Titus and Baby Food

We are working on getting more food into Titus and exposing him to new tastes and sensations. His favorite new thing is the small mesh back that we put fruit in and then he chews on it. He LOVES grapes.

Today, we experimented with some baby food - and although he was not thrilled with the spoon, he was enjoying the new taste.

We also have found some new toys for Titus. Titus seems to be seeing peripherally - especially things that are above him. He tracks them with his eyes and is reaching for them.

Here's a few pics from today's play time and eat time.

Free Breakfast?

"Ikea has free breakfast on Saturday till 10:30" Becky says. "Let's take the boys".

Free - that sounds good. And, it's Saturday morning in Frisco - every body else will be at soccer games, football games, basketball games. I've been to IKEA at 10am on Saturday and no one was there.

"Sure, that will be fun - and I need to buy that table anyway."
And who really reads the ads in the paper to see that IKEA was giving away free breakfast, I thought.

So, you can imagine our surprise as we pulled into the parking lot with 5 starving children and two hungry parents to find that all of Frisco had showed up for the free breakfast, and the HUGE sale on pots and pans. I haven't seen a crowd like that since opening day at IKEA.

We looked at each other, looked at the line snaked around the entire second floor, and I said "Krispy Kreme is just around the corner".

At least the first donut at Krispy Kreme was free!

Becky's Surprise

As I mentioned earlier, Becky was away for the weekend. And, as I mentioned earlier, we sold our bed and bought a new king-size bed that was delivered last week.

So, knowing that Becky was going to be gone, I had planned to paint our bedroom and add some accessories over the weekend and surprise her when she came back. I've done this before (painting rooms while she's gone) but generally have given her a little hint so she wouldn't be too surprised. We've had paint chips taped to the wall for a week now and had picked a color that we both liked.


Friday night after Titus was asleep (9pm), Aidan and I started painting. Actually, Aidan watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 while I painted, but he helped the next day. By the time I finished the first coat it was 2am. Those of you who know me know that for me to stay awake past 10pm is a miracle, but I drank a 16oz Monster energy drink at 8pm that night - so I was wired and ready to go. After I finished painting at 2am, I was still wide awake, so I started to watch Iron Man in the media room.


By 3am, I was starting to get sleepy. And that's when Titus' alarms started going off . . . every 15 minutes . . . for the next 3 hours. By that point, I was too tired to realize that the problem was with the machine and not his oxygen level. Needless to say, I was a little tired on Saturday, but Aidan was a great help in putting on a 2nd coat of paint. And, you can't even find the little bit of paint that I spilled on the carpet.

When Becky came in, she was feeling so sick that all she really noticed was the lamp. She really didn't notice the paint until several hours later. But, she loves her new room. Now, if we can just train Quita to stay off the bed we'll be doing good. And, next time she's gone, I'll be ready to paint the kitchen.

Now, It's 4 out of 7

Well, Becky has what Tucker had - and she feels miserable.

Noah, Cade and Titus spent the weekend with Nana - and they have all broken out with hives/bumps all over and they are scratching themselves silly/

But, Aidan and Titus are doing ok.

And, I . . . well, i feel itchy since the boys got home.

2 Out of 5

Monday night, Tucker complained of his back hurting. He kept saying "my back hurts". And then he threw up in the kitchen, then in his bed, then in the kitchen again, then on the counter. But the next time, he threw up in the toilet. So we shipped him off to Nana's house so he wouldn't get anyone sick.

Last night, Aidan complains he doesn't feel good. I ask him "Does your back hurt?" He didn't think this was funny.

Then Tucker starts whining he doesn't feel good and then he has diarrhea (lovely).

So Aidan is sleeping next to our bed and Tucker is sleeping at the foot of our bed. And this is how our night went.

Aidan: "I'm gonna throw up."
Mom & Dad: "Run!"
Tucker: "I gotta go POO!"
Mom & Dad: "Run!"
Aidan: "Tucker, go to the other bathroom!"
Tucker: "I gotta go POOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Mom & Dad: "RUN!!!!"
Titus (monitor): BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

And this cycle repeated itself every 15 minutes between 10 and midnight. But after midnight, everyone slept till 6am.

And, then at 6am this morning, I woke to "I'm gonna throw up!" And, the day began.

"This the day the Lord has made, let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it".
Psalm 118:24

Turning Over

At therapy, we have been working with Titus turning over. We practice and practice and practice with him. Well, last night, his monitors went off, Becky went in, and he had turned over in his bed all by himself (he wasn't too happy about it). But it is great to see his progress. He's becoming quite the scooter on the floor. He's learning to kick his feet and push himself along.

Please continue to pray for his cough/drainage. He's had a lot more drainage over the last few days and we are suctioning several times a day. But at his doctor's appt yesterday, his lungs are clear (PTL). He even had "snot bubbles" in his nose yesterday - which is real common for most babies, but when you have such a large cleft palate, it's very rare when Titus' nose actually runs. And, due to the drainage, we've been up a lot over the last few nights. And, our night nurse, Clarice, was unable to come this week since she has a cold. As a result, Becky and I are running on low energy (actually, I've moved from coffee to Monster energy drinks to keep me awake at work!)

And, the funny thing is, Becky and I bought a new bed last week (which is to be delivered today). We decided to sell our old queen-size bedroom set on Craigslist - and found a great buyer immediately. Unfortunately, he came and picked up the bed on Monday. We tried to sleep on an air mattress the first night, which was a comedy of errors - so one of us has been sleeping on the air mattress and one of us on the sofa which I know is adding to the extra fatigue. But we are SO excited to sleep on a new king-size mattress tonight!

Thanks for your prayers - I'll post new pics soon.

Quick Update

First of all, I've been swamped at work last week, so there were no times for updates. I apologize for that - but more about that later.

It's been a busy few weeks for the family. Titus is doing good - although he still has a wet cough. The pulmonologist checked him out this week and his lungs are clear, so it's basically just drainage. It could be allergies during this change of season. Fortunately, we have the suction machine and are quite adept at using it. Now, Titus doesn't like it very much, but it does clean him out. We do watch him carefully though since we don't want this to go down into his chest.

Titus is growing, but has not put on much weight. We have bumped up the amount of formula so we will see how he does with that. He does seem to show a renewed interest in the bottle. Some of that could be due to his teething, but he is even wrapping his hands around the bottle helping to hold it in, or pull it out.

Titus has gotten some new toys - and he's loving those, but his favorite toy is still my electric toothbrush. He loves the vibration and he definately shows his discontent when you turn it off or take it away from him.

Cade got his hearing aid last week for his right ear. He LOVES it - and goes around telling everyone and showing everyone. He is so excited about it that now Tucker wants one. We keep telling Tucker he doesn't need one, but I won't be surprised if I get home and Tucker has made one and will be walking around with play dough in his ear. BTW, if you see Cade, ask him about his upcoming birthday. He is so excited to turn 4 in October.

I haven't mentioned my work lately, but just a quick update on my status. The division I work for was sold to a private UK-based company in July. It has been extremely busy over the last few months as we have been learning the new company while keeping the business running. But, since the new company only bought a portion of the company and not the entire corporation, we have been incredibly busy creating a payroll system, HR system, benefits, etc. It's very much the analogy of building the car while you are driving it down the road. Or, as my VP states, we are ducks on the water - sitting calmly on the surface, but kicking/swimming like crazy under the surface. The great thing is my job is secure, the new company is great, and although very tiring, I'm having the most fun I've had in years learning new things.

I'll close for now, but just wanted to give a quick update - look for more over the next few weeks. We can't believe Titus is almost a year old.