The Labutta Life

5 Years Later

2018-09-05T20:43:00.000-04:00

It's funny how life works. For the last couple weeks I had been thinking about posting to this blog again but hadn't looked at the blog in years. Today, I popped it open only to find out that it was exactly 5 years ago, September 5, 2013, that I posted last. Let's just say that a lot happens in five years...

Enjoying an early Spring day at Keukenhof outside Amsterdam

Looking forward to writing new blog posts with a bigger focus on where our travels take us and (thankfully) a lot less focus on rice cereal and strange daycare illnesses.

6 Months!

2013-09-05T20:22:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Jason turned six months old. 184 days. A whole lot of minutes and a whole lot more seconds. As it is always said the days seem like an eternity but months fly by in the blink of an eye. OK, maybe not in a blink of an eye but close.

6 months old! Jason...not the duck

I know we've been through this before with Owen, but it's still awesome to watch Jason progress and learn more and more things. In just the last two months he's done all sorts of new things like:

Eating solid foods. He's up to rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. It worked well with Owen to start with vegetables first before switching to fruit, which is much sweeter, so we're trying it again. So far Jason's not so sure about peas but seems to really enjoy the cereals, carrots, and sweet potatoes
Rolling over. Like crazy. This baby loves to roll and roll and roll.
Sitting up. He's not able to do it without supervision yet, but I think he'll be a pro in just a couple weeks
Putting himself to sleep at night. He does not nap for us at home very well at all, although he naps well at school. But at night he goes right down and puts himself to sleep with barely a sound.

In general he's reached the typical six month old phase where he can stay awake and alert for longer periods of time, he's getting much better at playing by himself for short periods of time, and he doesn't cry as much at night before bedtime like a newborn does when they're exhausted from a long day. Our little guy is definitely starting to grow up.

As for Owen, the school year started on Tuesday. This is Owen's last year at the Malvern School since he starts Kindergarten next year. Owen's a great kid and wonderful with his little brother. He helps out Bridget and I with little tasks when we need something for Jason and often times we'll find him over by Jason talking and playing with him, which Jason can't get enough of. He's definitely has a mischievous, 4 year old side to him as you would expect but overall he's a fantastic kid, who is super fun to spend time with.

The First 100 Days and Participation Trophies

2013-06-25T20:46:00.002-04:00

Similar to a presidential term, I see the first 100 days of a baby's life as a significant test...for the parents. Let's face it, for those first 100 days or approximately 3 months the baby is not extremely giving. The first month you wait for him/her to finally smile, the second month you cross your fingers hoping that you didn't lose the colic lottery, and the third month you watch as he/she teases you with longer sleeping stretches at night sometimes even sleeping the whole night through only to wake up 3-4 times the next night.

Jason recently completed his first 100 days (as of this post he is 16 weeks, 1 day or 113 days old) and we're starting to see some of those encouraging infant signs. He recognizes us and smiles almost instantly, he's starting to play with small toys (which really is just holding onto something and trying to put it in his mouth), he's sleeping pretty well at night, and he's much more aware of his daily routine and surroundings. Not to mention that except for the random sickness that throws us for a loop, Bridget and I are much more familiar with his likes/dislikes/tendencies and I like to think we're handling the two kid thing much better than we were just a few weeks ago.

On to Owen...In one of my recent posts I posted I wrote about Owen and teeball. The three game season just ended (two of the five games were rained out with no make-ups) and Owen's team, the Yankees, finished with a record of 0-0. It was actually a great league. No pressure; just a bunch of 4 year olds having a great time hitting, fielding, diving, and at times wrestling.

Now I spent a fair bit of my childhood playing various sports on various teams and I have about 10 trophies total to show for it (a couple of those are fishing trophies, which I won't get into in this post). I received a trophy when the team I was on accomplished something. Win a league. Win a tournament. The normal stuff. I should have known, however, what was going to happen when Owen's final game ended. The coach in addition to his normal selection of post-game treats called the players over and gave every one of them a little gold trophy. A participation trophy?! What the?! I know it's how things work these days, but I long for the days when a trophy meant you accomplished something and not just that you showed up at the correct time wearing the right uniform. I guess it's good that I learn this about kids early in Owen's childhood. And with that I leave you with some of the pictures from Owen's first teeball season...

Devon Strafford Teeball 2013

A little tongue action with each swing

Taking a knee

The team and their gold trophies

3 Months, Off to School, Back to Work, and Roller Coaster Fan

2013-06-06T20:21:00.002-04:00

And so, we've made it to another milestone...3 Months! Many people think 3 months = 12 weeks but as a parent that counts the days until his newborn is something more than a helpless being who at times smiles but more often frowns and cries I can tell you that 3 months is actually 13 weeks. In any case, Jason is now 3 months old and doing well.

3 months old!

It's always hard to tell as a parent that your child looks any different as time goes by but other people tell me that he is looking much different than he did a couple months ago. I can definitely tell that he's bulking up, though. He has the stereotypical chubby baby thighs and cheeks. And the best part about a baby's 3 month birthday...no doctor visit which means no shots! We get a month reprieve before they start poking the little guy again.

The 3 month milestone meant even more to Jason and Bridget. It meant that it was time for Jason to start going to school each day and for Bridget to return to work. Neither seemed very pleased with the situation although I think Jason handled it slightly better in the end. Bridget did an amazing job with Jason over her 3 months at home with him. I love Jason but there is no money you could pay me to spend 8-10 hours alone in a house with a newborn day after day. I certainly am not patient enough for that. So far we are four days into the new school routine and Jason seems to be handling it very well. He's sleeping well in his crib at school, which is something he never did at home during the day, seems to enjoy the other infants roaming around his new classroom, and is still eating like a champ. I did manage to give both Bridget and Jason a cold so he got his first of many colds during his first week at school, but he would have gotten one from someone in his room anyway; I'm just giving him a head start.

A couple weeks back on Memorial Day the family decided to take a road trip out to Dutch Wonderland, a nearby theme park in Lancaster, PA. We had no idea how Jason would handle a day at a theme park, but Owen loves it there and really wanted to go. Dutch Wonderland is a theme park built specifically for kids. While they have rides that adults can ride on, you only have to be 42" tall to ride every ride in the park. We told Owen over the winter that he had grown to 42" tall and could go on the rides at Dutch Wonderland including the Kingdom Coaster, the main roller coaster they have in the park. We quickly found out that Owen LOVES roller coasters. He had ridden one roller coaster at Hersheypark last year and there's a kiddie coaster at Dutch Wonderland that he had ridden in the past, but he could not get enough of the Kingdom Coaster. He and Bridget ended up riding it 8 times in a row! I can only hope that Jason is tall and grows up fast so that he and his brother can start riding rides together because I'm not sure how long I can keep up with them. We had a blast and will definitely be going back again soon.

Owen on one of the many rides that he rode at Dutch Wonderland

Two Months In And Time For Teeball

2013-05-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

I maintain that anyone that says that having a newborn around the house is wonderful is telling 50% of the truth and the other 50% is them just trying to make themselves believe that they're having a good time. Owen and Jason are different in a number of ways but one big way that they are similar is that neither one was/is a baby that just wants to hang out and watch the world go by. Don't get me wrong, I like that Jason is active just like his brother was, because when he's in a good mood he's fun to play with. However, there is very little time in the day where Jason will just hang out in a swing or a chair or on the floor without Bridget or I next to him entertaining him.

The good part is that he has blown past two months old and is on his way to 11 weeks old on Monday. He's definitely becoming more aware as the weeks go by. He smiles all the time now, which is awesome, he tries his best at talking, and if I had a way to measure the time he spent crying per day at 6 weeks and the time he spends crying now at 10 weeks I'm pretty sure it has decreased.

The three guys hanging out on the couch

One way that Jason and Owen are the same are their sleeping habits. At about 6 weeks we put Jason into his crib at night and he's taken to it wonderfully. On average he falls asleep about 8PM, wakes up around 4 for a bottle, and goes back down until sometime between 6 and 7. He has his occasional off night, but it's so nice for Bridget and I to get 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night and bodes well for her going back to work in a couple weeks.

As for Owen, he has started his baseball career. In our township they started a 4 year old teeball program a few weeks back. I was a little hesitant about signing him up since he turned 4 only 30 days before the deadline meaning that most of the kids are older than him, but it has been a great decision. The first three weeks they brought his team, the Yankees (yes, I know, but I don't get to make the decisions) to the local indoor batting cages and taught them the basics of how to throw, field, and hit. What a wonderful idea. These kids don't know anything about baseball and simply sticking them out in a field wouldn't have been worthwhile.

Today was Owen's first game against the Phillies. By "game" I mean that they sent one team out into the infield and let the other team step up to the plate one-by-one and hit the ball. No scores, no outs, no real rules. Just a bunch of 4 year olds having a great time. Owen did really well in both the field and at the plate. Even hit a ball that had a few seconds of airtime. Jason and Bridget got to come to the game and we all had a blast watching the outing. Can't wait for the next three games.

Owen, crooked hat and all, hanging out with his team

Owen's home run trot during practice

Hello Jason Matthew

2013-04-18T21:40:00.000-04:00

Wow...it's been a while...

One of the things that Bridget said to me a couple times during her pregnancy was, "I want to be able to tell you 'It's time' and then off to the hospital we go." It didn't seem like it was going to happen though. One way or another the baby was coming on March 6th. When we went to bed on the night of March 3rd it seemed like any other night. I fell asleep pretty much right away while Bridget, 39 weeks pregnant, tried as hard as she could to find some position that was somewhat comfortable.

Then, all of a sudden, at 4AM I hear, "Bryan, wake up. It's time." And it was! Even though we never really discussed a plan, Bridget had thought ahead and had a bag packed just in case. So we hopped into the car leaving Owen with his grandparents and headed off to the hospital. I even scored the best spot in the parking lot, which isn't hard to do at 4:20 in the morning. And then, only three hours later at 7:32AM on March 4, 2013, we were introduced to Jason Matthew.
I'm writing this on Jason's 45th day as he turns 6 1/2 weeks. We're pretty lucky that he's already taken to sleeping in his crib, which is the only reason I have a chance to write this post before I head to bed myself. All told he's been a good baby so far. I think some of that is a result of Bridget and I being a little less stressed this time around as well as having a helping hand from family for the first couple weeks.

One area where Jason is a lot like his brother, Owen, is that during the day he wants to be held. He'll sleep for a few minutes in his swing or on a blanket on the floor, but he is far from mastering the art of the midday nap by himself. Unfortunately for Bridget this means that she is spending yet another maternity leave on the couch as she holds Jason while he sleeps.

If there's anything I've learned from my two sons it's that the time around 6 weeks old is not a fun time to be a baby...and they like to let you know it. Don't get me wrong. Neither of our sons were/are colicky (sp?) so we are lucky. However, they both liked to cry and scream around that age. Jason, according to Bridget, has been a little better during the day but right around when the clock hits 5 in the afternoon until he goes to bed some time around 8, it's game on for being fussy. I chalk it up to the fact that it's an age when they're more alert than when they're only a couple weeks but are not able to control their bodies enough yet to entertain themselves. They can't reach for anything, their hands and feet are still flying all around, and they don't have much control as far as facial movements or sounds are concerned. I don't blame them for being fussy. Again, though, we've been through it before so I like to think we're handling it much better this time around. At least we know that it doesn't last forever. We're hoping that within 2-4 weeks we'll have a much happier, much more content Jason.

It's not all bad news though. Just this week Jason finally smiled for real. That little smile can brighten your whole day. From here on out the ratio of smiles to frowns should start tipping in favor of the smile side.
So far it's been great. We're still adjusting, but we get a little better at it each day.

Owen "Reads" Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2011-11-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

OK...so he doesn't read yet. But it's still pretty cool to see that he can do it all from memory...

View the full video on YouTube here.

Fall = Pumpkin Patches = Awesome

2010-10-16T20:42:00.004-04:00

It's hot in the summer in Florida. Every day. After a while you get used to it, but you never stop thinking about that first cool day that will arrive in late September/early October. Two weeks ago that day arrived. Humidities dropped, daily rain went away, and everyone remembered why they put up with 5 months of heat and humidity.

Pumpkin patches rock!

I love fall in Florida. You can't beat it. Highs in the low to mid 80s, lows in the 60s, and nothing but sunshine. And fall just so happens to coincide with pumpkin patch season. Today we visited the same pumpkin patch we visited with Owen last year when he was only six months old. Everything was the same as we remembered it except for the little kid we had that was running from the horses to the pumpkins to the hay bales to the ponies, and more.

We had a wonderful time and took a bunch of pictures that turned out great. Click the picture above and you can view our photos from our pumpkin patch trip.

Next weekend...corn maze!

Owen Playing in the Rain

2010-06-19T19:31:00.005-04:00

If there is one person that is A-OK with the daily afternoon storms in Florida it's our son. Here he is enjoying the great outdoors and reveling in the rain!

Reflections On One Year As A Dad

2010-04-10T20:50:00.003-04:00

When I see people out and about I make the obligatory comment about how fast the first year has gone, but between you and me, it's been a long year. I'm not saying that that is a bad thing; I'm just saying that the first year as a parent did not just fly by. In fact, I think that's a great thing because there is a ton to absorb in the first 365 days.

Every so often Bridget and I will reminisce about the first 6 weeks and how hard it was. I don't know how many times we looked at each other in those initial weeks and said, "If someone comes to the door and asks for Owen, they can have him." (In jest of course). I used to think it was rough sleeping on the couch over a weekend until I had to do it for the first six months of Owen's life. Fortunately, both the Magic and the Penguins were in the playoffs during that time so it made the 7:00-12:00 shift a little more bearable.

And then there were the illnesses. Nothing major, thank goodness, but I remember the morning that Owen woke up and just started throwing up. There we were on a Saturday morning trying to decide whether to call the doctor or go straight to the hospital. We must have had "New Parents" plastered on our foreheads as we walked into the ER with our kid who had nothing more than a stomach bug. These days we take colds and coughs in stride and have become good friends with Tylenol for those "low grade" fevers.

Owen moved out of the "Baby House" on Friday. It's a detached home owned by the Methodist school that runs his daycare where babies from 6 weeks to 1 year can be found. Wow, what a transformation. He started there just 43 weeks ago as a baby who couldn't even sit up on his own or hold his own bottle and leaves there as a toddler who feeds himself, plays on his own, and even takes a step or three every once-in-a-while. I'm really happy with our choice for daycare. I know it's not for everyone, but I believe that his teachers have pushed him to do things that otherwise his pushover parents would not have been as forceful about.

It's funny that when you have a baby everyone you meet that has a slightly older baby tells you that it only gets better from there. Man, are they right! Like I said, at 6 weeks Owen had us at our wit's end. By three months, he was tolerable. By 6 months, he was enjoyable. And now, at a year, he's a blast! It's so much fun to have him understand a lot of what we say to him even if he can't talk back. And sometimes he'll just look at us and smile or laugh, which never gets old. Sure, there are downsides to getting older like his developing temper tantrums, but I will take a 10 second tantrum over sleeping on the couch with a baby that won't sleep in his crib any day!

Owen is a wonderful kid. I hope all parents feel that way about their kids (at least after the first 6 weeks are over). Sure, we'd like to have a kid that was a little more laid back and didn't need to be moving and going ALL of the time, but it keeps life fun and I can only imagine that it translates into his awesome sleeping habits at night. I wouldn't change anything about him.

And then there is Owen's mom. Bridget is a wonderful mother. She loves Owen so much and is so good with him. And she's done a ton for me letting me travel for work more than I would like to. Owen is one lucky kid to have a mom like Bridget.

Being a dad is unbelievably difficult but unbelievably rewarding. Bridget and I have no life. We consider it a big thing to sneak out to the Olive Garden to have lunch during the week while Owen is in daycare. You'd think that we would want to go out on dates and have babysitters all the time but the couple times we have done that we end up missing the little guy.

I'm still not convinced that I would want to go through it all again. The thoughts of those first couple weeks still haunt me. But it's the times when I see my 1 year old look at me and let out a big laugh that at least have me giving it some consideration.

Owen's First Year

2010-04-01T12:38:00.002-04:00

Owen is 1 year old today and, wow, what a year! I thought it'd be fun to put together this quick picture slideshow to watch his progression from being 6 hours old to 1 year old. Each picture, except for the first of course, was taken on the 1st of each month. Enjoy!

Owen in his Birthday Suit!

2010-03-30T14:20:00.003-04:00

He's not exactly naked, but then again, he's not exactly 1 year old...yet. The big 0-1 is Thursday!!

How Did We Get Here?!

2010-03-08T10:01:00.004-05:00

Owen had a rough weekend. He was cranky, which isn't too unusual. The little guy is starting to understand his world and gets frustrated when things don't go his way. But he was extra cranky this weekend. I think it might have been constipation, since neither his father nor I had the pleasure of changing a poopy diaper for over a day.

Actual text message from my husband this morning: Owen pooped. A lot.

My actual response: Thank god! He might feel lots better now.

I'm not quite sure when we crossed that line - you know, the one that divides our lives into "the years we don't write about poo" and "the years that it's okay to write about poo." I'm a little distressed to discover that I not only find it appropriate to talk about poo so casually, but I do so with glee. Owen pooped!

2010-02-19T07:33:00.002-05:00

I'm so sorry we've left you all hanging for so long! Life gets busy and we don't have time to blog. At least, that's the excuse I'm using today!

Lots has happened since our last post on January 3. We got new neighbors; the house next door was finally rented out, after nearly 10 months of blissful quiet. We're reserving judgment on the new folks, but keeps your eyes peeled for a new blog post announcing that we're moving. :)

Owen is "walking." Wait, let's back up. You may not know yet that Owen is crawling; he started doing that during Christmas vacation in PA and he's been a little mobile warrior ever since. He's already pulling himself up and cruising along every couch, table and toy in the house. Every once in a while, when he's not thinking about it, he'll let go and just stand there, unaided, testing out his little legs. It's awesome!

He still doesn't wear shoes, but I have a feeling that walking unaided will be much more likely once Owen can wear shoes. Right now, he's got chubby little feet and can't fit into any shoes! We bought size 4 wide, but that doesn't help when his foot has half an inch of fat on top. I'm certain, though, that the fat pad will shrink the more he moves; in fact, we already see little dimples in his cheeks now that he's starting to lose some baby fat on his face. Super cute!!

The big 0-1 is coming up on April 1. I can't believe how fast the year has gone by!

Giving the Hut a New Look

2010-01-03T20:00:00.003-05:00

For those of you that have been to our house or have heard us talk about it you've either seen or heard about "the hut." For those of you unfamiliar with the term, the hut is what we call the small concrete structure that we have sitting in our back yard. All of the lots in our area are zoned "R-2," which means that they can have up to two residential units in a single lot. We're not sure if the hut was ever used as a dwelling but for us it works as some much needed storage.

The hut is 250 sq. ft. and the interior was in poor shape when we bought the house. It needed a new coat of paint, the linoleum tile was grey and ugly, and there was the frame of what was once a closet stretching from wall to wall on one end that was now just a bunch of 2x4s and '70s wood paneling.

One Saturday while Bridget was pregnant with Owen I decided that I was going to take down the closet frame to buy us more room for storage in the hut. Since Owen is now over 9 months old you can infer how long ago that was. Since then I've been working for an hour or two whenever I have had time to turn the hut into something a little bit cleaner and more organized. As of today I finally finished.

The finished look

In the end, as you'll see in the pictures, it turned out OK. I put a coat of primer and paint on the ceiling and all of the walls, ripped out the tile on the floor and put down a coat of primer and concrete stain, and installed the Rubbermaid FastTrack system along part of one of the walls to really help with organizing some of the bigger items.

The FastTrack system really helps to save space and better organize larger items

I am quite impressed with the FastTrack system. There are a number of systems like it on the market, but this one was at my local Home Depot and the whole thing including the two tracks and all of the accessories on which to hang everything cost me $150. Since I was hanging the rails on concrete instead of drywall I could not use the screws and anchors they provided. So I drilled holes using my Bosch hammer drill and used 3/16" x 2 1/4" Tapcon screws to secure the rails to the wall. Pretty sure those rails aren't going anywhere. The FastTrack accessories just snap onto the rail, no screws or tools necessary, so I can rearrange things within minutes if needed.

It was a long project and took about 12 times as long as it should have (sometimes having a baby to take care of will do that), but I am pleased with the result. Now, the only question is what project do I tackle next???

Thanksgiving "Vacation"

2009-12-03T19:16:00.001-05:00

I knew going into Thanksgiving this year that things would be different. We had a kid now, which meant no more lounging by the TV watching the Lions lose another Thanksgiving day game, less time to enjoy the feast, and no time to fall asleep on the couch in the traditional post-dinner coma. Wow, did I underestimate the "fun" we'd have on Thanksgiving.

Owen still manages to smile through the pain

Don't get me wrong. It was great to see everyone, especially my nieces who change so much in a year and Sam, my newest niece, who I was meeting for the very first time. What I wasn't prepared for was Owen being sick the ENTIRE TIME.

We got in a little past Owen's bedtime on Tuesday night and so we attributed his foul mood that evening to him being overly tired. On Wednesday he was still a bit out of sorts, but we figured he was adjusting to a new environment and was a little off of his schedule. However, by Thursday, something was definitely wrong. Our little guy, who is usually very pleasant and thoroughly enjoys life, was crying all the time, sleeping way more than normal during his naps, and not eating his normal amounts.

Fortunately for us, Ali, our sister-in-law and our hostess for the weekend, is a pediatrician. Talk about being lucky when you finally decide your kid is sick and it's Thanksgiving Day. Ali took a look at his ears and said he had an ear infection in his right ear. First ear infection. Great.

Needless to say, we spent Thursday through Sunday dealing with a baby who had an ear infection, a runny nose that wouldn't stop, and a developing cough. Throw all that together with him being in a new house, sleeping in a Pack 'n Play instead of his normal crib, and meeting 30-40 new people and it was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember.

On Sunday evening, after we arrived back home, Owen seemed to be getting much better. But he wasn't done yet as we found out on Monday when at 4:30 he started shrieking in pain. We ended up at the pediatrician 90 minutes later where we were told that the ear infection had moved to his left ear and was more inflamed than the right one ever was.

Finally, today, Thursday, after 7+ days of being sick, Owen returned to daycare and seems to be feeling much better. Bridget and I were able to have a normal day at our jobs, which was also quite welcome after the last week.

Funny thing is it that after all everything that happened I still had a great time at Thanksgiving with Owen. Even when he's sick, he's still on hell of a kid and I'm already looking forward to next year (of course if he decides to be healthy next Thanksgiving that is fine with me).

An Afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-18T21:19:00.005-04:00

I'm pretty sure this is an obligatory post for all parents with young kids. Today, we took Owen to his first pumpkin patch and I'm almost positive that he had a better time than his mom. While Owen's mom was sure that the horses and ponies would eat Owen as a snack he was busy taking in all the sights and sounds (and smells!) at the farm that hosted the pumpkin patch.

Needless to say Owen did not, in fact, get eaten and we ended up with some great pictures of the event. What made it even better was the cold front that passed through here on Friday. No, we did not dress him warmly so that he'd look cute in his pictures. It was mighty chilly here today (in the 60s!). For you northerners, that's downright cold in Orlando.

Here's the slideshow of our pictures. If you want to see the photos in our Picasa Web album, click a picture in the slideshow below or click here.

It Fits!

2009-09-30T08:24:00.004-04:00

Bryan and I had a wonderful anniversary. We celebrated with a fancy meal, popped a bottle of fancy champagne at home, and cuddled on the couch for a while. A pretty wonderful day for new parents. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that I got out my wedding dress - and original sash, shoes and earrings - and tried it on. And it fits! Two years, one baby, and I-don't-know-how-many-bottles-of-beer-and-wine later, and it still fits! I walked around the house in it and contemplated a run to the grocery store, but only managed to take a few photos before Bryan shamed me into taking it off. He didn't seem to think I needed to be wandering the house in a ball gown, and I guess he had a point, but it was fun to wear my beautiful gown for just a little while and remember what a lovely night we had two years ago.

The Labutta Boys

2009-09-27T09:53:00.012-04:00

I love this picture...Bryan was giving Owen a bottle, and happened to have a bottle of his own nearby. Classic Saturday afternoon in the Labutta household! Owen is looking up to his Dad in awe. which I think is super cute. We have another great photo of Owen sucking on the bottom of a cold beer bottle, to help with teeting pain, but I didn't post it because I don't want DCF to take my baby away. ;)

Owen tried his first veggie on Friday, and the peas were a big hit! I wish I had video proof, but you'll have to take my word for it that later on, Owen grabbed the spoon out of Bryan's hands and started to feed himself peas! Such coordination..such hunger!

Not surprisingly, Owen loves to play with any object that is not intended as a toy, especially computers. Bryan let him fool around with the wireless keyboard one day, and Owen had so much fun! I like to think that Owen is typing a nice email to mommy in this photo.

So high! Owen loved his first ride on Bryan's shoulders. He was a little concerned that he was up so high, but he made the most of it. We also just bought Owen's first forward-facing stroller, and went on an adventure to the Orlando Science Center museum. Although he can't touch anything or really understand what's going on, Owen still had a great time strolling around, people watching, and looking at the cool exhibits. He's such a curious fellow!

Sweet September

2009-09-17T10:40:00.003-04:00

It's been a great month so far at the Labutta household. Owen is growing like a weed...at 5.5 months, he's already into some 9 mos. clothing. No teeth yet, but he has all the signs that suggest we don't have long to wait. He's rolling over from his back to his stomach, although he hasn't figured out how to go from his stomach to his back (the easy way!). He's almost sitting up on his own. And he's staying on a daily schedule in preparation for moving into the "big kid" room at school.

I had another birthday this month. It was very odd, though...I am one of those people who loves birthdays. I get excited weeks in advance and count down the minutes til the big day...presents...cake...phonecalls and birthday wishes... But this year I wasn't as excited about it all. Maybe I'm just sick of getting old, but I really think my lack of excitement was because my priorities have totally changed. I'm not so excited about my own issues; I'm more excited about Owen's issues! Just wait til early next year - I'm going to be bursting with excitement over Owen's birthday!

At the end of the month, Bryan and I celebrate our second wedding anniversary. I am fairly excited about that; unlike birthdays, I haven't had many anniversaries, so each one is very special and I hope it's always that way. We've started to celebrate big events with special lunches, so that we don't have to leave Owen with a sitter just yet. So I'm sure our anniversary will be celebrated with a lovely lunch at a lovely restaurant. I can't wait!

5 months!

2009-08-29T12:05:00.005-04:00

Owen is nearly 5 months old! Today we went to have some family portraits taken and it was a blast. It was a little tough to get Owen to smile for the camera, but at least he wasn't crying or throwing a tantrum. The prints will be ready in a few days, so here's a little preview.

Rice Cereal

2009-08-23T15:00:00.005-04:00

I bought a video camera before Owen was born. A nice one. I decided to splurge on the 1080p Canon since I knew that I'd have it for a long time and wanted to be sure that the quality was as good as possible.

Since then I've been pretty good at taking videos (not great, but good) but horrible at posting them (I've posted a total of 0). Today I present my first video, a compilation of the first couple attempts of Owen eating rice cereal. To be truthful, they're mostly being posted for the grandparents because I don't picture many other people sitting down for 7 minutes to watch Bridget and Owen battle over a rice and formula mixture. I hope to continue the trend and get better about posting new videos more often. Enjoy!

The Flu and The Failure of Urgent Care

2009-08-20T08:49:00.010-04:00

On Sunday I got sick. It started pretty tame. I could tell that I had a slight fever but it was only registering around 100 degrees, nothing major. I was also starting to get a bit achey and had almost no energy to go and cut the grass (I cut it anyway and now I'm glad that I did since it would have looked like a jungle right now otherwise.)

Not a good idea

I took some Tylenol and felt good as soon as the fever broke. Fortunately (I know now), Bridget allowed me to rest and since I was having some flu like symptoms I stayed away from Owen as much as possible on Sunday. By Sunday night I still wasn't feeling good so I called in sick for work on Monday so I could get more rest, hoping this would be a quick thing like the multiple colds I've had since Owen has started daycare.

Monday came and I wasn't getting any better. Bridget "recommended" that I go and see a doctor. I imagine that Bridget and I are like a lot of people in our age range in that we don't have a Primary Care Physician (PCP). Before Owen (and more importantly, daycare) came along Bridget and I hadn't been sick for years. To try and see a doctor right away I decided to go to Florida Hospital Centra Care, their urgent care facilities. Little did I know at the time that this would end up being a very bad decision.

"Urgent" Care = All Around FAILURE

I got to Centra Care at 2PM and thought everything was going well when I was checked in quickly and saw the four people ahead of me get called into the exam area at pretty regular intervals. During my time in the waiting area there were a couple, additional people that came in after me and got called back almost right away, but I still figured everything was fine.

The Wait

At 3:05PM I was called back and put into an exam room. The nurse told me, "There are four other people ahead of you." While I didn't like hearing that it seemed like a good sign that it only took an hour to get into an exam room. Besides how long could it take for a doctor to see four people and get to me? 45 minutes? An hour? That's when it all went downhill.

For the next 90 minutes I sat in the exam room. No doctor. No nurse checking on me. Nothing. I don't want to think about what could have happened in that 90 minutes if I was really sick. I was there because I was sick, after all. Eventually, after 90 minutes of waiting, I went outside my room and asked the nurse what the status was. She said that they had received some emergency patients since I was brought back to the exam room, that they had been taken care of, but that there was still another person ahead of me. So not only did the nurses fail to check on me in an hour and a half they also didn't feel the need to practice any common courtesy and let me know why I was waiting so long. And my biggest issue of all (at this point):

I went to Urgent Care because on their website they state, "...an affordable alternative to a busy hospital emergency room. We offer fast, convenient, urgent, NON LIFE-THREATENING, care to adults and children." Why is my exam being delayed due to emergency patients showing up at urgent care? How is this fast, convenient, urgent, or any different than a wait at the emergency room? At least at the ER I have faith that I would see a competent doctor...

The "Exam"

Finally, at 5:00, three hours after I arrived, and two hours after getting into an exam room, the doctor entered. I told him my symptoms and he said that he was going to give me a flu test. Sounded like a good idea since I figured I had the flu based on the symptoms. I don't know if people know how these flu tests are done (they didn't have these 20 years ago when I last had the flu). They take this plastic swab and stick it up your nose so far that it makes your eyes water and you feel like it's trying to pop out through your ear. It's definitely not pleasant but not completely horrible. After a total of about 4 minutes with the doctor he leaves to get the flu test processed.

10 minutes later the doctor returns. He proceeds to tell me the flu test is negative (good news, right?) I ask him what I have if I don't have the flu. He calls it an "upper respiratory infection" which is basically a generic term for saying that I'm just sick. I specifically ask him if the flu test being negative means that I do not have to worry about having H1N1 (Swine) Flu. He tells me yes, that I do not have swine flu. I take that as good news and head home to try and let everything run its course.

But...It Is The Flu

Monday night I felt pretty good (Tylenol rocks) and still felt good Tuesday morning. Thinking that the doctor at urgent care was right, I figured I had turned a corner and so I went back to work. Everything was good until Tuesday afternoon. At that point, my fever came back and this time it wasn't just a 100 degree fever. By 5:00 on Tuesday my fever was at 102. And it stayed there. Finally, at 8:30 I took some Tylenol since the fever wasn't going anywhere. By 10:00, the fever broke and I was able to sleep.

When Bridget woke up to feed Owen at 5:30 Wednesday morning, I knew the fever was back. Checking my temperature it was already at 101.5. Calling in sick for work, I spent the morning in bed drinking a ton of water. But, again, the fever wasn't going anywhere. At noon, it was 102.5 and hadn't dropped all morning. Bridget and I decided it was time to find a doctor at a practice and try to see him.

I got really lucky when I called Dr. Shaw's office at Winter Park Family Health Center. I called right after someone cancelled their appointment so I was in seeing a doctor by 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. It took Dr. Shaw about 15-30 seconds to diagnose me with the flu. No flu test needed. And, yes, it probably was the Swine Flu. When I told him that I had a flu test on Monday that came back negative he proceeded to tell me that that flu test can't diagnose Swine Flu. What the?! I had asked the doctor at Florida Hospital Centra Care specifically about that and he was completely wrong.

Within 15 minutes of seeing Dr. Shaw I had a prescription for Tamiflu and am hopefully on the road to recovery. All I can hope for now is that I don't pass this to Bridget and Owen.

Lessons Learned

Florida Hospital Centra Care was not any faster than the Florida Hospital ER. In fact, it was probably slower since Florida Hospital just opened a brand new ER a couple months ago and tout no wait at the ER.
The doctor at Florida Hospital Centra Care misdiagnosed my illness, trusted an unreliable flu test over the symptoms that I had, and sent me home to a 4 1/2 month old who could be in real trouble if he gets the flu. I actually found articles from early August on several major websites (including U.S. News and World Report and New York Times) stating:

The [rapid flu] tests have a severe limitation: They may fail more than half the time to detect swine flu infections, according to newly published studies and to experts in medical testing.

The low sensitivity of the tests is becoming a concern to health authorities because a false negative reading might prompt a doctor not to prescribe antiflu drugs. (New York Times)

If it feels like the flu and acts like the flu, it probably is the flu.
Have a PCP that you trust even if you haven't been sick in a while. You'll appreciate it when you get sick like I did. Plus, you won't have to press your luck going to urgent care.

Catholics Part 2

2009-08-14T09:14:00.014-04:00

Godmother Aunt Kristyn, Mama, Dad and Owen, Godfather Uncle Ted.

Baptism.

Fire! Owen and his godmother, Aunt Kristyn.

Owen and Mama before church.

Grandpa and Owen.

Owen loves Cookie Monster.

Owen and his cousin Colin.

Owen and Colin.

Catholics

2009-08-14T07:49:00.003-04:00

Owen was baptised last Sunday, August 9. I can tell you the whole story in words - like how he stared-down the baptismal candle because he has a scary obsession with fire, or how he was doused with water three times and smiled the whole time, or how he looked so darn cute in his Strasburg jon jon, even though it was blue - but it would be better with pictures, wouldn't it? I agree. Too bad we are at the mercy of Bryan on this one. The family camera is some humongous, fancy thing with a footlong lens and too many gadgets for me to be able to figure out how to download photos onto the computer. We're lucky I can take a picture with the thing (my birthday is coming up; perhaps someone will be so thoughtful as to gift me with a nice little rectangular digital camera, maybe a pink one?). But I didn't want another day to pass without mentioning Owen's big day. We are so proud of him, and so thankful to all our families members who went out of their way to celebrate with us in Orlando.