James has been standing while holding on and cruising like a champ. He can stand and hold onto his Cars ride-on toy and walk all over the place. (This toy drives me crazy because it makes the most annoying sounds and Lightning McQueen says dumb stuff...) And I just know he is on the verge of standing without holding on and walking. But he hasn't yet, so we will wait patiently. I think he may do it any day now. Yesterday morning, he was standing between my legs, holding onto the chair I was in. When I handed him his sippy cup, he reached up, grabbed it, and proceeded to down most of it, all while standing on his own. Then he realized that Momma was watching the whole thing, and he slowly sat down. The look on his face was something like "The first rule of standing on your own is you don't talk about standing on your own". Rhonda also mentioned this morning that she's seen him sort of walk from one side of his pack and play to the other. This is funny, because the only time he's even in there is when he's supposed to be napping. So, I guess he is my kid.
Some other things that he has starting doing include throwing everything out of his crib when he doesn't want to go to bed (and I think "have at it little man, now there is less in there to distract you"), eating more and more table food (still working on getting him to eat only table foods, since he only has 4 little teeth, but he usually only gets one jar of pureed food a day), and saying "bye-bye" in context. James is still very cuddly when he's tired, but more and more when he's awake, he's not interested in sitting still long enough to get a hug in.
Recently, we've been working with James on petting the dog nicely. He tends to pull at Mac's fur, which the dog takes like a champ. We're lucky that Mac is so forgiving, I think any other dog would have bitten James by now. I think it will take more work, but we remind him to be "nice and gentle" with Mac and show him what that means. The cats will still not hang around long enough for James to get any kind of petting in, nice or otherwise.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
"Doctor, doctor, give me the news...
...I've got a bad case of lovin' you." Robert Palmer, anyone?
When you're pregnant, people mention that babies go to the doctor a lot. Which seems pretty obvious at the time, I mean, of course babies go to the doctor. A big questions that I got while pregnant was not how much maternity leave I was taking, but also how much sick leave had I saved up for the routine visits. But really, people were not kidding. I know that we're lucky, James is a pretty healthy little guy. Knock on wood, he's only really had 2 ear infections and 1 case of pink eye. But due to his preemie status, heart issues, our family history of muscular dystrophy, and a few hospital screw ups (I'm looking at you, University of Maryland Medical Center), I feel like we've been to the doctor a lot! Maybe I just feel that way because I too go to various specialists; this morning alone I scheduled my sleep study, a follow up with the ENT for after the sleep study, and James' yearly eye dilation. These three appointments are in August. September brings James' 15 month appointment and my 4 month check up with the endocrinologist. Coincidentally, during the writing of this blog, Adam called me to let me know he's got 3 more dentist appointments coming up.
Oh, and our dog, Mac, has to go get a shot next week too!
When you're pregnant, people mention that babies go to the doctor a lot. Which seems pretty obvious at the time, I mean, of course babies go to the doctor. A big questions that I got while pregnant was not how much maternity leave I was taking, but also how much sick leave had I saved up for the routine visits. But really, people were not kidding. I know that we're lucky, James is a pretty healthy little guy. Knock on wood, he's only really had 2 ear infections and 1 case of pink eye. But due to his preemie status, heart issues, our family history of muscular dystrophy, and a few hospital screw ups (I'm looking at you, University of Maryland Medical Center), I feel like we've been to the doctor a lot! Maybe I just feel that way because I too go to various specialists; this morning alone I scheduled my sleep study, a follow up with the ENT for after the sleep study, and James' yearly eye dilation. These three appointments are in August. September brings James' 15 month appointment and my 4 month check up with the endocrinologist. Coincidentally, during the writing of this blog, Adam called me to let me know he's got 3 more dentist appointments coming up.
Oh, and our dog, Mac, has to go get a shot next week too!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Over the weekend...
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| BYOS (bring your own sippy) |
So into bed he went and the taping was quickly finished. I painted the first coat, waited for it to dry, got James up from his nap, and fed him a snack. Then while Adam and James went to Target, I completed the second coat.
It looks beautiful! Unfortunately, we took the tape off a bit late and some of the edges needed touching up on Sunday. Also on Sunday, we put the new towel bar back on the wall, put up new switch plate covers and got the bathroom back in working order. We are waiting for the new shower curtain and another switch plate cover to be delivered. I had no idea that home improvement could be quite so tiring! The last detail - the faucet! Hopefully that will be in place in a few weeks!
In other news, I am still sore this morning from all the painting. I am glad that I opted not to go to my kickboxing class on Saturday morning. I am going to go tonight though, so I hope I make it.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Bye-bye!
James was hilarious this morning. He woke up around 6 and when I went in, I changed his diaper and put on a clean outfit. He likes to hold onto whatever piece of clothing you aren't putting on yet, so I handed him a tshirt as I was putting on his shorts. He grabbed it, tossed it on the floor, and yelled "BYE-BYE!" So funny!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The sleep study
The day after we took James to the cardiologist, I went to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. I have huge tonsils. That's the short version of the story. I had my adenoids taken out when I was 13 because they never shrank and were causing ear problems. My tonsils have never gotten smaller either (yea, they're massive). When talking to the doctor it also came out that I'm a loud snorer (sexy, right?) and that I had a sleep study done about 5 years ago due to family history of sleep apnea and the above mentioned facts.
So the doctor asks me: "How's your sleep been in the last year?"
HA! Don't even get my started, buddy.
I go for my sleep study on August 8th.
So the doctor asks me: "How's your sleep been in the last year?"
HA! Don't even get my started, buddy.
I go for my sleep study on August 8th.
Friday, July 22, 2011
The "oh" face
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| "oooooohhhhh" |
One of James' favorite things to say is "uh oh". He will throw something and then says it, not knowing that "uh oh" is usually reserved for accidents. We always tell him "That's not an 'uh oh'", but you know, he's one, so its still cute. He also likes just "oh" and he makes the roundest little mouth to do so.
Any Office Space fans? When I say its his "oh face" I always think of that scene in the movie, but I digress. Happy Friday!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
An update on the ol' ticker
We took James yesterday for his one year check up with the pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Brenner. It was actually a pretty anti climatic kind of visit - we go back in a year. But I'll back up a little bit.
I drove us down to the Outpatient Center at Johns Hopkins. They have garage parking, but valet costs the same amount, so we did that. I know, we're lazy, but its a lot easier to just pull up, get James and his stroller out and walk into the building than it is to walk from the garage. I make it a point to do whatever is going to cause me the least amount of stress when going to hospitals. So we went up to the 7th floor and checked in.
In the waiting room James and Adam played with the toys there and we noticed a little boy about James' age. Actually, as soon as we walked in Adam said to me, "Look at that cute little baby." So the other kid's mom asked how old James was and I told her. She said her son was a little younger and then told me that she's getting rid of his bottle soon (he was drinking it when we walked in). I didn't ask about him having a bottle, but I think she was having a little bit of mommy guilt. When she put her son down (he was wearing a just a diaper, waiting to go back for an ECHO) I noticed that he had recently had surgery. His scar was about 8 inches running all the way from his collar bones to the middle of his tummy. It honestly took my breath away, I really had to check myself to make sure I didn't get emotional. Because really, I'm sure the last thing this woman needed was for a stranger to get choked up at the sight of her little boy's recent incision. She told us that he'd had surgery on the 30th and I was amazed. This kid was up and running around, completely unfazed. I told her he looked like a tough little guy and she agreed, saying he was far tougher than she was.
We got called then, so we took James back. He was weighed, measured, had his blood pressure taken, and an EKG done. Something that really caught my attention, that they didn't do last year because he was a tiny baby, was put a blood pressure cuff on Adam (who was holding him) before they put James' on. They really wanted to make sure that James wasn't scared and saw that his dad had the same thing on his arm. Then they did the EKG, which requires putting 10 lead on various areas of your chest and upper body. Again, they put the stickers on Adam to show James what was going on. I know a little of that was probably lost on James, since he's still a pretty little boy, but as his mom I really appreciated it. James was pretty pissed about the EKG and having to hold still, but it was done pretty quickly and the stickers came off.
We went into an exam room and waited for Dr. Brenner, who didn't take long. He asked us some general questions about James' health and then told me he was going to listen to James' heart. James was on my lap at this point and he got to stay there. Adam was in the chair next to me and the doctor looked at him and said, "I'm going to pretend to listen to you first, don't cry." That definitely lightened my mood and I had a good laugh. James didn't like the stethoscope, but he cooperated and Dr. Brenner "listened" to me and Adam's arms and wrists and finally James' chest. The doctor said he could still hear the murmur, which wasn't a surprise, since all of James' doctors have said as much. He said that we didn't need to do an ECHO, but since we were there, we might as well.
There was no wait for the ECHO and Renee, the technician, took us right back. James had to lay on a bed, with me and Renee on either side, with the lights out. When the lights were turned off, he gave me this funny face, like "What the hell, mom?" But the Elmo's World DVD kept him distracted for the most part. There were some tears and fussing when Renee would move the wand, but for the most part, James did well. Adam helped comfort him and the time went quickly.
After the ECHO, we talked to Dr. Brenner again, to get the full scoop. James' defect has not gotten larger, but it has also not closed or gotten smaller. The deformation of the right cusp of his aortic valve does not seem to be worsening, but over the course of a year there wouldn't be much noticeable change anyhow. Due to the location of the defect, James will be monitored again in a year. If the hole was in any other location on the ventricular wall, we would be going back in 3 years. The long term implications of aortic valve leakage due to further deformation are an enlarged left side of the heart. This could lead to problems of heart functionality, but Dr. Brenner assured us that this is something that would happen over the course of 10 to 20 years, if it happens at all. There is no immediate need for any corrective action and nothing to look out for in the next year.
So like I said, pretty anti climatic, but very reassuring for us!
One of the nice things about Dr. Brenner is that he has a notepad full of blank drawings of the heart. I'm a visual learner, so this is great for me! It also reminds me of my dad and how he can draw a picture to explain anything. (Sidebar: He can even tell you what picture to draw over the phone to explain things, like when I was in college and he explained the Coriolis effect to me so that I could pass my Physical Geography final... but I digress). So here is a copy of our picture from the doctor.
I drove us down to the Outpatient Center at Johns Hopkins. They have garage parking, but valet costs the same amount, so we did that. I know, we're lazy, but its a lot easier to just pull up, get James and his stroller out and walk into the building than it is to walk from the garage. I make it a point to do whatever is going to cause me the least amount of stress when going to hospitals. So we went up to the 7th floor and checked in.
In the waiting room James and Adam played with the toys there and we noticed a little boy about James' age. Actually, as soon as we walked in Adam said to me, "Look at that cute little baby." So the other kid's mom asked how old James was and I told her. She said her son was a little younger and then told me that she's getting rid of his bottle soon (he was drinking it when we walked in). I didn't ask about him having a bottle, but I think she was having a little bit of mommy guilt. When she put her son down (he was wearing a just a diaper, waiting to go back for an ECHO) I noticed that he had recently had surgery. His scar was about 8 inches running all the way from his collar bones to the middle of his tummy. It honestly took my breath away, I really had to check myself to make sure I didn't get emotional. Because really, I'm sure the last thing this woman needed was for a stranger to get choked up at the sight of her little boy's recent incision. She told us that he'd had surgery on the 30th and I was amazed. This kid was up and running around, completely unfazed. I told her he looked like a tough little guy and she agreed, saying he was far tougher than she was.
We got called then, so we took James back. He was weighed, measured, had his blood pressure taken, and an EKG done. Something that really caught my attention, that they didn't do last year because he was a tiny baby, was put a blood pressure cuff on Adam (who was holding him) before they put James' on. They really wanted to make sure that James wasn't scared and saw that his dad had the same thing on his arm. Then they did the EKG, which requires putting 10 lead on various areas of your chest and upper body. Again, they put the stickers on Adam to show James what was going on. I know a little of that was probably lost on James, since he's still a pretty little boy, but as his mom I really appreciated it. James was pretty pissed about the EKG and having to hold still, but it was done pretty quickly and the stickers came off.
We went into an exam room and waited for Dr. Brenner, who didn't take long. He asked us some general questions about James' health and then told me he was going to listen to James' heart. James was on my lap at this point and he got to stay there. Adam was in the chair next to me and the doctor looked at him and said, "I'm going to pretend to listen to you first, don't cry." That definitely lightened my mood and I had a good laugh. James didn't like the stethoscope, but he cooperated and Dr. Brenner "listened" to me and Adam's arms and wrists and finally James' chest. The doctor said he could still hear the murmur, which wasn't a surprise, since all of James' doctors have said as much. He said that we didn't need to do an ECHO, but since we were there, we might as well.
There was no wait for the ECHO and Renee, the technician, took us right back. James had to lay on a bed, with me and Renee on either side, with the lights out. When the lights were turned off, he gave me this funny face, like "What the hell, mom?" But the Elmo's World DVD kept him distracted for the most part. There were some tears and fussing when Renee would move the wand, but for the most part, James did well. Adam helped comfort him and the time went quickly.
After the ECHO, we talked to Dr. Brenner again, to get the full scoop. James' defect has not gotten larger, but it has also not closed or gotten smaller. The deformation of the right cusp of his aortic valve does not seem to be worsening, but over the course of a year there wouldn't be much noticeable change anyhow. Due to the location of the defect, James will be monitored again in a year. If the hole was in any other location on the ventricular wall, we would be going back in 3 years. The long term implications of aortic valve leakage due to further deformation are an enlarged left side of the heart. This could lead to problems of heart functionality, but Dr. Brenner assured us that this is something that would happen over the course of 10 to 20 years, if it happens at all. There is no immediate need for any corrective action and nothing to look out for in the next year.
So like I said, pretty anti climatic, but very reassuring for us!
One of the nice things about Dr. Brenner is that he has a notepad full of blank drawings of the heart. I'm a visual learner, so this is great for me! It also reminds me of my dad and how he can draw a picture to explain anything. (Sidebar: He can even tell you what picture to draw over the phone to explain things, like when I was in college and he explained the Coriolis effect to me so that I could pass my Physical Geography final... but I digress). So here is a copy of our picture from the doctor.
 |
| The black dot in the middle is where James' hole is |
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