The Labutta Life

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.

A Good News/Bad News Post

2009-08-05T07:48:00.004-04:00

So funny...now that Owen can regularly pull his feet up and grab them with his hands, he's started to fart a lot more! I guess rolling up into that position and putting pressure on your belly will do that.

So sad...I have a client who sends out weekly email "newsletters" to promote her company's scrapbooking products. She starts each newsletter with a personal story, usually a cute anecdote about what her little kids did that day or a business trip she took to a new city. Today she stated that she went to a funeral yesterday. Her friend and her friend's family (mom, dad, kid) were at the beach this weekend, and they blew a tire on the drive back home. Car flipped. Dad died. In a matter of moments, due to a freak accident, her friend is a widow and single mother. It was the saddest story I've heard in a long time, and it made me pause and give thanks for all that I have - my husband, my son and all of my extended family. I love you all.

A 4-Month Update

2009-07-31T07:45:00.005-04:00

Owen is 4 months old on Saturday. I can't believe how time flies. He's been such a great little guy for the past few months and Bryan and I are having a blast watching him grow and learn. I feel so sheepish when I think back on those first 6 weeks with Owen and how I used to call my mom and my sister-in-law (a pediatrician), concerned about how angry and inconsolable our child was...they must have been laughing at me on the other end of the phone ("Doesn't Bridget know that's what babies do?!") It's nice to be in a phase now where Owen can interact with and enjoy his world!

An historic day yesterday - Owen found his feet! We've been helping him along for the past week by curling his legs up towards his head in a playful way, and yesterday he decided all on his own to pull his legs up and start grabbing his toes with his hands. It's such a simple task, but Bryan and I were immensely proud. I may have teared up. I don't know what I'm going to do when he actually starts walking! *sniff* Owen also tried to get his toes into his mouth - everything goes into his mouth these days - but ended up bonking his nose with his fist after he lost his grip on his toes!

Has anyone seen the toy I was playing with?

Owen's also started to babble quite a bit. I think he likes to hear himself speak, just like his dad. ;) Anyway, his "talking" is a bit random still, he's not actually responding to anything we say, but I'm sure that's only a matter of time. My favorite time of day is oftentimes when Owen is waking up. He'll wake up, squirm around a bit in his crib and "talk" to himself. We can hear him and see him on the monitor and it really is adorable.

Owen is finally healthy for the first time in a long time. For a while there, I thought I'd never see him again without a runny nose. But his congestion is gone, as well as his stomach bug. We go to the dr. on Monday for his 4-mo. shots, and hopefully it will go as smoothly as the first set and there'll be no fever.

Finally, Owen can hold his own bottle. Probably because he has some underlying fear that we'll take it away from him! He's a strong little guy - 7 ounces ain't light - but he's got such an appetite that it shouldn't surprise me how strong he is. Honestly, though, I've yet to see him hold his bottle. His teacher, Ms. Ana, and Bryan both tell me he can do it. Maybe I just need to stop babying my baby and let him hold his own bottle, too.

The Mohawk

2009-07-24T11:05:00.003-04:00

Owen has funny hair. It sticks up in the back, sort of like Alfalfa but it's much more than just a little strand. Some people have asked if we style his hair that way...um, no. It's actually been like that since birth! Check out the 2-day old photo (with Grandma Heff) versus the 3-month old photo. Same funny hair, just a little longer over time. Owen's teacher told us that we should take lots of photos because we need to have them to embarrass Owen when he's a teenager! Smart woman.

I Miss Owen

2009-07-23T07:24:00.002-04:00

It's been nice being back at work, but I have to admit that I open my picasa web album at least once a day and check out photos of Owen! He's so darn cute and it's becoming more difficult to be away from him during the day. I thought it would get easier over time, and yet I was fine at first and am just now starting to dread leaving him. That might have something to do with our daily routine...

Bryan and I both wake up around 5:30am (on a normal day; we haven't had many of those lately, though, with all Owen's illnesses) - he gets Owen fed and back to sleep for another hour or two, and I go for a run to try to work off the baby weight. After I'm done showering and getting ready for work, Owen is usually still sleeping and I have to say goodbye to him on the baby monitor. Bryan gets him dressed and takes him to daycare. I get to work fairly early and am able to pick up Owen at daycare before 5pm each day, and then spend the early evenings with him while Bryan finishes up at work.

It's a good routine for us. Except I don't get to see Owen until 5pm! He's way too much fun to only see him for a few hours at night. So sad, but that's the life of a working mom, I guess. I can only hope it truly does get easier (less horrible?) over time.

Medical Challenge #2

2009-07-18T14:36:00.005-04:00

I ended my last post with the statement, "What does Owen have up his sleeve for his next trick?" I wrote that on June 25 and it didn't take long to find out. Last Friday night, Bridget packed suitcases for her and Owen to fly up to North Carolina for a couple days to hang out with her family on the outer banks. The flight was early Saturday morning so just like usual we woke up Owen around 6 for him early morning bottle. Everything seemed fine until he made it about halfway through the 7 oz bottle. All of a sudden our son, who had only spit up maybe twice in his entire life, threw up. Thinking it was a one time thing we cleaned him up and continued feeding him. Five minutes later he did it again.

So now we have a three month old throwing up just two hours before he and his mom are supposed to get on a plane. We got him cleaned up again and laid him down in his crib hoping he might be able to get some sleep. A couple minutes later, I looked at the video monitor and something wasn't right. I went into his room only to find that he had thrown up for the third time all over his clothes and this time his mattress (fortunately, Bridget always keeps a waterproof sheet on top of the mattress).

At this point, we begin to worry. What is wrong with Owen? What do we do since it's 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday? What about the flight? We hop in the car and start heading toward the hospital. We call the doctor's office since they open at 8 on Saturday's and talk to a nurse. Since he was not only throwing up but was also extremely lethargic they said we should continue on our way to the hospital. Fortunately, we live very close to the children's hospital in Orlando. That provides two benefits. One, they are used to new parents like us coming in with a sick baby and acting frantic. Two, it means that we don't have to go to a general ER and expose Owen to a bunch of other sick people.

It was in the ER where we quickly found out that it wasn't as bad as we thought. You can always tell those things in the ER when they take you to a room and don't come back for 20-30 minutes. They checked Owen out, gave him some pedialyte, and, in what may have been one of the fastest ER visits ever, I think we were out of there in an hour. While in the ER, Bridget talked to a great agent from Southwest, who was quickly able to change her flight to Wednesday without any problem.

A week later Owen is still having "intestinal issues" and has only been eating about 50-70% of his normal amount of formula but other than that he seems relatively happy and healthy.

I think I'm going to stop thinking about what challenge he may pose to us next and just start enjoying the days that don't involve doctor's visits.

BTW, I posted some new pics of Owen, including some of him hanging out with grandma, on Picasa. Even created a new album since the previous one was getting a bit big. Here's the link to the new album: http://picasaweb.google.com/bryanlabutta/Owen3Months

Query

2009-07-07T11:25:00.006-04:00

What is worse? A sick husband or a sick child? Bryan caught Owen's cold (which went away about a week ago, but is now back) and now I've got two sickos to deal with. If they both weren't super cute, I might be more upset about this.