Bad News

So, Tuesday was such a beautiful day that we decided to take Des to the park with Grandpa and Grandma G. On the walk to the baby swings I took out my camera anticipating a kodak moment, alas the string slipped and I dropped it - less than two feet and onto a soft patch of grass (I've dropped it a lot worse than that before) then it rolled to the sand and somehow the on switch got pushed and the result? A broken camera that is out of commission for two weeks at least while it is in the Best Buy work shop (we fortunately have the service plan for it).

Anyway we did take Des to the park and despite the recent tragedy of breaking my camera he had a marvelous time on the swing and on the merry go round but not so much with the slides. Then it was getting kind of hot so we aborted the 'find things for a 6 month old to do at a park' mission.

The dentist went fine they said that because I was able to get the pain to go away mostly (I started using a mouthwash that helped) it wasn't an emergency (they had squeezed me into the schedule back when the pain was waking me up at night) so they just put me into the schedule to get at least 3 fixes in June, blech. But the dentist didn't say anything about a root canal so I'm hopeful.

Marc enjoyed his Spring Break (they had Monday and Tuesday off) and is back to work today to start work on graduation music. Des is back to work with his blocks and such. After such a rousing few days of being entertained to the max he is doing well at being self entertaining for sort periods of time today which is helpful to me. =) Although he still gets frustrated when he can't be up and about we are working on just sitting and playing or being in the exersaucer. The last two nights he has been so wound up from all the activity that it has taken an hour for him to be able to sleep.

I do have some pictures to post but without my camera I have to go through a process to get them downloaded so when I get a chance to do that I will. Hope you are all having a great "almost summer." One of the cartoons in the Sunday paper said: April, 10 minutes of hope and 30 minutes of dashed expecations (regarding the temperatures).

Not much different

Busy couple of weeks here in Wyoming. Marc had all his final concerts. *Everyone* was impressed with his and the kids' accomplishments/efforts. He did the middle school concert first with both bands and then the high school concert consisted of the Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, a piece with both choirs, Concert Band, Jazz Band and a percussion ensemble that he put together with kids from all groups, all in one night. It was a great concert - one of the teachers said it was the best he had heard in the 25 years of teaching there. Marc is relieved that the hard word is over but I think that he is pleased with the outcome. I think that he is also relieved that his first year is almost over because that means the second year won't be as hard (that's just speculation on my part).

I *know* that he (and I) are excited for summer. We are praying that our house sells so that we can take a few trips and see family and friends that we haven't been able to see in awhile. We have a family reunion and Marc's high school reunion this summer.

The biggest development in Des's life is that he has his first tooth! And he has his first exersaucer, a friend lent one to us and it has been a life saver - he was getting very frustrated just sitting or laying on the ground playing and now he can be up and "walking" while playing. He loves it *but* he is still a people person and the exersaucer only lasts so long before he needs some mom or dad time.

I've come to decide that other than the sleep factor, having a kid is not much different than having a cat. Think about it for a minute:

• Neither can eat much people food
• Neither is self sufficient, you have to feed, water and bathe them
• Neither cares about their outward appearance
• You care about both their outward appearance
• Both lick their hands clean (cats on purpose, Des just cuz he likes to put his hands in his mouth)
• Both nap (although cats much more than kids)
• Both wake you up at night (although kids more than cats)
  
• You have to safe-proof the house for both so they don't get hurt
• Neither can communicate even though you are convinced that they are fervently trying to tell you something
• Neither follows commands or requests
  
• Both want to do more than they can or should
• Both respond to emotions from you (ie happy, mad etc.)
• Both miss you when you are gone (our cats do anyway)
  

Just food for thought - well we are off to Montana so that I can see a dentist - my teeth have been hurting a lot and I'm hoping for the best but they did say the word "root canal" Yikes! I hope not. Here's some pictures:

"There is an exothermic reaction in my diaper"
Tee-shirt courtesy of Uncle Jared

Exersaucer fun

"Real" food, peas in this case - he always takes pause to decide what to do with the foreign matter just given to him but he always eats it.

6 months come and gone.

Hard to believe that exactly 6 months ago my labor was starting and I was thinking to myself "today is a good day for a birthday." Those of you familiar with the story know that the little man put me through 30 hours of pain so that day was not a good day for a birthday - the next day was. 6 months old (tomorrow). This little guy has gone through some major transitions and through it all I am still wrapped around his heart. I'd like to take a moment to list his accomplishments to herald the occasion.

Babbles incessantly
Eating rice cereal twice a day
Sitting on his own
Can put his toes in his mouth
Using highchair
Plays peekaboo
Rolls back to front and front to back
Bears all his weight on his legs and walks on own (with adult holding his hands)
Razzes (love it when he does this while eating)
Recovered from surgery faster and better than any adult
Transfers objects from one hand to the other
Struggles to get toys that he wants
Can get poop all the way up to his shoulders with no hands!
Can give you a headache in three seconds with screech
Can make a headache go away in three seconds with a laugh
Can make any educated person speak in high pitched voice at visual command
Recognizes mom and dad
Knows what a kleenex is and knows that he doesn't like them coming at him
Turns to name (most of the time)
Can overtly pull your plate off the table or spray the couch with spit up without making a sound
Uses raking grasp to pick up items
Kicks his feet all the time - when mad, glad, excited, surprised, etc - *all* the time
Can effectively express joy or displeasure at any given activity
*Can* sleep 7 hours at night - but most nights chooses not to
Usually sits all the way through church and choir practice without making a fuss
Can play all his major scales on the piano (ok not really, but soon, soon!)
Has a magic smile that will make any day better for anyone

Doesn't seem like much for 6 months of hard work but as you can see from the pictures below the transition is amazing (as any parent can attest too). We are still acclimating to this new little world of ours but I'm happy to say that Marc and I still resemble Marc and I and for that I am happy and proud. We definitely have more trials due to the little one but we also definately have more joy because of him too. =)

6 weeks old - forgive the baby acne and bald spot!

6 *months* old same outfit - different baby! =)

Sitting up on his own at play group

Yeah, highchair! Yeah solid foods!

Sleep Boot Camp.

Well, the time has come for Des to enter the school of hard knocks. He has been a terrible night sleeper since we went to Denver weeks ago (6 weeks) and so I decided to lay down the law and have him cry it out a little. The little Turkey heard Marc and I making our game plan and therefore slept 'great' (for him) until 5 am when he woke up screaming and then we had to decide - is it night still or is it just really early morning??? Our vote was for night so the poor kid has had some rough mornings and subsequently some grumpy days for the last week. So I was waiting till we were all in a better rut before posting but I received some complaints from disgruntled fans and so am posting despite our household perma-frown.

I make it sound worse than it probably is. To prove its not all bad I'm posting a video taken this week of Des laughing. I've been trying to get this laugh on video (unsuccessfully) for about 2 months now. Finally I have proof that this kid thinks everything is funny. His favorite right now is coughing (that's what Marc is doing on the video). Prior to that it was Marc belching. *Sigh* boys....

Des had his first non-family babysitter this week. Unless you count the two times he was in church nursery for 15 minutes (I don't). Our favorite neighbor Tanya came over to watch Des while I went to the highschool to conduct mock interviews for their students that are interested in medical careers. It was fun and I must say that I was impressed, for the most part, with the kids - quite professional and a couple could have fooled me by their maturity had I not known they were juniors. Two of the girls were excited to be interviewed by "Mr. Graham's wife."

Our neighbor's mare had a colt so that was great excitement this last weekend. Marc and I have decided to keep singing in the choir year round because we (Des included) enjoy it so much and it is nice to get out and talk to people. Marc's music festival is next weekend so he has been very busy trying to help the kids "cram" for that. He is already counting down the days till summer break and I have to say I am too. =) Des and I still go to play group once or twice a week depending on what the previous night held. And I am doing my cramming for when the pediatrician gives us the green light to start solids full force, right now Des just gets rice cereal twice a day. He reaches for everything and his world is very clearly divided into two categories - that which he can get to his mouth and that which he cannot.

Supposed to be sleeping, instead is on mission impossible to get the animals out of the light.

"You're going to what?"

Like I said - everything goes in the mouth! =)