Author: The Notorious M.O.M.

A couple weeks ago, John stumbled upon a really great find for the boys–a set of black and yellow construction vehicle-shaped utensils: spoon, fork, and bulldozer/pusher. They’re from a company called “Constructive Eating” (hah hah), and were so cute in the pictures, we knew we had to order some for our truck-crazy tykes.

I surprised The Dudes with them at breakfast this morning, and they both went completely bananas over them. Finny has not had them out of his possession except to allow us to wash them off after eating. In fact, they accompanied him into the bath, to take in the garbage cans, and now he is sleeping with them clutched to his chest.  Here are some shots of the guys enjoying their new tools:

Finny has recently become obsessed with Raggs, a big blue dog with his own song and dance show on PBS. He insists on being called a dog, not a boy, and he won’t answer to Finny–only Raggs*! Thank goodness we already have a pair of blue doggy-themed PJ’s, which have become the ensemble of choice for our young canine amigo.

In other animal news, Raggs has decided that his little brother is a billy goat. We’re not exactly sure why he decided to classify his brother as a goat, but it was prescient, given Henry’s proclivity to try and climb anything and everything he can get tiny feet (hooves?) on.

If anyone had told me a few years back that I’d now be coming home to a big blue dog and a billy goat, I never would have believed them. But, you know, they make cute pets!

[* She’s not kidding! The other day at Aqui, I was trying to order us dinner with Finn on my arm. It went something like this:

— Me (to lady): Hi–do you guys have any kid-sized lemonades?
— Finn (er, Raggs): I’m a dog!
— Me: Okay, do you guys have dog-sized lemonades?
— Lady: Sure.
— Me: Great–and we’d like a kids’ taco bowl with–
— Raggs: I’m a dog!!

And so on. 🙂 –Dad-O]

We’ve been having some really fun times with “the Dudes” lately. So much to report, and not sure where to start, so I’ll just start here:

Dad-o was out of town on Friday and Saturday for a business trip, so I got to spend lots of solo time with the guys. I decided it would be fun to fill up the wading pool on Saturday morning since the weather promised to be sweltering. I figured we’d fill it up but wait to dive in until lunchtime when the sun had warmed up the water. Well, the Dudes did not want to wait, so it was clothes off, dipes off, and into the pool! Finn was busy dropping all kinds of toys and other items into the pool, including a pinecone he picked up out of the mud by the gazebo. As the pinecone went in and the mud bits sank down towards the bottom, Finny mumbled something that I didn’t quite hear. I asked him what he said, and he said “Pinecone Jam.” It took me a second, but then I said, “Oh, like toe jam?” And he nodded and smiled.

In Henry news, our little guy had his 1-year checkup, and clocked in at 24 1/2 pounds, 29 inches long, and 48cm. head circumference. He’s only in the 25th percentile for height, but 75th for weight, so we’re expecting a growth spurt soon that should stretch out that spare tire! He’s got a total of 13 teeth, 4 of which have arrived in the past week or so, and he is crawling like he’s trying to set land speed records. Tonight I walked to the kitchen to get him a pre-bedtime bottle of milk, and I heard him crawling toward me saying “mama mama mama” over and over. My heart melted. He continues to be fascinated with his brother’s toes, utensils, and sippy cups, to which Finn usually responds “no Goonie, don’t touch my (insert posession/body part here).”

The Nack family has welcomed a new Buddy in Blanketude! Our little Henry has finally bonded with his own little soft blankie buddy. As you know, Finn latched onto Leo, his little buddy, at about 7 or 8 months old. Henry never needed a pacifier or any kind of soothing tools to get to sleep–he found his thumb very early on and just pacified himself. Lately, though, Henry’s been protesting quite a bit when we lay him down in the crib–like he doesn’t want to be left alone (although he makes it clear he does not want to be held!).

Luckily for us, back when Henry was brand new, I preemptively picked up a trio of little owl blankies made by the same folks that created our beloved Leo(s). I decided to try offering one, dubbed “Ollie” by Dad-o, to Henry last week when he was starting to get upset about being put in the crib. Boy oh boy did that do the trick! As soon as he grabbed onto Ollie and rubbed Ollie’s little face into his own, he calmed right down and went down without another peep. It’s so incredibly sweet to see how happy Henry gets when he clutches his little friend and cuddles up in the crib.

There’s no telling what hilarity is going to ensue when Finny starts chatting with us over dinner. Tonight he was enjoying a bowl of oatmeal with chopped dried apricots (quickly dubbed “oopricoots” by our little guy) when he spied me grabbing a miniature brownie from a package on the counter. Ever vigilant, he asked me what I was eating. Instead of trying to wade through the details of describing a miniature brownie, I simply called it a “muffin.”

Seeing that the “muffin” in question was chocolate, Finny declared “All done with dinner! Finny would like a muffin!” I told him he needed to finish his oatmeal and oopricoots, and then we’d talk about having some muffin. He wasn’t really going for it, so I suggested that we count 10 more bites of oatmeal, and if he ate all ten, then he could have the muffin. For laughs, I told him we’d count backwards, from 10 down to one.

Following is a dramatic retelling of the countdown.

M: “Ok, big lion-bite! that’s 10”

F: “Now muffin!”

M: “Well, not yet, we have 9 more bites to go. Nine! Way to go!”

F: “Uh-huh, muffin.”

M: “We’re still doing oatmeal. Eight! Seven!”

F: “Now muffin!”

M: “Not yet, six more bites. Six!”

F: “All done with oatmeal! Muffin!”

M: “Okay, what number comes before six?”

F: “Muffin!”

M: “Five…then what’s next? Not three but…”

F: “Muffin!”

M: “Well I was shooting for ‘4’, but now we’re at three. Three more..”

F: “Finny want that muffin!”

He made his way valiantly to the last bite, at which point he was richly rewarded with the muffin. It disappeared into his boca with nary a crumb remaining!

Our little Quique (a nickname for Enrique) had his 9-month checkup today. He was an absolute dream at Dr. S’s office while we waited for the poking, prodding, and shots. He currently clocks in at 22 lbs. 10 oz., and 28 inches tall. That makes him a little smaller than his big bro at the same age. He’s got eight chompers with more starting to make their way to the top–the doc said she could see that his back molar area was a bit swollen already.

Dr. S. asked if he responds to his name, but I said that I didn’t think so, based on the fact that we have about a million nicknames for him–he’s probably not too sure what his real name is! But he’s on track with all the other milestones for his age–proto-crawling, clapping, pincer grasp, babbling and playing peek-a-boo, and starting to wave.

We wrapped up our day with a session on the front porch settee, watching the world go by in the early evening. Henry was placid as could be, quietly observing everything that crossed his path. We’ll go back to Dr. S. for his 12-month checkup sooner than we know it!

We just wrapped up a lovely evening with the boys. Apparently it was Nack-Boy Meltdown Theater™ earlier this afternoon, so our nanny prescribed a late afternoon nap for both Henry and Finny. They slept from 4:15 until I got home around 5:15, and when they got up, both were absolutely in top form. Finny was happy and keeping himself busy, and Henry was the most pacific he’s been in ages. Super cuddly and babbly and 100% nice-to-be-around.

We decided to go out to the pizza place for dinner since bedtime would be getting pushed back, and we all had a great time. Finn was excited to watch the pizza man squash the dough in the press, and also thrilled to wash down his pizza with a little chocolate gelato afterwards. Henry remained cool and calm the whole time, quietly eating his dinner and observing the goings on. It was such a nice way to spend the evening. Now Henry’s in bed with nary a peep of protest, and Finn’s on his way, having just finished his bath.

Hip Hip Hooray, Henry Nack is A-OK!!!

We’re just back from the pediatric urologist, and have fantastic news. Henry’s kidneys and ureters are absolutely perfectly fine. He has no blockage, everything is draining as it should, and the issues we were seeing before have resolved themselves almost completely. Hooray!!!

No more antibiotics, no more tests, no surgery, and no more worries about our guy’s kidneys. We’ll do one more ultrasound in June to check on the slight remaining swelling in the left ureter, but the Dr. assures us Henry will outgrow the issue completely, and that we have no reason to worry about anything.

Speaking for both John and me: “Whew!”

Today was Henry’s appointment with the pediatric urologist at Stanford Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital. We had to take all the records and reports from his prior ultrasounds and X-ray so the specialist could check everything out. The doctor and his resident were both incredibly nice and gentle, and were very attentive to both Henry and I. They answered all my questions and gave as thorough an explanation as they could concerning Henry’s condition.

In a nutshell, Henry needs a couple more tests before the doctor will be comfortable giving a definitive diagnosis of his kidney condition. Right now it’s just known as “megaureter,” which is a general term for inexplicably enlarged kidneys and ureters. Henry will have another X-ray test, called a Mag 3, which is designed to show whether his ureters are blocked (thereby indicating a physical impediment to the flow between kidney and bladder) or unblocked (which could indicate a malfunction with the musculature of the ureters). The doc said that if they’re not blocked, the situation eventually will resolve itself without the need for surgery. If they’re blocked, at some point surgery will be needed to remove the blockages, but we’d wait until he’s older to do that. In the meantime, we keep him on the antibiotic, do the tests this coming month, and then see the doc again in March to see what the tests show.

For his part, Henry was an absolute doll the entire morning. The appointment was smack in the middle of his normal naptime, but he slept in the car both ways, and was happy and calm for the duration of the consultation. Oh, and he was in love with the adorable baby he kept glimpsing in the mirror at the end of the exam table :D. And big kudos to the Children’s medical center–the facilities are so nice, welcoming, well-lit, and kid friendly, it is very easy for everyone to be at ease while they’re visiting.