Since New Year’s Cards are going out, I guess I should update
I guess there is some updating that needs to happen before people start receiving their New Years (yes, New Years, not Christmas) cards.
So, where did we leave off? Endocrinologist. Right. We got the lab results, and while the celiac and growth hormone stuff came back normal (yay!), there was some suggestion that he may have mild hypothyroidism. Interesting, because we thought there was a possibility of hyperthyroidism. The expected cause was autoimmune hypothyroidism, and the thyroid test and a few others needed to be done to confirm. When the results from those labs came back, the thyroid hormone was still a bit off, but not enough to treat and no indication of autoimmune disease, so we just leave it be. We'll follow-up in 6 months.
Other than that, there was Halloween. We went out with Eddie's friend Elise again. They were cute.
A little bit after that, we went up to a cabin in the mountains for Thanksgiving. It was lovely.
While we were in the mountains, Mark ran his first 5K.
Earlier this month, we went back to the eye doctor to see about getting the tear duct tubes removed. Turns out they had fallen out on their own, and things are looking great. We'll go back in a year for a follow-up.
And after that? Christmas. Eddie got a Batcave, see?
Okay, I think we're up to date now!
More photos from the past three months have been added to gratefulgrateful.shutterfly.com.
Five months later
I got to work extra early this morning, so I'm going to take the time to post a five month update. (This will be a long one, as much for me to record for posterity what our lives look like now as anything else.)
Eddie has survived 5 months breathing oxygen, and it appears to be working for him. He's going to daycare for 15 hours/week, which is just long enough to pick up every little bug and bring it home to share.
He is a very happy baby, as is evidenced from the pictures this month. He is learning more about how to interact with the world around him, mostly by licking it. He has gotten very good with toys, using both hands to bring them to his mouth (to lick.) He will also hold your finger and bring it to his mouth (to lick.) His hands are also by his mouth a lot (to lick.) Just this weekend he started frequently reaching for people - dad when mom is holding him, Nonna when she picks him up from daycare. Rolling over still does not interest him, but he can prop himself up on his forearms when on his tummy, and is working towards scooting across the room on his tummy. He is also making decent progress towards sitting up on his own.
He is still a good sleeper. We lucked out.
In his need to check everything out, he's lost all interest in the bottle. As a result, we're starting to transition him to the sippy cup, hoping that will keep him interested longer (and free our hands!). While formula has apparently gotten boring, he is really enjoying solid foods, though neither of his parents are big fans of messes, so it's a growing experience for us. So far Eddie has tried (and, at least eventually, liked) rice cereal, bananas, carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes. His favorite is probably pearnanas - one part pear, one part banana, with some rice cereal thrown in for good measure. The next food we'll introduce is avocado, then we'll bring in peaches, apples, and who knows what else.
An average day in the life of Eddie: Get up around 8:00 for a sammich (recently, about 5.5 oz.), go back to bed until noon, when he wakes for another sammich. Hang out with dad for a few hours, eat some "solid" food, go to school at 3:30 and hang out with Miss Nima and those other babies. Get picked up by someone at 6:30, go home for another solid meal and to hang out a little bit. Doze off around 7:00, wake up around 8:30, be friendly and happy until 9:30 or so, when you go to bed for the night, ready to start again.
Mark is back at the theater. Rehearsals started yesterday for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Actor's Express. Mark is playing in the band (piano and guitar, as far as I know). The show runs June 19 - July 19, with a possible extension through August 9. This weekend, we found out that Mark is going to have the opportunity to direct Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams at Rosewater Theatre, now in Roswell. That show will run August 15 - September 27. After that will be Big River at Theatrical Outfit. It will run September 10 - October 5.
Outside of the crazy theater schedule, Mark is hanging out with Eddie every day, and doing all the stuff that comes along with that. Eddie thinks his dad is hilarious, and it is so much fun watching them together.
Em really has nothing interesting to report. I work, I go home and hang out with Eddie, I do more work, I do laundry, I go to bed. This week is a unique one in that we have management team visiting from Europe and the rest of the North America studios in our studio for training. Lots of events are planned, and I need to be in the studio at 8:00 every morning. (That makes for pretty long days when there are things going on until 10:30 at night.) But, other than that, it's just more of the same. I officially weigh less than I did at the start of my pregnancy, which is nice, but I still have a long way to go. And, really, that's all I've got!
If you haven't checked them out, the five month pictures are up at mrbaby.shutterfly.com.
Hope everything is well with everyone out there in internet land!
Rough week
Jack reading at our wedding
It's been a rough week, so I've been putting off posting (yet again.)
On Wednesday morning, Mark's neighbor while growing up, Jack McCabe, passed away. Jack was like a grandfather to Mark, and it was a very sad day for us. Jack had lived a long life, and wasn't in the best of health, but his death was somewhat unexpected and didn't leave time for goodbyes. We're sad to have lost such a friend, but glad that he was able to be part of Mark's life for so long. I'm glad Jack was able to come over to our house for Eddie's baptism party, and see Mark all grown up, with a house and a wife and a baby.
Other stuff happened this week, too: Mark and I went with my parents to see the Eagles at the new amphitheater in Alpharetta; I went to the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor to find out that my frequent ear infections are not infections at all, but actually TMJ disorder; I am still behind on housework and laundry.
This weekend, Eddie has been a little under the weather. When we got home yesterday evening, he felt a little warm, and had a temperature of 100. I figured it was because we had been out in the early summer heat, and he was just a little toasty. A few hours later, he had a bottle, and threw most of it up. I checked his temperature again, and it was up to 102. I called the doctor, gave him Tylenol, and he got a little better (temp down to 100; slightly better mood). He fell asleep, and didn't wake up to eat - we finally got him up at 10:00. We've been taking it easy on the eating today, and he's been grumpier than usual, but his temperature hasn't gotten any higher than 100 (and, for awhile, was even below 99!) We're still kind of waiting things out; he's not running a scary fever and the vomiting has pretty much stopped, but he's still not himself. Assuming things stay the same, we'll take him to his regular doctor on Tuesday. (I don't want to take him to the emergency clinic or room just to have them push drugs that won't help him get any better just because they think it's what I want. But, of course, if he gets worse, we'll be taking him down to Children's.)
FYI: Picture site has been updated (mrbaby.shutterfly.com).
So, that's where we are. Sad week