Growin' it for a Cause

This month is Movember - a borrowed holiday to support Men's Health Awareness. In honor, Mitchell and Jacob, among other friends, began November 1st cleanly shaven, and will spend the next month growing out a mustache. Not a beard or a goatee, my friend. A mustache.

Seeing as Mitchell has sported a goatee since before we were married, it's a big deal!

I've always said that if I were a man, I would grow out a beard or mustache at least once, to see if I could do it. It's on my bucket list, but I am actually glad, given the circumstances, that I cannot grow one.

In exchange for their efforts, they are hoping to have a little fun, raise awareness and raise some funds. So please, take a moment and check out our pages. Consider a hefty donation (our group goal is $2,000). And consider joining our group - Don't Fear the Stache. 

My "Mo Sista" Page
Mitchell's Page
Jacob's Page 

Happy Movember!

The End of a (Breastfeeding) Era

This is without a doubt way too much information for Facebook. But this is my blog, so save it. 

I officially stopped breastfeeding last week. So today I cleaned out 13 containers of breast milk from the freezer. Excited to gain back the space from our little side-by-side freezer, but I did have a little moment of mourning. It was especially sad, as I never once actually fed Oliver any of the frozen stuff. Having made a concerted effort to store it over several months, I did figure out a few things, which I will share now with the chance that it is useful to someone. A form of an eulogy. 

Fresh milk lasts about a week, and thawed milk only 24ish hours, so way easier to use fresh than frozen. But, in case you get sick or will need to leave for extended periods of time, or of course are going back to work, it's a good idea to have some frozen.  

Save the jars and containers for the fridge. Instead, poor the pumped milk into a storage bag. Label it with the date before you have milk in it. Lay it flat to freeze. It takes up way less space and thaws faster. If you collect a lot, my friend Anne suggested cutting a slit in the bottom and top of a kleenex box and standing it up on end, so that you put the new milk in the top and use the oldest milk first from the bottom. 

At first when you're pumping, you'll get a LOT and it seems like this never-ending supply. Take advantage! Sure enough, it will dwindle. A bit like youth, I suppose. But, instead of freezing 6oz in one bag, I would break it down into smaller 2 or 3oz portions. Once it's thawed, it doesn't last all that long, so you may not use it all, and you can always thaw more than one bag at a time. Then you'll have a supply that lasts much longer. And don't worry, you will know if it's gone too long. Stinky. 

Ok. And now I'm over it. Who's ready for a weekend away from baby??

12 Month Update

Our 12-Month Well Baby visit last week went well. Oliver weighed in at 25 lbs 8 oz - 82 percentile, and measured 33 inches - 99 percentile. 

I got my official permission to stop breastfeeding. Bitter-sweet for sure. But we went a year, and were down to barely once per day. And no one really seems to miss it too much. So, I'm free! And Oliver likes his whole cow's milk just fine. Now we have a little extra time at night, so we've started being better at reading several bedtime stories. 

Other than that, Oliver is crawling like a champ. He's begun to "cruise" along the furniture. And we practice over and over again crawling in and out of the back door to the patio. He did the same thing with Grandpa in Sunriver. Cute, but exhausting. I think all of this activity has made him more tired, because we're sleeping a long night (7pm-8am most nights) and then taking two good naps. He can't really function for more than 3 hours in a row. We'll take the breaks! 

He loves his pacis in bed, and will have one in his mouth and one in his hand. Working on keeping those only in bed and hoping that can stick. He's also gotten pickier with food textures, but he gets to try most everything and is still a great eater.  

Still loves beating things to make music, but he has also been enjoying reading to himself, and will sit through most pop-up books. We're now members of the zoo and have been a few times. It's fun now that he sees and acknowledges the animals. He's still more interested in the fish than say a hippo or giraffe, but it's fun. 

We're still swimming. He's really come into his own in the past few weeks. He FINALLY started holding onto the ledge of the pool, which all of the other kids have been doing pretty much since the start. He started putting his whole face into the water in the bathtub and "blowing bubbles" and now he'll do it at the pool. He's pretty solid with the flip over and float. So now they've just started taking him to the bottom of the shallow end of the pool to try to grab a ring. The next step in survival, since apparently most kids actually fall into the water head first and then need to get up to the surface of the water. The only real negative is that he's discovered the relaxing feeling (I can only assume) of going poo in the pool. And generally waits until about halfway through class before filling his *reusable* swim diaper. Nothing gets in the pool, but it's a disgusting mess to deal with once you've gotten the diaper off of him and I dread it. I've taken to bringing two, so we can at least finish the class. Need to work out of that little habit. 

More fun that that, we started music class. Just once a week at a community center, but they get to play with all sorts of sticks and shakers and things. And of course meet new kids and hear new songs. Pretty cute. We just started last week, so hopefully we'll have lots of fun with that. 

Looking forward to Halloween soon, and possibly our first night away for our wedding anniversary?? Ah, the possibilities!  

One Year Ago

 Well, I am 15 lbs from my weight goal and Oliver's first year photo album is not complete (or started) but there was no stopping Oliver's First Birthday. One year ago, at 7:57 am, Oliver came into the world. It was a blazing hot day, and the beginning of the end of sleep as we knew it. But Oliver has been a happy boy, so much fun, and the perfect addition to our little family. 

We celebrated the big day with friends and family. Festivities began with breakfast in the park. Kerry, Jacob and I were up a little later that we wanted to be the night before, making muffins and crustless quiches and cutting up fruit for yogurt parfaits. But in the end, we got 'er done. The bubble machine was a hit, and the grownups drank nearly all of the 6 bottles of Prosecco for the mimosas. Oliver met up with most of his baby friends. And the weather was perfect - what I wouldn't have given for the slightly cooler weather a year ago when the AC went out in the hospital. 

The party moved on to the house with a ball pit made from a kiddie pool, cupcakes, football on TV, and a keg. Mitchell's pulled pork was delightful (although maybe we didn't need the Costco size pork shoulder, requiring the use of two crock pots) and we now have a sea of awesome new toys in the playroom. Oliver is certainly becoming a "boy" - delighting in planes, cars, balls and anything that makes noise. Thanks to everyone who came, and the gifts were really nice. My mind is still blown by the iPod holder for babies so they don't break your phone or accidentally call people. The most surprising/cool gift was the record player with stack of 45s. And probably the most appropriate were all of the musical instruments and Duck apparel. 

Hands too full to pick up his food. Obviously.

Overall, it feels like Oliver is growing and developing like crazy. He is crawling like a pro and pulling himself up. Probably just a count down to walking. He's started sleeping on his stomach with his butt up in the air. Pretty cute. He throws balls and feeds himself. He has started putting his face in the water during bath time "blowing bubbles." He's talking a lot. Teeth 5 & 6 are poking through his gums. We've upgraded him to his larger carseat and now have to decide whether we follow the old rule of turning him to face forward at one, or wait until two, the new guideline. I also just realized that he fits in all of his "big" shoes, which are of course, only really appropriate for walking. He's in size 5 diapers and 18-24 month clothes. We go to the doctor in a couple of weeks, so we'll get the rest of his stats then. 

It's been a fun ride so far, and it's always so cool to watch the next new thing! 

Goodbye Gus

Today we had to say goodbye to Gus. He came into our lives just a short 5 1/2 years ago.

First came Reggie, who Mitchell and I got as a puppy after dating for less than 4 months. My neighbors next door to my townhouse got a Boston Terrier puppy named "Bruiser" (still my favorite Boston name) and I always made Mitchell look at it out the window when they took it out to go to the bathroom. They quickly became my favorite breed of dog.

It took awhile to convince myself that I was indeed ready for the commitment of a dog, not to mention a puppy. But with some convincing from Mitchell, and promise to help with the vet bills, we picked up Reggie from a breeder. And then we were a family of three.

Once we moved in together and lived in a house, we decided it would be a good idea to get Reggie a buddy. Terrier puppies have a LOT of energy and they a bit exhausting. Our previous breeder had a litter of roly-poly butterball puppies, and we picked out Gus from the batch one year after getting Reggie. His name was inspired by the chubby mouse from Cinderella, with the t-shirt that was always a bit too small. Gus became "Mitchell's." Or shall I say, they were both "your dog" when they were misbehaving. :)

Gus fit into our family perfectly. Reggie was still in charge, despite the fact that Gus could eventually kick Reg' butt. When lucky enough to get into bed with us, Gus slept at our feet, while Reggie stuck his legs out and hogged the top of the bed. Gus loved to cuddle, but often underestimated the value of "personal space" and smothering your face. While Reggie was content acting like a cat, Gus was a real dog. He swam in the water the one chance he got. He would fetch a ball. He loved to follow commands once he learned them.

He had a very cute snaggletooth that would stick out of his lip sometimes. He had a crooked tail nub, which he would wag when happy. He loved to have his head resting on things - I held his chin the entire ride home from picking him up from the breeder, which kept him content. He loved to nest into a blanket, sunbathe in sunspots and sleep with his head on the pillow like his dad.

He did have one unfortunate habit of biting fingers of strangers and those that made him nervous. It made him (obviously) a bit untrustworthy, but also misunderstood. He was very much the lover when he wasn't too anxious to sit in one spot for awhile. Once you were in his circle, you were good, and loved.

We were a bit nervous about bringing Oliver home to the dogs. But "the boys" did great. Gus would sit on the sheepskin in Oliver's room when I would rock him to sleep at night. And he would just hop away when Oliver would get too grabby around skin and ears.

He also loved riding in the car. Our last trip was down to Eugene to visit Grandma (loved it there) and then out to Sunriver (which meant extra walks). We arrived Monday, and then on Wednesday morning, we came back from an outing and he was acting strange. We assumed he had peed somewhere in the house, because he always busted himself with that guilty head and ears down look. But when Mitchell went to put his collar on later, he yelped. We thought it was weird, but thought maybe he was just stung by a bee or something. Over the next couple of days he got more and more sluggish, and soon couldn't get onto the couch by himself. So, Friday we took him into the vet. She did an xray and sent him home with painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. He showed signs of a degenerative issue with his neck and he had 104 temperature, so we were to follow up with our usual vet and get an MRI when we got home.

Monday, we called our vet and made an appointment for 3:00 the next day and they got the info from the vet in Sunriver. By Monday evening, Gus couldn't even lay down, he was in so much pain, and it seemed like his leg was now causing him pain. We went in early the next day to the vet, got him some stronger painkillers, and they referred us to a specialize in Clackamas, OR, at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists. We got an MRI done, but they were assuming that it was a ruptured disc in his neck and needed surgery. But the MRI showed that it wasn't that. The next guess was Meningitis or cancer. We biopsied things. His lymph nodes were swollen. They had to give him a temporary tracheotomy to help him breathe in order to come out of sedation. They even removed his tonsils and took a biopsy.

After being in the hospital since Tuesday and not improving and having exhausted all reasonable tests and guesses as to what was wrong, we decided that was enough for Gus. He wasn't eating and did not have a good quality of life. So I went and said goodbye one last time for the family, and he went night-night one last time.

He is loved and missed. Bye-Bye Gus-Gus

Room for Kids

First room in the cabin I feel like could be complete for awhile - the Kids' room. Of course, the room that's the least used at this point - but I'll take it!

It originally came with two twin beds and trundles. Great in theory, but there wasn't even enough room to pull the trundles out, and no grown adult really wanted to crash on those beds, no matter how drunk they were.

So, first thing was to order a bunk bed. We decided on a double bed on the bottom so a grownup could comfortably sleep on it. And then we found this sweet bunk bed with stairs to climb up instead of a ladder. The stairs have drawers in them - even better. Although I don't want to imagine the candy wrappers and bugs (if I'm lucky) will be stashed in those some day. There is also a trundle bed - which will be great to pack the kids in. But the mattress is basically a sheet of plywood with foam and covered in fabric. So no full-grown anyone on the trundle. 

We installed ceiling fans in all of the bedrooms, including this one. To keep things bearable in the few really warm weeks of the summer. Of course, everything I've put in the room, I imagine being abused and utilized for something physical and dangerous some day - the stairs to jump from, the double bed catching jumpers from the top bunk. Is this because I have a son? I'm imagining what might be thrown from the top bunk into the spinning blades of the fan.

I found the perfect place for the auttoman I bought for the living room that left no room to walk around. It now makes up a cozy reading nook with the pillows from all the former twin beds. 

We hooked up the DVD/VCR to the TV, so now we can finally use all of the Disney VHS tapes that my mom saved. Now if we can just keep Oliver's fingers and toys out of the VCR slot...

We also kept one of the big pictures and a desk that were left with the cabin. And we put up a few cute Baby Oliver photos, as well as the now infamous Costco Moose. 

It's actually one of the most comfortable rooms in the cabin now. Bring on the kids! 

11 Months of Trouble

Oliver turned 11 months old last week. It feels like he aged a lot in just a few weeks!

He's now officially crawling. And getting in to anything he can get his hands on. He started crawling backwards, which was highly inefficient, and he was always getting stuck places. Then one day I was ignoring him while he lay on his belly in hopes that he would fall asleep. When I looked back, he was sitting up! So he finally learned how to push himself from his stomach back to sitting. Then he figured out how to move himself forward. Strangely enough, it was after all of this that he mastered rolling from his back to his front. Over the past week, he has gone from crawling just a bit to crawling out of the room quickly. It's on!

He does wake himself up in the night rolling onto his tummy or sitting up. It was a bit unnerving going into his room at night and have him sitting there. But now those wake-ups are already less frequent. And he's pulling himself up onto furniture. I'm sure cruising and walking is not too far behind. While I already miss the ability to leave him in one content spot, I know that eventually they must learn to move. I am just counting my lucky stars that he wasn't crawling at 6 months or already walking or something - I have had it easy!

The other thing he's accomplished a lot of recently is talking. He can say Owl, Hoot-Hoot, Mom, Daddy, Doggie, Up, and a variety only somewhat intelligible words. Lots of babbling going on here.

He is having fun playing with his toys and makeshift toys. He likes to put things in and on and take things out of boxes and bags. He's also learning to throw a ball - and any other sharp, pointy, dangerous object. Books are also fun, which include his favorite Dog pop-up book and the small Sesame Street books I snagged for $1 each. He pushes his little cars around and he continues to be musical - shaking things, beating his tambourine and dancing to music.

He continues to amaze when it comes to eating. He eats nearly anything, and usually in adult quantities. And don't you dare eat in front of him without bringing him his own snack, or sharing. He has been known to yell at the farmers' market berry stand or the deli display case.

A bonus has been Oliver getting to spend more time with his Dad, who is currently taking some time off after quitting his long-term job. This break has been fun and relaxing for us all. And Oliver especially enjoys his early morning dance parties with Dad. Oliver is also getting some last quality time with his Aunt Kerry before she moves off to Washington, DC, in September!

Nearly a year old. I can't believe it. And I suppose I have a little party to plan...