My Story: I was born on March 20, 2008 at just 26 weeks and 3 days gestation. I weighed 2 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 14.5 inches long. Mom had been in the hospital for a few weeks trying to prevent me from being born too soon, but eventually nature had its way and there I was! I cried all on my own when I was born, even though I was very small and my lungs weren't very developed. I lived at the NICU at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital for 7 1/2 weeks, then I lived at Winchester Hospital for another 5 weeks, and now I live at home in West Newbury, Massachusetts! I went home on my 90th day of life - just as soon as my warranty expired. I am very feisty and adorable and I already have so many people in my life who love me! You can check out my pictures to the left, and my mom posts updates below, so you can check in on me as often as you like. Hopefully it will be all good news! Mom uses a lot of medical terms, so if you aren't sure what something is, you can check out the glossary to the left. And you can even e-mail me at michaelchien08@gmail.com! My mom promises she will give me the message. Updates 1/5/11: Happy New Year!! My New Year's resolution is to stop being such a terrible blogger and post something more often than every two months...sorry about that! My mom started a new job back in November, and it has taken awhile to get used to our new schedule of operations, as it were...and of course it didn't help that she started right before Thanksgiving! I'm not sure what they're like for you, but the holidays are a busy time for us here...there's an awful lot of cooking and baking and decorating and merriment and festivity, and most important, lots of eating! This is the first Christmas where I kind of had an inkling of what the heck was going on, and I have to say...I love Christmastime! There's so many Christmas things to destroy...I mean, to play with gently...and so many different foods to try and cookies to bake, and - hello! - there's a tree in our house! There was also a LOT of new music to listen to and sing with! My favorite were Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, The Dreidel Song, and of course - the quintessential Christmas classic - Feliz Navidad. Who doesn't love Feliz Navidad? Anyway I had a great month of festivity, and performed in public for the first time at my school's Holiday Jubilee (we sang several of the aforementioned songs), and made lots of fun Christmas crafts, and had a grand ol' time. And you know what? I thought that all of that WAS Christmas! Everyone kept trying to tell me about this dude named Santa Claus who breaks into your house at night and leaves you stuff, and I was all, Que? (Sometimes if I sing Feliz Navidad too much I go into Spanish Mode). But you know what? IT HAPPENED. I went to bed Christmas Eve after leaving Santa some cookies and milk, and then when I came down the next morning, there was NEW STUFF everywhere! Unfortunately, I didn't feel well, so I was a little underenthused at first...but then after barfing a few times, I felt much better! Then I was ALL OVER my new toys, and bike (!) and sled (!!) and dumped out my giant stocking to find more stuff...it was pretty fantastical. Then I went to my dad's house, and you know what? Santa went there too! And brought me even more stuff! He's a heckuva guy, that Santa. So yeah, I had a pretty awesome Christmas. Then Unclr Paul and Tante Jennie and my cousin Gracie came up for New Year's, which was the perfect way to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. My fourth year! Hope everyone had a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season! Thanks for hanging in there with me, despite my neglecting of my blogging duties...if only Santa had brought me my own laptop... If you want photographic evidence of how awesome my December was, you can find a whole lot of pictures here...and here is where you can see November as well. There are some good ones! 11/7/10: Hello, Michael Nation! I have so much to share with you! Unfortunately, I can't do it with pictures here on my blog, because I have apparently exceeded my maximum storage space and there is no way to delete old pictures to make room. So while I figure that out, instead of offering you pictorial highlights of the past few weeks, if you want to see how much fun I have had you have to go see all of the pictures here. Take my word for it - there are some pretty awesome ones. Anyway, do you know where I went? I went to Disney World! It was so much fun! We had a total of I think 19 family members there, which was so awesome - I certainly was not hurting for attention! The best part was that my mom and Auntie Susan and I shared a suite with Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie and my cousin Gracie! (or "My Gracie", as I call her). It was so great to see them every day and get to spend so much time together. I also got to spend a lot of time with Uncle Teddy and my mom's cousins Darren and Matt, who are a lot of fun. And very, very tall. My mom appreciated that there were other people around to carry me when I got tired, because I am, as she is fond of reminding me, very heavy. I was much more cooperative about my stroller this year though, which she also appreciated. Although I admit, I did say "Uppa!" quite a bit. But hey - I'm 2, and I like to be carried by loved ones. Is that so terrible? Anyway we did SO MUCH while we were at Disney World! We went on lots of rides - most were fun, but some were a little scary...I am a little more afraid of the dark than I was last year. I was also very excited to go on my first roller coaster...until I actually experienced said roller coaster. It went awfully fast. I think I'll wait another year...or maybe more...until trying that again! I also took a trip around the world! I went to Germany, and Japan, and Norway, and walked through France and England and even Morocco! I walked all the way across China, too! No wonder my little legs were tired...I also ate a lot of very tasty food, including my first foot-long popsicle, my first chocolate-covered frozen banana, and lots of very tasty meals - and a lot of my mom's meals too. What? I like to try new foods! She wasn't going to eat it all anyway. I also saw lots of animals at Animal Kingdom, and a really neat Lion King show with acrobats and a fire eater! He winked at me. Also, I am a big boy this year, as I pointed out to everyone multiple times, so I got to stay up late and see lots of fireworks! I saw three different fireworks shows, plus a show at Hollywood Studios with Mickey in it that ends with fireworks. It was a lot of boom-booms! The best part, though, was that everywhere I went, I was with family from near and far. It made the trip much more fun and much more special. We should do it every year! (Oops, Pepe's wallet just fainted. I think that's a no on the every year plan). Every other year then! (Pepe's wallet is still passed out, so he can't oppose me on that one). So then I came home for some rest and repose. Just kidding! The day after we got home was Halloween! My dad picked me up to spend the day with him, and we went to a Halloween party. Then at night we met my mom at our old neighborhood (the houses are awfully far apart in my new neighborhood) to go trick-or-treating! It was a lot of fun to see all our old neighbors, and I got to go inside a lot of houses and get extra treats for being so cute. (I was a red crayon. I looked awesome. Click on the link at the beginning of the post to see.) The problem is that I now think that trick-or-treating involves going inside everyone's homes, which my mom was trying to convince me was not always true...but that's what I did, so it must be true! Anyway I had a great Halloween, and then I had a great week at school after vacation - no more tears at drop-off! There may have been some bribing with M&M's, but mostly I just decided to be brave. I mean, I survived The Roller Coaster Ride of Terror and Despair, so being dropped off to learn and play with my friends isn't really all that bad, now is it?
10/4/10: I learned something rather disturbing today...my mom is not all-powerful! Shocking, right? I mean, she keeps me warm (or cool), and safe, and fed, and relatively amused, and helps me feel better when I am sick or angry or sad, so I just figured all those talents must extend to the rest of the world. But no! Today we were in the backyard and Mom took my (super fun) sprinkler out from under the deck to pack away in the garage for the winter. But I wanted to play with said sprinkler, so I made a huge fuss and told her to hook it up. Mom insisted that it was too cold and windy out now and that we would play with it again next summer. But I wanted to play with it today! So I suggested that she "turn off the wind". A rather obvious suggestion, I thought. Then Mom laughed - she actually laughed! - and said that she doesn't control the weather. What the WHAT? And here I thought Mom was cooking up rainy days on purpose when she wanted to stay in and bake cookies with me, and hot days when she wanted to go to the beach. All that is just happening on its own? This realization seriously blew my mind. I have a lot to think about now. Oh, and last night, Mom was trying to tell me that my teachers live in their own homes, and don't live at school. That they LEAVE SCHOOL at the end of the day, and that if we went at night, there would be no one there. Yeah, right, Mom. I might believe you about the whole can't-control-the-weather thing, but I'm not buying this one. Everyone knows teachers live at school! 10/1/10: Yesterday I was saying that I wanted to go "to October" - and look, we made it to October! Good thing, too, because September sure was exhausting. I started school, I fell on my face, I got new teeth, I went to New Jersey...Oh, but this month, I am going to Buffalo, celebrating Halloween, and - oh yeah - going to Disney World! I am so excited about Disney World, I keep insisting that we go now, but no one will take me yet. Disney World must be closed right now, I tell them. Otherwise why wouldn't they take me when I want them to? Anyway, I can't wait to get there, and I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back! But for now, I will tell you about the past 2 weeks, which were also pretty fun! For one thing, I got to go to New Jersey to see my Uncle Paul, my Tante Jennie, and best of all, cousin Gracie! I lurrrrve Gracie. She is cute and blonde and an older woman to boot. I pretty much spent the weekend staring at her adoringly. And trying to touch her hair or skin. Also, two major breakthroughs: 1) I actually SLEPT in New Jersey for the first time! Like, almost through the night and everything! This is much better than my previous trips, where I logged roughly 7 hours of sleep total over 3 nights. 2) I am no longer afraid of Uncle Paul! Turns out he's a pretty cool guy. Who knew? I even played with him ALONE so my mom could shower while everyone else was out. And you know what? We had a lot of fun! He's good with blocks, that Uncle Paul. I'm also happy to report that I am doing lots better at school - I still cry at drop-off, but then I have a fantastic day with my friends, and I don't cry at all during the day! When my mom picked me up from school yesterday and asked me how my day was, I told her, "I didn't need you today, Mommy!". It was pretty huge that I had fun all on my own and didn't miss my mom too much. It helps thatwe have been doing lots of fun crafts and activities with apples - I love apples! I have already been apple picking three times this year - and raspberry picking! I'm thinking if the school thing doesn't work out, maybe I should be a migrant farmer. I love picking fruit! Then I can save up all my earnings...to go to Disney World as much as possible! (when it's not closed, that is) Here are a few fun pictures from the past few weeks - if you want to see all my September pictures, you can click here.  Apple picking!
Popsicles make flesh wounds heal faster, I hear...
See, I told you I looked at Gracie adoringly the whole weekend...
Grooming time! 9/17/10: I have almost three weeks of school under my belt! Any minute now, they'll be handing me that college diploma...OK, maybe I have to go to school a little longer before that happens. I've been doing pretty well though - I've started crying rather dramatically at drop-off, but then I am fine like, one minute later. I just like to make whoever is dropping me off feel super duper guilty and awful, and then I generally have pretty good days. One problem, though: remember how I told you that I was sort of in love with one of my teachers, Miss Amanda? Well, I've become so attached to her that now I also cry when she leaves the room. My solution: She shouldn't leave the room. Apparently no one else agrees with this solution, though. I have to say, I have done pretty well this week, despite a few issues: 1) I have a cold. It's how they initiate you at school, by sharing their germs. So I guess I have been accepted! 2) I fell face-first onto some rocks the other day and scraped myself up pretty well, then fell head-first off my booster seat onto the hardwood floor. I look like I was in a cage match. With a raccoon. 3) My upper molars are finally coming in, which is making me a little (OK, a lot) crabby and clingy. So I am giving myself a lot of credit for making it through the past 3 weeks so well. A-plus! Oh wait, they don't grade you yet in preschool...OK, gold star then!
(Above is me on my first day of school, with my cute owl lunchbag. I also have a matching backpack on my back. For more pictures of my August adventures, check these out.) 8/26/10: Another busy week in The Life of Michael - and more barfing! This time I had more of an audience - my Great Grandma, Great Uncle Teddy and (second?) cousins Matt and Darren came to visit! They drove all the way from Buffalo just to see me. They may have also had a small interest in seeing my mom and grandparents, but let's face it - we know who the real draw is. Anyway we all had a great weekend! We went to the beach, where we did lots of building and digging and burying people's legs and other such tomfoolery (pictures soon, I promise!). We only had one nice day though - after that it was rainy for like, eleventeen days in a row, so we hung out inside - which was still pretty fun. I forgot Darren's name at first, so I called him "the other guy", which everyone thought was really funny, so we adopted it as his actual name. So if you see Darren somewhere in Buffalo, be sure to call him "the other guy" for me, will you? Thanks. Speaking of Buffalo, why do I always vomit when people who live there come to visit me? One minute I was drinking some milk and eating a banana while talking to Great Grandma, the next minute - blarrrrrggghhh! Then I was all feverish and yucky. My mom took me to the doctor, who basically said she had no idea why I keep barfing, and if I do it again, they will need to do blood tests and check for a bladder infection - no thanks! So I've made a conscious decision - no more barfing. I'm too busy anyway - I start school next week! I've been to visit four times now and met one of my teachers, plus the directors and of course a lot of the other kids, so I feel like I sort of know what's up. And my mom bought me some books about going to school to help me feel ready, which I really like to read. One of them makes her cry every time - she's so weird. I have so much fun when I visit my school - today I got to run through a sprinkler, and play with a bunch of toys in a pool, and go in a bounce house...I don't see what there is to cry about! Unless Mom is just sad that she won't get to do those things too? That's probably it. Anyway I can't wait to tell you all about my first day of school - I'm so excited! Mom, less so. She'll be OK, though. I think.
(Was that a good speech? I am assuming I will be making many acceptance speeches in the future, so I thought I would start practicing now.) 5/20/10: What a terrible toddler blogger I am! I haven't updated you all in over a month! I blame my mom. She is, after all, my typist, and she hasn't been typing, now has she? She, however, blames me. Something about the fact that I haven't slept in over a month and apparently this has impacted her in some way. Yes, I know my last post was all about sleep training and how I was going to Do Great! And you know what?I really did do great. For about five days. I even slept through the night in my own bed three times! It was amazing! My life was changed! My mom's life was changed! We were all, finally, rested and happy people! But then allergy season started (apparently I have developed seasonal allergies. Whee.)... And after allergy season started, my two year molars decided that they just had to make an appearance as well. So between the constant, throbbing pain and the itchy throat and constant mucus production, sleep was not happening. So my mom started to basically sleep whenever I did, like when I first came home from the hospital (she insists that she actually got more sleep then, but I'm pretty sure she's just being dramatic). Anyway long story short, there has been no after-Michael's-asleep computer time for Mom, which means Michael Nation has had to wait - on pins and needles, I am sure - for an update. So in brief, here's what's happened the past month - it's been a busy one!
 Here I am in my new armchair from my Grandma and Grandpa in China! I love to sit in it and watch Yo Gabba Gabba. Preferably while enjoying a snack or three.  It was so warm this year at Easter (the first Easter!) that we had an Easter Eve fire! I was also up late as part of my sleep training, so I got to enjoy it. (Don't worry, I was safely ensconced on a lap at all time - no Toddler Flambe around here!)  Here I am just after winning my first Egg War! In case you don't know what an Egg War is, it's when you whack your (hopefully hard-boiled) egg against someone else's. Only one will crack, so after repeated whackings around the table only one egg is left victorious! And naturally, it was mine. WINNER!!!!
4/1/10: I peed in the potty last night! And no, this is not an April Fool's joke - I really did! I had a bath last night, and lately after baths I have been peeing on the floor. Which apparently is undesirable to some people. Who knew? So after my Meme (MimMim, as I call her) gave me a bath last night, she plopped me on the potty (the big people potty, I would like to point out) and after much grimacing and grunting...I peed! In the potty! I got to toss in some TP and flush by myself and everything! Then everyone came and cheered for me. It was super exciting! So exciting, in fact, that I might even do it again some day! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon (and for the rest of my life!). Gotta keep the suspense up, you know. Just when you least expect it, there will be pee in the potty again! 3/30/10: I had my two-year checkup today, since I am two and all, and...drumroll please...I am perfectly healthy! I am also kinda large. Shocker, I know. But I'm very proportional - I'm in the 80th percentile for both height and weight! Fortunately the doctor didn't measure my head this time. That tends to give me a complex, because my head is in like the 98th percentile or something embarrassing. But I guess once you are past the infant stage and you have a big head, they stop worrying about it. Phew! I was super, duper well behaved for my exam too - the doctor said that she can't believe how good I am! I love being examined - it's so fun! When she was all done listening to my heart, I asked for more! The doctor asked if I had a doctor's kit at home, and hey, you know what? I do not. Can you believe it? I am so deprived, MOM. Anyway I had to get a shot, and you know what happened? The medicine shot right back out of my arm, like a fountain! The doctor said I must have really strong muscles. (I do, by the way. Just in case you were wondering.) I totally didn't cry at all - it was pretty fun to watch the medicine squirt out, actually! I also had to have a lead test, which involves a finger prick - and I didn't cry for that either! The lab tech said I was the best patient she has had in days! I'm assuming she was not including the 14-year-olds... or maybe she was? Anyway, the point is, 2 years ago I weighed 2 pounds and needed help to do everything, even breathe, and now I weigh 31 pounds and have been breathing quite nicely by myself for a very long time now. Two years was supposed to be my deadline to catch up with my peers developmentally, and I did it! Well, actually, I did it awhile ago, but I don't want to brag...OK, yeah, I totally want to brag. I'm a Super Preemie Extraordinaire!
3/18/10: Guess what? This will be my last post as a one-year-old! I will be two years old in TWO DAYS! Fortunately two is my favorite number... otherwise if I were turning, say, eight, someone would ask how old I am, and I would say, "TWO!". Which would be misleading. Anyway, I feel pretty ready for life as a two-year-old. I mean, I really don't have any vestiges of baby-dom left in my life. My crib is now a toddler bed, my high chair has been replaced by a booster seat, my changing table is all gone...the diapers are still there, I am simply too massive to fit on the changing pad anymore. I am also so much more capable than I was even six months ago, let alone a year ago! The past two days we have been spending a lot of time at the playground because it has been really really nice out after it was really really not nice out for a very long time, and the last time I went was probably in October? Wow what a difference! In October I was still unsteady going up and down the steps, I would only go down the slide with assistance, and the bigger-kid equipment looked awfully daunting. But now? Daunting, schmaunting! I run up and down the steps like crazy, climb ladders (OK, I need a LITTLE help with that), launch myself down the highest, scariest slide I can find, and run back and forth across the Creaky Bridge of Death like, a hundred times. I'm also talking a little bit more than I was back in my younger days...OK, a LOT more. You better be careful what you say around me, because I am liable to repeat it...maybe not right away, but I will save it and whip it out when you least expect it! My favorite new saying, though, is definitely "I you you", and it's cousin, "I you you too". I have a lot of really awesome people in my life who have seen me through tiny tiny tininess, is-he-going-to-be-normal preemiehood, crib-hating babyhood, why-doesn't-he-talk toddlerhood and helped me become this smart, capable, healthy, personable little guy. It's nice that now I have a way to let them know how I feel about them. In case they weren't clear on what all those hugs and kisses and snuggles were about. Anyway, age one, it's been fun. Bring on the Terrific Twos!
3/4/10: Gymnastics today! I had so much fun! Well, except for the part where I cried. But hey - they took the red plastic slide away and locked it up in the cage, where I could see it BUT NOT CLIMB ON IT. You totally would have cried too. Other than that, it was really fun, and guess what? One of the instructors said I was "a real gymnast", which made my mom very proud, and then a "daredevil" which made my mom less proud. When the instructor suggested that I should become a stuntman, my mom disagreed and said that a nice quiet job not involving bodily harm and testing the limits of gravity would do just fine, thankyouverymuch. I did do an excellent job with my forward rolls today, and I walked across the balance beam all by myself without holding on to anyone! OK, so it's only 3 inches off the ground, but still! It took amazing balance and coordination. The other instructor walked by and said "Hey, awesome job!" and I said, "I know!". What? I was really proud of myself! 2/28/10: Whew, I have been a busy beaver! Last weekend I went to the Children's Museum with some little girlfriends of mine (hi, Avery and Riley!) and we had a blast! Here's some photographic evidence of said blast:
Then this past week I had all my usual activities - 2 playgroups and gymnastics - AND my Auntie Susan and our friend Vieng came to visit me! Vieng hasn't seen me in a long time, so she brought me a Christmas present! It's a super cute dog that I can pull on a string - I am told it looks "retro", which I guess means that it's something my parents - or even my grandparents! - might have played with too, when they were wee. Unlike, you know, my cell phone, or Elmo Live!, or crayons. Just kidding - I know they had crayons back in the day. But I hear they only had like, 4 colors. Anyway, so then this weekend was so busy too! My grandparents and my dad were all out of town, so my mom and I figured we should take the opportunity to party! Auntie Susan came to stay for the weekend, and Auntie Andrea and Uncle Joe came over for dinner - and brought me blocks! We had so much fun playing that I refused to go to bed - which I never do! Then the today my mom made me homemade chocolate chip cookies (she finally realized she could just substitute Crisco for butter to make them OK for me to eat - DUH MOM). You know what else happened today? I said "I love you" for the first time ever! Well, actually, I said "I you you", but hey - it was pretty close, and the sentiment was all there. Does this sudden development have anything to do with fresh-baked cookies? Yes. Yes it does. They were really, really good cookies. Actually, it's possible that I was even telling the cookies that I loved them, but I would never admit to that. Let's let the adults think what they want to think. Anyway it was a super fun weekend, but I will be happy to see my dad and my grandparents again. I missed them!
2/18/10: Today was my last ever Early Intervention appointment! My counselor said I am doing amazingly well...I am inclined to agree. It's a great feeling to know that I kicked prematurity's butt (can you blame prematurity for being intimidated? Check out that picture of me! I'm so tough!) but it's also kind of weird. I've been known as a preemie my whole life! I've had a "chronological age" and an "adjusted age", I've always been told that I'm doing so well "all things considered" - now I just have one age, and I'm doing well - nothing else considered! No one who meets me now ever has any idea that I was one super tiny and had a hole in my heart and tubes up my nose. I'm just Michael. And that's pretty cool. But hey - the preemie thing will be a great backstory for when I audition for American Idol in 2024. Or when I'm the first-round NFL draft pick in 2030. Or President in 2048! Mark your calendars, people - the sky's the limit for this former preemie! (also...more February pics are up!) 2/14/10: Happy Valentines Day! Two years ago today the ultrasound showed that I was, in fact, a boy, despite my mom's insistence that I was a girl. Surprise, Mom! A month later I surprised her again by being born three months early. And I continue to provide surprises on a daily basis. What can I say? I'm just the gift that keeps on giving. Anyway I have to tell you about my new obsession (yes, cleaning has taken a backseat for now): I LOVE to cook - and bake! So far in the past two weeks I have helped make homemade chicken soup, roast chicken, many sandwiches for my lunch, oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches, a bunch of other things that I am forgetting, and sugar cookies. I also helped decorate the cookies - I can't wait to show you the pictures from that adventure! Let's just say I used more than the cookie as my artistic canvas. Anyway, if there's action in the kitchen, I want to be part of it. I run and get my stool and jostle my way right in there, all while proclaiming, "help! help! help!" (meaning that I want to help, not that I need help!). Sometimes I get really angry or upset that I am not allowed to help with anything involving knives or the stove, but in general I am a pretty good helper, if I may say so myself. I am now obsessed with all things food prep-related...I even passed on Sesame Street so that I could watch Martha Stewart! Hey, she was making V-Day cupcakes - I thought I might learn a few tips! Maybe I will be a chef...who loves to clean! Or a janitor who loves to cook? Well, whatever I end up doing, I sure am going to be a great husband, am I right ladies? To tide you over until I get those cookie pics up, here are a few February pics - check out my cool new hat! 2/1/10: Good news - I am finally feeling better! I told you pneumonia wasn't going to keep me down. I still sometimes sound like I am trying to cough up a refrigerator, but otherwise I am mostly myself. And suddenly acting very two years old, even though I am not yet two years old. Example? My favorite word is suddenly "no". Not in a bratty or oppositional way - I don't yell "NO!" when I'm told I have to do something or anything like that. It's a rather small and polite "no", but it has become my automatic response to everything. Would I like to read this book? No. This one? No. This one? No. THIS one, that we have read every day for the past 3 months? No. This one, that I sometimes sleep with because I love it so much? No. Would I like dessert? No. Cookies? No. Ice cream? No. A million dollars? No. Want to drive the car? No. Mind you, I don't really mean no - I am almost always grinning impishly while saying it. I just love the fact that I CAN say no. It's rather empowering. And lately when I do want to answer in the affirmative, instead of saying yes (which I cutely pronounce more closely to "yesh"), I've been saying "yeah". But kind of drawn out, like "yeaaah". No one knows where I picked this up from, but apparently it makes me seem disturbingly like a teenager. And my mother has strictly forbidden any teenage behavior until I am at least 35. Um, yeaaah, Mom.    Apparently I have been favoring black and white stripes lately. Anyway, I also took a trip down to New Jersey to celebrate my cousin Gracie's 4th birthday! I luuuurve Grace (who I call "Da-dace" or, more often, "Da-DACE!!") and I was so excited for the trip! And so excited to be there and see her all day long! And so excited that my Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie bought me soy ice cream! Less excited, however, that their pool was not open. What was up with that? It clearly is not winter in New Jersey - I didn't see any snow. Whatever. Anyway, I had SUCH a great time that I decided to wait to come down with pneumonia until the VERY MINUTE I got home. Yes, pneumonia! Fever, barfing, crying. It was awesome. I had decided that I was done with your run-of-the mills colds - I thought I would ramp it up a bit this time. But no worries - I went to the doctor right away and got some antibiotics (really tasty ones, by the way - request the bubble gum flavor!) and I am already feeling much better. A little bit crankier maybe, and there is crusty green stuff coming out of my nose from time to time, but otherwise I am mostly myself. I even helped polish the dining room furniture today. And did I use pneumonia as an excuse to do a sub-par job? No, I did not. Yeah that's right, pneumonia. You can't keep me down! You can make me ooze green mucus, but you can't keep me from cleaning! (psst - more January pics can be found here)  1/6/10: An amazing thing happened tonight. I. Fell. Asleep. In. My. Own. Bed. Not like, my mom put me down mostly asleep and I woke up temporarily but then fell back asleep. No, I laid down wide awake - chatting nonstop, actually - and with some assistance, I will admit, eventually fell asleep. IN MY BED. To understand that miraculousness of this, you have to realize that ever since I graduated from my bassinet to my crib, I have yet to sleep through the night on my own, or fall asleep on my own. In my bassinet I slept through the night - 10 beautiful, peaceful hours every night - and I would even fall asleep on my own in it if I wasn't already asleep when I went down. But something happened in that shift to the crib when I was 7 months old (remember I was small and wasn't even close to rolling over, so I switched much later than most babies), and I just hated it. HATED. IT. If you put me down anything but completely asleep my eyes immediately snapped open and I acted like you were laying me on hot coals. Or a bed of nails. Or possibly a bed of hot coals with nails sticking out of them. And if you put me in totally awake? Immediate and unrelenting screaming, crying, and carrying on. And once I could get up, an immediate dash to the rail for more dramatic thrashing and pleading. This improved as I got older, but I still had to be put down mostly asleep, and wouldn't stay down for more than an hour or two at night (the cry-it-out method wouldn't have worked for us due to the smallness of the upstairs and the fact that EVERYONE would have been awake for however many nights it took. Oh and also there's no way my mom could have done it. Or my dad, for that matter. Total cream puffs.). But I LOVE my big boy bed. I love to jump on it, and sit on it, and read books on it, and roll around on it, and show it to my friends and family. And now I am learning to sleep on it, all by myself! I'm not sleeping through the night yet, but I'm getting there! (It hasn't been helping that I got another cold and frequently wake up coughing or unable to breathe well). I tell ya, my mom's idea to move me to the big boy bed? Pure genius. The fact that my "big boy bed" is actually just my crib with one side removed and a little guardrail put up in its place? Tiny detail that no one needs to point out to me. As far as I am concerned, I moved up to the East Side. I finally got a piece of the pie. And maybe - MAYBE - some peace for my mom too. One of these days. 1/5/10: So, I have good news, and I have bad news. The weird thing is, it's the same news! Today I had my re-evaluation for Early Intervention, and guess what? I no longer qualify! At my last eval I was language delayed, as you know, and today I tested at 19 months for expressive language - which is only 2 months behind my age, and I needed to be 6 months behind to requalify! (Side note - my adjusted age is 18 months, so technically I am actually ahead of where I should be. Just wanted to point that out. Plus at age 2 they ditch the whole "adjusted age" thing, so I need to milk it while I still can.) For everything else (fine motor, gross motor, receptive language, cognition) I tested at or above my chronological age. So on the one hand, yay! I am finally normal! Well, developmentally speaking, anyway. No more preemie anything - I'm a real boy now! Of course, this is fantastic news. But on the other hand, no more free services! And I don't get a bunch of ladies periodically coming to my house to fawn all over me and act all impressed at my ability to complete age-appropriate tasks! And the biggest bummer for my mom - no free preschool! One minor consolation is that I get to stay in the group I have been attending since I was 9 months old...until the group fills up and they kick me out. So at least I still get to see my friends, and my language therapist runs the group, so I still get to see her. So it's a new year, and apparently, a new Michael! No more Early Intervention, no more delays...nothing left of my preemiehood! Now instead of following the adventures of Michael, the amazing preemie, you will be following the adventures of Michael, the perfectly normal boy. Weird, isn't it? And also wonderful, yes? 1/1/10: Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fun and safe celebration...I sure did! You can't get more fun and safe than sleeping in your own bed! Well, maybe more fun. Depends on who you ask, I suppose. Anyway I had woken up around 11 looking for some motherly company and I wouldn't settle back down on my own (I know, we're working on it), so my mom laid down with me to get me to fall back asleep (she can fit right on my bed with me now that I am in a big boy bed! Advantage #213 to ditching the crib!) and she then fell asleep too. We both woke up at exactly midnight - Mom whispered "Happy New Year" and I was all "dude" and then we both went back to sleep - in Mom's bed, where there is a bit more room. But hey, I made it all the way to midnight in my own bed (although not totally on my own - minor detail), which is two whole hours later than normal! How many people do you know who were actively working on their New Year's resolution at the stroke of midnight? Probably not very many. Boo-ya! 12/29/09: Whew, what a week! We have been busy here recovering from Christmas and trying to have as much fun as possible while my New Jersey family members are in town...and for some reason, that has involved massive consumption of food. These people never stop eating! And one of the moms is always in the kitchen preparing something else for us to eat! It's crazy! Crazy yummy, that is! We've also spent a lot of time hanging out and playing with all our new toys (some of us have more new toys than others), and yesterday I got to go to the Children's Museum with my cousin Gracie! It was pretty busy there, but we still had a blast! But then Gracie and Uncle Paul had to go back to New Jersey (Tante Jennie had left Sunday after we stuffed her with brunch - she had to work). So this morning I figured we would finally have a boring, nothing kind of day, right? Wrong! Today, I got a big boy bed! Yep, that's right, no more crib for me! I helped my mom take one side off my crib and attach a little guard rail, and voila! Toddler bed! I also helped pick out what sheets and blankets I wanted on it. I decided against any stuffed animal friends, but when my mom asked if I was sure I didn't want to put anything else on the bed, I thought about it and then went and got...the hair dryer. Who wouldn't want to sleep with a hair dryer? But she nixed that plan. My mom is hoping that the big boy bed will help me to sleep on my own better since the thing I seem to hate most about my crib is the whole penned-in feeling...we shall see!  12/25/09: Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday...I know I sure did! It started with me waking up every 2 hours - I was so excited! For Santa, you ask? No, not so much. I still don't really get that whole deal - an old fat dude comes down your chimney? What? No, I was excited because I was told that Auntie Susan would be here when I woke up! So of course I figured if I woke up at 2 and 4, I could get to see her sooner! Alas, my mom is mean and wouldn't let me go downstairs until 7. Seven! But it was worth the wait, because not only was Auntie Susan downstairs, but the family room was full of new stuff that wasn't there before! Stuff for ME! There was a whole train set on the coffee table, which I briefly stopped to play with before officially waking up Auntie Susan with a Christmas kiss, and then I caught sight of the slide! In the house! Immediate sliding commenced, and continued throughout the day. I also got my own little potty, which I was pretty excited about. And there was even more stuff! Toys, and clothes, and books...and oh yeah, everyone else got some stuff too. I don't really remember any of their stuff, because it wasn't as much fun as mine. The one exception is that my Auntie Susan actually made this blog into a book and gave one to my mom, my dad, and my grandparents! It has every single entry since I was born, plus pictures on every page, so you can see me grow! It really is amazing - I like to look at it and have someone tell me all about myself as a baby. Everyone cried for like, an hour after opening their books. Then we went back to opening my presents! It took literally all day, since I was kind of pokey about it. I didn't realize that all those wrapped things were supposed to be opened - I was having so much fun with the things that were already opened, it was hard to convince me to open something new! We also took breaks for lots of eating, and of course I had a nap...and then at night, Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie and my cousin Gracie came! They drove all the way from New Jersey to see us on Christmas! It was great - we got to eat Christmas dinner all together. Then I went to bed and slept really, really well...it was a busy day! I had a really, really great time...I can't believe we get to do this once a year!   Click here for all my 2009 December and Christmas pictures 12/21/09: Hello, Michael Nation! I'm sorry I've been neglecting you...I've been sick! I caught a nasty cold from somewhere, and with it came a nasty cough. I've never had a bad cough before...I don't recommend it! I didn't sleep well at all for a really long time -lying down made me cough even more - and I'm just getting back into the swing of things. I had to miss my play group and gymnastics and everything! Plus it was super cold out so I couldn't even go outside or anywhere else. I like my mom and all, but after several days of just us hanging out in the house all day, every day, I was starting to go a little crazy! We even tried to do fun and different things, like pulling all the cushions off the sofa and making a fort and a climbing area and - our final masterpiece - a floor couch (I highly recommend you try it, it's like Nights of Arabia! Very exotic). But even floor couches can't cure cabin fever. Fortunately I started to feel better just in time for a snowstorm, so I got to go outside and play! It was super hard to walk in all that snow - I did several faceplants - but I was so happy to be outside again! I've also been helping a lot with Christmas preparations, such as baking (I can add ingredients and press the button on the food processor, but my specialty is licking the batter), decorating and undecorating and decorating again the tree, reorganizing the wrapping paper and pre-wrinkling it for that special "antique present" effect...yes indeed, I don't know how they used to manage holidays without me around here! 12/6/09: Boy, am I tired! I hosted a Christmas party today! By hosted, I mean that I woke up from my nap 2 hours after the party started, and then ate some cookies and played with some friends. It was completely exhausting. But it was great to see so many friends and neighbors, all without having to leave the comforts of home! And I also got to try gingerbread for the first time - yum! It doesn't have dairy in it but it does have egg, so we're seeing if I can do baked goods with egg. So far so good! I also got to spend the morning playing with my Auntie Susan, who came up early especially to see me. I tired her out so thoroughly that she needed a nap before everyone else arrived! Sorry, Auntie Susan... Anyway, I had a ton of fun, and now maybe my mom will stop baking things and actually spend some time with me? Unless she is baking more gingerbread...in that case, carry on, Mom!
12/3/09: OK. Making some progress with the pictures. Here are some of my favorites from Disney:
If you want to see the rest, you can find them here: Disney 2009. And if you missed the rest of the November pictures, here they are. 12/2/09: Technical update: I know I said pictures from Thanksgiving and Disney are up, and that was not a lie, but for some reason I am having trouble making a link to those galleries. Every time I try, my computer crashes! So, for any die-hard Michael fans out there who really want to see those pictures, just click on any gallery to the left, which will take you to SmugMug. There you will see a menu on the top left of the page - just click on "family" (after lchien) and it will take you to all the galleries. Hopefully I'll be able to get those links working on here soon
12/1/09: Happy December! My first piece of news is that pictures are up from both Disney and Thanksgiving! My second piece of news is that Christmas decorating is in full swing here at Casa del Michael... Example #1? There is a huge tree in my house! First it was just, you know, a tree, so I thought, well maybe it got lost and wandered in on accident? But now it has tons of pretty decorations and lights on it, and I am told not to touch it. Which is SO HARD. Want. To. Touch. Anyway there are also about 45 red and green bins in the living room spilling all sorts of festive contents everywhere. Frustratingly, many of the things in the bins are breakable, so I am AGAIN being told not to touch. But it's OK, I'm still riding a high of good feelings from the past two days, because I got to see my Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie and Cousin Gracie two days in a row! They were up in Boston for the weekend plus a few days, so they came to our house one night for dinner and then the next night we went into the ci-tay for dinner with them...AND Auntie Susan! So to review, I have had nonstop family fun, a tree invade my house but then magically transform into an object of beauty and wonder, and there are tons of Christmasy Christmas things everywhere to look at. I can't wait to see what happens in the NEXT few days!
11/26/09: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have so much to be thankful for this year! Most importantly, I am thankful for those yummy sweet potatoes that I had at dinner...just kidding! Of course, I am most grateful to be surrounded by such loving family and friends...and especially that my Meme was at the table right where she should be, since earlier this year we were not so sure that she would see any more Thanksgivings. So that was the biggest blessing of this year. But those sweet potatoes were pretty good too. For more November pictures click here.
11/24/09: Hi again everyone - I'm back from Disney World! Yes, I know, I failed to mention that I was going in the first place...partly because things got really busy the week before, and partly because, well, I didn't know what it was! Do you know what Disney World is? Well I'll fill you in: it's pure awesomeness. I loved it! Here are some highlights (pictures are coming, I promise!):
11/7/09: Hi there! You may have noticed that my blog looks a little different, and is in a slightly different place. This is Google's fault, and I am going to try to make it a little prettier. And I will also try and post more! Unfortunately we have been experiencing some sleep issues here and so I haven't gotten to the computer much, but I'm working on it...stay tuned!
11/4/09: Today I discovered that Truman is a boy too! I was very excited about this. Truman was less excited. Much pointing and fascination has ensued since.
11/1/09: Wow, November already! I tried to make up for my candy gorge-fest yesterday by heading to the Vegetarian Festival in Boston with some of my favorite vegetarians, including my Auntie Susan and my twin NICU buddies Desmond and Kaelan! We got some yummy free food, and I found a vegan cheese that I actually like (you wouldn't believe how picky I am about my vegan cheeses), and some random people told me I was cute. But the best part was right after the festival, when Des and Kaelan and I got to eat lunch, run around a little, and - most importantly - play with a vending machine. What could be better, right? Oh and I also popped 4 balloons with my little razor claws. I think I might need a trim.
10/31/09: Happy Halloween! I had so much fun today! First I went to Auntie LAM and Uncle Jamie's Halloween party, which was super fun because I was the only kid there so I got tons of attention. I loved it so much that I even kept the hood to my monkey costume on almost the whole time, even though it was super warm and I hate things on my head. Hey, when the ladies are giving you love for being super cute in your monkey costume, you don't take the costume off. That's an important life lesson. Anyway, I thought that was my fun for the day, but do you know what happened at night? I went to all my neighbors' houses, and they gave me candy! For free! All I had to do was hold out my pumpkin bucket, and they put candy in it and told me I was adorable! Can you believe this is legal? I even got a whole bag of candy corn (my favorite!) all to myself, thanks to my extra-special across-the-street neighbors. I kept pulling it out of my pumpkin and holding it out to everyone with wonder and awe. I would like to do it all again tomorrow! We'll see if it works... In the meantime, check out the pictures in the October gallery!
10/29/09: What a busy day I had today! First I had a language evaluation at my house from my Early Intervention team - the folks at Children's Hospital had said they were "very concerned" about my non-talkiness and had put my expressive language skills at 6 months (which I did not agree with, but of course I didn't say so - I don't talk!). So my EI team decided to see for themselves with more thorough testing, and guess what? If you count my sign language skills, my expressive language came in at 16 months - my adjusted age. So ha! Six months my butt. But you know what's really crazy? My receptive language - how well I understand stuff you say - came in at 24-29 months. And I am 19 months old. And I am supposed to be 16 months old. My mom is already researching preschools for gifted but mute children. (OK, she's not really. But Meme totally is.) Anyway, so that was pretty eventful, but I wasn't done - I also started gymnastics today! It was a lot of fun - they had little stairs to climb on, which are my FAVORITE, and lots of mats to roll on and beams to walk across and other kids to push out of the way and stuff. And we go to play with a giant parachute and get stamps on our hands and feet! I may have had a minor meltdown at the end, but I had had a very, very busy morning. Showing off your genius AND your athletic skills all in a span of a few hours is pretty exhausting, it turns out!
10/24/09: New pictures are up! Check out the October gallery - it's chock full of nuts! Literally - there's lots of family members in there (ha ha - just kidding, family members!). But yes, there are pictures from my visit to New Jersey to see my cousins, plus some from my mom's birthday dinner, and also pictures of my first haircut! Yes, I am now properly trimmed and coiffed...no more rat tail/wannabe mullet look for me! My Meme did the honors, and I think she did a fabulous job. I was an excellent client as well - no crying and minimal fussing. it helps that I LOVE getting my hair combed. If you look at all the pictures you will also see evidence of my current shoe obsession...I try on everyone else's shoes at least four times per day. What can I say? I like to experiment with different shoe fashions. And also sizes. Variety is the spice of life!
10/19/09: Just got back from a super fun weekend in New Jersey! Not only did I get to see my Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie and cousin Gracie, but I ALSO got to see my Uncle Alan and Auntie Valerie and my cousin Charlotte! They drove up from DC for their first ever trip with Charlotte - and it was the first time that my mom and I got to meet her! Well, technically, she was around when Uncle Alan and Auntie Val first met ME, but she was just a wee little fetus and we couldn't see her or anything. And I was only 6 pounds or so! My, how things have changed. Now I am a walking, talking (OK, not so much with the talking) toddler, and Charlotte is a crawling, babbling 10-month-old! I loved getting to know her and having so much of my family all in one place! Charlotte did great with her first trip, too - the first night was a little rough, but she figured it out the second night, and even ate more heartily than usual! I credit myself for that - I think she felt some peer pressure after seeing how much I can pack away. Mayve I don't talk much because my mouth is always full of food?Anyway, it was a really, really fun time - I hope we get to do it again soon! 10/15/09: Happy Birthday Mom! My favorite mama turned 30 today - that's 20 times my age! Hmm I might not want to mention that to her... Anyway I gave her a photo book full of her favorite subject - me! I have to say, I did a pretty good job with it - it made her cry and everything! You're welcome, Mom. You're welcome. 10/13/09: Hey, you know what's not fun? Having like, eleventeen teeth come in at once. OK, I might be exaggerating slightly. I only have six coming in at once. But four of them are molars! Ouch! I am being quite brave despite the pain and usually carrying on pretty normally, except that I start crying WAY easier when I am upset and I am not eating as much as usual (it hurts - except ice cream!). I'm also not sleeping as great at night but today I made up for it by having a nice, long nap - mostly on the sofa with my mom. Hey, my teeth hurt - I don't want to be all alone in my crib! I figure I may as well get some free snuggles while I can... 10/12/09: What a great long weekend! Our family friend Tami came to visit us from Syracuse. She is a massage therapist - and she's blonde! I adore blondes. Seriously, whenever a blonde walks by, I'm all, "How YOU doin'?". Anyway, I digress. So Tami came to visit, and not only did she play with me and let me play on her aerobed and give me lots of hugs and even a bite of her apple, but she GAVE ME A FOOT MASSAGE. It was most amazing. Oh and I also got to rake leaves and jump in a leaf pile and experience the amazingness of autumn in New England. Whatever. The important thing is, I got a foot massage from a beautiful blonde this weekend. Doesn't get much better than that! 10/8/09: Hi everybody! It's been very busy here at Casa de Michael - I have continued to make some progress with my talking (I totally said Pepe, although I said it only once and when only Pepe was in the room, so no one really believes us) and I am getting better at imitating what other people are saying. Just to see where I am at, my Early Intervention team is going to do a more formal assessment, but they are not really worried about me. They said that 85% of the kids in EI are boys between the ages of 12 and 24 months who don't talk. And just about all of them turn out fine. So that was nice to hear. I also spent the night at my dad's for the first time ever this past weekend, which was fun! My mom was at a wedding (congratulations, Tina and Jay!) and so my dad suggested that he put me down for sleep at his place, and then my mom could come after the wedding (which would be late at night) and help out because I was most likely to wake up. And I did. So I ended up sleeping most of the night with mom on the pull-out sofa, but I did sleep for an hour and a half in my crib, which I am very proud of. But now my mom keeps saying the phrase "sleep training", which does not sound like a fun thing at all! I wonder if I will have to wear combat boots? Or a helmet? On second thought maybe mom will be the one who will need the helmet... 9/30/09: 18-month checkup today! My stats are excellent: 70th percentile for both height and weight, and my big giant head is holding steady at the 90th percentile. And yes, those are all for my actual age, not my adjusted age. For my adjusted age, I am probably in like the millionth percentile for everything (yes, I know that is mathematically impossible, all you mathy people, I'm just trying to make a point). All other systems checked out great, and I got two shots - and did not even make a peep. I am super duper brave. So as a reward I got cookies right out of the box at the supermarket (we hadn't even paid for them yet! Don't tell!) AND my own slice of ham from the deli. So yeah, I got to be told that I am awesome and then eat snacks well before snacktime. Not a bad day! 9/29/09: I know, I know, I'm such a bad blogger! It's not because my life has been boring, it's just that I've been so BUSY! So much is going on that I hardly get any time on the computer at all. Such is the life of a toddler. Also, I have been very busy TALKING! Now in addition to the standard Mom, Mama, and Dada and a few other words said once and never repeated, I now can say Meme (which makes her cry), "boom!", the letter E, and ball and bowl, and I am getting much better at trying to imitate what other people are saying. I totally said "I love you" last week, but I have since forgotten how I did that. I am also trying really hard to say Truman, but I seem to be coming up with something different every day, none of which are particularly close. But I'm trying! I also learned the sign for thank you. I am actually doing it right now, because I appreciate you reading this. 9/20/09: I am 18 months old today! Can you believe it? 18 months. That's a year and a half! For some reason, my mom and my meme are convinced that 18 months is the true end of babyhood, and I am now a full-fledged toddler. I don't know where they get this, but OK, sure. Since I am apparently no longer a baby, tonight I had my last bottle (yes, my mom cried). Tomorrow - sippy cups only! No more bottles for me - bottles are for babies. And I, I am no baby. I also learned some new things today, which I found appropriate, being a worldly toddler and all: 1) running on concrete is much faster than running on grass, but hurts a LOT more when you fall (especially if you hit your head). 2) Ponytails are really, really fun to play with. I might grow my hair out super long, just so I can have a ponytail with me everywhere I go. It's like a party on your head! 9/19/09: I cannot believe I am writing this, but my little buddy Annabelle is almost a year old! Her real birthday isn't until the 23rd, but her birthday party was today, so it got me all nostalgic and wondering where the time has gone and stuff. As you may recall, I helped Annabelle be born! OK, not, you know, directly, but my mom drove Annabelle's mom to the hospital, and I was there too, providing much-needed moral support. Totally counts. Anyway, it was a fun party and a really beautiful day! How appropriate for such a fun and beautiful little lady. Happy birthday, Annabelle! 9/18/09: My Meme and Pepe came home yesterday! It was very, very exciting. I cannot even describe the sound I made when I saw their car pull in. It was somewhere between a raptor scream and an ostrich being strangled. And a dolphin laughing. Very hard to describe. Anyway, I am very glad to have them back home again - I missed them a lot! So now I have one whole day of both parents and grandparents, and then tomorrow...my dad leaves on vacation. So much leaving! But you know what? It's ok, because the coming home is pretty awesome. Without any leaving, there can be no raptor/ostrich/dolphin squeals of joy when they return, right? 9/17/09: Today I went to my first "open call", which is a modeling audition that anyone can go to. This one was for Hasbro, and it was a bit nutty! There was this big huge room full of little kids and parents, and we all hung out in there for about an hour each until our number was called. Suffice to say that a giant room full of active toddlers without any directed play or organization is a thing to behold. So then once we made it in to the photographer, all that happened was he handed me a ball and had me throw it, and they took a couple of pictures. That was it! I survived an hour of Toddler Melee for 10 seconds of showing off my cuteness. Whatever - it was certainly an adventure, and I napped the whole way home. So yeah, given the number of kids that I saw, there is a tiny, miniscule chance that they will call me back. But hey, you never know! I could be the next face of Hasbro! 9/16/09: Been a pretty quiet week around here - literally! My grandparents went on a cruise to Bermuda. And did not take me, can you believe it? Who wouldn't want to spend 5 days in a tiny cabin on the sea with a very active toddler? I know, I don't know what they were thinking. I'm not sure how they are having ANY FUN without me. But it's OK - we are managing here without them. I am pitching in extra to help with household chores - I help walk the dog in the morning and afternoon (weather permitting), I dust daily, I am helping to eat everything in the house, and I am keeping my mom company by napping as little as possible. She seems to think this is not helpful, but I think she is underestimating the potential for loneliness in a quiet house. As such I will continue to resist napping in order to be sure that she always has someone to talk to. You're welcome, Mom. 9/13/09: Happy Birthday to my dad! The Big 3-0. To celebrate we started out with a super fun charity walk/run with Steve and Tracy and Lucas for Ovarian Cancer, although I have to admit - I didn't actually participate. We got there a little later than planned and after sitting in the car for an hour, I was NOT about to sit in my stroller. So instead I pushed it around on the grass and played with my mom and dad while we waited for everyone else to finish. It turned out to be more fun, I think, because the finish was rather exciting - Lucas was the first baby finisher (pushed by Steve)! It was great to cheer everyone on, and then we all hung out on the grass afterwards - it was a beautiful day! I'm glad the sun was shining for my dad on his birthday. 9/10/09: So, I have kind of developed a vast love for um, pretty much everything. It started normally, with a sudden attachment to stuffed animals and plastic animal figurines (I now need Mr. Bear in order to fall asleep, and I like to have Little Elephant on my tray to share cookies with at snacktime). This was all very cute and adorable and normal and age-appropriate, but I have started to branch out in a big way. I love some pretty peculiar things (so says my mom, but I don't know what she is talking about). Here is a sampling of some things that I have cradled under my chin and hummed to (my personal indication of love and adoration), just in the past 24 hours: a piece of sausage (see yesterday's entry), my mom's pill shaver for sweaters, the controller for the electric mattress pad, a vaccuum cleaner attachment, a Lego, my mom's blush and eyeshadow, and a wheel from my new wagon (it hadn't been put together yet). Also, I repeatedly kissed a large bag of potting soil, and I would have hugged it and carried it around while humming if it weren't so darn heavy. What can I say? I'm just full of love. Oh also, I love my new wagon, and I would hug that too if I could lift it! Thank you, Meme and Pepe! (p.s. September pictures are up - apple picking included!) 9/9/09: Today was my first day of work! Most kids are like 16, or maybe 17 when they get their first job..I am 17 months. Hey, you all know I like to do things early. So yeah, I had a modeling shoot today! I modeled a booster seat, and let me tell you - that was some tough work. I had to sit in a booster seat and eat Cheerios and drink from a sippy cup. Which is pretty much exactly what I would have been doing at home anyway. The only tricky part was getting me to smile at the camera - usually snack time is a pretty quiet affair, so I couldn't figure out why everyone was being so goofy and smiley. And who those other people were. But I only worked a half hour, and got paid for two hours! Kind of like a lawyer! (Just kidding, Auntie Leah!) We did have to drive over an hour to get there, which I was not thrilled with, but my mom rewarded me with a food-court dinner (which I NEVER get, poor deprived me) of sausage and fries. It was delish. The sausage was nice and spicy, and I ate like, 90% of the fries. I did let my mom have a few, but not too many. Hey, I worked hard today! I had to replace all the calories I burned, sitting there eating and smiling! Ooo, maybe my next job will consist of eating fries while modeling a grease-resistant bib or something... 9/5/09: I went apple picking this morning! It was super, duper fun, and way more fun than last year...this year I could walk down the rows myself, and pick an apple myself, and even eat it myself! I chomped down one and a half. Ginger gold are yummy! There was also a petting zoo full of goats, which I love - they are all black and white, just like Truman! I even got some lemon sorbet to cap off the outing. Needless to say, I was super tired - I slept the whole way home and then had a two hour nap later in the afternoon. Fun is so exhausting! 9/3/09: Just wanted to let you know that there are EVEN MORE pictures up in the August gallery - I don't know what was up with August. Apparently I was especially photogenic this month, or something. Anyway, I won't be hurt if you don't look at them all - there are an awful lot! There is a also a whole gallery from my grandparents' visit, but there are not nearly as many pictures in there. Check them out! 9/2/09: I got my first job today! That's right - the modeling agency called and wants me to go to Rhode Island for a photo shoot for a catalog called Summer Infant. I'm excited but also kind of nervous - I have no idea what to expect! It's not until next week, though, so I have a little time to prepare. Although I'm not really sure what I should be doing in preparation, exactly... 9/1/09: Big day today - I went to the Infant Follow-up Clinic at Children's Hospital to see how I am doing developmentally (they follow all the preemies). Big surprise - I am all caught up except for language! They would like me to see a speech therapist, but my Early Intervention program might not have one available. I'm making some progress with talking, but of course I am very quiet in strange situations so they couldn't really tell. I'll get there! I did get to see one of my NICU doctors because she runs the program...when I saw her I gave her a great big hug, which of course made everyone cry (saps). I know she worked really hard to help me get healthy and strong, just like she does for countless other babies every year. Since I don't talk really, I wanted to say thank you the only way I know how. She said it made her month! I also had a nice dinner with my parents and all my grandparents and said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, since they are leaving for DC tomorrow. I had a really fun visit - I hope they come back again soon! 8/31/09: Sorry I haven't written in awhile, I've been busy hanging out with my grandparents. No, not those grandparents - the ones from CHINA! Yes, they came all the way from across the world just to see ME! Ok, maybe they are also interested in seeing their own kids, and of course cousin Charlotte, who they haven't even gotten to meet yet..but until they get to DC to see her, I am doing a pretty good job of entertaining them, I think. Just think, the last time they saw me I was 5 pounds and still hooked up to a nasal cannula and feeding tube because I couldn't breathe or eat on my own. Now I am walking (almost running!) and eating table food and talking(ish) and looking way, way healthier and cuter. (Not that I wasn't cute at 5 pounds, but it was, um, a different kind of cute.) So you could say they are pretty amazed at my smarts and good looks. Also my amazing charm. We only have one more day together, and then they are off to meet my cousin before flying back home to China. I will miss them so much - I can't wait until they come back to visit...or maybe move back to Boston! I love you, Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for a super fun weekend! 8/26/09: I sure am pooped from today - literally AND figuratively! Although you probably don't want the details of the literal part. But figuratively speaking, I am pooped from such a fun day! Today my mom and I met our friends Leslie and Annabelle at the lake and had a great time and perfect weather! Annabelle and I went swimming, we played in the spray park, we had a lovely picnic lunch and tried to steal each other's food, we changed out of our swimsuits and got to see each other naked...really, quite a full day. Our moms - whoops, I mean WE - were very tired afterwards. I'm super glad we went though, because this particular park closes for the season soon, and the weather is supposed to cool off a lot, so it might have been my last chance to go this summer. Sad! On the other hand, I have brought home enough sand on my person and in my toys and clothes that we now have a small beach in our family room. So the summer fun can continue indoors! Hooray! 8/25/09: Well, someone has been busy developing in the past few days! First off, I have very rapidly gone from a non-talker to a talker. In just three days I started saying Mom with actual regularity, yellow, up, down, eat, and something else that I can't remember. I can also make very impressive monkey noises and imitate silly sounds that you might make at me. Also, I am suddenly and intensely in love with stuffed animals. And a small plastic elephant. Actually, if you say the word "elephant" to me, I will hum and put my fist under my chin and stick my elbow in the air (my own personal sign language for love). This is an excellent development for me, because I have always been a snuggler...and now that I realize that I can snuggle with things other than parents and grandparents, my snuggle opportunities have just increased immensely! 8/23/09: Ok, NOW new August pictures are up! All 6 trillion of them. What can I say? I just don't have a bad angle, I guess... 8/22/09: I'm back! Did you miss me? Sorry about that little hiatus there...I've been very busy trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer before it's gone! I've been to the beach, the town wading pool, the park, the super fun park that has a lake and a beach and a playground and a mini water park thing, and of course I've also chilled in my own dino pool. I've also been very busy watering the garden and the flowers, and cleaning the house (I really know how to handle a swiffer), and visiting with friends, and hanging out with my family. I'm getting tired just thinking about all that I have been doing! The past few days alone I met with my new Early Intervention specialist to work on language (my language, not hers), I met little baby Megan for the first time and had lunch with her mommy Kelly and my mommy, I had a super fun day with my Auntie Susan, who came to visit me today...My social calendar is just so full! Tomorrow I have no plans at all for once, which is kind of refreshing. Although if it is nice, I will of course be heading somewhere for some watersports. Gotta get while the gettin' is good here in New England! (Oh, and don't bother looking for new photos in the August gallery today - I'm a bit behind on those too. They will be there soon though, I promise!). 8/13/09: Today was a roller coaster of failure and success. First I woke up after a half hour from my morning nap: Fail. But then I went back to sleep for another hour! Success! At lunchtime my Auntie Kelly and her new little baby Megan were supposed to come visit, but traffic was at a standstill, so they had to go back home: Sad Fail. Then my mom had bought soy cheese slices and was so excited to make me a grilled cheese, but guess what? Fail. I didn't like it. (The cheese consistency was so strange! Any why was it touching the bread?) But then we went shopping and bought my Halloween costume - and had a coupon! Success! Then we went home and tried on the costume - double success! I can't wait for you to see it...but you have to wait until Halloween! Fortunately the day ended with another success - I went to bed so late due to a late afternoon nap that I got two dinners! Success! So despite the disappointments of the day, I went to bed a happy guy. Major success. 8/12/09: So. Chocolate. You've heard of it, yes? I had too, but not really tasted it until today. Most things with chocolate in it also have milk in it, which I cannot have yet, so chocolate hasn't been a part of my diet (I have these chocolate animal crackers, but the chocolate flavor is pretty faint, so it doesn't really count). But then my mom found yogurt made with coconut milk (dairy free!) and the only flavor they had was chocolate, so we tried it at lunch today. And WOW was that stuff amazing! I really don't have any other words for it. Just, Wow. I am so glad to have chocolate in my life now. Do you have chocolate in your life? If not, you should accept chocolate into your heart. Chocolate loves you. Chocolate is all-powerful. Chocolate is the power and the glory. Whoops, sorry - getting a little carried away there. But really, I like chocolate. 8/11/09: I feel like I should take a break from describing my daily goings-on to let you in on some of the things that I have learned this month, because let me tell you - I have learned a lot. Here's the short list: 1) I learned how to stand up without using a support. 2) Shortly after learning that, I learned how to stand up on the bed and bounce around, which seems to make adults terribly nervous. 3) Then I learned how to climb up on the coffee table and stand up on top, which makes them even more nervous! 4) I can now reliably say Dada AND Mama, and I can imitate a lot of other sounds. 5) I know where all the trash cans in the house are and I will throw something away for you if you ask me. 6) I can point to my head, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, hair, and belly button. I can also find these parts on other people. Additionally, if you have boobs, I will be happy to find those for you as well. 7) I love helping around the house, especially feeding Truman, dusting, and swiffering. I am also somewhat obsessed with where things belong, and if you move something, I will put it back where it was. 8) I learned that giving hugs and kisses can sometimes be even better than getting them (but I still love to get them). 8/9/09: Oh I totally forgot to tell you - the modeling agency accepted me! So now I just have to send in some more photos of me and they'll send them to companies to see if they want me. I hear you don't get a lot of jobs until you're 3, but who knows? We'll see. Speaking of models, I got to spend the afternoon with three lovely ladies today! My Auntie Susan came up for the weekend (hi Auntie Susan!) and we went to my Auntie LAM's house to visit (hi Auntie LAM!). We were planning to go to the beach, but the weather was kind of icky, so we pretty much spent the whole time eating, which was fine with me! Turns out I really like salami, by the way. Yum. I also like to play with giant foam fingers. Stay tuned for those pictures! (The foam fingers, not the salami). 8/8/09: BBQ time! I journeyed out to Framingham today for Auntie Tracy and Uncle Steve's annual summer BBQ, and of course I got to see my little buddy Lucas, who is getting so big! Not yet crawling, but pretty soon we'll be running around together, I just know it. I also made two new girlfriends in the kiddie pool (Got to see them in their suits!), and even though both of them tried to drown me, it was totally worth it. I also got to see lots of friends and eat some snacks and play outside all day - it was fun but super tiring! I was asleep about 30 seconds after I got in the car. So many car naps lately! Good thing my carseat is comfy... 8/7/09: Preemie Playdate! Today my mom and I went into the city for a fun fest with my twin preemie buddies, Kaelan and Desmond! It was super fun, because not only were their parents both there, but my Auntie Susan and our friend Kerry came too! It turns out that 5 adults and 3 toddlers is a pretty good ratio, especially at a playground when all three of us boys are running in separate directions! We had a lot of fun tiring out the adults, and I am finally starting to realize that I can actually kind of play WITH other kids, rather than just, you know, near them. (Kaelan and I accidentally played soccer together, but really we were both trying to steal the ball from each other but missing and then walking into it, so it looked like we were kicking it back and forth. Totally counts though, I think.) Anyway, it was a really fun day - I can't wait to see my friends again! 8/6/09: I finally said Mama today - to my actual mama! (The other day I said it to Meme, when Mom was not in the room to hear me.) True, I was mad at her at the time, but it still totally counts. Apparently I will only speak out of sheer desperation. Oh, and also? Did you know about potato chips? Because I just learned about potato chips, and I CANNOT BELIEVE that my life has been devoid of them so far. They are the most amazing thing I have ever tasted, and I am not ashamed to say that I spend pretty much my entire day trying to get some. Why am I not allowed to just eat an entire bag, you ask? I don't know. Mean, mean adults who want to deprive me of joy. That's the only reason I can think of. 8/5/09: I had a VERY busy day today! In the morning I went into Boston (don't worry, my mom came too) to see if a modeling agency wanted to sign me! It was pretty low key - I just hung out in a room with a bunch of other babies and toddlers, and then some lady asked my name and my mom gave her some pictures of me, and that was it! I guess they'll send out a letter in a few days when they decide if they want me to work for them or not. So we'll see! As if that wasn't exciting enough, this afternoon I went to a party! My mom's former coworkers had their annual summer get-together, and they were kind enough to invite me and Mom, even though she hasn't worked there in a year (really, I am pretty sure they just invited her in the hopes she would bring me, but don't tell her I said that). We had a lot of fun - there was a sandbox and a kiddie pool (although for some reason I didn't have my swim stuff, MOM) and a swingset and slide and lots of other kids and adoring adults. I had a blast! Whew, what a day! 8/1/09: Today was Daddy Day #2! We couldn't really decide what to do today, and I kind of had a weird schedule after a really long morning nap (that Ecotarium yesterday pooped me out!) so we ended up kind of hanging out and then going to a mini-waterpark nearby. I mean like, really mini. Just some spray things and space to run around. I love water, so I had fun, but there wasn't a lot of little kid stuff, so my favorite part was playing in the drain water. That sounds kind of sad, but I really like drains! The pictures we took are already up - if you want to see them, click here. 7/31/09: Today I went to the Ecotarium with my dad and our friend Keegan! (Pictures are up in the July gallery!) It was really fun - they had animals to look at and also fun science-y things to do and see. I had a lot of fun, even though we got soaking wet! Apparently Mother Nature decided that we needed some torrential rain today, even though we had some yesterday. I didn't care though - I love being wet! I was kind of disappointed though that the zoo part wasn't a petting zoo - I couldn't understand why I couldn't pet the polar bear! My mom went to Bowdoin, which makes her a Polar Bear, and I get to pet her all I want! Oh well. I also had my first ever Friendly's meal! My Pepe was very proud - he looooooves Friendly's and only gets to go by himself because Meme can't eat anything there. Looks like someone has a new lunch buddy! 7/29/09: This morning I was majorly bumming because yesterday was BORING and I was missing the fun of New Jersey and I was convinced that today was going to be boring too. But then you know what happened? Leslie and Annabelle showed up! Let me tell you, it was not a boring afternoon. We all ate lunch together (I tried hummus - pretty good!) and then went in the dino pool! The moms got to chat while Annabelle and I splashed each other and fought over the same toy (while 700 other toys floated by). It was so fun, but I have to admit, it's pretty tiring to have to show off constantly for three pretty ladies. I tried to not let my fatigue show, but when we were all inside and dried off Annabelle hit me in the head with the camera (accidentally!) and I kind of unraveled into a hopeless puddle of sorrow and despair. So then playtime was over. But all was not lost - I ended up taking a super long afternoon nap! Just goes to show you - just because a day doesn't start well doesn't mean it can't end well! 7/28/09: I am home from New Jersey! I had an awesome time - I can't believe they have a pool right in their backyard! I mean, I have a dino pool, but they have a REAL pool. You don't have to blow it up or anything - it's already in the ground! What will they think of next? So as you may have guessed, I went swimming quite a bit, which was tons of fun...and I even got daring, and jumped (ok, more like walked) off the edge into my mom's arms! My mom didn't do that until she was...oh wait, she never did that. I am now officially more adventurous at 16 months than my mom was ever in her life. I was just trying to keep up with my cousin Gracie, who is three - she jumped into the water about 15,000 times! I adore her and try to do everything that she does, with admittedly mixed results. We had a really fun weekend together, though, and I loved seeing my Uncle Paul and Tante Jennie (Aunt Jen in Norwegian) too - Tante Jennie made me a very delicious dairy-free risotto that I shoveled - SHOVELED - in. It was not my finest display of manners, but you should have tasted that risotto. Then you would understand. Oh, and you know what the best part of the weekend was (besides the risotto)? Knowing that I get to come back in three weeks and see everyone again, PLUS my Uncle Alan, Auntie Val, and Cousin Charlotte! I'm counting the days! 7/23/09: Two things that you need to know: 1) July pictures are up! Warning: there are kind of a lot of them. Apparently I have been very photogenic so far this month. Unfortunately the pictures from yesterday's museum trip are not up yet, but they will be soon! 2) I am off to New Jersey tomorrow for some fun in the sun with Uncle Paul, Tante Jennie, and cousin Gracie! So you won't be hearing from me for several days, but luckily for you, once I get back I will have lots of stories to tell and even more pictures to show! It's kind of a good thing that you will have the whole weekend to prepare. 7/22/09: You are going to be so jealous when I tell you what I did today, but I am going to tell you anyway. I went to the Children's Museum with my buddies Desmond and Kaelan! We had such a fun time - there was so much to do and see, and even though it's a "museum", you don't get yelled at for touching stuff! I am proud to report that we also did not spend the whole time in the toddler area (although, to be honest, all three of us sort of freaked out when our moms took us out of there), but we also went in some places for bigger kids too. (Because we are advanced and mature, obviously). I learned a lot of cool stuff, like how to climb a rope ladder (don't worry, much smaller and safer than it sounds) and how to make bubbles with all sorts of stuff! (also how to make bigger kids upset when you mess up the giant bubbles they are trying to make). You know what else I learned? That apparently my mom has a shorter attention span than I do. And I'm a toddler! But she'd be all, Michael, let's play with something else! And I'd be all, No, Woman, I just want to spin this rain stick around for another 20 minutes! Unfortunately she is bigger and (only slightly) stronger than I am, so she would just pick me up and put me somewhere else and then I would see something cool and forget what I was doing before. Moms and their trickery! Regardless, I had an awesome time, and I loved hanging out with my friends! I can't wait to go back! 7/21/09: I got to see my Auntie Andrea and Uncle Joe today! They came for dinner, and I was smart enough to have napped late, so I got to stay up and have a second dinner with all of the big people! Not only did I have more fun, but I got more food too. Pretty smart, huh? 7/17/09: Usually my life just carries on with the same old stuff happening most every day, and then every once in awhile I get these bursts where everything is so exciting! Yesterday I went to the zoo, as you know, and today my Auntie Susan came to visit me! And here I thought I was just going to have a post-zoo recovery day at home...I mean, I was at home for most of the day, but you have to admit, playing with Auntie Susan is a smidge more exciting than doing the same old stuff with my mom (no offense, Mom, but I kind of see you a lot). And today was extra, uber-exciting, because it was super warm out and I was able to use my pool! I had tons of water toys to choose from, so of course what were my favorite things to play with? My soccer ball (clearly not a water toy) and my mom's empty aluminum can. You would be amazed at the fun one can have with a soccer ball and an empty can. And an Auntie Susan! 7/16/09: I went to the zoo today with my buddies Lucas and Maya and their moms, and we also met some new friends too! It was a long trip - over an hour - but we scheduled our drives during naptimes and I complied by actually sleeping, so it worked out well. I had so much fun! Not only did I get to hang out with my friends, but I also got to see some cool animals - some of them up close! There was a petting zoo, which I LOVED. It was mostly goats, and they were all pretty small and black and white, so it was kind of like having lots and lots of Trumans around! And just like Truman, they would all run over and sniff my hands to see if I had any food, then walk away when it was apparent that I did not. So I felt right at home. One thing I did not like was being in my stroller - so confining! So restricting! So few calories burned! So my mom got an excellent workout carrying me around, and I also helped some of the time by pushing the stroller myself. Now I understand a little better why my mom is not a fan of big hills while pushing me. Anyway, I had a really great day. I don't see why we can't go every day! 7/15/09: Wow, I haven't posted in awhile, huh? Sorry about that - I have just been so busy! First I was very busy catching up on sleep, then I was very busy not sleeping at all. I like to mix it up. Lately I have been not sleeping, but eating a ton! It took me an hour to eat breakfast this morning. An hour! And not for normal kid reasons like I was playing with my food or throwing it at the dog or anything (although I might have done a little of that). But I have several courses for breakfast, so it takes some time. Yes, you read right - courses. First I have dry Cheerios and apple juice to tide me over while Mom makes everything else. Next I have my banana-and-waffles course - a whole banana plus two mini waffles. I ALWAYS eat all o my banana (sometimes Truman helps me with the waffles). Then I get either oatmeal or Cheerios with milk - I always vote for Cheerios (I love me some cereal!) but if the weather is cool my mom will give me oatmeal because she is mean. Oops, I mean because she is good and loving and trying to keep me warm. Then I get a fruit course to finish the meal - applesauce or pear sauce. Yummmm. I usually try and get a Puffs course too, but the mean - I mean, totally loving - mom most often says no. So yeah, I kind of eat a lot. My mom is a little worried about what the grocery bill is going to be like in a few years...let alone when I am a teenager! Maybe I will work at a restaurant and get free food... 7/11/09: It was SUCH a nice day today! Warm sunshine, a slight northwesterly breeze, birds chirping, Michael playing in the pool...In short, fantastic fantasticness. Yesterday I went to the town wading pool, which was fun, but it is too deep for me to sit, so I pretty much stood the whole time and held on to the side while I played with my water cups. It was a good time, but got a little old after a half hour or so. Also, I learned while I was there that bigger kids can be fascinating to watch, but they can also be kind of annoying. But today we filled up my own personal dino pool, which awesome! I could sit or crawl or stand or walk in it, plus we could fill it with water toys and not worry about losing one or having another kid take it. Seriously, I had so many toys in there, it looked like the trash room scene in Star Wars (luckily no one-eyed creature tried to eat me. Phew!). I had such a good time, I played for over an hour! That might not sound like a big deal to some of you, but ever since I figured out how to move, I have not stayed still for more than one or two minutes at a time - ever! So the fact that I stayed in a 5 square foot area and played happily was kind of amazing. Hopefully we will have some more actual summer-like days this summer, so I can do it again! Also - beach pictures from last weekend are up - check out the July gallery! 7/10/09: Sooo...I haven't been going to sleep particularly easily lately. Like, sometimes it takes over two hours to get me down. Why, you ask? Oh, I just like to keep 'em guessing. So all this week my parents had to do tag-team bedtime - my dad would try for an hour and then my mom would try until I went to sleep. But tonight was a little different, because my mom went out (despite my protests) and so there was just me and dad - no option for him to tag out. So what did I do? I went to sleep promptly and stayed down for two hours, then needed just a little encouragement to fall back asleep. So mom is thinking that maybe she needs to go out every night! Hey, whatever it takes to help the baby sleep, right? 7/7/09: Just kidding about that normal thing that I wrote about yesterday...today I re-qualified for Early Intervention, precisely because I am not normal! Don't worry, it's nothing serious, just a little language delay. My doctor says even some 15-month-olds (especially boys) who were born full-term still aren't big talkers, but they turn out just fine. I'm just the strong silent type, is all. Everything else turned out great - I tested right at my chronological age for gross motor skills, fine motors skills, cognition, and development. But for language I am testing at 10 months. Whoops! But hey, the good news is that I get to stay in Early Intervention...a nice lady comes to visit me once a month to tell me how awesome I am doing, and I get to go to a group and play with other kids my age every week! This is hardly a bad thing. But if they keep rewarding me like this for not talking, why would I ever start? 7/6/09: Today I went all the way into Boston just to be told I am perfect, which I knew. (It's still nice to hear, though). I had my final meeting with the hernia surgeon, and he declared me hernia-free and definitely not a candidate for surgery! Yay! We were figuring that it what would happen, since this last follow-up appointment was a just-to-be-sure thing, but I still breathed a big sigh of relief. That was the last of my preemie-related health concerns, too! I am now officially a normal kid. Please do not confuse normal with boring, because I am certainly not that! 7/5/09: Wow, another superfun day! My dad took me to the beach! The water was a little too cold for me to go in (it wasn't a super hot day), but I LOVED playing in the sand. I got to shovel it, and dump it, and put it in my hair, and throw it at my dad...so many things to do with sand! Then I needed a bath when I got home, because my head was so crusty and full of solid matter. And baths are awesome. So, basically, sand is the greatest thing ever. I think I need a sandbox! 7/4/09: Happy Fourth of July! What a fun day I had today! Last year I was too little to do much, plus I had only been home for a few weeks, so so we had a pretty quiet holiday...but this year I got to go to the town common for a parade and other Fourth of July festivities! Dogs were invited too, so even Truman got to go. Weirdly, he was super calm in the huge crowd, even with lots of kids around, even though when we go to the playground he barks his head off and generally freaks out. Anyway, I had a lot of fun checking out the other dogs and kids, watching the parade, and tasting some lemon ice! Then at dinnertime, I got to try an All-American food - ketchup. The good news is, I loved it! (mustard, not so much) The bad news is, my skin did not love it. I had it smeared all over my face, and when my mom wiped it off I had red splotches exactly where the ketchup had been. It was my own personal fireworks display! 7/3/09: Oh boy am I tired. Like, super duper, forget-who-you-are tired. It didn't help that I started the day by being awake from 4-5:30 this morning, so I was already off a bit. Then my mother had the gall - the GALL - to go and visit Auntie Kelly and her new baby Megan WITHOUT ME. Something about me being a distraction, and a tiny whirlwind of destruction, and a messy eater (it was lunchtime), and potentially trying to poke Megan's eyes out or pull her legs off. It's possible that some of those things are true, but still. So I stayed home with Meme and Pepe - which I would NEVER complain about, because it is always super fun to hang out with them (and not just because I get cookies and juice when I am not supposed to). The point is that my routine was all out of whack. My mom tried to put me down for a morning nap a little early so she could leave on time, but that failed miserably, and then I was all wired and confused and did not go down easy for Meme later in the afternoon. Then I only slept for 45 minutes, which is only half my usual daily nap quota. HALF! So needless to say, I am now very very tired. And it's all my mom's fault. (In cheerier news, zoo pictures are up, if you go here. They are mostly pictures of animals rather than me, and I'm not sure why this is. Personally, I think I was the most interesting thing at the zoo, but apparently the photographer felt differently. DAD.) 7/1/09: The skies finally cleared today! Well, not literally, no. It continues to rain and rain and rain. But in the figurative sense, it was a sunny day here, because my Auntie Susan came to visit me! So even though it poured (extra hard while we were in the Target parking lot, for the record), it was still a pretty fun day. I got to go to the train station, I got to go to Target (which you probably already figured out), and I got to play with my favorite godmother! Now if only I could get her to come visit me every day, I wouldn't care what the weather is doing... 6/28/09: Oh what a marvelous day. To start it off, I had a good night's sleep for the first time in a very long time. Then I had a great morning nap too! My mom actually had to wake me up because we were going to the zoo - I can't believe I almost slept through a zoo trip! I guess I am finally catching up on all the sleep I missed this past week. So yeah, I went to the zoo today! We met Tracy and Steve and baby Lucas and also Christine and Dan and baby Maya there! It was super fun, even though all of us young folks (and a few of the older ones) got a bit tired and cranky after a few hours. The animals were also a bit tired today, I think - it was kind of cool and drizzly, so they weren't very active. My favorite ones were the flamingos - they were so tall and pink, and there were so many of them! They were a bit stinky, though, to be honest. I think their moms need to use a bit more baby powder next time, if you know what I'm saying. It was still a great trip though - I can't wait to go back when the weather is nicer and I am not so tired! 6/27/09: Good news - I am finally feeling a little better, AND it was a beautiful day, so my dad took me swimming! It was so fun - I love the pool, and I haven't been able to go swimming since we went to Hilton Head. Apparently New England has yet to get the memo that it is summer. All week it was so rainy and gross, so not only was I a crankypants because I felt sick, but I couldn't even go outside to get some fresh air! But the sun and the water and the fun did my constitution some good today, I think. (Don't worry, I was wearing sunscreen!) 6/25/09: Sorry for the light posting...I haven't been feeling well, so I have spent pretty much all day and all night surgically attached to my mom. I have refused to nap in my crib, and I will allow my dad to put me down for bed...but only for a hour, max. Then I am up and looking for mom. This has made it hard for her to do, oh, anything at all. I don't see what the big deal is - how hard can it be to carry around a 26-pound, feverish, fidgeting, fussy, biting kid all day, and not be able to do things like go the bathroom alone, or take a shower? She's such a complainer, that one. Anyway, I do feel icky, but I'm not going to complain about it, like SOME people would. It's OK though - I went to the doctor yesterday for my routine 15-month checkup, and she said my fever wasn't high enough to worry about and I probably just have a cold or something. No biggie. Everything else checked out great - my growth has tapered off a bit (phew! I was beginning to worry that I was going to be wearing men's clothes to first grade). My weight (26 lb) is now in the 70th percentile for normal 15-month-olds, and my height is in the 50th percentile. My big ol' head is down to the 90th percentile! I showed off my walking skills for the doc and she was very impressed, and I also showed off my total lack of language skills, which left her less impressed but not worried. She said lots of normal 15-month-olds aren't real chatty either. I'm going to be re-evaulated soon by Early Intervention anyway, so maybe we'll start working on my language soon. In the meantime, I'll have to continue to express myself through the written word.... Oh, I almost forgot - there are even more pics in the June gallery (we added pictures from my trip to Buffalo), and all the pictures from my party are up in their very own gallery! There's some really good ones, so be sure to check them out! 6/22/09: Yay, my hearing is normal! You wouldn't think so, given my tendency to ignore anyone who is telling me not to touch the trash or pull the dog's tail or lick the dirt off my hands, but it's true. A hearing test confirmed it today. I also still have a little fever - it spiked a bit last night but went down again by morning, but I was still not myself. So after my hearing test I just hung out at home, which was nice. Oh, and I finally got to give my dad his father's day present, which was a day late. I recorded myself saying "Dada" on one of those Hallmark cards! You would think this would have been a simple process, but actually it took 5 days. I would only say Dada when my mom wasn't pressing the button on the card. Or at 3 in the morning. Or in the car, over and over again. But today I finally did it at the appropriate time! So we saved it and presented it to him. My mom said it will be a nice keepsake, especially when I am 14 and all surly and talking back all the time. My dad will be able to go listen to my sweet little baby voice saying "Dada" and remember when I was adorable. It's the gift that keeps on giving. 6/21/09: Happy Father's Day to Daddy and Pepe and Uncle Paul and Uncle Alan all the other fathers out there, and Happy Birthday to my Great-Grandma! Goodness, the celebrating never ends around here! We started the day with a Father's Day breakfast with Uncle Paul and Co. before they headed back to NJ. It was fun, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't eat much. Just bacon, really. My Auntie Jen was so proud (she's a big fan of pig products). Anyway, then my dad and I had hoped to go to the zoo, but the weather was icky, and I ended up with a bit of a fever. So we decided to just hang out and spend some quality time indoors instead, which was still nice. Yesterday was such a busy day, so it was probably good to just have a chill day, especially with me not feeling well. I was sad to be sick on Dad's special day though. I will have to make it up to him next weekend! What do you think we should do? I was thinking parasailing. I'll let you know what we decide. 6/20/09: Today I am 15 months old! So in celebration, we had a celebration - a big one! A Jurassic-sized event! Since we just had a small party on my actual birthday, what with my Meme having just gotten out of the hospital and all, we figured we would have a big party for me in June, when I came home from the hospital. Bonus: June weather tends to be a bit more pleasant than March here in New England, and today did not disappoint, even though the weather people had been predicting rain all week. It was perfect weather and a perfect day! Lots of friends and family came - Uncle Paul and Auntie Jen and Cousin Gracie even drove up from New Jersey just for me, and Auntie Leah and Uncle John drove in from Albany! I couldn't believe how many people wanted to come celebrate with me - I feel so, so lucky to have so many great people in my life. I had lots and lots of fun, and I also got lots and lots of presents! I was having enough fun just getting to see everyone and play and enjoy the nice weather (and my first bite of cake, albeit egg-free and dairy-free), but then to my surprise, people brought me stuff too! I could definitely get used to this birthday party thing. You know what else happened? I got godparents! That's right - with me being born so early and so much going on in the past year, my parents never picked godparents for me! Slackers. So today they asked my Uncle Paul and Auntie Susan to be my godparents (they said yes, for the record). I'm so excited! Not only did I get to spend the day with lots of people who are very special to me, but two very important people in my life became even more special. How lucky am I? (p.s. pictures will be up soon!) 6/17/09: Today is the one-year anniversary of my homecoming. Can you believe it? I have been home for one year! Where does the time go? I have to admit, I did not know what to expect when I came home - all I had known was the hospital my entire life - and I have to say, I have been more than pleasantly surprised! I've already had lots of fun experiences, I've traveled to three different states, I've gained almost twenty pounds, and I've learned to roll over, crawl, walk, eat, almost talk, and point to various parts of my body. The best part? I've learned what it means to really be part of a family. What a year! 6/16/09: Oops, did I forget to mention that I was going away for a long weekend? Well, guess what then? I went away for a long weekend! I shuffled off to Buffalo - my mom had a wedding to go to (Congratulations, Lindsey and Brian!) and we got to see lots of family while we were there too! I must say, I was quite excellent on both the trip to and the trip fro. I may not sleep a lot in the car, but I am easily entertained and happy just to be along for the ride. I was also most cooperative when my Meme put me to bed, even though she hasn't done it in months (for some reason, I wasn't invited to the wedding, which I cannot understand. Who wouldn't want a little person running around their wedding, pulling down all the tablecloths and their contents, chewing on everyone's dresses, and throwing food? Didn't they want it to be a fun wedding?). The best part of the weekend, though, was getting to see so much of my extended family - I haven't seen some of them since September! I've changed a bit since then, I would say. Anyway, it was lots of fun and totally worth the long, long drive. Still, I'm hoping next time we'll do the hosting and everyone else will make the drive out to see us! 6/10/09: Hi there! Sorry no posts in a few days - it's been kind of quiet around here. I've just been doing the usual, except with a little more Franken-baby walking and strange Klingon sentences. So, yes, I can speak Klingon, but I cannot correctly pronounce "Mama". What can I say? They don't have M's in Klingon. And yes, I am getting a little more confident in my walking, but when speed is key I still resort to crawling. Mostly I just take a few steps here or there, but every once in awhile I just walk across the room like it's no big deal. Like I do it all the time. Except I am sort of not very good at the nonchalant thing, because I do it with a huge grin on my face. It's hard to be cool when you are mastering independent upright motion. It's so awesome! Hey, you know what else is awesome? Getting my teeth brushed. New. Favorite. Thing. I should have been getting my teeth brushed from Day 1! Oh, wait, I didn't have any teeth then. 6/7/09: I got some practice for my future modeling career today...my dad took me to have my portrait taken! I was in a family picture in March, but there haven't been any pictures taken of just me since my Christmas picture (OK, formal pictures - obviously you all know about the 45,000 candids that have been taken of me, and I am sure you have looked at each one). So now we will have portraits of Holiday Michael and Summertime Michael. Boy, what a difference 6 months makes! Holiday Michael barely had any hair and couldn't even sit up unassisted, and Summertime Michael is all over the place! Just think how much I will have changed again when Holiday Michael rolls back around - at my current rate of development, I will probably have a job by then! I hope it pays well... 6/6/09: Today I decided to culture myself and attend an art festival in Boston. It's important to broaden one's horizons...and my horizons felt very broad today indeed! I also got to see Keegan and her mom, and Auntie Susan even came for awhile too! So I got to see some art and stuff, but more importantly, I got lots of attention. Broad horizons are great, but high self-esteem is even better! 6/5/09: Yay, Leslie and Annabelle came over today! It was so nice to have a few more ladies in the house to flirt with! My moves get a bit stale when there's just Mom and Meme around. It wasn't as nice a day today as we had hoped, so no frolicking in the kiddie pool or anything, but we did get to share lunch! I was remarkably well-behaved at mealtime - no yogurt-flinging or feeding all my rice cakes to the dog. I've never gotten to eat with another baby before - it was quite fascinating! And it made me feel better that I am not the only one who can't use a spoon by myself (although I am getting lots better). Anyway, we had a super fun time, and neither of us got poked in the eye or banged on the head or suffered a meltdown (and neither did our moms), so it was a very successful playdate. Hopefully we will get to do it again soon! 6/4/09: Today was a naptastic day. I have been waking up - or semi-waking up - really early the past few days, like 5-ish, and I think it finally caught up to me. I had two naps longer than an hour, which is basically unheard of around here. And my mom even had to wake me up from my afternoon nap, so that I didn't sleep so long that I had trouble falling asleep at night! (It didnt work, unfortunately - it took me forever to get to bed tonight). Oh, and also? I tried soy cheese! It was soy good! (har har) And at dinner I tried a whole cooked carrot instead of carrot pieces, and I liked it a lot better. I'm much more interested in taking big manly bites out of stuff than nibbling little pre-cut thingies. I also like to have stuff in my hand to wave around in the air, and this is just not satisfying with tiny pieces of things. Finally, today I started calling my mom "Bob". I've been saying "Baba" for Mama for awhile now, but today I went with just Bob. I think it has a nice ring to it. Even when I start saying M's again, I think I'll just keep calling Mom Bob. That way she'll know it's me calling her, if I get lost in a store or something! Think how practical this could be! She doesn't care for it much, but you watch and see. I think it will grow on her. 6/3/09: Normally Wednesdays are pretty ho-hum around here, but not today! I spent almost the whole day with my dad - on a weekday! - because my mom went to a funeral that was kind of far away. For some reason she thought I would be disruptive if she took me. I don't know where she gets these ideas. Anyway, while Mom was away Dad and I had some serious man time - he was "working" from home, but don't worry - I made sure he didn't get much work done. Instead, he took roughly 47,000 pictures of me - they are all already up in the new June gallery! As you can see, we had a pretty good time. Such a good time, in fact, that I couldn't nap in the afternoon - I was too excited! But as soon as my mom picked me up and put me in the car, I was out like the lights. A moving car plus my kids' cd always does it. Anyway, I was still pretty keyed up later in the day - I had so much energy, I climbed up the whole flight of stairs to the second floor! Usually I make it halfway and poop out, but not today! It was the best Wednesday ever! 6/2/09: I got to see my Grand Meme today! (That's Great Grandmother, for those of you not in the know). She used to live in Massachusetts, so she came to visit a friend of hers. On the way there she stopped in for an afternoon visit and some dinner! It was very fun to see her, and I'm so excited that I get to see her again in two weeks! We are going to Buffalo for my mom's friend's wedding (Hi Lindsey!) and staying at Grand Meme's house while we are there. That should be a lot of fun - we will see lots of family! In fact, my Aunt Jayne and her family will come over, and Aunt Jayne is a Meme, and my Meme is a Meme, and Grand Meme is a Meme...so we will basically be having a Meme convention. If any other Memes will be in Buffalo the weekend after next, come on over! 6/1/09: I had so much fun at Cape Cod this weekend with Auntie Andrea and Uncle Joe! It wasn't super duper warm, but it was warm enough that I got to spend some time at the beach on Saturday, which was so much fun! I loved playing in the sand with my new beach toys from Andrea and Joe. I also loved trying to eat rocks and shells and watching everyone freak out every time I did it. Such entertainment! I was so excited and having such a great time that I never did take an afternoon nap on Saturday! How could I sleep when there was exploring to do and fun to be had? Sunday was kind of a colder and cloudier day, but after a hearty breakfast (I love turkey bacon!) and a long nap, we made it to the playgroud for some more merriment. Then it was time to go home, sadly. But I took a bunch of pictures to remember my first trip to the Cape, and hopefully those will be posted soon. In the meantime, there are roughly 18 trillion pictures of me in the May gallery - some are new! I would also like to wish my Meme and Pepe a very happy anniversary - as of yesterday, they have been married 35 years! I am very happy about this, because without them, there would have been no Mom, and without Mom, there would have been no me! So hooray for Meme and Pepe! Here's to the next 35 years... 5/28/09: Well, the weatherpeople have finally been right...it has been rainy and gross the past few days, which means no fun for Michael. No swings, no eating grass, no playing soccer....sigh. I've had to find something to do with all this pent-up energy, so I have invested it in walking! I have to say, I have been making quite a bit of progress. Yesterday my personal best jumped from 4 steps to 9, and today I improved again to 12 steps! I even ventured out on my own once or twice, without someone right there ready to catch me. I know - I am so brave and daring, right? Today I even had an audience to show off my new skillz - my Auntie Andrea came to visit! And she brought me my first cell phone! At least she told me it was a cell phone. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be a toy, but further investigation is required to make a final determination. At any rate, we had lots of fun playing and chatting - I didn't even go over to the door to moan and complain and press my face up against the glass! A refreshing change for my mom, apparently. And the best part? Auntie Andrea and Uncle Joe invited us to their family's house on Cape Cod this weekend! I'm pretty excited - I've never been to Cape Cod! I will spend tomorrow packing, and then be off. I promise to have a full report of my exploits and adventures when I return! 5/25/09: Memorial Day! Again, it was supposed to be all cold and rainy and gross, but at the last minute they changed their minds and said it would be nice, but only low 70s. Ha! It was sunny all day and 80! So I got to spend a lot of time outside (my favorite place to be)! I played soccer, and swung in my swing, and walked the dog, and WENT SWIMMING IN MY OWN POOL! OK, "went swimming" is perhaps a little misleading. But I really do have my own pool! It's an inflatable one with dinosaurs on it - it's awesome! Unfortunately we didn't get it set up until later in the day, so the water didn't have time to warm up...so when I first went in, I was too chilly and just wanted out again! Then we warmed up the water with hot water from inside, but I was happier to splash from outside the pool. I didn't really trust that the water had warmed up all that much. So, yeah, I didn't exactly go swimming, per se, but I did get acquainted with the pool. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will be very well acquainted! 5/24/09: I love New England. Apparently, it is not possible to accurately forecast the weather here. The whole long weekend was supposed to be a total bust, with cold and rain and grossness, but today was gorgeous! Sunny and warm and wonderful. I got to go outside barefoot, which you know is one of my favorite things to do. I also tried some new things today...like bacon! It was my first pork product ever. I liked it, but I have to say, I didn't love it. I've been hearing people rave about bacon forever, but it was just aiight for me, dawg. Maybe it is an acquired taste? Anyway, I also went to the hardware store for the first time ever! It was pretty fun - I got to shake lots of seed packets! My dad pointed out that I had a very manly morning, what with the bacon and the hardware store. I was hoping we could carry on with that theme and go to the monster truck rally, but Mom said no. Sigh. 5/23/09: Today my dad and I spent the whole afternoon together, just the two of us! My mom was off having adult conversations, eating a meal sitting down, and having both hands free for more than 4 minutes at a time. Sounds like a total bore, if you ask me. How could she have had any fun without me there? Anyway, my dad and I were hoping to go swimming, but it was too cold today, so we amused ourselves inside. Actually, I was so amused that I couldn't fall asleep for my nap! We took the long way to the park just so I could get a little shut-eye. I tried to fight it, but I could not. Full belly plus moving vehicle usually does equal a sleeping Michael. Foiled again - my dad knows me too well! 5/22/09: I haven't had a chance to mention it, but it has been really warm and nice here (some would say hot, but I wouldn't) so I have gotten to not only go outside every day, but pretty much whenever I want! I even get to go outside barefoot if I feel like it! I have to tell you, there are few things more fun than swinging in your swing barefoot on a warm, breezy day. Or playing in the grass in the shade. Ahhh. 5/21/09: Even more pictures from my vacation are up! My Uncle Paul was kind enough to send some of the ones that he took, so that all of you can admire his photography prowess. And me in my adorable swimwear. Also, I had an Early Intervention appointment today, which is always fun. It's nice to hear on a monthly basis how cute and strong I am! The program is going to re-evaluate me in two months to make sure I still qualify for services, and my EI therapist thinks I will because I am a little behind on language. So I call my mom Abba instead of Mama. Big deal. It's actually my own clever nickname for her, since one of her favorite songs in high school was "Dancing Queen". Also we just got Mamma Mia from Netflix, featuring the songs of Abba! It's not that I'm behind, it's that I'm so incredibly advanced that it APPEARS that I am behind. Being an unsuspected genius gives me the upper hand, I feel. I'm just waiting for the right moment to reveal my superior intellect. 5/20/09: Happy 14-month birthday to me! Today was a pretty awesome monthiversary, if you ignore the fact that I am still cranky from my cold and I had super double major separation anxiety. But as long as I was physically touching my mom I was OK. Unless she was standing and I was on the floor. OK, so as long as we were touching, and also on roughly the same height plane. Fortunately it was a nice, warm day, so we ended up spending quite a bit of it outside. I got to eat some grass (kinda stringy), and lick a rock (I don't recommend it), and play soccer (what? I can push a soccer ball around the lawn), and climb all over my mom, and have gnats try and fly up my nose. But you know what? All my fussiness disappears as soon as I am outside. Which makes rainy days pretty much a huge bummer. Anyway, vacation pictures are up! I'm having a bit of trouble putting a thumbnail picture up for some reason, but the May 2009 link should work fine. My mom asks that if you check out the pictures that you please disregard her exceedingly white skin - or at least don't look directly at it, lest you be temporarily blinded. Consider yourself warned. 5/19/09: Head check at the doctor's today! Yes, it's still attached (har har). But apparently still getting bigger! My doctor isn't worried though, since I seem to be developing normally and also since my dad has a rather large noggin as well. I guess the ridiculously large apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Pretty soon my mom and I really will have the same size head. We already can share hats. And sunglasses. You would think between my mom and my dad the whole head size thing would have averaged out, but apparently not! Oh, and the doctor also said that my cold really is just a cold - my yucky cough is not bronchitis or anything bad, and the fluid in my ear isn't an infection. Yay! 5/18/09: No rest for the wicked, I suppose...after just one day at home, I had an appointment this morning for a hearing test. I did pretty well, but not super well, since I do have this cold and I have a bit of fluid in my left ear, apparently. Makes it harder to hear, I guess. The technician was not worried, but wanted to check me again in 4-6 weeks (why is everything always 4-6 weeks?) when I am cold-free. Fortunately I already have an appointment with my pediatrician tomorrow, so I can make sure that this cold is really a cold and not anything else. I'll keep you all posted! 5/17/09: I'm home from Hilton Head! Did you miss me? I had a great time with the family, and I got to hang out with my favorite little blonde cousin Gracie (Charlotte is my favorite brunette cousin, of course)! Even my Auntie Jen's parents and their grandson Kirk (who is Gracie's age) came down, so we had quite a party! I was a little nervous about my first plane trip, but I have to say, I am an excellent traveler. The pressure didn't hurt my ears one bit, and turbulence puts me right to sleep! I am also very good at making friends with my fellow passengers. I sat next to two different Carols on two different planes, and both were awesome! They played with me and let me crawl all over them and stuff. Apparently women named Carol like babies named Michael! I also made lots of friends at my resort - a woman named Bunny who worked there heard from my grandparents about my not-so-perfect start to life, so she gave me a bear pin for my bravery! A Bunny gave me a bear! I now proudly display it on my stroller. I also went in the pool AND the ocean for the first time ever! Unfortunately the weather was not always agreeable, so I didn't get to spend as much time with the watersports as I would have liked, but I still had lots of fun! I did catch a cold right before we left, which was kind of stinky. However, I still made it through a really long day of traveling home - with a 3 1/2 hour layover - without any major meltdowns (I'll admit, I had some minor ones). Huge props to me! Also I'd like to give a shout-out to the Detroit airport for being very kid-friendly and a generally awesome place to spend 3 1/2 hours. Especially the cute waitress at the sushi restaurant. You know who you are. Anyway, the final verdict is...I love vacations! Let's do it again soon! (Pictures will be up shortly, I promise!) 5/9/09: I'm taking my first plane ride tomorrow! Yup, I am off to vacation with the fam in sunny Hilton Head! I'm pretty excited - I'll get to spend the whole week with my Uncle Paul and Auntie Jen and cousin Gracie - but I'm also a little nervous. It's my first plane ride ever! I hope I like it, because we actually have to take two planes...so if I really hate the first leg of the trip and refuse to board the second plane, then we'll be stuck in Newark. We'll have to find someplace to live and become Newarkians. While that may be some people's dream (who doesn't love Newark?), I am hoping to make it unscathed and untraumatized to Hilton Head. Unfortunately for you, you will have to wait a whole week to hear about it! I know, it will totally be the longest week of your life. But I promise to take lots and lots of pictures and make it well worth your while when I post again upon my return. Oh, and before I go, a very happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! 5/8/09: After spending a busy but fun day with my beloved mother, who tirelessly attended to my every need and entertained me when I got bored and gave me snuggle and kisses all day, I decided to pay her homage...by spending all evening saying "da-da" and "daddy" and various variations of "da". I knew she would be so proud of me and my newfound verbal skills! You're welcome, Mom! 5/7/09: Today was kind of a bummer. This morning my grandparents left to drive to Hilton Head. The good news is, my mom and I are flying down there on Sunday - hooray vacation! The bad news is, I don't get to see my Meme and Pepe for three whole days! And I'm stuck with just my mom all day, at least until the weekend. Bor-ing. To add insult to injury, I had to get my blood drawn for that allergy test - and they had to poke me twice! It took them forever to find my veins - I was beginning to wonder if they were still in there! I guess the trouble they had with my little veins when I was a wee small preemie wasn't just a preemie thing. It wasn't a total tragedy, though - I did get two Spiderman stickers! Much tougher than SpongeBob, and much better for impressing the ladies. 5/6/09: I tried wheat today for the first time! Well, OK, technically I tried a food that contains wheat - I didn't just go munching on a big ol' piece of wheat. I might have tried it that way, except that there aren't a whole lot of wheat fields in Eastern Massachusetts. So instead I tried those Gerber puff things - sweet potato flavor - and I loooooved them. I ate, like, 700 of them. And I tried to get some more, but Mom said no. Apparently it gives her joy to deprive me of tasty things. Anyway, so hopefully my super sensitive skin won't react in the next three days, and a whole new world of food possibilities will be open to me (I'm talking to you, cookies). 5/4/09: Today was a big day. Huge. So huge, that you will need to prepare yourselves. Are you adequately prepared? Are you sure? OK, here goes - big news #1: I took my first steps today! They were kind of Frankenstein-y, but they totally count! The first time I did it my mom and I were home alone, and I took four steps towards her and then fell over, at which point she promptly started cheering and crying. Once the excitement had died down, we were pretty spent, so we had a snack. Then when everyone was home in the evening, and I was snack-fortified, I did it again! Just two steps, though - it WAS almost bedtime, and I had had a busy day. Which brings me to big news #2: I don't actually have food allergies! I saw the allergist today and they did like a million skin tests (I totally didn't cry and was the bravest kid ever), and the only thing that came up positive was dog! (sorry Truman) The doctor said that it seems that my skin is so extraordinarily sensitive that some compounds in the food I eat may cause a reaction that looks allergic but really isn't. I have to do some bloodwork to be sure, but he's pretty confident that it will come back negative. What can I say? I'm such a sensitive guy. So the super great news is that we can forge ahead with stuff like wheat and fish, although I still should wait until 18 months for dairy, since I had that tummy trouble awhile back. But nothing I eat is likely to kill me or make me break out in horribly itchy hives! Yay! So yeah, kind of a lot happened today. Oh, and I went to my Early Intervention group and showed off my new clapping skills. All in a day's work, people, all in a day's work. Although I am considering taking tomorrow off...I'm spent! 5/2/09: Today was the March for Babies, and I did indeed march for babies! Well, OK, technically, I strolled. Regardless of the particular form of motion, I had a great time! My parents, my Pepe, my Auntie Susan, and Auntie Tracy and Uncle Steve and little Lucas all marched with me! We were Mighty Michael's team, and together we raised $1650 for babies! Not too shabby, eh? I had a great day in the fresh air with people I love, and lots of babies will benefit from the money that we raised. Not a bad way to spend a day. Pictures are up in their own gallery if you care to witness the merriment! A super big thanks to Mighty Michael's team for doing all the fundraising and walking, and a very heartfelt thank-you to those who sponsored us. Together we're working towards a future where fewer babies have to call a plastic box their first home, and where those who still need some help have more of a chance at a healthy future. Thanks again. 5/1/09: In celebration of May Day (and my other Auntie Susan's birthday!), I went from Napping Zero to Napping Hero! I was afraid that my hour-long nap yesterday afternoon was a fluke, but this morning I slept for more than an hour - and I would have slept longer, but my mom woke me up to go to an appointment. I still can't believe I slept for more than an hour! I have to say, it felt pretty fantastic. I forgot how great long naps can be! I also had a nice, normal half-hour nap in the afternoon. It helps that my cold is almost over, but I do have teeth coming through, so I'm not about to assume that I'm back on my 90-minutes-per-day nap schedule. I remain cautiously optimistic, though. Tomorrow, however, my afternoon nap is likely to be a bit late, because I'll be at the March of Dimes March for Babies! If you happen to be reading this on 5/1 or 5/2, it's not too late to donate! Any amount is appreciated - even tiny funds can help tiny babies! In case you need some motivation, go look at the pictures of me in Week 1 and 2 - do you want to prevent other babies from being born so small and fragile? Of course you do! You can make a difference - make that tax-deductible donation now! 4/30/09: I got to have a mid-day bath today! This was terribly exciting, because I LOVE baths, and I usually only get them before bedtime. Why the schedule change, you ask? Oh, no real reason, unless you count the fact that I threw up all over myself and pretty much everything in my crib during my morning nap (I woke up coughing, and I guess it triggered my gag reflex - and I had just chugged a whole bottle). However, by some miracle of physics, I managed to hit the OUTSIDE of my crib without getting any barf on the bumper. Riddle me THAT! Clearly, I can bend space. While vomiting. Neat trick, huh? Anyway, I wasn't very happy to have barfed, but I did enjoy bathtime...AND the consequent exhaustion from having a shortened morning nap caused me to sleep for a whole hour this afternoon! It has been over a week since I napped for more than 30 minutes. I guess my mom was pretty excited about it - she was so happy when she came in to get me that I thought she was going to throw a parade in my honor or something. (For the record, I did not get a parade. Hmmph.) Then I got to spend almost the whole rest of the afternoon OUTSIDE! I took my car off-roading in the backyard, I swung in my swing, I sat in the grass and watched my pinwheel go round and round in the wind (yes, I have a pinwheel. How jealous are you?), and then I walked Truman! So it turned out to be a pretty fantastic day, despite the whole stomach-emptying episode. And hey, I have all new fresh bedding now! Talk about a silver lining. Or cotton lining, in this case... 4/29/09: So I'm still not walking. I am thisclose, but whenever I try to take an unassisted step I end up chickening out. I might fall! You never know! However, I am completely unfraid to climb the furniture and try to dive off beds, sofas, and laps headfirst. This is toddler logic at its finest (but don't tell my mom I called myself a toddler - she's having issues with the whole technically-not-a-baby thing). So, yes, I am happy to use my mom's dresser as a rock-climbing wall (those knobs are so convenient!) but I am terrified to move my foot forward an inch or two. Today I even took my climbing efforts to new heights (ha!) - I tried to use a turned-over laundry basket to climb up onto the windowsill (Mom thwarted that escape attempt), and I also attempted to get at the speakers on the entertainment center by using my play barn as a ledge (I almost made it, too). I also prefer to get off the bed in the morning by being lowered headfirst and walking my hands out (the classic "wheelbarrow" move). But walking? No thank you. I could get hurt! 4/28/09: My last post was so long that I ran out of room to tell you something else fun that happened to me - I got to see my Aunties Kelly and Susan this weekend! Auntie Kelly is having a baby in July, so I also got to say hi to my new little playmate as s/he hung out in the mommy hot tub. I, however, having been sprung from my mom ages ago, got to eat lunch with the ladies and stroll about the restaurant, greeting admirers. I even got my first restaurant meal - gluten-free pasta and peas! I felt so fancy. Anyway, it was lots and lots of fun. Today, however, was slighly less fun. To start with, I have a cold, and it was super hot out, and I only had a 20 minute morning nap. So for some reason, my mom thought it would be a great idea to go shopping. To TWO stores. I have to admit, I held my own for a good long time, but as we were checking out at the second store (and my cruel mother decided to take the time to sign up for the store credit card just to save 10%), I lost it and had my very first store meltdown. I was NOT HAPPY. But I recovered as soon as we got into the car and my children's cd and the A/C came on. Ahhh. Meltdown forgotten. 4/27/09: Wow, it's been a long time since I updated y'all, hasn't it? Sorry about that - I am still recovering from all those playdates! Also, I have been on a nap strike lately, and that hasn't given my mom much time on the computer (I may be advanced for a preemie, but I'm not so coordinated that I can TYPE. I mean, really. I tell her what I want her to write, though). So let me get you up to speed: First of all, the March for Babies is THIS SATURDAY!! So any of you procrastinators who were thinking you would donate one of these days, please make today the day! Time is running out! I would like to add Fundraiser Extraordinaire to my list of talents, so please help make that a reality by clicking on that big purple thing to the left! Oh, and also, you would be helping lots of babies and moms. Also a worthy cause. So speaking of babies born prematurely, yours truly has been very busy lately. It has been really warm here, so I have demanded frequent outside trips...and I have a new car of my very own to tool around in! My Auntie LAM and Uncle Jamie got it for me awhile ago, but it didn't get put together until just a few days ago...I actually was having quite a bit of fun with the box, but now that the car is all put together, I have forgotten all about the box! I am now the coolest kid on the street. It even has a horn, so I can honk at all the other cars to get outta my way! I love it lots and lots. And it's another reason to go outside - my favorite place to be! 4/22/09: ANOTHER playdate today - this time with Lena and Jason and the twins AND my Auntie Susan! We went to the twins' house this time and I got to play with all their toys and visit their neighborhood park with them, which was awesome - we had great weather while we were outside! All three of us boys had fun swinging and sliding and putting various parts of the playground and surrounding vegetation into our mouths and having a parent fish them back out again. Hours of endless amusement! I was so pooped from all the fun (and my lack of a morning nap) that I fell asleep in my stroller on the way back from the park - which I never, ever do! All that fun in the sun was super tiring. After my power nap, we ate lunch and played some more...the twins tried to give me tips on how to take naps longer than a half hour, and I tried to coach them on how to sleep past 6 (or 4:15, for Kaelan!). We'll see if we rub off on each other at all. All that sleep talk made us all very tired, and by the end of our playdate the three of us were creating quite a symphony of crabby complaining. Luckily I fell asleep easily in the car, and there was lots of traffic, so I got to sleep for a whole hour! Apparently on lack-of-nap days, my mom should just have me hang out with Desmond and Kaelan. Three active 13-month-olds are not only adorable, but also very tiring...just ask our parents! 4/21/09: Yay, playdate at the mall with Leslie and Annabelle! Annabelle is now almost 7 months old (we are almost exactly 6 months apart) and already crawling and pulling up! She's such a little peanut - I was amazed at all she can do! Of course, it might be easier for her than it was for me, since I have all this girth to haul around. Anyway, Annabelle and I got to exhaust ourselves in the play area, and our moms got to catch up...fun for all! I was so enthralled with being at the mall and seeing so many kids and having so much fun that - this is so embarrassing - I didn't even really notice that Leslie was there until it was almost time to go. And I have kind of a crush on Leslie (please don't tell her!), so imagine my chagrin when I looked up and there she was! And she had been there the whole time! Darn baby brain - it's so hard to focus when I'm so overstimulated! Hopefully for our next playdate I will be a little less distracted and will, you know, notice that she's there. We'll see! 4/20/09: There are even more Easter and April pictures added - check them out! There are even more YouTube videos, including one of my Russian acrobat trick that I described a little while ago. Good thing there is footage of that, because I still refuse to do it. I may never do it again. I am just too busy. Let's see, what else is new...oh yes - I am 13 months old today! And boy, things sure are a lot more fun than when I was one month old. This time last year I had just gotten to 3 pounds (after a month of trying!) and had had a failed attempt to breathe without the c-pap. Now I am, um, a few pounds heavier, and not only can I breathe on my own, but I can crawl and pull up and almost walk and climb up my mom like a Russian acrobat (although I currently choose not to do so). It's pretty crazy , considering that we weren't sure if I would ever be able to do these things (although I am not sure anyone specifically thought about the Russian acrobat thing. That would have been kind of weird). 4/19/09: Boo - my Grand Meme and Uncle Ken and Aunt Dawn left this morning to go back home to Buffalo. We had so much fun! I still had a good day though, because today I went over to my dad's apartment for the first time! I meant to go ages ago, but then my Meme got sick and it kind of fell by the wayside. But she is doing much better, so I felt OK about leaving her alone for a few hours (my Pepe is on a business trip all week. I'm the man of the house! Except for Truman, I guess). I had lots of fun! My dad has everything I need in my very own room, plus lots of new toys that I have never seen before. I had so much fun playing and exploring! And just like at home, I was mostly attracted to things I am not supposed to play with, like the trash cans. I just can't get enough of those trash cans. So germy and fun. Anyway, I also tried soy yogurt today at lunch, which I liked! Hopefully I will not react to it, because then I can switch from formula to soy milk. I am over a year, you know. Time to start drinking big-kid milk. Well, big-kid-with-lots-of-allergies milk. No reaction so far - I'm keeping my fingers crossed! After lunch I usually have a nap, but I had a hard time settling down in my room - so many new things to looks at! So instead my mom drove me home and I slept in the car. There was nothing new to look at in there. Boring equals sleepy! 4/18/09: I am such a lucky guy. In addition to the previously aforementioned awesome visitors, my Auntie Susan came to see me today! It was great - I spent the morning with my Grand Meme and great aunt and uncle, then my grandparents took them up to Cape Ann to see the New Englandy sights, so I spent the afternoon with my mom and dad and Auntie Susan! And also Truman - the 5 of us all went to the park! It wasn't very sunny today, but I didn't care - it was warm enough to go outside! And I got to swing in the swings, and slide on the slides! A better day was never had by such a young and active lad. Ha - my first poem! Make a note of that, for when I am a famous published author. You can say you knew me when! 4/17/09: Yay, more visitors for me! Today My Grand Meme (my Pepe's mom) and my Great Uncle Ken and my Great Aunt Dawn all came to see me, all the way from Buffalo! OK, they might have wanted to see my Meme as well and make sure she is OK and stuff...but I know they mostly came to see me. Who did they snuggle with the most? Exactly. It was me. Anyway, we have had lots of fun so far - I even got to eat dinner in the dining room with the big people! I tried turkey too - and I liked it! That's sort of odd, apparently, since I didn't much like chicken. It's possible that I was trying to show off for our guests...I guess we'll find out the next time I have turkey! 4/16/09: I have been meaning for weeks to tell you about this special trick that I do, and now it seems sort of silly because I have kind of stopped doing it. But it's so funny, so I am going to tell you anyway. Mostly so that years from now, I can read this and remember what a silly monkey I was. Anyway, so my mom calls it my Russian acrobat trick - my dad took a video of it a little while ago, so it will eventually make it to YouTube and you can all watch it yourself. Starting position is on the changing table of the pack-and-play...my mom says, "Ready...Hup!" and she holds my arms while I walk up the front of her and stand on her shoulders. It's pretty impressive, I have to say. I can even walk myself back down. I can do it on my dad, too, but that's a little more dangerous because he is tall and so my head almost hits the ceiling! So I've been doing this for weeks, and then this week I kind of stopped. Why? Because I have a new thing, where I like to sit in the changing table and inspect all of my toiletry items one by one. So I don't do the Russian acrobat thing because I don't want to waste any precious time that could be spent turning the A&D ointment tube over and over, or maybe inspecting the hand sanitizer. It's all so fascinating! Sadly, my mom takes everything away when I start to put them in my mouth. For some reason it really bothers her when I start to chew on the Butt Paste. Go figure. 4/15/09: Happy Birthday Meme! This is a very special birthday for Meme because just six weeks ago we weren't so sure she was going to get any more birthdays. But here she is! It's kind of backwards, when you think about it - we are supposed to be giving her gifts on her birthday, but instead she gave us one! I did get her a present, though - my mom and I went shopping and got her some new springtime tops, which I totally helped pick out. I have excellent fashion sense. And of course, Meme loved them. We also went out to dinner to celebrate, and I was on my best behavior (as long as you don't count the throwing of peas, but that's par for the course). It helped that there were tons of people around who paid me lots of attention! It's hard to bored when you are being adored. Ha - that rhymes! It should be my new motto. Anyway, we had a very lovely dinner, and then we went home and had some yummy gluten-free cupcakes. OK, I didn't have any - I went to bed. But first I gave my Meme some excellent birthday goodnight kisses. She deserves them! 4/13/09: OK, so Easter was pretty fun and all (see below), but I have to say - today was pretty darn fun itself, even though it was not technically a holiday. (Except for all you Poles out there - Happy Dingus Day!) Why was it so great? I spent lots of time outside! No face-pressed-against-the-glass moments for me today! My great uncle and cousins are here for one more day, so earlier we went to the park and swung on the swings and slid down the slide and played with the wood chips and had a grand ol' time. Then later, since it was still such a beautiful day, the guys played football in the backyard while I watched from my swing and then played in the grass. I have never gotten so much fresh air before! It was a marvelous, marvelous thing. Let's hope for lots more days like today! 4/12/09: Happy Easter!! Boy, I was right - these people do take Easter seriously! First when we woke up we had to follow clues that the Easter Bunny left in order to find our Easter baskets. Some of them were easy, but some of them were stumpers! We got them all though, and were rewarded with candy and treats. Well, not so much candy for me. But I did get my very own basket, with some stuffed bunnies! (Mostly I played with the basket. And tried to steal stuff from everyone else's). I was pretty pooped after that and had a nice long nap, during which apparently there was quite a feast. It's just as well that I was asleep, because I would have been pretty mad if I had to watch everyone eat Polish sausage and ham and hard-boiled eggs and homemade horseradish and rye bread and placek (Polish coffeecake) and not have any. I hear it was pretty delish. There was also an egg war, which my Meme won! She is having a very victorious year, apparently. After I woke up there was more playtime, and then I got my Easter best on and looked incredibly dapper. Pictures are already up, if you care to see for yourself, but I have to warn you - there are quite a few. Go grab a few Cadbury eggs and settle in if you plan to view them all. Anyway, we later had a very nice Easter dinner, and I was awake for that one and ate my peas while everyone else had lamb and chicken. All in all, it was a really fun day - I got introduced to lots of family traditions, and most importantly, I was surrounded by love and family. (Now if next year I am surrounded by love, family, and chocolate - that I get to eat - it will REALLY be a great day!). 4/11/09: So apparently Easter is a really big deal in my family. I vaguely remember my mom telling me about it last year on Easter, but since I was only 3 days old and kind of busy with that whole survival thing, I have to admit that I didn't pay much attention. But these people are nuts. Today it isn't even Easter yet, and there was nonstop activity in the kitchen all day, PLUS we had an Easter egg hunt AND decorated sugar cookies. Rumor has it there was going to be egg dyeing after I went to bed too. I am so pooped from all this fun! I did enjoy the egg hunt - my dad and I were a team and we found 5 eggs! I liked the ones with jelly beans in them because they were fun to shake. I liked decorating cookies less because 1) I didn't get to run all around the house and 2) I didn't get to eat any cookies. Kind of defeats the purpose. Anyway, I hear there is even MORE in store for tomorrow - I can't wait! 4/10/09: I have two very exciting things to report: 1) April pictures are up! and 2) We have visitors for Easter weekend! My great-grandma, my Great Uncle Teddy, and my (second? third?) cousins Darren and Matt are here! This is exciting for multiple reasons. For one thing, I like having a lot of people around, because I am sort of a showoff. Excuse me for having special talents and enjoying sharing them with others. Also, it is so fun to have Great Grandma here in person - I talk to her every Sunday on the phone and she makes kissy noises at me, but it is WAY better to get actual Great-Grandma kisses! Even if I am then covered in lipstick. Finally, Uncle Teddy and Matt and Darren are an awful lot of fun. I've never had a whole bunch of guys around to play with! I even got to toss around the ol' pigskin with them today! OK, so I rolled the football around the on the floor and the sat in my swing outside while they played catch. Close enough! 4/9/09: Did you know that there is a whole store named after me? It's true! It's called Michael's, and weirdly, they do not sell really soft blankets, board books, shoes, sandwiches, or vaccuum cleaners, even though these are my favorite things. They did, however, sell a bunny cookie cutter that I got to hold and tap-tap-tap on the cart all around the store, which was pretty fun. Then I got to shake-shake-shake the can of sprinkles all the way to the checkout! So I suppose it is fitting that it is named Michael's - I do enjoy making music, after all. Especially with nontraditional instruments. 4/7/09: Doctor's visit today! I had my 12-month checkup, and overall I was pronounced absurdly healthy! My height is 30 inches, which is in the 60th percentile for my age (my real age, not my adjusted age!) and my weight is 24 pounds, 12 ounces, which is...drumroll please...in the 75th percentile! So I am now bigger than the average 12-month-old. Which is hilarious. Especially when you think back to this time last year, when I was having so much trouble gaining weight - I wasn't even up to three pounds yet! Now my left forearm weighs three pounds. I essentially went from being a small fry to an Extra Value Meal. A Supersized Extra Value Meal. Also, I am right on time for all my milestones...for a normal 12-month-old! According to all the "experts", it takes preemies about two years to catch up to their chronological peers. I did it in one. Boo-yah! Oh, and my head size is in the 90th percentile. 90th. If I were really 9 months old like I am supposed to be, it would be in the 140th percentile or something. You gotta have a big head to hold the massive brain that I've been growing! Just in case, though, I have to go back in 6 weeks to make sure my head isn't, you know, growing at a freakish pace. The same thing happened 6 months ago though, and I was fine, so I'm not worried. I just grow head-first. It's a sign of, um, intellect. I'm pretty sure. I also got a referral for an allergist, so hopefully we can figure out what my deal is with my food allergies. I'll keep you posted on that one! 4/6/09: Today started out a little rough, but improved vastly by the end of the day! On Mondays I go to my Early Intervention group, which is a lot of fun, except that it is right during my usual lunch-and-nap time...this makes for a bit of crankiness sometimes. I usually eat lunch early, but that means that there is a long stretch between lunch and bottle, with sometimes unfortunate consequences. Case in point: during circle time I was getting fussy and trying to wriggle away from my mom, and I wriggled too much and bumped my head. It was not a big bump, but given my less-than-cheery mood it became Utterly Tragic pretty quickly. Then as soon as I had calmed down (in the arms of the cute younger EI therapist, naturally) I was crawling and did a faceplant. Needless to say, I was pretty upset about it. However, there was a silver lining to all this tragedy - I got to practice my leadership skills by causing two other group members to burst into tears as well! Apparently I am a natural born leader. Anyway, even after we got home I had a very cranky afternoon (repeated head injuries will do that, plus it was a rainy day AGAIN)...but I perked up big time in the evening. Why, you ask? Auntie LAM and Uncle Jamie came to see me! And they brought me a birthday present - my very own car! It's bright red and me-sized, and there is a footrest so that I can just chillax inside and get pushed around until I figure out how to do it myself. So Awesome. Definitely made me forget the tragedies of the day. Thanks, Auntie Lam and Uncle Jamie!! Geez, I can't wait to see what they get me for my 16th birthday, if they already bought me a car for my first! 4/5/09: I am double-posting today, so please be sure to read yesterday's post too! Very important. And now to today...which was a beautiful, sunshiney day - finally! I spent like, all day outside. OK, not all day. But practically, compared to the last several days! First I went out on the deck (without a coat! and was comfortable!) to supervise my Pepe cleaning up the backyard. I feel that he did a very nice job - no more huge branches everywhere! Much safer for toddling little boys - whenever it is that I get to the toddling stage. Anyway, I also went to the park with my dad after lunch, and that was a lot of fun, as always. THEN it was still so nice before dinner, and Meme and Pepe were going out for a little rehab walk for Meme, so I thought I would take my trike out for a little spin. May as well enjoy that sun while I can - in a safe, head-covered, jacket-wearing, melanoma-prevention sort of way, of course. 4/4/09: The March for Babies is less than a month away! I am getting my marching shoes ready, but my team still hasn't reached our $2000 goal! Won't you please donate today? Please remember when you see my adorable pictures and read my updates about how healthy, strong, and normal I am, that this is because I had access to some of the best care in the world. The March of Dimes funds the research that informed my treatment, so I really owe them big. This is my way of giving back, but I can't do it without your help! Also, many babies born as early as I was do not have access to the amazing care that I was able to receive, and your contributions will help to ensure that EVERY baby has a fair shot at life. Right now, all over this country, there are babies fighting for their lives, and moms trying to keep their babies safe inside them for just one more day, or one more week, or one more month. Just $10 can help save a life and put more babies in the arms of their moms, where they belong. Please click on the purple box to the left or follow the link under my most recent photos. Oh, and a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far! Every little bit brings us closer to our goal! 4/3/09: Rainy day today. Boring, stinky, rainy day. Yesterday I got to go to the park and swing on the swings and slide on the slide, and today I got to...play inside. All day. With the same 400 toys I play with every day. So boring. I actually spent 20 minutes with my face pressed up against the glass of the sliding doors this afternoon, making aggrieved sounds that clearly indicated my desire to go outside. But did my mom let me go out? No. No she did not. Instead she made me take a nap. I tried to resist, but all that pitiful protesting was awfully tiring. 4/2/09: This past week we have developed a new tradition in our house that has become my favorite part of the day - helping Pepe to make the coffee. I usually would be sitting in my high chair when he made coffee, and I like the sound of the bean grinder, but last week I was pulling up on his pants (or more actually, pulling his pants down) when he was trying to make the coffee, so he picked me up and showed me all the steps. Ever since then, when I see Pepe go near that coffee machine, I start to freak out until someone takes me over. It's a very detailed, multi-step operation, and I have the most important job, but I'm not going to tell you until the end: First, Pepe rinses the pot and puts fresh water in. Then he adds the water to the coffeemaker (I like the sound the water makes when he does that). Next he puts in the filter, which I like to touch first to assure proper quality. Then he puts four (4) scoops of beans in the grinder - no more, no less - and we grind. I like that part a lot. Then he puts the grounds in the coffee maker and shuts the lid. And then? AND THEN - I get to press the power button. And everyone applauds. Rightly so - I would say I am a pretty excellent grandson, helping Pepe with his coffee like I do. 4/1/09: Today I had my one-year eye exam, and as it turns out, I have terrible eyesight. I need to wear tiny coke-bottle glasses specially designed for babies.... April Fools! My eyes are fantastic. My eye doctor says I have a tiny bit of astigmatism and far-sightedness, but she said that is actually normal for babies and should correct by age 2. Yay! She was also impressed with my, um, girthiness, and also my ample motor skills - this is the same eye doctor who has seen me since I was teeny tiny in the hospital, so she really enjoyed getting to see how big and strong I am now. And I don't have to go back until I am three! Although, to be honest, I was kind of hoping to make it an annual event, since I basically play with fun toys in a waiting room and then get told how fantastic I am. Not a bad way to spend a day! 3/31/09: Whoops - sorry I had another posting lapse. It's been hard to post lately, since I usually tell my mom what I want to write (what, did you think I could type myself?) and she posts it for me while I am napping or sleeping at night. But lately I have decided that I don't have much use for naps, and I prefer to wake up frequently in the first few hours of the night. So yeah, that last post about how well I slept turned out to be kind of an anomaly. How can I sleep when there is so much playing and crawling to do? How am I supposed to practice walking if I am sleeping all the time? I have goals, people. I need to work towards them. While I continue to not sleep, go check out the March photo gallery - even more pics are up, including ones from the fun weekend with Uncle Paul, Auntie Jen, and cousin Gracie! 3/29/09: I feel so rested and refreshed today! Why, do you ask? Because I finally slept well last night! For the past several weeks I have been waking up quite a bit - sometimes for an hour or two at a time - and I just can't seem to get myself back to sleep! When my teeth were coming in this made some sense, but now they are in and it stopped making sense. I did read somewhere (of course I can read!) that often when babies learn new skills such as crawling or pulling up, they wake up in the night to practice. And I do often feel like I need to move around when I wake up at night - if I am in my crib I am standing up at the railing about 2.5 seconds after waking up. And I did learn a lot of new skills all at once - within a span of a week I was suddenly crawling, pulling up, AND cruising. So maybe all my night wakings have been because I'm worried that I will lose all these great skills in the night or something. Anyway, last night I guess I felt more confident in my abilities, because I was only up twice for very short periods, and I fell back asleep easily. And you know what the darnedest thing is? My mom is in such a good mood today! Personally, I think it is because she is so impressed with my mad skillz. Maybe I should spend a few hours in the middle of the night tonight reminding her exactly what I can do... 3/28/09: Yay, I got to see my aunt and uncle and cousin one more time! They came for breakfast before heading up to Grace's cousin's birthday party in NH. I was just about ready for my morning nap when they got here, but I bravely stayed up so we could play and eat and play. Then I totally conked out. But not for long! It was a beautiful day here, so my dad and I went to the park and I got to swing and go down the slide and watch the bigger kids run around...so fun! I was pretty pooped though, so I had a rare three-nap day. Having fun is tiring! 3/27/09: I have three words for you: Over. Stim. Ulated. OK, technically, that is one word, but it's more dramatic to make it three words. And it more adequately expresses the extent of my overstimulation. Why am I so overstimulated, you ask? Simple: my cousin Gracie is here! My Uncle Paul and Aunt Jen are here, too, which is awesome, but I am just fascinated with that Gracie. First of all, she is blonde and cute, and I am a sucker for blondes (just ask my new chiropractor, with whom I shamelessly flirted during my whole exam). Secondly, she is three, and I cannot get over how fun it looks to be three! Well, minus the crying and occasional meltdowns. I was dismayed to discover that at three I will probably still be shedding my share of tears. That's kind of a bummer. Anyway, I was so excited to spend the day with Grace that I barely napped, and had lots of trouble falling asleep at night...how can I sleep when there is playing to be done? And someone so fun to play WITH? We even had an outing - we all went to get a family picture taken. We took a few with just me and Gracie, and they are, of course, ridiculously adorable. I have to admit, we are quite a pair of cuties. I hope tonight goes by fast, because I'll get to see Grace again in the morning...I can't wait! 3/26/09: Sorry about the light posting - we are finally settling back into a routine around here, so it has actually (mercifully!) been kind of quiet around these parts...Meme is continuing to recover well, and I am continuing to nurse her back to health with hugs and kisses, dispensed several times daily. I am also getting sturdier on my feet day by day - I really, really want to walk, but I just don't trust my balance yet. Sometimes I get close to taking a step - I'll be holding onto the coffee table or something and want to get to the couch or a person that is just out of reach - and you can see me thinking about it, and reaching out tentatively, but then I wimp out. But I'll get there, don't you worry! So far I have accomplished so many other goals: breathing on my own, eating on my own, busting out of the hospital, rolling over, crawling, pulling up, cruising...now my only goals left are walking, talking, and eating a sandwich. What else in life could I possible want to do? 3/23/09: I have to apologize to you all. I kind of lied when I said in my birthday party post that pictures were up - while they were, in fact, posted on the photo site, they were posted in their own gallery rather than in the March gallery, and I failed to provide a link. But I rectified that situation today, so now you can check out all my birthday pictures! Lucky you! 3/22/09: Today I totally needed a recovery day, as I'm still a little wound up from yesterday. It's not every day that a little fella has a first birthday party, you know! I need to start working on my stamina, though, because we are going to have a big party in June! We were supposed to have it yesterday but after Meme's surgery she (and OK, the rest of us too) are pretty wiped out and need some recovery time before having 30 people come over. So instead of my technical birthday, we are going to celebrate the anniversary of my homecoming! That's when the fun stuff really started, anyway. And while of course it was great that I was born, it was even better that I came home healthy and strong a week before my due date. It's kind of hard to really celebrate a day that was actually pretty scary and uncertain, like my actual birthday was, but it's easy to celebrate the beginning of my life with my family, where all babies belong. So even though the "real" birthday festivities are over, I sure do have a lot of celebrating to look forward to! 3/21/09: Birthday Party Day! Oh wow, did I have a fun day! Auntie Susan came over, and we had a little party with Mom and Dad and Meme and Pepe and Auntie Susan and Truman! And me, of course. I had sticky rice and mango for lunch with applesauce for dessert (no cake for me yet because of my food allergies! stinky) and then I opened tons of presents! I got clothes and toys and books and a tunnel to crawl through and - best 0f all - my very first tricycle! (Pictures and videos are already up, by the way!) My trike has a seat belt and a foot rest so I don't fall off, and there's a long handle so an adult can push me! I also have a very cool helmet. Safety first, you know. I got to take my new bike out for a spin outside, and play with all my new toys, and of course play with all the boxes....it was totally overwhelming and awesome. So overwhelming, in fact, that I had a tough time napping. How is that supposed to work, exactly? Here, Michael, here is all this cool stuff - OK, look at it once - and now let's go to sleep. Yeah, right! I eventually slept for a half hour - but then I was back up again! I didn't want to waste valuable party time sleeping, after all. Man, what a fun day. How lucky am I? 3/20/09: Happy Birthday to me! I am ONE YEAR OLD! It was kind of a low-key day today despite the momentous occasion, since we are going to have a little party tomorrow when my Auntie Susan can be here too. But still, today was infinitely preferable to this day a year ago! Here are some key differences: 1) This morning I woke up and poked my mom in the eye. Last year I poked her somewhere else. This morning was more comfortable for both of us. 2) Last year I had kind of a boring day at first - for most of the day I mostly hung out in the womb being regularly squeezed. Today, though, I had lots of fun! I went to storytime at the library with lots of other babies, I walked the dog, I played with my toys...I didn't get to do any of those things last year! 3) Last year I didn't get to snuggle with my mom for another nine days. Today we snuggled all I wanted! 4) Last year I had a tube in my throat, an IV in my belly button, and wires all over me. This year I am tethered to nothing, and I am crawling, cruising, and pulling up on everything! 5) Last year I was very small and needed a lot of help just to survive. This year I am very large (24 pounds!) and am not just surviving, but thriving! Many thanks to all of my friends, family, and fans who helped to get me through this past year and become the healthy, happy little guy that I am today. It was a long road for awhile there, but the love and support that I felt from all of you made such a difference. Last year I didn't know that I would still be writing this blog one year later - it started as a way of spreading the word about my status in the hospital - and I certainly did not know that I would be writing about so many normal-baby adventures! It has been amazing and encouraging to have such a great group of people with whom to share the ups and downs and all arounds of the past year. Just think - you all helped grow a teeny baby into a robust and active 12-month-old! Thank you just doesn't seem to cover it. 3/19/09: My second front tooth finally broke through! In celebration and relief, I had a two-hour nap this morning. I know normal babies often nap this long, but I NEVER nap for two hours. I think my last two-hour nap was sometime in October. I usually prefer power naps in order to maximize my play time, but today I was pretty spent. Also, I was finally not in constant pain all the time! My mom and I are both hoping that I will sleep better at night now. I'm really hoping I sleep well tonight, because tomorrow's my birthday! I would hate to be a grouchypants on my first birthday. Especially because I have a feeling that there will be one or two pictures taken of me. Oh, speaking of which, there are now even more pictures in the March gallery! My dad took them with his fancy camera, so now you can see my vampire fangs in super high resolution! Lucky you. 3/18/09: Meme update: Still recovering well! Those big wet kisses are really doing the trick. Food allergy update: avocados are out! This is really no great tragedy, because I wasn't really a big fan. Avocados have a very, um, interesting texture. I ate some out of politeness but I made it clear that I wasn't very happy about it. Alas, my mother's dream of having a toddler who eats California rolls will likely not be realized. So far the only ingredient I can eat is rice! Oh no - I hope she doesn't try seaweed next! 3/17/09: Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the holiday I wore my green outfit and ate some peas. I also kind of sort of took a few steps? Maybe? No one is really sure. It all happened so fast, and my Early Intervention therapist was here so everyone was talking and distracted, and I was sort of holding my mom's hands but kind of let for a second and then stepped towards her but there is some controversy as to whether I held her hands again before or after the stepping. So we're not really counting it as first steps per se. Clearly these people need to start paying closer attention, otherwise I will be walking all around the house on my own and they will be insisting that I still haven't taken my first steps. Sheesh. 3/16/09: Sorry it took me so long to post this - I have been very busy taking care of my Meme. She needs lots of big wet kisses every day, as well as someone to pull up on her chair and try to wrestle her computer off her lap. These things are crucial for her rehab, but today I had to take a break from rehabilitating Meme to attend my first Movement Group at Early Intervention! It was really fun, although I kind of wished they had done it backwards. The first half hour is free play, and since it was a new place with new people I mostly sat there and observed. Then the second half hour was circle time, when we are supposed to stay in the same place, and by then I was ready to crawl around and explore! Oh well - next week maybe I'll warm up faster. I did get to sit in the middle of a parachute while everyone else flapped it up and down around me, and that was super fun. I liked the other kids in the group, although I am the youngest (but not the littlest!), so I'm a little more behind in terms of skillz. However, not one but TWO moms told me I was "handsome", and which is more important - walking, or being handsome? Exactly. Handsome wins. 3/15/09: OK, seriously? Aunt Jayne should move in with us. I was pretty sure I would like having another adult around to pay me nonstop attention, but it turns out I LOVE having another adult around to pay me nonstop attention! Especially an adult who loves babies and is fun to play with. She is a Meme too (we are calling her my Aunt Meme), so it's working out pretty well while my real Meme recovers - I have one Meme to give kisses to and chat with while I am in the pack-n-play, and one Meme to crawl around on the floor with and show all my toys! Alas, the two-Meme system is over tomorrow. I GUESS little Alyson can have her Meme back (psst, Alyson - I gave her some great practice on chasing a crawling, cruising, and pulling-up baby, so don't hold back if you feel ready to move around more! Your Meme can clearly handle it!) You know what else was fun this weekend? It was beautiful outside (finally!) so I got to go to the park TWICE! So. Fun. Oh, and hey: new pictures are up! Check out the March gallery. There are also new videos in my YouTube videos as well, if you care to see my adorableness in action. 3/14/09: No worries - Meme is still doing great! My mom makes her take a nap when I am napping, so she is getting lots of rest. Meme is healing so well, in fact, that today she even fed me lunch! Fortunately for her my meals are becoming less labor-intensive for the adults, but much more so for me - I insist on eat finger foods at every meal! I'm kind of limited due to my food allergies and potential food allergies (no wheat for awhile), but I am loving the chopped pear or apple that I usually have for lunch. Mango is also pretty yummy. Yes, I am not allergic to mango! Very surprising. I also tried my mom's famous chicken soup - pureed - and I loved it, but unfortunately I am allergic to something in it. Either celery or onions. So no soup for me! Next we're trying avocado. Oh, I also tried cut-up chicken, and it was, um, interesting. I think I might stay a vegetarian for a little while with my Auntie Susan, because that texture was pretty weird. I also won't eat defrosted frozen fruit because it gets slimy. Clearly I have a texture thing, which is not surprising, because my mom is majorly into food texture. Not only will she not eat anything slimy, but nothing soggy either. It's possible I could grow up to be a more adventerous eater than my mom! 3/13/09: What a fun day! Today when I woke up there was a new person in the house - my Great Aunt Jayne had arrived in the night while I was sleeping! She rode the train all the way from Buffalo to see my mom and help take care of her (she's a nurse practitioner!). She's also a Meme, so she knows just what to do with babies. We had lots of fun together today. Then when I thought I couldn't possibly be any luckier, Auntie Susan showed up! It's so thoughtful of all these people to come visit me and see how I am doing after my Meme's heart surgery. I mean, I've ben through a lot the past few weeks, and it's really been rough, so I could use some extra attention. Oh, I guess they are here to see Meme as well, but let's face it - I'm a little more fun to play with - at least for right now! 3/12/09: So exciting - my Meme came home yesterday! That was a big surprise, because the hospital hadn't even discussed discharge until, oh, yesterday morning, so we quickly reorganized the house so she could have her own space in the family room (stairs and the super-high bed upstairs are still a challenge) and then went and got her! Today I was so happy that I got to see Meme whenever I wanted, rather than having to get in the car to go see her...I'm still sad that I can't hug her or have her pick me up for awhile, but I'm getting used to it. Instead I crawl over to where she is sitting and pull up on her knees, and we visit that way. Infinitely preferable to the hospital. Although I do kind of miss flirting with all the nurses... 3/10/09: Good news - my Meme is doing great! She was moved out of ICU on Sunday, and so I got to see her today (there was a snowstorm yesterday - grrr). We have missed each other a lot, so it was really nice to get to kiss her again. It will be awhile until I can hug her, but instead she scratched my head for me (mmm) and we chatted quite a bit. I haven't seen her in almost a week, so I had a lot to say! She looks great and now has PICC line in (just like I had!) so she can come home soon, I hope, with her IV antibiotics. She will be in for a bit of a shock when she comes home - in the two weeks that she has been gone, I have become a crawling and pulling up machine! I am also ginormous - 23 pounds, 11 ounces on Monday. I don't look that heavy, but I feel like a ton of bricks. Or so I hear every day from the wimpy people in my life...who all suddenly have back problems. Hmm. Anyway, enough about me - come home soon, Meme! 3/6/09: Sorry no posting in awhile - it has been a little busy around here. My Meme has been in the hospital for a week and a half with an infection in her heart (its called endocarditis), and I didn't want to write about it until we knew what was happening. She actually had surgery yesterday to replace her aortic valve (the same one she just had replaced a year ago!) as well as part of her aorta. I don't know what that all means - I just know that she was in surgery a long time and I was scared and missing her. But good news - she came through just fine and was awake today and talking and even eating a little. I couldn't go see her because she is in the ICU (even though I do know my way around ICUs), but hopefully in a few days they will move her to a regular floor and then I can go work my healing magic. I was visiting her every day before her surgery, and she always felt better when I was there, so I am just assuming that I have magical healing powers. I sure hope so, because my Meme can use all the help she can get! She's doing great though, and hopefully I will have only good news to report. I'll keep you all posted! 3/2/09: My physical feats just keep multiplying. In addition to totally mastering crawling (piece of cake!), a few days ago I pulled up on a toy of mine that has a bench - it was kind of cheating because it was like walking up steps with my hands. But yesterday I pulled up on the couch/my mom's knee, which totally counts. My motivation? The piece of pizza my mom was eating. And to think, after all that effort, she didn't even give me any! I was so miffed that I refused to pull up again for a full 24 hours - but the next time, I just used the sofa and my own amazing strength. My motivator this time? Junk mail. So shiny and papery! I'm learning that with the right incentive, I can accomplish just about anything. 2/28/09: Sorry for the lack of posting - I've been spending the week trying to kick this cold! It's still here, unfortunately, but at least I am sleeping better at night and I am still in my usual chipper mood during the day. I'm just a lot, um, leakier than usual. Also I've become a mouth-breather, out of necessity. Other updates: I am now in full-on crawl mode. Left arm/right knee and the whole bit. I'm also trying to pull up on stuff, but so far I can only do it with help. I'll get there. (I sure hope so, anyway - there is a lot of alluring stuff on the coffee table!) My Dracula fangs are also continuing to assert themselves, and my middle teeth have yet to make an appearance. Constant thirst for blood has not yet started, though, fortunately. Finally, my March for Babies team is halfway to its goal of $500 - help us get all the way there! Just click on the big purple thing at the top left of the page - just $10 can help save the life of a baby. I know from experience that they can't ask for help themselves, so we are trying to do it for them. Help a baby today! 2/24/09: I should have warned you to maybe ration your picture-viewing, because there aren't going to be any new ones up for a little while...my dad left for Spain today, and he took the camera with him! He is going with my Auntie Susan, whose film made it into a film festival there. She is now an Important International Filmmaker! (You can see her film here - it's really good!). My dad is going along as her production assistant/tour guide/luggage lugger. I GUESS there are some interesting things to take pictures of in Spain that MAYBE merits taking the camera, but what a sad week for Michael Nation. How will you know whether or not I smeared food all over my face, or went for a stroll outside? How will you survive without pictorial evidence of my cuteness and ginormousness? You'll all have to find a way to get through the week, I'm afraid. I suggest a support group. 2/23/09: First, the good news: new pictures are up! A LOT of new pictures. Apparently we have been very camera-happy lately. Of course, when you have a subject as cute as I am, it is pretty hard to resist. Check out the February gallery when you have a spare hour or two. Now for the less good news: I have a cold! I'm all stuffy and snurffly and it's hard to sleep. I'm still my usual happy self during the day, just with more mucus than usual (and with less of an appetite), but naptimes are short and nighttime is rough. But tonight I had a nice warm vapor bath, so hopefully I will sleep a little better. I don't like feeling icky, but there is an upside: I get more snuggles because everyone feels so bad for me! There are snot marks on a lot of shirts because of this. It's my new calling card, I suppose...hopefully not for too much longer! 2/21/09: I'm hestitant to confess this, because it's kind of scary, but here goes...I think I might be part vampire. My two bottom teeth came in nice and normal, but the top row? Not so much. My eye teeth are coming in before my middle teeth! Thus the vampire suspicions. Fortunately you can only really see it if I'm lying down - otherwise people might be running for the hills when they saw me coming. I do have one middle tooth bravely trying to make an entrance, but those fangs are poking right on through. Of course, my dad does have crooked top teeth, so it could just be genes at work. But personally, I think it's more likely that I am a vampire. If I grow a super-exaggerated widow's peak and start wearing capes everywhere, then we'll really know for sure. 2/20/09: I am 11 months old today! My final monthiversary before I turn a year old. Crazy! To celebrate my old age I went to storytime at the library, which was a lot of fun! We met Leslie and Annabelle there, and it was nice to catch up with them - I have to admit, I don't remember what the story was or what half the songs we sang were, because I kept stealing glances at Annabelle. She was wearing pink, and I'm such a sucker for girlie girls. She had these saucy little pink socks on too. Personally, I think she wore them especially for me. When I wasn't flirting with Annabelle, I was making new friends! There was another little boy there who was 12 months old, and after yesterday's playdate, I felt confident that I could play with other boys my age. We shared some books, I tried to eat his shoes, I grabbed his arm, he poked me in the eye...normal getting-to-know-you stuff. I also got to show off my crawling skillz to all the storytime attendees, which was pretty fun. Apparently, I like an audience. Funny, I always took myself to be the shy and retiring type... 2/19/09: Today was lots of fun - I had a playdate with my twin buddies, Desmond and Kaelan! We were born 5 days apart and were all in the NICU at the same time. Now we are all healthy, adorable, and crawling and climbing all over the place! Ihave to admit, it did take me awhile to get used to there being two other babies in my house and playing with my stuff, but after a little while I realized - hey! We can play together! So then I tried to eat Desmond's sweater. OK, so my social skills need a little work. I made up for it later by putting my arm around him when we were taking a group picture. I know, it was totally adorable. I can't wait to post the pictures! Your heads will explode from all the cuteness. 2/18/09: I have a special favor to ask all of you out there in Michael Nation...I am planning to walk (OK, stroll) in the March of Dimes March for Babies this year, and I am forming a team and looking for donations! For those of you who don't know, the March of Dimes does research on and is seeking to prevent premature births, and they also advocate for access to quality healthcare for all moms and babies. Much of the life-saving care that I received in the NICU was developed as a result of their research, so this cause is very important to me. Please visit my team page at www.marchforbabies.org/633939. There you can either make a donation or, better yet, join my team and walk with me! Together we can help ensure that more babies are born healthy, strong, on time, and without needing to live in a plastic box. Many thanks for any contribution you can make. 2/17/09: Whoops, sorry so long with no updates...I have been too busy CRAWLING! That's right, I have finally mastered independent forward motion. OK, "mastered" might not be quite the right word, as I don't quite have the whole left arm/right knee thing down quite yet. I sort of do a whole combination of movements that eventually get me where I am going. Sometimes I go up on my toes and take three steps, then lurch my upper body forward, sometimes I include an army crawl-type maneuver, sometimes I do what very much resembles "the worm"...I like to mix it up. It isn't always pretty, but it works. And oh my, what a world of wonders it has opened up for me! We are all suddenly realizing how not babyproofed the house is, and I am doing my best to point out the areas that need the most attention. I'm doing double duty, actually, because I continue to enjoy walking around the house as well (with a little help, of course)..and while I used to simply walk for the pleasure of it and politely observe my surroundings, now I want to reach out and touch - and sometimes pull, rip, or eat - my surroundings. I am an exploring machine. Sadly, all of the most intriuging objects seem to be disappearing or moving to where I cannot reach. Just when things were getting interesting! 2/13/09: My Auntie Kelly came to see me today! OK, well she might have also come to see my mom. Might. It was very exciting, because Auntie Kelly is growing a new playmate for me inside her tummy! Isn't that considerate of her? She is due in July, and while I would be happy with either a boy or a girl to play with, I have a huge - huge! - pile of boy clothes perfect for a boy born in the summertime (since I wasn't exactly wearing newborn size in March). I would be happy to make a few donations to my new little friend...although I will have to go through the pile with a bucketloader. Ooo speaking of clothes, I got a whole bunch today from Old Navy (big sale!) - summer stuff and everything! I love all my new clothes - I even chewed on my new red sweatpants approvingly. To add to the excitment of the day, Meme came home from the hospital, finally! I was very glad to see her, safe and sound. Truman was very glad too - he gave her kisses and did a little happy jog around the house. Hey, if I could run, I would have joined him! 2/12/09: Yesterday at Pepe's birthday dinner, Meme told him that we had done our best to make his 55th year as exciting and drama-filled as possible, but we were going to tone it down a bit for his 56th year. We have already failed in that promise. This morning not only did I roll out of bed and onto the floor, but Meme didn't feel well and went to the hospital with concerns that it could be her heart doing something funky. We are both fine - I don't have any bumps or bruises and smiled my way through the day apparently unfazed, and they didn't find anything wrong with Meme but kept her overnight at the hospital just to be safe and run some more tests. Speaking of safe, there is now a mesh bed rail on the bed. No more early-morning acrobatics for me! 2/11/09: Happy Birthday to my Pepe! Today, in honor of his birthday, I helped my mom make him pancakes for breakfast. By helping I mean that I sat in my high chair and played with a spatula. Spatulas are fun, it turns out! You can chew them, lick them, beat the tray with them, beat the dog with them, throw them on the floor and watch the dog lick them...the possibilities are endless! Anyway, the point is, I was an excellent helper. Anything for my Pepe - he's the best Pepe a kid could ask for! Happy Birthday, big guy. (p.s. New pictures and videos are up - check them out!) 2/10/09: I've been having some serious separation anxiety lately. Now normally separation anxiety happens for babies whose parents go off to work and leave them with someone else, but I don't have that situation, so my separation anxiety means that whenever I am left alone in a room - even for two seconds - I burst into tears. Accompanied by pathetic wailing. I can really turn on the waterworks. If I can maintain this amazing ability to go from happy and laughing to sobbing huge tears and grasping at the air in desperation, then surely I will be in serious Oscar contention one day. In the meantime, my adults (usually my mom) have to decide whether to respond to my pleas or to ingore me and do whatever they were doing. I have to say, I do win sometimes, but not nearly as often as I would like. I'm going to have to step up my game... 2/9/09: Whoops, sorry I haven't poseted in awhile. I've been very busy with very important things, such as...um...eating, and sleeping, and let's not forget pooping. Also I have been learning to crawl and walk and talk and play the piano. These things take time and energy. Anyway, here are the highlights fromt the past several days: My first word?: I totally said "Mom" the other day. I actually have been saying Mom for some time (although it sounds more like "Mum", because I am cultured and prefer the Queen's English), but we have been debating on whether I actually know that I am saying Mom's name or not. But the other day I was really tired/hungry/cranky, and I reached my arms up to my mom and cried "Mom!" as pathetically as I could. But then later when she asked what her name was, I responded "thpfffthhhh". So, you be the judge on whether I have really said my first word or not. Yummy yummy rice: I had rice with dinner the past few nights, and it is delish! I actually had it before awhile ago and liked it, so then my Meme cooked me some basmati rice instead of short-grain rice, and I liked it far less. My ancestors were Chinese, not...um...Basmatic. Give me Chinese rice! So the past two nights I have had "real" rice. The rice of my people. Yum. Tastes like the Motherland. Charlotte's on the web (get it?): I keep forgetting to tell you - if you want to see pictures of my new cousin Charlotte, there is a whole gallery of her here from when my dad and my Auntie Susan went to visit her and her parents. So cute, right? I can't wait to meet her in April! RSV-R-Us: I had my second-to-last RSV shot today, which protects me against a particularly nasty type of flu. The nurses said they have seen a lot of cases of RSV this year, so it's a good thing I've been getting my monthly shots, even though it hurts. 5 minutes of trauma is better than being re-hospitalized! Plus I got two fancy band-aids: one was shaped like a crayon, and the other had blue camoflage on it. Score! Dinner guests!: My Auntie LAM and Uncle Jamie came to visit me today, and they brought me books! I am very excited, because two out of three of them are touch-and-feel books, and I LOVE touch-and-feel books. I only had one before today, and I am constantly trying to feel the pages in my other books. It's very disappointing when they all feel the same. (My dad also bought me a new book for being so brave today at my shot. Four new books! How lucky am I?) Anyway, I loved hanging out and playing with my auntie and uncle and showing them my toys. Sadly, I had to go up to bed and say goodbye, but first I got to give Auntie LAM a rather thorough goodnight kiss (I'm really into giving the ladies goodnight kisses). Uncle Jamie got a little jealous. Hey, when you've got it, you've got it, you know what I'm saying? 2/5/09: New pictures are up! There are new ones added to the January gallery (to save you frequent fans some time, the new ones start at #93, on page 7) and there is also a February gallery, but there aren't exactly a lot of pictures in it yet. Hey, it's only February 5! I also added a link to my YouTube videos...there aren't a lot yet, and I'm afraid they are not exactly Oscar-worthy performances, but I'll try and step up my game for future video-ing. Part of the problem is that I like to do hilarious things once, and then by the time the camera comes out, I'm over it. Also, my mother seems to forget that the camera even HAS a video feature, which doesn't help the situation. She also seems to forget that the camera has a camera feature! Yesterday my mom's friend Vieng came over, and my mom totally forgot to take a picture of us together, even though I pretty much fell in love with Vieng right away. She's young and pretty, and played with me, and brought me a new toy, and brought that toy in a fun bag, which I enjoyed playing with more than the toy...what's not to love? Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of our fun afternoon. Blame my mom. Oh well, Vieng will just have to come back, bearing more gift bags. 2/4/09: Today the doctor from yesterday called to report on my amazingness...I mean to report the results of yesterday's assessments. She said that overall the team thought that I was doing "fabulous"! (Since it's such high praise, I will forgive the fact that she used an adjective when she should have used an adverb.) My gross motor and fine motor skills both tested at 9 months, which is very good, and clearly indicates a future in professional sports (OK, she did not say that part). My cognition and language tested at 6 to 7 months, but she said the tests are not all that reliable for my age group. Also, I hadn't napped much and wasn't my usual self, so that didn't help. At any rate, I am supposed to be acting like a 7-month-old, and I am at least doing that and sometimes better, so the team was happy with me. And you know what? I'm happy with me too. 2/3/09: Wow. Tired. Today I went to Children's Hospital to be seen by the Infant Follow-Up Clinic. They follow preemies and kids born with other medical or developmental issues and do multi-discipline assessments every six months or so. (Multi-discipline means I am seen by a lot of people, like a doctor and a physical therapist and psychologist, not that they discipline me in different ways. I know, I thought that too at first). I wasn't so sure how I would do, since I woke up really early today, had a short morning nap, and refused to nap in the car. So I was pretty overtired for all my assessments, but nonetheless everyone said I looked pretty good - the pediatrician was especially impressed with my good nature and my, um, girthiness. Apparently she was expecting a frail and wan little preemie, and I am definitely not that. (Side note: why does everyone say, "He sure doesn't miss any meals!" Of course I don't miss any meals. Why would I want to? Meals are good. It's pretty simple.) Anyway, we didn't get the final evaluation after the team met to chat about me - there was a snowstorm and I was really tired, so we wanted to get home - but they will call with any recommendations. They had better not recommend that I start missing meals, because I would be pretty sad. 2/2/09: Happy Groundhog Day! This seems like a really, really weird tradition, but apparently some small mammal in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, and therefore we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter instead of an early spring. Um, not to point out the obvious or anything, but I live in New England. If winter really ended in 6 weeks, wouldn't that constitute an early spring? I consider myself kind of an authority on this, having been born on the first day of spring and all. From what I recall, it was very cloudy and cold out, and not particularly spring-like. OK, I don't know that it was really cold - I wasn't exactly allowed outside - but it looked cold. And people wore coats to come visit me. I didn't actually get to experience the outside until they day I went home in June (my transfer to Winchester Hospital doesn't count - I was in a plastic box!). I'm hoping for the best for this year's first day of spring/my first birthday. Maybe it will actually be springlike? Sunny, even? No matter what, though, I am going outside. Just because this year, I can. Sans plastic box. 2/1/09: I don't know if I can handle weekends, if there is to be this much fun! First, my Auntie Susan was here all weekend long, which is always a nonstop party. I can't even tell you how excited I am to see her snoozing on the couch when I come downstairs in the morning. So. Fun. Then yesterday I had my playdate with Lucas, and today my Auntie Andrea came over to see me, and I haven't seen her in years and years! OK, two months. But hey - that's one fifth of my life! So it feels like years. Uncle Joe was supposed to come, but he got sick with a cold and didn't want to get me sick. It is my first cold and flu season, which is dangerous for preemies, so I appreciate Uncle Joe thinking of me. I missed him though. I had to content myself with being tickled, entertained, and showered with gifts by Auntie Andrea. It was rough, but somebody had to do it! 1/31/09: Yay, I had a fun playdate today! Well, "playdate" is loosely defined here. I went to go see my buddy Lucas, who is only 5 weeks old...he slept the whole time again. I guess he finds me boring. BUT that meant that I had the undivided attention of five - count 'em, five - adults! So it was a playdate in the sense that I got to play. And get lots of attention. The adults got to admire my hugeness and adorableness, and Lucas got a really good nap! It was a win-win-win situation. I did trot over to Lucas while he was chillin' in his swing and say hi. I even patted his blanket. He kept sleeping. But he's totally gotten bigger in the last two weeks - pretty soon we'll be rolling around on the floor together, I just know it! Grow strong, little buddy. 1/30/09: Did I forget to mention that I have a second tooth coming in? Sorry about that. So much has been going on, I actually do manage to forget about the constant throbbing pain in my mouth! Well, most days. Not today. Today I was pretty annoyed about the tooth pain, and I expressed that annoyance by 1) taking very short naps and 2) yelling a lot. I yelled in my office, I yelled in the car to and from the dog groomer's, I yelled in my high chair, I yelled at naptime...I gave my vocal cords a serious workout today. Fortunately for my mother's sanity (and ear drums) I was pretty easy to distract and even to make laugh (the overtiredness helped with that)...I only yelled when not being paid full and direct attention. Which was, in my opinion, way to large a portion of the day. Why does my mom need to do things like eat or get dressed or put in a load of laundry or go to the bathroom? So selfish. My teeth hurt, and she's off doing fun things like washing bottles. The nerve! 1/29/09: Clearly, I am not a little baby anymore, and I haven't been for awhile. Actually, it has been months and months and months since anyone said "Oh! What a little baby!". Now I hear choruses of "Look how big!" everywhere I go. Even so, I sometimes forget that I'm getting too big and too mobile for some of my old ways. Case in point: my crib mattress was lowered yesterday. All the way down. It's so low now, it's practically on the first floor. For those of you who are horrified to find out that a 10-month-old was sleeping in a non-lowered crib, rest assured that 1) I can't pull up yet and 2) I don't move much when I am sleeping, or even when I wake up, so the risk of me waking up and silently discovering how to pull up before anyone comes to get me was pretty small. That said, there is sort of a history of me being in sleeping situations past the point of practicality. Anyone remember the cosleeper box? I was in there until I almost had to lay diagnonally in order to fit. Same with the bassinet. I guess I am always a little reluctant to try new sleep arrangements for fear that I won't sleep as well. So last night, you know what happened? I was put down into my new, low crib semi-asleep, I rolled over onto my side, and I promptly fell fast asleep. Just like a big boy. 1/28/09: Yeah, so yesterday I was all inspired and motivated to work on the crawling thing, but today I discovered that it might not be necessary. I can just roll wherever I want to go! With my neck control and strong abs, I can cover a room in a matter of seconds, with only a few head clunks. I don't always go in the direction that I planned, but I'm working on it. Added bonus: with all the dog hair I'm picking up on my clothes, I'm helping to keep the house clean! 1/27/09: So, some of you may have noticed that I put a hit counter on here, just for fun, to see how many people check out my antics and pictures. Boy, am I surprised! The counter is only counting unique visitors, and as of today we are in triple digits...I had no idea so many people were checking in on me! I am both humbled and inspired. On the one hand, I feel like I am not really doing anything all that interesting, except perhaps being outstandingly cute. But on the other hand, with so many people supporting me, I feel more confident that I can reach my two main goals: crawling and eating a sandwich. Stay tuned! I'm counting on you...literally! (I know, that was a bad one.) 1/26/09: Happy Chinese New Year! We are now in the Year of the Ox. Last year was the Year of the Rat, which means that I am a Rat (an Earth Rat, specifically). I find this highly appropriate, since last year, when I was born, I was the size of a rat, and this year I am the size of an ox! OK, maybe not quite as big as an ox, but I am much bigger and stronger than I was last year. And also I am growing horns! OK, teeth. Same idea. Anyway, I celebrated the New Year by having some egg yolk at lunch (no reaction yet!) and some white rice at dinner. I loved them both! I really wanted one of my mom's pork dumplings, but she is mean and wouldn't give it up. Side note: according to the Chinese Zodiac, Rats and Sheep (or Ram, depending on the calendar) are incompatible. Both of my parents are Sheep. It should be a fun adolesence! 1/25/09: Just a quiet day at home today, nothing much to report, nothing new at all...oh, except maybe the horrible throbbing pain in my mouth! I have to admit, so far I have been a pretty mellow dude through this whole teething thing - I didn't even complain when my first tooth broke through (even though it totally hurt) - but today I had just had enough. I'll admit it - I was a Cranky McCrankypants today. Cranky von Crankerstein. Senor Crankola. Cranky Crankman III. Well, you get the idea. I'm all for getting teeth - they will help me to achieve my dream of someday eating a sandwich - but why does it have to hurt so much? Also, why won't anyone let me chew on their fingers anymore? So that little tooth feels like a tiny razor. Wimps. Try having that tiny razor IN YOUR MOUTH. Exactly. P.S. Happy Birthday Gracie! 1/24/09: Today I went to go meet the Cat in the Hat at the mall! Apparently he was visiting Pottery Barn Kids today because they were reading his book. I thought that was nice of him to take time out of his busy schedule to come to Burlington. It must be hard to get away from Thing 1 and Thing 2. He even posed for a picture with me afterwards, and gave me a kiss! So fun. The best part? My dad was there! He is finally home from Washington DC safe and sound; he was neither crushed to death nor killed in a terrorist attack! Yay! He also brought home my camera, which means you will no longer be deprived of the visual cataloguing of my daily activities. Soon the shots of me at the Cat in the Hat reading should be up - there are some pretty cute ones, I have to admit. Darn I sure am photogenic. UPDATE: Pictures are up! Check out the January gallery. 1/23/09: Today is Friday, which means...storytime at the library! It was extra exciting today, because Leslie and Annabelle met us there! Annabelle is now exactly 4 months old, and is getting to be quite a looker, I have to admit. Last time we met I must confess that I was completely enamored with her mom instead, as I usually go for older women, but Annabelle is getting to be pretty darn cute. We all went back to my house for lunch after storytime, and I was nice enough to let Annabelle try out my swing and my "office" (the exersaucer), and she loved them both! I wasn't jealous at all - I actually thought it was so funny to see another baby using my stuff! OK, some of my chivalry MAY have had somthing to do with the teeny crush I have on both mom and baby. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the ladies. 1/22/09: OK, so maybe I am a teeny bit allergic to prunes - I was a bit rashy this morning. Oh well, it really doesn't matter, because I doubt I will be eating them ever again. Like, ever again. Maybe when I am 85 or something, I'll give it another try. I'll probably be back in diapers then! Anyway, enough about the prunes. I'd like to put them behind me (no pun intended!). Today was a fun day - I accompanied my mom to her doctor's appointment, and since we were right down the street from Riverside, we got to pop in for a few minutes and say hi! Everyone marveled at my hugeness and my well-coordinated outfit (I totally picked it out myself). It's tough, but someone has to be adored. It was also nice to go to a doctor's office and not be poked or prodded! For once my mom was the one getting stuck with needles and having blood sucked out of her. Ha ha, Mommy! Um, I mean, poor Mommy. So sad. 1/21/09: Um...So the prunes I had for breakfast? That didn't work out too well. No, not too well at all. There is a bright side, though: I got to have a bath in the middle of the day, which was fun! Several other items that I was wearing and/or came in contact with had a bath as well. But hey, at least I'm not allergic to prunes! I won't be eating them ever, ever again, but if I did, I wouldn't break out. Good to know. 1/20/09: Two very important things happened today. Firstly, and with great meaning for the nation....I turned 10 months old today. Millions turned out to celebrate me and watch me turn 10 months old, braving freezing temperatures...oh no wait. I'm confused. Sorry. Today we have a new president, and millions turned out to see him! In the crowd were my dad and my Auntie Susan - I looked for them on TV, but surprisingly, I didn't see them. Perhaps because I fell asleep before any of the swearing-in or speeches. So when my children ask me if I was alive when we inaugurated our first African American president, I can say yes, technically, I was there, but I wasn't actually awake. I was busy being ten months old, which is quite exhausting. 1/19/09: I am seriously overdosing on fun lately. Today I ventured all the way into Boston (despite the 18 inches of snow!) to hang out with twin boys who were in the NICU at the same time as me - it was a preemie reunion! Of course, you wouldn't know it to look at us now - we are all three so strong and healthy! For the record, I am the biggest, but not by much...and I am also the least mobile. Desmond and Kaelan are all crawly and stuff, and I am still trying in vain to scoot farther than 3 inches. I have so much more girth to move, though - it takes so much more energy! Anyway, we started out our playdate very quiet and unsure of what to do, but before long we were pushing each other over, grabbing toys, poking eyeballs, flirting with the moms...you know, practicing how to be boys. It was really, really fun. So fun, in fact, that I had trouble going to bed tonight, and kept laughing randomly - even in my sleep! I invited the twins up to my house for our next playdate - poor Truman will think he is seeing triple! 1/18/09: What a fun day! 1) It snowed. Like, a lot. Big, fluffy, movie-type snow that was so pretty to watch. 2) Auntie Lindsey came to visit! I was afraid that she wasn't going to come because of all the snow, but I forgot that she's from Syracuse. She's made of tough stuff - a little snow doesn't scare her. Even though it did take her an hour to drive up from Boston...sorry, Auntie Lindsey! I hope she had fun, and I hope we get to see her again soon! Oh, speaking of seeing things, there is now a January photo gallery, if you care to see me in all my 2009 glory. I'm afraid there won't be any pictures from this weekend or upcoming week, though, because my dad took the camera to DC with him to meet my cousin Charlotte (hi Charlotte) and to see the new president get inaugurated. I'm not sure what that means - inaugurated. It kind of sounds like it hurts. I like Mr. Obama, so for his sake I hope it doesn't hurt. Anyway, the point is, we are camera-less for a week. I will have to remember all the fun events in my mind's eye, I suppose. 1/17/09: Wow, am I tired. Today was very, very exciting. We had a very full house - my uncle Paul, Auntie Jen, and cousin Grace came, and they brought along Auntie Jen's brother, his wife, and their little boy Kirk! I thought it was crazy to watch almost-three Gracie in action when we were in New Jersey last month, but watching her and (also almost-three) Kirk together almost blew my mind! There was so much running and yelling and crying and laughing and jumping and flipping and playing and talking! At first I just hung out in my office and observed, but then at dinner I got pretty wound up. Of course, it was a party - we were celebrating Grace's birthday a little early - so the singing and the cake and presents and everything got me a little excited. I was too tired to sleep afterwards! It was well worth it though - good company and good fun. I can't wait until I am big enough to join in a little more...pretty much all I could do today was hold still while Grace and Kirk put various (soft) objects on my head. The upside is that I discovered that I am very good at balancing things on my head! Everyone has a talent, I guess. 1/15/09: Big day today - my mom and I went to see my Auntie Tracy and her new baby Lucas! He is only three weeks old, and so little! Well, relatively little - he's 8 pounds, but next to me, he looks like a little peanut! I have to admit, he wasn't that much fun to play with - all he did was eat and sleep and poop - but Mom and Auntie Tracy promised that he'll get a little more interesting as he gets bigger. My mom thought he was already plenty interesting - she left me to fend for myself on the floor while she held him and got all misty and moony. Moms are so weird. Anyway, I can't wait to see Lucas grow and be able to impart some of my vast wisdom. It will be nice to have a protegee. 1/14/09: I just can't stop it with these milestones. Lately I have been making more word-ish sounds, and yesterday my Meme was putting me down for a nap instead of my mom, which was unusual...and she swears I said "Mom". She also thought I said "Hi, Pepe" earlier. Then today my mom had me in my high chair while she was cooking, and I was getting mad and yelled "Mum!" to get her attention. I was feeling a little British, apparently. There is heated debate in the house as to whether I am actually making words or if it is coincidental. I'm not telling - I like to keep 'em guessing. One thing that is not up for debate? My first tooth is coming in! My poor little mouth is all red and there's this sharp pointy thing poking out of my lower gums. You would think I would be crabby, but nah. I'm a tough cookie. I just can't stop chewing on everything hard that I can - especially my food bowl. Not only is it hard for chewing, but sometimes I get a little surprise morsel of food too! Bonus. 1/12/09: OK, why does everyone at my doctor's office like to stab me with needles? Is it a favorite hobby or something? Today I had to get my special preemie flu shot again (only 2 more times to go!). I would have been a little more game for it, except that I just got two shots last week at my checkup - and one of them was a flu shot! So I was pretty mad today, understandably. Even so, the nurses were wowed by my cuteness and told my dad how good-natured and brave I was. Oh save it. If you like me so much, WHY ARE YOU STABBING ME? Oh well - it wasn't a totally horrible day, because my mom felt so bad about my ordeal that she laid down with me for both my afternoon naps, and didn't try and make me nap all alone in my crib. Extra snuggles always make me feel better. 1/11/09: Today we celebrated the first anniversary of my Meme's heart surgery! Technically her anniversary was yesterday, but she taught all day and went to bed early, so there was not a lot of partying. But today there was champagne! Predictably, I didn't get any. I tried, but no dice. Anyway, it's so great that Meme is so healthy and strong and, you know, alive. I can't imagine what my world would be like without Meme in it! I bet she feels the same about me. I have to say, I bet I was pretty good rehab exercise for her when I first came home from the hospital. Plus she helped walk Truman a lot. So really, we were like her personal trainers. Also, my mom went down to Pennsylvania to help Meme during her recovery a year ago, and since Mom was pregnant at the time, I was totally there. Helping. You're welcome Meme. Oh, and thanks for being here. I love you. 1/10/09: OK, I have good news and I not-so-good news. I'll give you the good first - I totally scooted today. I went, like, 6 inches. It was amazing. Today - 6 inches. Tomorrow - total world domination. OK, maybe not tomorrow. The best part was that my Auntie Susan was here to witness my achievement and cheer me on! The not-so-good news is that the yogurt I ate yesterday and today did not seem to agree with me...by nighttime today I was all rashy and itchy. Soooo...looks like I have a dairy allergy. This is really going to put a damper on my quest for a grilled cheese. My list of allergenic foods is now: bananas, blueberries, and all 17,000 dairy products, including the state of Wisconsin. I am allergic to an entire state. Also, I can only eat squash and green beans once per week, otherwise I get rashy. So basically, I'm not even going to be one of the kids at the peanut-free table...they're going to have to make a special table just for me! The bananas-blueberry-dairy-squash-and-green-bean-free table. I will have so many friends, who will totally want to trade their delicious snack treats for my, um, plain rice cakes. Oh well - at least I got to try mashed sweet potato at dinner instead of pureed...holy moly that stuff was good. So good I forgot all my problems...at least for a little while. Clearly, the solution here is to eat mashed sweet potatoes nonstop. 1/9/09: I'm just going to keep trying something new every day. New year, new things to try. Today it was yogurt. It was, um, interesting. I tried really hard to like it - I took several spoonfuls - but I can't say I really got used to it. First I had it plain, and then mixed with applesauce, and that made it a little better. At least I stopped making a weird face with every bite with the applesauce. I'm not going to give up though, because I am an intrepid explorer. Also, yogurt is my first real dairy, and if I do OK, I get to move on to cheese! Bringing me one step closer to my dream of having a grilled cheese sandwich. 1/8/09: Oh my goodness what a busy day. My mom and I ran, like, 7000 errands today, plus I napped in my crib for an hour and a half (a rare occurrence) PLUS (drumroll please)...I had finger food for the first time ever!!! Disappointingly, it wasn't a grilled cheese - it was puffed rice and broken bits of rice cake - but still! I fed myself! I have to admit, it wasn't exactly tasty, but I was so happy to be feeding myself that I persevered despite the bland weirdness. It took me a few tries to figure out how to get the little pieces from my hand into my mouth, but I used my advanced problem solving skills and got at least five pieces in there. Many more were stuck to my hands and face, but hey - I'm learning, people! And again, if my mom had given me something a little easier to handle, like, say, a turkey club, it would have been a piece of cake. Mmm, cake... 1/7/09: Another doctor's visit today! I had my 9-month checkup with my pediatrician, and she says I look great! According to their scale, I am 21 pounds even...so either I gained 6 ounces in two days, or the scales are a little off. Either way, I am still in the 50th percentile for height and weight! This surprises me, because I thought 9-month-olds were supposed to be a little smaller, but I think American babies are getting bigger. Oh, I don't know. The important thing is that I am normal! They told me it would take 2 years for me to catch up - ha! My head, however, is in the 60th percentile. That's those Chien genes, shining through! (My mother's head is tiny. It's kind of hilarious. She can wear child-size hats and sunglasses. Pretty soon, we will be able to share headgear!) I need a big head, though, to hold all that brilliance. Oh, and another awesome thing that happened today? I got two shots, and totally didn't cry. I am the bravest baby ever! 1/6/09: I forgot to mention one thing that puzzled me yesterday while we were at Children's Hospital to see my surgeon (who will not be surgeoning me, thankyouverymuch!): when we first arrived in the waiting area, there was a giant TV with something wonderful on it. I thought TVs only had SportsCenter and talk shows and game shows - boring stuff - but this had something on it that looked super fun. My mom said it was something called a Pixar movie, and that the name of it was A Bug's Life. A Bug's Life! Doesn't that sound fun? I would like to learn about the life of a bug. I was so enthralled that I practically leapt out of my stroller, and then I was dancing a little jig on Mom's lap and flapping my arms with excitement. I even made little "oo oo" sounds. I had no idea TVs could have fun things on them! My mom said that they only show things like this on TVs at Children's Hospital, so we can't see it at home. But then my dad came in, and he said A Bug's Life was one of his favorite movies! Now why would my dad be hanging out at Children's Hospital without me, watching TV? Although....I can't say I would blame him. I'm still not convinced though...I think this merits further investigation. If anyone has any leads, let me know. 1/5/09: Good news - I still don't need hernia surgery! I went back to see the surgeon today for a followup, and he says that I look great! I have to go back in June just to be sure, but odds are good that there will be no slicing and dicing anywhere near my man parts. Phew! They also weighed and measured me, so for those of you who have an office pool going...I am now 20 pounds, 10 ounces and 28.2 inches long! Might I remind you that I am only 9 months old. And I am supposed to be 6 months old. A 20.5-pound 6-month-old! Can you imagine? As the doctor today was quick to point out, failure to thrive is clearly not an issue for me. And although the people in my life who lift me frequently exclaim about how huge and heavy I am, I know that really, they are marveling at how very far I've come, and how lucky they are that I am so strong and healthy. At least I am pretty sure this is what they are thinking when they take that third dose of Advil. 1/4/09: While I am spending a lot of time and energy trying to reach those typical baby milestones that everyone always asks about (crawling, walking, talking, etc.) there about about 8 trillion little milestones that those of you who haven't been babies in awhile probably don't remember. They are all pretty amazing, though, in my opinion. For example, I very recently have discovered my feet! I mean, I knew there was something down there at the end of my legs, but I guess I never really paid that much attention...until one day - hey look! Feet! The best thing about my feet is that they never look the same. Sometimes they are naked (and adorable, I might add), and sometimes they have socks on, and sometimes shoes, but different colored socks on different days, and different shoes too! AND my shoes all have fun animals on them! I can't tell you how mezmerizing this is. If I am sitting on someone's lap, you can bet that I am staring at my feet. And trying to figure out how to put them in my mouth. They look so delicious! 1/3/09: Today it finally went above freezing, so I was allowed to go outside! Appropriately bundled up in boots, snowpants, snow jacket, hat, and mittens, of course. My mom thought I would really enjoy some time in my swing, seeing as the last time I went outside there was a giant chunk of ice right where my butt goes and I couldn't fulfill my swinging needs. I did indeed have fun in my swing, but it was kind of a tight fit with all of that winter gear on. At first I was kind of weirdly reclined, which was rather hilarious looking (photographic evidence to follow), but then we found a more comfortable upright position for me. The real problem came when it was time for me to come out (which was after about 3 minutes, because that wind was really cold! It brought tears to my wee little eyes)....I was stuck! It took a good five minutes to free me from my blue plastic swingy prison, which kind of made the three minutes of swing time not really worth it. Oh well - I suppose it could be worse. I could still be out there! Or maybe the fire department would have come and cut the chains, but then I would have to walk around for the rest of my days with a blue plastic swing seat attached to my butt. That would probably make it tough to get a date. Or find pants that fit, for that matter. 1/2/09: My New Year's resolution this year is to stop being such a lazy baby and start really working on this whole crawling/walking thing. There are things I want to do and see and put in my mouth, and lying on the floor flailing my arms and legs just isn't getting me there. So not wanting to waste any time, today I stood on my own, holding on to the outside of my "office" (my exersaucer thing). I guess you could say that today, I took a stand against laziness. Literally! (I know, that was kind of bad. One cannot perfect independent forward motion AND comedic skill at the same time. It's just not possible.) 1/1/09: Happy New Year! I hope everyone had fun celebrating the arrival of 2009...I celebrated by sleeping! Even though I went to bed at 8, I was up at 11 (to say goodbye to 2008) and at 1 (to say hello to 2009!) but I couldn't be bothered to wake up at midnight. I was busy dreaming about sweet potatoes. Anyway, I've been thinking all day about this whole New Year thing - everyone keeps "reflecting" on 2008, and where they were this time last year, and I wasn't even around! Well, I was, I was just really, really small and inside my mom. No one knew that I was a boy yet, no one knew that my name was Michael, no one knew that I was going to be born super early, no one knew that I was going to become ginormous by 9 months...What a difference a year makes! I will always be partial to 2008 - it's the year I made my appearance into the world, after all - but I am certainly hoping that 2009 will be a little less...um...traumatic. Trauma Free and Drama Free - that's my motto for 2009! |
