Cream of Potato Soup

Evan was not quite right last night. He had a fever of 101 and threw up all over Mike once (he also barfed a little on me, but it was only because he inhaled a piece of Chex cereal). I wish I could have taken a picture, because it was a rather large puke and Mike's surprised face was quite funny. After the barf Ev slept okay, waking once in the night for administration of Tylenol.

Today he seems just fine. No trace of fever or sickness, and he's back to his usual routine. Who knows what that was? Where do these mysterious childhood illnesses come from, and where do they disappear to so quickly? I thought maybe the fever meant teeth but no, no teeth at all. Not even a hint. He's going to go to kindergarten with no teeth. Won't that make a nice school picture?

Speaking of pictures, we're going to get his 1 year pictures taken on Tuesday. I'm very excited. I always love taking him to get his picture taken. Now we just have to decide on the perfect outfit. I'm not sure if I want to go dressy or casual. Suggestions?

Posted by jenny at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Things are pretty quiet here. I don't even feel much like posting but I was beginning to get threatening e-mails, so I figured I should write a little.

Ev enjoyed his first Super Bowl. He was around for last year's game, but still in the hospital, and they weren't showing the game in the NICU. This year he had fun sampling all of the treats (he liked the little smokies and the cake the best) and chasing the cat around, but he didn't catch too much of the game. Needless to say, neither did I. But it was a fun night out anyway.

Ev has been vocalizing more, but no new words yet. He has been smacking his lips a lot (he'll do this on cue, if you do it to him) and making new sounds. The catch is that he makes the new sounds with his mouth closed--sort of like he has his lips taped shut. He'll go on and on like that, it's pretty funny. I'm not sure what it means in terms of language development though.

Today we finally met with his new caseworker. We've been trying to meet with her since the beginning of January, and today everything came together. She seems very nice, and did a quick assessment on Ev for her own records. He's scoring right at the 12 month level on almost everything, but there's three things he's not doing yet--waving bye bye, saying Mama and Dada, and standing on his own. These are all things we're working on, so I'm not too worried about them. I guess they'll come in good time. She scheduled his full evaluation with the speech pathologist for the end of February, so we'll see if there's anything we can do for him then.

Posted by jenny at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's still very cold here. Too cold even to take Evan out in his indestructable snowsuit. And we need groceries. We will have to go out this weekend, but luckily it's supposed to warm up into the low 20's by then.

I feel like I'm about to go batty. Is it spring yet?

Posted by jenny at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not sure, but I think Evan just said his first word. Not Mama, not Dada, but Kitty.

He's infatuated with my dad's cat, and she's good natured enough to handle his not so gentle pulling on her fur. He chases her around every time we're at his house, squealing with delight. Ev likes the cat so much that my dad got him a stuffed kitty for Christmas, and she looks very much like the original.

We were just sitting on the floor playing with this kitty, and I was saying, "Ah, nice Kitty, ah, Kitty Kitty!" and Ev turned to me and said, "Kih-ee". No t's involved, but he was definitely trying to say kitty. He said "kih-ee" a few more times before we moved on to another activity.

Pretty cool huh? I hope he'll say it again when Mike gets home.

Posted by jenny at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's Evan's birthday, his b-b-b-birthday. Hard to believe he's one now. Anyone remember this?

I woke him up this morning singing "Happy Birthday" and he smiled and clapped his hands. So far he's enjoying his day with a fun bath, a big dump, and some play time with his new toys. What could be better?

Tonight we're going to have subs for dinner with my brothers in honor of the day. That's what they had for dinner last year on the day Ev was born. Reportedly they were all worried that the birth of their nephew was going to delay their enjoyment of the big sub. Luckily, Ev was born early enough in the day that they still had time to feast.

I've also been toying with the idea of going down to the NICU for a visit, but with the birth of quads there last week, I think it might be wise for us to stay away.

Happy first birthday, Evan! We're so glad you were born. Here's to another great year when you'll take your first steps and speak your first words. We can't wait.

Posted by jenny at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, that’s one first birthday party in the books. Evan had quite an evening, and it was definitely a party I’ll never forget. Too bad he won’t be able to remember it! He enjoyed greeting all of his guests and was very well behaved all night. He smashed the hell out of his cake and made quite a mess (on me and Mike too!). Ev also got some great gifts, which were a challenge to get him to open because by that time he was getting pretty cranky. He’s more interested in them today though. All in all it was an excellent time.

The only downside of the party is that we had a lot of leftovers! As a matter of fact, we reenacted the party last night with all the extra food and drink (not to mention the keg). We didn’t have anyone respond to their invite and say they weren’t coming, so we were planning on close to 50 people. And then some people called and cancelled Friday or Saturday due to illness or surprise work shift or whatever. That’s fine, but some people never let us know at all that they weren’t coming. So we were a little disappointed about that, but we had a good time anyway.

We took a ton of pictures, and Alan helped us out by taking a movie of the all important cake smashing (thanks Alan!), so we’ll post that stuff as soon as we get a chance, hopefully tonight.

I also want to thank Jerry, whose actual birthday was Saturday. He was nice enough to share his day with his godson. Happy Birthday, Jerry! He and Sarah gave a wonderful gift, and it wasn’t a toy (though they gave him that too). They gave a donation in Evan’s name to the Hamot NICU so that other babies could be as lucky as ours--and that made me cry, even after I promised myself that I wouldn’t get emotional over Evan’s birthday. That was a really thoughtful thing to do and it means a lot to us.

Evan’s grandpa also had his birthday this weekend--on Sunday. Happy Birthday, Grandpa Feige! Hope it was a good one. It’s a busy birthday week here and we’re looking forward to more merriment tomorrow on Evan’s actual birthday.

Posted by jenny at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's a chilly, snowy week here in northwest Pennsylvania. I've been bitten by the cleaning bug and began by cleaning out our bedroom closet. Unfortunately, that is one of those projects that leads to other projects, so it is half done and I'm doing other things. But I'm sure it will all get done sooner or later. There are more pressing matters at hand.

Tomorrow Evan's new caseworker from Early Intervention is coming to visit. She wants to meet and get to know him because he's a new client for her. She was supposed to come last week during the hurlfest, but we had to cancel. I'm anxious to meet her and talk to her about Ev--I hope she's as nice as our last one.

Evan's grandma is also coming in from Cleveland tomorrow. She's going to help out with early birthday party preparations. All the grandparents have been super helpful--my dad is letting us use his house, my mom is bringing drinks and ice cream, Mike's folks are bringing some food and extra chairs. I really appreciate all their assistance--it's making everything a lot easier. I'm getting excited for the party, definitely. I just can't believe Ev is almost one.

That's all the news from here I guess. I'm going to try to get a bit more done around here before I head to bed.

Posted by jenny at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are all better now. Feeling back to normal, eating normal food (though we do love Jello now--mmm, Jello). All is well there. We've spent the last few days recovering and last night I started catching up on household tasks that were neglected during the illness.

We were going to venture out today to drop some baby clothes at Lisa's and run some errands but the car door locks would not budge again (this is getting really irritating) even with the remote starter and everything. We must find a better solution.

While we were waiting for the car to unlock, Ev and I were outside enjoying the snow (Mike didn't enjoy it because he was shovelling it). Ev was all bundled in his little snowsuit and was enchanted by all the falling snow. He was not happy as it fell on his nose and eyelashes though, so in short order we were back in the house. Maybe next year he'll want to play outside.

Posted by jenny at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ev and I are feeling much better, but now Mike has it. Yuck. I feel bad for him, because this is a nasty flu. He's home from work today and Evan and I are heading out for more ginger ale and bread for toast.

Posted by jenny at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's the flu, and now I've got it. Ev is lethargic and still pooping, while I am barfing my guts out at every turn. And shaking so much that I can't pick Ev up, but luckily he's sleeping right now. God I hope Mike can come home early today.

Congrats to Lisa and Jeremy, who welcomed their son Colton yesterday. Welcome to the club guys, I can't wait to see him. (Doesn't it suck that after waiting for his birth for 9 months I can't even go visit the kid in the hospital? I feel terrible--but I know no one wants me to breathe nasty germs on the new baby).

Okay, gotta go hurl.

Posted by jenny at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do not read this post if you are in the middle of your lunch.

Well, parenthood is tons of fun. Yesterday morning, Evan woke up smiling and happy as usual. I put him in his high chair and went to make his cereal and I heard a cough and then a splash. Ev was puking all over himself. It was gross, and when he was done, he smiled. So I didn't give him his oatmeal, instead he got a bath. And after his bath he puked more, and then I got him to go back to sleep.

We decided it would be best to stay in for the day and cancelled our plans to go watch football at my dad's. Ev seemed okay the rest of the day, he made a poop and didn't puke anymore. He ate mostly blandish things and I was thrilled when he went down to bed at 7:30.

Too bad he was back up again by 8:30, and gassy like you would not believe. He finally had a diaper explosion a little after nine and was back in bed around 10:30. This morning he was acting weird again--gagging when I gave him his cereal, but he didn't throw up. He did have two major diaper explosions this morning though--loud, odd colors, out the legs and up the back and just throw him in the tub and change his clothes kind of explosions. Not pretty. So I'm surrounded by stink and trying to figure out what the problem is.

He doesn't have a fever, and he's not acting sick. He's playing and everything like he usually does. I thought yesterday that the puking might have been from something he ate, but now the assplosions have me thinking it might be a touch of the flu or something. I guess I'll just keep watching, keep pushing fluids and keep giving baths. Yesterday after Ev barfed the first time Mike said to me, "You know, I was just thinking, that is not the last or the worst time we're going to get to see him do that." Indeed. And I thought I could never handle people puking--I guess I'm toughening up.

Posted by jenny at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the close of the day, we sneak it in--Happy 22nd Birthday, Uncle Steve! Hope you got everything you wished for! See you tomorrow for football!

Posted by jenny at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We visited Mikaele and Tim's tonight--it was a nice, easy evening out for us. Their house is like toy heaven, so we just let the boys play on the floor while we supervise, watch a little hockey, and have a glass of wine. It's nice because there are four sets of eyes on three little boys, so one of us is always going to catch a kid before they fall down or a toy before it gets thrown. And the boys got along pretty well (though Ev was a little slow to warm up as usual). There were no major fights or injuries anyway.

I'm really looking forward to Evan's birthday party in two weeks. It will be fun to watch him play with the other kids and tear into a cake. I think mostly though it will be closing the book on a really tough and exciting year. It's getting to the point where I don't think of him as a preemie anymore, and that's good. I'm hoping I can get into that mindset now--as he starts to walk and talk and be more of a little boy than a tiny baby.

Posted by jenny at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy New Year! I know I haven't posted since before Christmas, but I decided to give myself some time off. Mike was home from work and we all just hung out and relaxed for a few days--it was very nice. You can see some new pics of Ev in the gallery at the right.

Ev's first Christmas was very hectic and a lot of fun. We spent time at my mom's, dad's, grandma's, and here at home with Mike's family. Ev got lots of presents but not too many toys (which is great since his birthday is just around the corner). He did get a lot of books, some clothes, a new snowsuit, sandals for summer and a baby gate for the stairs (well, that was more for us). He also got an Elmo lamp, a Tickle Me Elmo, a stuffed kitty, a truck, a rock and play piano, and some Baby's First Christmas ornaments. If I forgot anything please excuse, it was quite a haul.

Ev really enjoyed it all--he liked visiting with everyone, family and friends (including meeting Diane for the first time and terrorizing Kelly and Lisa's pets, as well as getting to see Aunts Cara and Beth again). It was almost as if he knew it was Christmas. He was very excited about everything. He loved having Daddy home too, and I'm sure tomorrow will be hard when he wakes up and Daddy's at work again!

Ev learned to clap just in the last few days, and now he does it all the time. He claps when you clap, when you say "Yay, Evan!", and pretty much anytime at all. Yesterday and today he's been crawling a few feet, then stopping to turn around and look at you and clap. Then a few feet more, and clap. It's way too funny. Next we work on waving.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday and Ev wants to wish you all the best in the new year--and he claps for you too.

Posted by jenny at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)