Vomiting Blood



Bean watching the otters play :)



Hi, all, ok sorry it's been so long but we have been busy--VERY BUSY.  We went to the zoo and I will post some pictures later but Bean loved it and he loved the fish, the river otters, the cougar and the bears. 

He started throwing up old blood then he started throwing up almost pure coffee grounds and fresh blood.  Not good.  got it under control with medicine thank God. had a bit of a superficial tear in esophagus we are assuming.  anyway, m ore details later but he is doing great and growing like a weed.

Bean loving the giant Sturgeon!





Cuss Bucket

Bean, Jan. 2011

So, Bean mimics his Dad now...He won't copy me but when his dad makes sounds at him, Bean laughs a real deep belly laugh and makes the same noise back, it is freaking hilarious.  There's the awesome Pterodactyl sound that Bean is a big fan of, it's sort of a cross between James Brown and the shrill cry of a hawk, lol and we've been trying to get him to say "book", "dad" and "mom" as I would prefer that my son not present to his kindergarten class the same colorful vocabulary that we enjoy in our household, so this means only one thing: We've got to start watching our mouths.  How though, after years upon years of speaking and cussing with abandon, do two verbally expressive adults give their language a toddler-friendly makeover?  Perhaps a cuss bucket, 25 cents here or there for every profane utterance?  If we do this, Bean will have his college paid for in spades by the time he's five.  Although, I have serious doubts that anything less than a shock collar will G-rate our language.

Oh, something else I forgot to add about Bean's Neuro appt.  For fine motor skills he is at the level of a three month old and for gross motor a four month old.  Which is to be expected when you miss out on the first 4 months of your life.

He is, as I type this, in his bounce, bouncing up and down as hard as he can it's so funny=)  We are getting ready to go to the zoo, gotta go=)

Gimme a Five, Up High...

Ok, so Bean had PT on Thursday and it was the cutest thing-Jennifer taught Bean how to do a high five!  It's fun.  Also, he is rolling over more now but he can't seem to bypass his arm; I'm not sure if he is strong enough yet to pull it out from underneathe himself. 

On Wednesday I went to the Sellwood Library to read to the therapy dogs.  It;s a program run by a teacher of blind children to help kids become more comfortable reading out loud, so he lets kids come in and read out loud to his therapy dogs in thrity minute increments.  It was really cool.  I'm taking Bean in the summer so we can read to the dogs together:) 

This lady Sara, who frequents Twin Paradox, always brings her big dogs Sadie and Violet inside and Sadie kissed him on the face one time lol.  On Tuesday at Twin Paradox Violet came up to see me and Bean and she kissed him right on the face it was so cute.



Bean going on a walk with Rob and I, Jan. 2011

Update from the Neurodevelopmental Side of Things...

Hi, everyone!  We had a good visit with Kirti (his Nutritionist), Jennifer (his Physical Therapist) and Dr. Sacks (Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician).  He is 14 lbs 5.5 oz!:)  Awesome, huh?  According to his pediatrician's measurements he was 26 inches but according to Kirti's he is 25 and 3/4th inches.  Hers is more accurate.  So, he is in the 75% for height, 50% for weight (I think half of that is in his chubby cheeks=) and 75% for head circumference.  Yay! 

Dr. Sacks did not see any signs of cerebral palsey or permanent developmental delays.  We have to go buy a "First Years" chair for him so that everything we do we can integrate him into it.  The chair is like a giant Bumbo.  It totally supports them while they sit upright.  So, while we're doing the dishes we can sit him in the kitchen with us and give him a cup to play with or while we're doing laundry we can give him an item of clothing to play with, this chair makes doing things more comfortable for him this way he will be able to develop the way he should instead of favoring his right side, since his left side is weaker and he tends not to use it.  This supports him.  She also wants us to break up his day feed but I'm going to ask Jennifer about it tomorrow because I dont really understand why or how this is going to be possible because functionally it just does not sound like a good idea.

Also, does anyone have any good suggestions for keeping the sun out of a baby's eyes?  My poor child, lol, he has become accustomed, unfortunately, to Oregon's shitty weather and now squints and whines whenever the sun hits him.  I think my mom used to use a red babseball hat on me and Rob said he had a sun hat and Bean had received a REALLY cute pair of black sunglasses with blue paw prints on them but they were WAY too small for his big ol' noggin'.  Also, when he is in the back seat and the sun is shining on him sometimes the shade on top of his car seat does not shade his little eyes.  Do I get one of those transparent shade things to put on the back window?  Oh, and Dr. Sacks said Bean is a "Sweetie Pie". He really is one of the sweetest kids in the whole world. 

Oh, my gosh, so Bean and I had coffee with Anglie, one of our favorite nurses from the NICU and Angie is the Team Captain for the NICU March for Babies Team at St. Vincent's and since Bean is the 2011 Ambassador we are gonna go to the March for Babies kick off for team captains at the Oregon Zoo (in one of the meeting rooms) to get more fund raising things and just to really get a good feel for everything so that we can be totally informed on everything and be the best Ambassadors we can be.  Bean and I are going to start putting up flyers and pamphlets and stuff so I'm really excited about that.  I can also pretty much do anything to raise money, bake sales, car wash, anything.  Anyway, coffee was really fun and I got a great picture of Angie and Bean.

Ok, well I have to go get my taxes done.  Have a great day, everyone!

Bean & Angie, Feb. 1, 2011 at Twin Paradox Coffee