Has it Really Been a Month?

And boy what a month it was!

After the big news finding out Chris was a Diabetic, then planning and executing Max's birthday extravaganza, plus overall stresses with work and life landed me with a bad cold. Then Max got it shortly after, then I started to get better when I suddenly got sick again with ANOTHER virus, which I of course gave to Max. Then it was passed on to Chris. So my entire household for the entire month of March has been a cesspool of infection.

I am now feeling better with a lingering cough and occasional mucous ball (sorry TMI). And my crappy laptop is finally out of the picture for good. After months of trying to decipher pictures through the lined screen, we bought a new one with our large Tax return. The rest went to Chris's tuition. But I LOVE my new laptop and hope I can finally get Max's photo book done and start blogging again.

Max had a little photo session that my friend from work took. He was quite "shell shocked" that day so we didn't really get any of his adorable smile. I don't know if it was the stress I was feeling after finding out Chris's diagnosis that he could sense, or if it was all the cool flooring and background props she brought over, or the fact she was taking pictures with a CAMERA and he was wondering what that cool machine did.

But here are a few of my Favorites!

  

I can't believe he's already 13 months!

Bieber Fever

One Morning when I was watching The View and they had Justin Bieber as a guest. They were playing some of his music and Max just started dancing. I was laughing so hard, so I downloaded one of his songs to see if he would dance, and sure enough... he did! He will dance to other music (including the choir at church), but nothing gets him going like the Bieb's.

So here he is:

My little dancing machine

Par-tay

We threw Max his first birthday party!

It has been a long and exhausting week. Emotionally, physically, and mentally. I had dreams about how this party would go. It started out with an immaculate house, food all dolled up on party trays, his cake perfectly shaped and decorated with the fancy frosting dots you make with the tube frosting decorating thingy, Cup cakes with swirled frosting and sprinkles, pictures in frames all around the living room of my favorite pictures of his first year, all the video's I took of his first year compiled together and running on the DVD player, Camera all charged up and ready, his Shutterfly photo book completed and printed for every one to leaf through as they enjoyed cake and ice cream, and a completely happy and cooperative baby. But life happens and things get in the way.

So Maybe things didn't pan out how I had dreamed, but really? Does it ever? I would still say it was a success! Lots of Family and Friends showed up to show their love and support for our little man. It was nice to see everyone, especially my sister who is in town, and for the kids to get together and play.

Here are some of my favorite photos:

The Mini Cake

 Max LOVED the latex balloons.

 I tried not to let him bite them

 His girlfriend Samantha. This is right before he gave her one of his "kisses" (mostly a slobbery open mouth that touches your face)

 All the kids playing with the balloons

 Opening gifts

 He doesn't like to wear shoes... but he sure loves to eat them!

Family picture with Great Grandma Homer 

 Can I get some cake?

 Birthday Boy!

 Here it comes!

 Eat it!

 He didn't want to dive in. Maybe he wasn't in a cake mood.

 He loved the balloons though!



I am grateful for everyone that came and hope they had a good time.

I can't believe my baby is already 1!

Turning 1

 This was Max 1 year ago today:

 Just a tiny little 8 1/2 lb baby

And here is my big boy today! 

(ALWAYS moving)

We had a little more of this because he is currently working on some teeth:

But hey? It's his birthday... and he can cry if he wants to.

A friend I work with came over and took some cute pictures of Max for his birthday. He even got to dive into a cake! Pictures to come...

Sorry this is so short. Yesterday our little family got some upsetting news. Chris had been drinking a lot recently and described it as an unquenchable thirst. So he in turn started peeing a lot and needing to get up 3-4 times at night. I think I was in denial even though I knew these were alarming symptoms. Then he told me last Saturday that he had lost almost 25 lb's. I had noticed he was a little thinner, his gut was gone... but 25 POUNDS!! I knew he needed to see a doctor immediately!

He went to the doctor yesterday and his blood glucose was 510 (normal is 70-110). He has diabetes. They are pretty sure he has Type I because he is displaying all the classic symptoms. But they have to run some more blood tests to be sure. Type I means his body doesn't make any insulin anymore. They think type I is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks and builds antibodies against the islet cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. He will have to be insulin dependant for the rest of his life.

He has been taking this news quite well. His father was an insulin dependant diabetic, and he grew up watching his dad check his glucose, and give himself insulin. I on the other hand have been a little bit of a wreck. I wish I could take this burden from him. I know it isn't a death sentence, but his life will be changing a lot. And it's not just the diet, or the insulin, it is the fact that his life is just a little more fragile than it used to be. At any moment his glucose could be too low or high and it could be dangerous.

He is strong. He will be able to do it. He is an amazing man.

And I am so grateful for my two boys

Big and little.

11 Months

I can't believe he is 11 Months.

Next month it will be a whole year?!?!

Max has been doing lots. He loves to explore new places. Especially if he isn't supposed to get into it.

 He loves to play "I'm gonna getch you". All we have to do is say that and he tries to run away before we tickle torture him. He also likes to find me when I hid behind the couch. His smiles still melt my heart.

Love his little pot belly!

This picture makes me laugh! He has improved on his walking and balance so he is doing amazingly well. He has such a funny face sometimes when he is concentrating on the task at hand.



 He loves attention and anyone who will give him any. He has started liking books after about 4 months of me trying to read him bedtime stories. Now he actually pays attention when I read to him. He especially likes his Truck book because mommy makes all the noises.

He loves the kitties... even though they DO NOT like him. He tries to pet them and crawls after them, which has unfortunately resulted in scratches. I seem to find a few new scratches every once in awhile. Needless to say the cats are on the S list.

He pulls this face now. Like all the time! It is so funny. Sometimes I wonder if he learned it from me. Because when I get mad, instead of yelling or losing it I pull a similar type face. It is amazing what kids pick up on. They are very observant.

This is the only Baby Einstein DVD I have left since I lost my other ones when I took him to my Mom's for the day. I must have dropped them or lost them along the way. I am trying to get over it. He used to watch them a little, but now he loves them and dances to the music. I am so sad I lost those DVDs!!

Here is Max playing and Dancing to the music on my iPhone:

And here is his new favorite thing to do....



The little stinker

The Difference a Few Days Makes

Well, just 2 days ago, I was excited if Max took 1 or 2 steps. Then he would take 3-4. Now he's walking across the room! And he tries whether I'm looking or not. He is starting to master his balance. He still stumbles and falls a lot. But it is crazy to think how much he has improved in just a few days!

1/9/2011

1/10/2011

If You Don't Succeed.... Try, Try Again.

Well,

Max had his first ER visit.

(first IV)

And it was pretty much all my fault. I am trying to baby proof my house, but am finding more and more things every day that can be risky for a child. While I was going through my medications, throwing the expired meds away, and trying to place all the medications in 1 cabinet in our house. I had placed the expired medications on the counter top and went to the kitchen to get a garbage bag to throw them all away. Well... Max got a hold of a Tylenol PM bottle. And he somehow opened the child proof bottle top (child proof....Riiiight). Then he decided to try the pretty blue pills.

When I found him, there was an open EMPTY bottle with 1 pill on the ground. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. I had looked inside that bottle not 10-15 minutes before and there were at least 5, 6, or maybe 7 pills in that bottle, not 1 or 2. I immediately pinched his cheeks and did a finger sweep of his mouth. Something that I have become an expert at doing because I do it at least once a day. Every day. For the past month and a half. I retrieved one of the pills and stuck my finger in again. I could feel one in the back of his throat, but despite my effort... he swallowed it. By swallowing that one pill he had taken 3 times the amount of Tylenol recommended for his weight and 4 times the amount of Benedryl. And I wasn't sure if he had swallowed any more pills.

I screamed for Chris to come he took Max who was now gagging and crying from my aggressive attempt at retrieving that pill. Chris found 2 more pills on the ground that I had missed in my panic. I was so upset that this had happened. I felt like the most irresponsible parent in this world. How could I, A NURSE... OF INFANTS, let this happen?!? Why did I have so much confidence that a 10 month old would not get a hold of one of those medication bottles on the counter top and open the child proof lid? I couldn't find the number to poison control so I called 911 in my panicked flurry.

Anyway, after the ambulance came and saw that he was stable and acting his normal self, they let us drive him up to Primary Children's to be evaluated. We had to be there for 4 hours to get his Tylenol level drawn. He ended up being just fine and his Tylenol level was OK. He didn't need any reversal medications. And the only affect of the Benedryl is he was a little more agitated and wouldn't fall asleep (Large doses can do that to you).

Anyway, BIG lesson learned. CHILD PROOF ANYTHING TOXIC! I feel like I can't leave this kid out of my sight! He is so active and loves to get into anything new.

My confidence was a little shot. But every parent makes mistakes. You just hope that the mistake you make doesn't end up being detrimental to your child. You just do your best. Nobody is perfect. I have to accept that, and just try harder. If you don't succeed.... Try, Try Again.

Max has also decided to attempt to walk. He is not graceful what so ever. It is hilarious to watch him. He pulls himself up, attempts to take 1 or 2 steps and then totally face plants. Then he just rolls over and gets back up again. You can't blame him for trying, but this is why my child may have a few more bruises or scrapes then the average child. I swear he has NO FEAR. He just falls over, and gets back up again. A good lesson in life too.... If you don't succeed, try, try again! Thanks for that little buddy.

Here are the video's: