Monthly Archives: October 2008
So Lucky
This morning I was feeding Joe and turned on the DVR to catch up on yesterday’s Oprah. Toward the end of the show, she shared this video, which was made by the father of a baby boy born with Trisomy 18.
I was completely riveted, watching how this child spent each day with tubes going every which way and everyone marveling at his progress. I kept thinking how lucky we are to have a healthy baby, whose only problems to date are a crossed eye and a mild cold.
At the end of the video, there were tears streaming down my face. I was still watching the screen when I felt two little eyes on me. I looked down at Joe. As soon as we locked eyes, he let out the loudest belly laugh I’ve ever heard from him. Little monkey!
I gave him an extra big squeeze before his nap.
Slacker!
I know, I know. The blog posts are getting few and far between these days. There’s a lot going on, but none of it’s interesting enough to blog about.
Joe had his 4-month checkup a couple of weeks ago. He got some follow-up shots (which only hurt my feelings a little this time) and the doctor expressed some concern about his eyes. They still cross and don’t seem to “track” properly, something they’re supposed to do by 2-3 months of age.
So off to the peds ophthalmologist we went. Joe had a full examination (including dilated pupils, which made him look a little crazy!) and the diagnosis was “delayed visual maturation.” Essentially, that means his eyes are fine but the connection between them and the brain is still a little staticky. It should resolve by Christmas, and we have a Dec. 15 appointment to make sure.
In the meantime, he’s just getting cuter every day. He has a little cold now, but still gets up with a big smile on his face!
More Stuff ….
I forgot to mention that last week at Weight Watchers I had them weigh Joe too. He was 13.2 pounds!
(And I’ve lost 17. Woo hoo!)
Also, my mother wrote an essay about living in Degirmendere, Turkey, when she and my dad were first married. It finally found a home in the Today’s Zaman newspaper. Read it!
Happy October!
I’ve been meaning to post all week but I’ve been working like crazy. I was tempted to turn down some assignments so I could spend more time in this beautiful weather with Joe. But if you’ve been watching the news, you know that now is not the time to turn down money!
We had a nice visit with Joe’s Grandma and Grandpa last weekend. Joe’s teething pain eventually settled down and we all went to the state fair. Joe spent the day studying his hand, so it really didn’t matter where we were to him, but the rest of us enjoyed the exhibits and the atmosphere.
Joe’s Grandpa got him a Radio Flyer Roadster, which you can tell Patrick really wishes came in adult size. Joe will be toodling up and down the sidewalk on this before we know it:
On Tuesday Joe and I met up with the other Baby Mamas (and their babies) for a stroll around Maymont. He slept through most of the walk but was wide awake for some play time in the grass afterwards.
His new favorite thing is what we call his “Command Post,” an exersaucer handed down from his cousins. His feet don’t quite touch the bottom yet, but he likes to be spun around and shown the different toys on it. One of the rattles makes him laugh so hard he can’t catch his breath!
Teething!
Joe’s Grandma and Grandpa are visiting all the way from New York. They were only here a few hours when he decided this would be a good day to start teething. Yikes!
Poor thing has gone from a little fussy to all-out screaming all day, and the only thing that soothes him is gnawing on somebody’s knuckles. All this, after we’ve bragged for so long about what a calm and sweet baby he is.
We finally got him to sleep with the help of Hyland’s Teething Tablets, which my sister highly recommended. He hardly ate a thing all day though, so I’m expecting him to wake up hungry any second.
The books say it can be weeks between these first signs and when the tooth actually appears, so he might not wake up tomorrow with his first choppers.
Still. He’s growing up too fast!
Joe Tremblay 