As you can see from the many photos, we had a very big day. Al, Griff, Mommy and Cousin Jennifer headed out early (ish) to visit Aunt Kathy. The boys are aware that the Pope is very old-fashioned and hope that the corporal work of mercy of visiting the sick may make up for some of their other behavior. Not to brag, but the fellas were excellent on the entire trip. A two-hour drive down and back again and no real fussing or moaning. It couldn't have been more pleasant. (Jennifer was glad to get back at 5 p.m. and announced that she was going home to take a nap and recover. As the say, youth is wasted on the young.)
Aunt Kathy was delighted to see how big and smart both of the guys have gotten since the last time she saw them. Griff, of course, is working on this walking business and was goose-stepping all over the house. He literally throws his legs up a la the Russians as he walks around the living room. I have no idea why he thinks this is the way one walks. He just does. Griff was quite the little ham all afternoon up to and including when he starting passing gas on Aunt Kathy and laughing devilishly about it.
Big Al showed off all day, too. He showed how he can get up on his hands and knees, ready to crawl. And he sat up and played and stood up on the couch. And, as he is wont to do, he snuggled every one in sight. Miss Wanda and Miss Jennifer (friends of Kate and fans of the boys) came over and brought presents. Griff found the packaging to be as intriguing as any toy -- unless and until Allan got hold of it. Then, whatever it was, he needed. Desperately. Wanda and Jennier were big hits, though. Any one who will tell the boys how smart and pretty they are is more than half-way home.
Griff has developed a severe case of the Mommies and spent most of the day squawling when I got out of his sight. It is nice to be needed, but it is also nice to be able to go to the bathroom without your child howling like someone has plunged him in to scalding water. I hope this stage passes fairly quickly.
When we got home, we hung out for a while and then decided that it was a good time for a bath. You can see the results. The fellas had a grand time. Griff splashed the entire time. I could hardly get a picture of him. Allan kicked and splashed in return and the two of the wrestled like Olympians.
Every one is completely out. Griff gave it up about 8 or so with a blip at about 9. Allan fell asleep in my lap, sucking his thumb (naturally).
No big plans for tomorrow. Luis and Diane may come over and grill out. Monday is our 15 month visit to the pediatrician. Tuesday Big Al is supposed to have surgery on his eye. I will post as I can, but I hope that all the photos keep you busy for a while.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
No comparison
But when we say Griff's feet are enormous, we really mean it.
Also, check on those thighs!
Griffith, stirring the waters
I could not get a decent picture of the kid because he was so busy stirring the waters.
Griff, creating a disturbance
I couldn't get a good shot of him because he was too busy pounding the water.
Aunt Kathy and Griff
Griff, proving that he can just snuggle and hang out. Provided with the right incentive.
Griff and Miss Jennifer
Miss Jennifer, one of the boys' big fans, came over to visit and brought presents. Griff's favorite part (as she predicted) was the bag and paper.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The boys' update -- July 2007
My rant about Big Al's surgery is below. This one is just for fun.
Our boys continue to be an absolute joy. Without exaggeration, they are the best two little guys ever and we couldn't be any more proud or love them any more. At this time last year we could not have imagined how much fun they would be. We have said it before, we don't know how they could both be so perfect and yet so different. You certainly couldn't have said, Allan will be on a G-tube and oxygen and a monitor still and have had a good reaction from either of us. Allan is absolutely amazing, though. He has come so far. Today Miss Julie had him standing at the couch, playing with toys on the seat and up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, ready to launch to crawling. And he was loving it. He kept smiling at her and was really trying to do what she wanted. It helps that Griff is around. At one point Allan was on his hands and knees and Griff crawled up to him and they were head to head. Julie was so excited because Allan clearly had an "ah ha" moment and realized that the other kid was doing this same thing. Like, dude, I can do that, too. He's getting stronger all the time and more and more engaged with what is going on around him.
For his part, Griff can hardly stand it when someone is paying attention to Allan instead of him. This morning he just kept crawling over to where Julie and Allan were (nevermind that Mommy and Flora were free and could hold him and play with him). He had to be in the middle of it all. Julie was teasing him and ignoring him, but Griff kept moving around and around until she acknowledged him. I think he would have ended up nose-to-nose if that's what it took to get her to pay attention to him.
When I got home tonight, they were so sweet. I was sitting on the floor with Allan in my lap and Griff wanted to be in the middle of things so he was standing in front of me. Allan kept wrapping his arms around his brother and bouncing and Griff kept petting his brother's head (gentle, gentle). It was so sweet that it about broke my heart (of course, then I realized that Allan was pulling his brother close so that he could kick him and that what I thought was Griffith kissing his brother was him trying to bite him on the forehead -- other than that, it was really sweet.)
Anyway, Dad reports that Griffith actually brought a toy over for Allan to play with tonight (as opposed to just ripping toys away) so we may have turned a corner.
In other news, Griff has managed to string together 3 steps at a time, but he usually reconsiders that course of action after 1 to 2 steps. We still aren't rushing him.
So that's the update at the moment. The boys are supposed to visit Aunt Kate on Saturday (with the help of Cousin Jennifer and God). A two hour road trip is really all we need to test every one's nerves!
Our boys continue to be an absolute joy. Without exaggeration, they are the best two little guys ever and we couldn't be any more proud or love them any more. At this time last year we could not have imagined how much fun they would be. We have said it before, we don't know how they could both be so perfect and yet so different. You certainly couldn't have said, Allan will be on a G-tube and oxygen and a monitor still and have had a good reaction from either of us. Allan is absolutely amazing, though. He has come so far. Today Miss Julie had him standing at the couch, playing with toys on the seat and up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, ready to launch to crawling. And he was loving it. He kept smiling at her and was really trying to do what she wanted. It helps that Griff is around. At one point Allan was on his hands and knees and Griff crawled up to him and they were head to head. Julie was so excited because Allan clearly had an "ah ha" moment and realized that the other kid was doing this same thing. Like, dude, I can do that, too. He's getting stronger all the time and more and more engaged with what is going on around him.
For his part, Griff can hardly stand it when someone is paying attention to Allan instead of him. This morning he just kept crawling over to where Julie and Allan were (nevermind that Mommy and Flora were free and could hold him and play with him). He had to be in the middle of it all. Julie was teasing him and ignoring him, but Griff kept moving around and around until she acknowledged him. I think he would have ended up nose-to-nose if that's what it took to get her to pay attention to him.
When I got home tonight, they were so sweet. I was sitting on the floor with Allan in my lap and Griff wanted to be in the middle of things so he was standing in front of me. Allan kept wrapping his arms around his brother and bouncing and Griff kept petting his brother's head (gentle, gentle). It was so sweet that it about broke my heart (of course, then I realized that Allan was pulling his brother close so that he could kick him and that what I thought was Griffith kissing his brother was him trying to bite him on the forehead -- other than that, it was really sweet.)
Anyway, Dad reports that Griffith actually brought a toy over for Allan to play with tonight (as opposed to just ripping toys away) so we may have turned a corner.
In other news, Griff has managed to string together 3 steps at a time, but he usually reconsiders that course of action after 1 to 2 steps. We still aren't rushing him.
So that's the update at the moment. The boys are supposed to visit Aunt Kate on Saturday (with the help of Cousin Jennifer and God). A two hour road trip is really all we need to test every one's nerves!
Allan's surgery
Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a little hectic and we have been trying to wait and see what is going on with Allan. Of course, as usual, ain't nothing easy.
After he had his cataract taken out, we knew that he would have to have follow up surgery to remove scar tissue from behind the pupil and to try and stretch and recenter his pupil (it is a little misshapen and off-center from the original surgery.) He isn't going to have great vision because of the cataract and how long he went without light getting in to his eye, but, it being "off" isn't helping. It is clear that he has some vision in the eye but when the light isn't coming in directly, it just makes it that much harder. So we always knew that we were going to have more surgery on the eye, but, what with one thing and another and what with being worried about whether he had a hole in his heart and all that, this surgery fell on the list of priorities. Since he's been doing (knock on wood) so well, though, we had to get this all sorted out. So we've been on the schedule for surgery for the 17th. Dr. Alice and Dr. Jim (Ginny Beth's mom and dad) have decided to decamp so we have a new surgeon (Dr. Seema). The long and the short is that it is Thursday night and we are still in the process of trying to figure out if Big Al is having surgery on Tuesday or not. I don't know who these people are that can just (from either an emotional or practical standpoint) drop everything and have their child have surgery without a little more warning, but, apparently, we are in the minority. On the 'need to know' basis, we don't need to know. It is infuriating. The issue isn't whether Allan needs the surgery (he does). It is where to have the surgery -- whether at the main children's hospital or at the out-patient facility. And, of course, the schedule for each is apparently guarded by separate Gorgons. Really, I don't expect this to be a service industry, but, really, you are dealing with sick children and concerned parents, so a little consideration and compassion might be in order. One set of doctors would prefer it at one location, approximately a football field's length away from the other. No one expects Allan to misbehave in the OR, but, if he did, the anaesthesiologists would rather be in the hospital facilities than the out-patient. Fine. Whatever. The best part was when the one surgical scheduler said (literally, not even my embroidery of the truth, which I acknowledge I am prone to, on occasion), you will come at 6 a.m. and you may or may not have surgery that day. We may or may not get to your child and you may or may not have to come back several times before the surgery is performed. Who.In.The.Hell.Do.You.Think.You.Are?????
At which point (for whatever it was worth -- probably nothing) I advised him that under no circumstances would I bring my Very Sick Child who is On Oxygen and a Monitor to sit in the hospital waiting room with the filthy common people for them to decide whether they could Get A Round To It. If it required me to pretend to have a baby, then I would do so, but my child wouldn't be sitting around all day for them to say, come back next week. Really, the whole point is supposed to be that our child is medically fragile enough to require a higher level of care in the OR. So how is sitting in a waiting room all day conducive to advancing his care? Plus, how many people can just take off serially to sit around to see if someone can manage to squeeze their baby in for surgery?
At any rate, the last word we had was that we would be the first case in the main OR at the children's hospital on Tuesday morning, but no one has confirmed that from the hospital. We hope to know for sure tomorrow. Flora is delighted with the prospect of spending the night with Griffith. She spoils him to the point that he isn't going to have any sense at all.
After he had his cataract taken out, we knew that he would have to have follow up surgery to remove scar tissue from behind the pupil and to try and stretch and recenter his pupil (it is a little misshapen and off-center from the original surgery.) He isn't going to have great vision because of the cataract and how long he went without light getting in to his eye, but, it being "off" isn't helping. It is clear that he has some vision in the eye but when the light isn't coming in directly, it just makes it that much harder. So we always knew that we were going to have more surgery on the eye, but, what with one thing and another and what with being worried about whether he had a hole in his heart and all that, this surgery fell on the list of priorities. Since he's been doing (knock on wood) so well, though, we had to get this all sorted out. So we've been on the schedule for surgery for the 17th. Dr. Alice and Dr. Jim (Ginny Beth's mom and dad) have decided to decamp so we have a new surgeon (Dr. Seema). The long and the short is that it is Thursday night and we are still in the process of trying to figure out if Big Al is having surgery on Tuesday or not. I don't know who these people are that can just (from either an emotional or practical standpoint) drop everything and have their child have surgery without a little more warning, but, apparently, we are in the minority. On the 'need to know' basis, we don't need to know. It is infuriating. The issue isn't whether Allan needs the surgery (he does). It is where to have the surgery -- whether at the main children's hospital or at the out-patient facility. And, of course, the schedule for each is apparently guarded by separate Gorgons. Really, I don't expect this to be a service industry, but, really, you are dealing with sick children and concerned parents, so a little consideration and compassion might be in order. One set of doctors would prefer it at one location, approximately a football field's length away from the other. No one expects Allan to misbehave in the OR, but, if he did, the anaesthesiologists would rather be in the hospital facilities than the out-patient. Fine. Whatever. The best part was when the one surgical scheduler said (literally, not even my embroidery of the truth, which I acknowledge I am prone to, on occasion), you will come at 6 a.m. and you may or may not have surgery that day. We may or may not get to your child and you may or may not have to come back several times before the surgery is performed. Who.In.The.Hell.Do.You.Think.You.Are?????
At which point (for whatever it was worth -- probably nothing) I advised him that under no circumstances would I bring my Very Sick Child who is On Oxygen and a Monitor to sit in the hospital waiting room with the filthy common people for them to decide whether they could Get A Round To It. If it required me to pretend to have a baby, then I would do so, but my child wouldn't be sitting around all day for them to say, come back next week. Really, the whole point is supposed to be that our child is medically fragile enough to require a higher level of care in the OR. So how is sitting in a waiting room all day conducive to advancing his care? Plus, how many people can just take off serially to sit around to see if someone can manage to squeeze their baby in for surgery?
At any rate, the last word we had was that we would be the first case in the main OR at the children's hospital on Tuesday morning, but no one has confirmed that from the hospital. We hope to know for sure tomorrow. Flora is delighted with the prospect of spending the night with Griffith. She spoils him to the point that he isn't going to have any sense at all.
Monday, July 09, 2007
The boys have a very busy couple of days.
Allan went back to the cardiologist on Friday. He has been off of the Viagra for about 2 weeks now and they wanted to make sure that his pulmonary pressures were still in line. So, they did another echo and say that his heart still looks good and the pressures are normal which is great. He weighed a little over 20 pounds and is 28 inches tall. The cardiologist announced that he was a little short for his weight and that, perhaps, we should discuss with the pediatrician and dietician cutting back on his calories because we don't want him to get too fat. We've been working 24/7 for the past 15 months to pump him up and now he's under-tall. Please. God.Help.Us.
Friday night Dad put the boys in the stroller and took them down to Wines on Vine where we met up with Matt, Nicole and Markus for drinks and dinner. Although they were the youngest folks there by about 30-some years, the boys did great. They are very sophisticated -- hanging out in the wine bar with an international crew.
Saturday morning, Dad went off to do some work and the boys and I took a long run (5 miles) before it got too hot. Then we came home and started the process of getting ready to head for the homeplace for Cousin Bailey's birthday party. The effort associated with this kind of excursion and trying to account for every possible contingency must be something like getting the shuttle in to space. We managed to time it so that both boys slept most of the way there (that didn't quite work out on the way back, but one out of two ain't bad).
You can see the bath pictures. The boys have been being so sweet with each other lately. Instead of clubbing one another, they have been working on being "gentle" and "easy" and learning to "pat, pat, pat." Sometimes it works, like when Allan put his arm around his brother in the tub. And when they share toys instead of jerk them away from each other. This morning Allan woke up at 6:15 and would not stop fussing so we put him in bed with us. Then Griff woke up and wanted a bottle. Jay went to take a shower and Griff crawled up in between Allan and me and laid down to have his breakfast. Allan fussed for a second, then put his arm around Griff's belly. Griff took one of his hands and rubbed Allan's head and we all settled down for a peaceful twenty minutes or so.
Bailey was delighted to see the boys. The only hitch was when Griff accidentally popped one of her balloons. She wasn't crazy about that, but forgave him -- after she moved the other ones out of his reach. Fair enough.
Griff and Allan both got new moccasins and that was all it took to get Griff out in to the grass. There's no holding him back now. That and the cats. He LOVED chasing the cats. He would have followed them any where. We waited a little too late to leave, though. Allan is a night owl and did fine, but Griffith was ready for bed and could not understand why we had him strapped in that damned car seat. As tired as he was, we thought he would eventually wear himself out and drop off to sleep. No such luck. He howled like a banshee for the last 40 minutes of the ride.
Sunday was very hot, but we got up early and took a walk while it was still pleasant enough. We checked out the neighborhood and went to Magee's for coffee (diet Pepsi) and muffins. Then Miranda came to play with the boys while Mom and Dad got a few hours out and baby-free.
I talked to Flora -- I had left some medium-size plastic boxes for documents on the floor and Griffith has played with them all day. She says the only thing he hasn't put in them is her. He puts toys in and takes them out. Pushes them across the floor. Puts books in. Out. In. Out. I should have spent that 2.49 a year ago.
In other news, Griff took his first real step this morning. It was only one and he stopped and dropped immediately afterward, but it was his first unassisted step ever. This is the beginning of the end.
Allan went back to the cardiologist on Friday. He has been off of the Viagra for about 2 weeks now and they wanted to make sure that his pulmonary pressures were still in line. So, they did another echo and say that his heart still looks good and the pressures are normal which is great. He weighed a little over 20 pounds and is 28 inches tall. The cardiologist announced that he was a little short for his weight and that, perhaps, we should discuss with the pediatrician and dietician cutting back on his calories because we don't want him to get too fat. We've been working 24/7 for the past 15 months to pump him up and now he's under-tall. Please. God.Help.Us.
Friday night Dad put the boys in the stroller and took them down to Wines on Vine where we met up with Matt, Nicole and Markus for drinks and dinner. Although they were the youngest folks there by about 30-some years, the boys did great. They are very sophisticated -- hanging out in the wine bar with an international crew.
Saturday morning, Dad went off to do some work and the boys and I took a long run (5 miles) before it got too hot. Then we came home and started the process of getting ready to head for the homeplace for Cousin Bailey's birthday party. The effort associated with this kind of excursion and trying to account for every possible contingency must be something like getting the shuttle in to space. We managed to time it so that both boys slept most of the way there (that didn't quite work out on the way back, but one out of two ain't bad).
You can see the bath pictures. The boys have been being so sweet with each other lately. Instead of clubbing one another, they have been working on being "gentle" and "easy" and learning to "pat, pat, pat." Sometimes it works, like when Allan put his arm around his brother in the tub. And when they share toys instead of jerk them away from each other. This morning Allan woke up at 6:15 and would not stop fussing so we put him in bed with us. Then Griff woke up and wanted a bottle. Jay went to take a shower and Griff crawled up in between Allan and me and laid down to have his breakfast. Allan fussed for a second, then put his arm around Griff's belly. Griff took one of his hands and rubbed Allan's head and we all settled down for a peaceful twenty minutes or so.
Bailey was delighted to see the boys. The only hitch was when Griff accidentally popped one of her balloons. She wasn't crazy about that, but forgave him -- after she moved the other ones out of his reach. Fair enough.
Griff and Allan both got new moccasins and that was all it took to get Griff out in to the grass. There's no holding him back now. That and the cats. He LOVED chasing the cats. He would have followed them any where. We waited a little too late to leave, though. Allan is a night owl and did fine, but Griffith was ready for bed and could not understand why we had him strapped in that damned car seat. As tired as he was, we thought he would eventually wear himself out and drop off to sleep. No such luck. He howled like a banshee for the last 40 minutes of the ride.
Sunday was very hot, but we got up early and took a walk while it was still pleasant enough. We checked out the neighborhood and went to Magee's for coffee (diet Pepsi) and muffins. Then Miranda came to play with the boys while Mom and Dad got a few hours out and baby-free.
I talked to Flora -- I had left some medium-size plastic boxes for documents on the floor and Griffith has played with them all day. She says the only thing he hasn't put in them is her. He puts toys in and takes them out. Pushes them across the floor. Puts books in. Out. In. Out. I should have spent that 2.49 a year ago.
In other news, Griff took his first real step this morning. It was only one and he stopped and dropped immediately afterward, but it was his first unassisted step ever. This is the beginning of the end.
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