Griff, tossing the ball over the baby gate.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Griff's vocabulary
Griff is getting to be quite the talker these days.
He can say Dada, Mama, ba (which covers bottle, block, and a variety of other 'b' words).
He has mastered "up" which means not only "pick me up" but also "get up" (usually directed at Daddy) and "do something." He is working on "down," too, but hasn't quite figured out when to use it. It kinda means "stop" at the moment.
He can also say "go, go" (directed at me as I run with the boys in the stroller - my own personal pep squad). He says "yeh, yeh" (affirmative or "I hear you") which is not to be confused with "yeah! yeah! (celebratory and usually accompanied by throwing both arms up in the air.)
He can say "hey!" in an effort to get your attention and used to say "hi" but has apparently decided that social niceties are for nerds.
There is the ever useful "uh-oh" which covers all sorts of situations including dropping things as well as throwing things down for others to pick up. An especially fun game is to get to the kitchen kiddy gate and throw one of the balls over (thanks, Grampy!) and then yell "uh-oh" and growl until someone retrieves the ball so that the whole process can be repeated.
The phrase that I am most proud of at the moment, though, is "there it is!" He can't quite articulate all the syllables but there is no doubt that is what he is saying. Apparently we play a lot of games where we hide things under blankets or KK's blocks and then pull the cover aside and say, excitedly, "there it is!" We have a similar sound for "thank you" and say "tee-tee" (very softly) for pretty (usually Momma's earrings or necklaces or bracelets). And, now, of course, we are also saying "not nice" for actions that are, well, not nice -- usually something Griff is doing to Allan, but, sometimes said when someone else is making Allan cry.
We also know how to wave "bye-bye," stick out our tongue, and put our hands up over our head when we say "so big!"
So he may not be quite the Boy Orator of the Platte but we think he's doing very nicely, thank you.
He can say Dada, Mama, ba (which covers bottle, block, and a variety of other 'b' words).
He has mastered "up" which means not only "pick me up" but also "get up" (usually directed at Daddy) and "do something." He is working on "down," too, but hasn't quite figured out when to use it. It kinda means "stop" at the moment.
He can also say "go, go" (directed at me as I run with the boys in the stroller - my own personal pep squad). He says "yeh, yeh" (affirmative or "I hear you") which is not to be confused with "yeah! yeah! (celebratory and usually accompanied by throwing both arms up in the air.)
He can say "hey!" in an effort to get your attention and used to say "hi" but has apparently decided that social niceties are for nerds.
There is the ever useful "uh-oh" which covers all sorts of situations including dropping things as well as throwing things down for others to pick up. An especially fun game is to get to the kitchen kiddy gate and throw one of the balls over (thanks, Grampy!) and then yell "uh-oh" and growl until someone retrieves the ball so that the whole process can be repeated.
The phrase that I am most proud of at the moment, though, is "there it is!" He can't quite articulate all the syllables but there is no doubt that is what he is saying. Apparently we play a lot of games where we hide things under blankets or KK's blocks and then pull the cover aside and say, excitedly, "there it is!" We have a similar sound for "thank you" and say "tee-tee" (very softly) for pretty (usually Momma's earrings or necklaces or bracelets). And, now, of course, we are also saying "not nice" for actions that are, well, not nice -- usually something Griff is doing to Allan, but, sometimes said when someone else is making Allan cry.
We also know how to wave "bye-bye," stick out our tongue, and put our hands up over our head when we say "so big!"
So he may not be quite the Boy Orator of the Platte but we think he's doing very nicely, thank you.
Googly worm
Aunt Lee brought the Googly Worm back from some airport somewhere. Since the googly ball is such a big hit, we were convinced that the worm was a winner. The worm has a ball in that flashes light, though, and Allan was pretty sure it was a flash for the camera so every time it blinked he flinched.
Too funny.
It didn't take him too long to get over it, though, and now he whacks it just like his brother does.
Too funny.
It didn't take him too long to get over it, though, and now he whacks it just like his brother does.
Recap
Big Al did great off of the oxygen. He made it until the middle of the night last night, but kept alarming. His sats weren't terrible (in the 80's) but he just wasn't able to get them up and keep them up, so we put him back on. He made it about 56 hours without any oxygen at all. Not bad, not bad at all.
We got up this morning and had breakfast. Griffith basically refused his Cream of Wheat. He had been up in the night time with a belly ache. All this real food is something for his system to adjust to. Still all he wanted for breakfast was ham which he ate with a great deal of relish. He wouldn't drink apple juice (reputed to make a fellow's bowel move) so we had to resort to the glycerin suppository. Griff was a bear most of the morning - whinging and fussing. Dad headed off to work happily and crossed his fingers that when the glycerin kicked in, it would be on my watch.
Before he left, Dad was doing something to Allan while I was in the kitchen. Whatever it was, it didn't suit and he was howling like a banshee. Griff (for all that he likes to pester Allan) headed straight for the kitchen, frowning and telling me "dada, dada, dada, not nice!" He was ratting his father out.
By the time we all got sorted out, it was nearly 10 and already hot and humid. Being in the house didn't suit Griff so I plunked him in the stroller, tossed Allan in beside him and headed out for a walk. We walked for about 40 minutes before both guys passed out completely -- both doing the gangsta lean to the left. Rather than try to get them back in the house without waking them, I just kept walking. We walked for over an hour and a half. By the end, I was just circling the same (shady) block. The folks on Sycamore probably think I was casing their houses for a home invasion.
We got back and had lunch. Griff continued to whinge. I headed in to the kitchen, came back, and realized that we had a winner. Griff had filled his diaper in an epic manner. Real food certainly gives a distinctive odor to the poo.
Dad took the boys off of my hands this afternoon. Monty gets the rugby matches and today (yesterday actually) was England versus someone and New Zealand versus France. The boys had to wear their England rugby shirts (even though it was ninety degrees, thank God for air conditioning) and their rugby socks. Whatever it was worked because England won, unexpectedly. Next week they play France. Mom is quite excited because they will need to recreate the exact circumstances of this weekend to ensue that the Frogs go down. That should mean another free Sunday afternoon for a nap and a long soak in the tub!
We got up this morning and had breakfast. Griffith basically refused his Cream of Wheat. He had been up in the night time with a belly ache. All this real food is something for his system to adjust to. Still all he wanted for breakfast was ham which he ate with a great deal of relish. He wouldn't drink apple juice (reputed to make a fellow's bowel move) so we had to resort to the glycerin suppository. Griff was a bear most of the morning - whinging and fussing. Dad headed off to work happily and crossed his fingers that when the glycerin kicked in, it would be on my watch.
Before he left, Dad was doing something to Allan while I was in the kitchen. Whatever it was, it didn't suit and he was howling like a banshee. Griff (for all that he likes to pester Allan) headed straight for the kitchen, frowning and telling me "dada, dada, dada, not nice!" He was ratting his father out.
By the time we all got sorted out, it was nearly 10 and already hot and humid. Being in the house didn't suit Griff so I plunked him in the stroller, tossed Allan in beside him and headed out for a walk. We walked for about 40 minutes before both guys passed out completely -- both doing the gangsta lean to the left. Rather than try to get them back in the house without waking them, I just kept walking. We walked for over an hour and a half. By the end, I was just circling the same (shady) block. The folks on Sycamore probably think I was casing their houses for a home invasion.
We got back and had lunch. Griff continued to whinge. I headed in to the kitchen, came back, and realized that we had a winner. Griff had filled his diaper in an epic manner. Real food certainly gives a distinctive odor to the poo.
Dad took the boys off of my hands this afternoon. Monty gets the rugby matches and today (yesterday actually) was England versus someone and New Zealand versus France. The boys had to wear their England rugby shirts (even though it was ninety degrees, thank God for air conditioning) and their rugby socks. Whatever it was worked because England won, unexpectedly. Next week they play France. Mom is quite excited because they will need to recreate the exact circumstances of this weekend to ensue that the Frogs go down. That should mean another free Sunday afternoon for a nap and a long soak in the tub!
The Great Escape
Griff moved the chair all the way over to the kitchen door. I can only believe that he is contemplating an escape. I'm looking for the tell-tale trail of dirt....
Uh-oh
The big block came apart. Luckily we know someone who ought to be able to fix that pretty easily.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Another Saturday night....
And lots more photos to post, but Momma's energy is flagging. More pictures tomorrow, probably.
Well, many of you have already caught on to what's going on at our house. We are now well in to hour 52 of Allan without oxygen. It has been a lot of fun getting emails from people asking what's up with the pictures -- lots of folks have caught on. We haven't wanted to say any thing because we have just been taking Allan off without any real medical supervision.
Allan had been doing very well. Down to one quarter of a liter of oxygen most of the time. What the pulmonologist told us was that, basically, the cannula is going to block enough oxygen that we shouldn't try to go below a quarter with the cannula in. Fine. Jay has always been better than I am about knowing what it is that Allan can do. So we started taking him off of the oxygen entirely (still on the monitor that shows us how much oxygen is in his blood, though.) At first, Allan wouldn't make it for all that long. A few hours at most. Soon enough, though, he has been making it from the time Jay and I get home from work until Flora gets here. We've been doing that for a few weeks. Some times, during the night, when Allan gets completely relaxed, he will forget to breathe deeply enough and he will set off the alarm. Either we will jiggle him until he gets his sats up or we will put him back on his O2. Friday, though, we had an appointment with the cardiologist at 9 so Momma took Allan off the 0's at 6 on Thursday and he hasn't been back on since. He has done his PT for two weeks without oxygen and had no problem. Miss Julie couldn't be prouder.
The cardiologist was well-pleased with Allan's progress (everyone in the office commented on how much hair he had and how active he was). We don't have to go back for six months.
As far as the oxygen goes, we know that Allan isn't through with it for good. He is likely to have to go back on it in order to keep up with his activities (crawling is hard work!) and, if he gets a cold or any thing else, will likely need a little boost this winter. Still, if we can keep him healthy, by next spring, we will be out of the woods. How much fun is that? It is already so much easier to get around with a baby with only one cord(the sat monitor) as opposed to two.
Allan tends still to desat when he sleeps or when he is working really hard to crawl or stand or whatever, but he is light-years ahead of where he was.
What else is going on? I hate to make such a long post, but it is only 10:30 and who knows when I'll have this opportunity again?
Grandma and Grampy left on wednesday. It was hard to see them go, but we know they will be back ASAP. That also happened to be the night that Daddy worked late to get some furniture done so every one was pretty much off schedule.
Miss Julie came on Thursday morning and (I hate to sound repetitive) she was very impressed with his progress. Honestly, he seems to save his big efforts for her. We worked again on crawling and turning past midline and, generally, balancing. Allan has figured out how to stand up and pull toys off of the chair and couch so that he doesn't have to bother with all that balancing and standing nonsense. It is gratifying to see Julie recognize that, although Allan is perfectly aware of where the toys are that she wants him to get, he will try to get YOU to get them for him without going to all that effort of crawling or reaching or whatever. She would try to get him to reach with BOTH hands for whatever (turning so that you compromise your breathing is something that BPD babies, like Allan, avoid, when possible). Julie would try to get him interested in something off to his side and he would, instead of reaching with both hands, like she wanted, would either reach with one hand or, my favorite,would sit there, not doing anything. Then he would plop his thumb in his mouth and turn and look up, all big-eyed, at her, as if to say, maybe if I am really cute, you'll just give me the toy. (Miss Julie is hard to fool that way, though.)
What else has gone on? Thursday was the big football game that fizzled. The better left unsaid, the better. Period. Momma ended up with larnygitis and Daddy throwing out of the bed two nights' running for coughing.
Allan's cardiologist was delighted with his progress on Friday. We don't have to return for 6 months.
Last night Mom and Dad were so tired, it was pitiful. By the time baths were over (8 p.m.) it was all that we could do to put one foot in front of the other. Both boys were in bed by 8:30 and Mom and Dad had lights out by 9. There were quite a few interruptions, but a better night was had by all.
Dad got up and went to work far too early this a.m. After an unsuccessful bid to get the boys to sleep, Momma took them for a run ( this chest congestion slowed the progress seriously ). We made it about four miles with Griff periodically shouting "go, go!" and "yeah, yeah" and (to my extreme irritation, "Da, da, da...."
Dad took the boys to a rugby game, but it was too hot to stay for long.
It is now nearly ten and both boys are down. Dad is asleep in the downstairs bedroom and Mom is praying for a quiet night. More tomorrow, if possible.
Well, many of you have already caught on to what's going on at our house. We are now well in to hour 52 of Allan without oxygen. It has been a lot of fun getting emails from people asking what's up with the pictures -- lots of folks have caught on. We haven't wanted to say any thing because we have just been taking Allan off without any real medical supervision.
Allan had been doing very well. Down to one quarter of a liter of oxygen most of the time. What the pulmonologist told us was that, basically, the cannula is going to block enough oxygen that we shouldn't try to go below a quarter with the cannula in. Fine. Jay has always been better than I am about knowing what it is that Allan can do. So we started taking him off of the oxygen entirely (still on the monitor that shows us how much oxygen is in his blood, though.) At first, Allan wouldn't make it for all that long. A few hours at most. Soon enough, though, he has been making it from the time Jay and I get home from work until Flora gets here. We've been doing that for a few weeks. Some times, during the night, when Allan gets completely relaxed, he will forget to breathe deeply enough and he will set off the alarm. Either we will jiggle him until he gets his sats up or we will put him back on his O2. Friday, though, we had an appointment with the cardiologist at 9 so Momma took Allan off the 0's at 6 on Thursday and he hasn't been back on since. He has done his PT for two weeks without oxygen and had no problem. Miss Julie couldn't be prouder.
The cardiologist was well-pleased with Allan's progress (everyone in the office commented on how much hair he had and how active he was). We don't have to go back for six months.
As far as the oxygen goes, we know that Allan isn't through with it for good. He is likely to have to go back on it in order to keep up with his activities (crawling is hard work!) and, if he gets a cold or any thing else, will likely need a little boost this winter. Still, if we can keep him healthy, by next spring, we will be out of the woods. How much fun is that? It is already so much easier to get around with a baby with only one cord(the sat monitor) as opposed to two.
Allan tends still to desat when he sleeps or when he is working really hard to crawl or stand or whatever, but he is light-years ahead of where he was.
What else is going on? I hate to make such a long post, but it is only 10:30 and who knows when I'll have this opportunity again?
Grandma and Grampy left on wednesday. It was hard to see them go, but we know they will be back ASAP. That also happened to be the night that Daddy worked late to get some furniture done so every one was pretty much off schedule.
Miss Julie came on Thursday morning and (I hate to sound repetitive) she was very impressed with his progress. Honestly, he seems to save his big efforts for her. We worked again on crawling and turning past midline and, generally, balancing. Allan has figured out how to stand up and pull toys off of the chair and couch so that he doesn't have to bother with all that balancing and standing nonsense. It is gratifying to see Julie recognize that, although Allan is perfectly aware of where the toys are that she wants him to get, he will try to get YOU to get them for him without going to all that effort of crawling or reaching or whatever. She would try to get him to reach with BOTH hands for whatever (turning so that you compromise your breathing is something that BPD babies, like Allan, avoid, when possible). Julie would try to get him interested in something off to his side and he would, instead of reaching with both hands, like she wanted, would either reach with one hand or, my favorite,would sit there, not doing anything. Then he would plop his thumb in his mouth and turn and look up, all big-eyed, at her, as if to say, maybe if I am really cute, you'll just give me the toy. (Miss Julie is hard to fool that way, though.)
What else has gone on? Thursday was the big football game that fizzled. The better left unsaid, the better. Period. Momma ended up with larnygitis and Daddy throwing out of the bed two nights' running for coughing.
Allan's cardiologist was delighted with his progress on Friday. We don't have to return for 6 months.
Last night Mom and Dad were so tired, it was pitiful. By the time baths were over (8 p.m.) it was all that we could do to put one foot in front of the other. Both boys were in bed by 8:30 and Mom and Dad had lights out by 9. There were quite a few interruptions, but a better night was had by all.
Dad got up and went to work far too early this a.m. After an unsuccessful bid to get the boys to sleep, Momma took them for a run ( this chest congestion slowed the progress seriously ). We made it about four miles with Griff periodically shouting "go, go!" and "yeah, yeah" and (to my extreme irritation, "Da, da, da...."
Dad took the boys to a rugby game, but it was too hot to stay for long.
It is now nearly ten and both boys are down. Dad is asleep in the downstairs bedroom and Mom is praying for a quiet night. More tomorrow, if possible.
Taunting me.
Griff drinking his bath water from a measuring cup. Little brat won't drink from a sippy cup of any variety, but he'll drink his (and his brother's) dirty bath water. I can't stand it.
Oh, well, that's really cool...
Both boys were very fascinated by Daddy drumming on the side of the tub.
I would like to play with that....
Allan reaching for the wrench.Look at his ears -- he really takes after his momma in some unfortunate ways.
I would like to play with that....
Allan reaching for the wrench.Look at his ears -- he really takes after his momma in some unfortunate ways.
The joys of dental hygiene.
Dad with his legs wrapped around Griff's middle and one arm holding his hands, trying to brush with the other.
Butting in...
Griff can't stand it and literally butted his way between Allan and the couch. Allan didn't mind. This time.
Trying to decide if it is worth it
Allan, kneeling beside the couch, trying to decide whether to stand or not.
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