Isaiah 45:9b

"Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say 'He has no hands'?"

Birthday Boy

I am still in disbelief that my tiny bundle of joy (affectionately nicknamed "Burrito") is now one. It has been over 2 months since Benjamin's birthday and I feel like it just happened. We must be doing something right. We are continually falling in love with the adorable son we have been blessed with. I have no idea what garnered us such a blessing, but I do know that nothing in my life has so far compared to the joy my son gives me. He has challenged us in new ways and has definitely added a new level of "growing up" to both of us and our marriage.

To celebrate, my good friend Steph came to visit us from Seattle to coincide with Benjamin's birthday. I took a few days off work and decided we would take him to the aquarium on his actual birthday. He really enjoyed the touch tanks, though I don't think he quite understood the two-finger rule. And I'm not sure the creatures liked being disrupted with splashing, but we had a good time. When we got home, he enjoyed one of his favorite dishes-mom's homemade macaroni and cheese.

I decided I had to plan a first birthday party for my little man, but I didn't want it to be too overwhelming for him. We tried our best to pick a time we thought would be best for him and only had family and two close friends ("aunts" Steph and Karen) attend the big event. After the dollar store proved to be a let-down for party supplies, Steph and I shopped at Party City and good old Giant. We fell in love with the baby Elmo theme and I decided to go with it. I knew I wanted to bake him a cake from scratch. It was somehow baked at around midnight and there was definitely some damage control before icing. Benjamin decided he would take his first bite of cake with a fork (what one-year old eats cake with a fork?!?!) Hopefully he has taken to some of the manners my parents drilled into us when we were kids. I thought it would be best for him to do some good old cake smashing and I think he realized the error of his previous ways. He was blessed with numerous gifts from family and friends and I must say I highly recommend the puppy dog "Scout" from Leapfrog ("Violet" is for girls). It's not expensive at all (around $20) and you can program it to say your child's name and favorite things. It also plays 10 minutes of "bedtime" music which has proven to be unmatched in it's ability to put Benjamin into dreamland. These are definitely the sweetest moments of parenthood.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

The Little Ham (Who found his tongue)

I have been wanting to share some of Benjamin's JCPenney professional photos and since I finally have some time, here are the ones from his 6 months old photo shoot (8 months overdue...):

A Rocky Recovery

Eye boogers can be gone now-Benjamin has successfully endured his first surgery, and seems to now have clear, functioning tear ducts. The process has been a bit bumpy, but the results will definitely be worthwhile.

We knew in Benjamin's first few months that his tear ducts were blocked. He regularly had crusty eyes that required warm washcloth wipings (not a favorite for him). I tried massaging the ducts. He wouldn't have any of that. At about 6 months, we started discussing the possibility of him needing the surgery if he didn't grow out of it by one year. In my heart I knew he wasn't going to grow out of it, but the doctor kept reassuring us that most babies do. Then he started getting regular eye infections. One year rolled around and we had to make an appointment with the eye doctor. After some orange-colored eye drops, it was determined that Benjamin's tear ducts were completely non-functioning (completely obstructed). We had to set a date for the surgery.

They asked if we had any questions and I wasn't even sure what to ask. What do you ask when they want to take your baby from you, put him under general anesthesia, and probe near his eyes? I tried not to think about it for the next several weeks.

The moment arrived. We got to the surgery center at 6:40 in the morning and Benjamin was ironically in a really happy mood, flirting with the nurses and stealing glances at the baby girl across from him in the pre-op area. After some time to digest some "happy juice"-tylenol and valium-they took him away. Somehow, that part wasn't that bad. I did find myself watching the time on the tv in the waiting area as the morning news played. Pretty surreal.

After 45 minutes, they came to get us to see him in the recovery area. We heard him before we saw him. In fact, everyone was hearing him. The nurse was holding him in some sort of still-drugged state and he was crying the worst cry I have ever heard him cry. After some time, I decided to just climb into the bed with him and hold him with his head on my shoulder and a blanket around us. Scout played him some bedtime music and finally he calmed down. He refused to drink anything, so they decided to let us go home and try there. He generally did well the rest of the day until later in the evening when we started noticing a fever. They said it was likely a little cold. By Saturday the fever was 104 so we took him to the doctor. They gave him some antibiotics, but by Sunday afternoon he had few wet diapers, refused to eat or drink, and started acting really odd. We couldn't get the fever below 103 so I took him to the hospital. He was breathing fast, his heart was racing, and the fever was persistent.

After some more drugs and force-feeding him syringes of juice, they let me go home and Stephen took him back to the pediatrician in the morning. Turns out he has several different illnesses and required stronger antibiotics. It has been a sad few days watching him in this state. I am hoping he's turning around now, but he's still sleeping somewhere around 18 hours out of 24. The required day off from daycare for the surgery will now become at least a week.

In spite of all of this, I was able to take Benjamin to the park this afternoon for a walk and some time in the baby swing. Now he's back to sleep. I am enjoying the sound of him breathing over the monitor and a few moments to catch up on some forgotten tasks. I am banking on there being no more surgeries ever (doubtful).