Geo Picnic

I captured this with the iphone during the usually frigid geosciences picnic. No matter the date, it's a high of 40 degrees and drizzly. Makes for green, green grass and beautiful lighting. Here's a photo of Mr. Preppy G on his 16th month birthdate (13 months adjusted).

I don't feel good...

Gerard sleeps best in this spot when he's feeling really crummy.

At the doctor's office again...

I haven't wanted to post in a while because it's been one doctor's visit after another. Last Friday, we had to get his right ear drained at the ENT, and it's still not looking better. He's finishing yet another round of antibiotics and it's not working this time. Runny nose (to the extreme), runny ears (pus and blood), cough, sore throat(tonsilitis), vomiting, and refusing to eat. Gerard's just not been feeling well. In spite of all that, they can't pinpoint what's wrong, other than a bacterial infection that is probably now a viral infection. Our doctor has been on vacation, so the other doctor thinks he may have a fungal infection in his ear that is resistant to antibiotics (we had ear drops and eye drops as well). This new doctor gave me a lecture about chronic use of antibiotics and told me to keep him out of daycare. It was not a supportive visit. His ear culture came back negative for bacteria this time...so it's a mystery. I won't ramble about it any more, it's too depressing.

Here's a photo of Gerard playing at the doctor's office with their big toy. Doesn't he look huge? Well...his weight is down again - He got up to 22.9 earlier this month, and is now down to 21.8 with this illness. Next week we'll be talking about the possibility of removing his tonsils since it's a playground for bacteria and infection. We're just worried about him being so young.

Playing with my new "egg"

We definitely love music of any kind!

Easter Sunday at Church

Fr. Eric didn't like my hat. He said it looked like a beret. He should talk! Both boys are wearing pom-poms on their tams...so I don't know about that!

Flirty man

Yes, I love the ladies!

Happy Easter

Here's Master Gerard in his Easter outfit before going to church. Doesn't he look adorable? He had a good day, even after a rough week of more ear infection and draining (ugh). Another respiratory infection. More antibiotics for eyes, ears and throat. The doctors want to talk about removing tonsils now...
Moral of the story - We celebrate the good days!

Too busy!

We're so busy with the new schedule and new daycare (that's a good thing), that I haven't had a chance to post. Promise to get something up eventually... You all know how it is. Gerard is happy and doing well in the new center, and really enjoys being around lots of other toddlers. He's sooooooo close to walking. I don't think he could crawl any faster than he does. New words: "Mamma" and "Bye-Bye" - He says them over, and over and over all day long. He also loves to clap and say, "Yeah!"

Pickle

Photo is Gerard trying his first pickle. He liked it!
Today we're home with hand, foot and mouth disease. What a way to mark the 15th month! We thought this would be the week without doctors, but no such luck. It sounds awful, but is a very common and highly contagious virus. Seems infants and children get it. Of course, the doctors blame the daycare and the daycare blames the frequent visits to the hospital. Who knows? It is what it is. His hands and feet have the rash/bumps, but his mouth was spared except for the very back where he swallows. He's got very large tonsils, so I know that can't help matters. Luckily, he seems happy enough even through the itching. This has flared his eczema on top of that. All I can say is, it's snowing, so not such a bad day to stay at home and try to get work done.

Pretty blue eyes

What more is there to say?

Nothing to do with anything

Just a pretty picture to document that we actually made it up the canyon once this year! This is at Deer Valley two weeks ago.

Almost clear...

We had a very good day until the night feeding...then another massive vomiting session - all over Michael, the chair, the floor, and a trail to the bathroom floor where he continued vomiting. I wish I knew what was going on with this! It's horrible. His weight has dropped to 20 lbs. 10 oz. from 21 lbs. 4 oz. on the 23rd.
Yesterday we had a great day of driving up to Deer Valley to see Michael ski a little. Will post pics when I have time. I'm pretty wiped out from not sleeping for a week.
Today marks a year the little man has been home, and that is a good feeling! He's almost standing on his own now - trying really hard, anyway. He's come leaps and bounds this month developmentally, even with all the vomiting and diarreah.

Photo from happier days

Here's a great pic from my birthday (last month). February has been a wash...lots of sickness. Gerard has been sick since Saturday with the stomach/diarreah virus. Horrible... Then I passed out at work with it, myself. So - I thought it would be nice to show a photo from a happy day. We are both parched, tired and eating lots of rice and bananas now.

Look out Elton!

We were stuck inside today, so that meant lots of music time so Mom could get some work done! Here G is during a jam session.

Asian Cracker

I went to the local Asian market to pick up ingredients for Tom Yum soup, and the lady gave Gerard some crackers. They taste sweet, salty, and a little bit like dried shrimp to me, but he just loves them! Hey, he loves them and they don't make a mess...gotta love that. When Michael came home he thought it smelled like tuna fish in the house (and we all know how I feel about that food product). We had a good laugh!

Happy Valentine's Day

Balloons are just about Gerard's favorite thing in the whole world!

Everything is good

Gerard's surgery went well. He didn't cry. He was fussy, but not horrible coming out of anesthesia. All in all, a very positive experience. He's had a fever (we think from the ear infection) and are waiting for that to drop. As soon as I get some extra minutes I'll post some pics. Sorry for the delay, but life has been way too busy.

Last week Gerard had his eyes examined (very good), his teeth checked out (not so good), allergy testing (he's allergic to eggs, peanuts, walnuts, and dog/cat). We can easily modify his diet, but the cat's going to be a hard one for us to give up. Sophie's been part of the family for 13 of her 15 years...and she's still a healthy and strong girl. Anyone know of someone looking to adopt a beautiful and well-mannered kitty, just give me a shout. It's a hard thing to do, but compromising Gerard's lungs any more than they already are is not an option. He has the predictors for asthma and his eczema is a sure sign that we must eliminate the animal from the house. Since I'm allergic as well, it's probably not a bad idea. I realized this last week when I was in Nashville and I had no allergy symptoms while I was away.

Long days...

I haven't had time to post since it's been so busy since my return from Nashville. Oddly, something weird is happening with my breasts. Seems like my milk is coming back in. All I can figure is that the "mommy" hormones kicked in when I got home after being away from him for so long. Why am I posting this? Because I am in PAIN!!!! And it's just not what I was expecting. Anyone have a clue about this bit of mystery? And yes, I have a call into my doctor for those of you who think I'm a nutcase.

And while on the topic of healthcare (again), I didn't expect that we'd be taking Little G in for surgery on Thursday, but there you have it. He's having surgery in his ears (tubes) and we hope this helps with all the infections. It's been nonstop antibiotics for the past 5 months.

Well, off to bed. After writing all evening, I've got to take the baby to the allergy doctor in the morning for another stick and then more work, work, work. I do have some adorable photos but I'm just too tired to post them tonight. I guess I'll have some time on my hands Thursday morning to get them posted. More later.

February 2008 and February 2009 comparison

Today I decided to sift back through the archives to see how far we've come - here's a recap. February 3, 2008 Gerard weighed in at 5 lbs. Today...21 lbs. and able to see me off at the airport last Sunday!