NCAA Picks

Markus made his first NCAA picks this year! He had Kansas winning it all, so it's already busted. I don't know if I should be teaching gambling to a 16-month old, but it's fun!






In other news, Sandra is doing great and we're still on track for our new baby girl in May! Also, I recently fell into the hole that is Facebook, so posting photos and updates on the blog has been scarce! I will get back on track though.

Markus says, "uh-oh" for EVERYTHING these days. Turn the TV on, "uh-oh", turn it off -- "uh-oh", walk in the room -- "uh-oh", ...you get the picture. It's cute, but also difficult to decipher. He's also showing more interest in the books we read to him and pointing and asking what it is ("oeresi?", or something like that).

Want Excitement? Have a Toddler!

Markus is so much fun. I personally loved the newborn stage (can't wait for Baby K to be born so I can have a newborn again!) but find the toddler stage to be super difficult. Between power struggles, teething (those molars are fierce and they're coming in 4 at a time), the unfortunate Staph Aureous experience, the grunting that passes for speech, and trying to get the kid to eat something other than crackers while not overfeeding, it's been a daily challenge. I haven't even mentioned the inconsistent sleep and the incredible trials a very mobile toddler bring to a very pregnant mom.

For a peaceful life, we can sometimes find ourselves letting Markus do something we know deep down inside is Not A Good Idea.

Yesterday morning, while I blissfully napped in the basement, Markus was spending time with his grandmother. Since it was her birthday, the phone was ringing pretty much non-stop with well wishes. From my seat on the basement couch, I was awoken by the phone ringing then hanging up 4 times in a row. No one was answering it, but I was now awake and so decided to go to the bathroom and wash up and go up to eat breakfast. While I was in the loo, the door opened and my mom peaked in.

"Markus called 911 and the police are here."

It was all I could do not to laugh. I was completely unsurprised. This was bound to happen; Markus, like every other toddler I've heard of, loves the phone. Just wants to play with it, press the buttons, put it in his mouth, and pretend to have a conversation. As I said, for a peaceful life, we sometimes give in to his desire to play with the phone, and despite my warnings not to give in, my mom had let him play with the phone and now the cops were at the house. She'd come down to check on me at the cop's suggestion because they couldn't be sure I hadn't been trying to call for help.

The cop was gone by the time I got upstairs, but apparently he was really nice and understanding. Didn't even admonish Mom not to let the baby play with the phone anymore. I did plenty of that. :P

Preparing for Baby Sister

I don't think we made a huge attention-grabbing post about this, but for about 2 months we've known our second baby is a GIRL! We're excited beyond belief to be welcoming a daughter into our family, and have been gently and slowly preparing Markus for the enormous change to come. Well, as much as we can prepare a young, non-verbal toddler for anything!

Lately I've been sitting on the couch kind of a lot, due to a mix of pregnancy-induced laziness and pregnancy-and-toddler-induced exhaustion. Markus is fantastic at independent play, sometimes for as long as 10 minutes at a time, but he does come to me a lot. I'm his "home base" and in between his duties as a plastic bowl wrangler and toy inspector, he likes to come to me and bury his face in my lap. Which now sort-of includes my belly.

In the interest of saving my unborn baby from enthusiastic head-butts, I began telling Markus that his baby sister was inside and he had to be gentle. I would lift up my shirt and show him my belly (he usually pokes my now-outtie belly button with his finger and laughs when I giggle) and point to my belly, saying, "It's your baby sister in there. Let's be gentle." This inevitably resulted in tiny finger-pokes all over my belly, which weren't much gentler than the aforementioned head-butts. I took his hand and softly stroked my belly with it, telling Markus, "We have to be gentle. Your sister is very small."

Being a stay-at-home mom, I obviously talk to Markus all day long. I tell him lots of things: what I'm doing at any given time, things I'm thinking about, what gramma was telling me on the phone, what I'm planning on making for dinner, etc. I also give him many instructions and commands throughout the day, most of them beginning with "don't" or "stop" or "OMG NOOOOOO!!!" It's still incredible when, often days later, he remembers one thing and repeats or demonstrates understanding of it.

Today, I was crouching in front of Markus, having just received one of his amazing little toddler hugs, when it occurred to me to ask, "Markus, where's your sister?" Without hesitation, Markus pointed to my belly, then rubbed it gently. Just as I'd taught him! It was the sweetest thing. I'm at my parents' house for the week, while Raph works on the new baby's nursery and some other projects around the house, so I immediately wanted to show my mom Markus' new trick. He repeated it, but so much better - he first "hugged" my belly, then rubbed both hands all over it. It was very loving and just wonderful.

I hope this means he'll love his sister and be gentle with her when she's physically here...time will tell!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!

Markus' 15 Month Check-Up

Yesterday Markus had his 15 month check up at the pediatrician. He is now 33 1/8th inches tall and weighs 31 pounds. He's two inches taller than his last check-up but he is basically the same weight. This was okay as he was way off the scale last time, but now he's just off the scale. =)

Markus has been eating less, and is basically eating three meals a day (not including milk). He's running around and is now very fond of climbing! This is normal for toddlers as they are excited to be up and about, but is, of course, nerve-wracking for us!

Markus also got his MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) and HIB vaccine this time. The MMR might cause him to have a fever in a week, the pediatrician informed us, but we knew from our unfortunate friends who had to find this out the hard way with their son a few years back!

All in all, Markus is doing great. The doctor also gave us a dose of reality when she said next time we visit, we'll be bringing TWO kids! And she was right! YIKES! We're excited, but also nervous!

The Staphylococcus aureus experience

On Thursday (Jan 28th) Sandra noticed a large bump on Markus' pelvis. I came home from work and we immediately called the pediatrician and set up an appointment to get it checked out Friday morning. We did what every parent is NOT supposed to do -- used the Internet and our parenting book to diagnose Markus with a hernia. We were pretty upset and anxious that night, which made it difficult to sleep. We woke up Friday morning and took Markus to see a pediatrician. We had no idea what was to follow.

The doctor was "concerned", which really made us nervous since doctors don't really say that and he had another doctor look at the bump. They told us to go to Morristown hospital to meet with a pediatric surgeon that they partner with. Morristown is about 30 minutes away from us, but the surgeon was there performing a surgery, so we were sent there to meet him. We immediately went to the Morristown hospital emergency department where about 6 different doctors examined Markus, who was now really upset about the whole thing. Finally around noon, the surgeon examined him. It was determined that Markus had an abscess (an infection underneath the skin). The surgeon stuck a needle in him to drain some fluid to send to the lab. It hurt! They sent us home with some antibiotics to treat the abscess. They told us to come back if his temperature was above 101. We went home that evening around 3 o'clock and ate some lunch/dinner. After an hour or so, we thought Markus was hot, so we checked his temperature and it was 102.4. As if we weren't nervous enough!

We packed up and went BACK to the hospital (this is still Friday). Again with the 5 doctors. The doctor on staff that day said that they probably shouldn't have told us to come back with anything over 101. Freakin' great. Now they say since we're here, we can opt for surgery (requiring Markus to be sedated) OR continue with the antibiotics. Since it was early with the antibiotic treatment, we decided to stick with the original plan, knowing that the fever was okay and treated with Motrin. And we set up a follow up appointment with our pediatrician in the morning.

Home again Friday night. We eventually got to sleep. At 3:00 a.m., I woke up with some sort of stomach virus. Into the bathroom I ran, vomiting...enough said. And then every hour after that. Morning came and Markus' infection was looking slightly worse, not better. I was unable to really move...I was miserable and I couldn't stop throwing up every hour. I honestly couldn't make it to the doctor. Sandra's mother came down and they went to the pediatrician. I tried to rest, but I felt terrible, both physically and mentally. Sandra called me to say pediatrician wants Markus to go to the hospital to do intravenous antibiotics. I was barely able to walk, so Sandra went with her mom to Overlook hospital. Finally, around 11:00 I managed to go a few hours without any "interruptions" and I ate an apple, drank a bunch of water, took a Tylenol and went to the hospital.

When I got there I found out that we would be there at least overnight. This was now Saturday afternoon. So there we are at the hospital, our little guy with an IV, I’m barely functioning and Sandra with a cold (and 6 months pregnant!) as well. Later that day both our parents came down and stayed with us for a while. The room they gave us was nice – had a raised crib, bed (for Sandra) and a nice pleather couch for me to sleep.

Anyway, the idea was to keep Markus in IV antibiotics (IVAB) to get the maximum effectiveness. The surgeon would see the results the next day and determine if he needed to do something (draining the infection with a needle or through surgery), or continue IVAB. I think we got some sleep that night, and the next morning (Sunday) the doctor checked him out and said that we should continue doing IVAB until there is a real reason to do any incisions. We also did warm compresses. The warm compresses seemed to be working to raise the infection and drain as much pus as possible without surgery. Although it is quite horrible to see Markus crying in pain while the doctor is poking and squeezing, the IVAB and compresses were working. The infected site started looking better and the we were told to continue this treatment.

Sandra’s parents and sister and Markus’ godparents came to visit and this allowed us to go home, clean up and bring some things back with us as we knew we were going to have to stay at the hospital for at least another day. So now it was Sunday night, and it has been a long, long weekend.

Now, having said all that, Markus is doing very well. The infection doesn’t bother him or hurt (as long as doctor’s aren’t poking at it) and he is basically the same active little guy. He hasn’t had a fever all day today, and the area looks better. All great things. They have toys for him to play with and both Sandra and I are here with him.

Anyway, I have a laptop here and I’m going to work from the hospital on Monday and possibly Tuesday. I’m exhausted now (oh, I finally got my appetite back this evening) and going to sleep on my pleather couch.

Monday came and I made a few calls and e-mails to explain the situation at work. At this point Markus was doing much better and his infection was under control. He had an IV dose every eight hours, for one hour each dose. Nurses would come in periodically to check his temperature and blood pressure. Markus didn't have a fever since Saturday, and we didn't give him Motrin Sunday or Monday. Again, we were there all day Monday into Tuesday.

Finally, on Tuesday 4:00 p.m., the doctor said that we could go home and continue with oral antibiotics. No surgery needed and hopefully the infection site will heal with the AB. We were so glad to go home! It's now Sunday night (after the Saints just won the Superbowl) and we've gone all week with the oral AB. Markus is doing great and life is pretty much back to normal. He even LIKES the medicine! (I think it's strawberry flavored).

The hospital (Overlook) really did a good job of trying to make us feel comfortable. They gave Markus a bunch of toys to play with, they have a play room, televisions, DVDs, as well as a masseuse (which Sandra took advantage of) and even a musical coordinator who will sing to Markus if he needs help sleeping. Really great staff over there.

Anyway, that's the scoop of our weekend last weekend. The whole ordeal knocked us out of our day-to-day grind and it just makes us appreciate how fortunate we are. We're so blessed with Markus and there are no words to describe the anxiety/sadness/emotions you feel when your child is sick in any way. There was a little scare that Thursday and Friday, and your mind just worries about the worst. Human nature, I guess. No matter how much you know that things will probably be okay, it's tough to shake the worry.

Well, so our lives as parents continue. I'm sure this won't be the last scare, but we'll do our best to make sure it is!

(going out to flirt with nurses)

(gotta make some calls...)


(playing with mommy)

(toys toys toys!)

(getting ready to go home!)

Markus Walks!

Right before the New Year, Markus started walking! It took him a little over 13 months, but he finally took a few steps without holding on to anything. He's done it a couple of times and each time the room goes quiet with tension and excitement. Here's a short video where Markus demonstrates his talent (while acting like a little monster):

House update! The "Office" / New Baby's Room

What a busy year! Most of our time has been spent with Markus -- watching him grow, play, and learn. But there are those rare times where I find time to continue to do work on our first home! First, here's a picture of me in the backyard blowing around a pile of leaves onto a tarp, which I will drag out to the front of the house for our town will pick up. I just thought this was funny.

(apparently leaves fall of the trees EVERY year...who knew?)

The room next to Markus' room was supposed to be our office. It took me practically the entire year to get it up to snuff, mostly because I couldn't do any work at night in that room because it would wake Markus up. It turns out that this was serendipity. Now that's it's finished, we no longer are going to be using this as an office, but it will be the new nursery! Everything happens for a reason. Anyway, here's the rundown of what was done (that I can remember and not necessarily in this order) and some before/after pictures, which are always fun.

• Remove old, stank carpet
• Remove old tiles beneath carpet
• Refinish oak floors - sand and poly (contractors)
• Remove old doors, closet shelves, and trim (all of it, except window sash)
• Remove old light fixture
• Change all old outlets to new outlets
  
• Change old dimmer with new dimmer
  
• Change old telephone outlet to modern outlet
  
• Remove peeling paint from walls (almost all walls)
  
• Prime and seal walls, remove few more spots of bubbling old paint, and repeat.
• Fix bumpy ceiling (corner near entry door was bad)
  
• Skimcoat all walls and ceiling (3 coats min, with sanding in between each coat!)
• Prime all walls and ceiling
• Install new door (solid, six-panel)
• Install new closet doors (bi-fold set)
  
• Install new trim (baseboards, door, window, and closet)
• Caulk around trim
• Prime and paint all trim and doors
• Strip old registers of paint (the reason I did this was because our registers are some unique size that Home Depot/Lowes doesn't carry. I thought this was a viable option and they came out nice). Spray primer and spray paint.
  
• Paint ceiling
• Paint walls
• Install new light and window shades
  
• CLEAN UP

I think that about covers it. I finished this about two or three months ago. This room is basically all new now, with nice smooth walls and ceiling. We will now decorate it for our new baby! Here are the b/a pictures. I matched up some of the photos as best I could.

(corner, new trim, register, blinds outlet, floor)

(closet, you can see the peeling paint)

(old door)

(new door -- thanks BRO!)

That reminds me -- hanging a new door (even if pre-hung!) is not easy when the entire house is lopsided! My brother and I changed 5 doors upstairs (3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 linen closet) and each one was much more difficult that we originally thought due to the unevenness of the framing.

Anyway, the next and current project is the shag carpet room (update: no more shag remains!). The plan is to rip off the faux wood paneling (YIKES), change the two little closets into one pantry, remove the textured ceiling and faux wood beams (YIKES), put in some better lighting, new trim, doors, and some laminate wood flooring, which will continue to the basement laundry room. Piece of cake, no? I'll probably have an update in 3 years!