Monkey Boy

The safety gate isn't exactly working as intended... This boy loves to climb on everything.

Hot Tubbin'

After a stressful and exhausting day of play at Grandpa and Grandma's, there's nothing like kicking back in the hot tub and enjoying an ice cold chocolate milk...

Go on girl, you deserve it. Enjoy a little "me" time.

Dash's Super Shakes

We've been keeping a food diary of what Jonathan has been eating since our appointment last week. Long story short, he needs about 600 calories per day, based on commonly accepted standards and his body weight. That number needs to be higher in my opinion, if we want to pack on the pounds. Over the last 6 days (including the waterboarding sessions), we're only averaging about 400 calories per day. We've been weighing him, and he hasn't lost or gained any weight. The only calories we can't accurately figure are the ones coming from breastfeeding. We've decided to use a low figure for each session, regardless of length of time, just to be conservative. So, our daily average is probably a little bit higher then 400. If you consider the fact that he hasn't lost any weight, the number is probably somewhere in the 500s.

It's so frustrating that we have to force him to eat. I don't even want to think about how much he's been getting (or not been getting) the past few months. Today he took formula well. It was flavored with Nestle and Stacey had to pin both of his arms down, while I sang to him and used a syringe. This whole process is so ridiculous. He's all boy, and reminds me of an ADHD version of Dash from The Incredibles.

Finally

I was finally able to get a room on the main level to turn out like I wanted. It really has all to do with the caulk-job...filling in the cracks, but otherwise, making it invisible.

Also, one of the consequences of installing crown molding is that certain things, like curtains, need to be moved down. Otherwise, the ceiling looks "crammed" together. It's not a big deal, it's just one of those things that inevitably surfaces when doing a home improvement project. Right now I am in the middle of moving down the curtains in the dining room so that the room looks "right". It's not worth another picture though...

Boys and Girls

Julia was playing "instruments", while Jonathan was clearly fixing the wall and the grate. The hammer and flannel are a dead giveaway. He loves anything that makes a loud noise.

Waterboarding

Well, we've pretty much given up torturing our son...so that's a good thing. We tried very hard to waterboard him into taking a formula from a dropper, a bottle, a cup, a syringe, etc. Unfortunately, we had to ensure he got something in him since the plan was to wean him from Stacey. It was rough. We couldn't afford a hospital visit for dehydration. I think he didn't want it partly because he hates the taste of formula and partly because he didn't want to give up nursing. I don't blame him.

After a few days we came to the conclusion that this isn't going to work for him or us. He wanted nothing to do with formula or a bottle, despite trying a bunch of different things. I know this process should take a lot longer, but wewere also working within a lot of constraints. In the end, we decided to take the specialist's advice on the ultimate goal, but not on how we go about getting there.

We've realized that he probably wasn't getting enough calories. He has been drinking "skim milk" and eating fruit when he needed whole milk and scrambled eggs, cheese, and bacon. We found a formula that he'll take as a pudding, and we'll really push the cheeseburgers from here forward. We're also monitoring his caloric intake with a food diary and weighing him every morning. I think we'll be able to pack on the pounds in a way that works for everyone. If he doesn't want more food, even if we're offering it constantly, then I think we've come to the conclusion that we're not going to force him to eat. What else can you really do?

Pediatric Gastroenterologist

Today we visited the specialist for Jonathan because of his low weight. This first visit was essentially a consultation. Since the results were normal for all of the blood work and other tests we had previously done, he told us he probably isn't getting enough to eat. So, we have specific guidelines on what and how much to feed him and will head back in two weeks for a follow up visit. This makes sense to me. Since everything appears fine except for his weight, he wants to start at the beginning to make sure he's eating enough. That could be the easy solution to this problem.

What that means in practice is that we're going to have to measure and track the amount of milk he's getting. So, he's going to have to learn to take a bottle since that's the only way we can track the amount. I'm not sure this will be easy, since he hasn't wanted a bottle or formula supplementation in the past. However, if he gets hungry enough, he'll eventually learn (those were the doc's words, not mine). Stacey tried to pump tonight, and just like Julia, it just wasn't practical. She's not going to hand-pump for an hour just to get two measly ounces. We've tried different pumps, and like 3 years ago, it's not effective.

So, that means he's going to get weaned and go on formula. Somehow we're going to have to figure out how to get 720 calories of formula in him every 24 hours. That's 18 scoops of formula per day. Sorry to say it, but I don't think that's possible. We'll try our best, but I have a feeling it's going to be a battle.

Walk About

Jonathan is really close to walking. He's now moving around the coffee table while standing up, using it only to keep his balance. He's also moving between pieces of furniture, as long as he can get a good grip. Here's a fun video of his little legs in action.

Project Update

I've started to make my way through the main level over the past few weeks. I've finished the entry way and the dining room, and just caulked the office today. It's been pretty slow going for a few reasons. We've had a lot of things going on and I needed a short break from the fumes. In addition, I had to spend some extra time touching up the wall paint in these rooms because my caulk job was bad. In these rooms I used too much: the tape was too far away from the trim and I used my finger instead of the smaller caulking tool. The result didn't turn out as well so I had to spend more time fixing it. I essentially had to repaint the entire length (both sides) with my Crayola watercolor sized brush. At least I hadn't done the entire house that way.

This is what it looks like coming in the front door (and a dark shot of the dining room).

Gonzaga 67 - 89 BYU

Well, that game was quite annoying. We witnessed the Zags lose in Denver last night, and the scoreline suggests that BYU significantly outplayed them. In reality, it was a pretty even game in my opinion. The Zags and BYU traded baskets for much of the game, except that the baskets for BYU counted as three points and the baskets for the Zags counted as two points. In addition, the refs were way too involved in the game, calling 20 fouls (that's one foul a minute) in the first half.

BYU shot 50% from 3 point range, many of the shots coming from well behind the arc. They scored almost half of their points, 42, from 3 pointers! That is unheard of. They just weren't missing, and every shot no matter where it was taken or how awkward it appeared, seemed to go in. I did some quick research and the NCAA average and BYU's season average from that range is both about 30%. If they would have performed at that average, you could take 17 points off of the scoreboard. That's how ridiculous the game was.

I'm not being a sore loser, it's just very annoying to lose like that and to a team that I think isn't much better then the Zags as a whole. The Zags just faced BYU on a night where they probably would have beaten anyone else in the country. It's even more annoying due to the fact that BYU only shot 27% from 3 point range in the previous game against Wofford. I've watched enough college basketball to know this happens, it's just hard to swallow when it happens against your own team.