Archive for August, 2010

Last night was kind of rough. My sinuses are misbehaving and that causes me to take off my CPAP mask. Without the mask I snore like a wildebeest, and because Becky doesn’t care for snoring wildebeests, she wakes me when she hears me snoring. Maybe my snoring was disrupting Max, too, because he tossed and tumbled between Becky and me a lot during the night, leading to my putting him in his bed sometime during the wee hours. Speaking of wee, Max’s bed, shirt, and shorts were wet with it when he awoke this morning.

Max slept until 7:45 this morning. I could have awakened him earlier, but because he was going to the doctor this morning, I figured I’d let him sleep as long as he wanted. Max and I met Grandpa at the mall a little late, and I cut my walk short by one lap so I’d have time to get a shower and get ready to take Max to the doctor.

Mimi went with us and we drove Grandpa’s car. Max was a good little boy until I steadied him for more x-rays. That’s when he had a meltdown. That tantrum lasted about twenty minutes, but thankfully Mimi and I didn’t see it again before the little fellow went down for his afternoon nap.

Dr Tim Oswald of Pediatric Orthopaedic Associates said Max’s cast could come off in three more weeks. Unfortunately, Dr Oswald isn’t going to be in the office in three weeks, so Mr Max will have to wait until September 28 to part with his cast.

Baybay slept nearly five hours this afternoon. Becky gave him a bath shortly after his nap, fed him a snack, and took him for a ride on Grandpa’s golf cart. They stopped at Mimi and Grandpa’s for a visit, but soon Max had another meltdown and Becky brought him home.

We’re going to let him sleep in his bed tonight. This will be the first night he’s slept the whole night in his bed in about four months. But Becky’s fighting a cold and now I am, too, and we need some sleep. Max is normally a good bedfellow, but tonight we want to do all we can to minimize interruptions.

I caught up with Grandpa and Max this morning at the mall. The little fellow was in a good mood and seemed to enjoy being strolled along by Grandpa. They went to Bojangles, to visit the ducks, and to “meet and greet” a few neighbors, as Grandpa said.

Max was in a good mood for the first two minutes he was home, and then he melted down. He gave me his new book to read to him, and so I did. While reading it to him, he began turning the pages himself, and then he couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, which frustrated him. Then he threw the book and began hitting me and the sofa. I tried to appease him, but he didn’t seem appeasable.

I took him to his bassinet for a timeout but figured he might better have a nap. He whimpered for a couple of minutes, but then I didn’t hear a peep from him until 2:00 pm. And then he was a good mood.

He seemed to stay in a good mood until tonight at dinner, when I had to take him up to time out at Mimi and Grandpa’s because he was hitting Grandpa. When Becky brought the little fellow back downstairs, he was in a much better mood–until I strapped him into Grandpa’s golf cart. That little boy has one heck of a set of lungs on him! I bet half of our neighborhood could hear his cries. Becky brought him a bottle of milk and just like a switch, he turned back into the sweet, ebullient little fellow we love so much.

Becky made the little fellow laugh several times on our way home by saying “squirrel” in a funny way. They dropped me off and headed back to Mimi and Grandpa’s. As they left I heard Baybay giggling.

Becky and Baybay are gone to the grocery store and to pick up a CD containing his x-rays. Mimi and I are carrying the little fellow to a pediatric orthopedist tomorrow morning for a follow-up exam.

Max got us up around 7:00 this morning. Becky changed his dipe, I got him some juice, and we settled back in bed for almost an hour. We’d have stayed there longer if the little fellow didn’t demand that we got up.

We headed over to Granny’s for breakfast, and afterwards Granny trimmed Max’s hair and put color on Becky’s. Surprisingly, Baybay sat in my lap almost patiently while Becky got color. The little fellow began to melt shortly and we brought him home, gave him a bottle, and put him down for his nap.

Just two-and-a-half hours later I heard him in his bassinet and figured he needed my attention. When I went in to get him, he struggled to make his way out from under a couple of blankets and stood up with the cutest little sleepy face I’ve ever seen. I picked him up and he began calling for his mama, who was out getting a pedi. Max was in a good mood for only a short while. We can’t figure out why he didn’t nap for his usual four to five hours.

Mimi and Grandpa took him to visit neighbors Stephen and Dale. Max loves them. He calls them both “Teev.” Every single time we pass their home, Max says, “Teev.” But today Max got ugly and if he were a year or two older, he’d have gotten a solid whipping. Dale gave Max a cookie, but one wasn’t enough for him. He wanted a second one without finishing the first. Dale told him to finish his first cookie. That didn’t suit two-year-old Max. He threw his first cookie on the ground and poured out the water Dale gave him.

Time out, my butt. Where’s my paddle? We’re disappointed and embarrassed, and we’re sorry Dale’s kindness wasn’t met with one of Baybay’s super-sweet hugs.

I spent about three hours this afternoon keywording the little fellow’s birthday pictures. I don’t know how many we’ll post here on the blog, but they’re next in line and will be posted soon.

Becky’s still fighting a cold and/or sinuses, and she and I are both still tired. We’re looking forward to going to bed early tonight, and we’re thankful Mimi and Grandpa are taking care of Max.

Maybe we can get a good night’s rest tonight and get the week started off right. I’m looking forward to seeing my favorite little fellow tomorrow morning, and I hope he, Grandpa, and Mimi get a good night’s rest, too.

Max spent the night with Mimi and Grandpa last night, and he and Grandpa got up and hit the mall and Bojangles. Becky and I enjoyed sleeping late, and we enjoyed the breakfast biscuits Grandpa and Baybay brought us from Bojangles.

After breakfast I carried our camera and lens to the repair shop. The fellow who checked in our equipment said it’d be “a few business days” before we received an estimate. Those were frustrating words to hear, but I really hope our camera and lens can be repaired for a cost we can afford.

Baybay stayed up kind of late last night with Mimi and Grandpa, but he made up for it today, sleeping five-and-a-half hours before Becky and I went in to get him. Even after such a long nap, he stumbled to his feet in his bassinet and greeted us with his sleepy face.

He played with his alphabetic mat that Becky’s student Karen gave him, his Legos, and watched Barney on the iPad. He loved on George, too. We continued to play while Becky went out to get us some pizza and yogurt from Costco this evening.

After dinner Becky gave Max a bath while I got a shower, and shortly thereafter the three of us congregated in our bed to read two or three books to our favorite little fellow. Max listened to one of those books, Silly Tilly, three times.

We just now put the little fellow down in his bed so he can go to sleep and we can get our bedtime routines done. We’ll scoop him back up in a few minutes when he head to bed.

Max received a belated and sweet birthday card from aunt Odessa in Alabama on Thursday. It even had a bit of loot in it. Thank you, Odessa!

Becky’s fighting off a cold, and right now it’s undecided which is going to win—Becky or the cold. She’s been coughing a lot of the past two days, and last night her coughing kept her awake. I hope she’ll get enough rest before Monday for her body to win the fight. And, of course, I hope what’s ailing her doesn’t sink its claws into me. I couldn’t take it right now.

Max is doing well. He’s had a typical day that included strolling at the mall, going to Bojangles for breakfast, and visiting the ducks. He had a four-hour nap this afternoon and woke up in good spirits.

I had a photoshoot with a gorgeous young lady from the Dominican Republic and her friend that began shortly after 4:00 pm. About ten minutes into the shoot, I dropped our camera from the top of our tripod onto our basement floor. The lens broke at the mount and the camera won’t come back to life, even with a different lens and after replacing the batteries. I’ll be taking the broken equipment into the repair shop in the morning. Oh, how I hope it can be fixed for not a whole lot of money!

The camera body is the Canon 5D Mark II, and the lens is the Canon 24–70mm f/2.8L. It’s time to bring our old camera, the 20D, out of retirement for a while.

I called and checked on lil’ fellow on my way to work. I even got to speak with him. Not long after that Grandpa, Mimi, and Max met Jaddie at the mall. Then it was off to Bojangles for Max and Grandpa.

When Max got home he and Daddy enjoyed playing with their new Legos. When Max got tired out he went down for his nap. He slept for four hours this afternoon.

Max had just got up when I got home. He and I played with his new Legos and the new ABC mat that my student Karen gave Max yesterday. (Thank you very much, Karen!) Max loves dumping out the Legos. Bless his heart, for he has a difficult time with his arm trying to turn over the box! Our living room looks like a toy store.

Mimi and Grandpa came over for dinner tonight. We also had neighbors Jon, Lauren, and eighteen-month-old Delaney after dinner. They brought our little buddy a wonderful present for his birthday, a farm puzzle, and Max loves it. Max and Delaney had fun with all the toys everywhere. Max didn’t want to share at first. After one stint in timeout he had a better attitude. He even looked at me and smiled as he was handing Delaney a block. He wanted me to know he had improved his behavior. That was great to see!

Max and I enjoyed reading two of our favorite books tonight. After that we took in a little Barney. Then lil’ fellow went to bed. We’re about to scoop him up and head to our bed.

Max had a pretty good day today. He was a real jabberbox. He didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but he did make a whole lot of noise. He’s doing his best to learn how to talk.

He slept well last night, and I had to wake him to go walking and strolling this morning. He and Grandpa went to Bojangles for breakfast and visited the Wigleys’ ducks and some of our neighbors before coming home. The little fellow and I played together for about an hour, and then Granny came over to see our favorite little convalescent. Granny made sure Max ate well, and then I fed him a bottle and put him to bed. Becky woke him shortly before 6:00 pm for dinner.

After dinner we took the little fellow to Toys“R”Us to get a basic Lego set to go with the set we gave him for his birthday. We also got him two more Barney videos: Imagination Island and Furry Friends. We also stopped by Costco for some frozen yogurt.

He was tired once we got home, so Becky made him a bottle and started heading toward the stairs when he opened the pantry door and grabbed his highchair. We gave him a snack and while he was enjoying his snack, Mimi and Grandpa called to see if they could have him tonight. Becky let him go, so I’ll have to catch up with the little fellow in the morning.

I apologize for not posting pictures lately, but I’ve been busy with work and taking care of Max. I have one or two batches to process before getting to his birthday images.

Grandpa called this morning to see if Max was going walking. I voted for not walking since the doctor said we’d better keep the little fellow still for a couple of days. We plan to get back in the groove in the morning, though.

Baybay slept until 8:38 this morning, had very little breakfast even though I offered him lots of junk I knew he’d like, visited the ducks and Mrs Wigley, had a bottle of milk, and went back to bed at 10:20 am. I put him to bed early so he’d be rested for his two-year checkup with Dr Smiley at Gwinnett Pediatrics this afternoon.

Granny came over to see the little fellow after his nap, and Grandpa came over to get him in time for Mimi to bathe him before heading to his checkup.

He did well at his checkup. He became fussy and angry toward the end, but he was smiling and hugging me within ten minutes after we left. He definitely wanted to hug me on our way home. He grabbed me by my neck firmly with his left hand, pulled my head against his, and offered me his cheek.

Mimi and Grandpa kept the little fellow while Becky and I went out for dinner. I believe Grandpa took him to visit the ducks again.

Baybay came home with Mimi and Grandpa on the golf cart, Becky gave him a bottle, read him some stories, and supervised him while he called to me from the other side of the shower door. She put him to bed about forty minutes ago, but I just heard him yacking about something up there. Becky and I are about to go to bed, and we’re going to scoop up our favorite little buddy on our way.

Grandpa asked Becky if Baybay could spend the night with him and Mimi tonight, but Becky said we had to watch the little fellow’s arm.

Lilianna Banks, first grader at Becky’s school and daughter of our friends Eddy and Jodi Banks, came into Becky’s classroom this morning to ask Becky to tell Max that she felt bad about Max’s hurt arm.

There are a lot of folks who love Max. I’m one of ’em.