Category: Miscellaneous

Being on the road at the moment, I’m delighted to get happy tidings from the home front. I enjoyed today’s update from Margot & thought you might, too. –J.

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Some fun developments while you’ve been out:

1. The cherry pitter! I was eating cherries yesterday and offered Finn some. I decided to pit them so he wouldn’t have to deal with either choking or trying to spit the pits out. He was (is) fascinated with the pitter and he even pitted a few himself (with my help on squeezing).
2. Being rocks [a la the clever monkey Zephir hiding from the Gogottes in Babar & Zephir]. This morning Finny, Henry, and I were all hiding under the rock disguise [green blanket from Grandma L.]. Henry was pretty excited about it!
3. Henry slept until 7am!!!

Finn is playgroup pals with twins Bettie & Quade, subjects of their own great baby blog. Their mom Tara reports that Quade was recently checking out a fish and referring to its “hand.” Tara pointed out that fish have fins. “And Henrys,” Quade prompted observed. 🙂

• Henry can officially sit up! With Mom-O at the store, Finn & I put the little guy down for the evening–or so we thought. He fussed pretty hard, and while Finny & I watched via the “Gooniecam,” the wee man sat up (twice) in his crib. Way to go, buddy!
• Putting a pair of sippy cups at the end of his bed tonight, Finn dubbed them “Cousins! That one Patrick & that one Charlie!  Patrick the leche.  Gotta drink some of that Patrick… now drink some Charlie (agua).”
• For the first time I noticed Henry helping to get his shirt on and off. Not to be outdone, Finn grabbed Henry’s discarded shirt and put it over his head unaided. After we squeezed him into it fully, he kicked up the insanity by donning my used black dress socks–thus pairing a crop-top doggie tee with knee-high leggings. As Finn might say, “That a weird lookin’ boy right there!”

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.

Finn has taken to “correcting” my pronunciations of various words, carefully and patiently sounding them out so I can hear the “right” way. Examples:

• I say “Carousel;” he says “CARROT-sell!”
• I say “Lanterns;” he says “LAMP-turns!”

More as Dad-O’s education proceeds. 😉

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!

Dateline San Jose: I’m pleased to report that Dad-O and the boys remain alive and well during our first Mom-free weekend!

Yesterday we took Margot to the airport so that she could join her pals in Seattle for a jazz fest & some good times. Finn is convinced she’s off to see “Pilates ladies” plus “Hip Cat and Minnie,” jazz-loving characters from one of his books.

The passage of time was helped immeasurably by the presence of our pals Adolfo, Romina, and 18-month-old Bruno, visiting from Buenos Aires. The weather being perfect, we enjoyed a park picnic with “Meat Hut” sandwiches and later a trip to our favorite pizza place. Bruno was bowled over by all the Thomas paraphernalia at our house, the park, and Target, waving like a little madman at the trains. He dubbed Finn’s chocolate milk bottle “Coca (Cola),” so Finn & I have been playing “Coca, coca!” for the last 24 hours. The three boys even got special fireman sticker-badges from the crew who backed their big red rig up to the sandwich shop.

Adolfo & Romina are the South American Margot & me when it comes to playing with words, and they always refer to Henry as “Henry Seamus”–though not knowing Irish pronunciations (how would they?), they’ve been pronouncing the latter “Sea-Moose.” Conjures up quite a visual, doesn’t it? And when I I told them that “Seamus” means “James,” they had big fun dubbing the little guy “Enrique Jaime,” saying the name makes him a shoo-in to star on a Mexican telenovela. 🙂

In any case, the boys are just stirring from their naps, and Margot should be touching down in a few hours. We can’t wait to see & share all the photos Adolfo snapped.

“I once was lost but now am found…” — Leo, Lion Buddy to the Stars

Finny, Dad-O, and our beloved, dirty-tailed little friend had quite a scare last Saturday. The three of us had headed to local hardware store/child sensory bombardment theater OSH, dubbed “GOSH” by Finn. After spending an inordinate (but delightful) amount of time inspecting sprinklers (“That a little windmill! Make it turn-turn-turn!”), spoingy hoses (“That look like Mom-O!”–presumably in the hair department), and more, we departed to get wood at Home Depot. Well, Finn and I departed, that is. Getting out of the car, I got that gut-turning feeling: Where is the little buddy??

Back we drove as fast as the Ocho would carry us, making a beeline for the shopping carts (no Leo) and Customer Service (no sign of him). Having a team of backup “stunt Leos” strategically cached around our house, I’d already begun prepping Finn with a story about how “maybe a dude brought him back to our house,” calling Margot to prepare a swap. We retraced our steps, checked everywhere, but no dice. And then, at the last minute… our cashier said she’d seen someone throw Leo in the garbage!

An lo, there was much rejoicing! Finn gave Leo a giant “skeez,” hugging his buddy all the way home. Given the little guy’s condition, we did arrange a quick swap (“Oh, Leo has to take a bath”) to a cleaner version. Whew–all’s well that ends well. And thanks again, cashier-lady, wherever you may be.

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.

Eyeing an empty stem from which a large petal had detached & descended:

• Finn: “What happen to that flower up there?”
• Mom-O: “Oh, it got kind of old, so the top part fell off.”
• F. (earnestly insistent yet quizzical): “Fix it?!”
• M.: “Um, yeah, it doesn’t really work that way…”
• F.: “Duct tape?!”

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!”

Whew–what an evening. Things were running pretty much as usual, with everybody happy and active as ever. During dinner Henry got fussier and fussier, so after we finished I gave him some gas drops for his tummy. Who knows whether that was the trigger, but immediately afterwards–well, let’s just use the word “projectile” and leave it at that. Poor little guy. I can’t recall seeing anything quite like it, putting the fountains of the Bellagio to shame.

“Finny saw that!!” his brother declared excitedly. Eyeing the carnage, he pronounced it “Disgusting baby food.” After being shooed out of the room, though, he returned to do something profoundly sweet: Bringing in his beloved lion-buddy Leo, Finn said, “Bring lion over to help him out a little bit!,” making Leo peck Henry on the head. He may have been thinking of The Lion and the Mouse, a new favorite book from cousin Anne Nack.

Fortunately a good puke seems to have been just what the G-Man needed, and from that point on he was his regular content self.

Bonus Finny bits o’ the eve:

1. Margot observed him talking by himself in the kitchen, making each of his hands into a little talking wedge. “I would like some more graham crackers, please!” one hand told the other.
2. During his bath Finn was making up a bunch of crazy jibberish, saying, “What that mean?” I told him, “You’re a strange boy.” “And good!” he replied. “Strange and good!”

Finn, grabbing my ear, turning my head, and peering intently this evening:

F: “Finny the doctor. Checkin’ out the ear.”
J: “Uhh… what do you see? Is there any byyuck in there?”
F: “No. Buncha hole in there.”

We’re all still coming down from our Thomas-cake-induced sugar crash, so we’ve been a little slow in sharing photos and news.  I know, I know: thinking that taking three days off from a family blog constitutes being “slow” is more than a little warped.  We do have a backlog of some fun pics and videos, though, so look for those soon.

This morning Mom-O headed out for Pilates plus a haircut, leaving me to manage both lads–including getting Henry down for his nap.  I’d been weirdly psyched out about that task, but happily, he was a dream about the whole thing.

Afterwards, Finn and I headed outside to climb up a full-size ladder, among other things.  Yes, that does sound like an unbelievably awful idea, but I was holding onto/following him the whole time.  Finn, carrying his plastic crescent wrench, was “Handyman” and dubbed me “helper.”

“Handyman climbing up to the clouds!,” he announced.

Soon we were having fun with letters & wordplay.  Pointing to the name of the ladder with me looking over his shoulder, Finn remarked, “Bunch of letters right there.”

“Yep,” I said, “W-E-R-N-E-R.  That spells ‘Werner.’  Or maybe,” I said, cueing up an over-the-top German accent, “it’s ‘Vurh-ner.”
“No!” said Finn. “Not Vurhner!  Dad-O say the wrong thing!”
“Dad-O said the wrong thing??” I asked, kind of taken aback.
“Uh-huh.”  Then he turned to look at me slyly and said, “Vurhner.”
“Vurhner?” I repeated.
“No, no Vurhner,” he said, turning away again. “Finny no say the wrong thing.”

And thus concludes today’s performance of Nack Family Aerial Playhouse. 🙂

Noon today saw our little guy trussed up a bit like Frankenstein, Velcroed to a table with an IV and a catheter jabbed into him. We were in the basement of the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, where technicians pumped a radioactive solution through Henry’s system to check his kidney function. (The speed of the process, they said, would tell us about whether his ureters are constricted or blocked.)

Things got pretty rough for a while, with Henry crying & me unable to pick him up, being able only to kiss & sing to him. Offering him a bottle of water helped a great deal, though, and finally he fell asleep for part of the 45-minute procedure. Whew. Now we wait (again) for more information.

The good news, of course, is that the little guy remains healthy & happy, with no evidence of trouble. We continue to feel blessed to have access to such good health care, and we look forward to finding out more.

Finn-O looked down & spied a Thomas the Tank Engine toothpaste tube in the tub tonight, occasioning this fun little exchange:

F: “Thomas down there!”
J: “That’s Thomas down there?”
F: “Floating around!”
J: “Floating around?”
F: “Knew that… Finny knew that!”

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.