Doctors, Checkups & Shots (Part 1)

Since I’ve been really bad about posting milestones in Hill’s life on here I figured I better start with the basics – his checkups, visiting doctors and finding the perfect surgeons. This is going to be an obscenely long post and will only cover up to before his cleft surgery.  Since he has been to many doctors over the last 6 months we have had many experiences, humbling, stressful, appreciative, uncertain, roller coaster of experiences. I want to make sure I document them all the best I can - not only to reflect back, but maybe to help someone that is going through the same experience the whole dark hole of unknowing to feel a little better.

13 DAYS OLD

At 13 days old we drove to New Orleans, LA to visit the Cleft & Craniofacial Team of New Orleans (Monday, January 25, 2010). I had set this up back in December before he was even born. The nurse and team coordinator of the visit was Mary Ellen Alexander. She is precious and very very helpful. She had sent DVD’s in advance and all kinds of pamphlets and education materials. She literally is the person that talked me out of a depression when we first found out of Hill’s condition and unsure of the severity. She made me feel like this happens to everyone and it’s totally not a big deal, which is not 100% true, but it made me feel that way and I love her because of that.

We got to the Children’s Hospital at like 2:30 pm even though our appointment wasn’t until like 3:00. We wanted to make sure we had all our paper work filled out and were there early. We got there and at that very moment my life changed. The tears well up in my eyes just simply thinking about it. It was the most inexplicable environment I’d ever been in. The place its self was cutesy with bright rainbow colors on the wall and color coded hallways. I had to make a pit stop so while Chip and Hill waited for me I had my first breakdown. I walked into the bathroom and there was a lady and a personal nurse changing a little 5 month old girls’ diaper. The little girl had a tracheal tube, an oxygen tank, a feeding bag and a misshaped head. I briskly walked by them and out of the bathroom after washing my hands and fell into Chips arms only to burst into tears. Who am I to feel sorry for myself and my son when there are so many other horrible, inexplicable, life threatening problems Hill could have been born with? I may have been crying because I was so fortunate. I’m not sure, I’ll ever know – it was numbing. From there we found the waiting room to where we needed to go. We walked into the crowded room, checked in, filled out paperwork and felt the germs and lack of cleanliness that surrounded us. The people there were different. The facility was undoubtedly state of the art, but the germ-ex cleanser immediately was applied and didn’t seem like a place for my 13 day old baby. I looked around the room at all the other children trying to find one that compared to Hill and his right incomplete cleft lip, isn’t that what mothers unconsciously do? Compare their kids to others. I didn’t see any, I saw children that had deformed skulls. Chip said he saw 2 kids that had repaired clefts that looked fantastic, but I didn’t see them. I mostly kept my head down staring at my sweet pea as I cried, praying and thanking God for such a sweet miracle. I prayed for the kids in that room, that they know no suffering and a sense of normalcy. We waited for an hour before they called us back around 4:00pm. They measured and weighed Hill and took us back to a room where we waited, again. Even though we were exhausted it didn’t matter. We were there and ready to meet the doctors and hear what they had to say. The process was another 3 hours. A specialist would come in ask us questions but most didn’t even touch Hill. There was an ear nose & throat doctor that came in, the plastic surgeon, a social worker that came in to evaluate all three of us; were we fit parents, was Hill in a positive environment type questions. The speech pathologist came in and then the genetic doctor to conclude the visit. The plastic surgeon seemed perfectly capable, very educated, young and seemed to think “a few” surgeries would take place and all would be corrected no problem. There wasn’t any explanation on how the procedure would work. The genetic doctor was a trip. That is a story in itself. He asked us a plethora of questions like our family medical history to if Chip and I were related. He was the only one that thoroughly evaluated and inspected Hill. Inspected is an understatement. He literally pulled out a magnify glass and looked at his toes and fingers and pinched him and felt his back and tapped on his tummy and gave the curvature of his ears a good looking at. It was so weird. As he looked at Hill’s feet with lights and magnify glasses I had to ask, “What is it exactly you are doing?” He said I’m looking at the swirl patterns in his feet and hands and fingerprints. Oh, yeah…of course. Silly me. He took a picture of Hill with a camera he conveniently had around his neck in a big bulky man purse the whole time that kept getting in his way and then asked for us to all stand together and take a family picture. I asked him if we could use it as our Christmas card…he didn’t get it.

Nurse Alexander came in to let us view the portfolio we requested. We wanted to see the plastic surgeons work. First of all, the book had the doctor we saw and another plastic surgeons photos of their work in it. How do I know who did what? The positive news was that as you know they are only going to display their ‘best’ work and it seemed as though their best work was incomplete cleft lips like Hill’s. Nurse Alexander let us know that that concluded our visit and they would send us a report after the doctors met together and gave their evaluations. It was 7:00 pm and we had a 5 hour drive home. What a day, a life changing, numbing, eye opening, long tiresome day. Would we use these doctors? They are extremely capable. They confirmed it was merely a cosmetic issue. Do we need a team? Am I supposed to get a warm fuzzy feeling about this whole situation? It was a rollercoaster and Chip and I both were exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally.


TWO WEEK CHECKUP

On Wednesday, January 27th (15 days old), Hill had his routine two week check up with Dr. Erwyn Freeman at Children’s Medical Group in Flowood, MS. He was back up to his birth weight by then (around 9 lbs 1 oz) and his umbilical cord that goobed me out the whole time it was attached finally fell off that exact day in the doctors’ office. The nurse asked me if I wanted to keep it. Umm, what? No! Yuck! Really? I mean, what would I do with it? Do people keep it? What? Yuck, No!

His plastic bell on his tt privates in the front from his circumcision was still on there and goobed me out even more than the umbilical cord. At one point I called JJ to ask her the inappropriate question of “Can I come look at Harvey’s penis?” I wanted to make sure Hill’s was alright because I know NOTHING about boy parts and for some reason Chip didn’t know either. Boys are to know about boy parts. It’s the rules. So anyway, back to the doctor visit. Hill’s privates were ok but his plastic bell thing had not come off even remotely so Dr. Freeman sent us back to Women’s Hospital so the pediatric nurse could cut it off - - the plastic bell not his tt. Dr. Freeman said that they put it on there and he prefers them to take it off. Touche. We discussed with Dr. Freeman his thoughts about a cleft repair doctor and he said since it’s cosmetic that he’d recommend anyone we were comfortable with. He would do a little research in the mean time and ask around. No shots were given, just a ‘hey how ya doin’ do you have any questions?’ visit. Hill was beefing up properly since he was on formula and able to actually eat instead of me depriving him of food. Boo, me and my boobies! He was up to 2 oz. of formula and every time we’d go for a weight check up at the hospital (every other day after he was released from the hospital) they’d load us up on some Similac Advanced 2 oz bottles. I never ever wanted them to stop. I had enough sterile packaged bottle nipples to help feed all the hungry children of the world. All in all he had a good check up and was umbilical cord and circumcision bell free. Yay for funky things falling off!


22 DAYS OLD

On Thursday, February 4th we had an appointment with Dr. Dan Shell in Memphis, TN. By this point my son has been to 3 states before he was even a month old (MS, LA, TN.) That’s more traveling than some do in a lifetime. We came by Dr. Shell via a friend of a friend type deal. Chip’s Aunt Dale knows a doctor that knew this doctor. After extensive research, which you know we did, we thought we’d go to him for an evaluation. Dr. Shell has done thousands of repairs. He wrote a book called pediatric plastic surgery. He was over the cleft team at University of TN for years and he also does Operation Smile where he goes overseas to third world countries to repair clefts. Not to mention all the repairs he's done personally through the mission trips he goes on through his church. There is no telling how many repairs he has done in his lifetime. Undoubtedly the experience was going to be there. The question was; would we get the warm fuzzy feeling we were searching for? Were we asking too much and being unrealistic by wanting that feeling?

We walked into Dr. Shell’s office. It was not anything remotely like our New Orleans trip. He was on the second floor of a commercial building in a suite. He had a pitcher of water with fresh lemon and cucumber slices in it sitting out to enjoy. The Food Network was on the flat screen TV and seemed to possibly be a haven for soccer moms and skin care gurus. We filled out the paperwork and lounged on the big poofy couch until they called us back. Dr. Shell came in and he was a big teddy bear looking fella. He took time to get to know us personally, he too was an Ole Miss alum, we talked and he evaluated Hill; by the end of our discussion not only did I want him to come over for dinner, I learned step for step how he would go in and repair the lip. The procedure they would be doing is the Millard operative technique it's more or less a recess of one lip and an advancement of the other lip to where they symmetrically fall into place. I’m a visual learner and so his demonstration and pointing to Hill’s lip was comforting. He pretty much told us what our day would be like from start to finish from 5:30am the day of the surgery until we left the hospital. It’s almost as if he jumped in my head and knew all the things to say without being prompted or asked. We did have one prerequisite in our search for a surgeon. The procedure had to be done in children’s hospital. We wanted a pediatric anesthesiologist, not someone that puts 180 lb men under, and we wanted people accessible that knew how to work on tiny people hearts and lungs in case of emergency. Dr. Shell assured me that he did all his repairs at Memphis LeBonheur. So to conclude our visit he took a picture of Hill and we told him we’d be in touch.

Dr. Shell walked out of the room and immediately Chip and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, “He’s the one.” We both knew. We both felt that warm fuzzy feeling that we were unsure would come. Our search was over. What a weight that had been lifted. Talking about it now makes me relive that feeling of relief. Wow, what a heavy burden that was weighing on our hearts and minds since the day we found out of Hill’s deformation in utero. I’m pretty sure eons went by; December 14, 2009 until February 4, 2010 (7 ½ weeks) is a lifetime when you are worried about your tiny miracles well being and what exactly is wrong, who is going to fix it….then after we found the perfect doctor came the apprehensiveness between February 4, 2010 and April 21, 2010. That would equal 10 ½ weeks of freaking out knowing the day of his surgery is approaching. We had to learn to live life and absorb every second of it in the interim.


TWO MONTH CHECK UP

On Wednesday, February 24th Hill went for his two month check up and the first 1/2 of his shots in Flowood again with Dr. Freeman. He was such a trooper and didn’t even cry but for literally 2.5 seconds.

His head was 39 inches around

His weight was 10 lbs 6 oz

He was 21 ½ inches long

Was able to eat a 4 oz bottle now

We were able to discuss with Dr. Freeman that we had chosen Dr. Dan Shell as Hill’s plastic surgeon for his cleft and we felt good about it.  All in all, little man had a great check up and we scheduled his second half of two month shots for Monday, March 8th.  We divide them up, just a personal preference.  He doesn't see the doctor when we come in for the second half of shots - A nurse administers them.

This concludes our doctor visits for today.  The next post on Doctors, Checkups & Shots (Part 2) will talk about his cleft repair, follow up appointments and both his 4 & 6 month shots.  Wow, where has all the time gone?

Bucket List

On Sunday, July 11th I was able to mark an item off my bucket list.  My friend JJ and I went to go see Jimmy Buffett live on the Gulf Shores beach of Alabama!  Jimmy, we are on first name basis now, was doing a concert to benefit the Coast and get more tourism down there because of the BP oil spill.  The concert was amazing, definately in the Top 10 experiences of a lifetime.  Getting there was an adventrue and quite possibly the longest day in America...but totally worth it.
We woke up early and hit the road at 8:30am.  We had the Jimmy Buffett channel on the Serius radio (even though they rarely play Buffett) our coolers packed, our sun shades on and we were ready!  We talked and laughed and talked and once we got to Meridian we hit Hwy 45 and drove and drove....and then things seemed different.  Where were we?  I pulled over to ask a nice man at a car wash "Where is Gulf Shores?"  He said, "Umm, that's far."  "Well, where are we - on this map?"  He said, "Sweetheart you are in Laurel."  WHAT?  Good Lawd we went south instead of southeast for a long ways.  Great!  I think my pride was a little wounded because I consider myself to be a good map / navigation person, as is JJ.  So we got back on track - had set ourselves back like an hour,  but no biggie we left in ample time since the gates didn't open until 3:00 anyway.  So, we are driving and talking and laughing with our sun shades on and we are finally getting close!  YAY!  Then I realize we should exit because again, something isn't right.  I exit, pull into a gas station and ask a nice young man, "Did I pass the exit for Gulf Shores?"  He said, "Gulf Shores, Alabama?"  I looked at JJ then looked at him and said, "Yes, Gulf Shores Alabama - - where are we?"  He said, "Oh, you are in Florida."  My hands dropped the map in disgust and confusion and my pride was crushed, again.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  "I'm just a few exits away, right?" I asked.  He said, "Well, I guess -- it's about 30 miles."  Again!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 
JJ and I got back on the road, cracking up!  Twice, really?  We got off track twice?  Killin' me. We passed the Florida / Alabama state line.  How did we miss that the first time? Geez.  Finally we found the appropriate exit because we made a special point to pay special attention.  We were up for a road trip right?  Well we sure got one!  I told JJ that we came to Gulf Shores via Iowa.  But we got there!

We ended up in Gulf Shores at around 2:00 or so and had zero problem finding a place to park since my friend Allison, the one that got us the tickets, had a hotel room right on the beach. 

No Oil Here...

We were able to park in the parking lot at the hotel and literally walk 3 blocks to the concert.  This was fabulous because like Allison said, I think all 35,000 people brought their own individual cars.  Even though it was close to Buffett time we decided to grab something to eat at Ribs & Reds and then be on our way to the gates.  The timing of everything was perfect.  Even getting lost played a part in our timing.  We got there, ate, went to the gates, heard some guys opening act, people watched, then we got settled and on came Buffett! 

Here is me settled...

We dug a recliner into the sand. 

See how I'm able to sit up and lean back?

People watching was part of the fun too.  I never knew so many people bought size small clothes when they really need a medium or a large. (I can hear my mom in my head, now Rachel, stop talking about people, it's not polite.)  I'm sure you've heard the saying, if you don't have anything nice to say...come sit next to me.  Well I fell into that category that day.  It was a sight. Bikinis and rolled down unbottoned daisy dukes.  I guess that never goes out of style?  What do I know, I claim not to be a fashionista.  I have pictures, but I won't post them for fear they are your relatives.

Anyway, Buffett started and we knocked down our recliner in the sand and made it a dance floor. 

Me & JJ at the festivities

It was hot.  I don't even think the word hot describes how hot the hot was.  And all we had that wasn't sandy to wipe our faces with was this one lone paper towel that JJ randomly had in her pocket from the restaurant.

At a Buffett concert you always have to be careful of those crazy Land Sharks!!

Even this cutie patootie little girl that I wanted to keep in my pocket had it going on.

 

Man it was a fabulous day.  JJ and I both hope we are half as cool as these moms in 17 years. 

They brought their daughters to the concert and had a blast!  The mom's were hilarious and our new BFFs. Being that we partied with the moms and not the daugthers was a first for us and maybe a visual turning point in our lives.  I don't think the daughters would have been interested in seeing pictures of Hill and Harvey like the moms were.  They gave us all kinds of tips and pointers and motherly advice.  The main one was to pick your battles.  You see...Buffett was not only a blast but a lifetime of education too.

After the concert we went back to the hotel and showered, realized I had lost my phone. Back tracked to the concert and in the sand, no luck.  Got in the car at like 9:30 pm and drove back to Kosciusko.  This time it was via Kentucky because we only got turned around once.  At 3:30 am we pulled into the driveway and I then had to come to the realization....  I'm not in college any more and can't pull all nighters.

It took me two days to recoop and get my cell phone back (it had fallen out of my bag at the hotel room and Allison FedExed it to me).

THANK YOU JIMMY BUFFETT & JJ FOR A WONDERFUL FUN FILLED DAY! 

I really needed everything about that day.

6 month pictures

Wednesday Hill had his 6 month pictures taken. 

I know all of you think your kid is the cutest in the world - I'm sorry...I'm pretty sure my sweet Hill trumps all cuteness in the entire world.  I'll let you decide...

I love you, Hill.  You are my sunshine.

Happy Birthday, Hill ~ 6 months ~

Six months ago today my sweet bugga boo was born.  I've never been so smitten in my life.  I don't know if I knew what smitten meant until I had my Hilly-poo.

I would post no less than 6,000 pictures here for you today, but my phone (where all the action is recorded) was lost, then found, now is in transit back to me.

Here is an update of what the sweetest cutest boy in the world can do.
* He can roll over from his back to his stomach as of yesterday. 
* Because he rolls over...when he sleeps he rolls to his stomach (scares me, but if you flip him over, he just goes right back to his stomach)
* He has always been a big dancer, but he LOVES music and likes to shake his booty and twist.
* He prefers to stand up.  He's been doing this a little over a month.  He wants to stand up (with you holding his hands.)  I think he likes not being confined to the floor.
* He can sit up for a good 10 - 15 seconds before he gets top heavy and slowly falls to the side.
*Since birth the boy has had a grip.  As you know I don't have any athletic aspirations for my son due to his parents lack in that department. Yet, Hill is so strong...and he knows it.  He can pull hair, shake toys, pull on bouncy seats and you can't get him to let go. 
* He LOVES to pet the dogs.  Foxy Mama loves him so much.  She kisses his feet and is very protective of him.  Ever since he was born, if you came over to hold him she would be at your feet making sure you did it right and didn't drop him.  She's still tha way and keeps a watchful eye over her little boy.  Hill is Foxy Mamas person.
* He's gotten into this thing for about a week now where he rocks back and forth if he's sitting in your lap. Keep the motion in the ocean I guess?
* He eats frutis in the morning and veggies at night with 6 oz bottles every 3-4 hours.  He usually doesn't let you get to far past 3 hours though. 
* He says Mama and Dada, but only when prompted.  I think he says 'Hey' a lot.  I know I always walk in the room and say "Hey, Buddy" and he makes a noise as if to say Hey back...maybe it's a grunt.
* The child smiles.  The child has smiled since he was too young to even think about smiling.  His smile and his big laugh just melt my heart.  He's always happy unless he's hungry or sleepy - and his dad will attest that he gets that from me.  I will take responsibility for that.  I mean heck, the kid had to have gotten something from me right?  Looks, nope.  Feet, nope.  I've got nothing!  I'll claim the mean streak.
* I have deemed him the Wal-Mart greeter at daycare.  He sits up front with the ladies early in the morning and then late afternoon before time to go home.  He smiles and laughs at everyone.  AND FLIRTS!  Oh, the boy has moves.  Look out laides!  Hill drops that chin, tilts that head, cuts those eyes and gives you the biggest grin ever.  Flirt!
* His lip is healing well.  It's come together a lot more over the past 2 months.  He goes for a check up on Thursday, July 15th.  I assume we will have to have another surgery eventually.  Yet, I may be mistaken because he changes daily and his lip and nose may heal 100% over the next 6 months or so?

I hate the ol' cliche (insert nasaly voice here) - 'They grow up so fast.' 
Yet, it's so stinkin' true!  I can tell you most every thing that has gone on over the last 6 months, but I cannot belive it's been 6 months.  Oh how I love this little boy and want to just kiss on him and eat him up every day. 
Thank you God for blessing us with the sweetest most precious angel from heaven.  You couldn't have picked a better one for us!  We'll keep him!

What's going on?

Hill just wanted to check in right quick and show you what he's been doing the past couple days.

Hanging out with his Katie Goose on the blankets

Right back at cha' babe!

Everybody sing!

So, this is when it gets crazy. 

Last week I went to make his bottle and here is how I left him.

Came back less than 60 seconds later and this is how I found him.

He seems to be a private roller over-er.  It's like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot.  There may be photographic proof, but you've never seen it happen.  

He wants to stand up all the time (with help) and he can sit up by himself (for a good 15 seconds.) 

He is still happy as ever even though right now himz iz sick.  I'd have never known it had this rash not showed up all over him.  Weird.  Anyway, he's gonna make it.  I wasn't sure for a second.  I have a secret confession to make.  He saw Dr. Alford and Dr. Alford was saying his rash, yadda yadda, no fever yadda yadda, then he said his lymphnodes and paused.  Do you know how many lengthy thoughts can run through one persons mind in a 2 second lul in the conversation?  I'm thinking in my head.  Oh my God, lymphnodes...I studied this in my pharmaco economics class.  He has cancer, lymphoma, something horrid.  (spastic much?) Anyway, what he said after 2 seconds was it may be an infection.  Oh...yeah, well...that could be the lymphnodes would show.  Anyway, we are just treating with Tyleonl and Motrin rotating them every 2 hours as needed.  He's fine.  We kept him out of daycare for 2 days and all will be well with the world.

I also confessed my booger sucking compulsion to Dr. Alford.  I feel like Hill continually needs his boogers sucked by the asperator thing.  I will probably have to go to some sort of rehab because Hill has learned to HATE it.  He use to smile as if to say, "Thanks mom!  thanks for getting that boogie!"

Hair

Every time someone sees Hill for the first time they immediately say "Oh my goodness I didn't know he had so much hair!" It's true. Once again, he takes after his daddy because I didn't have hair until I was like 3 - my parents had to tape bows to my head. Both Chip and I had really really blonde hair when we were young. Chip still has his, but mine darkened up and then...well...now it's getting pretty grey. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

I tried to 'fro' up Hill's hair after his bath so you could see how much he has. It's hard to see in regular pictures because it's so blonde that he looks bald. He's probably going to need to get a hair cut soon because some wild hairs are starting to fall over his ears! I'm serious, it's crazy. The back is not long like the top because he sleeps on his back and when he's sleepy he rubs his head back and forth as if to shake his head no and I think it rubbed all the hair off. Not to worry, he's not bald back there just peach fuzz, like a military crew cut in the back.

I told my mom that I could probably put it in a pony tail on top. She suggested I not, because he is a boy. I also have to stop calling his diapers panties. Yes, yes, I know he's a boy and boys don't wear panties. I can't help it though. I call Chip's boxers panties too. I think it's a funny word. Panties - pronounced 'pannies.' I don't like it when the T is pronounced or enunciated it takes the fun out of the word.

Well, alright. Now you know the random thoughts that run through my head more ofthen than they probably should.

I struggled with a title to this blog because I didn't think Hair & Panties was an appropriate title. Then I thought about quoting Raising Arizona - "Son, you've got a panty on your head." But I didn't think you'd know what in the world I was talking about. So...I settled with simply 'Hair.'

We Have A Tooth!

Tonight, Hill stuck my hand in his mouth as if to say; "Lady, looky here. I've gotta tooth in there! Feel it!"
I thought he may be teething but never did I expect it to just pop on up. He wasn't all drooly and irritable like I'd read and heard about. Yesterday he wasn't himself, even daycare thougt so. Now we know why! But... I don't want to jinx myself because he has 19 more teeth to go and who knows how easy those will come in?
I looked in his mouth and it's the bottom front right tooth just sitting there broken through and sticking out. The bottom front left should reveal itself in the next day or two as well.
I told his Daddy that we need to get that boy a toothbrush! Himz needs to go to the dentist and get himz one tooth cleaned and shined up!
I'd post pictures but it would just look like the inside of a toothless mouth because it's just broken through. Plus, have you ever tried photographing the inside of a 5 (almost 6) month olds mouth? It's impossible!
Sassy said he will be eating steak before long!
FIRE UP THE GRILL!

True to the Childers / Hawkins nature we plan and evolve our lives around food.

Since Hill is now able to eat veggies and fruits, I like to involve him in our food planning.

As some of you know I am trying to make as much of Hill's food as I can. Since the inception of our local farmers market. I have made him green beans, zucchini, squash, new potatoes, and eggplant.

At first I bought the natural and the organic Gerber foods. I just wasn't 100% sold that they really were organic. I mean how would I really know the difference? I did it anyway to give me a piece of mind.

He started off with natural green beans from Gerber. He enjoyed those and moved onto organic peas, which was great too.

More peas....please

I got him the Gerber organic carrots which was a hot mess, but he gobbled them up!

Then I bought the squash and zucchini at the farmers market that you saw in my previous post  and he loved them both. He did get sick of the zucchini fast, but he ate it anyway.

The next week I bought new potatoes at the farmers market. I was nervous about all that starch, but I assume it will be ok. He loved them as well.

My potaTOES

Then we tried the Gerber organic sweet potatoes. Wow, you would think he'd won the lottery! He ate those sweet potatoes like it was going out of style and couldn't get them fast enough! We will have to get more of those.

I steamed him some eggplant that I bought at the farmers market. I was a little nervous about it and I guess I haven't familiarized myself with my motherly-intuition-o-meter because I gave him like 3 bites and he was trying to figure out how to hock it back up. He just sat there and looked at me like...no, lady....this is not going to be ok. Then around his mouth got splotchy and I decided to stop feeding him eggplant before he went into anafaliactic shock. So I decided to try mushed up avacado. Yum o right? It's like guacamole with out the spice. He wasn't a fan of avacado either he just let it sit in his mouth. I couldn't even get any effort from him to swallow it. I think it had to do with the testosterone exuding from his dad standing nearby saying "we don't like no stinking vegetables, do we buddy?" So I ate the other half of the avacado and cut my eyes at his daddy for acting a fool and teaching our son bad habits.

We do fruits in the morning - pears, apples, bananas. We tried the Gerber peaches but they were too strong or something. I bought some fresh peaches the other day and pureed them, but he hasn't tried them. If he hates them it's ok - since I stuck them in the freezer they are already frozen and mommy can make her a daquiri or something tasty out of them. Same with the canteloupe and watermelon that turned to watery slosh after putting them in the food processor. I froze them and worst case scenario popcicles or fun ice cubes for mommys fun drinks.

Here is a tuckered out little monkey that fell back asleep eating his bananas.

Then we tried the sippy cup on Father's Day. That was an interesting concept. He knew what was in it, but couldn't figure out why it was different looking.

Yum - I think.

What is this thing?

Speaking of formula...I pretty much hit the mother load at Wal-Mart the other day. Similac Advanced (which is Hill's drink of choice) was $10 a container. Yes, I kid you not... TEN BUCKS! It's usually $21 and so I saw it. Walked by. Did a double take. Reversed. Picked up the container to see what it's malfunction was. Nothing weird except the price. So I went to the worker in that department and she said that the price was correct they had just way over ordered and they had to rid of the excess. Which had to be like two whole car loads worth because I got one car load. I wish I'd have taken pictures of them in my car. I looked like a door to door Similac sales man and the factory was in the back of my car. Instead I managed to get a picture of the Similac pyramid. Note that there are two supportive rows at the bottom. I bought 20 containers. Yes, you can do the math. I spent $200 - - but I saved $220! Hill will never want for formula ever for the rest of his life (I hope.)

On a different note, yet still related to food. Here is a picture of the cake they had at the Welcome Home celebration for our local troops last Friday. Hill didn't get any cake, but he did get to meet the heros that exhibit the truest form of honor and selflessness and are the symbol of our freedom. Our gratitude for them can't be spoken or written in words. There are none. What a privilege for Hill and I to be a part of something so wonderful.

Chippy had a fabulous first Father's Day. Hill pretty much 98.5% rolled over that day. He got all parts of his body over but his arm was stuck underneath which caused a problem and as far as I know...he's given up because he hasn't tried again. This morning we set him on his stomach and he props his arms and head up. I didn't witness it, but Chip said he lifted a knee as if to crawl. He pretty much can say Mama, but I don't think he associates it with me yet. I mean, I'm pretty much just sayin' he's the smartest sweetest good eatin' lil boy ever.
And once I figure out how to post video - - you can see how strong he is, how he loves to stand up 24-7, and how loud he can burp.

Have a great day!