Cellulitis

Yup. Baby Marcus has already had his first cellulitis infection and his first round of antibiotics at the ripe old age of 26 days old.

I took his sock off on Wednesday morning and noticed that his big toe was red and obviously inflamed from what appeared to be an ingrown toenail (however, let me be clear, I HAVE NOT cut his nails, so not my fault! Or anyone's for that matter). So I debated calling the doctor, called Chris for a consult and decided to call the doc. They made an appt for MONDAY at 130 which was tremendously dissatsifying....so, LONG story short, I ended up calling again later when I noticed that his toe was getting visibly worse and made an appt for that evening.

And I'm glad I did. The doctor mentioned the oh-so-frightening MRSA infection that NO mother ever wants to hear uttered in her child's presence...but he has responded very well to the two antibiotics he's on.

First illness down...innumerable illnesses to come.

Baby sweetness

Shaving

The new obsession in our house: Shaving Cream

(oh, and ignore the color of the bath water--Zach
got a fizzy bath egg for Easter and it turned the
water a creepy orange color - but it smelled good!)

A thousand heartbreaks

Nothing prepared me for the fact that having children opens a person up to a thousand heartbreaks, as well as a thousand joys...but the heartbreaks seem to be so much more lasting (or is it just painful?) than the joys.

Having a challenging child like Zachary, I think the heartbreaks are ten-fold. His temper, the tantrums, his intense disappointment and sadness, these things all hurt me more than I could ever have imagined. And hurt so much because I don't know how to help him with them.

Is there any sound more painful than the sobbing of one's child?

Zachary

So sweet.

The many faces of Marcus

What a funny little boy

Tummy time on Daddy

And a preview of what Marcus will look like in 97 years.

SO funny

This totally made me laugh out loud.
I love Pearls Before Swine.

18 Days Old

M

Z

So serious

Who's who?

Aren't they both handsome?

Just cuz

No idea

Him: "Do all babies sleep this much?"

Me: "I don't know...my frame of reference is the same as yours."

Him: "Maybe we should ask Don and Barb?"

Me (pulling out the American Academy of Pediatricians Caring for your Baby to Age 5 reference guide): "Hmmmm....says here that newborns sleep most of the time. And that as long as he is alert when awake and eats well, he must be normal. Hmm."

A new era...

Sigh.
I suppose it was inevitable. I have boys. And boys,
for some completely unknown to me reason, are drawn
to guns. And anything that can be made into a gun.
Take that fact, and add my son's tremendous
negotiating skills (coupled with that irresistible face)
and a trip to the Dollar Store ends up ushering in a
new era in our household.
Zach has a gun.
I bought it for him.
What in the world do we do now?

Milk

Z: "Do I have breastmilk?" (holding pump flange up to his belly button)

Me: "No, honey."

Z: (pause) "Do I have soy milk?"

Me: "No, honey."

Z: (pause) "Do I have cow milk?"

Me: "No, honey."

Z goes off to ponder other imponderables.

Sugar Boy

Yes, that is my son eating brown sugar off the floor.
Do I really need to say anything else?

He's real

He fusses like any other baby (in case there were
any misperceptions out there) but is still
very cute when mad.

Peaceful

Growing Pains

So, our family is adjusting, for the most part, to our new family member...but as with any adjustment, change is not always painless.

A few of the pains:

• Zach asking when Marcus is going home (and not seeming very satisfied with the answer that Marcus IS home)
  
• Zach acting out more and more vigorously (those of you who have traveled this road before, tell me it DOES get better...?) with more and more time outs, more door slamming, more yelling...
• Zach told me last week that he was going to "cry a little" when he went to bed--he was feeling sad about Marcus being here (this broke my heart into a million pieces and I still cannot talk/write about it without tearing up)
• Me feeling like we're sending Zach away each day when he goes to Grams' and really struggling with the way that feels
• Post-partum issues seem to be in full swing for me...the tears are coming a little too freely these days but I've got a call in to my counselor
  
• Chris struggling with balancing two kids--and the stress that comes with it. Interestingly enough, up to the point that the hormones/emotions kicked in for me, the transition of one to two kids was WAY easier than the transition of zero to one...now I'm struggling more and Chris is doing much better.
  

I know we will get thru this relatively unscathed...after all, families have been doing it for millenia...but in the meantime, we'll take any words of wisdom or positive thoughts you may have to offer.

Brothers

3.23.08

Bubble sweetness

Some pics of Zach from Easter...what a joy to be a child!

Pics of Marcus

Looooong overdue, I know. :)

Isn't he CUTE?!

Still cute, even when he's mad

In NICU, March 15, 2008
(that's his IV)

Catching rays under the billi lights

He's here!

Introducing Marcus Samuel...the latest and greatest member of our family!

Born 3.14.08 at 8:10 AM, 7 pounds 9 ounces, 20 inches long. He's amazingly perfect.

And Zachary couldn't be a prouder big brother.

Well...this is it

I'm headed to bed soon for the last nite I will ever be pregnant in this lifetime.

In approximately 10 hours, our family will have increased in size by 25%. Life as we currently know it will be irreversibly changed. This is big stuff.

No wonder I'm a bit of an emotional wreck. I can still blame it on pregnancy hormones tho...

Wish us luck--we'll update as soon as we're able.

Zachary hath spoken...

And the name of the baby shall be:

Puzzle if it's a boy

or

Nuzzle if it's a girl.

Fooky D'winture

Zach's latest favorite game.

Spooky Adventure. Involves a dark house, little panther eye lights, Daddy, Octopus and the "cat rope." And sometimes the "crawlface" (crawlspace).

Don't ask.