9 Month Check Up

I thought I was over sharing poop stories with you, but dang! If they keep comin', how can I not?? While enjoying a nice lunch out at our new favorite restaurant, Calafia, with our friend Michael visiting from London last Sunday, Steve was playing with Sam and he tooted (Sam, not Steve). Or so he thought. Sam later slept in his car seat for a bit. When he woke, I picked him up and knew something was amiss when I felt his wet back. I was actually confused for a moment, then I realized we had an up-the-backer. I knew this wasn't going to be easy to change in the car, so I just packed him up and took him home, 10 minutes away. I put him on the changing pad on his stomach. First, I unsnapped the onesie and lifted it up. Dear God. Crap everywhere. If the onesie weren't brand new, I would've considered just cutting it off of him. Anyway, I wiped all the poop off the onesie, then wiped off his back. Then I pulled the diaper down and got started on the butt area. It was slow going and Sam kept kicking his feet right into the poop. After much finagling and what had to be a half pack of wipes, he was clean. But then I had to get the onesie over his head and not get crap in his hair. FAIL. Into the bath he went. Unlike the last major blowout, this time my phone was handy and I did send pictures to Steve who was shuttling Michael to Scotts Valley. He seemed to think it was funny. This was seriously the worst, messiest crap on record. I hope it's the last, but I've had too many friends with older kids tell me I ain't seen nothin' yet. Awesome.

So, Jr. had his 9 month check up last Monday and is doing great! He weighed in at 17lbs 13oz, 27 1/2 inches long. He's remained in the 75th percentile since the day he was born. Length and head circumference are still 40th-50th percentile. I still don't see how that noggin' isn't in the 90th percentile, but whatev. Sam will have a visit with the pediatric neurologist next month to further examine the minor stiffness he has in his hips and legs. Doc didn't seem too worried about it and noted it was slight, but given the developmental specialist noticed it also, we are going to err on the side of caution because of the risk of cerebal palsy due to his extreme prematurity. Hopefully, the stiffness can be resolved with a little physical therapy and that will be the end of that. Other than that, Sam is doing splendidly. He's actually 2-3 months ahead of schedule in many areas, like picking up things like cheerios and raisins with his pincer grasp and understanding object permanence (that objects exists even though he can't see them). He's still lazy with the rolling over. He can do it when he tries. He just doesn't try that much.

Tuesday was my birthday and I spent it just how I wanted, a mellow evening at home. What more could I possibly want? I have the best little birfday present anyone could hope for. I ended up having to work for a few hours that day. When I got home, I scooped up my boy and asked, "How's the best lil gift ever?" He burped in my face. THANKS! I still think he's pretty neat :)

On Thursday, Uncle Frank made me his special Christmas chicken (with bacon and rosemary). Lots of wine was drunk, which made work the next day, not so pleasant. Especially when our plan was to take off for Chalet Sommerfield in Arnold Friday afternoon. Well, I could've powered through, but ended up leaving work later than expected, so our weekend got off to a late start. And it was a particularly stressful afternoon at work, so the martini HOTY made me when I got home to settle me threw me for a loop and I wasn't really in top packing form (that means tipsy). I felt completely overwhelmed trying to remember all the stuff I had to pack for Jr. Seemed much easier when we headed to Portland for some reason. We managed to get it together and get on the road by 8am Saturday morning. We met our peeps and hit the town. Our first stop was the tasting room for Hatcher Winery, one of our favorites in that neck of the woods. And it was Sam's first winery! We actually couldn't quite believe it took so long for us to get him to one. Anyhoo, we always do Presidents Day Weekend in those parts and as usual, it was a great time. Great friends, great food, awesome wine. Pretty much the perfect weekend. Oh! In addition to Sam visiting his first winery, he also got to see and play in snow for the first time! So much fun! He was so curious about it and loved grabbing and throwing it. I see lots of snowball fights in our future! Here's a pic of our little snow bear. If we had a dollar for every person that stopped us to say how cute he was, we would've bought a couple more cases of wine :-D Thanks, Auntie Sade for the bear suit!!

From Collages

Another first this week....Sam had yogurt, which went over well. He also had a turkey dinner. That did NOT go over so well. It was seriously the first time he made a face indicating what I was feeding him was completely foul, like crap on a spoon. So, we gave it to Domino and Sam went back to his blueberry yogurt.

So, the long weekend is over and it's back to the grind. Everyone have a great week!

Bizzy Bee

Been a busy couple of weeks for Jr.! Our social butterfly has been hittin' the streets! He started off last week visiting Daddy at work. He got to see all the THX Aunties that have been cheering for him since he was in the NICU. We made the rounds and I loved seeing Steve so majorly puffed up with pride to be showing off his son.

On the way home, we stopped in Sausalito to meet Sam's new friends, twins, Jonathan and Daniel. Sam made himself right at home and threw up on their couch. Their Mommy, Rachel, didn't mind much. Apparently, her house, like ours, is covered in vomit. Anyhoo, the twins are freakin' ADORABLE!! I'm super impressed with Rachel's bad ass mom-of-twin skills. I don't know how she does it, but she manages so well and still looks radiant. And skinny! I don't know how she had 2 babies and looks like that! I should probably hate her a little bit ;-)

Speaking of vomit, the other week, I saw Sam was about to hurl and when he did, I caught it in my hand. On purpose. Funny thing is, I wasn't even all that grossed out by it. Parenthood.

Anyhoo, back to the good times...On Friday nite, we had dinner with our good friends, the Boosts. Their son, Anton, was in the NICU while Sam was there and we forged a strong bond. It had been way too long since we'd seen them and was good to catch up. Last time we visited, Anton was way bigger than Sam, but the little dude is catching up now. It was funny to get them together and observe the way they regarded one another. Check 'em out. Major cuteness.

From blog photos

From blog photos

On Saturday night, the boys were feeling bromantic and decided to hit the town on a man date, so the gals did a girls night in. Auntie Maggie was on duty en la casa, It was one of those perfect, no make-up, comfy clothes wearin', girl talkin', hangin' out kinda nights. I don't think my hair was even combed and it was just fine. Children slept upstairs as we sat around the small kitchen table talking about life and stuff. Perfect way to spend an evening. Of course, I was happy to return home and slip into bed with my little angel sleeping next to me.

The next day it was Super Bowl time! As usual, I prepared pigs in a blanket. Can you ever go wrong with pigs in a blanket?? Anyhoo, It got a little loud for the boy in the house, so I retrieved his noise-reducing headphones from the car. He didn't seem to mind them much and was pretty chill. He had a good day and even managed to catch a quick nap spread eagle on the host's bed. Then, of course, he ended the evening by throwing up all over the left side of me, big time. Uncle Jim M was at the ready with a bunch of wet paper towels. The vomit was no longer seen, but still smelled. It made goodbye hugs slightly gross and unpleasant :-D

So, my birthday is coming up next week. The big 4-2. I thought about what Steve and I usually do on my birthday. Big production of a dinner a la French Laundry. I thought, hmmmm, be difficult to do hours and hours of cooking with a baby underfoot, but I don't even care. I'm not actually wanting anything more than I've got, the best birthday present ever. Though I guess another present is my break up with my nemesis, the pump. That's right, it's over. OVER, I say! After 9 months, I was ready to be done. I would've continued pumping until Sam's 1 year adjusted birthday despite only producing 2 oz/day, but now that we have a stash of breastmilk in the freezer from 2 incredibly generous moms, I've decided to throw in the towel. Huge thanks to you, Julia and Danielle! Under-producing moms like me applaud you! We are so grateful!

Sam has been having a blast lately having nekkid time. I spread a nice soft blanket on the bed, take off his diaper and just let him go. He kicks his legs like crazy and scoots all over the place. I think the air hitting his tushy feels good to him. This also seems to be the place he seems most inclined to do things like roll over from back to tummy and his latest hobby, putting his feet in his mouth. I guess those stretches we've been doing with him are working! That boy is getting limber! It's also like taking your dog on a run to tire it out. We start the fun around 7:15. Diaper goes back on around 7:45, he gets a bottle and then drifts off to sleep, as he's just plumb tuckered out. Like magic.

From blog photos