Micronaxx

Our visit to Dr. S. on Tuesday resulted in some positive news. All is well with our little guy overall. Dr. S. thinks that the hydronephrosis (fluid on the kidney) issue is mild enough that it will most likely resolve itself in the next several months.
While the pediatrician at the hospital felt that further testing would be necessary (involving catheters and radioactive dye–yeesh!), Dr. S. thinks that is too much to pursue given the small degree of fluid shown in the ultrasound we had at the hospital. Her recommendation is to continue the antibiotic dose as a preventive measure, and do another ultrasound at 6 months to see how he’s doing.
We are to be alert for any high fevers, as they might indicate a kidney or urinary tract infection. Knowing that, we’ll be super conservative if/when he gets a fever, and get him checked out accordingly. The best news is that we don’t have to subject our tiny guy to a bunch of unpleasant procedures that would likely result in no further action from the doctor.

…when you arrange for one of you to call the other on his cell phone–while in the house–in case of needed baby-assistance. 🙂
I cannot overstate what an amazing job Margot (let’s call her Cool Hand Peanut*) is doing with little Henry. In order to let me save up strength for nonstop daytime Finn patrols, we’ve agreed to have me sleep downstairs in the TV room, out of earshot of the little guy’s nighttime cries. I’m more than happy to pop up and assist if needed, so we’ve arranged to have Margot call my cellphone as necessary. It’s kind of absurd, we know, but as they say, “Whatever gets you through the night/It’s alright, it’s alright…” 🙂
* Incidentally, human parrot Finn overheard me call out to “Peanut” the other day, and now he seems to relish saying, “Mom-O! Peanut!” That’s my boy.

I know I’m supposed to rest when the baby rests, but now is one of those instances where I’m absolutely wide awake, and it’s too warm to sleep, so it’s just not going to happen. Thankfully Henry afforded me a couple of really decent naps today so I am not as desperately tired as I could be. And John is doing a wonderful job with Finny–they are pretty much keeping their own schedule and Henry and I drop in for a visit as often as we can (when we’re not napping, or he’s not nursing). Right now John’s got Henry snoozing on his lap.
Finn’s starting to relax about Dad-o having some Henry time. He’s not bursting into instant tears or whining every time he sees Dad holding the baby, and we are trying to explain that Henry gets to spend time with *all* of us, not just Mom-o. He’ll get there in time.
We visit Dr. S. tomorrow for our first check-up. We’ll also talk to her about the results of Henry’s kidney ultrasound, which showed a bit too much fluid on his left kidney. This means we have to take him in for some additional tests, because the risk is urinary or kidney infection if the duct from his kidney is not working properly. There are degrees of seriousness to the condition–it may resolve itself, or it may require surgical intervention to place a stent in the duct. We’ll know more in the coming weeks. Right now he is on a preventative dose of antibiotics to fend off any potential infection.
We are extremely fortunate to be getting meals delivered every night from the Moms’ group I’m in. It is wonderful to have hot, delicious food available with no effort–I would strongly recommend a second pregnancy to any of the moms in the group! So far we’re 4 for 4 on getting brownies for dessert 🙂

1. The Happy Lion by Louise Fatio and Roger Duvoisin. We read this book several times a day, at Finn’s urging. He just starts saying “Happy! Happy!” until we get the picture. Thanks to Anne Nack for giving us this terrific book!
2. “Dak-oh-Dahs” (Corn Flakes) for breakfast. This is Finn’s way of saying “cock-a-doodle-doo!” when he sees the cereal box.
3. Hooks of all sorts. He sees them on the drawings of tow trucks in our Richard Scarry books, and has found a few in the back of our neighbor’s truck. He refers to them as “No Pat No,” recalling a cactus-sitting character in Hop on Pop.
4. Tubes. Paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, straws, anything tube-like that Finn can stick objects in.
5. Stroobs (our name for strawberries). He really enjoys eating and talking about them.
6. “Peek!” He loves to hide behind chairs or other objects and slooooowly peek around the edge, then shout “PEEK!” when we see him.
7. Pow-wow walking. When he’s being silly, he kind of crouches down and takes lots of little bitty steps, which makes me think of the Native American dances you see at pow-wows.
8. Daddy blowing bubbles in the bathtub water. Finn grabs John’s head and pulls it down towards the tub until John starts blowing bubbles. It looks a bit strange, but Finny absolutely loves it.
9. “Ham and DumDum”, a.k.a. our neighbor Kim and her dog Samson.
10. His Chicken Shirt, which, when putting it on for the day, inspires our boy to start saying “bok bok bok!”

It’s getting really fun to see and hear Finn string concepts & words together. Lately he’s been enjoying watching our neighbor Steve building a treehouse for his boys in their back yard.
Finn narrates the goings-on in staccato bursts: “Steeb! Saw! *Cut*!” He got a little confused when I tried to explain that Steve is a daddy, too: Finn started patting my chest, reassuring me (and himself) by saying “Dad-o!” (In fact, we get into a nice little call & response flow, with me patting his chest and saying “Finny,” and him replying with some pats on “Dad-o.”)
There’s also been some confusion with Stevie, the blind and moronic dog that lives over our other neighbors’ fence. Stevie howls when we enter our back yard, giving Finn a chance to do his killer coyote impression. Things get funny when Finn confuses the two names: “Steebie! T(r)eehouse!” and “Steeb! Yawwowooo!” I enjoy the image of grown man Steve & blind dog Stevie howling & operating power tools together.

Finnegan Ascendant! The young guy is getting serious about climbing things, all on his own (if you’ll let him). Just today he completed the first-ever San Jose Invitational Bi-Level Traversal (i.e. he climbed all the stairs up from basement). At lunch outside, he learned to pull himself up onto curbs using an overhead railing, and afterwards he decided to inaugurate his toilet-scaling practice.
Hey, great ideas, Finny: I was just saying how bored we’d be with a new baby in the house; good thing you’ve added a whole new dimension to your mobility! 😉
PS–Later in the evening he started trying to climb our stepped tonsu chest. The kid is becoming the human fly!

Yesterday after Finn got up from his morning nap, he was very focused on obtaining one thing, and one thing only: “Maca!” (macaroni and cheese) He started saying it the minute he got up, and kept saying it as we walked into the kitchen for our post-nap snack. I figured we’d dispense with mere snacking and go all the way to an early lunch, complete with Maca.
As I put Finn into his hopper and started boiling the water, measuring out the milk, etc., I was explaining to him that the Maca was coming soon. He was watching with some interest as I drained, dumped, and stirred.
Once the macaroni & cheese was made, I spooned some into a bowl for him, turned around, and said “Here it is!”. The sight of the piping hot Maca knocked our boy right off his horse! “Binny” became “Finny” as the scales fell from his eyes, and he exclaimed breathlessly and excitedly, “MACAAAAA!”. It was as if he had witnessed a miracle, and he was smiling from ear to ear.