This Boy's Life

We've got a Mover and Shaker

2009-06-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Things have slowly been getting back to normal at our house.

Wes has been working a lot and I have been hanging out with Little Buddy at home. I try to get out of the house at least once a day, even if it is just taking Sanggletooth for a walk around the park. Buddy loves going on field trips with me. We go to the grocery store, Fred Meyer, the off-leash dog park (which is right on the Edmonds waterfront beach), and sometimes the Mall (but I found out I'm allergic to teenagers... When did I get so old?!). We both welcome the change of scenery.
We have been loving the beautiful weather. We spend a lot of time in our backyard with our black lab Snaggletooth. LB loves to chase Maggs. He holds onto our hands and walks/runs towards a sitting Snaggs, who gets out of the way at the last second and moves to another spot. They can play this game for awhile! You can tell Snaggle is loving it. I really think she understands how little and young LB is right now. They are going to be great friends as they get older!

New things about Buddy:
He's on the move now! LB started crawling a week ago. And I suddenly found out how valuable free time is, lol! He is getting faster every day. Today he found dog's water bowl...what. a. mess.
He is really good at cruising too. He loves hanging on to the coffee table and shuffling along until he can grab something (he has a thing for the tv remote...it all starts so young...lol). I spent the morning clearing everything off that table. The baby proofing has really begun!

Buddy has also been figuring out he can say no. Oh boy! This has been a little trying during meal times. He decided one morning he didn't want pureed baby food anymore. Clamped his lips shut and shook his head when I offered him his old favorite mashed carrots. Pushed the spoon away and got it all over himself, everywhere except his mouth. (He now gets a bath every day!)
I have been giving him finger foods. Beans, raspberries, cooked vegetables, watermelon, avocado, and Cheerios.

And now, some good recovery pictures!

So happy to be hanging out with Dad a week after surgery...

...and Mom too!

Mama with her little 'Boxer'

His profile has changed so much. Interesting tidbit: The surgeon actually gave John the forehead dimensions of a 24-month old. So Jonathan will be 'growing into his forehead' over the next year. The results look great!

I found this toy at a garage sale. It even entertains me! :-)

Ooooohh......outside.....

Yay! I'm wearing him out!

"What is this for?"

"Dad, can I help you hang some pictures?"

Handsome little buddy!

I took pictures of LB in the Pampers box again. It is cool seeing the pics compared to the ones I took two months ago, before his operation.

New LB

Old Jonathan

New Jonathan

Old Jonathan

Recovery Pictures

2009-06-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures I have been promising you. I have been so tired and busy...it is like having a newborn baby all over again. Jonathan cries if we are not holding him and he will not go to sleep anywhere except our arms...our poor, tired, sore arms :-)
I wanted to say thanks to Hugh, Kate, Liam and Harper for dinner on our last night in the hospital. It was great to see them and dinner (and dessert!) was delicious. Kathy also stopped by with a present for John. And she cheered us all up :-) And Wes's friend Tim came by as well. Yay, great to see you Tim!

This was on Monday (4 days after surgery). Swelling had reached a peak and was now starting to subside. We were now waiting for Jonathan to be able to see.

Monday- John loved noisy toys that he could hear.

Auntie Kathy came to visit on Monday!

Tuesday- When he first started to tilt his head back, we knew he was trying to see. It was so cute :-)

Tuesday- He just saw Mama for the first time in 4 days!

Tuesday- Amber and John

Wednesday, our first morning at home. John got a bath in a tub!

Nice scar, eh? I'm glad he won't remember getting it!

Learning how to use a sippy cup.

Yay! I can see clearly now!

We are HOME

2009-06-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

Tuesday didn't start out too promising for us to get discharged from Children's. We woke up at 6:30am (I only got around 4 hours of sleep total....ugh) and saw that Jonathan's eyes were still swollen shut. Bummer. His eyes needed to be open before the doctor would release him. We were so stir-crazy we had to be released on Tuesday.

At around 9am we noticed that Jonathan was tilting his head back and reaching out to touch things...yay! So, we kept him upright and slowly he was able to peek underneath those swollen eyelids. Jonathan was so overjoyed to be able to see! He was laughing and shrieking with glee, it was so adorable :..-)

After that, we got the clearance to leave. I've never seen Wes pack up so fast, lol!!
It was cute saying good-bye to all the nurses. They all looked so happy to be seeing Jonathan leave. We had some great nurses during our stay. The first night in the NICU we had a gal named Amy who I had some good conversations with throughout my first sleepless night It was a great way to relax & smile a bit and know that my baby was in good hands. When we were transfered to the surgery recovery area we had some great gals as well. RN Nicole was the best. She was a mom of a three year old and shared a lot of our thoughts on parenting. We got some great tips and advice from her. We also enjoyed meeting a student nurse named Geni who was from Somali. A mom of 3, this was Geni's last week of school before she became a Nurse. We had a great time talking about our children and she genuinely adored Jonathan. We wish her lots of success in life.

It is great to be home, John is so happy to play with his toys again. He seems even happier than before the operation, too. The surgeon told us that John's skull was starting to put pressure on his brain, maybe that was causing him some stress? I just can't get over how this little guy had major skull surgery a week ago and now he's back in business! Except for looking like he went a few rounds with Mike Tyson, Jonathan is back to his happy self. He really loves Wes more than ever. Wes held him just as much (if not more :-)) than I did during our hospital stay and they deepened their bond, awwww! Little Buddy now beams with delight every time he sees Wes. Makes my heart melt <3

The only hard time we are having is getting John to sleep the past couple of naps & nights. He is more clingy than usual, and hates sleeping in his crib. We rock him for an hour and just when we think he's asleep and are about to put him in his crib, he wakes up and screams bloody murder...sigh...its like back when he was a newborn and we had no idea how to make him go to sleep.
Any good tips from you fellow parents would be appreciated! I'm not liking this lack of sleep :-(

I'm going to go take some pics of Little Buddy today, and then when its Wes's turn to rock our little guy to sleep tonight, I'll post them :-)

Sunday

2009-06-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

It has been 4 days since Jonathan's surgery. For the most part, he is doing good. He no longer needs to wear his monitor sensors while awake, this means he is finally cord-free while awake, YAY! Just in time, because I think he would have pulled them off by now. He is getting kind of feisty :-)
His eyes are swelled shut, totally normal according to the doctors. It looks kind of scary! Jonathan has been a good sport about it- I can tell he is confused about why he can't see, but he is getting good at using his other senses to figure out what is going on around him. He has enjoyed hearing us read and sing to him, and I brought a bunch of small noisy toys from home for him to rattle around.

We had a rough morning! Jonathan threw up a lot- from the medications, we think. Wes and I have gotten this 'baptism' twice each. Welcome to Parenthood, indeed! Poor little buddy is doing a little better this evening. Hopefully his tummy stays calm throughout tonight.

I was finally able to download more pics, here they are:

Right before surgery on Thursday, chewing on Daddy's ID badge

Love my boy!

This pic makes me melt

Our last family "before" photo

....And 10 hours later we finally saw him again.

His head is looking good!

Friday, Day 2 of surgery. Starting to swell.

Saturday, Day 3.

Day 3. We finally got to hold him a lot!

Day 4, Sunday. Wes reading John a story. Look how swollen he is!

These are pictures we took during the week prior to the surgery:

Happy times hanging with Mama

Bonding with Uncle Martin up at Tina's cabin

With his best friend Maggie.

We are on the other side!!!!!!!!

2009-06-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

The past three days have been a blur of sleepless nights and long days. The good news is that Jonathan's surgery is done and without any complications! He is sleeping in my arms as I type this one-handed.

Here is a recap of the past few days:
Thursday we three arrived at Children's Hospital at 6:30am. John was in a great mood despite having an empty stomach (surgery requirement). He was all smiley to the nurses and anesthesiologists (poor little buddy had no idea what was coming...), then Wes and I went to the ICU family room and waited. And waited. And waited some more. A nurse would page us every so often to give us updates about how the surgery was going, thankfully they were always good news.

Finally, at about 5:30pm we got to see Jonathan. He looked like an angel. He was so peaceful- still very sedated. He had a long zigzag of stitches across his noggin (we counted around 80) but his head looked great. The swelling hadn't kicked in yet. We met with the surgeon, Dr. Hopper, who briefed us about how the surgery went and showed us the before and after CT scans of Jonathan's skull. The difference is amazing! John's skull is put together like a jigsaw puzzle, held together by plates and screws made from natural lactic-acid based materials that will dissolve in about a year. Cool, huh!

That night was a sleepless one, and the next day was exhausting. John began to swell everywhere, especially his poor little head. He was very cranky and it was hard to comfort him. Happily, his vital signs were great, so we knew he was healing good.

And that brings me to today. We finally got to hold him!!! Jonathan has been in our arms for most of the day which has helped his mood. His poor little face is so swollen...his eyes are swelled shut. He is frustrated because he can't see anything. We are down to one IV line now (he had three to begin with!) and a few chest monitors for breathing and heart rate. He keeps trying to rip those off :-P

Wes and I are doing good, just very tired. We are happy that we get to room in with Jonathan, but we cannot wait to go home, hopefully on Tuesday. I am grateful that everyone who is helping John has been great. The nurses are working hard to make sure that he is comfy and getting pain-relief meds.

Well, that about sums it all up. I was only able to download a few pics from the first two days. I'll post more pics tomorrow.
Thank you for all your support and love! We feel blessed that so many people care about our wonderful little boy.

Day One: Right after his surgery

Day One: you can see part of his scar

Day One: another scar shot. The tube is for draining excess fluid in his head.

Day Two: Starting to swell more

Below are some before shots. Our family picture was taken the day before John's surgery.

Can't wait to see this smile again :-)

Surgery Tomorrow

2009-06-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

The day that I've been dreading is finally upon me. Tomorrow we are bringing Jonathan to Children's Hospital at 6:45 in the morning. His surgery is expected to be 6 hours long, I'll try to post an update here during that time.

We had a fun day today. Wes started his leave from work today so we got to hang out as a family. Took some really cute photos, which I will have to post tomorrow. I'll have a lot of free time to do so!

Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful and touched by the love and good thoughts from our family, friends, and even strangers.
Until tomorrow!

Lots of play in May

2009-05-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

Jonathan's surgery is less than two weeks away, ack! Wes and I are holding up good- Wes has been extremely busy at work. As for me, I am a born procrastinator. I am really good at not thinking about upcoming deadlines until two days before the event. So, come Tuesday June 2nd...I might not be so calm. But for now I'm all smiles :-D

We have had some beautiful days here and I have been packing the Little Buddy around to various places (mostly just the off-leash dog park with Maggie). After such a long wet Seattle winter it is nice to feel the sun again!
Jonathan and I went to Ballard last weekend for the Norwegian Constitution Day Parade. John got to hear his first marching band, it was a huge hit! Do you think I could ask the Ballard Beavers Marching Band to march past my house every day at noon? hehe

Lately John has been getting his baths in the kitchen sink, much to his delight. It is way easier on my poor old back, too. Posted a bath picture below. Warning: You may die of cuteness upon viewing!...at least I did :-)

We have been working on finger foods. So far John has tried watermelon, avocado, and banana. They were all a hit. Unfortunately, more hits the floor than his mouth. Maggie is good at making the dropped bits disappear. Whadddya do? lol

I hope you all are enjoying your Memorial Weekend! We will be up at my friend Tina's cabin. Our last hurrah before the op.

Being all cute at the Norwegian Day Parade

This pic cracks me up

Annndd...its time to go home

I'm going to be so sad when he doesn't fit in this anymore

Play time!

Making a break for it...

Starting his break-dancing routine

the adorable bath picture

Another self-portrait attempt.

How old?!

2009-05-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Little Man is 8 months old now...How does time go by so fast??
Jonathan is so active these days. He's been climbing all over me when we're sitting on the couch. He is getting really good at his floor break-dancing, I watched him wiggle and roll his way across the living room. Yikes! :-) He really loves running around in his walker- there is a short video at the end of this post if you want to watch our speed demon.

On the social front, Jonathan got to attend another birthday party (he's getting popular! ;-)) His buddy Nathan turned 2, yay! We all went to the zoo after the party, it a good time.

As we are getting closer to John's surgery, I'm still a little bit in denial, which I think is good. I've got to focus my energies on raising this boy, not dwelling on things that haven't happened yet.
Thanks for reading this, I feel so amazed and blessed to have great people in our lives <3<3<3

And now the best part :-D

So happy to run around in his walker

Birthday boy in his new super cape

Nathan tamed the Dragon :-)

Jonathan did a double-take at the tiger growling

Wes packs, I take pictures. Hehe

Cherry Blossoms!

He loves our guard bear

Showing off his new teeth

Busy Boy

2009-05-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring Friends and Family! It feels like it finally arrived here in Seattle. I love the cherry blossoms and tulips everywhere.

Jonathan has been very social lately. We went to his friend Corine's 3rd birthday party at a pool & park in West Seattle. Jonathan really enjoyed splashing around and floating with me, and then he got to play on the swings. A few days later we went to visit my friend Christine and her two daughters Olyvia (age 20 mos) and Lola (8 mos). John loved playing with the girls and I enjoyed hanging out with Christine. Yay for adult interaction!

Last Monday Jonathan had a BAER hearing test, which he got sedated for. The test confirmed he has a mild hearing loss, his hearing is slightly better than mine! Woohoo! The audiologists are still recommending that he get hearing aids. We plan to deal with that after his surgery.

Speaking of his surgery... it is less than a month away!! Time is going by so fast. I am trying not to stress too much about it now, it helps that John is keeping me very busy these days. He gets around on the floor by spinning on his tummy and rolling. It looks like baby break-dancing, hehe. What else is new?...his two front teeth are coming in at the same time, ouch! Little Buddy has been a trooper and not complaining too much as long as he has something to chew on.

In other news, Wes and I have been getting out sans baby. We have a great babysitter that we all like, her name is Sara. She is awesome! Wes and I look forward to getting out more :-)
And now for the fun part: Pictures!

Jonathan loved this swing

Whee!!!

Happy Birthday Corine!

Playdate with Christine

Lola and Christine

Lola says good-bye...too cute!

climbing on the couch with Daddy

I got my hair cut. Less hair for John to grab, yay!

Me with my baby :-)

John is enjoying the spring flowers too!

Jonathan's favorite toy is this giraffe that Christine gave him. He loves it so much! It makes a squeaky noise like a dog toy, so every time he squeezes it Maggie comes running. The temptation has been great, but she has not touched it. Good girl Maggie!

Pictures Galore!

2009-04-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

I love my new camera! And Jonathan has been such a great sport about me snapping pictures of him :-) Here are the latest greatest:

He is almost crawling. Time to babyproof the house!

Enjoying a rare sunny day outside

He kept trying to eat the dandelions.

John got to play while Mom made lunch

I can't wait until he gets bored of this NOISY toy :-)

Jonthan and I took a field trip over to Redmond and Bellevue last week to visit my friends Ingunn and Kathy. Baby John had a great time!

With Aunt Ingunn

And Auntie Kathy!

7 months old

2009-04-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Jonathan is seven months old now! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Let's see, what is he up to these days?

He Grabs Everything within reach.
This has been funny (he loves the crinkly diaper wipes package) and embarrassing (he took out a whole rack of business cards at a busy supermarket checkout).
He is Standing Up good.
Jonathan can stand up holding on to something for a few minutes. He can take a couple of steps hanging on to our hands, although he usually gets sidetracked after the first step (oooh, I need to chew on my fist!). He can also roll and he is pushing himself backwards when on his tummy.
He has Two Teeth.
His bottom two are in. Makes for very cute smiles. Makes for not very fun nights. I've heard every parent sigh about the teething process and now I understand your pain! Poor baby. I've heard a few recommendations for 'Hylands Teething Tablets' and I'm going to find some this week.
He is Eating Well.
Jonathan is finally getting the hang of eating. We hit our peak messiness with split-pea soup. Yikes! Luckily this week more food is going down the hatch rather than spit back out. Yay!
Here's some cute pics:

The aforementioned split-pea soup night.

Happy Solider

Cute story behind this pic: Whenever Jonathan sees Grandpa Don's painting he gets the biggest smile on his face. That's what he's looking at here while playing with Dad and Maggie :-)

First Party

2009-04-02T09:38:00.001-07:00

Jonathan went to his first birthday party. His little friend Audrey turned 1 years old and had a fabulous party. There were six other adorable babies there, it was so cute watching them play with each other on the floor.

Happy Birthday Audrey!

Our family photo

Oooh, I want that toy...

Look at all those babies!
The Birthday Girl

He loved this slinky!

We have a Date

2009-03-27T10:41:00.001-07:00

We went to Children's yesterday for Jonathan's CT scan. Little buddy got put under and had his cute little noggin scanned. Then we got to talk with Jonathan's surgeon, Dr. Hopper.

Jonathan's surgery is scheduled for June 4th. It is MUCH sooner than we were expecting. It shocked Wes and I, but I am glad to get it over with sooner rather than go the whole summer with the impending surgery hanging over our heads.
On surgery day he'll go to Children's Hospital and spend 5 hours in surgery and then spend a couple of days in the ICU and then 3 days in the hospital. The doctor said he should have a speedy recovery, yay!
I think his soft furry little head is beautiful now. What is he going to look like after surgery? I am so scared and nervous! Thankfully we are in good hands with the Children's Team.

In May John goes back to Hearing Loss Clinic for a sedated follow-up BAER hearing test. I am pretty sure his hearing loss is a mild one.

Jonathan is getting so big. He is a happy and curious little guy, and so fearless and energetic! Here are some cute pictures to end on a cheerful note!

Nap time yet?

Look! He's standing! I know, we're in trouble.

So chunky and cute! Notice the drool trail on Dad's shirt?

Trying out my new camera with my fav model :-)

Another model shot...

Hard at Play

Ready for the Seattle Mariners tryouts :-)

This is his cute laugh/cry

must...get...toy...

Wes riling up John right before bedtime :-P

Loving his exersaucer

Solids

2009-03-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Just have a couple of cute pics to share. Jonathan has been enjoying eating solids. He loves carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and bananas. Green beans...not so much.

Excited to chow down

Can I have some carrots now?

J.W. charms Nevada City!

2009-03-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Jonathan and I took a plane down to see family in Nevada City, California. It was baby John's first plane ride and he did fabulous! The flight attendants got a kick out of seeing his flirtatious smiles.
JW (thats what everyone in norCali is calling him :-)) got to see Grammy JoanE, great grandparents Nana and Bebop, Uncle Jarrod and Auntie Holly, and many other friendly faces. It was a special trip because my brother Jarrod, who is in the Army stationed in Afghanistan, was home for two weeks. We had a lot of fun getting family and friends together for mexican food (16 of us!), and going to Holly's house for a great Italian dinner that her mom cooked.

JW was mesmerized by Bebop's donald duck impersonations and Nana's sparkly glasses. He loved playing with his Grammy JoanE. He had so much fun playing with Grammy's tambourine. This kid loves to make loud noise!
It was sad to say goodbye to Nevada City for now, but little John Wesley will be back!

In the past two weeks we have been feeding Jonathan solid foods. He seems to love the carrots best, mmmm! John is also rolling over and getting good at sitting up. He's growing so fast...

Playing with Grammy and the tambourine

Uncle Jarrod

4 generations: Nana, Grammy, Me, and JW

Talking with Patsy: "How you doin'?"

Holly, Jarrod, Me, and JW

Hanging out with Great Aunt Lyn. He loved that menu!

Aren't we cute?

Great Auntie Barbie came by to visit and was a big hit!

Munching on Holly's hair

Dinner with Holly's family. A great feast!

The Times They Are A Changin'

2009-02-01T01:10:00.000-08:00

Our little guy is growing up too fast! We took Jonathan to meet with friends for dinner at the Crab Pot. He had a great time sitting in his highchair and seeing all the action at the table. Jonathan loves his Auntie Tina, she always gets a few smiles out of him!
We have gotten into a bedtime routine of reading books. Jonathan loves looking at the pictures and turning the pages. Our favorite is 'Goodnight Moon'.

Hard to believe that only 5 months ago we had a little infant who just wanted to be swaddled up like a burrito. Now he loves to stand up and see the world. There's no slowing this kid down. Lock up your daughters! :-)

Standing at four and a half moths old.

5 months old

Happy about bath time!

Chillin' with Mom

Hanging with the Daddy O

Fun dinner at the Crab Pot

The little guy and I will be going to my hometown in a few weeks. J.W.'s uncle Jarrod is getting a couple weeks leave from his station at a FOB in Afghanistan. It is going to be so cute seeing my brother meet his nephew. I'll be posting pictures when I get back!

I haven't gotten good sleep for 4 months now?

2009-01-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

Hi Y'all!

We had record-breaking snowfall here in Seattle during Christmas. These storms threw our city into chaos, but we had a good time playing in the powder with Maggie. I'll always remember Jonathan's first Christmas being a white one.

Our little boy had a BAER hearing test this month and it revealed he has a mild hearing loss. It was kind of a blow to us, but not entirely unexpected. I also have a mild hearing loss, I wear tiny hearing aids. I just got mine a few years ago and what a difference it has made in my life!! I'm happy that we caught Jonathan's hearing loss so early. Did you know they make hearing aids for 6 month old babies?

On a more positive note, Jonathan just had a great visit with his pediatrician. He is now 17.1 lbs and is hitting all of his milestones, yay!!!!!!

Look at all that snow! This was during Christmas.

Waiting for Santa to come...

who needs toys when you got feet?

Thanksgiving

2008-12-30T00:02:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love being around family and/or friends. This year was a rare treat. We drove over to Twin Falls, Idaho where Wes's whole family gathered. What a blast! Jonathan really enjoyed being carried around and doted on by everyone, especially Grandpa Don & Grandma Linda (see proof below :-))

My favorite night was the last night when we all sat around the kitchen table and played Uno Attack late into the evening. Wes always ended up with so many cards, lol!

All 14 of us :-)

Jonathan with Shaley, Tyler, and Alyssa

Our Little Buddy

2008-12-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hello Family and Friends!

It has been a busy year in the Big O household, filled with joy and sadness. We spent most of 2008 preparing for life with our new baby. Jonathan was born on September 6th, weighing a hearty 8lbs, 11oz!

I figured it would be good to start posting about Jonathan's condition since a lot of people have questions about our little guy. Jonathan has Craniosynostosis, which means two of his sutures (soft spots in his head) closed too early. His specific closure is called bicoronal and is along the top of his forehead.
He had genetic testing in November which revealed he has Muenke Syndrome. This non-syndromic syndrome was just discovered in 1996, and it is pretty rare- only occurring in 1 out of 30,000 births. Luckily it is a very mild syndrome and should not affect his brain development or intelligence at all.
However, he does need surgery on his skull this coming summer. This is to make sure his brain has plenty of room to grow and not get squished. The doctors at Children's Hospital are some of the best in the nation, we know our baby is in good hands.

Wes and I are holding up well. The first two months were tough, as any parent can imagine. We didn't have much information about Cranio until we went to Children's in November. Googling didn't help with our fears, either! I am so incredibly thankful I have Wes in my life. If I had to go through all this alone I would really be a mess! Our family and friends have been an awesome source of support, love, and much needed laughter. Thank you very much to everyone who has helped us cope, we love you!!!

My plan is to use this blog to keep everyone updated about how our boy is growing and thriving.
Thanks for reading Jonathan's Journey!

Maggie loves 'her' baby :-)

J.W.'s first Halloween

Those cute cheeks kill me!