Home Sweet Home

Caleb is happily napping upstairs in his own room. It is very nice to be able to say that! Anyway, he's doing much better and we really appreciate all the support we received!

Our new New Year's Resolution?

Keep Caleb out of the hospital for about 6 weeks. We're taking baby steps :)

We Just Missed It So Much!

Caleb thought that his all-expenses paid trip to CHOP last month was so much fun that he would do it again! This time Caleb was upgraded to the deluxe suite on the surgical trauma ward. I have to admit, the rooms here are much nicer than they were at the EDECU (Emergency Department Extended Care Unit).

Caleb was diagnosed with intussusception. This is a condition where part of the bowl (in his case, the small intestine) folds up on itself, like a telescope would do. If this had happened in the colon, he would have needed either an air enema or surgery to fix it, but his was called a transient intussusception, where it unkinked itself. He started having bloody stools on Friday and by Saturday night we were sure something was up. So back to CHOP we headed and they greeted us with sleepy, tired, arms. By the way, if you have to go to CHOP's ER, I highly recommend 4 in the morning-- all the late nighters have already been taken through and those waiting to go in in the morning have not arrived yet.

Caleb is still here in the hospital, but he's doing much better and we think we will be discharged tomorrow. He's been running a fever of about 104-105 so they are hesitent to discharge us until they know the source of the fever. Other than that, we are just waiting it out. He was started on clear liquids and hopefully he'll get some solid food tonight.

Thanks to those of you who have been so willing to help out! We really appreciate it.

Yeah, I know... He's a toddler

I'm a really hard time accepting that Caleb is not an infant any longer.  Don't get me wrong-- I totally love playing with him at this stage- he can walk, he laughs, he enjoys playing with toys.  I love watching him figure things out and how he tries to imitate us-- it's great.

However, I still can't seem to accept that he can eat normal foods now.  I've become that crazy paranoid mother!  When did that happen? (Don't answer that)

It took me reading a sample menu for toddlers to think that maybe he could eat cheerios and milk for breakfast. He's been eating dry cheerios for almost 4 months now and he downs milk by the gallons, but put them together-- never thought of that!  I was going over his foods with his pediatrician (we're trying to see if we can avoid foods that might irritate the diaper rash) and she looked at me like I was crazy when I told her that I ground up Caleb's chicken.  "He doesn't have many teeth," I explained, hoping to vindicate myself.  "He can gum it.  Just chop it up into bite sized pieces."  She replied.  And then it dawned on me... cooked chicken does tend to fall apart in your mouth.... genius over here!

Gah! Does anyone else have this problem?  Or know of any good foods to feed an independent toddler?  

'Cause, yeah, I know... He's a toddler.  

Ooo Yeah...

Pete, his sister Mandy, her husband Soren, and I went to the (Pittsburgh) Penguins vs (Philadelphia) Flyers game last night. Mandy got the tickets from her work and we decided to make an evening of it. We went out to eat first and then joined the crazed hockey fans for a really fun game. I didn't know what to expect, but hockey is much more fun to watch at the game than it is on TV. No offense hockey fans, but really-- it is.

We had a great time and to top it off, the Penguins won! Since I'm not a die hard hockey fan, I didn't rub it in too much, but it was a bit fun to gloat. (Like, writing a whole post about how my team beat Pete's team isn't rubbing it in too much, right?)

Thanks a million to Dave and Anika who somehow managed to watch Caleb while we enjoyed the evening!!!

This, That and the Other

OK... I suppose I'll start at the beginning (a very good place to start, when we read, we begin with... nevermind)

Since Caleb's hospital fiasco we started using a new diaper called the gDiaper. We feel a little poser-ish using these yuppy, environmentally friendly diapers, but they are totally worth it!I talked about them a little in a previous post, but really--- these diapers have been incredible. I don't know what we would have done if Caleb's diaper rash had continued to progress the way it was. His pediatrician calls it the worst diaper rash she has ever seen, and the doctors in the ER at CHOP (the number one Children's Hospital in the country) claim it is beyond their level of expertise. Not very reassuring. Once we started these diapers, his rash cleared up in a matter of hours, and he has only had one sever case of rash in almost three weeks (which is a miracle, really). So yeah-- his diapers rock.

Next step: Birthday!

Ahh! My baby is one! I can hardly believe that this little boy is mine. It seems like he's always been this way-- running all over, getting into things, cheesin' it up-- but as I take the time to remember him as a newborn, I can hardly believe that the tiny little baby (well, not so tiny) I held is now this beautiful toddler. Bah!

Caleb blowing out his candles.

First bite of cake... not so sure about this

He apparently warmed up to it :) This is Caleb's version of "All Done" and "More" all in one

The spoiled little kid had so many birthday outings! He had a birthday dinner with Dave, Anika and Charlie, birthday cake with some of Pete's extended family at a family Christmas dinner, birthday cake on his actual birthday at our place (the pictures above) and then birthday celebrations with my family! It was quite the ordeal. We'll be having an "un-birthday" party for him in June so that he can celebrate with his friends.

After That: Christmas

We spent Christmas in Pittsburgh with my family. It was great to have the chance to see my siblings-- everyone was there except for Aaron, who lives in Hong Kong. Maybe next year we can all be together!

We did manage to get all the new grandchildren together this Christmas. Caleb was born last December and was followed rather closely by two cousins-- Dean in February and Sophie in March. This was the first chance to get them all together and I have to say, these kids are going to be trouble! It was great getting to see everyone and we had a spectacular Christmas.

My father, giving his annual reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." No one can read this story like my father can. It was absolutely beyond words to watch another generation enjoy my father's talent at making a story come to life. Here is Dean staring intently.

Caleb sitting in his Christmas present! A beautiful new carseat. :)

Caleb was spoiled by friends and family alike. He got more toys and presents in one week than I thought was possible. It is so much fun though to watch him learn how to interact with objects and people.

We also got to spend sometime with my grandmother-- "Bala" Reddy. She will be 92 next month and is as active as ever. Here she is with Dean, Caleb and Sophie-- three of her great-grandchildren.

All in all we got to spend some great time with my family. We came back here to Philly for the New Year and rang it in with two of our friends, Amanda and Bobby. It was low key-- exactly the way I hope 2009 turns out to be.

Phew. There it is. I'm sure I left half of it out. But this is all you are getting. So there.

My Little Housekeeper

Despite the fact that Caleb is a known terror, he has recently found a new passion-- the "sweeper" as we like to say in Pittsburgh. He spends most of the day walking around with the sweeper, pushing it back and forth like he is trying to clean up. Today he figured out how to turn it on and we got a little bit of video of it.

He is also totally obsessed with the beads you see him wearing in this video. He puts them on first thing in the morning and wears them all day. I take them off for naps, but its the first thing he reaches for when he wakes up. He gets very upset when I take them away from him. He's an interesting kid.

Blog Shmog

I know, I know, I've left you all in a lurch. And here I am posting, making you think there is something valuable in this. Alas, there is not. I'll post tomorrow. I promise. Right after the Steelers win their playoff game.