Monday, December 03, 2007

We're about to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the homecoming of our baby from the NICU. It's amazing how fast this last year has flown by.

The baby weighs 18lbs 14oz. He'll be fifteen months old in a couple of weeks, and we really need to start working harder at getting him to gain the weight. I am thisclose to resorting to the goat milk formula listed by one of our favorite blog-babes, Hallie.

The baby is more accepting of pureed foods, but we're still hovering at the 2 tablespoon limit. He seems to be allergic to most fruits and vegetables and until we get his allergies under control, I have limited his vaccination schedule. I don't think it will be too big a deal to wait until he's 2 years old to get the rest of his vaccinations - though he is doing just fine with his Synagis shots every month.

Sweet Boy is cruising around furniture and standing up all by himself with no support. He's still got some issues with walking - in terms of the position of his feet, but his PT seems to think that we'll be able to overcome the problems over the next year.

The baby says MaMa and DaDa but those are the only "words" that he will utter. He still cries Ning Ning when he wants a bottle and he laughs and gurgles and does sing-song chatter all of the time. Phew. We were extremely worried about his lack of smiles and laughter but it looks as though he is just a serious soul.

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Staying home with my baby is the single greatest gift of my life. We'll certainly feel the impact later on in life when we retire but I don't care. I get to spend every hour of every day with my little guy and it is pure joy. Financial stress be damned.

My husband is one of the best dads in the world. He oozes love for our little boy and truly enjoys spending time with him banging spoons on the hardwood or cruising around the house with him on his shoulders. Husband loves to feed the baby, change the baby, bathe the baby and hold the baby in his arms every night until he falls asleep. This man is a true diamond.

The longer that I'm a mom...the more angry I get about my childhood and the way I was treated by my parents. I suspect that our relationship would have been much different if we'd had a baby while my parents were still alive. The good news is that all that I experienced in my childhood is guiding me toward the parent that I intend to be. So much of what happened when I was a kid was so very wrong.

Husband has reclaimed his Mojo and is back in the groove. He makes the bed, cleans all of the dirty dishes and scoops the poop on schedule. All that I can say is, Thank You Gawd.

Mr Magoo is being returned to his foster home because he won't stop peeing in my house. Last week, the baby crawled through two puddles in the family room. I simply cannot stand to live in this filth any longer. The dog trainer couldn't promise that this could get fixed. Less than 5% of the dogs out there insist on marking the house and Mr Magoo is one of them. My heart is broken but he has to go.

Our white cat is on his way out the door too. As soon as the baby came home with us a year ago, he started peeing all over the baby's room, clothing, car seat, etc. I've done everything that I can do to stop it but he just.keeps.peeing on the nursery rug and the baby's stuffed bear-chair. My heart is broken to have to send him away too but he has to go.

My Siamese has been diagnosed with incurable bronchitis. He's the one who has slept with me every night for over 10 years. We've done every test and tried every drug known to help with his condition, but he's not responding and his breathing is growing more cumbersome. I just don't understand why they can't fix this condition.

So essentially, I am going to lose 50% of my pets in a very short amount of time. I'll be left with two cats and one dog. I know, that should be plenty of animals in our home, and it is. But it won't be the same without the other three.

Those are the updates for now. Life is good, not entirely easy, but I'm happy with it all the same.