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    G’s first masterpiece

    September 29th, 2009

    G has now produced his first masterpiece. S brought this home from daycare the other day.

    I saw the flower, and G’s name on the pot and thought “Oh, how nice, G has his very own planted flower”. And then I saw it – G’s first drawing was surrounding the pot. Oh the use of color (purple with just a touch of green), the amorphous shapes, the meaning behind the negative space, the choice of medium (marker. confident)…

    G’s an artistic genius don’t you think?

    All jest aside, I’m surprised I never thought to put G down with some big ole’ construction paper and a marker in hand. It’s fun and as long as I don’t pull out the finger paints, we have a shot of keeping it clean too. My mom saved every drawing I ever did for a long time. I remember a huge pile of randomly sized paper with evolving scrabbles in our home. She framed a few of my better early “pieces” for me this year and it’s been good to have them around. I’d like to be able to do something similar for G (actually my plan is to scan in all his work and then print them in a book, annually) so that he’ll see himself grow as an artist over time too.

    Either way, hurray for baby art.


    13 months of G awesomeness

    September 29th, 2009

    Today marks G’s 13 month b-day (yes, I’m still counting). This month has been quiet, but none-the-less eventful.

    G is now walking around with assistance. He enjoys pushing his car and giraffe riding toys around and doing laps around the coffee table.

    He has 7 teeth. He now has all central incisors, both top lateral incisors and a top first molar. The molar kind of snuck-in on us. I knew he was teething his lateral teethes, so I didn’t even think to look in other places around his mouth. Woe and behold this week-end at Augie’s as G was throwing a little “I don’t want to wear this outfit to pictures” tantrum we saw the molar. S and I both looked at each other in shock.

    He has 3 words: uh-oh, da-da and ball. He’s working on the “m” sound, and although he’s said “ma-ma”, it’s really been more like “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” with no end in sight. As much as I would like to think that this is representative of his un-ending love towards me, it’s just him working through sounds. I could have sworn the other day he mimicked the sound of the word “tissue”, but I believe that is also wishful thinking.

    Daycare is going well for him. His adjustment to the new place was phenomenal. I still can’t get over how quickly he clicked with the new kids and teachers. He’s not napping as well as I would like, but it is getting better. The teachers really like him, which is a huge relief for me: I was worried that in a bigger place he wouldn’t get the 1:1 attention and care and the bond between him and Ms. F wouldn’t be found anywhere else. I’m happy to say I was wrong. Instead of getting love from Ms. F and her assistant, Ms. V, he now has at least 4 wonderful teachers oogling him.

    Lastly, we spent some time last month chasing the Boogie monster around. Although, thankfully, G never developed a full blown out cold, he was a snot transport vehicle for awhile. Glad we’re getting over that, but with winter around the corner, I know this isn’t the last we’ve seen of nose goop.

    That’s it for now. So…. uhmn, what do you think of G’s new shirt sticker? ;p Thank you! Thank you! They did turn out pretty awesome.


    Infertility is not a morning radio show topic!

    September 28th, 2009

    Normally on my drive to/from work I listen to NPR. I don’t have time to watch the news/read the paper in the morning, so NPR is my source of world news. Unfortunately, they were still in their pledge drive (I already pledged thank you very much) so I was forced to channel surf.

    Much to my dismay a local radio station decided to pick the story of the Callahan/Savage mistaken embryo transfer as their morning topic. For those unfamiliar with the story, the Savage family, after going through IVF became pregnant, only to discover that the embryo that grew belonged to another family. They decided to continue with the pregnancy and give the child to it’s biological parents when born. While I find the story is happy, sad, and inspirational all at the same time, I don’t find it suitable for a morning talk show topic where the radio hosts gets to simply ask “What do you think about that?” and waits for listeners to call in. Oh I wanted to turn off the radio so bad (and I did for a second), until train-wreck-itus got the better of me and I had to turn it back on.

    I don’t find it suitable because of the comments like “I don’t understand why they didn’t just adopt?” make me yell at my radio in anger, which in turn makes me look like a madman… and I don’t like looking like I’m crazy. Why is it that only couples who struggle with fertility should be asked to naturally look into adoption? I find adoption to be a wonderful thing. Yes, there are many children around the world in need of a loving home. I would consider being that loving home. But why is it that adoption is not the first suggestion for any couple who expresses an interest in having children? Yes, there are some families that discuss adoption without ever trying on their own. I admire them, but they are far and few in between. Fess up, how often have you asked this question “Have you thought about having kids?” Now tell me, how often did you also follow up with “Oh, will you adopt?” as soon as they say they would welcome kids? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Why should the desire for a biological child be viewed as selfish for some, while acceptable for others? I accept that medical assistance isn’t the right choice for everyone, but I just don’t understand the double standard or the simple “just adopt” suggestions. (As a side note, there’s nothing simple about adoption such that you can “just” adopt.)

    It wasn’t just the comment that made the show unsuitable. It was the lack of conversation around it, and lack of information about the topic overall. There was no education or public outreach on this subject, just call ins. Granted I didn’t catch the whole show, but I doubt anyone mentioned the statistics around infertility, or rarity of clinic screw-ups. It’s easy to point out the bad stuff. How about how many amazing children are brought into the world through the miracle of science? Not so many stories on that one because it lacks the drama people want. So instead, we get “why not just adopt” comments.

    Second (not heard on the show, but worth mentioning), suggestions that intervention in infertility is not God’s plan also take me aback. Now granted, I am far from being a biblical scholar, but did not Abraham and Sarah long for a child for many, many years before they were blessed with Isaac? Did God say “Just adopt?” No! He gave them a child.
    John the Baptist was also the son of a family who had given up hope of ever having a child. It wasn’t until God sent an angel to Zachariah (his father) promising a son. Why is it, then, in the old books angel assistance in conception is OK, but today that of an RE is not? I would argue that God is keeping up with the times and has simply turned his angels into REs. You know the story of the guy in the flood waiting on God to help him? He turns down a boat and a helicopter claiming God will save him. Then when he drowns, God exclaimed that he sent him the boat and the helicopter, what more could he do? In my mind, it’s the same concept with RE’s. This is just my viewpoint. It’s not a reflection on any religious text being wrong or right, just my perspective of something that should be considered when claiming that reproductive endocrinology is not God’s work.

    So yeah. I had my fill of said radio show comments, their horrible blooper call, and shook my head a lot in disappointment.

    So happy the NPR pledge period is finally done.


    Movie Monday

    September 27th, 2009

    The first story of our home has a step down off the hallway to the living room and dining room. It’s a bit strange really, but while it works for adults, it’s a little hard to navigate for little crawlers.

    For awhile the multi-level part of our home was actually a good thing — it was an “invisible” barrier for G that kept him from doing things like 1) frolicking around Neko’s litter box (located in the downstairs bathroom); 2) pulling out every shoe in our shoe cubby. Alas that barrier has now been broken and G’s done each of the things listed above.

    We have gates for the stairs leading up to the second floor, but the step down into the living room is so wide that there’s no way to block it off. So the only thing we can do is teach G to maneuver this on his own. Luckily he figured it out on his second try. I’m proud of my little man!

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS_Bqm-N_oQ]

    Of course with all of this, keeping him out of places keeps getting exponentially harder. I’m especially concerned about Neko’s potty as the last thing I want is to find a scoop-full of kitty litter in G’s mouth 😮 I’m seriously considering installing a kitty door in the downstairs bathroom. The only problem? At the moment the cat and the child are both the same size — making a whole big enough for Neko, means plenty of access for G. Sigh (and grr)! Note to others: Maine Coon cats (as beautiful and amazing as they are) are not child proof!


    Foto Friday

    September 24th, 2009

    Last Saturday we had a family fun day with A, R and R. We went to the East Bay (where we could meet in the middle) and had a fun time at the park. And by fun I mean everyone but G apparently. You see, the park had a fun water fountain, and while all the kids were loving to frolic around in the water, G decided that he wanted nothing to do with it. That’s right: on a hot day, my bath-time-splash-loving’ child wanted nothing to do with the water. It was like being at the beach again. Anytime you got G close to the water, he pulled up his feet. You’d swear he was ready to flip upside down and start climbing backwards. Now what kind of future swim champion does that, I ask?

    The Fountainhead (tee hee)

    “I said ‘Get me outta here’!”

    “Save me! Please?!?”

    “I’ll just applaud the others from my dry perch, ‘kay?”

    Little R

    R’s on the prowl

    R and his mama

    Upside down keessis


    The Boo-boo report

    September 22nd, 2009

    I was in a meeting today, when my phone rang and G’s school-name came up on the caller ID. Normally I won’t step out of meetings to take a call, but since school calls are rare, and it wasn’t expected, I took the call. It went something like this:

    Teacher: Hi, this is C from NPC. I want you to know that G is ok.

    Me: Ooooh-kaaaaay

    C: I wanted to call and let you know that G lost his balance today while standing by one of the toys…

    Me: Uh huh

    C: … and he got a bruise. But he’s completely OK.

    Me: So it’s just a bruise?

    C: Oh yes, but he really is OK. I just wanted you to know for when you picked him up today.

    She sounded so apologetic, all the while reassuring me that my kid was OK.

    I want you to know that I appreciated the call, but as sweet as I find it, I also thought the whole exchange was hilarious. I mean, it was just a bruise… the first of many to be honest. G’s going to learn to walk in the next few months and with that will come bumps, bruises and face plants a’plenty. If they needed to call me each time he got scraped up, I will need to keep my line open with them non-stop 🙂
    I felt worse for the teacher than I did for G: I think she was taking it harder than I was. Still, awesome that they take this level of precaution and alertness.

    To boot there’s a “Boo-boo report” that needed to be signed at Pick Up, detailing the incident. A “Boo-boo report”!!!

    After hanging up the phone (and giggling to myself) I forgot all about it. I got wrapped up in my afternoon meetings and forgot to let S know about what happened. This was my bad, as S was the one that did pick-up today. As he arrived to get G, the teachers approached him with “So I guess you heard about G’s incident today?” only to hear “What incident?” on behalf of S. Yeah, oops!

    So yeah, here’s G sporting his first big Boo-boo and the really important “Ouch report”.

    The only thing that is unfortunate about this incident is that this week-end we’re taking G’s 1 Yr photos w/ Augie. I’m really excited about it. Apparently G is too as he decided to bring a shiner to the party. I guess I’ll have some PhotoShop work to do on the photos when we get them. Anyone  know if it’s OK to put concealer on a 1 year old?


    Career Options

    September 22nd, 2009

    One of G’s favorite past-times is to move object around. Boxes of any size, toys… chairs, you name it — he likes to move it. He gets on his knees and starts scooting pushing “stuff” to a new location. At day-care he’s known to re-arrange the dining furniture.

    Yesterday afternoon he determined that the kitchen trash can looked much better in the middle of the floor (as opposed to the corner of the room). For reference, the trash can is a 40Gal bucket, twice his height. Watching him move this thing was like watching an ant push a boulder. He was very proud of himself when he was done… judging by the big grin on his face anyway.

    So the way I see it, G could grow up to either be a Mover or an Interior Designer. Not sure which yet, but I’m glad he’s giving himself options 🙂


    Movie Monday (and playing ball)

    September 20th, 2009

    G has a new word (making his dictionary now 3 words rich): Ball. Although he doesn’t quite finish the “ll” sound, so it sounds more like “baah”.

    Here he is playing ball w/ Auntie S. He actually says ball twice in this clip if you listen carefully: at the 3rd throw to S, and at the very end.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toVtFDV7jZc]

    Yey, for interactive-fun babies!


    Kid, it ain’t that bad!

    September 20th, 2009

    Are you the kind of parent that likes to try out things before subjecting your kid to them? S isn’t, but I am. I don’t mean testing the absorbency of his diapers by trying one on, but for example, I’ll taste his food before offering it to him (and lemme tell you some if it is G-r-o-s-s, w/ a capital G: no wonder he turns his nose to 1/2 of it!). Anyway…

    G brought a lovely souvenir home from day-care this week: a runny nose. I’m not sure if it’s a bug going around, or the fact that he’s teething (again), but he’s been mighty sniffly these past two days. So enter in the nose sucker: G’s nemesis. He hates the thing with a passion. It takes two of us to suck out his nose. One to actually maneuver The Device, and the other to hold down his arms. Meanwhile G screams, kicks and flaps around like a fish out of water.

    So today, waking up with a stuffy nose of my own (G likes to shove his fingers in my mouth while he nurses, so maybe it is a bug), I decided to try out the bulb syringe. I expected to feel like my brains were being sucked out of my head, based on G’s reaction, and it really wasn’t bad. At all. So I don’t get it. Why does he make such a big deal out of it?

    In G’s defense, S tried to tell me that we needed a proportional mechanism: I needed to stick the vacuum cleaner house up to my nose, turn it on the low setting and then try it. I don’t quite buy it but O.K.

    Either way — I can’t wait for G to figure out how to blow.


    Foto Friday

    September 18th, 2009

    It’s a short one, but I get some “ME” time with the monkey.