Thanksgiving '08

Aunt Jean, Aunt Paula, Uncle Brad, plus new girlfriend with two teenage kids and Aunt Paula's mother. This is what Thanksgiving consisted of this year, and no, we're not really related to any of these people. But these people are what our family is now. We've known them almost as long as we've lived in the Springs and we've bonded through miraculous tragedy. Jean and Paula are the women who stayed up with me all night the night that Shane got run over. Brad fed us again and again and again at the hospital. We bicker and fight like family, but we always come back together. We have virtually nothing in common, but that's what keeps things interesting, right? There was no indegestion after dinner this year, no splenda (thank God), but no Jake and Claire, either, big bummer. No mishap with too many people bringing bread. And the best thing about Thanksgiving this year? There was no Shane walking home in the snow (in shorts) after slamming his broken $60 bottle of Stranahan's in the middle of the intersection. Is that the anger management problem we've been hearing about?

I'm 9 months old!

Carissa is 9 months old, and has said her first word! She has been babbling since she was around 3 or 4 months old, occasionally saying mama, dada, baba, agoo, etc. But yesterday she looked right at me, said, "Maaaammaaaaaaaa!" and held out her arms. I have to believe that she really meant mama as in the person who keeps her warm and safe and snuggly. She also successfully used the spoon to get yogurt into her mouth! I really didn't know what I was trying to accomplish when I gave her a spoon loaded up with a white, gooey substance that would in all probability end up all over me, the floor, the walls and not in her mouth; but she really put the spoon in her mouth and slurped up the yogurt! I was so excited! Ok, I'm not trying to say that my child poops gold or anything like that. You all know what a tough year I've had adjusting to motherhood. I'm just so glad to finally see and feel some.......progress? results? enjoyment? (She also can play peekaboo! and isn't that the cutest picture ever?)

Carissa's Hip Update

I thought I would update everyone on how Carissa is doing with her hip dysplasia. Today we went to see her orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Siegel. Just writing the word "surgeon" freaks me out, and yes, surgery is always a possibility for her. Let me recap what has happened with her hips recently. At almost three months old we were told that Carissa could stop wearing her harness altogether, her hips looked good. At six months old we were told that her right hip ball hadn't formed from cartilage to bone, and therefore her hip angle wasn't coming along as it should; she would have to wear a brace again only at night. I also had her wear it during naps, too, since she slept so well with it on. Today Dr. Siegel said her x-ray showed both hip balls had formed bone, and her right hip angle had come from 29 to 24. The goal is to get it to below 20 by age two. Her left hip is already at 20. In Dr. Siegel's words, her hips look, "gorgeous." I am particularly worried about Carissa's gross motor skill development. She seems to have no interest in moving around. She won't scoot, crawl, creep, pull up, or stand with my support. She sits. Dr. Siegel said not to worry, at all. In fact some babies don't walk until 18 months! She reassured me not to worry unless she's still not pulling up at 12 or 13 months. "Listen to how vocal she is, though," Dr. Siegel said. It's true. My little girl is a talker. She babbles and coos constantly. At birth she could say, "agoo," and it's just built from there. Today I asked her for an orange she was playing with with my hand stretched out and she gave it to me. I think she's doing really well where language is concerned. And she may be a gymnast! Because of her hip dysplasia, she is incredibly flexible. When I lay her on her tummy sometimes her legs go straight out to the sides in the splits. Dr. Siegel also said this was totally normal for babies with hip dysplasia, nothing to worry about and she would probably be flexible for the rest of her life. Lucky her. Thank God for orthopedic surgeons and for hip checks at birth. I asked what the consequences of hip dysplasia were. She said that if hips weren't formed perfectly then there could be degenitive arthritis and hip replacement surgery at 30 years old. Wow, that's scary. She also pointed out that even though her hips look good now, there is no guarantee that her hip checks later on will turn out great. So keep praying!

Hmmmm.....

I just want to think a bit outloud...bear with me. We are trying to go see some friends in Portland. Some really good friends whom we haven't seen in at least 4 years. We've entirely missed one of their kids' birth and childhood. The other three we've missed a great deal of their lives. Sad. So we're going. But here's the problem. It seems like it's so much work to go on vacation. What are we going to do with the dogs? The cat? The house? The BABY!! Ok, we're taking the baby, obviously. How are we supposed to bring food and formula (oh yeah, I'm not nursing any more, judge me, I dare you) and diapers and a curling iron-you know, the necessities. Oy! It just seems like it's too much to handle looking at it from this side. But a lot of things looked like they were just too big to handle, but they turned out to be ok. Just look at Shane's rising from the dead. I'm glad I didn't see that one coming.

Ok, here's another totally different train of thought. I'm so tired of being nice!!! Where has nice gotten me, really. I'm just lying to myself and to everyone else. So my "friend" totally flaked on us, again, the other night. We had invited her, them, whatever they are, to have a fun wine tasting, just like Filoli does. Well, Saturday afternoon rolls around, and we still hadn't nailed down a plan. So my dear Speedbump calls her up. Well, maybe she can and maybe she can't. She's sooooooo busy today. AAAARrrrggggghhhh! I was pissed. That's worse than flaking. It's like we have to hold our schedule open to see if we will be blessed by her presence or not. So I called her back and left a message. Have fun with whatever you're doing, we'll be doing something else, said I. I'm so proud of myself for honestly assessing the situation, being justifiably pissed off, then doing something about it. Is this a wise path to travel on? Hmmmmmm......