Silliness

Jonathan is hilarious. The last two mornings he's been doing something pretty funny when I've come into his room to get him up from bed. 

Yesterday I opened his door just in time to see him body slam his stuffed panda. After wrestling the panda for a few seconds, he put him back down on his crib, stood back up, took a few steps back, and then body slammed and wrestled his stuffed panda again.  He did this a third time and then stopped - probably because panda tapped out. 

This morning I opened the door to his room and he was standing up in his crib with his feeding tube between his teeth (a la a rose) and rocking the crib back and forth so it would make fun noises against the wall. When he saw me come into his room he gave me a huge smile and then tried to dive under his blanket and hide.

In related kid news, Julia has a new saying.  Apparently, I'm "way too silly to be a Dad".

Skin And Bones

The national news tonight said that over 33% of Americans are obese. That's the class above being overweight, or, in other words, just plain fat. The explanation is pretty simple...people are just eating more then they should. Either they eat too much or don't exercise, or both.

Colorado is a fit state. In fact, it has the lowest adult obesity rate in the country. Even still, people at work comment all the time that I'm skinny. I guess it's all relative. For the record, my BMI is EXACTLY in the middle of the normal range. I just look skinny because I'm normal (that implies that the people that say things like that aren't normal, if you didn't catch that).

Below is the picture of what Stacey and I had for dinner.  It's a homemade bean and rice burrito, with some veggies, a little avocado, and some condiments. Before you think that this isn't enough food, I estimate that it has the same amount of calories as a Big Mac. My estimate of the nutrition facts for a serving will surprise you:

Calories - 550
Fat - 12 grams
Carbs - 83 grams (adjusting for 18 grams of fiber)
Protein - 20 grams

Sure, I eat out here and there and grab ice cream with the kids. But that's definitely the exception. This example, in addition to regular exercise, is what normal is supposed to look like. Remember, I'm not skinny, I'm just normal.

Fun With Dad At The Zoo

Julia not wanting her picture taken - chocolate milk - picture by Julia/fun with facial hair

Two Game Season

A few weeks ago I posted that our season was coming down to the last five games.  Three games have been played and not much has been decided except that the three-horse race for the last Champions League spot has now become a four horse race.

Although Chelsea were beaten by Newcastle in the league, essentially ending their chance at fourth place, they have advanced to this year's Champions League Final. If they win that one game against Bayern Munich on May 19, they will automatically qualify for next year's tournament and take England's fourth spot, allowing only the top three in the standings to qualify.

We are one point and one goal behind third place Arsenal. We need them to either draw or lose one of their final two games for us to pass them.  Obviously, we would also need to win our final two games.  I am not as worried about Newcastle taking fourth from us because their two remaining games are against very tough teams.  They will definitely drop points.

I am most worried about finishing fourth and losing out to Chelsea if they win the Champions League Final. We need to take care of our business, but because of this development as things stand right now, qualification is not completely under our control. We could win out and still not qualify for next year's tournament.  If that happens, we may end up losing some of our bigger players and have to rebuild.

It will probably all come down to the final day next weekend.  All of the games are played at the same time, so the title, Spurs' fate, and the relegation battle may all be determined around ten o'clock in the morning next Sunday. At least it will be entertaining to watch it all unfold.

Dad's Cupcakes

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The kids and I are so grateful for having such a wonderful man in our lives as a husband and father. We are blessed beyond measure and love him greatly. Have a great day, love!

Funny Kids

Kids say and do some funny things...

Julia

While she was staying with my parents, Grandpa decided to go for a short jog. Grandma and Julia stayed outside to watch for his return. After a few minutes out of sight, Julia turned to Grandma and gave her the following advice: "look for a man with holes in his shirt and not much hair".

Jonathan

We have a plastic play microphone. Everyone once in awhile, when music is on, I pull it out of the toy box and sing along. Usually I'm fairly loud and make "silly" expressions with my face and overact just to get a reaction from the kids. My antics are usually met with a "Daaad!" from Julia. The last time I did this Jonathan came over to me, ripped the microphone out of my hand, threw it across the room and yelled, "all done!". 

Hospital Day Two (Again)

It's amazing the difference that antibiotics and a day on fluids can make. As expected, we were sent home today. The length of our stay this time was only 24 hours long.  At least now I can say that the last two April 20ths have been spent in the hospital.

Just like last time, since Jonathan was dehydrated, the nurses had trouble placing an IV. Just like last time, they had to call down a nurse from the pediatric intensive care unit to do it. Like a rock star, the PICU nurse practically walked right up and poked him and walked away.

The night was pretty uneventful. Stacey went home to get some rest from the night before and to get some work done in the morning while I slept at the hospital. This time I was able to lull him to sleep on the couch and then put him in the hospital bed. Last year he was so scared that we had to hold him for two weeks straight even at night. I had to wake up four to five times throughout the night to hold him, get him to fall back asleep, and then transferred to the crib. He kept asking for "Momma" and "Sister".

He kept a drip feeding down overnight as well. In the morning he had a nice wet diaper and a good appetite. He kept smaller feedings down this afternoon at home, but he's still not 100%. We took a pretty conservative approach with bringing him in for 24 hours. He may have recovered on his own...he may not have. All I know is that he went from a lethargic limp noodle to playing in the dirt in the backyard 24 hours later because we brought him in. Like me, I'm sure he's happy to be sleeping in his own bed tonight.

Hospital Day One (Again)

A year minus one day and we're back in the hospital with Jonathan. Same hospital, same date (tomorrow) same building, same floor, same reason. This time we should probably only be here a day (with an overnight stay), so long as he responds to the IV fluids.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jonathan has been sick for a few days. Yesterday he wasn't even able to keep water down and was very lethargic and sleepy. We took him in to see the pediatrician this morning, and she found an ear infection in addition to his fever and whatever bug he is fighting. 

Last night we were able to drip him some water, and this morning, some food. However, the pediatrician felt it necessary to give him a boost of fluids since he probably wasn't going to get there fast enough. These little guys can dry up pretty quickly. His weight loss of 5% puts him in the moderately dehydrated category.

I feel a bit silly having to bring him into the hospital when he gets sick, but it's not a normal situation. Most kids (like Julia) would be able to eat and drink their way out of this. Even though we have the option of giving him fluids through his button, his GI system seems to be the last thing to come around, making it difficult to keep up with the rest of the body.

After a few hours on fluids we're going to start a drip of formula. If he can keep the food down and the labs are normal enough, we'll probably be sent some tomorrow. We'll just nurse him back to health like normal with his feedings, as long as this boost of fluids that we aren't able to administer at home do the trick.

Porcelain Diapers

The other day Jonathan asked to use the toilet. He added a few drops of liquid but wasn't able to get the other stuff past his cheeks and needed to be cleaned up. It was funny to see him trying, in a weird sort of parent way. His current diet might delay his learning since everything is still pretty soft, but at least he's asking. He hasn't asked since, but I think he's at least gotten the concept. That's a good starting point.

He's been sick for the past few days. There's definitely something going around since we all had it last week. For me it was a sore throat, but Jonathan seems to have a runny nose and possibly something more. His system has slowed down considerably and he's been coughing a lot due to his cold. Both of those complications have made feeding him a challenge, since both cause him to throw up. Even on relatively good days he's done something like drop the iPad on his face, causing him to cry and then give back his latest feeding. We're just trying to manage this time until he gets over this latest illness.

We're probably going to follow through and see a cardiologist just to rule it out. Heart issues can definitely cause feeding and growth issues, so it's probably a good idea we rule it out before he gets too much older.