August 2005

When I was looking for the picture for the following post, I relived Aug 2005. These are some pictures taken that month. Gavin was about 7 months old. Hanging with Dad in the hospital. Naked in the grass (we sure miss lush grass, but Justin would eat it anyway). Swinging with Dad in the hammock. Playing on the couch with Ooma and Oompa. He still loves to play with that hat. Note Scott's hair, that was before he shaved his head when Cole lost his hair. Swinging all by himself in the hammock. It's fun to look at old pictures!

When we had dogs

So, the dogs may have eaten the crumbs (see the post below this), but Gavin preferred the scraps of hair anyway (look in his hands). They were Siberian Huskies after all. This picture doesn't show him eating it, but believe me, he did! That was taken in August 2005 when Gavin was about 7 months old. Note the pillow behind him, just in case he fell back. It was hard laminate flooring under that rug, so not a soft fall.

Who needs a dog

When we had dogs we enjoyed their unique ability to clean our floors. We have been without them for about 1 1/2 years and miss them terribly, but we have a new alternative, at least for the cleaning benefit. As I've mentioned, Justin doesn't crawl, he drags himself along the floor. He has shirts now that have gone through the laundry but are permanently stained from the dirt he has picked up with his belly. He also likes to get under the kitchen table and pick up the scraps that Gavin has dropped. I just saw him making one scoot, pick up Ritz crumb, another scoot, pick up unknown crumb, another scoot... well, you get it. I know it's gross, but he's learning to eat with his fingers very well, and picking up some immunities at the same time! Right now he's at my feet chewing on one of Gavin's shoes...

Gavin

Well, after doing video of Justin, of course Gavin wanted to be involved too. Note his Superman jammies. We get lots of cool hand me downs from Cole's cousin's boys :-)

Justin

Hey cool, I think I got the video to work. Let me know if it works for you! It's from my phone just now :-) Justin is actually much faster than that when he's on a mission. For the video I had Gavin hold a book in front of him so he would chase it. Justin's shirt is generally pretty dirty by the end of the day since this is how he spends most of his time. He goes everywhere!

Thankful

We just got back from Justin's check up at Children's. His kidneys are growing as they should and the one that had only a minor problem is looking almost normal. The other one seems better than it was, so that's good. He'll continue on his daily dose of antibiotics to prevent any urinary tract infections (which could quickly cause kidney damage) and go back for more tests and follow up in 6-12 months. In the mean time I have little strips to check his urine with if he gets a fever and that's about it.

Sitting in the various waiting rooms and corridors at Children's certainly helps to bring things in to perspective. We were only in the outpatient/clinic area so we didn't see the real hospital stuff, but it was still a good reminder. Justin is a beautiful, healthy boy and we are so blessed to have him. Every child that we saw was happy through whatever ailed them. They are so resilient and can handle so much more than us wimpy adults, it's just amazing.

As I've typed this I've had to rescue Justin from his position under the dining room table where he has gotten stuck. Just like any other normal 9 month old, and that makes me so thankful.

The Mall on My Forehead

Shortly after I got home from work this morning I had Gavin in his chair working on his breakfast and I was sitting on the couch feeding Justin. Gavin asked "Mama, why milk comes out of your boobs?" I started to formulate an answer (this is not a new subject in our house, so I wasn't shocked at all) and he kept on talking. He said something like "Oh, it comes from the mall on your forehead too."

Me, "The what?"

Him, "The Mall."

Me, "Where's the mall?"

"No Mama. The MALL! The bumpy thing on your forehead!"

He was almost yelling at this point and frustrated that I didn't understand. I understood his words clearly. He was saying something about a Mall and my forehead. Huh? He mumbled something and stopped his breakfast to come and show me what he was talking about. He was almost to me when the light bulb went on....

***I have to break here for a little background info. Gavin frequently sees things on my skin and says "is that your nipple Mama?" "No Gavin, that's a mole." Besides, my nipples don't look anything like moles!!! (I know, TMI)***

So, back to the story... He was talking about the MOLE on my forehead near my temple. Of course, milk comes out of that too doesn't it? I know that Justin thinks I just ooze the stuff, but I really don't think Gavin has ever seen milk come out of my forehead. Now that would be amazing.

The picture is from my phone and was many months ago. I snapped it to remember what Justin looked like from my personal angle.

Real quick

I am just about to go up and get Justin, but I just have to get this down. Gavin is outside playing in the back yard, bare footed and in his jammies. The crows are cawing and Gavin is saying "Hi birds. Nice to meet you. Thank you birds" and on and on. It is so cute, it almost made me cry :-) He can be so sweet.