Becoming A Man and Shout Outs

Jack's becoming a man. He is now arguing in baby talk or possibly a mix of Japanese and German. Sometimes he argues with his toys but often it is with us, his parents. I rarely see him do it to others. He eats a ton and apparently loves turkey as he ate nearly all of the meat in my omelette yesterday.

Later this week, Jack goes for another MRI on the ole noggin. This one is much more simplistic, resembling an Xray more than an acutal MRI as far as the procedure. He doesn't have to fast either so that is much better. Next week we follow up with the neurologist and if all is well, which I fully expect it will be, we don't go back for 6 months, then one year from that, and 2 years from that.

Jack seems to be coming closer to talking and walking and is crawling his knees raw to the bone. He loves to chase the cat, look at babies, eat spaghetti, and take a bath. He also loves to take walks. He's outgrowing all of the most influential baby items like his swing, his walker, and many of his toys. He's becoming a man. Soon he'll be in college which we're saving for very slowly.

Want to send a shout out to my friend Tim and his wife Mari...their baby is still cooking and due in a couple of months. Also, a shout out to my uncle Jason and his wife Avavit who's baby is due any day now. Best of luck to you. Please do not read my blog beyond this entry. Babies are great and easy and cute and cuddly and soft and fun...all of the time and every moment is worth it and wonderful. Wink.

Jack's Ear...In The Clear

Susie just called from the Dr. appt. and it appears that the ear infection which included a week of diahrea, restless sleep, and extreme crankiness has finally disappeared. I'm so happy for Jack as this has not been fun. The poor guy has been so miserable with the worst and his very first diaper rash ever due to the antibiotics and the lovely side effects that came with them. He's been doing great though, as of late, crawling everywhere. He loves to throw things and chase them while talking in Japanese. His favorite toy is this motorized hamster in a ball that rolls around the house while he chases it...we call it Hammy and he calls it fun. He gets extremely excited when seeing a baby, especially dark skinned babies (not a racist--thank God). He loves hide and seek and especially when monsters try to attack him in funny monster voices armed with zerberts. He is pulling up to stand with ease now and he even stands alone for a few seconds with no fear of falling. Probably going to walk soon...maybe by his birthday...just a month and a half away now. His favorite food seems to be spaghetti and he also seems to like yogurt but not mixed together. I think he's going to be a dancing, singing, comedian, who likes a long rant, a bit like Dennis Miller but a democrat, oh what that's me...either that or the president of planet Mercury as he is conditioning in the Florida heat and apparently this planet will be gone in the next 50 years if things keep going this way. The longest year ever is coming to an end and I still can't believe he's almost one!!! I think New Years Eve should be 9/14 (Jack's Birth Eve--maybe we could even drop a ball) as this seems more significant these days and I wouldn't mind getting a little toasty.

Support Our Troops

As many of you know I'm absolutely against the war in Iraq. I attended protests prior to the war beginning and once it started while living in Houston. While I'm against the war I do support our troops. Some people with black and white thinking and blind patriotism cannot understand how this is possible. Well, it's simple. I don't believe in using our troops for senseless, needless wars. Unfortunately now that our government led by George Bush has gotten us into this war, we cannot simply pick up and leave. This means our troops (families and friends) will continue to senselessly be put in harms way for no purpose whatsoever. Iraq will spiral out of control eventually again because the problems which led up to this event still exist. Deeper, systemic societal issues than I care to discuss here. I do believe in supporting our troops however. Therefore I am providing a link to an organization that I have become aware of that I fully trust and support. Please take the time to visit the site as it is one way you can help assist those injured and/or severely wounded that Bush and our government (war mongering republicans and spineless democrats alike) threw into a war that we shouldn't be fighting in the first place... http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org

Dill Weed

Rent-A-Baby After 3PM

I've decided to put Jack up for rent after 3pm 7 days a week. If interested please let me know. You should know however that when he wakes up from his nap he is likely to whine, scream, cry, and possibly even hit, scratch, or bite you. He may even poop on the floor if you make the mistake of letting him crawl around with no diaper for more than 30 seconds.

We actually had a good weekend, half of the time and a horrible weekend half of the time. Saturday morning, Jack's 10 month b-day, we went to the Osceola Flea Market. Jack seemed a bit thrown off and kind of indifferent to the experience. We then decided to drive him to sleep. He slept and we ended up in the middle of nowhere. We found a park and fed the boy whilst watching the flora and fauna bake in the 100 degree encroaching heat. We then head back from the middle of nowhere to almost somewhere (Saint Cloud) where we took Jack to a Mexican restaraunt. Jack flirted with a waitress and ate refried beans, a precursor of things to come (baby+beans=?)

We then went home where Jack pooped on the floor...not until now did I see the Mexican food connection. Then we put him down for his next nap. 30 minutes later he woke up, MAD!!! Mad he stayed, for 3 more hours. After dinner and attempts to quell him, it was time for his bath. I nearly drowned my favorite boy as he suddenly leaned forward in his baby bath chair going face down in the water. I swept him out and he screamed and coughed water as I quickly attained status as the worst parent in the house.

So, let's see, I fed the baby Mexican food leading to over 4 poops per day for 2 days and nearly drowned the boy forever scaring him and possibly resulting in a water phobia...oops!

He went to sleep. Susie went to the grocery store and in the process found out our very young neighbor and mother of two very young little girls died mysteriously of a heart attack. She found out from the woman's husband who was wandering in the yard aimlessly while police investigated. A very somber evening followed where Sue and I contemplated how to help and how lucky we are.

The next day improved but ended with the same fussy baby. My sister visited us for the first time in our new place, while Jack finished an hour and 15 minute nap, a good sign of things to come, we thought. We had a great visit with her as we went to the lakefront beach and took Jack swimming with his friends Hayden and Nicholas. Jack had a great time but apparently got a little out of sorts as he decided to throw a screaming fit in the car. Then he skipped his nap all together in the afternoon. However, he left the fussiness and played and watched his favorite video. He loves Mozart and Tchaikovsky and Yo Yo Ma (musician or perhaps music critic?) Finally, bedtime.

Susie and I laid there. Comatose. Lambasted. What a weekend! Just like every weekend...maybe we suck at this but we are exhausted every day. It seems like other parents like it a great deal more than us? Maybe Jack's more work than the average baby? Who knows?

At least we didn't drown him this weekend. I love the lil bug but he's for rent after 3pm...any takers.

I can see the light...

We finally got cable hooked up and we are connected to the internet. I suppose this is like a near death experience when you suddenly see the light.

Jack woke at 4am last night at which time Susie fed him a bottle and he went back to sleep. Poor bug's little ears hurt.

This weekend we will probably continue to attempt to get rid of the ear infection, unpack and set up our new place, battle the Earwig infestation in our house(gross topic for some other time), and hopefully mix in some fun things if we can withstand the heat outside.

Happy 10 Month Birthday to Jack tomorrow!!!

Burried Alive!!!

That's the only good analogy for what it feels like to move to a new town, with a baby, no cable, and no internet. However, as of yesterday, we tapped into the city internet system virtually bypassing Brighthouse. I won't get into why this is so satisfying to me but let's just say...suck it Brighthouse!

Okay, so...today Susie took Jack to the doc because we found a small lump on the back of his head towards his neck. Basically, it feels like a small cyst and is not duplicated on the other side to touch. Therefore, we were concerned. On top of this, Jack has been quite cranky at times and has run a low temperature on occasion over the past few days. He also has pulled at his ears for the past couple of weeks which we attributed to teething as we have read this is common but thought an ear infection was an outside possibility. Not wanting to be the overreacting/overprotective parents we have the capability of being we decided to wait it out and see if the pulling stopped. Especially since most literature indicates many ear infections must simply go away on their own.

We stuck with this until we found the lump. We scheduled the appointment on Monday for today and have worried about the lump for a couple of days now. Meanwhile, last night Jack threw up a very large volume of formula, black beans, bananas, baby food, and cheerios. Needless to say, this had us on edge confounding our reasons to worry. We think he just ate too much as he ate like a horse yesterday and I think his body decided, "cannot digest...too much food"...hence, throw up! And throw up he did...it just kept coming. No longer the baby puke of yesteryear, it was smelly big boy puke! We gave him a bath, Susie ran to the store for carpet cleaner, and I put him to bed after some water and a little formula. Poor baby!

Well Susie just called from the pediatrician and all is well. At least relatively. Jack has an ear infection and has been given antibiotics. The lump was a swollen lymph node due to the ear infection most likely. Poor little guy has probably had the ear infection for about 3 weeks. The problem is he's always moody...always has been since birth. Therefore, we hardly could tell if he was acting abnormal. It turns out his ear hurts. We both feel bad for taking so long to get him to the doctor. However, this was good news considering, with regard to all of his short but profound medical hx, we were ready for more cysts and tests and systemic medical woes. Alas, a light at the end of one very small tunnel.

Anyway, we are back on e-mail and will be posting on our blogs again. Sorry for being out of touch with many of you as it seems we haven't even had a chance to call lately.

Quick Update

Susie and I still are unable to get our e-mail and don't have internet access at home. Jack is doing fine, teething, as usual. We are having problems getting cable and internet and don't know when this will be resolved so don't send e-mails expecting replies any time soon.

Grandparents Are Back...but not for long!!!!

My parents got back after one week in Tennessee yesterday. Susie and I got our first reprieve from the boy in over a week. Our other babysitter left for New York and the up and coming sitters are not yet trained. This left us with noone to watch Jack while trying to unpack and move in...not a good combo when your baby masters the crawl.

During our 2 hours of respite, we went to dinner and walked around WalMart searching for electronic necessities. It was a very much needed 2 hours. Today my mother is watching Jack while Susie gets 4 hours. Now that we're closer to my parents, it's much easier to set up brief babysitting breaks.

Our home computer is due to be set up with internet today as we have not been able to access it yet except for at work on occassion. So, if anyone has sent an e-mail, it has not yet been read.

The week after next my parents are headed on a cruise to Russia (I think?)for two weeks. I guess we need to train the new babysitters, Jessica/Martin and Aunt Di...get ready for the most anal retentive babysitting crash course ever where I will say things like, "Don't forget, he can't drive" and "Please don't let him eat poison out of the cabinets". It's funny the things you tell people when they watch your baby even when you know they've raised babies of their own and are perfectly capable.

4th of July and Isolation

Yesterday for the 4th, Susie and I struggled to keep Jack corraled. We woke up early with the Sultan who insisted on his favorite meal, The White Stuff a.k.a. baby formula. Then we went to our Village Inn...our new favorite breakfast eatery and possibly the only one.

Aside...there is no Chik-Fil-A in St. Cloud! Susie informed me along time ago she could never live in a town with no Chik-Fil-A...I hope she doesn't leave! There is also no Target...is this even possible. WalMart reigns supreme here...a true testament that we are in the country far away from civilization as we know it.

After breakfast, we took Jack to WalMart to buy a pool for the backyard and a sprinkler to sprinkle him. After shopping, we returned home. We got the pool ready, peeled Jack out of his clothes while he screamed because we were stopping him from crawling, and threw him in the pool. He immediately, without any hesitation, attempted to crawl out, successfully, into the grass. He decided that the pool was a piece of crap and the grass was of God! For 30 minutes we attempted to force him to like the pool and we created a baby firework. Finally, Susie put him on the grass, naked. This last about 30 seconds when we noticed spiders and other bugs were probably crawling up the boys haunches. Pool time ended.

The rest of the day consisted of a trip to a park where Jack was supposed to sleep but did not only to fall asleep in the car on the way to get Susie and I some lunch. After waiting, 45 minutes he finally awoke and we were able to get some lunch. Susie likes Sonic. My hope is, it replaces Chik-Fil-A so I don't wake up to an empty bed with a wet note indicating she has left for bigger and better things and bajkarrkakdrdbb forcing me to run out of the house searching St. Cloud in my scivies (reference to The Jerk).

We got back home and crawled around with Jack for a couple of hours while trying to intermittently unpack. Jack went to bed at some point. We continued to unpack until around 9pm. Then we scurried around our house, front to back, up and down the stairs, looking out windows, around corners, shouting in loud whispers to one another, "there's some", "here's some good ones", "look over there", "I think that's the finale", "no, there's more". What were we looking at? Tiny fireworks in the distance, over trees, miles away. Every ten minutes we checked on Jack thinking he might awake thinking we were under North Korean attack. He never did. In fact, by 10:30 we were in bed too.

Happy 4th everyone. Hope to see you all soon at our new house.

Jack's birthday invites to follow. Save the date: Weekend of September 15th...possible birthday party/housewarming get together.

A Little Bit Country...and mobile!

We're in! Jack's crawling...big time! Jack decided to master crawling the day we began moving.

As a tumbleweed, I'm somewhat of an expert on moving. This weekends move was by far the hardest move I've ever endured!

Saturday we began loading up. Jack almost immediately decided he hated seeing things leave the house. After a couple of hours of whining progressing into screaming, Susie decided to take him to the mall. This left me to load up, by myself! For some reason, we decided not to ask anyone to help with the move. What the hell were we thinking. Part of me feels guilty for having people help and part of me simply feels like it will be easier to just do it. Well, both parts are assanine (never spelled this before)! It wasn't so bad until around noon when the heat was near 100. Susie stayed at our old place with Jack as I took the first load of stuff to the new place to unload. Still, it didn't seem so bad. However, the next load and then the following two loads on Sunday nearly killed me as I'm still at post-pregnancy weight.

Luckily, I got some help from a very persistent friend, Angie, who basically begged to help. For some strange and fortunate reason she likes moving other people's stuff! Susie and Jack moved to the new place on Sunday morning and Angie and I followed with the rest of our belongings. As Jack continued to be freaked out by the changes, his desire to crawl around a house full of danger and the polar opposite of childproof continued.

It took two days to make the place somewhat baby friendly but it's much better now. Jack seems to have adjusted and is now pulling himself up to stand and gliding side to side. It's seems like he's been crawling for months as he hawls ass at this point. Way to go Jack!