one afternoon

classic.

Cystaran: The New and FDA Approved Eye Drop

   The day has come... dun dun dun.  Sam has finally started taking hourly eye drops.  If untreated, crystals accumulate in the eyes causing photophobia and can eventually lead to blindness.  From what I've heard, the crystals feel like you have sand in your eyes.  We're starting Sam off small just so he can get used to the idea.  I prepared him for about one month before by talking about the new drops that were coming in the mail.  He seemed excited the day the package came.  I explained to him that it might feel "funny".  The drops can burn but I didn't want to tell him that and scare him.  He takes the drops six to seven times a day and doesn't seem to mind.  I don't set an alarm.  We just do them when we can... easiest medication yet.  Sam says the eye drops are his favorite.  I agree with that.  Eventually he will take them every hour he is awake.   It's a work up.

Sam gets a sticker every time he takes his eye drops.  He gets to watch a show every time he reaches the ten sticker mark.  I have been very impressed with his mad-eye-drop-taking-skillz.  

 

just some pics from the Stack's fundraiser

 

noice.

syringe

a boy and his dog syringe

just a sweet baby

 

 

let's make paint

I was told you can make paint from sweetened condensed milk.  This came in handy when Sam wanted to paint and we didn't have any.  Edible paints.  Yippee.

A Funny Sam Story. And. More. Lars.

 Before leaving the house I told pant-less Sam that he needed to put on some jeans.   He was a little confused about the clothing organization in his dresser because he kept calling to me in the living room, "This drawer, mom?  Are my pants in this drawer?  What pants?"  I told him to just bring some out to the living room and I'd help him.  He entered the living room carrying the entire drawer that he had pulled from the dresser (that's a big block of wood).  By the time he carried the drawer from his bedroom, through the kitchen, and into the living room, all the pants had fallen out.  Funny kid.  

And now some more photos of our SIX month old.

Photo overload?  Our computer thinks so.

Who is SIX months old today?!

 

LARS ANDREW JENKINS

It's been one of thoooooose days...

Today was one of those days where...

You wake up extra early so you can leave the house on time for Lars's scheduled lab appt. at Primary Children's Hospital.  After scraping ice off your car you drive to the lab and they don't have your order.

You clog Sam's g-tube at the hospital during medicine time and you don't have a back up extension tube.  The g-tube clinic is closed until 1pm.

You run to the hospital next door to get paper work from the pediatric nephrologist.  You run back to Primary Children's.  You reschedule Lars's lab appt. because now it's too late to do the test.

You drive home FAST to unclog Sam's tube and make sure he gets all his medicine.

You walk in the front door to be greeted by a dog with a shredded diaper in her mouth.  She has smeared excrement all over the front entry.

After cleaning up, you quickly leave the house again to drive to the dentist's office.

You are so so so so grateful for Dr. Rupp and his aMaZinG dental hygienist, Loralee, because Sam looks forward to these appts. for days before hand.   They treat him like a king and spoil him with smiles, compliments, toys, and love.  He really does love the dentist.

You're feeling really good now.  The drive home is great.

You walk in the front door and the dog has excrement-ed on your rug.  About six times.  (She has never done this before)

sigh.

Today I let Sam watch SIX episodes of Curious George.  George is a very good baby-sitter.  

It has certainly been one of thoooooooooose days.

These pictures are not from one of thooooooooose days. 

Goodbye 2012

some stuff from 2012

  

- we had a baby.  his name is lars.

-sam started swallowing food, in small amounts.  he really likes shredded cheese.

- stephen is more than half way done with medical school.

- we got a dog named macey.

- i lost track of how many times we flew to stanford for rp103.

 i love their faces in this picture. bwah-ahaha.

lars is... sitting up, eating solid food and LOVING it, very chatty, drooling, and weighting over 17 lbs these days. 

The BFG.

The 4 month well check appt. with Dr. Ralston confirmed that Lars is HUGE for his age.  He is above the 95th percentile in length and 80th for weight.  He's our big friendly giant.  For months we have wondered if he would have eating habits similar to his brother.  Thankfully, Lars loves rice cereal and ***applesauce***.  We feel like first time parents again since we never had the "typical" baby eating experience with Sam.  We find watching children eat fascinating.  This is really fun.

I voted for PINK!

Sam and Lars went along with me to vote today.  Right before I voted Sam looked at me and asked, "Mom, you voting for pink?"  Totally.