I go so long without posting that I have no clue what I last shared and what all we've done in the interim. So here goes my best attempts to recap what we've been up to lately.
Several fun and one not-so-fun things have happened in the past few weeks. As I was downloading pictures I realized that this month of his life probably has the most photos outside of the newborn/1 month folder. We've been getting out and about and enjoying summertime :)
First, the not-so-fun thing. Surgery. Bummer. But went well. D had an undescended testicle that was being pesky and not coming down all the way on its own. We've been watching it since he was born hoping it would drop fully, but alas it never did. So Dr. Gatti did an orchiopexy (pulling the testicle down to the correct place in the scrotum) on Thursday June 6th at Children's Mercy South. We were originally scheduled with another doctor who is a transplant surgeon, but the night before we were called to tell us that he had a liver become available and would be performing a liver transplant instead. Surgery was nearly cancelled but Matt had already flown home from Chicago early so he could be in town for it. Dr. Gatti had an opening so we took it :) We were really pleased with him and all the nurses that took care of us for the few hours we were there. D had a runny nose that turned into congestion (not very bad though) the morning of surgery. We proceeded with surgery anyway, and D ended up having a hard time keeping his oxygen saturations up after surgery with out oxygen. After some pain meds and a breathing treatment he was doing better, and we were cleared to go home that afternoon. For not being able to eat since the evening prior and no drinks since 9am with a surgery time of about 2pm, he did really well not being cranky!! So proud of you little man for toughing out surgery :) He slept the rest of the day of surgery, but by the day after he was getting closer to his normal self. Day 3 he was playing at the park climbing, crawling, cruising, and swinging! He has since recovered very well and we have our follow-up appointment next week.
my first "official" haircut
D's hair was getting a bit on the crazy side. Matt and I actually trimmed of some of his long wispys several months ago, which was followed by trimming up his baby mullet (which turned into a haircut disaster, in which I cried about his hair getting chunked off by the trimmer since we wasn't being still in any shape or fashion). So we decided that if we got his hair trimmed now and it turned out to be a disaster as well, then we would have about 1 1/2 months before 1 year pictures to let it grow and get it fixed. LUCKILY, it went great and he's looking pretty suave these days ;) We went to the Sugar & Spice Salon in Overland Park, where he got to sit in a red race car, watch Dora, and eat Puffs. All that made for a very content little guy. The stylist was great even though he was moving around and looking every which way. I love that even though he's had a legit haircut, he still looks like a baby with all his fine little blondy-brown hairs (that fact that he still has no teeth doesn't hurt either!).
deanna rose farmstead
We've taken D to Deanna Rose twice now that it's been warm outside. We went last fall several times, but now that he's old enough to appreciate the animals it's a lot more fun. The first time it was just him and I, but the next time we got to go with Matt. He loves looking at all the animals and giggling/yelling about them. He seemed most interested in the calf we saw. Just wanted to stand there and giggle, and put up a little fit when I pried his fingers off the coral to move on (the first time he's ever done any protesting of the sort!). He also got to ride in a little red wagon around the farmstead, which he LOVED. I'm thinking a wagon might be a great birthday gift for this summer!
speaking of Birthday...!
It's almost time for his very first birthday!!! I'm so excited for this. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Every stage is better than the last", so far anyway. So I'm looking forward to what the next year will bring us. I've been busy on Pintrest and Google checking everything out. I've narrowing it down to a nautical theme which was surprisingly embraced by Matt (I expected resistance for a themed birthday or at least an eye roll, of which I got neither). I sent out invitations this morning, and will be working more on the decorations in the next few weeks. Excited to share one of my great loves with my little boy.... cake!!! Also, since most of his friends were also July babies, we'll be attending several 1st birthdays this summer. Yippee!
painting
Our wonderful friends, the Clarks, share most Wednesday afternoons with us. These playdates are one of our favorite activities of the week. I think this week we'll finally get to go to the pool with Miss Rachel and Rowan (they have a pretty sweet neighborhood pool/mini-waterpark)! Last week Miss Rachel shared "painting" with us. She mixes equal parts cornstarch and water with just a smidge of food coloring for some fun and non-toxic-if-eaten-easy-to-clean-up paints (and both painters were guilty of consuming paint). It was so fun to watch D explore using his hands to make something :)
miscellaneous/everyday
I try to think up ways to make play fun, interesting, or educational (or better yet, all 3). So on nice days we move a few toys outside on a blanket for a change of scenery and talk about what we're seeing/touching/smelling/hearing outside. Other days I break out dry oatmeal and various containers/utensils for some sensory play (usually this just ends up with D dumping oatmeal everywhere and me continually scooping it up and putting back in the containers). I've been looking for a water table for his birthday, so this might be a fun new way to explore sensory play as well. Bubbles are a pretty big hit these days too, but I have this nifty little bubble gun and I think he is probably equally (if not more) interested in that.
facts of the month
-yogurt is his favorite food group, he like a bottomless pit when it comes to consuming it.
-'n' is his newest consonant (in addition to m, d, b). Nana is very excited about this one ;)
-I'm starting to recognize his babbling as words in certain situations, which is pretty cool. It's just amazing how much they already know. They sure are smarter than we generally give them credit for, that's for sure.
-signing is coming slower than I had hoped. He's not very consistent in using it but can sign milk, more, and water.
-he likes his rocking horse now, and can even dismount on his own (getting on is a bit trickier)
-I've divided his toys into 2 groups and have started to cycle them, this way they seem fresh and exciting after having not played with them for a week.
-he's also been using cloth diapers intermittently for 2 months now. I can't convince Matt to do it full time, so I primarily do it the days I'm home (which is 5 days a week, so I think that 's pretty good). We use the BumGenius Freetime all-in-ones and I love them :)
-he eats primarily table foods despite having no teeth, and seems to like it most of the time. We've tried to be somewhat adventurous (i.e. chicken curry with zucchini and brown rice) and he goes along with it. Our nanny sautéed corn and beans together in coconut oil and she said he couldn't get enough of it (she's a nutrition major and a very conscientious eater, meaning she also gave him spinach with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese which he also loved).
-when you say "I love you" he smacks his lips and makes a kissing sound in return :)
BABY #2
We are officially done with collecting papers and getting them signed, notarized, and sealed (at the state level anyway). We were fingerprinted by US Immigrations this past Monday (6/17), and will be starting the waiting game soon. It felt strange to be the only white people in the room that morning. I've had that experience before, but this time it made me wonder how our child will feel in a family full of white people. Something to keep in my mind.
DECLAN
surgerySeveral fun and one not-so-fun things have happened in the past few weeks. As I was downloading pictures I realized that this month of his life probably has the most photos outside of the newborn/1 month folder. We've been getting out and about and enjoying summertime :)
First, the not-so-fun thing. Surgery. Bummer. But went well. D had an undescended testicle that was being pesky and not coming down all the way on its own. We've been watching it since he was born hoping it would drop fully, but alas it never did. So Dr. Gatti did an orchiopexy (pulling the testicle down to the correct place in the scrotum) on Thursday June 6th at Children's Mercy South. We were originally scheduled with another doctor who is a transplant surgeon, but the night before we were called to tell us that he had a liver become available and would be performing a liver transplant instead. Surgery was nearly cancelled but Matt had already flown home from Chicago early so he could be in town for it. Dr. Gatti had an opening so we took it :) We were really pleased with him and all the nurses that took care of us for the few hours we were there. D had a runny nose that turned into congestion (not very bad though) the morning of surgery. We proceeded with surgery anyway, and D ended up having a hard time keeping his oxygen saturations up after surgery with out oxygen. After some pain meds and a breathing treatment he was doing better, and we were cleared to go home that afternoon. For not being able to eat since the evening prior and no drinks since 9am with a surgery time of about 2pm, he did really well not being cranky!! So proud of you little man for toughing out surgery :) He slept the rest of the day of surgery, but by the day after he was getting closer to his normal self. Day 3 he was playing at the park climbing, crawling, cruising, and swinging! He has since recovered very well and we have our follow-up appointment next week.
 |
| What I found the morning of surgery in D's bed... Cherry barf everywhere! Cherry chunks in his hair and his face stained red. My baby slept in his own vomit. Mom fail. |
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| Registration |
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| Pre-op with Mom and Dad |
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| Much better once home and time to eat! |
my first "official" haircut
D's hair was getting a bit on the crazy side. Matt and I actually trimmed of some of his long wispys several months ago, which was followed by trimming up his baby mullet (which turned into a haircut disaster, in which I cried about his hair getting chunked off by the trimmer since we wasn't being still in any shape or fashion). So we decided that if we got his hair trimmed now and it turned out to be a disaster as well, then we would have about 1 1/2 months before 1 year pictures to let it grow and get it fixed. LUCKILY, it went great and he's looking pretty suave these days ;) We went to the Sugar & Spice Salon in Overland Park, where he got to sit in a red race car, watch Dora, and eat Puffs. All that made for a very content little guy. The stylist was great even though he was moving around and looking every which way. I love that even though he's had a legit haircut, he still looks like a baby with all his fine little blondy-brown hairs (that fact that he still has no teeth doesn't hurt either!).
 |
| pre-haircut |
 |
| post-haircut :) |
 |
| FYI- this was day 4 post-op, not too shabby :) |
deanna rose farmstead
We've taken D to Deanna Rose twice now that it's been warm outside. We went last fall several times, but now that he's old enough to appreciate the animals it's a lot more fun. The first time it was just him and I, but the next time we got to go with Matt. He loves looking at all the animals and giggling/yelling about them. He seemed most interested in the calf we saw. Just wanted to stand there and giggle, and put up a little fit when I pried his fingers off the coral to move on (the first time he's ever done any protesting of the sort!). He also got to ride in a little red wagon around the farmstead, which he LOVED. I'm thinking a wagon might be a great birthday gift for this summer!
speaking of Birthday...!
It's almost time for his very first birthday!!! I'm so excited for this. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Every stage is better than the last", so far anyway. So I'm looking forward to what the next year will bring us. I've been busy on Pintrest and Google checking everything out. I've narrowing it down to a nautical theme which was surprisingly embraced by Matt (I expected resistance for a themed birthday or at least an eye roll, of which I got neither). I sent out invitations this morning, and will be working more on the decorations in the next few weeks. Excited to share one of my great loves with my little boy.... cake!!! Also, since most of his friends were also July babies, we'll be attending several 1st birthdays this summer. Yippee!
painting
Our wonderful friends, the Clarks, share most Wednesday afternoons with us. These playdates are one of our favorite activities of the week. I think this week we'll finally get to go to the pool with Miss Rachel and Rowan (they have a pretty sweet neighborhood pool/mini-waterpark)! Last week Miss Rachel shared "painting" with us. She mixes equal parts cornstarch and water with just a smidge of food coloring for some fun and non-toxic-if-eaten-easy-to-clean-up paints (and both painters were guilty of consuming paint). It was so fun to watch D explore using his hands to make something :)
 |
| Checkin' it out |
 |
| Rowan |
 |
| Miss Rachel and Rowan |
 |
| Taste tester |
 |
| the aftermath |
miscellaneous/everyday
I try to think up ways to make play fun, interesting, or educational (or better yet, all 3). So on nice days we move a few toys outside on a blanket for a change of scenery and talk about what we're seeing/touching/smelling/hearing outside. Other days I break out dry oatmeal and various containers/utensils for some sensory play (usually this just ends up with D dumping oatmeal everywhere and me continually scooping it up and putting back in the containers). I've been looking for a water table for his birthday, so this might be a fun new way to explore sensory play as well. Bubbles are a pretty big hit these days too, but I have this nifty little bubble gun and I think he is probably equally (if not more) interested in that.
 |
| D and the bubble gun |
 |
| I saw this the other night when I was picking up the house before bedtime and just thought is was so cute to see his stuff jumbled in with ours. It hit me in a new way that we have a bigger family now :) |
facts of the month
-yogurt is his favorite food group, he like a bottomless pit when it comes to consuming it.
-'n' is his newest consonant (in addition to m, d, b). Nana is very excited about this one ;)
-I'm starting to recognize his babbling as words in certain situations, which is pretty cool. It's just amazing how much they already know. They sure are smarter than we generally give them credit for, that's for sure.
-signing is coming slower than I had hoped. He's not very consistent in using it but can sign milk, more, and water.
-he likes his rocking horse now, and can even dismount on his own (getting on is a bit trickier)
-I've divided his toys into 2 groups and have started to cycle them, this way they seem fresh and exciting after having not played with them for a week.
-he's also been using cloth diapers intermittently for 2 months now. I can't convince Matt to do it full time, so I primarily do it the days I'm home (which is 5 days a week, so I think that 's pretty good). We use the BumGenius Freetime all-in-ones and I love them :)
-he eats primarily table foods despite having no teeth, and seems to like it most of the time. We've tried to be somewhat adventurous (i.e. chicken curry with zucchini and brown rice) and he goes along with it. Our nanny sautéed corn and beans together in coconut oil and she said he couldn't get enough of it (she's a nutrition major and a very conscientious eater, meaning she also gave him spinach with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese which he also loved).
-when you say "I love you" he smacks his lips and makes a kissing sound in return :)
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