9 months

It is so weird to think that Sam has lived outside of me for the same amount of time that he resided in my belly. I have much preferred him these last 9 months.

We had his 9 month apt on Monday, and he is doing just great and growing fast. Although he is low in weight (26th%ile) he makes up for it in length and head size (87th%ile)

Sam is crawling faster and faster, and has started walking holding on to furniture. He loves to chase around the dogs and the cat and has a real obsession with attention. We may have spoiled him a little.

Just this morning I took this picture of Sam posed to mimic a picture that we have of Matthew as a baby. Matt was looking for his "Teddy" that was being cleaned, and Sam is searching out his basketball that I put in there to keep his attention off of the camera. I love these bums!!

Some thoughts

Today is going to be a good day and a slightly hard day.

I get to spend most of the day with Matthew. We are going to finally check out Avatar 3D and as much fun as that is going to be, I am going to miss my "mini mister".

Last night after surprising my mom at her office, she somehow tricked me into leaving Sam at her house over night. She's sly like that. The first few thoughts that came to mind were "yes, so much sleep" and "I can actually get things done tomorrow". But as I started to leave Grandma and Grandads house a little ping of sadness struck my stomach.

I have not had a night without Sam since the NICU.

Thinking back on those nights still brings tears to my eyes. It was so hard to go home without my new baby, but the nurses assured me that he would be fine and that I needed the rest.

Last night, when I got home and didn't have to quietly unsnap Sam from his car seat, the same security (more actually) came over me. He would be fine, and I needed the rest.

And rest we did. Matt and I found it funny to be as loud as possible while we got ready for bed since we were not going to be waking any sleeping baby. Why is it that sometimes when we are without the kid that we act like kids ourselves? We are pretty silly sometimes.

This morning we laid in bed for as long as possible, and said our goodbyes as Matt headed to work for a little bit. And yes, I called my parents to see how Sam did over night. I'm surprised my mom didn't call me first to see if I was OK over night.

Now I will get things done that have been rotting away on my to do list. Returns, chores, shopping and editing. I bet I can do it all.

But I am so missing this face.

what?

The vet called.

The food they want to put Brimley on to TEST if he has food allergies is $57.95 for 16lbs.

Its Duck and Potatoes.

I dont even eat that good.

My wallet (and my husband) says no. I dont blame either of them.

This is the picture you see...

...when you look up "handsome" in the dictionary. Seriously. Look it up.

Mr. Brim's skin

While Sam's skin is slowly improving, our furry son Brimley is having his own skin problems. About a month ago he started scratching around his ears and I noticed some scabs from it. He started itching so bad that clumps of hair were falling out and decorating our tan carpet with big fuzzy black polka dots. And just to reiterate how annoying this is for all of us, Sam finds a lot of joy in searching for these hair balls to taste them. Gross.

A few weeks back I took Brimley into the vet after he started to get really bad. She assumed it was some sort of mite that he may have contracted at the dog park, and did a few tests ($$) to make sure.

But she didn't find anything. We decided to treat for the mites just in case ($$) and we are on our last dose of it today. I haven't seen any improvement in the look of his ears.

Another skin test was done ($$) a week ago along with a fungal culture ($$) to see if there was any staph of ringworm involved. Both were negative, and the skin scrape only showed small amounts of bacteria.

So, Brimley is currently on steroids, which have caused him to pee constantly and feel hungry all the time. They have helped his itching, but not enough that I feel like he is well. He is also on an antibacterial cream that doesn't seem to be doing much either.

The poor puppy. I gave him a bath yesterday, and I am surprised that he is not bald from the amount of hair that is falling off of him. Our next step is to change foods to see if it could be an allergy. The Dr also attended a veterinary dermatology convention this week, and used Brimley as her subject. We are waiting to hear what she learned after talking to all the other doctors.

We sure hope our boys feel better soon!

Eczema

On Friday we had another consultation with the pediatric dermatologist regarding Sam's eczema. We have had lots of luck getting rid of the spots on his body, but there is an area on his cheeks that we just cant seem to beat.So far we have done food trials for allergies, we only wash his clothes with fragrance, soap, and dye free detergent, we limit baths, we use lotion after lotion with 5 different types of steroids and 2 types of skin barrier emulsions. We have tried over the counter meds and home remedies, but still he gets that rashy spot on his face.I am very worried about scarring. I had eczema pretty bad when I was a kid, and I have obvious scars on my neck from it. They have bothered me all my life and I hope that Sam wont have to deal with that, especially on his face.

We are on a new routine that seems to be improving the look of the spot, albeit slow. Its starting to look less red and dry. Hopefully we can knock it out with the new creams. The Dr thinks that there is a staph infection on top of it all, so we are treating him for that along with the eczema.

Hopefully things will clear up soon! Its so hard to think of how itchy and annoying these spots might be for him. But, he continues to be the happiest baby around!

2010

As much as we LOVED 2009, we are very excited for all the fun things heading our way in 2010. To name a few, a big birthday for Matt, a first birthday for Sam, a trip to AZ to visit my family, a trip to Chicago to meet a Dr., hopefully some more trips just for fun, and lots of summer activities.

Our New Years weekend was packed full of fun. Matt and I managed to spend a lot of time together while Sam entertained his grandparents and friends.

On New Years Eve I was asked to run a photo booth for the Regional Singles dance in Seattle. Matt and I had a great time seeing friends and laughing about how lucky we are to be happily married and OUT of the singles ward :)

Here we are. Cheesy, awkward prom picture.

Relaxation and sleep was required on the first, but that night we attended a party hosted by our friends, the Nebekers. We played pictionary and opened gifts that told of our future in 2010. According to the fortunes, I will become obsessed with collecting rubber duckies, and bring a new baby into our family (well, maybe not this year...). Matt was informed that he will be traveling with the love of his life. He says I can come along too. :)

Then we were able to celebrate Brett's birthday by jumping our muscles sore at "Sky high."

10 minutes into the fun, a man broke his leg and they had to shut down the whole free-jump area. I wasn't too happy about that, but we got to play a fun game of dodge ball on the private court. Aim, fire, gloat.Me, throwing like the gender that I am.If 2010 is as much fun as the first week has been, we are in for a good year. And, since there has yet to be a picture of Sam, feast your longing eyes on this baby.