A Proud Parenting Moment

I put Howie in his crib for a nap on Monday afternoon, and it seemed like he was pretty lively, so I wasn't sure that he was going to fall asleep easily. I went off to read or clean up or whatever I do during his naptimes (honestly, I'm not even sure usually... I am the queen of putzing). I heard him chattering and then heard the tell-tale THUNK that is his paci falling out of his crib. When you hear the thunk, you can choose to ignore it, but until you go in there and replace that paci, Howie's not going to fall asleep and will usually make enough noise to force your hand into responding to the thunk. So I went into this room to do my thunk duty, thinking all the way that he was awfully cheery and not sounding very sleepy.

Actually, I think I need to give some background for you to fully appreciate the weight of this particular paci replacing trip. Howie went to the physical therapy evaluation last Thursday, and the therapist did several different tests with him. First Howie thought Kate (the therapist) was pretty cool with her slick toys, but as time went on, his opinion of her severely deteriorated. Anyway, we got through the different tests and Kate said that many of his skills were at the level of a 7 month old, and he had a couple of skills at the level of an 11 month old, so in some areas he's pretty behind. Howie was much better extending his back and leg muscles than flexing his trunk muscles, which can explain why he never learned how to sit up when he was lying down and also has never crawled, which requires a lot of flexion. Anyway, that's the basic story. She sent us home with lots of exercises to work on, and we're going to meet with her every other week (Howie will be thrilled). So we've spent a good bit of time since then working with Howie, and by Sunday he had already learned how to push himself into sitting up from lying down flat!! We were so proud and excited for him- now he's able to have more control and doesn't have to rely on us quite as much. Next stop is crawling... we've got a long way to go...

Anyway, back to the paci thunk... I went back to his room, cracked the door so I could see what he was doing before he saw me, and he was STANDING IN HIS CRIB!! That was the first time I had ever seen him do that!! I was sooooo happy for him. He was very happy for himself, too. He was just standing there jabbering and started laughing when he saw me. Since then he's been standing in his crib during naptime and hasn't yet figured out how to lay back down, but the disrupted naptimes are actually wonderful- I'm so thankful that he's passed this milestone. Hooray for Howie!! Hopefully we'll have news of more progress soon!

Finger Update

It looks like two of my fingers are rotting. I think I have eczema pretty bad on both of my ring fingers (random), and it really looks like they're rotting and falling off. It's pretty gross. I can't straighten them anymore and one of them usually has some part that's open and burning. Yuck.

Shady Medicine

We took Howie to this random doctor yesterday afternoon... it's a very long and complicated story, but the basic idea is that the pediatrician that we picked doesn't accept our medical plan, but we're switching onto another medical plan that he does accept. The problem is that Howie is going tomorrow for a physical therapy evaluation (which I'll explain in a minute) and in order for our insurance to pay for the evaluation, he had to be seen by a doctor that accepts our current insurance and have him/her agree that Howie should have the evaluation. Basically a total pain in the butt, but saved us some money.

We set out to find this doctor's office, which wasn't too far from our apartment. As we turned onto the street that the office was on, there was this weird building with cobalt blue siding and one car parked out front. I was thinking, "Surely this isn't the doctor's office...", but to my surprise, it WAS! The only bright, bright blue doctor's office I've ever seen. And with one car parked outside. A little shady from the get-go. Then we walk in. The office had all this dark wood paneling, which is obviously depressing, and smelled vaguely of poo. Never a good thing when walking into a medical establishment. On one door was a sign that read "H.L.S. Hauling, Inc.", which happened to be the doctor's initials. Housing your hauling business in with your medical practice? Odd. We walked into the waiting room past the hauling door to get Howie signed in, and the decor in there was even more disturbing. We're talking blue-gray carpet on the walls, people. And random Christmas trees and a marble statue in the middle of this planter box. And still the vague poo smell. By this point I was nearly ready to bolt. Then I started noticing the strange artwork on the walls. I'm telling you, this was the strangest thing I've ever seen. Josh and I both had the eery feeling that this was the office of a drug dealer, or something. We went through with the paper work, me giving the littlest amount of information possible since we were switching to the other pediatrician anyway, and began to wait for the doctor. Josh and I had a Coke bottle with us, and Howie is somewhat obsessed with bottles. He loves carrying them around while we walk with him. So he was toting his Coke bottle and chattering away, when out walked this wizened old man in a lab coat (leading me to the bright conclusion that he was indeed the doctor we had come to see), who chastised us for letting Howie hold that bottle and told us to take it away from him immediately. I could not believe that this was the doctor. He was very, very old. At first I thought he was joking about the Coke, and I said, "Oh, he's not drinking it!" Then I thought everyone would have a good laugh and we would think, "Well, this guy's decor is really weird, but at least he's got a sense of humor." But oh no, that was not to be. He said, "That doesn't matter. If he would drop it..." and then just kind of mumbled something I couldn't understand and shuffled off. By this point Josh and I were REALLY ready to bolt. I told Josh under no circumstances did I want this doctor to hold Howie- there was just something really shady about the whole operation. The nurse (who was very friendly) called our name a couple of minutes later, weighed Howie, and asked why we had come to see the doctor. We launched into the long, complicated story, and then were ushered back to a room to wait to see the doctor. He came in a couple of minutes later, asked what we needed, how old Howie was, and what kind of delays we were seeing. Then he motioned for us to follow him, which we did, out to the reception desk where one of his nurses wrote and signed the prescription for us to get the evaluation. So we got what we came for, but were greatly disturbed in the process that this person was practicing medicine and was covered by our insurance...

Anyway, we're taking Howie in for an evaluation because he's behind in some gross motor skills- everyone who sees him says that he'll be walking really soon because he loves walking if he can hold onto someone's index finger, but he skipped some really crucial things before this, like learning how to sit up from a lying down position and pulling up- he can only do that under really limited contexts. So we're taking him in. And insurance will pay for it, thanks to that creepy trip to the doc yesterday.

The Joys of Moving

Josh and I finally undertook the huge job of hanging pictures last night. This is our 3rd move as a married couple, and for some reason, hanging pictures in our new home has been a late night project every time. Last night was no exception. After we finished the mountain of dishes in our kitchen (alas, still dish woes at our new house), we decided to get a couple pictures hung. I don't know if we just have the most complicated pictures in the world, or if we make it harder than it is, but it's always a herculean task getting two hung in particular. We have this one huge picture that was taken during our engagement- I've heard it referred to has our "glamour shot"- that one is always horrible to hang. Josh literally had to redo one of the hooks 3 times before the stupid thing was remotely level, and then I had to monkey with it some more before it was perfect. I told Josh that we can't breathe walking by it for fear that it will fall to where it's actually nailed into the wall. But it is looking homier- I love the stage where you finally have everything hung up. It's a pain, but well worth it.

Other than hanging drama, things are going well at our house. We went to our first Cardinals game on Saturday afternoon and roasted in the sun for a few hours- we just moved from Augusta and I guess I thought that I was immune to the heat somehow, but it seems like St Louis is somehow hotter. I walked out of my house last night around 11, and it was still humid enough to make you wilt on the spot. Anyway, the game was really fun- Howie wasn't wild about it, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

Gotta run- have a great day!

Parenting Encounters With Howie

I guess that Howie has realized that he is now entering the toddler phase, because Wednesday was the day of our first parent-authority showdown. Howie was in an old-fashioned high chair at a friend's house, one of those kinds where the tray flips over and down the baby's head. He discovered that he would lift the tray up and it would start to go over his head, but I didn't want him to do that because all the food on the tray would fall onto the floor (or in his hair, even worse). I repeatedly told him "NO," and had to try my hardest to keep a straight face as he laughed at me and kept trying to do it. Over and over I said "NO," while he kept trying. Eventually I held the tray down and said "No," and his little face turned red as he tried with all of his might to get that tray up. Finally I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore and broke a smile... of course that was a bad idea because then he thought he was funny. Ahh, the beginning of mom-trying-not-to-smile-because-she-shouldn't- battles.

Howie's getting smarter. The other day he was sitting in his high chair with some blueberries on the tray. He likes blueberries, but seeing as they're fun circular shapes, I could see the little wheels in his head turning and telling him it would be more fun to throw them off the tray onto the floor and see them roll around. So I watched him pick his blueberries up one at a time with his chubby little fingers, lean over the side of his chair, and drop them very intentionally. It was so funny to watch him figure that whole process out.

The other day we were invited to the birthday party of one of our little neighbor girls via a swimming noodle that was placed in front of our door. The details about the party were written on the noodle. Howie thought that noodle was really cool and picked it up with one hand while holding Papa's finger with the other hand. It was soooo funny to see him carrying that thing around, since it was more than twice his length!!

Just a couple of Howie stories for you- more and more he's just making us laugh every day!

Have a great weekend!!

Howie Has Just Turned One Year Old

We all celebrated Howie's one year birthday this past Sunday- I can't believe that he's 1 now! In some ways this past year has been very slow, particularly during the crisis times. For example, when Howie was spitting out his paci 8 times every night and waking up for it every time, it seemed like I had been a sleep-deprived parent forever. Or when he refused with all his strength to drink from a cup, I thought I had been nursing forever and would have to continue. Or when he screamed like a wild man through most feedings, I thought that I would lose my mind. But those are limited times. Most of the time I say, "Wow, I can't believe he's already 1!!" It's so funny how much he's changed in 12 months. Last night I was getting misty eyed watching some of his videos from when he was a newborn, and it was amazing to me how much he's changed. He's gone from being completely helpless and interacting minimally to laughing, walking obsessively with help, smiling almost non-stop, playing, etc. Some of the most rewarding moments are when he just looks at me and smiles (this usually happens when I'm putting him to bed or right after he's eaten), and then uses both of his hands to tap my shoulder on either side. It's kind of a strange little manuever, but in that moment, I know that he loves me.

Being the mom of a toddler is fun. It's definitely more challenging in some ways, such as having to avert disasters like Howie grabbing my parents' cat's face and yanking, or hitting his chin on a chair, but it's also just fun to see what he does. He makes me laugh a lot these days.

We're getting settled into our new apartment in St Louis. Howie's birthday present from Mama and Papa was a sandbox in the shape of a crab and a play lawn mower. The crab sandbox has already proven to be a hit, both with Howie and his little friends in neighboring apartments. We've felt very welcomed into the seminary community and Josh is getting through his Greek class. I'm having to learn about letting him study, which means not bothering him every 5 minutes with a stupid question or ideas about watching random TV shows with me. That's tough! After 2 years of unrestricted access, I'm having to learn about sharing Josh with his Greek books.

I keep talking about the oodles of pictures I have, and I still have them, but our computer decided to randomly go on strike for about 2 weeks, meaning it would not turn on, and then for some reason beyond our comprehension it decided to come back to the negotiating table and start working again. But it's currently dead and I don't have the power cord with me, so I'm going to have to say that the next post will have oodles of pictures of our big one year old boy and lots of other things.

Have a great day!