Doctor's visit - 12 months

We had our VERY WORST doctor's visit EVER yesterday.

First of all, I thought his one year visit was going to be in late September, because by the time I called to schedule it, the doctor was booked until then. Oh wait! That's because we already had an appointment scheduled, for Monday at 9a.m.! They called me Friday to remind me! I was very surprised, but it worked out OK. Sort of. On Sunday I thought "why would we schedule an appointment at nap time? That seems bad" and I was So Right.

We got there at 8:45, went back almost immediately. Measured baby (32" tall, 18" head, 22 lbs; >95th%ile, 90th, and 40th, respectively), then stuck a bag to his groin to try to collect a urine sample. That is a strange strange system. Literally taped a bag to his groin. Waited a few minutes for the doctor, who checked him out, said everything was fine, made a suggestion or two, etc.

Time for vaccinations. OH NO. He used to cry briefly then stop, and act as if nothing had happened. Not this time. He cried and cried and cried, and cried a little more. I nursed him for maybe 4 minutes to calm him down, give him a smidgen of milk. Probably could've given more, in retrospect. It's probably 9:45 now, 45 mins past naptime. And then we got to wait for the lab, for a blood draw, a finger stick. The waiting was long. The baby hungry. And tired. Then we finally get into the lab, and they poke his finger and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze blood out of it until they have maybe 1mL (which is not that much, I know). But Fenix was so tired and angry and hungry, he did not care for this at all. SCREAMS and screams and screams and tears. We terrified all the other children!

Here's the funny part of all this - still no urine in the urine sample. He usually pees all the time, from what I guess, but the second they want a sample? Nope. None. For 1.5 hours.

Finally done, took him to the car, gave him a piece of bread (he ate maybe 2 nibbles before falling asleep), and things were ok.

And then I got to work, 5 minutes after I was supposed to call some doctor in Pittsburgh, which I didn't realize until an hour later. This mistake, plus the fact that I was up 1.5 hours the night before with an upset stomach, meant my day was miserable. I spent the whole day feeling guilty about the baby's shots, and hoping he wouldn't pull the bandaids off, eat them, and choke, AND just wanting to cry. It was pathetic. I sat in a meeting glazed and depressed. Went home a few minutes early. Once I saw that he was OK, I felt Much Better.

Party - year one

We had a big party for the baby's 1st birthday last weekend! I know he won't remember it, but we had a good time! I invited family, friends and coworkers. My parents all came, my mom's parents, too. Several aunts and uncles, a cousin or two, two nephews, and C's parents were here. My sister came with her boyfriend, and brought their new turtle! She took several little pieces of fruit and veggies for the turtle, too.

We made a very pretty cake for the baby, and he even got to eat a few bites, along with some ice cream. Strawberry, peach and banana ice cream, and a little of my coffee ice cream. The first bite was cold! he made a displeased face, but recovered quickly and gobbled up the rest. Everybody sang for his birthday, and he grinned and giggled.

Fenix did not know what to make of Grandpa Kim's beard - it was scary! But interesting. But scary! He seems to think white beard hair is troubling, whereas brown hair (on "uncle" Rusty, for instance) is OK. He enjoyed visiting with all the grandmas, though.

Baby and dad were dressed in the same outfit - green and blue striped shirt, and little gray/blue striped shorts. Very cute.

Words

The baby can _almost_ say "tickle." He burbles now, and it sounds like talking. One of his favorite phrases is ollygollygollygollygullygully etc. I wish that there were a thing that was called a golly, because he's got that word DOWN! And oddly enough, if you flip it around a little, so it's llygol-llygoll-llygoll then it's pretty close to "tickle" which is what he says when we tickle him in the morning.

First blood wound yesterday; Fenix really wanted Curtis' laptop, and so C moved it away a bit. Baby fell and hit head on table. Then once more, Fenix wanted the laptop, so C moved it away, which baby did not expect, and so he fell a bit, and busted his lip a tiny bit. Poor baby! So upset!

He's actually been cranky for a few days. And those stubborn teeth are still not in (he has four, 2 on top, 2 on bottom, and 2 more on top trying very hard for days to come in. Soon, I hope!

Black olives. New favorite baby food. Never would've thought. Even kalamata olives. Baby also enjoyed a blueberry muffin this weekend, and some corn mash, black beans and rice at the Blue Mesa at Saturday night dinner. Oh, and spaghetti - proper spaghetti, long skinny noodles, not rotini or penne or what have you - was a revelation for him. He LOVED it, immediately.

He's making progress in holding his sippy cup. He holds it fairly well, drinks from it fairly well, but prefers dropping it on the floor to any other activity. Also, the cup is overactively non-spill, so when he drinks from it for a bit, all the air is sucked out, and no more liquid will come out without some devacuuming from parents. Actually, we THOUGHT he was drinking from it pretty well, until I put milk in it yesterday. Curtis suspects about half or more of the milk went down the baby's chest, rather than in his mouth. What a milky mess.

Games

This morning, Fenix crawled over to Curtis, flopped onto his back right next to him, gently grabbed C's hand, and pulled it over his (F's) stomach. We think he meant "tickle me, daddy" because that's what happened next, and he laughed and laughed and laughed.

He has this game he plays on the way home, or in the car, or in bed now, or in the kitchen. He yells, and then we yell in synch. Over and over and over.

Have you ever called Goog-411? It's great, you call, talk as if you were inputting a command to google, and it phone-directory-connects you to whatever you like. But if you say something it can't interpret right away, the voice-recognition software burbles and blabs and tips and clicks until it figures it out. It sounds EXACTLY like the baby right now - trying out sounds, burbling, combining, whispering, playing with his tongue in his mouth. So cute. So if you want to hear what the baby sounds like now, call 800-GOOG-411, and ask for something strange, in a strange town.

Mommy's Toys

The baby spends lots of time in the kitchen now. We have failed to baby-proof the cabinets and drawers, thus far. And frankly, I don't intend to proof all of them. I like that he can come into the kitchen, open the drawer or cabinet and pull out cans of beans, pineapple and eagle-brand milk, and then boxes and boxes of pasta. I even think it's cute when he plays with an acorn squash as if it were a ball. I am amused by his interest in cookie cutters, bowls, little tartlet pans, the funnels, the tongs, and the whisk for the blender.

I do not like him eating the cheesecloth. I am fearful that he will pull the stack of ten graduated glass bowls out of the cabinet with as much force and abandon as he pulls the spatulas and plastic lids. I don't think he's old enough to play with the plastic wrap, not just because of the suffocation hazard, but also the finger-slicing cutting strip on the corner of the box. And definitely, certainly, without a doubt, the under-the-sink/chemical cabinets should be off limits. So I'm hoping this weekend we get baby-proofing gear installed in the cabinets and drawers in sink and kitchen. And then the baby will be so mad when he can't get Mommy's Toys anymore. I'll have to take a picture!

Caption - "Don't do it, Mommy. Please don't lock the cabinets!"