Only the Bad

Today I saw a man wearing maternity shorts. He was about 65 years old, and had a serious beer gut. Note to self: Maternity clothes are never the answer to a clothing crisis.

Only the Good

*all pictures taken by Danica Nelson Photography
I feel like lately we've had so many posts about the things going wrong with Caleb that we are in desperate need to have a post all about things going well for the kid.

About three weeks ago, Caleb started saying his first words. A little bit of a late bloomer, Caleb all of a sudden started saying five words at once. One day he walked over to Charlie, pointed to him, and said "Baby." Except that he says it with this hick accent so that it sounds like bebe. It's pretty cute. He also says, buhbye, uh-oh, all done, all gone, hi, ball, book, mimi (I like to think this is his way of saying mama, but it might just be blabber) and dada. Along with a lot of his own language, which must make perfect sense to him since he uses the same "words" all the time.

Caleb is full on running these days. It's so cute to see him toddle after his ball (his favorite). He loves to play fetch, which makes him more and more like a little puppy, but it's his game, not mine :)

One of his other favorite things to do it play hide-n-go seek. He started doing this last week at the hospital. He would hide behind the machines and I would come around and surprise him. We play this for about 30 minutes each day and he is always shocked to find me, even though I hide on the stairs 100% of the time.

Caleb also LOVES to read books. We brought down his book shelf into his playroom so that he could play with them more. While this has cause endless hours of putting books away, it has also brought many smiles. I'll come into the room and he'll be sitting there, surrounded by books, holding one of them (usually upside down haha) and blabbering to himself. It's so cute to see him "reading."

Mostly though, he loves to play. His favorite playground equiptment is the slide and his favorite toy is a ball, which he'll kick for you if you ask him. He's out of control when it comes to dancing (I'll have to post a video sometime, it's crazy funny) and he will jump on command. He loves to point out other "babies" who are usually two to three years older than him. He's starting to go down stairs properly and is pretty proud of himself when he can pull it off.

All in all, he's a rather normal toddler. He makes us laugh and we can hardly stop ourselves from giving in to his rather insessent demands, which usually revolve around oreos. He may not look like me, but he sure is my son!

Results

We found out after the Enema on Thursday that Caleb has "extra loops" of bowel. Apparently this is causing the bleeding and other GI problems. We're not really sure what this means yet, but we're going to finish the "full work-up" and then we'll discuss our options at that point. For now, Caleb is doing just fine and seems to be adjusting to his daily medications really well.

Thanks to those of you who have been such great friends while we try to sort this whole thing out. We really appreciate everyone's concern and support!

Enema Smenema

So due to the nature of the test this time there will be no pictures... sorry to disappoint.

Caleb survived the ordeal and managed to make it home and take a good nap before he experienced some, ehhhh, *side effects*. It's going to be a long day!

Status Quo

I was making my bed tonight (OK, so it doesn't always get done first thing in the morning...) and I thought about the process we went through to purchase our bedding. Don't worry, I have a point here.

We wanted a bedding set like you see in the magazines... a big duvet that you can sink into, with a nice, light throw blanket, gracefully, naturally laying across the bed with perfect placement. We wanted pillows upon pillows, so that half the bed was covered in them (So, really, I wanted pillows, Pete thinks they are pointless).

Image via Wikipedia

We started the journey at Restoration Hardware-- not to purchase, 'cause we all know I can't afford it, but to get some good ideas. Of course, I found the perfect set. I asked the sales associate how they get it to look so good and, {HERE'S MY POINT} she said that they use two duvets inside one duvet cover to get it to look fluffy.

Seriously? Now, I have known for years that clothing stores use pins to help fit the clothes to the mannequins. And we all know that the idea of a 16 hour lip-stick is right up there with science fiction. So yeah, we know that we hardly ever purchase what we see. But two duvets inside one cover?

Is it just me or does it seem like more and more we (I'm using a generic "we" intended to include mostly moms, but I know that's a stereotype, so I'm over it) are faced with a pressure to appear perfect? Is it not enough that our clothes are frumpy and our make-up smears? We buy gym memberships and attend play dates. We cook from scratch (haha) and cut coupons. We attempt to clean our houses, only to learn that the products we are using are not "green" enough. And now, we can't even make our beds and live up to expectations.

So here's to breaking through the status quo. Here's to not caring if I have to feed my family Hamburger Helper so that I can have the time to take a shower. Here's to having an unfluffy bed and clothes that don't really fit. Because you know what? I'm doing the best I can-- and so are you. That should be enough. And it IS enough.

But only if we'll let it be.

Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three

Caleb went in to CHOP today to have his first test done. It's called a Meckel's scan (checking for, creatively named, Meckel's), and it was looking for stomach tissue that is in the wrong place. He was sedated, given some radioactive fluid through his IV and then for 30 minutes he had continuous pictures of his belly taken. We also learned that he has lost 1/2 pound since Tuesday. Just keeping that chic figure of his :)

I learned several things.


1. Caleb has apparently inherited my hatred for needles. The nurses always comment on how feisty he is, but today took the cake. Poor kid is going to need some serious therapy.


2. Sedation works really well.


3. When in doubt, tape the child to the table. Seriously? Why did I not think of this first?

Caleb had to be NPO (nothing by mouth) for several hours before the test. Add that to the fact that they ran 1.5 hours late and I was faced with one of the first (of many, I am sure) moments where I had to eat my words as a mother. I took him to McDonalds. Bleh. But he sure did love him some chicken McNuggets.

Next up? Barium Enema to check for Hirschsprung's and a Sweat Test to check for Cystic Fibrosis.

Bring it on.

Vocab

Do you use the word Nebby? Or know what it means?