Sundry tidbits

Mr. Benito is now the proud "owner" of 8 little teeth, and these days he is constantly developing in so many delightful little ways.

He had his second professional haircut this morning and sat surprisingly still for it. I think he enjoyed all the mirrors to watch himself in (as well as the adoring attention from the other customers).

Ben is getting steadier on his feet, but still doesn't really try to walk in public... and since I don't really want him to crawl in most public places he often gets annoyed pretty quickly when we're hanging out somewhere. He is so used to being able to go where he wants to at home, it's very chaffing for him to be limited now. Sadly, he still tries to eat everything (particularly leaves and dead bugs) on the floor, which makes me cut short his oh-so-fun explorations.

Ben is getting much better at mimicking our sounds: both speech and silly sounds like "motorboat". It's awesome to see how much better he is at that.

We think he's sort of learned the "more" sign language sign now. He executes it more like a clap, but he does seem to use it in appropriate situations.

Of our two cats, Luc (the white cat pictured below), has turned out to be a wonderfully baby-friendly animal. Pre-Benjamin days, I would have labeled Luc as a grumpy, slightly annoying pet (when he wasn't trying to lick us he'd tap-dance on our stomachs). It seems like Luc has really mellowed in the last year, though, and he lets Ben do practically anything to him. Ben loves to pat Luc's whiskers and tweak his ears, and he repeatedly tries to open-mouthed kiss Luc's fur. Mostly Luc will just purr throughout any attention Ben throws his way. It's really nice to be surprised by one's pet in a good way!

In less than a week he'll be eleven months old. Pretty amazing!

"let's shake on it!"

walkin' fool

new favorite pose

video: taking a "road trip

**

Primary mode of transportation for Ben: soon to be walking!

Happy Father's Day from my two best boys

Ben has gone from furniture cruising and a lot of crawling, to toddling and lurching forward on his own two feet as much as about 5 feet in a row! (see two videos below)

It won't be long now until walking is the name of the game. Hurray for cleaner knees and tops-of-feet! Uh-oh dirty bottoms-of-feet and constantly chasing after "trouble." That's okay; I find I like each new stage he goes through much better than the previous ones.

teething CRAAAAZY eyes

We had a lovely Father's Day weekend (I started a scavenger hunt gift tradition for Clay), and Ben was mostly in a good mood. 

In a way it was a very fatherhood-ish weekend: where we planned to do one thing, but had to constantly readjust and do something (usually) just as good. We tried to go to Boneshakers' for Sunday brunch, but they had had an electrical outage over night, so we went to The Monterrey (yum!) instead. We decided to drive up to Austin, but Ben woke up and started to get fussy...and traffic was bad, so we just took a little drive instead. We were going to have dinner out, but Ben was inconsolable yesterday afternoon (he's cutting his eighth tooth), so Clay picked up Pakastani food. It seems like that's what parenthood is all about.

A breathing champion & some baby steps

Our first big news: Ben took three consecutive little steps yesterday! Today he hasn't done more than one, but we are still very excited. Soon the journey into the toddler-side will be complete..... :)

I think Ben was so keen to take those steps yesterday because we went to hang out with a wonderful group of women and their toddlers and babies (and goats!) & he didn't want to be left behind.

Our second bit of splendid news: the pulmonologist says Ben's breathing is so good now we don't need to do any more testing on him!!

Mmmmm goaty kisses

We had a follow-up visit with the pulmonologist today, and he said Ben is no longer struggling to breathe, and that his tummy looks like a "normal" baby's tummy (instead of heaving in and out with each breath like it used to). The doctor said that the reflux meds and the thickened feeds have made it so that Ben's laryngomalasia is no longer causing him to work double time to breathe. I had thought that I was noticing a real improvement in his breathing a week or so ago, but I was afraid it might just be wishful thinking. I'm so relieved!

One of the tests that the hospital had wanted to do for Ben would have tested to see if he aspirates while he eats, and since the treatment for that condition is thickening feeds (which we are already doing; and since Ben is doing SO much better) the doctor thinks we can forgo that test, and NOT have to put him under to do a CAT scan of his lungs (unless he starts getting worse).

The doctor also said that we're going to taper off the inhaler and now only have to do it once a day. This is great because Ben really fights it, and now I can just plan to do it in the evenings when Clay is here to help hold our little tiger.

***P.S. Who loves yogurt?  THIS guy ***

who needs gel when you've got yogurt in your hair?

post yogurt binge-zoning out

Clap! Bang! Bonk!

Besides reaching a whopping TEN months old this week, Ben managed to accomplish another feat: no medical emergencies or new worries!

Actually, his niftiest new tricks are waving and clapping. It took Ben a long time to learn to wave (and he still doesn't do it consistently), but after I clapped his hands together a few days ago, he almost immediately "perfected"clapping (see video below). I think he especially enjoys it because anything that makes noise is a great favorite with him. (For example, banging on tables at restaurants and smacking the mirror at home.)

I feel like Ben is very very close to walking, and expect any day to see him take some real steps. I know I may very well eat these words, but I really don't see how him walking will be that much more of a headache for me (at least while he and I are in my very baby-proofed house).

Since Ben immediately started pulling up on everything as soon as he learned to crawl, walking won't mean that he'll be able to get to anything that he can't already get to now... although when he learns to climb.... I shudder to think of it!

daddy: conquered

smothering daddy

He's already so mobile and so interested in everything. Earlier today he was trying to smoosh a pillow he'd grabbed off the sofa into clay's face (see photos), and ended up fish-hooking the membrane inside Clay's nose, giving Clay a nosebleed that took soak three tissues to mop up. He can be one dangerous little guy!

mirror, mirror...

It's so funny how things have gone from, "Oh thank goodness Ben is quiet, he must be safe and happy" to "Uh, oh. I don't hear Ben, I hope he's not trying to eat a dead bug again."
Somehow I thought it would take a lot longer to get from one extreme to the other. All in all, I still greatly prefer each new stage he enters to the one that preceded it!

We went to the pediatrician this past week for a post-hospital follow-up visit, and she said Ben's breathing improvement made him look like a "totally different baby." All his vitals were where they should be and I think the reflux meds + inhaler twice a day are starting to make a difference in how hard he has to work to breathe all the time. Thank goodness! I have a doctor's visit with the pulmonologist this week, so we'll see what he says.

Some part of me is still clearly quite worried about Ben's breathing issues given my dream last night. I woke Clay up around 1:30 in a DEAD panic certain that "Ben" (the pillow I had been hugging) was not breathing, nor was "Ben's body" (my pillow) even warm. I was so frightened I leaped out of bed and shook Clay awake. Poor Clay.   :)

clap! clap! clap!

conked out

eyebrows!!!

motorboat

no really, I'm awake...

All's well that ends well

Ben and Gramma

Happy anniversary to Clay and me! We just realized that 12 years ago today we were in El Paso getting married! It's funny to think how much things can change in twelve years. We have had such a roller coaster of ups and downs in the last week, it's no wonder we didn't remember our anniversary until this afternoon.

After being taken to the hospital last Wednesday around noon, Ben quickly stabilized and now seems mostly himself. Wednesday night they wanted to keep him in the hospital over night to monitor him, so I went home, packed an over-night bag, and stayed with him Wednesday night at the hospital. Because the doctors thought Ben had some sort of a virus (he had a runny nose and a cough), we were put in the "airborne infection isolation room." Every nurse who came in had to suit up in plastic gown and mask every time they entered the room (until his respiratory panel came back negative the next day).

our scary hospital room door

I don't think I'd had that sleepless of a night since right after Ben was born. The fold-out chair-bed was like sleeping on creaky iron bars, and the nurses came in every hour or so to check Ben's vitals. At some point the machine Ben was hooked up to started to beep because his oxygen level dipped down below 90, so the nurses had to come in and adjust his position repeatedly. Luckily Ben only woke up twice during the night, but I don't think I got more than 2 and a half hours of sleep altogether.

hospital "cage"

The only thing that got me through that terrible night in any semblance of a good mood was that I assumed we would be discharged from the hospital that day (since Ben's vital signs were okay). The pulmonologist came in Thursday morning, however, and took a look at Ben and decided his breathing was still concerning enough that there were three more tests he'd like to run: an ultrasound to test for little heart defects (which came back just fine), an EKG to check out his lungs in detail (which we still haven't done), and a "sweat test" to see if he has cystic fibrosis (which finally this morning came back negative!).

the "sweat test"

an unhappy hospital moment

The doctor said that each of these tests would be a 4-6 hour out-patient visit to the hospital, but if Ben stayed in the hospital (admitted as a patient), we could get at least 2 of them done that day. The LAST thing in the world that I wanted to do was stay another minute in the hospital but I knew that it was the best thing to do. So Clay brought me breakfast, and I tried to keep Ben happy throughout another long day in the hospital. Now that he has learned to crawl, he really felt confined when he could only crawl in the hospital crib. The only good thing about Thursday was that the pulmonologist told the hospital Ben could be unhooked from all the machines, which made him a lot happier. The nurses were all very nice, and there was even a "volunteer grandma"at the hospital that came around and brought him toys and exersaucers to play in.

everybody (but especially grandparents) loves Benjamin

Clay's mom (as usual) rose to the occasion, and drove down Thursday from Oklahoma to help out during our hospital stay, and that made things so much better. Not surprisingly the hospital only managed to get one of the three tests done on Thursday, and the "sweat test" done Friday morning. (Clay went above and beyond    Friday the hospital's pediatrician mentioned some OTHER tests we might have done for Ben, but at that point I said we would just have to do them out-patient, and that we needed to get home. We didn't actually get discharged until Friday around 3 in the afternoon (Clay's mom made that wait so much more bearable, though!), and we all slept so much better Friday night!

Since then San Antonio has had a bit of a flood--Saturday was the second rainiest day in San Antonio's history (we got almost 10 inches). We all stayed (mostly) high and dry, and after Clay's mom left for Oklahoma, my parents drove in from El Paso to spend the holiday weekend. A lovely time was had by all, and I finally, FINALLY feel like things might get back to normal.

"driving" grandma

Ben and his best bud (Luke)

Grandpa smack-down

lovin' the Hendrix

An ambulance ride for Benjamin

feeling better once at the hospital

A visit to the pediatrician's office this morning turned into a nightmare today. I took Ben to the pediatrician's office for cold-like symptoms, but his breathing was very fast and his oxygen levels were very low. The pediatrician gave him a abuterol nebulizer treatment to try to improve his breathing, and his stats got much worse.

We could hear a crackly sound when he breathed and he didn't want to wake up. The pediatrician got even more concerned and gave him oxygen, which didn't really seem to help how he was feeling, but it did improbe his stats. She was afraid he might start turning blue, so they called the ambulance to take him to the hospital. Talk about one of the scariest moments of my life.

I can honestly say I have always been a bit curious about the inside of an ambulance, but NEVER wanted to have that curiosity satisfied. Oh well. They strapped him into a little child seat in the ambulance and sat next to him holding the oxygen mask on the whole way.

Clay followed the ambulance in his car, and has been at the hospital with me all afternoon. A chest x-ray revealed no pneumonia, and a different nebulizer treatment seemed to stabilize his breathing. His oxygen levels have returned to normal. I'd forgotten how S-L-O-W-L-Y everything moves at a hospital: from the ordering of x-rays to the relaying of info to the letting us know what the doctor wants to do.

We finally saw a hospital pediatricianand she confirmed that they want to keep him over night for observation. She thinks his reflux + his floppy larynx + a whatever virus he has combined into a bad situation and the first nebulizer treatment made things worse (apparently some kids just react poorly to abuterol).

So.... basically Ben is probably fine (other than a cold or some other virus), but given the scary situation earlier, he's going to be "under observation" over night. I think that's a good idea... I just don't relish the idea of sleeping on a chair-bed tonight. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think.

Anyway, the important thing is that Ben seems to be back to his old hammy self, chewing on everything and desperately wanting to crawl on the dirty hospital floor.

a floppy larynx!

this little piggy went to the hospital

After 5 hours at the hospital this morning, we finally have a definitive answer to Ben's breathing abnormalities: he has laryngomalasia, or a "floppy larynx." This means that the cartilage in his larynx is a bit softer than normal, but it will harden as he gets older. This is apparently the very best possible outcome we could have hoped for.

The doctor also said that Ben's reflux may be making the laryngomalasia worse, so we've got a prescription for reflux medicine. He wants us to continue the inhaler twice a day and the reflux medicine once a day, and the doctor thinks we will probably see an improvement in how hard he has to work to breathe in a few weeks. I have an appointment to go back to the doctor's office in mid-June and he'll take another look a Ben and adjust (or eliminate) the meds.

pre-op kisses

I am so, so pleased that this is the outcome. I feel like I've had this constant worry stomach-ache for the last few weeks, and finally can let it go.

 I am also so so tired from getting up at 1 a.m. to feed Ben right before his 6 hour fasting started, then getting up at 4:00 to have him at the hospital by 5:30 a.m. Poor Ben wasn't happy to be fasting for that long, but he eventually got so tired of fussing that he fell asleep right on the gurney, so he was alseep when they wheeled him away. The procedure only took like 30 minutes (most of that time was them trying to get the IV in), and then the doctor came out to explain everything to us. What a morning!

In other news, I continue to thoroughly enjoy having my wonderful sister's company this week. She, Ben and I spent yesterday at the zoo, and he got to splash around in the Tiny Tots area's Riverbank for the fist time (see video below) . He was a little unsure at first (he still doesn't like baths), but after a while really loved it.

This week Nic also helped me get a bit more organized: we separated all of Ben's outgrown clothing into different sizes and then used space bags to shrink them down. Ben will probably have a brother or sister one day and I'm hoping a lot of the clothes will be wearable.

sleepy buddy

Ben "helping" us to organize all of his outgrown clothes

ALL of Ben's outgrown clothes space-bagged down to this

baby bear (in front of the bear enclosure at the zoo)

enjoying the Riverbank at the zoo

Auntie N and Ben with a tapir

petting zoo piggy

more Auntie time