Happy Healthy Heart

So yesterday was the big trip to the pediactric cardiologist. When we got there the nurse stuck leads all over James for an EKG. He hadn't had that done since he was in the hospital in late December. Back then he wasn't mobile (understatement!), so this time he had to sit on my lap. This nurse had great skills and a clever little bouncy bee thing hanging from the ceiling which she used to distract James until she got a good reading/printout. She also took his blood pressure on his arm and leg. Again the bouncing bees were excellent assistants.

Next came the doctor. After chatting with us to get the background scoop, he took a peek at the echo reports. He had read the August echo and stated that he noticed an enlarged portion of the heart. Scary! He then took us across the hall for another echocardiogram which he himself would administer to find out what exactly was going on.

After James laid back onto the pillow, the doctor asked us if he'd prefer Elmo or Barney. We looked at him confusedly. "In the VCR," he says. "Oh, he doesn't really watch TV," Dan replies. "Oh. Well, does he have a pacifier?" "He doesn't really use those either." It was pretty funny. James, meanwhile, squirmed a bit (probably annoyed that we had delayed things with this discussion), so we agreed to Elmo. Well, James was much more interested in watching the screen of the echocardiogram than the one with the loud, red monster. Nice job. He also stayed very calm and still. Way to go! The doctor even remarked that he was quite impressed with how sweet James was. :-)

Now for the real news: there is NOTHING WRONG with his heart. No hole. No leaks. No enlarged anything. It is just a bit noisy (thus the murmur). YIPPEEEE!!!!!
As Dan said, "We always knew he had a good heart. Now we know it is healthy."

Three-Quarters of a Year!

Well, James has been 9 months old for two weeks now, but he just had his check-up last Thursday. He is 27.5 inches tall (20-30%) and 18 lbs. 2 oz. (11%). Our doctor was slightly concerned about his weight. She attributed it to his active nature and distractability when nursing (which is what I attribute it to as well). Since he fights the bottle (from what I've been told), she said he could have pumped milk in a sippy cup when away from me. She also recommended he start dairy consumption (cheeses and yogurts) to get some fat ingested. He's had whole-milk yogurt for lunch every day since. I've also bought more avacados, since they are fatty and he likes them.

Otherwise, he did just fine. We have an appointment with the pediatric cardiologist next week. This is the doctor who has read his two echocardiograms. The check-up is just to be able to talk with him first hand regarding James's heart murmur. Again, our pediatrician was not worried about it at all, but this is just a cautionary measure (to make us all feel better).

No major shots this time. Just a half-dose of the flu shot (he'll get the other half in October). During this shot, James smiled at the nurse and watched her the entire time. No crying. Seriously! Both she and I were AMAZED! If I hadn't seen him cry after bonking his head before, I'd be worried that he couldn't feel pain or something.

Oh, the other thing we discussed was his sleep habits. I admitted that we either nurse or rock him to sleep, and she said we need to stop that. We can nurse or rock him to almost sleep, but then he needs to be put into his bed. I knew that; it is just easier said than done. I mean, back when he didn't roll, crawl or stand, it was no big deal: turn on the mobile and he'd fall asleep. Now he crawls around and stands up no matter how tired he is. We're working on it, and it is getting easier.

For those who are curious, James's latest culinary experiences: yogurt, flounder, lamb, chicken, cheese, bread, bagel, chicken. He still loves Cheerios and many different fruits and veggies.

Cinderfella

So you may recall how James was enamoured with the vacuum recently. Well, he's now moved on to the Swiffer. I decided to clean his room this morning-- changing the sheets, dusting the rails of the crib (and elsewhere), and cleaning the floor.


He started out by making sounds of enthusiasm as I Swiffered his floor. When I set the handle down for a moment to move the laundry hamper out of the way, James took over.











He actually grabbed the Swiffer and started pushing it all over the floor. It was great!








When I removed the swiffer cloth, he didn't want to stop cleaning!











I put on a second cloth, and he literally crawled all over the floor chasing the Swiffer as I cleaned. Too funny!






All that cleaning wore him out. He fell asleep in his highchair at lunch between spoonfuls of plums. However, when I put him in bed, he couldn't stop practicing his latest trick...

Game Time!

So this weekend was quite packed, and quite fun. On Saturday we took a road trip up to Colgate for the Colgate v. Furman football game. James looked stunning in his football uniform (Thanks, Nana!!!). As he tried to make his morning rounds at home, he had a bit of trouble negotiating the slippery fabric of the pants, but eventually he had it all figured out.

The drive was quite a long one, but pretty. As it turns out, Colgate is in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. We saw many farms, mountains, trout fishers, cows and scenic vistas. We made one stop along the way for a diaper change and nursing. James was mostly just thrilled to be out of his carseat, and tried to drive the car (not really; we were parked).

We finally made it to Colgate, and were able to enjoy the end of the Furman Alumni Association's tailgate. Two nice women happily took James from us so that we could eat. We also got some great Furman swag: coozies, pompoms...

Then it was off to the game! Furman won 42-21-- Go Paladins! We had a really fun time together. After the game, we drove around campus-- beautiful stone buildings, but VERY HILLY-- then headed home. It was a long day, but much fun.

On Sunday, we went to Shea to cheer the Mets on against the Braves. It was super hot & humid, and the game was sold out (we had tickets already). Also, the Yankees were at home as well, so traffic was nightmarish. James did well-- the traffic delays bought us an extended nap, so he was better rested than he's been for his other two games. He ate lunch and drank water in the stands and befriended everyone in our section. We made it through seven innings before packing it in. . . Dan & I probably would have left at this point anyway because it was so hot and the parking was such a mess. When we left, the Mets were ahead by 2. We listened in the car as the Braves got 5 runs in the ninth. Oh well.

Snuggle Puppy

This is one of our favorite books to read with James, and something VERY CUTE happened as I did so last night at bedtime and again today before a nap....

James was sitting in my lap as I read/sang him the book. The last page has the same illustration you see on the front cover. Well, James leaned in and kissed the puppy!

AAAAGGGHHH! It was SO SWEET that I almost cried!

Here's to You, Ramsey!

Today was Ramsey Day. Really, it was yesterday, but due to TS Hanna, it was postponed to today. We happily traveled up the road to Daddy's hometown to celebrate its goodness.

Shortly upon our arrival at the festivities, a nice VFW gentleman gave James the flag you see in the photo. Of course it is pointy and dangerous. Of course James loved it. Of course we didn't take it away immediately after passing Mr. VFW. It didn't take long for James to begin gnawing on it (teething is in full effect).

Not long later, while we were examining the wares at one of the booths, a lady at the neighboring booth leaned over to say, "She's really upset," pointing at her co-volunteer. Ms. Co-volunteer sat in her wheelchair shaking her head at James. "He's going to give himself a tonselectomy." Thanks. I told them they were right, it was dangerous, his favorite toy is a wooden spoon, he's teething, we'll keep an eye on him, blah, blah. But I didn't take the flag away from him.

Yet. Eventually I did. And he cried.

Later, we found a picnic table in the shade. Dan & I sat across from each other while James napped in his stroller. When he awoke, we started getting him ready for lunch. I was sitting with James in my lap, and Dan was standing getting the bib and food ready. A family came and plopped themselves down on Dan's side of the table, taking up the entire bench but facing away from us. We thought it was a bit odd, but Dan just moved over to our side of the table, and we fed James.

After eating, James was banging on the table and babbling. Hearing his babbles Ms. Seat-stealer turns around and makes a sound of shock, reaching for his hand (yes, she actually grabbed James's hand!) telling us that he'd get a splinter. Due to the fact she'd annoyed us by sitting down in Dan's spot and touching our child, we both assured her James was fine and began stroking the table ourselves. The Family Seat-stealers soon got up and left.

So, my apologies, good citizens of Ramsey. We know that you had our son's best interest at heart. We did take away his impailing flag and move his hands off of the wooden table. We're sorry for being so defensive.

(Oh, and lady with the baby in the Bjorn, I really wanted to tell you to put her arms under the straps correctly, but I held my tongue.)

On the Move!

So, you know that James is big on rolling. He has gotten really fast with his rolling skills. I mean, sometimes I think he may have wizarding skills because he is so fast across the floor!


I also believe that I posted about his first crawl-- it was toward a golf ball (much to Dan's delight). Nana arrived that day and informed us that it wasn't really crawling because his belly wasn't up off the floor. Oh well.


Now, folks, he is really crawling. Belly up. He started last weekend. He'd crawl a few "paces" then go down on his belly and commence pulling himself with his ridiculously strong arms. But as each day goes by, he crawls more and creeps less. In fact, i haven't seen him creep at all today.


When he gets tired he rolls. Fast.




He also climbs a bit. For about a week, the vacuum had been in the middle of our bedroom floor. James would stare at it wistfully from the Pack & Play or crawl to it when he was on the floor. Yesterday we finally vacuumed the bedroom (and hit the rest if the house again), and James couldn't get enough of the vacuum-- he had to be in the same room as it, and was sad when I put it away.






Another interesting event occurred yesterday while I was snapping some photos of James playing with a (non-spoon) toy from Nana. Luckily I was able to get a picture of this as soon as it happened even though I was freaking out.


James stood up on his own (with assistance from ottoman)! Oh man... here we go!