Reminiscing

It's been a long week here with the baby. His growth spurt hit hard on Saturday night and lasted til Tuesday. Now he's making up for it by sleeping a little more these past couple of days. Currently he's swinging away while I watch some US Open. I am SO glad I was able to attend a match at the open while living in the city. Curtesy of ex-roomie I got to see Nadal, my tennis cutie :) Sadly, he lost his match.

Yellowstone sister and I plan on attending the big tennis majors at some point. I have never attended Wimbledon..however I was there in May '05 and it was just a quiet town outside London. No strawberries and cream, no tennis, sniff. In fact I was a little bummed that I took the train all the way out there for a whole lot of nothing. Oh well.

The French Open would be sweet to see. The only vivd memories I have from visiting France are these; 1) taking shelter from the wind in a bomb shell whole in Normandy 2) eating an amazing crepe after touring the ridiculously steep cliff of Omaha Beach 3) standing under the Eiffel Tower 4) eating my first chocolate croissant at the hotel for breakfast. I should remember more, but it was the last few days of a whirlwind high school trip. (Greece, Italy, Switzerland and France in 18 days). Anyway...point is, didn't see any tennis then.

Lastly the Australian Open. Hmmm, that is a hike for me. As much as I want to get over to that side of the world...I really have my doubts I could handle that plane ride. Maybe with enough sleeping aids...

Gotta get back to playing some tennis! I miss it. I am pumped about my soccer team though. But, wow, I am SO out of shape! Two days after my game and my shins and ankles are crying. Also, as much as my competitive self hurts to admit it, I am on the bottom quarter of my team. Sigh.

Well, I never begin writing a post with a theme in mind. The only thing I do know starting these posts is what pictures I want to share :) So, even though these pictures are not relevant to the post, here they are. Because who doesn't like seeing babies? Especially the cutie Harrison?

Look what I can do!

Mom's teeth are HUGE! Harry is mesmerized by them.

He actually wont close his mouth while in this position. He seems to think holding it open helps him keep his head up. 

Flipping

The little boy rolled over today! And wouldn't you know it, I missed the actual flip. I was lying next to him reading the paper and listening to him talk and yell at the ground doing tummy time. I look over he's doing the running man on the floor tummy down, look at the paper, look back to a silent baby starring belly up at the ceiling. I think he was even a little confused at how he got there.

Volunteered!

Yes! I got to check off something on my list of things! Jon drove Harrison and I down to Reeds Lake where I volunteered at the aid station for a bike tour. It was through the Ronald McDonald House. Not many riders showed up however which was a little surprising. But I did it and that's the point. Plus I got to oogle pretty great bikes and a beautiful lake front.

I Harrison news, he is still adorable. The following pictures are of him talking to one of his favorite things, the living room lamp. He is always happy and surprised to see it.

He's been a smiley lad all week. His new talent is bringing his hands together, and sticking them both in his mouth. All this time his arms and hands have wandered around in circular motions, never touching. It's funny to see such a simple but important skill develop. Now he can catch a baseball (in theory).

 

Still loving his moose. 

And after a long day of talking to lamp and playing with moose it's time once again for story time (courtesy of Daddy) and dinner (served by me). 

 

Sweet dreams. 

My Baby Joins me on the Medical Oddity List...great

Well, Baby Harrison has had quite a week. It has been a large world of stress sitting on my shoulders since last Friday when Jon came home. The stress has keyed down a notch as of today, 4pm when we were discharged from the hospital.

Unfortunatly this story begins and ends with a mystery, so there is still no answer to our concern. Here are the Events:

6pm Friday: I am feeding Harrison and chatting with Jon. While running my fingers through Harry's mess of hair I discover a fluid filled bump. It is very light feeling and watery. It fits into my palm. We are disturbed. I call the pediatrician who is profoundly stumped and advides us to seek medical attention within 4 hours. Okay....everything is closed, so to the ER we go.

7-9p we are in the ER being examined by doctors and nurses. None of whom has ever seen anything like it. "Are you certain he was not dropped?" Nope no trauma. A CT is ordered and Jon and I find ourselves doning lead vests and holding down a screaming Harrison while the scan whirs around us. Result: no abnormalities, no fractures. Go home and seek a pediatric neurosurgeon to be seen ASAP. Okay....

10am Saturday: We go to our pediatrician's office hours and Harrison gets worked over by the doc. "Are you certain he was not injured?" Yup, I promise. Still no clue.

Sunday: Bump is now as big as my hand.

Monday: Call the neurosurgeon. "We are not able to see Harrison til the 19th, the doctors are on vacation". Okay...

Wednesday: Follow up appointment with our pediatrician. "No one has dropped him, correct?" I swear he has NOT been dropped. SHe orders bloodwork. Baby has 3 unsuccessful blood draw attempts before finally falling asleep and shutting down. They get the much needed blood from his ankle finally.
Hematologist wants to run more tests for bleeding disorders and wants him as Inpatient. To the hospital we go. I have a sleep over on a pull out while Harry's crib looks a little prison like.

Thursday: "Is it possible you or someone dropped him?" ...........NO. "Well, we'll order a full body bone scan to make sure no other injuries are or have occurred." a.k.a.- are you lying to us?
Bone sca shows no abnormalities.
Still no answers to our questions of 1) what is the liquid 2) where did it come from 3) will it go away

However, the one answer I NEEDED was answered. He will be okay. He has an odd liquid bump on his head but he will be OKAY.

Good enough for me.

With Great Responsibility comes a Sore Tummy

There are moments when being a new, first time parent is harder than I ever imagined. In these moments I wish that there were someone else above me that I should defer to their good sense and authority on choosing the right thing to do. But there is not. Jon and I are the authority, we are the parents and we have to know what to do for our little boy. This can be gut wrenchingly scary.

I just want to know that I am doing everything I can for him. I want to protect him from everything, and knowing that that is somewhat impossible makes my stomach hurt.

I love my little sock monkey boy.