Last Saturday I flew to San Francisco to attend a conference for work. San Francisco was great, but the trip was about 1 day too long. I really missed my boys, and they missed me.
It didn't help that they ran out of milk the day before I got back. George wasn't happy with the sudden transition to formula. Thursday afternoon when Marty and George picked me up from the airport, Marty told me George hadn't been himself that last day. Marty couldn't get him to laugh and smile, even with his best tricks.
I think my return helped. Before we put George to bed we were able to get some smiles and giggles.
A little before midnight, I checked in on George. He was sleeping soundly, but when I felt him he was really warm. I thought I was a little crazy when I woke him up by picking him up. I felt his head, arms, legs, and tummy...too hot. We took his temperature: 103.5.
We gave him Tylenol and decided to go to the ER. After ibuprofen, several rectal temps, a couple x-rays, and a couple hours George's temperature had dropped to 100.5 and we had a diagnosis of pneumonia. Just after 2am we were on our way back home (via the pharmacy for antibiotics). It was about 4 am before I'd unwound enough to go to sleep.
On Friday both George and I took several naps between keeping our schedule of antibiotics, and rotating doses of Tylenol and ibuprofen.
Marty commented how glad he was we decided to take him in.
It was about noon on Saturday when I first noticed a couple spots on George's face and neck. I checked his tummy and, sure enough, there were little pink spots there too. I called the pediatrician's office, but had missed their Saturday office hours. Back to the ER.
This time the ER was packed. We waited and waited. Finally we were called back. The doc told me she'd even snuck George in ahead of some others because she hates making the little guys wait so long. The diagnosis was just as I'd suspected--amoxicillin allergy. We were on our way back to the pharmacy for the new antibiotic and then home.
Poor baby George. I hope he feels better soon.
Monday, November 04, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
6 months!
George is growing up so quickly! I can't believe he's already 6 months old. George is a happy and very smiley baby. Every week at church we have people tell us how sweet and cute he is. The same thing happens at Wal-Mart or just about anywhere else he goes. I have had several people volunteer to take him home with them.
Plus, he has a soft head and smells good.
When we went on vacation in mid-July he knew how to roll from back to front, but not from front to back. Almost as soon as we got home he figured it out. He was so delighted with himself that he'd roll over and follow it up with a big, cheerful shout.
In mid-July he also reached another big milestone--he slept through the night! He's done pretty well since then--sleeping through the night more nights than not. In the morning when he wakes up he makes happy baby noises in his crib or just sucks his thumb until I come get him.
I love this outfit of his. The sweater and bonnet were Marty's when he was a baby. Marty's mom gave them to me years ago. George does this look well.
George wasn't too thrilled when I first gave him rice cereal. He made this face with just about every bite. But he ate every bite he was offered.
He's gotten really good at holding his own bottle--especially the little 4 oz. ones. He's also gotten good at recognizing his bottles--and letting us know that he wants them. On vacation, Aunt Shana was holding him while I was eating lunch one day. He started getting more and more antsy for her until finally I noticed that it wasn't me that had his focus, he'd seen his bottle in the stroller and wanted it!
We had our suspicions early on that he might be a thumb-sucker, but it took him awhile to really get the hang of it. Mom saw this picture and said he's looking more and more like me. She pointed out that not only is he sucking his thumb, he's holding the blanket in a way that reminds her of me and my yarns.
Did I mention that he's happy? Would you look at those dimples! And maybe it's just coincidence, but he seems pretty good at waving hi too. When I took this picture, I was saying to him, "George, say 'hi, Mom!'"
Plus, he has a soft head and smells good.
When we went on vacation in mid-July he knew how to roll from back to front, but not from front to back. Almost as soon as we got home he figured it out. He was so delighted with himself that he'd roll over and follow it up with a big, cheerful shout.
In mid-July he also reached another big milestone--he slept through the night! He's done pretty well since then--sleeping through the night more nights than not. In the morning when he wakes up he makes happy baby noises in his crib or just sucks his thumb until I come get him.
George wasn't too thrilled when I first gave him rice cereal. He made this face with just about every bite. But he ate every bite he was offered.
He's gotten really good at holding his own bottle--especially the little 4 oz. ones. He's also gotten good at recognizing his bottles--and letting us know that he wants them. On vacation, Aunt Shana was holding him while I was eating lunch one day. He started getting more and more antsy for her until finally I noticed that it wasn't me that had his focus, he'd seen his bottle in the stroller and wanted it!
Friday, July 12, 2013
George- some of my favorites from June
I can't believe my little baby is already almost 5 months old, and not nearly as little! Time is flying by so fast!
Here are some of my very favorite recent pictures.
This one of him sleeping is sweet in and of itself. But here's the story behind it: In the morning, George and I get up, I feed him, we hang out for a bit, but when I need to get ready for work, I put him on our bed next to Marty and build a wall of pillows between him and the edge of the bed. This particular morning, when I left him, I covered him with a light gauzy blanket (the giraffe print in the upper right of the picture) and then put the blue blanket on the pillow next to him and said, "Here's this if you want it." When I was back 10 minutes later, this is what I found. He likes his soft fuzzy blankets.
This one just makes me smile--look at how much fun he's having! He discovered that when he kicks the support on his activity mat, all of the toys move. So exciting!
Here are some of my very favorite recent pictures.
Yep, he's a keeper.
Look at those eyes! And those cheeks! And smile! Man, I love that kiddo!
He is such a happy, smiley boy!
Saturday, June 22, 2013
A Snippet
The other morning Marty, George and Razor were all in the living room as I was headed out the door to work. I walked behind the couch, kissed Marty on the head, and said, "I love you."
Then I turned to George, who was lying on the couch, "I love you."
Then I turned to Razor, who was lying on the floor, "I love you."
"Daddy's in charge, Razor and George listen to Daddy."
Marty cheered that he got to be in charge and then pointed to George and said, "George, do a break dance!"
I don't think George listened.
Then I turned to George, who was lying on the couch, "I love you."
Then I turned to Razor, who was lying on the floor, "I love you."
"Daddy's in charge, Razor and George listen to Daddy."
Marty cheered that he got to be in charge and then pointed to George and said, "George, do a break dance!"
I don't think George listened.
Friday, June 07, 2013
Crash
Last Friday Marty brought George to my office for me to show him off a little. Afterwards as we were getting George back into his car seat we decided to go to lunch as a family. I hopped in the back with George, and we were off.
A few minutes later we were waiting at a light, just chatting and enjoying being together, when suddenly we were rear-ended. It was so startling that I didn't realize right away what had happened. George cried, and I fumbled to calm him and get 911 called.
We didn't make it to lunch.
The good news is that we were all OK. We took a family ride in an ambulance, and spent several hours in the ER. But we are all OK.
Since then we (but mostly Marty- thank you Marty!) have been dealing with the hassles that come with car accidents- coordinating everything with the insurance company, and hoping that all the pieces that are up in the air right now fall into their proper place.
A few minutes later we were waiting at a light, just chatting and enjoying being together, when suddenly we were rear-ended. It was so startling that I didn't realize right away what had happened. George cried, and I fumbled to calm him and get 911 called.
We didn't make it to lunch.
The good news is that we were all OK. We took a family ride in an ambulance, and spent several hours in the ER. But we are all OK.
Since then we (but mostly Marty- thank you Marty!) have been dealing with the hassles that come with car accidents- coordinating everything with the insurance company, and hoping that all the pieces that are up in the air right now fall into their proper place.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Monday, April 01, 2013
Passed
For about 6 years I've been thinking of or loosely planning on taking the patent bar (see here and here), and more recently I've gotten more serious and actually applied (see here, items 7 and 8). And then I took it in January; three weeks before having a baby I took a 7 hour exam. I failed (I didn't blog about it). I failed by three questions, just 3.
After crying about it, I found new resolve. I would take and pass the Patent Bar before some of the material being tested changed significantly on April 2. See, here's the thing- the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law in 2011, and it introduces major changes in the patent law. The provisions of AIA have been being implemented in stages since it became law in 2011. The most significant changes went into effect on March 16, and as of April 2, those changes are incorporated into the material covered on the Patent Bar. In fact, on my first attempt at the Patent Bar, I didn't fully appreciate how many test questions would relate to aspects of AIA that were already being added to the test material. If I had, I think I would have passed the first time around.
I took the Patent Bar again on Friday. This time around, I passed.
After crying about it, I found new resolve. I would take and pass the Patent Bar before some of the material being tested changed significantly on April 2. See, here's the thing- the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) was signed into law in 2011, and it introduces major changes in the patent law. The provisions of AIA have been being implemented in stages since it became law in 2011. The most significant changes went into effect on March 16, and as of April 2, those changes are incorporated into the material covered on the Patent Bar. In fact, on my first attempt at the Patent Bar, I didn't fully appreciate how many test questions would relate to aspects of AIA that were already being added to the test material. If I had, I think I would have passed the first time around.
I took the Patent Bar again on Friday. This time around, I passed.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Razor
It's been a bit of an adjustment for Razor since we brought George home. I think she's finally gotten used to George being around (though she's not to eager to be real close to him). She's my companion, following me between the nursery and our bedroom when George is up in the night. And when George is really upset and inconsolable, if she's not already in the room, Razor will come running in.
Last night George had been sleeping on the Boppy. I picked him up when he woke up, and a few minutes later the Boppy had a new occupant.
Last night George had been sleeping on the Boppy. I picked him up when he woke up, and a few minutes later the Boppy had a new occupant.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
My Little Valentine
It seems like it was ages and ages ago that I sent Marty this picture via text message:
Various online due date calculators put the due date on February 14. And for the entire pregnancy, while I told people that the due date was Valentine's day, I didn't really anticipate that our baby would be one of the 5% of babies who are actually born on their (estimated) due date.
On February 13, when I was at work, I had several people ask me what I was still doing there. I also had several people say to me, "When are you due?" and were surprised when I answered, "Tomorrow." I had contractions throughout the day on the 13th, as I'd been having for the several weeks before. Sure, they were getting stronger, but they weren't particularly regular, and I was still able to function.
Mom and Dad arrived that night at 10:30pm, and by that point, I was anticipating going in to work the next day with Marty taking Mom and Dad to see the Grand Canyon. It didn't seem like Baby would be arriving right away. So we all went to bed.
Except I couldn't sleep. It wasn't contractions that were keeping me up, it was general discomfort. I was getting increasingly frustrated--how could I function at work if I couldn't get any sleep? At 4am things changed. All of a sudden my contractions changed dramatically--becoming very painful and very regular at 3 minutes apart. I knew it was the real deal. At 5am I worked on waking up Marty--it took a couple rounds, but eventually he got up.
I didn't want to wake Mom and Dad since they'd traveled all the previous day and then we'd kept them up late visiting. I left this note on the counter:
Over the next several hours there were times that time seemed to stand still and others when time sped up. Marty went home and guided Mom and Dad back to the hospital around 8am. At 6cm dilated, Marty spoke up and asked when the anesthesiologist would be arriving (thank you Marty!). The nurses looked at each other and seemed a little puzzled--apparently the profile they had for me said no drugs. I assured them that I really wanted an epidural. Really.
The difficulty of trying to stay perfectly still for the anesthesiologist while having hard contractions right on top of each other never occurred to me until I was in that position. I did some serious squeezing on the nurse's hand.
I wish I could say the delivery all went smoothly from then on. Unfortunately, the word that was used again and again to describe it is "difficult". Depending on how I was positioned, Baby really didn't like some of the contractions. And Baby really, really didn't like me pushing. Emergency C-Section paperwork was started just in case. My Labor & Delivery room now had lots of people in it--a team of nurses and techs for me and a team of nurses and techs for Baby.
It was my doctor's day off (of course!), so one of her partners whom I'd never met came for the delivery. Not too long after the doctor arrived (or so it seemed to me), Baby George was born.
Introducing George James, born February 14, 2013 at 12:55pm. Weighing 6lbs 14oz. Length: 19.5 inches.
We are over the moon in love with our Little Valentine.
Various online due date calculators put the due date on February 14. And for the entire pregnancy, while I told people that the due date was Valentine's day, I didn't really anticipate that our baby would be one of the 5% of babies who are actually born on their (estimated) due date.
On February 13, when I was at work, I had several people ask me what I was still doing there. I also had several people say to me, "When are you due?" and were surprised when I answered, "Tomorrow." I had contractions throughout the day on the 13th, as I'd been having for the several weeks before. Sure, they were getting stronger, but they weren't particularly regular, and I was still able to function.
Mom and Dad arrived that night at 10:30pm, and by that point, I was anticipating going in to work the next day with Marty taking Mom and Dad to see the Grand Canyon. It didn't seem like Baby would be arriving right away. So we all went to bed.
Except I couldn't sleep. It wasn't contractions that were keeping me up, it was general discomfort. I was getting increasingly frustrated--how could I function at work if I couldn't get any sleep? At 4am things changed. All of a sudden my contractions changed dramatically--becoming very painful and very regular at 3 minutes apart. I knew it was the real deal. At 5am I worked on waking up Marty--it took a couple rounds, but eventually he got up.
I didn't want to wake Mom and Dad since they'd traveled all the previous day and then we'd kept them up late visiting. I left this note on the counter:
The difficulty of trying to stay perfectly still for the anesthesiologist while having hard contractions right on top of each other never occurred to me until I was in that position. I did some serious squeezing on the nurse's hand.
I wish I could say the delivery all went smoothly from then on. Unfortunately, the word that was used again and again to describe it is "difficult". Depending on how I was positioned, Baby really didn't like some of the contractions. And Baby really, really didn't like me pushing. Emergency C-Section paperwork was started just in case. My Labor & Delivery room now had lots of people in it--a team of nurses and techs for me and a team of nurses and techs for Baby.
It was my doctor's day off (of course!), so one of her partners whom I'd never met came for the delivery. Not too long after the doctor arrived (or so it seemed to me), Baby George was born.
Introducing George James, born February 14, 2013 at 12:55pm. Weighing 6lbs 14oz. Length: 19.5 inches.
We are over the moon in love with our Little Valentine.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Cher
It's been over 2 weeks since we last saw Cher. The realist in me recognizes that she's not coming back. If she could have, she would have come home. But there's a small part of me that has hope that she found warmth and safety with a compassionate neighbor, and maybe someday she'll come back either on her own or because of her microchip.
Again the realist chimes in and reminds me that to describe Cher as a quirky cat is generous at best. She doesn't really like people, certainly not strangers. Basically, she likes me. Even her relationship with Marty is tenuous. She's never forgiven him for those couple of times he took her to the vet; or that he tricked her by luring her with treats (I've done the exact same thing many more times, but somehow, she didn't hold an eternal grudge against me). Like I said, she's quirky and doesn't really like people, so it's really hard to imagine her allowing herself to be caught by even the nicest of strangers.
In spite of all her quirks, I miss her. I'm sad she's gone. I miss her and Razor competing for my attention. I miss our nighttime routine--she'd follow me up to the bedroom, she'd wait on my bed-side table for me to get in bed, and then she'd get on the bed (either next to or on me) for me to pet her. I miss our morning routine--she would sit on my bed-side table and ever so gently tap me with her paw. If I didn't respond, she'd extend her claws just the tiniest bit and pat me again--as if to remind me that she was being nice, but she could escalate her efforts. Usually (especially if my alarm had already indicated it was time for me to get up), she and Razor would combine their efforts to get me up. Once up, Cher was first to be fed and then down to feed Razor. Cher waited for me as I showered and then was there to insist on being petted while she worked on her breakfast some more. I miss how I'd find her sitting in the front window sill keeping watch over the front of the house. I miss how since I've been pregnant, she liked to sleep on my belly. And I miss how she liked to watch TV--whether Big Cat Diary or other shows about big cats or even So Cute on Animal Planet--a show about litters of house cat kittens.
On the day Cher disappeared I remember noticing how she had perched herself on the arm of the couch. I remember feeling very sentimental about seeing her there.
When we got home from our couple of days in Utah for Christmas, Razor ran through the house looking for Cher, like she's done when we've gotten home from so many of our past trips. And I went right to the bowl of food I'd left out in the back just in case--it was untouched. Every so often in the past 2 weeks, something in my peripheral vision will catch my attention and I'll turn to see if it's Cher.
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Again the realist chimes in and reminds me that to describe Cher as a quirky cat is generous at best. She doesn't really like people, certainly not strangers. Basically, she likes me. Even her relationship with Marty is tenuous. She's never forgiven him for those couple of times he took her to the vet; or that he tricked her by luring her with treats (I've done the exact same thing many more times, but somehow, she didn't hold an eternal grudge against me). Like I said, she's quirky and doesn't really like people, so it's really hard to imagine her allowing herself to be caught by even the nicest of strangers.
In spite of all her quirks, I miss her. I'm sad she's gone. I miss her and Razor competing for my attention. I miss our nighttime routine--she'd follow me up to the bedroom, she'd wait on my bed-side table for me to get in bed, and then she'd get on the bed (either next to or on me) for me to pet her. I miss our morning routine--she would sit on my bed-side table and ever so gently tap me with her paw. If I didn't respond, she'd extend her claws just the tiniest bit and pat me again--as if to remind me that she was being nice, but she could escalate her efforts. Usually (especially if my alarm had already indicated it was time for me to get up), she and Razor would combine their efforts to get me up. Once up, Cher was first to be fed and then down to feed Razor. Cher waited for me as I showered and then was there to insist on being petted while she worked on her breakfast some more. I miss how I'd find her sitting in the front window sill keeping watch over the front of the house. I miss how since I've been pregnant, she liked to sleep on my belly. And I miss how she liked to watch TV--whether Big Cat Diary or other shows about big cats or even So Cute on Animal Planet--a show about litters of house cat kittens.
On the day Cher disappeared I remember noticing how she had perched herself on the arm of the couch. I remember feeling very sentimental about seeing her there.
When we got home from our couple of days in Utah for Christmas, Razor ran through the house looking for Cher, like she's done when we've gotten home from so many of our past trips. And I went right to the bowl of food I'd left out in the back just in case--it was untouched. Every so often in the past 2 weeks, something in my peripheral vision will catch my attention and I'll turn to see if it's Cher.
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