It has been a while since I posted much besides video. It has been a busy time, and I have fallen behind! We are getting ready for the holidays, which we will be spending in Cincinnati with friends and the Boones.
We are going to Bristol, Connecticut this week while Chris has a load-in for ESPN. Owen and I will have afternoons to play in the swimming pool, and since Chris is being put up in a Residence Inn, we will have a living room and kitchen area to spend our evenings together in after Owen goes to bed...much nicer than when we usually stay in hotels; eating our dinners in the bathroom, and watching movies on a computer with headphones on!
Our Thanksgiving holiday was very pleasant. We spent it with Ena and Richard Pirchner; our friend, Ann Marie's parents. They live 40 minutes away in Red Bank, NJ. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Chris made a very unfortunate discovery....When our Annabelle was sick a few months ago, she spent a week at the animal hospital. She made a pretty strong recovery, but brought fleas home from her stay. -That is what Chris discovered last week. So, we have had two months of bug visitors multiplying and irritating our squirrelies, without recognizing any of the signs of a problem! Phoebe and Annabelle have been more irritable with one another, but not really itchy. Here is a picture of Annabelle after her bath. I think she decided that she was getting the "Owen" treatment, and that was a pretty good thing!
The most recent update is regarding Owen's tuesday morning visit to his pediatrician. He was due for a booster shot, and a well-visit inspection; two months have gone by since his last Dr. appointment. Our doctor is very pleased with how well Owen is developing...crawling, grasping, babbling in all the right ways...but we were all shocked to discover that he had not gained any weight in the last two months! He is still 16 lbs. and 10 oz. The nurse and Dr. reweighed him 3 times to be sure, because no one was expecting it. I found myself feeling like I had missed this critical detail about my baby, and how could I when I am with him nearly all of the time?? Dr. Rodriguez assumes the issue is no more than that my milk supply has dropped down, and just isn't sufficient for his needs. But for all of you that have spent any time with Owen, you know, he is a happy boy...didn't complain or ever act like he was still hungry after a feeding. Dr. has gave me a supplement plan with formula and more solid food meals each day, and next Friday, we return for another "weigh-in". She is concerned, but not worried...he looks like the model of well-being in every other way.
So far the extra feedings are going well. Owen likes the advantages of drinking from a bottle instead of nursing; he can still look around the room and see what is going on. He likes to be involved in his surroundings! He has also sampled nearly all of the "stage 1" foods...likes: peaches, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes. LOVES: apples, bananas and
prunes (who knew!) and strongly dislikes Peas. No shocker there, folks. He likes to eat. Yesterday while Chris and I were waiting at a restaurant for lunch, we were playing with Owen in his high chair. Our drinks came, with wedges of Lemon on the rims of the glasses, and I said, "Maybe Owen should try lemon!" so Chris put the wedge to a very receptive and curious mouth, and what followed was absolutely priceless...the most scrunched-up, sour face a person could ever make that looked like it was going to burst into wailing. When Chris immediately took the offending flavor away, Owen quickly recovered, then started grunting with open mouth for more! We love that guy! Chris gave him more lemon wedge to knaw at, and Owen was perfectly content. -guess he just didn't like the initial shock.
