Giving Thanks

For once in my life, it wasn't about the food!
This is in no way a slam on my mothers cooking of course, but more of an indicator of what an incredible year we have had.
I have so much to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that my son is alive. I am thankful for everything we have been through this year. I am thankful that because of my son, my view of the world has changed. I am thankful that I have found such a wonderful support system. I am thankful for my family's unconditional love for my child (and for me). I am thankful to have a husband who is completely crazy about our son. I am thankful that I have have ended up in Holland.

That being said, my heart breaks for those whose stories have not turned out as mine has. Most notably the Dungey's and Candi (a woman whose eagerly anticipated daughter did not make it). My thoughts are often with them.

As for Owen's thankgiving. He was thankful for the mashed potatoes!

This will be fun to clean.

Owen's first word - tryptophan.

In the grand tradition of men everywhere, the pants are off!

That weekend was the traditional tree cutting day! Owen was no help. He didn't help pick out, cut down or load up our tree. This kid better start pulling his weight.

Happy Birthday Knoah!

We finally met! Owen, my mom and I were lucky enough to score and invite to the hottest ticket in town...Knoah's birthday party! What a great day it was for all of us.
I finally got to get my hands on Knoah and he was every bit as cute in person as he is in the pictures (if not more so)! It was so wonderful to meet Aiden and Sue as well. Aiden is Knoah's (and now Owen's) little person friend who just celebrated his 1st birthday a month and 1/2 ago.
As my mother and I drove home, we commented on how unusual-slash-lucky it was to have 3 boys within months of each others age, with achondroplasia, living within a couple of hours of each other. As my husband pointed out, now we just need to find three baby girls with achondroplasia in the area. Nice, Dan!
I am very grateful to have met Tonya and Sue. I felt like I had known them for years. It is comforting to know that this will be the beginning of a lifelong friendship for Owen and myself.

Ok - on to the big event!

Of course I brought my camera so I think the event will be best represented in a pictorial.

Hmm...whose this guy?

Yeah, this is pretty cool!

The latest craze in birthday hats.

Do I have something on my face?

Uhhh, yeah...I'm gonna need some of that cake ASAP.

Ok, if I can't have your cake, Aiden and I will play with your toys!

The first meeting of the cute council!

Cutie patootie!

New best friends. Happy 1st birhtday Knoah!

Grandma knows best!

I know! I know! I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks! I want to formally apologize to all those who read my blog religiously, so here it goes.... Mom, I'm sorry I haven't posted! Just kidding! But really, Tonya, Renay & Candi, I know one of you would call me out pretty soon if I didn't update (perhaps even publicly...hmmm, say maybe on their own blog...sound familiar Renay?! :) ). Ok - on to the updating! Owen's teeth are in with a vengance! His bottom 2 are almost completely in and his upper left lateral inscisor has broken through. His two front teeth will be in any day now. I know this because he is drooling like a St. Bernard! And for the very big news...Owen has also officially crawled! On Friday (Nov 9th), Owen got up on his knees and flopped from side to side in order to reach and object. That's crawling right?! Well, whatever it was, it resembled crawling and I'm the one who writes in the baby book so I get to decide. The judges official ruling? Crawling! Beyond the new developmental milestones, Owen is getting spoiled like crazy. Public offender #1 - Grandma! Grandma spoiling is not a new thing when it comes to Owen. What is new however, is his awareness of the fun toys he is acquiring. His obvious enjoyment of the gifts has opened up a whole new can of worms for my mother. This is no longer arbitrary gift giving. This is spending with a purpose! The mission: To make Owen as deliriously happy as possible! Below is video of my sons enjoyment of the most recent purchase. As you will see - mission accomplished! I love you Grandma!!

Owen: Our Happy Halloweener!

Haha! I said Hallow "weener"! Hahahahah! (I know, I'm so immature. Can you believe someone up there gave me a kid?!). Another eventful week for Owen! I'm going to start with the bad and end on the high notes. Owen was back in the ER last Thursday night. He woke up at about midnight and sounded horrible. He had developed this strange cough that sounded like a barking dog. My extra sensory mother powers kicked in and I somehow knew that it was croup. I had never heard a croup cough before but knew that if I had, this is what it would sound like. Or maybe it's because when he coughed, it sounded like he was barking "CROUP! CROUP! CROUP!". He was having some serious difficulty breathing so we took him right in. That was scary. What scared us even more is that when we arrived at Triage, they admitted him right away. Everything turned out OK. They gave him a nebulizer treatment and a steroid shot and sent him on his way. Only problem now is that Owen is having angry tantrums and has developed a nasty case of back acne. Ha ha. Just kidding. No, the little guy is fine but did in fact have "the croup". Apparently it's going around. I find it funny in that Owen has a condition that may cause him medical problems for years to come, but he has somehow wound up in the Emergency Room twice for issues completely unrelated to achondroplasia! Weird. On to the funner stuff! Owen is progressing by leaps and bounds. He is eating some finger foods now and is developing quite a pincher grasp. He loves Gerber Graduates Sweet Potato Puffs! He seems to understand the function of a spoon and when given liberties, for the most part uses it correctly on his own. He is sitting up on his own for the most part and is constantly rasing his stomach up and down, up and down. The physical therapists say it's the first step to crawling. We say it looks like he's humping the floor. Owen is adding vowels and consentants to his babbling repertoire. "Booboobooboo" is the latest and just in time for Halloween! Still no mama :( It's OK. Dan has been comforting me by saying that Owen just doesn't love me. He's very close to waving bye-bye. He is constantly flapping his arms and grabbing his socks. He is becoming a little boy right before our very eyes. This week was full of fun stuff for Owen. He got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wright twice this week!! He sure did miss them! The most exciting thing of all was HALLOWEEN! Owen's silly spider costume was a smash hit! Even he didn't seem to mind it. He sayed in his costume without complaining for almost 2 1/5 hours. Isn't he the silliest spider around?

Poll: Mom or Dad?

Let's mix things up with the ol' blog here!
Dan and I have heard a lot of different things lately as to who Owen resembles. Some think he looks exactly like Dan. Some day that he is all me. A few have even asked about the milkman. Either way the kid is totally screwed (just kidding!...uh...I hope). So who does Owen look like? Go to the poll to the right to vote. DON'T cop out and say both without an explaination! Leave me a comment!

Where does the time go?

Ok - I'll just come right out and say it....My mother was right! She told me how fast the time would fly when it came to raising Owen. In the beginning weeks of Owen's life when I was struggling with breast feeding and not getting any sleep, I tended to disagree with her. Time couldn't have been moving slower. Now, I look at the recent picture of Owen and am flabbergasted! When the hell did this kid grow up? Scary.

The past two weeks haven't been so great for the poor guy. He's been fighting a virus and has been pretty miserable. This virus acutally landed us in the ER on Monday. Owen was lethargic, had no appetite, a fever, diahrrea and vomiting. I was afraid of dehydration so my mom and I took him in (Dan was at work). He was dehydrated and diagnosed with the flu. We were able to avoid an IV though because as it turned out, Owen LOVED the Pedialyte they gave him. He kicked back an entire bottle in the ER. What a wacko! It wasn't even the flavored kind! Owen's almost back to normal now, thank God! I couldn't take any more of that kids crap. When I say that, I mean it completely literally. The diarrea was well...I won't go into detail!

Today is Owen's 8 month birthday and he weighs in at almost 17 lbs and measures 25 1/2 inches. His head size is 18 1/4 inches. I'm not really sure what percentiles that puts him in, but I have pretty much stopped worrying about where Owen falls on the normal charts.

Owens physical therapy is going really well and the strides he has been making are astounding! Even Dan and I have managed to keep the screwy schedule straight (knock on wood). Owen is now sitting up for 2 to 3 minute intervals all by himself.



Owen is also bearing weight on his legs. He is able to stand supported by the couch for about a minute a time before his legs get wobbly! He really loves standing for some reason. He's not so much into the sitting thing, but standing seems to be the cat's pajama's.

Another exciting development is the emergence of...drumroll please...TEETH! Finally! I think the teeth are my 2nd favorite milestone next to smiling. As you can see in the pictures, they are just so frickin' cute! i actually think he's been trying to show them off too. He tends to stick out his bottom lip a lot more now.

Speaking of teeth, let's talk for a bit about the food. Owen loves him some food. For the most part, there is nothing he won't eat. He even likes the really odd tasting foods like pickles, lemons & prunes. We've recently started him on toasted bagels. Let me clarify...Dan has started him on the bagels. As of yet, I have been unable to remain calm when Owen is around finger foods. I am terrified he will choke. It's pathetic. Even with those dissolvable little crackers, I'm ready to give him the Heimlich maneuver everytime he lets out a little cough. What a lunatic!

That being said, we have however, found Owen's one true weekness. Orea cookies. I think the pictures explain themselves.

Adorable? Yes Smart parenting choice for nutritional value? Not so much. Notice the "Oreo Goatee".

That's not the only excitement Owen has been having. Last weekend we went to the cider mill with Grandma and Grandpa Merciez. Despite the 85 degree wheather and Owen's crankiness due to illness, it was a great time!

Heartbreaking News

Andy and Clare Dungey are one of the families that I have been following throught their blog postings. They have been anxiously awaiting the birth of their son Theodore, diagnosed with achondroplasia, any day now. Sadly, Theo was born with serious respiratory complications and did not survive. This was crushing to read as the couple had been writing about the impending birth with such joy and enthusiasm. It was entirely evident how wanted this child was. My heart goes out to Andy and Clare. You can read their blog by clicking the link Little Dungey