So far, for his birthday, Owen has received two books and lots of clothes. Somewhere in the future, an eight year old Owen made a sour face and said, "More clothes! Why is it always clothes!?!"
Here's the birthday boy on his special day...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Owen's First Birthday!
Today is Owen's first birthday, and, fittingly, there was a tornado warning in our county. We celebrated by going to Bottom's Up, where everyone (my parents, Naomi, Brennan and I) enjoyed yummy pizza in his honor. Owen, meanwhile, dined on pureed squash, proving that sometimes life just isn't fair. The real party is Saturday with both sets of grandparents and a trip to the Metro Richmond Zoo.
So far, for his birthday, Owen has received two books and lots of clothes. Somewhere in the future, an eight year old Owen made a sour face and said, "More clothes! Why is it always clothes!?!"
Here's the birthday boy on his special day...
So far, for his birthday, Owen has received two books and lots of clothes. Somewhere in the future, an eight year old Owen made a sour face and said, "More clothes! Why is it always clothes!?!"
Here's the birthday boy on his special day...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy Easter!
Even though we choose not to do the Easter bunny in our house, the boys still get baskets with a few goodies and we staged our own Easter egg hunt in our front yard after church this morning. Brennan was thrilled to find eggs filled with some chocolate, Goldfish crackers, and fruit snacks!
Still too little to really care about all the fuss, Owen was still pretty pleased to shake an egg filled with crackers!
Sometimes, you just have to settle for "good enough" when it comes to getting a decent picture of two small children!
Happy Easter from our family to yours!Monday, April 18, 2011
Easter Dance
John sent me a link to this video called "Dance Your Shoes Off" produced by Second Baptist Church of Houston. This song is addicting! After hearing it a couple of times, I bought it off iTunes and the boys and I have been having multiple dance parties in our living room while listening to this song. Trust me, it's worth it!
Egg Hunt Extravaganza
Our church did an Easter Egg Hunt this year. Both boys came away with some eggs, although Owen was far more interested in playing with the dirt and grass than he was in crawling toward a couple eggs!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Bubbles
Bubble-obsession has taken over our house! Brennan has always enjoyed popping bubbles, but this is the first season that he's shown any interest in blowing bubbles. Once he got the hang of it, he is a bubble-blowing machine! Good thing we have lots of bottles of bubbles to keep him entertained!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
An Owen Update
Food has always been an issue with Owen, in that he's never had a real active, healthy interest in eating. He does eat, but it only seems to be just enough to get by. And he doesn't complain about being hungry in between meals or snacks. He certainly doesn't get up at night because he would like to eat.
When he started drastically diminishing the amount of formula that he drank when he hit the 9-month mark, I figured we could wait him out and that this was maybe just his new pattern. That he'd daily fluctuate how much he drank. He kept doing his solids well, so I pushed any worry to the back of my mind, giving in to occasional flare-ups. The worry took a front-seat in the past 24 hours because he had been having more significant food issues over the past couple of weeks, but it got really bad in the past day or so. Enough to merit concern on the part of the nurse I spoke with at his pediatrician's office. Enough to merit an appointment for a weight check.
The end results: he's only gained 1/2 a pound since his 9-month check-up. He only weighs 17 lbs., 15 oz. This lack of weight gain was enough to cause him to fall off the growth chart of the normal range. This little guy (and he truly is a little guy!) also tested positive for strep throat--a rarity for infants! He's currently on medication, so we're hoping that he starts to eat a bit more once it really kicks in. The strep explains the dramatically diminished eating over the past couple of weeks, especially the past couple of days, but it doesn't explain the general disinterest in food and lack of significant weight gain.
Then, to add to the fun, I got to bookend my day with another trip to KidMed, the pediatric urgent care here in Richmond. Since Owen hadn't had any significant amount of formula or anything from a sippy cup in over 24 hours, he also hadn't had any wet diapers. His pediatrician's office referred us to get IV fluids into him. Having had a couple IV's myself when both boys were born, I can say from experience it's not any fun. But watching your baby go through it is far worse. I thought I was going to cry as much as he did. And I knew in that instant that I would have traded places with him in a heartbeat if it meant sparing him the pain of an IV and strep throat. But when he fell asleep in my arms while he was getting hydrated, what a priceless moment! They pumped 10 oz. of fluid in him to help him catch up, with the hope that he'll start to feel better once he's better hydrated. We'll keep you posted!
In the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for this little guy. This is the first real bout of sickness that we've encountered with either of the boys, so there's a whole lot of uncharted territory and worry, especially on my part. We go back for Owen's 1-year check-up in about 2.5 weeks, so we can get some follow-up and see if his eating picks up at all again in that time. Otherwise, we'll figure out a new game plan at that point.
Specific prayer requests: for Owen to start to feel better (good enough to eat), for him to become generally more interested in food, for more significant weight gain in this little guy, and for me to have peace going through this with him. I tend to worry too much as it is, but the worry starts to go a little crazy when I offer him plenty of food with a wide variety and he just isn't interested.
Stay tuned for further updates! And thanks so much in advance for your prayers!
When he started drastically diminishing the amount of formula that he drank when he hit the 9-month mark, I figured we could wait him out and that this was maybe just his new pattern. That he'd daily fluctuate how much he drank. He kept doing his solids well, so I pushed any worry to the back of my mind, giving in to occasional flare-ups. The worry took a front-seat in the past 24 hours because he had been having more significant food issues over the past couple of weeks, but it got really bad in the past day or so. Enough to merit concern on the part of the nurse I spoke with at his pediatrician's office. Enough to merit an appointment for a weight check.
The end results: he's only gained 1/2 a pound since his 9-month check-up. He only weighs 17 lbs., 15 oz. This lack of weight gain was enough to cause him to fall off the growth chart of the normal range. This little guy (and he truly is a little guy!) also tested positive for strep throat--a rarity for infants! He's currently on medication, so we're hoping that he starts to eat a bit more once it really kicks in. The strep explains the dramatically diminished eating over the past couple of weeks, especially the past couple of days, but it doesn't explain the general disinterest in food and lack of significant weight gain.
Then, to add to the fun, I got to bookend my day with another trip to KidMed, the pediatric urgent care here in Richmond. Since Owen hadn't had any significant amount of formula or anything from a sippy cup in over 24 hours, he also hadn't had any wet diapers. His pediatrician's office referred us to get IV fluids into him. Having had a couple IV's myself when both boys were born, I can say from experience it's not any fun. But watching your baby go through it is far worse. I thought I was going to cry as much as he did. And I knew in that instant that I would have traded places with him in a heartbeat if it meant sparing him the pain of an IV and strep throat. But when he fell asleep in my arms while he was getting hydrated, what a priceless moment! They pumped 10 oz. of fluid in him to help him catch up, with the hope that he'll start to feel better once he's better hydrated. We'll keep you posted!
In the meantime, we'd appreciate your prayers for this little guy. This is the first real bout of sickness that we've encountered with either of the boys, so there's a whole lot of uncharted territory and worry, especially on my part. We go back for Owen's 1-year check-up in about 2.5 weeks, so we can get some follow-up and see if his eating picks up at all again in that time. Otherwise, we'll figure out a new game plan at that point.
Specific prayer requests: for Owen to start to feel better (good enough to eat), for him to become generally more interested in food, for more significant weight gain in this little guy, and for me to have peace going through this with him. I tend to worry too much as it is, but the worry starts to go a little crazy when I offer him plenty of food with a wide variety and he just isn't interested.
Stay tuned for further updates! And thanks so much in advance for your prayers!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Things to Love About Spring
After some wacky weather lately, with temperatures varying from 50-something to 80-something, it seems like spring is finally here to stay. With this our fourth spring here in Richmond, I'm reminded again of how thankful I am to live in a place with such great seasons. There are so many wonderful things we are enjoying about spring!
1. Getting to play outside on a regular basis
2. Playgroups at parks or people's homes where we can take advantage of great weather
3. Planting our first garden this year--the ground is worked, and I'm hopeful that seeds will be planted this week!
4. Planting some petunias in our window boxes--this was a sadly neglected area of our house last year, primarily due to the fact that I spent last spring either about to burst at the seams or caring for a newborn and adjusting to life as a family of four
5. Windows open and letting fresh air blow through
6. Actually looking forward to doing laundry so I can hang the clothes up on our line out back
Fall has always been my favorite season, but now I think spring may have just overtaken it!
1. Getting to play outside on a regular basis
2. Playgroups at parks or people's homes where we can take advantage of great weather
3. Planting our first garden this year--the ground is worked, and I'm hopeful that seeds will be planted this week!
4. Planting some petunias in our window boxes--this was a sadly neglected area of our house last year, primarily due to the fact that I spent last spring either about to burst at the seams or caring for a newborn and adjusting to life as a family of four
5. Windows open and letting fresh air blow through
6. Actually looking forward to doing laundry so I can hang the clothes up on our line out back
Fall has always been my favorite season, but now I think spring may have just overtaken it!
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Lego-land
Sometimes it feels like we're drowning in Legos. Brennan is going through a phase where he needs to pull out every Lego and build things. Today, he got pretty ambitious and built Daddy's office building. Owen loves to get in on some Lego action as well, but his Lego abilities are limited to choosing the "Lego of the Moment" that he will proceed to chew on until another one catches his fancy, meriting a switch just to see if all Legos taste the same.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Upside Down
Brennan has been interested in showing off some of acrobatics. Here, he's demonstrating the move he calls "upside down". We are looking at the possibility of enrolling him in a local gym class. Based on these latest moves, I think he may enjoy it!
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