feel like moving mountains, we know that mountains have been moved before. And rather than focusing on the pain, we focus on his life and living the way he would have wanted us to.

Love your family like nothing else – your spouse as your constant companion, your children as if they were your world, your grandchildren as if they hung the moon, and your brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, and everyone else as if there is nothing you wouldn’t do for them.

Love your friends and neighbors as if they were family. Use your skills and knowledge to promote the greater good. Realize that helping your fellow man is just like helping yourself. And when you need a favor in return – people will be knocking down your door to offer help.

Love your country as if it were the best place on Earth – because it is. Remember that your lifestyle came at a great cost and that there are many people still fighting today to insure that we keep a hold on those freedoms. A soldier’s sacrifice has given me the ability to sit here tonight and say whatever I want, however I want. There are many countries that are envious of that – and many other things. If a soldier ever asks for a hand – lend them one and never ask for anything in return. They’ve already repaid you.

Every Sunday, there is a particular point during each mass when the priest asks us to “remember those who have died”. We will remember you, Pap. We will teach Mike as best we can. And we’ll make sure he knows that he hung the moon…

Mike and Pappy telling tall tales…

Another trip and other milestones

2010-08-17T19:15:00.001-04:00

Mike and his mom had been talking. They realized that summer was coming to an end. Mom was going to have to head back to work soon – the fall semester was quickly approaching.

They decided that one last summer road trip would be the best way to say farewell to summer. And with mom and dad’s anniversary just a few days away, there couldn’t be a better road trip than to spend a long weekend in Cincinnati with dad!

So, this past Thursday, they loaded up the truck. Baby clothes, mommy clothes, baby toys, dog toys, baby food, dog food, diapers, and many other things that we can simply call “other stuff”. Mike was strapped in his car seat. Foxy was in the back keeping him company. Izzy was in the front keeping mom company. And mom pointed the truck up I-75 and “let-r-rip”!

Last Friday was the official anniversary. Five years. Before long, we might actually be married longer than we were engaged! Ahhh – but that’s a different story altogether! A nice home cooked meal. Dad even had candles at his apartment! What a better way to celebrate a wedding anniversary than to be with your family – especially when you have to spend so much time apart.

Saturday was a great day! It started with a lazy morning. Everybody slept in – even Mike! We had a great lunch at Scott’s BBQ – and we topped it off with a piece of sweet potato pie. Yum! Then we went back to get ready for the main event. A trip to the Great American Ball Park to watch the Reds play the Marlins! We must have brought them some good luck – the Red’s won 5 to 4 and regained the #1 spot in their division! Since it was Mike’s first baseball game, the Reds gave him a certificate commemorating the occasion. That was pretty cool – and it will surely end up in the scrapbook…

Sunday was the trip to Jungle Jim’s. “What’s that"?” you say. The best way to describe it is an “international grocery store” – but that’s like calling the Olympics “just another sporting event”. If it can be sold and it’s edible – you can find it at Jungle Jim’s. Of course they have all of the things a “normal” grocery would have – milk, eggs, bread, ground beef, potato chips, tomatoes, etc. But they also have things like elk steaks. Or a cheese aisle that is about 1/4 mile long (no I’m not exaggerating) and has cheese from a couple dozen different countries. Like wine? They have everything from Boone’s Farm all the way to a $5000.00 bottle. I’m pretty sure that I’ll never know what a $5000.00 bottle of wine tastes like – but I’m sure it doesn’t taste like Boone’s Farm. So – what did we get? A bottle of wine from the Bordeaux region of France, some Mango’s from Argentina, some cream filled ginger snaps from Yorkshire, and some pasta (chipotle fettuccini) from Italy. Oh – and some baby food from Pennsylvania.

And there was one additional event, a milestone if you will, that happened this weekend. Mike officially has teeth! Two little teeth barely poking through his bottom gum. He is now continuously shocked (and a little dismayed) that chewing on his fingers hurts a little now. And let me tell you – they are S-H-A-R-P!!! Our little baby is getting big! Cheerios are just around the corner…

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Candlelight dinners make me sleepy…

Even the dogs got along…

Our seats at the game…

Dad? Are you going to let me eat these potato chips? I’ve got teeth, you know…

“Baseball games sure are long. It’s WAY past my bedtime!”

Ahhh – a nice bed and a glow-seahorse to pet. Now I can visit dreamland!

Meanwhile – Back at the Orthopedic Doctors Office…

2010-08-10T23:20:00.001-04:00

Haven’t we all noticed that the older we get, the faster time flies by. And I have come to discover that the passage of time exponentially increases with the addition of kids! It is almost impossible to believe that we are in the final throes of summer vacation. School children everywhere are feeling the carefree summer lifestyle slip away with every trip to the store. No more pink lemonade – now it’s all pencils and paper new shoes and underwear.

Of course, we have a year or two (or three or four) before Mike reaches that stage. And the date circled in red on his calendar might not have been marking the first day of school – but it was certainly marking an important date. Another trip to the Orthopedic Doctor for a foot checkup.

As is always the case, the approaching appointment brought with it the nervous unease of impending bad news. We certainly had no reason to suspect bad news – Mikes feet have been doing outstandingly good. At least in our opinion. But who are we but mere parents – and new ones at that! There may be a doctor in the house – but a PhD does not mean MD. And we certainly haven’t spent our entire adult lives treating clubbed feet.

And there’s always those nagging early memories. Those first several trips to see the Orthopedic Doctor. Before the tenotomy. Back when Dr. Visit = new cast = more pain for Mike. Or Dr. Visit = new brace = more pain for Mike. Those equations are very hard to break.

Realistically, we haven’t had a trip like that for over five months. And five months is a REALLY long time considering Mike is only 8 months old! So we don’t have anything to worry about. Right?

We walked in to the doctors office last Wednesday and it was like we were with a rock star. Nurses were jumping over the counter in a mad dash towards us. The first nurse reached us (after a NFL caliber move over and around her co-workers) and said, “Here. Let me hold Mike for you.” The other nurses, grumbling in there defeat, finished rolling out the red carpet and dropping rose petals ahead of us as we walked back to the examination room. A quick x-ray of Mike’s feet (a couple of nurses in the background. Let me do it! No – let ME do it!). Then it was time for the doctor. He came in – the lights sparkling off of his smiling teeth. “So – lets see what we’ve got here.” He took hold of one of Mike’s feet. A twist this way, a bend that way. Rotate around. Pinch in various places. Mumblings about the pronate of the metatarsel. Then it was the other foot. More twisting, bending, rotating, this way, that way, and the other way. Pinching, pinching, pinching, mumble, mumble, um hum, um hum.

It was about at this point that I realized that my fear of the prognosis that this doctor was preparing to give us had caused me to not draw a breath for the last 23 minutes. I casually exhale the stale air from my lungs with an “I meant to do that” flair. The doctor twisting the first foot a little more. Rotated the second one a little more. Another pinch. He turned around to look at us and he said…

Mike’s…

feet…

look…

GREAT! No changes – and the brace can continue to stay off during the day.

WOO HOO! The disco ball dropped from the ceiling, Gloria Gaynor (I didn’t know she was a nurse here…) started singing “I Will Survive”, confetti was blowing all around the room and we all danced until the early hours of the morning.

Completely exhausted, we packed up the diaper bag. Four nurses instantly appeared at our side to help us carry Mike out to the car. On the way out, I swear that I heard them humming “We Are Family”. Sister Sledge? Surely the Sledge sisters aren’t nurses at the same place with Gloria Gaynor. It was dark after all – but the nurse on the left certainly looked like Joni and the one on the right could have been Kathy…

As we buckled Mike in his car seat, the doctor called out, “see you again in three months”!

Mike’s baptism!

2010-08-03T23:42:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was a wonderful weekend! Full of family and friends (both in person and in spirit!). All converging on Knoxville to join us in a beautiful celebration…

Mike’s baptism!!!!

It was such a special day. All of the joy and excitement of watching your son celebrate his first (and most important!) sacrament. With all of the love and joy and happiness that he has brought in to our lives, it was a true blessing to be a part of this.

So let me welcome you Michael Robert into the Christian community. The water has cleansed you and given you new life. You have been marked as one of God’s children by the sign of the cross. You have been rubbed with oil to strengthen yourself, and chrism has sealed you with the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have given you a candle, lit from the Paschal candle, so that you may use the light of Christ to find your way through the world. And we have given you an army of people to support you along the way – your parents, godparents, all of your family, friends, and the full love and protection of the Church and Christian community.

And of course there are pictures! Below are a few – but you can also click here and see the a ton more!

“Mike and Mike” – Mike visits with Father Michael.

Mike says, “Skip the formalities – I’m ready for the water”!

The Baptism…

Mike, parents, godparents, and Father Michael.

The Quad Squad (and the world famous Quad Mom). And thanks to the Quad Dad for being our designated photographer!

Early Mornings…

2010-08-02T20:18:00.001-04:00

“I feel like such a dog before my first cup of coffee…”

Adventures with Fruits…

2010-07-28T20:51:00.001-04:00

We have traveled far on the baby food trail. After a couple false starts, we have successfully navigated our way through the village of vegetables and are now deep in the heart of the land of fruit.

Fruitland is such a different place than vegetable village. Everything has a wonderful smell that makes you want to inhale deeply. And oh my – how sweet the taste!

But there are certain things in Fruitland (you could call them “apples”). They have something else mixed in with the sweetness. Some call it “sour” but I like to call it “tart”. There is an instant sweet sensation in every bite – but right on the heels is a wave of tartness. It causes my eyes to squeeze shut, my nose to wrinkle, and my lips pucker. Sometimes it makes me shake and shiver. As quick as it comes, it goes away and I open my mouth waiting for more!

The first bite of apples – down the hatch!

Ahhh – the sweetness…

But wait – what is this mixing with my sweet flavor?

…then the “tart” hits…

…and makes me shiver…

…and then I’m ready for more!

Fun with Family and Friends

2010-07-26T20:18:00.001-04:00

It’s not often that we get to see our friends from Evansville. It’s even less often that we get to see our friends from Detroit. So it is a rare occasion indeed when all three families can get together in the same place at the same time.

But that’s exactly what happened this past weekend! The Detroit clan and the Evansville clan made plans to go camping. They decided that a good “half way” meeting point was Heuston Woods Stat Park – a short 35 minute drive north of Cincinnati! So Mike’s mom and dad decided on some “role reversal” – instead of dad driving back to Knoxville, mom loaded up Mike and the dogs and headed to Cincinnati…

We all met up at the campground and spent the better part of the day together. All of the “big” kids (Sara, Nathan, and Edison) swam in the lake and built sand castles. Even Franklin splashed around in the water with his mom! And the two boys – Edison and Nathan – were close enough in age that they had a blast playing with each other! Afterwards, we headed back to the campsite for some burgers, brats, and chicken – all topped off with a slice of watermelon. Nothing brings back those childhood memories of summer vacation like watermelon juice running down your arms and dripping off of your elbows!

It was such a fabulous time. We really do need to do it more often!!!

Mike eating supper at the campground.

Matt cooks up some chicken over the fire.

Karen smiles (while trying to get Sara and Nathan to eat!)

Sara deciding how much she “really” has to eat.

Nathan plays with some of Edison’s Matchbox cars…

The nearly world famous “Sharpie”.

Rachael and Franklin enjoy some peas and grapes.

Edison planning his next move…

Pay it forward…

2010-07-21T21:43:00.001-04:00

We often talk amongst the two of us (Mike’s mom and dad) about how lucky we really are. Bi-lateral clubbed feet caused us a few weeks of stress in the beginning. But as far as clubbed feet go, Mike responded phenomenally well to the treatment. Considering what other parents and children have gone through (or are going through) makes us appreciate how well it’s gone.

And it’s not just the feet either. Good, happy, healthy, eats anything (without being messy), and on and on and on – it really has been smooth sailing. And again, we reflect on how well it’s been.

And then sometimes, you hear a story that hits close to home. And you say to each other “that poor child and her parents – my heart goes out to them”. This is one of those times…

A little girl from Mike’s daycare was recently (an unexpectedly) diagnosed with a brain tumor. She had to have brain surgery just a few days before her fourth birthday. She was allowed a couple of weeks to recover in Knoxville (if you can call two weeks of fairly intensive physical therapy “recovery”) before being sent to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for radiation treatments (which began today…). The treatments are 5 days a week, Monday through Friday for eight full weeks – and she has to be put to sleep for each one. And to top it all, she’s young enough that she doesn’t understand how far away Houston is from Knoxville – so she doesn’t understand why her friends can’t come to visit her.

I think about this little girl often. And what she and her parents must be going through is absolutely beyond my ability to comprehend.

I would be surprised if anyone reading this actually knows Madison Haynes. Even though – you can still appreciate how much it would mean to her to know that people are thinking about her. So the next time you are out and about, buy a “get well soon” card and a $0.44 stamp . You certainly won’t have to go out of your way – you can pick one up for $1.00 anywhere from the grocery to Wal-Mart). Write a short little message on the inside (something like “you might not know who I am, but I thought you would like to know that someone from Knoxville (or Indiana, or Kentucky, or California, or wherever you are) is thinking about you”). Send it to Miss Madison Haynes, Homewood Suites, 2950 Sage Road, Houston, TX 77056. For less than a buck and a half, you just put a smile on this little girl’s face.

I can’t think of a better way to “pay it forward” than that…

Spending time with friends…

2010-07-15T21:05:00.001-04:00

Not that long ago, we got to spend a couple of days watching Mike’s buddy Giada. Giada was born just a couple weeks after Mike, and they’ve had several social visits. But this was the first time that they would get to play all day for two days!

And we were excited about it too! Our neighbor (Mrs. Maureen) came over in the afternoons after VBS to lend a hand – just in case taking care of two babies turned out to be too much. After all, we are not nearly as good at taking care of multiple babies as our friends the “quad-mom and quad-dad” (by the way, the quads just recently turned four!).

It turned out to be two very nice days! There was lots of playing, very little napping, and some pretty good eating. All followed by more playing and even less napping. We all had so much fun! And we were glad to see Giada has made a full recovery and is now fully mobile after her spinal surgery! Perhaps I’ll post the details of that some other day…

Until then, we are certainly looking forward to the next “play date”!

Giada and Mike play on their mats

Giada takes a turn driving the car

The two “posers”!

Mike, Giada, and Mrs. Maureen – Mike has on his best “Hey Baby – you’re looking good!” pose…

Veggie Tales

2010-07-13T21:56:00.001-04:00

We’ve had a few posts now concerning our “vegetable saga” with Mike. Remember that we tried carrots (mom’s favorite!) first and we reduced our son to tears three days in a row. We tried squash next with the same results. Then we altered our method and gave him a bite of cereal followed by a bite of vegetables and that seemed to do the trick! In the end, he would eat a whole jar of squash in one sitting!

So me moved on the sweet potatoes. No problem with those – he REALLY liked them! So much that he would bang his tray wanting more! We got a little adventurous and tried them without the cereal and he ate them like they were going out of style! Perhaps he was getting used to this vegetable routine.

Next came green beans. Not as good as sweet potatoes, but he still ate them all up!

That was when we decided it was time. We had a feeding method that seemed to work. And Mike also seemed to be getting used to these new, strange flavors. So, with much apprehension from mom (she REALLY wanted Mike to like carrots!), we decided to try carrots again.

First, we primed Mike with a little cereal.

Alright! Cereal!!!

Then we told him it was time to try carrots again…

Ok mom and dad. If you say they are good, I’ll try carrots again…

And the result? He liked them! So much, that he ate the whole jar!

Hey! Carrots really ARE good!!!

Success! We officially checked carrots off of the vegetable “to do” list!

Next were sweet peas. We saved them for “next to last” (we saved corn for last because it is always mixed with something else). We were a little worried about the sweet peas. Mike’s cousin (who is a few months older than him) hated sweet peas. And his buddy (who is two weeks younger than him) was allergic to them. But we decided that it was time to be brave and give them a try.

We used our same old method (which had become ‘tried and true’ by this point). We primed him up with some cereal and then he got his first spoonful of peas…

…the first spoonful goes down the hatch…

…and Mike comes back wanting more!!!

So we have added sweet peas to the “success” list! The last thing remaining was corn. And we opted for the “corn and rice” mix. And since all of the other vegetables have turned in to successes (even those that started out as failures) – you might be able to guess how this experiment ended up. It was indeed a resounding success. And while I don’t have any pictures (sorry, they are still on the camera and the camera is 290 miles away!) – you can look at any of the pictures above and imagine “yellow goo” on the spoon instead of “orange goo” or “green goo”. Mike ate it up and came back with a smile on his face wanting more!

So, that ends our vegetable saga. Next on the list? Fruit!

More “firsts”

2010-07-07T23:49:00.002-04:00

One thing we’ve realized now that we are parents is that during the first year of “parenthood” – nearly everything is a “first”. And every day seems to bring about the beginning of some milestone in your baby’s life.

Some are just silly – born from the fairytale notion of parenthood (or more likely – sleep deprivation of the parents!). Things like “the first poopy diaper” (for all of you Bill Cosby ‘Himself’ fans…). Or other things – like his first bath, the first time he peed on you. For goodness sakes – it’s no wonder all parents aren’t prescribed powerful psychotropic drugs when they are sent home with their new baby

Some are more monumental on the development scale – like the first time he slept through the night, the first time he rolled over, the first time he sat up.

Some are more directly related to clubbed feet – like his first casts (at 16 days old), the first night he could sleep without casts, his first brace, the first day he could have the brace off for more than a few minutes.

And then there are the really special ones. The ones that peel back the hardened exterior of adulthood and allow you to see the true wonders of the world through a child’s eye. And we were lucky enough to have TWO of those this past weekend!

They both happened while we were spending our 4th of July weekend camping at Indian Mountain State Park. The first “first” happened on the spur of the moment. We had decided to take Mike and the dogs walking down the little path that winds through a field, along a lake, then past a playground. We stopped at the playground and played! Mike’s dad even took him down the “slicky slide” (and provided some comic relief to mom!). We were almost ready to go when Mike’s mom stopped and looked at the swings. Mike’s dad said “Hmmm – I wonder if he would sit in there”? So we plopped him in and gave him a push. And there it was – that look on his face. The absolute joy of being a kid swinging on a swing at the playground. It made me want to hop in a swing too!

The second “first” happened later that same night. The little town of Jellico (which is where the Indian Mountain State Park is located) was having their 4th of July fireworks! The campground is close enough to be able to see the fireworks, but far enough away to mute the loud “BANG” to a more baby friendly level. We set out in the lawn chairs and watched the display. Mike sat upright and straight as a board on his dad’s lap and watched each firework with absolute wonder and amazement. He sat perfectly still and watched the entire 20 minute display. When it was over, he turned and looked at his mom with eyes as big as pie pans. What he was trying to say was unmistakable - “Did you see THAT? Did you SEE that? Holy cow – did you SEE THAT????”

And what a better way to say “Happy 234th birthday, America”! Watching a small fireworks display in a small town in the hills of Appalachia with your son looking up in the sky at the most amazing spectacle he has ever seen.

Mike on the walking path…

Mike and Dad going down the slide.

Mike LOVES to swing!

All that playing makes a fella awfully tired!

Mike’s first bite of sweet peas – were they a camping favorite or camping flop? Stay tuned to find out!

Sometimes he still looks little…

2010-06-29T22:12:00.001-04:00

Already, we look at Mike and are absolutely AMAZED at how much he has grown! He is so incredibly different – even from day to day - not to mention week to week. And month to month? That’s like comparing apples and oranges…

But there are times – when he’s not on rolling around on his mat or bossing his toys around. Times when the “big” Mike starts to shrink back down. It’s usually at night when he is getting his last bottle. Or we’ll see it when we sneak into his room and watch him sleeping.

We’ll see that “little” Mike. That baby who is growing up so fast. The really little one that we get to see less and less. But he’s still there if you look hard enough…

Here’s “Big” Mike…

Here’s “Little” Mike getting his last bottle of the day…

…and heading off to dreamland

The pictures are in!

2010-06-28T22:17:00.001-04:00

At long last. The wait is over! We received our call from Megan that our pictures were ready to be picked up!

We rushed over to her studio where she was photographing a newborn baby. The little baby looked so small and tiny next to Mike (our little “Chunky Monkey”). The parents of the newborn looked over and said “Wow – he sure is a big boy”! A little chuckle followed by “yep – but the doctors say he’s only in the 10th percentile”.

“Really”, they asked?

“Yep – really”, we answered.

“How big was he when he was born?”

“Only 6 pounds, 12 ounces.”

“Really? Our baby is bigger than that!”

“Yep – wait until you are getting the 6 month pictures taken!”

And so it is with parents. I’m beginning to see that parents don’t really know what’s coming down the pike. And I’m guessing that it’s that way forever and ever. But we can look at those parents who haven’t made it as far down the path as we have and we can smile and think “…just wait…”

So, back to the pictures. We have uploaded them to Kodak Gallery where you can take a gander at them. And again, the photographer was Megan Parker (just off of Callahan in north Knoxville). No – we don’t get anything for sending people her way. And you (nor we) won’t get any sort of discount by mentioning that we are clients (although I’ve always wanted to be on that end of the name dropping!). But we really do think she does great work. And the way she works with babies is amazing.

Here’s a few to look at – there are many many more! You can view the rest by clicking http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=992438401408%3A1046498243&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Sentimental? Yeah, probably… (or – Mike is 7 months old today!)

2010-06-24T21:52:00.007-04:00

We talk a lot lately about how lucky we are with Mike. Sure, he (and we) had a rough start. Casts, surgeries, braces, and doctors galore. We think of those as the “dark days” when all Mike did was cry (and I’m sure I would too if I had to go through half of what he did).

But all of that seems like oh so long ago, almost like it was in a dream (or in another life). His feet were corrected which meant no more casts. His tenotomy was a success which meant no more pain while wearing the brace. Shortly after, he started sleeping through the night – and everybody felt better!

So our conversations now are less about clubbed feet (except when we talk about ways of sharing our “lessons learned” with other club feet parents) and more about how great Mike is. He started sleeping through the night months before other babies his age. We can count on two hands the number of times se has “spit up” in the last 7 months He will be independent and play by himself when you need him to. Or he will snuggle up next to you with his little hand on your cheek. He laughs all the time and will great anyone with a big toothless smile. He’s a big flirt, both with other babies and older women (just ask the babies at daycare or the ladies at church!). He eats his food and rarely makes a mess – most times you could do without the bib (although we always use it just in case).

And really – there is nothing better than walking in to a room, watching Mike turn his head, recognize who it is, and give you that “I’m so glad to see you” smile!

So – happy 7 month’s, Mike! Here’s hoping you don’t wrap us up to tightly around your finger! You’re right… It’s too late…

And now for some gratuitous "proud parents of a smiling baby" pictures!

Smiling in the tub.

Smiling with mommy!

Smiling at YOU!

I learned how to stick out my tongue…

…and I can smile while I do it!

Smiling in the car seat.

Smilin’ and drivin’

Smiling on daddy’s recliner.

A trip to the National Air Force Museum!

2010-06-23T22:21:00.001-04:00

First a little preface. Mike’s dad took a temporary work assignment in Cincinnati OH. Yes – it’s hard to be away from Mike and his mommy during the week, but knowing that it’s temporary helps. And we have been burning up the internet with the webcams so we all get to see each other every evening!

It also provides an opportunity to do things that we normally would not have done. One such thing is visiting the National Air Force Museum in Dayton. The museum, appropriately situated on Wright Patterson Air Force Base contains the largest collection of USAF planes in the United States. And while that does indeed sound impressive, our expectations were not excessively high. We were expecting a couple of hangers with a few F-16’s and maybe a stealth bomber – and we knew that they had a small collection of “Air Force One’s”.

So, a couple of weeks ago, Mike and mommy make the trip up to Ohio for a week long visit. On the Saturday, we drove up to Dayton to take a gander at these planes. And boy howdy – what a collection it is…

I won’t even begin to describe the number of planes. but I will mention a few of “daddy’s” favorites. They had a really beautiful P-47 thunderbolt – and this one was a little extra special because it was a P-47D-RA. The”-RA” designation means it was built in daddy’s hometown of Evansville Indiana! They also had the actual “Bocks Car” plane – the B-29 that dropped the “Fat Man” over Nagasaki (that was a rather solemn area of the museum…), an actual B-52 (I still don’t know how they got something that big off of the ground), an F-117A stealth bomber, they even had an SR71 Blackbird – daddy’s favorite plane when he was a little boy (and still the fastest plane ever built!). The favorite of all was the “T-41A Mescalero” – most of you probably haven’t heard it called by that name. But Mike’s dad has over 100 hours piloting this exact model! It’s better known as a Cessna 172!!!!

And that is only an insanely small sample of the hundreds of aircraft (yes – they even had a few F-16’s!). In the end, the museum turned out to be so big that we didn’t have time to see it all before it closed. Mom’s favorite was all of the “nose art” on the WWII planes. Dad’s favorite was everything (much like a kid in a candy factory – we expected the Oompa Loompa’s to come out any minute and wisk him away). And Mike’s favorite was “Iron Mike” – an actual suit of armor (yep – like the Knights of King Arthurs Court) that was the mascot of the 317th fighter squadron. What price would you pay to see such an amazing display of American air superiority? Thanks to the USAF, the price is free. We will certainly be making the trip back to finish the tour!

This Thunderbolt was made in Evansville Indiana!

“Bockscar” – the B-29 that carried the “Fat Man” atomic bomb…

SR71 – still holds the speed and altitude records at 2070MPH and 80,257 feet (and that’s just what the USAF releases!). It once flew from London to Los Angeles in 3 hours 47 minutes…

The F-117A. Stealth ALWAYS looks cool!

Mike and Daddy take a seat in an F-16 cockpit!

The “T-41A” – better known as a Cessna 172!

“Iron Mike” – the mascot for the 317 fighter squadron!

The diversity of food…

2010-06-22T20:49:00.001-04:00

We’ve alluded to this in a couple of previous posts. Now it’s time to tell the whole story about Mike and his journey towards food diversity…

In the beginning, it was all easy. Breast milk from the breast. And there is variety here as the flavor changes according to what mom eats. Or at least that’s what the lactation folks say – we never actually ran that experiment. For us, it was simply breast milk from the breast.

Then there was the time of Mike’s surgery. Because of the general anesthesia, the doctors wanted to make sure he was hydrated enough and told us to give him some pedialyte before the surgery. We were worried – after all, he had only had breast milk. But Mike had no worries. He gulped the pedialyte down like a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day!

Then came the time when Mike’s appetite increased more than mom’s milk supply. Time to supplement with some formula. Again – we were worried. After all, he had only had breast milk and the one “dose” of pedialyte. But Mike had no worries. He gulped it down like a glass of cold water after mowing the lawn.

Switching from Similac to Enfamil? Nope – no big deal there either…

Time for rice cereal? Mike says “YUM”!

Add some Oatmeal? Mike says “Get in my BELLY”!

So how about adding in some vegetables? Maybe we’ll start with Mom’s favorite – carrots!

Carrots? Are you sure?

Now, we are fairly sure that starting Mike on a new food won’t be a big deal. After all, he has had a variety of foods (even if the variety was small) and he has loved each new food. So why would carrots be any different?

So, in a build up of excitement and anticipation, we put the carrots in a small bowl (Mike’s favorite “blue” bowl), set Mike in his favorite eating chair, gather up the camera and camcorder. Dip the spoon in the bowl and bring out some carrots. Mike’s mouth is already open with great anticipation. Dump the carrots over the gums and……

Here is the best way to describe this. Close your eyes – well maybe you should keep them open so you can keep reading. But try and visualize. Remeber the last time you accidentally swallowed a bug? The horrible gagging, coughing sound you made - “ack… uck uck… ACK”! Yep – that’s the sound. Now, imagine a facial expression that flows smoothly from “what is this” to absolute disgust, horror, pain, and pleading “why – oh why???”. Now, imagine that face with carrots running out of your mouth. It would look something like this…

Wait a minute – this isn’t oatmeal…

Whoa – this is DISGUSTING!

Get it out. GET IT OUT!!!

Wow – that wasn’t the response we were expecting. But we are fairly determined folks, so we tried it again the next day…

Please mommy – not again!

…and again for a third day…

You’ve got to be kidding me…

Yes indeed. Three evenings in a row. We brought our son to tears (literally) with a tablespoon of carrots.

So we took the rest of the week off and reverted back to cereal and all was right with the world again. But we can’t just ignore vegetables! So, what should we try next? We didn’t want to skip to fruits – we were afraid that his reaction to the carrots combined with the sweetness of the fruits and he may never ever eat his vegetables. And we thought we should probably try something a little less intense in the flavor department.

What we decided on was squash. And the result? Some excited anticipation (“maybe it’s oatmeal again!”)…

…followed by shock and horror…

…followed by squash on the chin (and a few “sympathy” tears just for good measure).

Two new foods in a row. We need to try a different approach! So we talked it over (it actually dominated our conversation) until the next evening. We eventually decided to try giving him a few bites of oatmeal and then slip him a spoon full of squash. Then repeat and repeat and repeat. The result? After a few rounds – Mike starting acting as if he liked the squash! We decided to give him two spoonfuls in a row. And he ate them both! Then a bite of oatmeal – and THREE spoonfuls of squash! He likes it! Mikey likes it! (perhaps we should try “Life” cereal next – for those of you who are old enough to remember the commercials…).

Now we have a system. Cereal or oatmeal with the veggies. Next on the list? Sweet potatoes! Our method was again successful. As it turns out, sweet potatoes are at the top of Mike’s “favorites” list! After a couple of days with the cereal / sweet potatoes combination, we decided to try sweet potatoes alone. And he gobbled them down followed by a satisfying “BURP”!

This week has been green beans. Not as good as the sweet potatoes, but he will eat them until the bowl is empty.

So what’s on the menu for next week? We are going to try carrots again. But we are going to use the “spoonful of cereal – spoonful of veggies” trick. Stay tuned, we will let you know how it turns out…

Mike’s six month checkup…

2010-06-10T22:57:00.001-04:00

Ahhhh – the pediatrician “well baby” check-ups. Always a mixed bag of emotions with those! The parents are more than ready to find out those “vital stats” and find out what the doctor has up her sleeve as far as his development goes. But, on the other hand, you know that the shots are coming. And somewhere, maybe not so far back in your mind, you start to think that the baby is going to somehow blame it on you. “Why did you let that doctor poke me!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

So, first we’ll talk about the shots. There was all of the usual poking and prodding and temperature taking. Then it’s time. Out come the needles. “I’m sorry Mike! It’s for your own good!” He looks longingly in to your eyes. Then comes the first stick. Then the second. Then the third. Then the crying begins…

But only for about five seconds! No – I’m not exaggerating. Just minutes after the shots, and he’s rolling around and playing in the exam room while we are waiting to make sure there is no allergic reaction! I guess that after those two weeks when he wore his brace before his tenotomy, three little shots must seem like nothing… He’s such a trooper!!!

And what about those “vital stats”? Well – he is officially 15 pounds, 8 ounces and he grew an inch and a half in 6 weeks! He’s up to 25 inches long. He’s still small for his age (10th percentile in weight, 4th percentile in length, but 21st percentile in head circumference – he takes after his dad in that department!). He is packing on the pounds and getting longer at the perfect pace and the doctor is absolutely pleased with his progress!

The doctor was impressed with his “consonant sounds” which currently consist of “ba ba ba ba ba ba” (Mike’s favorite) along with the occasional “ma ma ma” (mom’s favorite) and the occasional “da da da” (dad’s favorite). She officially wants him to spend some time in his “car” to bounce along and build leg strength – and more time in his bumbo sit to build his core strength. An exercise program for a 6 month old! We’ll be getting him a gym membership next. Or maybe a bike!!!

We also took a trip out to see Megan Parker last Saturday. Yep – that’s right. Megan Parker the photographer!!! Mike really had a great time getting his picture taken. He is really turning in to a big flirt (just ask the ladies at church – or at daycare – or next door – or at the grocery). We’ll be getting the proofs soon and we will share them with you all as soon as we get them. In the meantime – Megan graciously posted three pictures from our “photo shoot” on her website. Wanna see them? Just click here… http://meganparkerphoto.com/photoblog/cant-get-much-cuter-knoxville-portrait-studio/

We really can’t say enough about the work that Megan does. She is absolutely phenomenal! The way she works with the kids is amazing enough. But to see the photographic results – it’s truly spectacular. If you are sitting there right now and thinking “hmmm – we should go get some pictures made too…” and you happen to live anywhere near Knoxville – I simply can’t give her a high enough recommendation. And no, she is in no way compensating me or giving me any discounts for the high praise. She really is “just that good”!!!

And lastly, someone recently asked if Mike still enjoyed his bath time. Oh my goodness YES! It makes the perfect end to a day. He loves getting in his tub and splashing around (all while mom and/or dad try to rub a little soap on him). After he gets out – it’s lights out and off to visit the sandman for a great nights sleep. It is such a great routine…

Man – bath time is GREAT!

…but all that splashing makes me tired! When I’m done, mom carries me off to bed…

The new car…

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There it stood. White stripes racing down its sleek hood. Its chrome bumper shining brightly. With no top and the bright red paint – it just scream “FAST!”.

Yes indeed – we are talking about the newest car in our household!

It’s not replacing any of the vehicles we already have. Nope – this one is in addition to what we already own. Storage (when it’s not out being enjoyed!) should be easy since it’s small enough to fit into the spare bedroom. This particular vehicle isn’t for mom or dad…

…it’s for Mike!

Mike’s new car!

Mike has already taken this beauty around for a spin. He needs some help to get it moving (since it comes with a genuine “Fred Flintstone” motor). He also needs a little assistance to get the pneumatic suspension to bounce. But he thoroughly enjoys the “melody horn” which plays 4 different tunes (no – none of them are the “Dukes of Hazard”…).

And I almost forgot to mention the best feature of all. The removable hood! Which reveals the tray underneath – perfect for banging toys!

This rattle is a lot louder when I bang it on the tray!

Mike has really enjoyed his time in his convertible (thanks Elaine!). It won’t be much longer until his feet are firmly planted and he is zipping around the house (and running over dogs and banging into walls). Since it’s such a cool ride – maybe we should get him some sunglasses to wear while he’s cruising…

“Don’t worry ladies – there’s enough Mikey for everybody!”

Bring on the food!

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Ahhh – the good ol’ days. When life was as simple as your food choices – and your only food choice was a bottle……

But no more! A few weeks ago, Mike officially added cereal to his diet! At the time, that only made the forth thing he has digested (the first three being breast milk, pedialyte, and formula).

So here it is. Our big moment. The first meal with a spoon. Mix up a little of the rice cereal in a bowl. Heat it up just a tad. Sit Mike in his bumbo seat. Have the camera armed and ready. Everything is set. “Are you ready Mike?” And his reaction was…

“Hey! Wait a minute! I can’t gulp this stuff down!” But we convince him that rice cereal is good and he will most certainly like it. He decides to try the first spoon full…

Then the second spoon full…

And before long, he was eating like a pro! Of course, he wants to grab the spoon (I can hear the “I can do it myself!” in my future…) and he has a strong desire to grab the cereal bowl (I’m sure to mash his hands in it – or possibly pour it over his head). But so far, we have averted those disasters.

Since then, we have tried a couple of other things. Namely, carrots (which will get a post of its own!) and oatmeal. Oatmeal may be his favorite thing so far. Or at least it’s the only food where he bangs his hands on the tray wanting more! And amazingly enough, he is a pretty neat eater. We were expecting as much on his bib as what he swallowed. But after the first few tries, he got it down pat – and all with a minimal mess!

Does anybody see this cereal on my face?

The 1st Mother’s day

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Ahhh – Mother’s day. The day when all of the mom’s in the world get to take center stage and garnish all of the praise accolades that everyone knows they deserve but seldom get recognized for.

And this year, it was a special Mother’s day at our house. The first year of being a mom to a baby rather in addition to being a mom to the pooches (not that being a “dog mom” is any less demanding than being a baby mom!).

Mike decided to make his mom a waffle breakfast (with a little help from his dad) just to get the day started off right. And it continued on with additional rest and relaxation. It was such a nice day, that it was decided (at least in our home) to extend the day to “Mother’s Week”!

While “Mother’s Week 2010” has officially slipped in to the past, we hope that all of the moms had an absolutely wonderful day. And know that we were thinking about you – each and every one! We love you all, for all of the things you did for us as kids, or for all of the things you are doing for our nieces and nephews, and even the children of your friends – you’ve loved us, inspired us, comforted us, supported us, and so so so much more!

So we hope that all of the moms had a wonderful day – and perhaps next year, you will join the “Mother’s Week” movement!

Visits to doctors…

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Recently, Mike has been visiting all of his favorite doctors – Dr Herron the pediatrician and Dr Crawford the orthopedic surgeon.

First, he visited Dr. Herron for his four month checkup at the end of April. Despite the fact that he was 5 months old at the time! That’s our son – already taking the non-traditional route and trying to buck the system! Actually, the real reason he was a month behind goes back to his 2 month checkup when he couldn’t get his shots because he was still in casts…

So they poked and prodded and weighed and measured. He’s was over 13 pounds – but that’s nearly irrelevant because he’s packed on quite a bit more since then! Everything came out wonderfully well and Dr. Heron was pleased with his progress! And that made us feel good (of course) – but the “big” visit was coming up a few days later.

And that was the visit to Dr. Crawford. It’s funny how everything with Mike’s clubbed feet has gone exceptionally well with the exception of the two week period where we tried the DBB brace before the tenotomy. Yet still, an upcoming visit to Dr. Crawford starts bringing those doubts back to the front of your mind. “I’m sorry mom and dad – you haven’t been using the brace properly and Mike’s feet will forever be clubbed”. Of course, that’s absolutely silly. But still, maybe it’s possible…

So we visited Dr. Crawford on May 6th. He asked about the schedule we were on with the brace. It was supposed to be “naps and nighttime” – which is impossible with an infant. Putting the brace on for a nap simply wakes him up and he’s ready to play some more! So we decided to take it of when he went to “school” on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then we would leave it on all day Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday – and at nighttime. We explained the schedule to Dr. Crawford who said that it was probably more than he needed, but was glad we found a schedule that worked. He tells us many stories of folks (as hard as it is to believe) that simply stop putting the brace on their children only to have the feet revert back. And that truly is sad…

Then Dr. Crawford took Mike’s brace off to take a look at his feet. He squeezed them and twisted them and turned them and wiggled them. And in the end he said…

Mike’s feet are doing EXTRAORDINARILY well! And he even gave us another bit of good news – Mike now only needs to wear the brace at night! And let me tell you – he absolutely LOVES the extra time out of the brace! He’s learned so many new tricks – like pulling his socks of and nibbling on his toes…

But or doctor visiting wasn’t done yet. We can never seem to time our illnesses with our regularly scheduled visits. Once again, Mike was getting snotty and coughing. And this time, he was breathing was wheezy and his lungs were rattling. So it was back to visit Dr. Herron. A short examination later, she gave us a prescription for Xopenex. Mike really isn’t sure what to think about the breathing treatments. He’s pretty cool with it for the first few minutes. But after 5 minutes of “smoke” blowing in his face, he’s over it! But after it’s all over, he’s MUCH happier at how much better he can breath!

So we will leave you with a picture of our growing little boy – asleep in his swing – surrounded by his toys. Because that’s the way he likes it…

More catching up…

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Well – like the old saying goes - “it’s been a while”…

But things have been more than a little hectic around here (including a loss of internet connectivity – that’ll slow the ol’ blogging down…). Some of you already know the details – and others will soon read all about it right here!

Before we get into all of that – We need to tell you about Mike’s second big trip. This one was a trip to Evansville to see more family! And it was his longest trip so far. A whopping 300 miles! And he was a very good boy during the travels…

Not much happened Friday night because we arrived so late. But Saturday was a fun filled (but relaxing!) day. The weather was nice and cool. It was a perfect day to sit out on the patio and bar-b-que. So that’s just what we did! Aunt Jennifer, Derrick, cousin Lucas, and cousin Kiersten came over to join us. We lounged around, threw some baseballs, played with the dogs, and ate some ribs. A very nice day indeed! And wouldn’t you know it – Mike got a surprise visit from Aunt Mary, Uncle Jim, and cousin Kim! Now THAT is a perfect day delivered with whip cream and a cherry on top…

Aunt Jennifer, Derrick, and cousin Kiersten!

Even Izzy got to relax…

Mike was hanging out with the fam…

Aunt Jen loving on Mike

Izzy and Foxy got to play with the dogs next door!

Not all grandkids are as small as Mike…

Mike gets to meet Aunt Mary, Uncle Jim, and cousin Kim!

Sunday was another great day. We woke up and drove to Aunt Tracey’s house to visit with Kylie (oh yeah – we visited with Aunt Tracey and Uncle Chuck too!). We weren’t there too long before there was a knock on the front door. The fact that there was a knock on the front door at Aunt Tracey’s house a story all by itself. Much to Mike’s surprise, Grandpa Lee came to join in the fun!

Of course, there was a purpose to this gathering. Cousin Ashten was having a birthday party down the street from Aunt Tracey’s house. So Mike got to meet Aunt Andrea, Uncle Larry, and all the cousins (Kaitlynn, Treylan, Corbin, Xzavien, and Ashten). Not to mention that it was Mike’s first birthday party!

Hanging out with Aunt Tracey and cousin Kylie!

Mike and Grandpa Lee telling tall tales…

Cousin Corbin checks out his birthday cake!

Cousin Kaitlynn and little Kylie Jo at the park.

Mike really liked playing with cousin Treylan!

“You see Grandpa – this is my first birthday party and I’m trying to play it cool…”

What a nice weekend indeed. We can’t wait to see everybody again!!!!!

Wondering what’s coming up next? We have updates on Mikes 4 month pediatric checkup, Mike’s checkup visit to the orthopedic surgeon, and Mother’s day! And I’m sure more things will pop up too – so be on the lookout. I promise not to wait so long before the next post!!!!!