Thursday, September 29, 2011

Things we've handed down

A song from my baby shower CD that's making me cry as I listen to it:

Things We've Handed Down - Marc Cohn

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doin' fine without
But we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love.

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can.

Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down.

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a Mama's boy
Or Daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
Oh, but you can thank us later for
The things we've handed down
The things we've handed down
down,down,down,down,down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Maybe some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed.

By our fathers and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
come

The things we've handed down
The things we've handed down, down
The things we've handed down

 Last night, Jeff and I were watching our taped Dancing With The Stars show from Monday night, and I picked up Oli and started doing the jive while holding him. He chuckled, he giggled, he laughed out loud while holding on to me hard. I told Jeff I hope he gets my love for music and dance and my mom's talent for learning dance. I don't him to ever be self conscious of himself and I want him to know how to dance. And, it got me thinking. When I was pregnant, we would wonder who he'd look like. We analyzed the ultrasound photos; family proclaimed his mouth looked exactly like Jeff's.

Now that he's here, every expression he makes, every feature he has, we try to figure out who he got it from. Sometimes it's me or Jeff, sometimes it's a grandparent, maybe even an aunt. He has this habit of putting his index finger right on the tip of his lips as he looks at something new or is thinking, that's exactly like what my sister does. When he's frustrated, he gets a slight vein showing down the middle of the forehead. I have that too. His hair curls all over the place, like mine and Jeff's did. When he's sleeping, he tucks his lower lip under his upper lip and sometimes grinds his teeth. totally Jeff!


I hope he gets the love of history from his dad, the love of science from his aunts, grandma and grandfathers, the love of dance & music from his other grandma ... I hope he doesn't get my short temper, his dad's resistance to change and other things I won't mention here for fear of offending other family members ;-). I hope he retains the playfulness he has now and never loses the ability to laugh.

I also know at some point in his life, he'll tell us he wishes he was adopted and then some 5-10 years later, he'll tell us how much he's grateful for everything we've done for him (I am just basing this on our own experiences). However he's feeling at whatever time, I hope that his dad and I and the rest of his family instills in him all the things needed to be happy, content and successful in his life. So that in the end, he's glad for the "things we've handed down" to him.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The first sickness



Sunday, our little bugaboo woke up feeling warm to me, so I took his temperature and it was a 100. I gave him some Tylenol, and kept him quiet. I called the after hours nurse at his pediatrician's office and was told to not give any more medicine unless the temperature went past 102. Ok.


Kept checking his temp, our Braun in-ear thermometer gave us widely fluctuating readings. Around noon, it started reading 101.3 and I thought he was burning up worse than that. So, we took him to Convenient Care. His temperature was 103. When the nurse said that, I started crying in the room. I felt horrible. He was being so good and I couldn't even imagine how uncomfortable he had to be. I know I am pretty pissy at that high of a fever.


Then, they did his check-up and found a right ear infection and his strep test came back positive. The poor guy! They gave him a dose of Tylenol right there and gave us Amoxicillin. He pretty much spent all Sunday like that photo on the left, either on me, on the couch or in his crib. Thankfully, he slept very well that night an was feeling a 1000 times better by Monday.


As you can see, he had to have the iPad and the remote control in his hands, so he was picking up the Cheerios with his mouth.

We did a follow up at his pediatrician's office and his fever was already gone.

Well, he's been in daycare for 8 some months, so our little buckaroo had a good run. But, just like last year, I hope if he has to bring home germs, he just passes them on to me and not keep them for himself. Seeing your little baby helpless and crying and confused was possibly the worst thing ever in my life.

Playtime Montage

If I lie down on the floor, he comes screaming, giggling, full speed at me:




Then, he gives me "kisses," or more like chews on my cheeks and nose and face:


 Then, he tries to climb over me:


 How can you not fall in love with that beautiful smiling face?

I apologize for the very very low resolution iPhone photos.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The first fever

We have been lucky so far. Oli just brings home the germs and shares with Jeff and me, and we get sick. But, today, my poor little booboo has a fever. So, his first sick time at 10 months, 1 week and 4 days.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Oli has learned

How to get off the couch backwards!!!

Instead of falling offof it face first.

10 MONTHS!!!


I wrote at his 8 month post that he hadn't walked yet. I don't think that's that far away.As you can see from that video, he's trying. It's funny, he'll take off really fast because he doesn't have that great of control yet; then he'll hit somethign and instead of going around it, he'll try to go through it. Doesn't matter if it's a pile of toys, the couch or the wall. He keeps pushing!

He's 10 months old. I can't believe it. This last month's brought us 2 more teeth, walking pretty fast holding on to furniture and tantrums. Oh man, the tantrums. Everybody warns you about the terrible twos, but nobody tells you that they start at about 9/9.5 months! If he doesn't get something he wants, like if mommy moved the remote out of his way when he was reaching for it, he throws himself on the ground and cries. Then he looks at us, and throws himself the other way and cries some more. Such a drama queen, my little one.

It's amazing how that little heartbeat has grown and still growing into this little person with this huge personality! I fall in love a little more with my little one everyday. I leave you with another song from my baby shower CD:

The One Who Knows - Dar Williams

Time it was I had a dream
You're the dream come true
If I had the world to give
I'd give it all to you

I'll take you to the mountains

I will take you to the sea
I'll show you how this life became
A miracle to me

You'll fly away

But take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done
You'll be the one who knows

All the things you treasure most

Will be the hardest ones
I will watch you struggle on
Before the answers come

But I won't make it harder

I'll be there to cheer you on
I'll shine the light that guides you down
The road you're walking on

You'll fly away

But take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done
You'll be the one who knows

Before the mountains call to you

Before you leave this home
I want to teach your heart to trust
As I will teach my own

But sometimes I will ask the moon

Where it shined upon you last
And shake my head and laugh and say
It all went by so fast

You'll fly away

But take my hand until that day
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done
You'll be the one who knows

Time is going by so fast. Before I know it, he'll be a grown man leaving home. And, I hope when he grows up, he knows how much we love him.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Going back to the gym after 3 weeks ...

  • you will not be able to run like you did 3 weeks ago. Where you could do a mile without stopping; a quarter mile will make you gasp for breath like a fish out of water.
  • a creepy old guy will walk into the ladies' locker room and look at you like you have 2 heads. And, when you smile and say "wrong one," he'll say, "I don't think so." I had to walk him out and point to the other door.
  • you will drink water while running and think it tastes funny. Then, when you empty it out after the run, the water will be yellowish brown. I had filled an empty bottle before the run, so who the hell knows what I ingested this morning. I feel ok but if something was to happen to me today, there's a water bottle in locker 25 in the ladies' locker room that should be tested.