healthcare blues

I'm not a fan of HMOs. Especially since we have one and it seems to suck. Yeah, we have an HMO.
And for those of you wondering to yourselves why we didn't just pick the PPO option, let me outline our reasoning for you: How about $580/month premium?
See now why we went for the HMO?
So I've spent the past week agonizing over which PCP to select with our sub-par plan. It only took about 580 phone calls (very little exaggeration here really) to clarify which doctors were available since each sub-entity of the HMO has a different story. Oh, and the online website isn't updated. Of course.
So after a few tears and picking the brains of about every healthcare professional I know (and there are a few of those since I work at a hospital), the search is over. Or so I hope.

p.s. thanks to all my friends at work who have put up with me this past week.

bookworm

Dylan has a new trick: stalling bedtime. He knows that if we keep reading books, he doesn't have to go to bed yet. He'll do his little sign for book and say "buuh" in that sweet little voice of his. I fall for it every time.

Tonight while waiting for Dylan to unwind from his day, I layed on the floor of his nursery and watched from across the room as he selected book after book from his bookcase and paged through them. My favorite part was when he opened up "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and paused at the fruit pages, babbled to himself like he was reading aloud, and then fluttered the final page like I always do when I read it to him each night. I melted.

And after he read himself a few more books, he carefully selected the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and hauled it over across the room (which was a feat because it is the largest book we own on his shelf). He climbed up onto my lap while I read it to him. Ok. Have I commented on the melting? Yeah, I melted again.
I sit here as I type, a blob of melted momminess.

Charlie

Our friend's Jane-Ellis and Robbie have the most darling little boy, Charlie, who made us dream of having a little boy oneday ourselves.
While we were in St. Louis, someone commented that Dylan reminded them of Charlie and my heart melted. What a compliment. I just adore this little boy. He's 2 1/2 now and as precious as ever. And now he has a new little brother with the most gentle disposition. What a beautiful family.


Dylan and Charlie playing together.
Jane-Ellis is such a classy woman. I really admire her, for a plethora of reasons. Here we are with her youngest son, Peter.

So again, we miss our friends in St. Louis. Can you sense a theme this week?

burning calves

Last night I got home after a 6 mile walk with my friend Kathy, made dinner, then asked Ryan if I could go up to take a bath. My legs were aching and I was desperate for some relief.
Now, not only was Ryan left with a kitchen full of dishes and a tired baby, but the world series game 5 was on. He lovingly let me retire upstairs for 30 minutes of solitude with a relaxing bath without any responsibilities. He didn't say a word about me leaving him with all that during THE GAME.
Can I just say, that I love this man?

When I came back downstairs, I found him giddily watching the game with Dylan. It was the final inning and perfect timing for me to snuggle in with my favorite boys and watch our St. Louis Cardinals WIN the 2006 World Series! My favorite part was when they won and Ryan tossed his hands up and ran around the livingroom.... with Dylan copying him. That was the best part of all!

And my legs feel much better now, thank you very much.

St. Louis, we miss you

Hanging out at my dear friend Julie's house in St. Louis last week. It was awesome how well these two kids could entertain eachother.
This is where we kept the kids when we went out.
Just kidding.
Dylan loved the dog crate and kept climbing in and then Katie would come along and shut the door on him. We just had to take a picture.


Katie and Dylan hanging out in their PJs. Fun times.


My friend Laura. Gosh I miss her out here.


Nick (Laura's little boy, who is 10 weeks older than Dylan).

Katie (Julie's daughter, who is 4 weeks older than Dylan). Please note that Katie is carefully tasting her cupcake frosting like a lady, while Dylan attacked and devoured his like a storm trooper.



A very messy Dylan, post-cupcake. Clearly there IS a difference between little boys and girls.

What do you say to a face like that?

Happy Love Thursday. Go revel in something you love. And check out more love at Karen's page.

eat your heart out

Ryan spent the past few days in Atlanta at the Neuroscience Conference at THE RITZ-CARLTON hotel, while I stayed on our dear friend's futon. Yeah, who's the punk?
Spoiled with chocolates on his pillow...
Fancy water bottles and room service...
And a sweet view of the city. Here he is sitting all pretty like a business man... wait - did I just call Ryan pretty? Yeah, I sure did.
(and for the record, Ryan took this picture of himself as a joke to send me because I was giving him such a hard time about his accomodations).

jumping on the bed

One little baby jumping (ok, sleeping) on the bed, He fell off and bumped his head...

So the other night Dylan fussed a little in the crib and instead of risking him waking up Katie in the next room, I brought him into bed with me. We both promptly fell asleep (or at least, I thought we were both asleep). Next thing I knew, there was a loud BUMP followed by a very loud CRY. I looked to my left and there wasn't a little Dylan sleeping next to me anymore. He rolled off the bed and hit the floor. Now he has a bruise (see dark area above his right eye) on his head and some dried blood on his lips from the fall. I didn't even see the blood since the lights were off... until the next morning. Yeah, bad mommy here.
Needless to say, the bed was subsequently pushed up against the wall and I'm going to try with all my might to keep him content in the crib.

Here is Dylan riding in the back of our friend Laura's car after hanging out with a group of friends for the afternoon. It was raining outside and the kids were so cute, dancing and talking across the backseat (Nick is 10 weeks older than Dylan). We were stuck in traffic along hwy 44, but we didn't mind. Being with old good friends will do that to ya.

Lemon Drop Love

I've discovered lemon drop martinis this week at our friends Rob & Julie's house.
They are IN-CRED-IBLE!
Yes sir, I'll have another.

Splish Splash

Dylan had fun in the bath the other day. He enjoyed having water tossed in his face, so we obliged. Go figure!

Love Thursdays

Found this while driving around town on the corner of Hill and Walnut the other day. What a perfect sign. Don't you just love Grey's Anatomy?

"more", or "all done"?

Dylan signing for more (and yes, that is food on his face - jelly from his waffle, to be exact)...
and all done.

He is getting pretty good at communicating during mealtimes, which is good, because it always has the potential for confusion with Dylan pushing away food or tossing unwanted morsels on the floor. Sign language seems to really cut down on frustration. That is, as long as he asks for something we are willing to give him...


I made a list of Dylan's words to date (as of 15 months) in honor of our recent visit to the pediatrician. So far, I've counted 16 words:
Kittycat (ke kee kah, or itty)
Dog (dahg)
Mommy (ma mah)
Daddy (dah dah)
Ball (bah)
More (moh)
Milk (muh)
Book (buh)
Baby
All Done (signing)
Please (signing)
Bubbles (Buhuz)
Duck (duh)
Cookie
Car
Bottle (ba-ba)

15 month checkup

The stats:
weight: 23# 11oz (30-40th percentile)
height: 32.75" (90th percentile)
head: 48.5cm (80th percentile)

So, the summary (as Ryan tells it) is that we have a long, skinny kid with a big head. I like to think of it as a tall, lean, smart little boy.

We also had the pediatrican take a look at his hips because of our lingering concern for his right leg that turns inward a bit when he walks. She said that it might be something that he grows out of, but to be sure that it isn't hip dysplasia, she ordered some hip xrays. I had those done yesterday and thankfully they came back negative (which means that there isn't any structural reason for his gait pattern and we will just have to keep an eye on it). So, no surgery. Phew.

Oh, and when we told the pediatrican that Dylan has about a 10-12 word vocabulary now (between the signing and actual words), she was impressed and said that it was advanced for his age. Go figure. Just look at his daddy. He comes from a long line of geniuses.

snuggle Thursday

Happy Love Thursday.

Dylan snuggles, but he isn't what I'd call a "snuggler" - but when he is feeling yucky, he definitely gets more snuggly and I gobble it up like any mama would. I'm glad to report that he is doing much better now. His fever broke on Tuesday morning sometime and despite not sleeping well at all at night recently, he seems to be on the mend.

one year of blogging

We've been blogging for a year now. Maiden Blog was our first post and I remember sitting typing that first post. Since October last year, Dylan has changed from cooing and smiling to talking and walking. We have moved across the country and changed jobs. Things sure can change in a year and I'm amazed how fast it has gone.

fever

Dylan's temp: 103.0
what to do? well, a good friend encouraged me to call a RN at work on the rehab unit and she told me to put him into a bath with room temp water and then give him some infant tylenol, and keep him hydrated with apple juice. Then, I put some cold washcloths on his head/neck until he cooled down more.
Meanwhile, Ryan called his mom and she confirmed what the RN had also said.
results? success. His temp reading was back down to 98.6. It was good to know that it could be managed at home. But I still put a call into the pediatrician's office and one of the MDs called back with similar instructions. He said that the most important thing is how he is acting (lethargic vs. normal) and that it means more to him than the actual temperature reading - like when looking for signs of meningitis, etc.
And thankfully, Dylan was playing with daddy at that moment, which reassured me that he was really doing alright.
And with his 15 month check-up in two days anyhow, I guess we'll be seeing the doctor anyhow at least by then.
Now the question is if Dylan will wake up tomorrow morning with a fever... if so I'll be staying home from work since Ryan can't take another morning off so I can go in for another half day (which is what we did today since he was already feverish this morning with 101.5)
Fingers crossed that he feels better soon.

little explorer

Another walk around Caltech with the fam.

We loved chasing behind Dylan as he explored the campus...


...toddling along as toddlers do




Walking along the fountain edge, holding onto mommy's hand.


Dylan spotted a dog across the fountain and showed it to mommy.



Drinking in the moment with my favorite two boys.