I'm sure Jay's mom and dad are laughing.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
the right
Check out how Griff's legs are twisted. This is apparently more comfortable than it looks. It would almost have to be.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
The update - August 23
We've had a great week.
Allan had his renal ultrasound today to make sure that he didn't have any problem with kidney stones (a concern because he is on diuretics). No surprise -- he is very nearly perfect in every way. The only funny thing was when the radiologist came blowing in and told me that Allan's kidney and bladder were growing great and looked wonderful. Super. Of course, we never even knew to worry about that, but, okay, we'll cross that off the list.
Allan did great with his PT with Miss Julie this morning. He's doing well with getting from sitting in to crawl position and with holding himself up (as you can see). Lots of things they tried for the first time, he nailed right off the bat. He's such a little show off. He'll do a trick and then smirk and shove his thumb in to his mouth. Smoke 'em if you got 'em, as they say.
Griff has figured out how to climb up in the arm chairs and on the couch. He's a regular little mountain goat, really. Unfortuately, he hasn't quite mastered coming down yet. So far, we have a bump on the forehead and next to his right eye. Not clear on when social services intervenes.
Griff is so much fun. He loves to play "chase." He will head off at a dead sprint for the nearest corner and then turn and giggle until you come and tickle him and then he chases you back across the floor. We must run a mile between the living room and the dining room, chuckling the whole way. Goof ball.
Griff got put in time out today for swatting his brother. Jay reports that he was inconsolable while he was penned up, but got out and came directly over to Allan and laid his head on him. Then, Jay claims (I wasn't here, can't dispute it) that he kissed Allan. Probably just a prelude to smacking him again, but we take what we can get around here.
Allan is now up to 16 teeth officially. For those of you keeping score, you only have 20 baby teeth. I hope he does as well with his multiplication tables and his prayers as he does with the growing of the hair and the teeth. Griffith has a mouthful, too, but he is about at 14 or 15 (feel free to come over and try to figure it out. It is more treacherous that putting your head in the lion's mouth as far as I am concerned. )
Who knows what the weekend holds? Miss Miranda is supposed to baby sit tomorrow night while Mom and Dad go drink, eat and dance for charity. Then we have a new girlfriend meant to come over on Saturday.
If the weather becomes more tolerable, we'll try to take a swim or two this weekend. Otherwise, we are soaking up the A/C.
Allan had his renal ultrasound today to make sure that he didn't have any problem with kidney stones (a concern because he is on diuretics). No surprise -- he is very nearly perfect in every way. The only funny thing was when the radiologist came blowing in and told me that Allan's kidney and bladder were growing great and looked wonderful. Super. Of course, we never even knew to worry about that, but, okay, we'll cross that off the list.
Allan did great with his PT with Miss Julie this morning. He's doing well with getting from sitting in to crawl position and with holding himself up (as you can see). Lots of things they tried for the first time, he nailed right off the bat. He's such a little show off. He'll do a trick and then smirk and shove his thumb in to his mouth. Smoke 'em if you got 'em, as they say.
Griff has figured out how to climb up in the arm chairs and on the couch. He's a regular little mountain goat, really. Unfortuately, he hasn't quite mastered coming down yet. So far, we have a bump on the forehead and next to his right eye. Not clear on when social services intervenes.
Griff is so much fun. He loves to play "chase." He will head off at a dead sprint for the nearest corner and then turn and giggle until you come and tickle him and then he chases you back across the floor. We must run a mile between the living room and the dining room, chuckling the whole way. Goof ball.
Griff got put in time out today for swatting his brother. Jay reports that he was inconsolable while he was penned up, but got out and came directly over to Allan and laid his head on him. Then, Jay claims (I wasn't here, can't dispute it) that he kissed Allan. Probably just a prelude to smacking him again, but we take what we can get around here.
Allan is now up to 16 teeth officially. For those of you keeping score, you only have 20 baby teeth. I hope he does as well with his multiplication tables and his prayers as he does with the growing of the hair and the teeth. Griffith has a mouthful, too, but he is about at 14 or 15 (feel free to come over and try to figure it out. It is more treacherous that putting your head in the lion's mouth as far as I am concerned. )
Who knows what the weekend holds? Miss Miranda is supposed to baby sit tomorrow night while Mom and Dad go drink, eat and dance for charity. Then we have a new girlfriend meant to come over on Saturday.
If the weather becomes more tolerable, we'll try to take a swim or two this weekend. Otherwise, we are soaking up the A/C.
Allan upright.
Allan showing what a big, strong boy he is. Nice curls, too. Can't imagine why anyone would want us to cut them. ( Heather?)
Allan pushing up.
It may be hard to tell, but he has his hands on the container and is pushing himself up in to crawl position without any support.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Nice hair, Billy Ray.
Sweet Allan's hair hangs down below his shoulder blades when it is wet. It curls up when it is dry, though, so it really doesn't look like a mullet. Really. It doesn't.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The house is quite peaceful now, but that could end at any moment. As I was posting pictures, I heard something that sounded just like a slap and then the inevitable howl from Allan. I turned to watch Griffith, basically, box his brother's jaws for no reason. Or, if you are a toddler, for the perfect reason: I wanted to. Nevermind that less than a minute before the assault, Griffith was off doing his own thing, many feet from his brother. I didn't even hear him crawling in his brother's direction.
Allan has now decided to help me blog which has caused Griffith to abandon the remote and all the toys in the living room. He is now hanging from his fingertips from the dining room table and saying "mama." He hasn't wanted to be held all afternoon, but now it is the only thing in the world that he wants and I am completely unreasonable for denying him. This will no doubt be the subject of length counseling later on.
It is an absolute miracle that we get any thing done at all around here in the course of a day.
Friday we all went to Wines on Vine for dinner and met up with a big crew: Greg, Alice, Liz, Markus, Diane and Luis. The boys were absolutely on their best behavior. Couldn't have asked for better mannered boys.
Saturday, Dad put the boys in the jogger and took them off for the Farmer's Market. Allan was not as happy with it as in the past. I forgot to mention to Dad that Allan really does not care for the street performers (he especially loathes the one doing the Bob Dylan tribute). Once he figured that out though, all was well. The boys took a detour through the Woodland Art Fair on their way back home and we all joined up to say "hello!" Miss Miranda came to look after the fellows on Saturday afternoon which gave us time to work in the yard -- weeding, trimming, sealing the driveway.
Dinner time came and Griffith displayed his usual lack of enthusiasm for anything solid -- except for a piece of baguette with olive oil, salt, pepper and juice from a fresh tomato. He nibbled, gnawed and licked like it was the best thing he'd ever had. Still wouldn't swallow any of it, but it is a start.
Today started off with a long run with Mom, folllowed by hanging out with Dad. Everyone was off schedule. Allan slept from 1 until about 3:30. Griff slept no more than 30 minutes at a stretch from 2:15 until about 5. I kept hoping he would take a real nap. God knows, he could use one, but it is too late now. We are in it to win it and there ain't no napping happening now.
Miss Cheryl is supposed to stop over after her shift is over. We hope that Griffith isn't entirely unreasonable when she arrives.
Allan has now decided to help me blog which has caused Griffith to abandon the remote and all the toys in the living room. He is now hanging from his fingertips from the dining room table and saying "mama." He hasn't wanted to be held all afternoon, but now it is the only thing in the world that he wants and I am completely unreasonable for denying him. This will no doubt be the subject of length counseling later on.
It is an absolute miracle that we get any thing done at all around here in the course of a day.
Friday we all went to Wines on Vine for dinner and met up with a big crew: Greg, Alice, Liz, Markus, Diane and Luis. The boys were absolutely on their best behavior. Couldn't have asked for better mannered boys.
Saturday, Dad put the boys in the jogger and took them off for the Farmer's Market. Allan was not as happy with it as in the past. I forgot to mention to Dad that Allan really does not care for the street performers (he especially loathes the one doing the Bob Dylan tribute). Once he figured that out though, all was well. The boys took a detour through the Woodland Art Fair on their way back home and we all joined up to say "hello!" Miss Miranda came to look after the fellows on Saturday afternoon which gave us time to work in the yard -- weeding, trimming, sealing the driveway.
Dinner time came and Griffith displayed his usual lack of enthusiasm for anything solid -- except for a piece of baguette with olive oil, salt, pepper and juice from a fresh tomato. He nibbled, gnawed and licked like it was the best thing he'd ever had. Still wouldn't swallow any of it, but it is a start.
Today started off with a long run with Mom, folllowed by hanging out with Dad. Everyone was off schedule. Allan slept from 1 until about 3:30. Griff slept no more than 30 minutes at a stretch from 2:15 until about 5. I kept hoping he would take a real nap. God knows, he could use one, but it is too late now. We are in it to win it and there ain't no napping happening now.
Miss Cheryl is supposed to stop over after her shift is over. We hope that Griffith isn't entirely unreasonable when she arrives.
That ain't no field mouse....
I don't care what Matt says, with a tail like that, it is clearly a rat!
Yeah, I'm not sure I want that.
Allan -- considering the appropriate response for the gift of a possum.
The rodents
Not Matt and Griff, but the possum and rat. Big fun surprises from (where else?) Gatlinburg.
Allan working on his swing strap.
I am going to patent a toy that is just that strappy material. Both of the boys find it irresistible.
What happens when it gets quiet...
Daddy and Big Al were chilling in the living room, when Dad realized that he hadn't heard Griffith for a few minutes.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Excellent boys
Allan had PT this morning. Miss Julie hadn't seen him for two weeks and she was VERY impressed with him. He is able to support himself in the crawling position and rock back-and-forth, preparing to move forward (you may recall that Griffith was stuck in neutral For.Ever. with the rocking). We practiced crawling with just a little help and he really was getting the hang of it. Even better, he was so pleased with himself that it was ridiculous. He doesn't crow like his brother, but gets this little smirk.
We are still working on how to get down into crawling position from sitting and how to get back to sitting from crawl, but he has the basic idea and just needs to figure out the details (the devil is in the details -- right now he tends to flop or face plant instead of lowering himself gracefully). We have a meeting next week of all of his therapists to review his plan of care and to develop goals going forward. In preparation for that, Julie has been reviewing her notes and says that in six months, Allan has made six months' worth of progress which is apparently pretty impressive. You hope to make some progress, but not necessarily progress equal to the time spent. Big Al is doing great, though, and you can tell that she is as delighted with him as if he were her own child.
Griffith was about not able to stand all the attention Allan was getting. He could not be distracted -- not by me, not by Flora, not by other toys. He wanted the zebra that Allan was playing with. Desperately. Squirmed. Kicked. Howled. Pounded his head in to the floor. Once PT was over, Julie was filling out paperwork, Allan was playing with someone else, and I released Griffith to roam at will. He immediately headed for the zebra, picked it up and waved it at Julie as if to say, got it. Single-minded determination. As you can see, he is applying this determination to scaling the baby gate in to the kitchen. He hasn't quite got it worked out yet, but he has the general idea -- pull yourself up, hook your toes in the gaps in the gate and push yourself up. He's going to vault over on to his hard little head before too long. I would like to say "that'll teach him" but I am pretty sure it won't.
We are still working on how to get down into crawling position from sitting and how to get back to sitting from crawl, but he has the basic idea and just needs to figure out the details (the devil is in the details -- right now he tends to flop or face plant instead of lowering himself gracefully). We have a meeting next week of all of his therapists to review his plan of care and to develop goals going forward. In preparation for that, Julie has been reviewing her notes and says that in six months, Allan has made six months' worth of progress which is apparently pretty impressive. You hope to make some progress, but not necessarily progress equal to the time spent. Big Al is doing great, though, and you can tell that she is as delighted with him as if he were her own child.
Griffith was about not able to stand all the attention Allan was getting. He could not be distracted -- not by me, not by Flora, not by other toys. He wanted the zebra that Allan was playing with. Desperately. Squirmed. Kicked. Howled. Pounded his head in to the floor. Once PT was over, Julie was filling out paperwork, Allan was playing with someone else, and I released Griffith to roam at will. He immediately headed for the zebra, picked it up and waved it at Julie as if to say, got it. Single-minded determination. As you can see, he is applying this determination to scaling the baby gate in to the kitchen. He hasn't quite got it worked out yet, but he has the general idea -- pull yourself up, hook your toes in the gaps in the gate and push yourself up. He's going to vault over on to his hard little head before too long. I would like to say "that'll teach him" but I am pretty sure it won't.
Getting a toe-hold
Not content to merely hang and dangle, Griffith is working on how to get a good toe-hold so that he can hoist himself up and over the gate.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Lots to see
As promised, many photos from this weekend.
We have been back "home" today for the O'Rourke family reunion. The boys did great -- slept most of the ride down and back. They were pretty good in church (Griffith did decide to run through all of his tricks -- snorting, making engine noises, laughing and blowing zerberts) and great for the dinner -- even if it was a little loud and crowded with all those fertile Irish. Griff was Mr. Gregarious and couldn't get enough of all of the activity. Allan, on the other hand, was a little overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by it and decided that the thousand-yard stare was his best defense. He and his cousin Bailey have that in common.
When not surrounded by hordes of unfamiliar people, Allan is more and more talkative and active. He is making lots of new sounds -- guh and kuh and something that Flora swears is Da-dee. He's getting better and better at defending himself against the attacks of his brother and regularly snatches things away from Griffith (usually immediately after Griff has taken it from him). He now has twelve teeth and has two more about to come through (that's three more than Griffith has). I'm going to have to look up how many baby teeth you are supposed to have. If he gets many more, he's going to have to start a second row -- isn't that what piranha have?
Griff is not a full-time walker yet, but he is up to nearly half time at least. The record of unassisted steps now stands at thirteen. He is proceeding immediately from walking to climbing, much to our dismay. Last night as we were trying to have dinner, Jay and I looked down to see Griffith clinging by his fingers (white-knuckled) to the table (like a mountain climber) with both legs wrapped around the table leg, trying to get a toe-hold to pull himself up. Great. Just great. And irritating. It isn't like he will actually EAT, so why is he so desperate to get up to the table? At this point, though, he is all boy and all toddler. We think of him as The Id -- all appetite, no conscience. He is getting better about sharing with his brother -- at least two or three times a week we will watch him actually give his brother a toy. This is usuallyfollowed by him whacking Allan in the face, but, still, babysteps. And Allan does tend to be a bit dramatic -- screaming like he's been scalded. Griffith now knows that is not going to end well for him and he spins and skeedaddles whenever Allan starts to howl. Griff is all like, what? I don't know what he's yelling about - - I wasn't anywhere near him.
We have been back "home" today for the O'Rourke family reunion. The boys did great -- slept most of the ride down and back. They were pretty good in church (Griffith did decide to run through all of his tricks -- snorting, making engine noises, laughing and blowing zerberts) and great for the dinner -- even if it was a little loud and crowded with all those fertile Irish. Griff was Mr. Gregarious and couldn't get enough of all of the activity. Allan, on the other hand, was a little overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by it and decided that the thousand-yard stare was his best defense. He and his cousin Bailey have that in common.
When not surrounded by hordes of unfamiliar people, Allan is more and more talkative and active. He is making lots of new sounds -- guh and kuh and something that Flora swears is Da-dee. He's getting better and better at defending himself against the attacks of his brother and regularly snatches things away from Griffith (usually immediately after Griff has taken it from him). He now has twelve teeth and has two more about to come through (that's three more than Griffith has). I'm going to have to look up how many baby teeth you are supposed to have. If he gets many more, he's going to have to start a second row -- isn't that what piranha have?
Griff is not a full-time walker yet, but he is up to nearly half time at least. The record of unassisted steps now stands at thirteen. He is proceeding immediately from walking to climbing, much to our dismay. Last night as we were trying to have dinner, Jay and I looked down to see Griffith clinging by his fingers (white-knuckled) to the table (like a mountain climber) with both legs wrapped around the table leg, trying to get a toe-hold to pull himself up. Great. Just great. And irritating. It isn't like he will actually EAT, so why is he so desperate to get up to the table? At this point, though, he is all boy and all toddler. We think of him as The Id -- all appetite, no conscience. He is getting better about sharing with his brother -- at least two or three times a week we will watch him actually give his brother a toy. This is usuallyfollowed by him whacking Allan in the face, but, still, babysteps. And Allan does tend to be a bit dramatic -- screaming like he's been scalded. Griffith now knows that is not going to end well for him and he spins and skeedaddles whenever Allan starts to howl. Griff is all like, what? I don't know what he's yelling about - - I wasn't anywhere near him.
Clouding up
We joke that both boys have a stiff-upper lip -- it is the trembling lower one that gets you. Allan ,clouding up.
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