Where did the summer go??
Many countdowns to be tracking in the coming days...
- 4 days until Evan's pulmonologist appointment
- 7 days until Evan's follow-up urology appointment
- 10 days until I fly off for a business trip to Kuwait
- 31 days until the Steelers/Cardinals game!
- 32 days until I fly off for a business trip to Virginia
- 36 days until W&J's Homecoming (I still can't believe it's been 15 years since graduation)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
An Old Video I Forgot to Post
Here is a video taken back on July 4th when my mom came to visit. This is Evan meeting his Nan for the first time...
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Surgery Day!
Evan's surgery went well today...it was a very long day! We were on the road after 3am and actually got there a little less than an hour early. We got him checked in to the surgery center about 0645. He didn't get taken back into the pre-op room until close to 0800....so we had to distract him as much as possible so he wouldn't remember that he was hungry. One of the nurses chnaged him into a little Looney Tunes themed surgical gown.
The anesthesiologist (Dr. Dupuy) came out and talked us through what he was going to do. He was first going to give him the laughing gas to make him fall asleep and then put the spinal block in. This would numb his legs for a few hours and help with pain management. Then Dr. Argeuso's Physician's Assistant (Ms. Tigges) came out an introduced herself. Evan hit it off with her, so we knew it would be fine. She guesstimated the procedure would take an hour, but it only took a little over 30 minutes.
After the procedure was done, Dr. Argueso came out and got us and told us everything went well. He gave us 2 prescriptions, one for Tylenol with Codeine and the other for an antibiotic. He took us back (we could hear Evan before we could see him). He wasn't a happy guy (as would any normal person just coming out of surgery). The post-op nurse was feeding him a bottle of Pedialyte to give him something in his stomach. He tolerated that well and we added apple juice into the Pedialyte to help it taste better. We stayed in post-op until after 9am and we were back on the road around 10am.
Evan slept the whole time in the car and by the time we made it back to Sierra Vista, he was able to move his legs around. He was a little fussy, but not too much more than usual. We can take his surgical dressing off on Thursday by soaking him in the tub. We have some antibiotic ointment to also put on him to keep the risk of infection down and to keep the skin from sticking. Unfortunately, no Jumperoo or Exersaucer for a while!
The anesthesiologist (Dr. Dupuy) came out and talked us through what he was going to do. He was first going to give him the laughing gas to make him fall asleep and then put the spinal block in. This would numb his legs for a few hours and help with pain management. Then Dr. Argeuso's Physician's Assistant (Ms. Tigges) came out an introduced herself. Evan hit it off with her, so we knew it would be fine. She guesstimated the procedure would take an hour, but it only took a little over 30 minutes.
After the procedure was done, Dr. Argueso came out and got us and told us everything went well. He gave us 2 prescriptions, one for Tylenol with Codeine and the other for an antibiotic. He took us back (we could hear Evan before we could see him). He wasn't a happy guy (as would any normal person just coming out of surgery). The post-op nurse was feeding him a bottle of Pedialyte to give him something in his stomach. He tolerated that well and we added apple juice into the Pedialyte to help it taste better. We stayed in post-op until after 9am and we were back on the road around 10am.
Evan slept the whole time in the car and by the time we made it back to Sierra Vista, he was able to move his legs around. He was a little fussy, but not too much more than usual. We can take his surgical dressing off on Thursday by soaking him in the tub. We have some antibiotic ointment to also put on him to keep the risk of infection down and to keep the skin from sticking. Unfortunately, no Jumperoo or Exersaucer for a while!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Early Morning Coming Up
Early morning tomorrow...we'll be on the road around 3am to have Evan at the hospital at 7am. I can blog from my cell phone, so I'll be sure to post the significant information. We gave him a bath tonight so he is fresh and clean! We plan on just taking him right from his crib to the car; fingers crossed he'll go right back to sleep. We can't give him any milk after 1am and basically nothing after 4am (we can give him clear liquids up until then).
Evan had a fun day today at the sorority house helping out with recruitment. The girls love having him around and he loves being handed off to all the girls.
Evan had a fun day today at the sorority house helping out with recruitment. The girls love having him around and he loves being handed off to all the girls.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Making Travel Plans
At my job, when it rains, it pours when it comes to business travel. This week, I was starting to get my travel packet together for a trip I planned out to Reston, VA the first week in October. How convenient that my college homecoming is that weekend! ;-) Bummer that I have to fly in and out of Dulles airport (so I have to drive all the way to western PA and then back), but hey, it's free airfare so to speak.
Anyway...my co-worker and I have had on the back burner a conference in Kuwait (yes, Kuwait, the country that is surrounded by Iraq and Saudi Arabia). Since my co-worker has done most of the travel on our contract, it's my turn to go. I'm excited to go, but not too excited about the marathon flight to get there (it will probably take about 24-hours) and all the paperwork I have to get done for overseas travel.
The conference is scheduled for September and is on the counter-IED effort, which is one of the manuals we are working on. Ramadan will take place while I am there also...which should be interesting. No worries about safety, we will be on Camp Arifjan the entire time (straight from the airport to the camp). That camp is the main place the soldiers from in-country Iraq go for their R&R, so it's very safe.
I will definitely blog the event for everyone. I am also taking sign-ups for babysitters to help T while I'm gone on these two trips!
Anyway...my co-worker and I have had on the back burner a conference in Kuwait (yes, Kuwait, the country that is surrounded by Iraq and Saudi Arabia). Since my co-worker has done most of the travel on our contract, it's my turn to go. I'm excited to go, but not too excited about the marathon flight to get there (it will probably take about 24-hours) and all the paperwork I have to get done for overseas travel.
The conference is scheduled for September and is on the counter-IED effort, which is one of the manuals we are working on. Ramadan will take place while I am there also...which should be interesting. No worries about safety, we will be on Camp Arifjan the entire time (straight from the airport to the camp). That camp is the main place the soldiers from in-country Iraq go for their R&R, so it's very safe.
I will definitely blog the event for everyone. I am also taking sign-ups for babysitters to help T while I'm gone on these two trips!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Trip to the Doctor in Phoenix
We made the long trip today to see a specialist in Phoenix. It seems there are no pediatric urologists in our neck of the woods or in Tucson. It was a cool day in Phoenix, in the low 100's!
Evan's appointment was with Dr. Argueso who is part of the Pediatric Urology Associates. In earlier posts I may mentioned about Evan's hypospadia. He doesn't have a severe one as you might read at the link I posted, but his foreskin didn't grow the whole way and it is causing some curvature. His urethra is right where it should be, it's the foreskin around it that is causing the problem called "chordee". We were hoping the specialist would tell us this was just a cosmetic thing and that he wouldn't have to have surgery.
Well, the little guy does have to go under the knife on Monday. We're scheduled for surgery at 0700 this Monday morning in Phoenix (yuck)! The doctor assured us Evan's condition is very mild and the surgery will only take about 30 minutes. He will be put under general anesthesia and they will also give him something similar to an epidural which will keep him numb after the surgery.
NO worries...just a pain that we have to drive to Phoenix again; but it will be good to get this taken care of now when he is young.
Evan's appointment was with Dr. Argueso who is part of the Pediatric Urology Associates. In earlier posts I may mentioned about Evan's hypospadia. He doesn't have a severe one as you might read at the link I posted, but his foreskin didn't grow the whole way and it is causing some curvature. His urethra is right where it should be, it's the foreskin around it that is causing the problem called "chordee". We were hoping the specialist would tell us this was just a cosmetic thing and that he wouldn't have to have surgery.
Well, the little guy does have to go under the knife on Monday. We're scheduled for surgery at 0700 this Monday morning in Phoenix (yuck)! The doctor assured us Evan's condition is very mild and the surgery will only take about 30 minutes. He will be put under general anesthesia and they will also give him something similar to an epidural which will keep him numb after the surgery.
NO worries...just a pain that we have to drive to Phoenix again; but it will be good to get this taken care of now when he is young.
Boxed In!
Since Evan is the big explorer around the house, he sometimes finds himself boxed in by the dogs. In this video, Evan was exploring the laundry room. Max, being the "herder" that he is, kept him corralled and made sure to give him lots of licks.
Evan is 13 months old today!
Evan is 13 months old today!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Surf Dude!
Today was the first Evan experienced The Cove. The Cove is our city pool...it's an indoor facility, very nice. Every Saturday morning they have "Splash Time" where infants and toddlers get the run of the pool. T was off golfing in Tucson so I walked up to the pool (we live about a half-mile from the pool) with Evan in the stroller.
He wasn't thrilled at first since the water was a little cool to the first touch. I sat with him on my lap in the shallow water slowly easing him farther into the water. He was intrigued by the other kids and by the scuba instruction class going on. I was able to finally get out into the water (during Splash Time the farthest you can go out is 5 ft). We bobbed around a bit and then ran into Sarah (she is one of our friends/co-workers/ex-military unit buddies). We've known Sarah since our days in Germany and now she's one of T's co-workers. She was there with her son Luke. We hung out with them for a while.
They had these really thick floaty-board-things shaped like lilypads and fish. I put Evan up on one and we chased Luke around. Evan had the happiest look on his face and really enjoyed it. I hope to take him back again, this time with T so he can join in on the fun!
He wasn't thrilled at first since the water was a little cool to the first touch. I sat with him on my lap in the shallow water slowly easing him farther into the water. He was intrigued by the other kids and by the scuba instruction class going on. I was able to finally get out into the water (during Splash Time the farthest you can go out is 5 ft). We bobbed around a bit and then ran into Sarah (she is one of our friends/co-workers/ex-military unit buddies). We've known Sarah since our days in Germany and now she's one of T's co-workers. She was there with her son Luke. We hung out with them for a while.
They had these really thick floaty-board-things shaped like lilypads and fish. I put Evan up on one and we chased Luke around. Evan had the happiest look on his face and really enjoyed it. I hope to take him back again, this time with T so he can join in on the fun!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Getting Scary...
Now that Evan has moved into the new stage of crawling, things get scary. For instance, this morning, I went into his room to get him up. He was doing his usual morning semi-cry to say "Come get me out of here now". When I walked into his room, I see these two little hands gripping the side rail and some eyes peering out from his crib. He managed to get himself up onto his knees and was trying to pull himself up.
We now have to re-think the crib set up since his mattress is already on the lowest level. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't have bought the crib that I did. It looks nice and will transition to a toddler bed and then to a full size bed, but the side doesn't drop down and one side is higher than the other (sort of a sleigh bed style). I now worry that eventually he will be able to stand up and get out of (aka "fall out of") the crib. I've had people tell me that when their kids got to that developmental stage, they simply put the crib mattress on the floor with pillows around so if they rolled too far, the pillows caught them.
We now have to re-think the crib set up since his mattress is already on the lowest level. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't have bought the crib that I did. It looks nice and will transition to a toddler bed and then to a full size bed, but the side doesn't drop down and one side is higher than the other (sort of a sleigh bed style). I now worry that eventually he will be able to stand up and get out of (aka "fall out of") the crib. I've had people tell me that when their kids got to that developmental stage, they simply put the crib mattress on the floor with pillows around so if they rolled too far, the pillows caught them.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
8/8/07: Finally Crawling!
He finally did it at 12 months, 3 weeks and 4 days (or adjusted 10 months, 3 weeks and 2 days)! Evan finally made up his mind to crawl! We had anticipated him crawling for a while since he was showing all the signs, but he just never did it until tonight. For some reason he had to get to my flip-flops. We now enter the phase where we have to re-look everything in the house.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Thursday, August 02, 2007
8/2/07: Been Bad About Blogging...
Things have been crazy-busy so apologies to all of you who are missing your Evan-fix. I need to take some video of Evan's latest "tricks"...still no crawling yet, but he likes to pull himself up to a standing position. So, who knows, maybe he will skip the whole crawling-thing? With his increased mobility, we also have an increase in boo-boos with him falling over and bumping his head or his eye...the boy needs a helmet!
The monsoons have been steady this summer and we've had some real big downpours daily. We forgot that when the monsoons arrive, so does the seasonal "Sadie-pee" on the living room carpet. For some reason, when it rains, she will not go outside and relieve herself...instead she chooses to do so in relatively the same spot on the carpet. T was not happy to discover (aka step in ) it on Monday. Since then, Sadie has been banished to the backyard all day. The thing that stinks about it is that Max is stuck inside the house since we have to close up the dog door. He's pretty good about holding it all day until we get home.
Evan is still doing well at daycare. He is pretty much still the smallest kid there (even smaller than the infants on the other side of the room). So he is truly turning into a little-man. His food palette has expanded to peas and green beans, so he'll eat almost anything. I gave him a Cheerio this morning (I snagged it off of one of the other kids). He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he let it sit in his mouth and dissolve (thank goodness no choking hazard there). Today they were doing some sort of artwork with Jello (to get them used to different textures). Tomorrow is finger painting (with edible paint of course).
The monsoons have been steady this summer and we've had some real big downpours daily. We forgot that when the monsoons arrive, so does the seasonal "Sadie-pee" on the living room carpet. For some reason, when it rains, she will not go outside and relieve herself...instead she chooses to do so in relatively the same spot on the carpet. T was not happy to discover (aka step in ) it on Monday. Since then, Sadie has been banished to the backyard all day. The thing that stinks about it is that Max is stuck inside the house since we have to close up the dog door. He's pretty good about holding it all day until we get home.
Evan is still doing well at daycare. He is pretty much still the smallest kid there (even smaller than the infants on the other side of the room). So he is truly turning into a little-man. His food palette has expanded to peas and green beans, so he'll eat almost anything. I gave him a Cheerio this morning (I snagged it off of one of the other kids). He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he let it sit in his mouth and dissolve (thank goodness no choking hazard there). Today they were doing some sort of artwork with Jello (to get them used to different textures). Tomorrow is finger painting (with edible paint of course).
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