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Our Life in a Nutshell – How Did I Get in this Nutshell?
2013, February 24
MRI update
Posted in Family, Health at 10:32 pm by Katie
So, we had Caleb’s MRI a couple weeks ago now. It was an adventurous day. I don’t think we were nervous going into the MRI; after all, it’s basically just a scan. The nervous part came from the fact that Caleb had to be sedated because he was under 5.
But let’s start at the beginning. Caleb was diagnosed when he was 2 with an osteochondroma, a benign tumor made of bone and cartilage, on the end of the ulna bone in his right arm, right at the wrist. We only had it looked at because my sister Beth noticed he was holding his hand funny in some pictures. We asked his pediatrician, and she sent him for xrays, then to Boston Children’s Hospital for further testing. This is what he was diagnosed with.
Although benign, the placement of the tumor has caused problems. Having formed right at the growth plate in his wrist, as it’s grown, and as Caleb’s grown, it’s caused the radius bone to bow away from the ulna, causing a deformity of his arm. For some kids with the same condition, there’s barely any change in the bone. With Caleb, the bowing of the radius is extreme.
The worry with this whole thing is not actually about the tumor; it is benign, after all. The worry is about the elbow. With the continued bowing of the radius, there’s a chance that the bone could detach from the elbow joint. This is not fixable. If that happens, he completely loses the use of his right forearm and hand for the rest of his life.
Clearly, we want to avoid this at any cost.
The MRI showed us that the cost is going to be surgery. We knew he was going to have to have surgery at some point. As the doctor said, for some kids, they don’t have to have surgery until they’re 15 or 16 and done growing. He knew from the rate of growth of the tumor and how much the arm was bowing that that would not be the case for Caleb.
The results. The good news is that the MRI shows the elbow currently looks fine. Although the bone has changed at the elbow, it is still completely attached. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately the tumor is still attached to the growth plate at his wrist. We were hoping it had grown away from it enough that they could do the surgery and remove the whole thing at once. The tumor also still has a lot of cartilage on it, which means there’s still a lot of growth left in it. Also not the best news.
So we’ve made the decision to do surgery. Unfortunately by doing it this early, he will have to have at least another one in the future, but we can’t take the chance of the elbow being compromised. So they’ll remove as much of the tumor as they can without touching the growth plate, and they’ll also straighten his arm. We’re not entirely sure if he’ll end up with both a rod and pins in his arm, but by straightening it with this surgery, when the tumor continues to grow, which it will for years, we won’t have to worry about his arm continuing to bow and the elbow being in jeopardy. All pressure from the future growing tumor will be put straight up the bone. It will be uncomfortable for him, but will not create any issues with the elbow.
He’ll be in a cast for 6-8 weeks, will probably have physical therapy once it’s removed, and he’ll have to relearn how to write and hold utensils and whatnot. But if we do the surgery this spring, he can be cast-free for the summer and writing again before kindergarten.
So, not the best outcome, but the best for Caleb. Thank you to all for your prayers and positive thoughts during this whole process.
2013, January 1
One Year Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics at 8:55 pm by Katie
One. Year. Old. How in the world did that happen?! I cannot believe my baby is already one. This year flew by so fast, and now instead of a teeny, tiny little baby, we have a cute, happy, walking toddler. *sniff*
So, stats for the baby on his last monthly post. At his one-year appointment, he weighed 19lbs, 10oz, putting him in the 28th percentile. He was 28.75in tall, squeezing him in at about the 12th percentile. And his head circumference was 46cm, putting him at 47th percentile. All in all, he’s pretty teeny, and I love it. All the boys have never been big, and I’m sure that’s going to change at some point, but for now I love that’s he’s teeny and our Jacob.
This kid is STILL so happy. When he’s not teething, which doesn’t seem to be often lately, he’s content and smiley and laughs all the time. He does this thing when he’s excited where he squints his eyes when he smiles and throws his head back in happiness. Love it. He is starting to get that infamous toddler temper, though. He’s starting to show what he likes and what he doesn’t rather loudly and forcefully.
We are having a hard time transitioning him from a bottle to a sippy cup, however. We successfully transitioned him off formula and to regular milk (the budget thanks us for that), but he hates having to work harder with the sippy cup. Since he’s been sick and really needs the fluids, we’ve backed off it for a while, but it’ll be coming back soon so he’s not so hooked on the bottle.
Jacob walks EVERYWHERE. He doesn’t really crawl at all anymore, only when he can’t get somewhere with walking, and his walk is so darn adorable. He keeps his legs super far apart and kind of waddles around the house as fast as he can. He’s also pointing and identifying things and people when we say “Where’s the tree? Where’s Mama?” It feels like this is earlier than the other boys did it, but my memory is so bad, who can really tell?
The older boys are doing better with him. There are lots of hugs and kisses going around with all of them (perfect for cold and flu season!), and though there is still hitting and pushing, they’re much calmer and nicer to him recently. I don’t expect it to keep up, of course.
We also finally got Jacob’s hair cut. It was crazy 70s looking, with the top all straight and silky, the back coarse and ridiculously long, and the sides wavy and curly. It was totally overdue. Jacob did well for about half the haircut, then started freaking out, so I sat down with him in the chair to finish it out.
I’m still undecided on whether I like the haircut or not, and it’s been weeks. He just looks like a different baby. Perhaps not a baby anymore, but just different, such like a little boy and…different. I can’t explain it, as although I was sad with the other boys to lose their baby look with their first haircut, it didn’t impact me as much as Jacob’s did. *tear*
But the time came, and my (probably) last baby is no longer a baby, but now a toddler. We couldn’t have asked for a better third child.
Happy birthday, Jacob Daniel. We love you so, so much, and can’t wait to see how you grow and change.
2012, November 25
11 Months Old
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:45 pm by Katie
11 months old. I’m sure that’s a mistake. I’m sure it hasn’t almost been A YEAR since I had Jacob. Goodness, time certainly does fly. Next month will be his one-year post, so it’ll be a big one.
This month, there’s still a lot to report. First, Jacob is WALKING. At 11 months. I still can’t quite believe it, but he’s taken at most four steps all by himself. He walks easily holding someone’s hands, and is starting to get more confidence doing it on his own.
I can’t decide whether to be excited or afraid! It took the other boys 15 and 16 months to walk, and this is SO early. With two big brothers to easily push him down. I’m pretty sure the constant abuse as he’s learning isn’t going to stop him, because really, it hasn’t stopped him yet. The poor kid. Chain of siblings, I guess.
Jacob is also now eating some regular (soft) foods, and will soon be pulled off formula (thank goodness, that stuff is seriously expensive!). He officially has four teeth, which can be seen in this photo, with another two soon to follow. Seriously adorable. And he’s still SO HAPPY. I’m going to be so sad when he hits the terrible twos and it goes away. I’ll enjoy it until then.
The brothers are…the brothers. Every post pretty much says the same thing: the older boys love Jacob, but man, they also like to beat on him too. Sam is awful about it, constantly trying to push him down to the ground, sitting on him, lying on top of him. Caleb mostly loves Jacob TOO MUCH, squeezing him to the point of crying when he’s hugging him. I hear this is totally typical for three boys. 😛
Jacob continues to be adorable, no matter how crazy his hair gets. ❤
2012, October 31
10 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics, Uncategorized at 1:02 am by Katie
Ha! Still in the same month and posting the month update. Boo-yah. (Halloween amusement.)
Ok, so here we go. 10 months. Really, there’s nothing much going on. No stats to make note of from the doctor, anyway.
Jacob is still SO CUTE. He’s so happy. All the time. Just smiling and laughing and giggling. Love it. Love it. Love it. He does hate being told no. He’s obsessed with my laptop, at hitting the keys, pressing the power button, and screams in frustration when I tell him no, or move him away from it. I do try not to laugh when he does it, but I have to say, it is hard since he’s so darn cute.
Jacob now has four teeth. The two front bottom ones came in a while ago. And FINALLY the two top front ones poked through. If we had another screaming night, I don’t know what we would have done. The other two didn’t teethe horribly, so I guess we were just due to have nights we stayed up with screaming. Always Jacob. ❤ He does have a NUMBER of other teeth coming in, so we’ll be expecting those nights in the near future.
He is going to be an early walker, I think. Caleb didn’t walk until 15 months; Sam didn’t walk until 16 months. Jacob can pull himself up on everything now and is working on standing on his own. He’s pretty good at it for a few seconds before grabbing on again. I think as soon as he realizes he can move himself when standing, he’ll be unstoppable. And so early! This kid is just so different. Love him.
I’ve also recently becoming a tad freaked out about how much Jacob looks like me. I always knew Caleb had Cates eyes and looked like me, but he’s like the spitting image of his Auntie Beth (although lately he makes Auntie Em expressions that bring me back… :-P). Sam is a clear Walo and looks just like Becca with blond hair. But Jacob looked JUST like my baby pictures, and now looks JUST like my toddler pictures. I adore it, and fear it at the same time. I had some SERIOUSLY awkward years, all, and he doesn’t even have my good hair. Poor thing.
So it’s hard to tell, but I think Jacob is pretty independent. Perhaps it’s because I can’t quite remember Sam at this stage, and Caleb was an only child at 10 months (how long ago that feels!!), so I’m not sure how they were, but Jacob is totally content just hanging out and playing by himself. He will give his brothers a huge smile when they smile and say hi to him, but generally he seems ok by himself…when he’s not cowering in fear after Sam has pushed him over AGAIN or Caleb has slammed his head against his. Not sure what that one’s about.
But again, at 10 months, happiest baby on the block. Love him to pieces.
2012, October 7
9 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics, Uncategorized at 11:58 pm by Katie
Aaaaaand one week before the next post is due, I finally find the time to write up Jacob’s nine-months post. I’m in the midst of the last two things I have to complete for my master’s program, work is crazy, the boys are crazy, so late it is again. Thank goodness I only have three more posts after this (before my baby’s one. *sob*).
So, Jacob at nine months. He’s freaking adorable. He is utterly one of the happiest babies. And that’s saying something since the other boys were very happy and calm too (until they turned two. And then it began… :-P). He’s generally only upset when he stands up and can’t sit himself back down, or crying in pain by teething, etc. Otherwise? Happy as a clam. If clams are happy. Never really got that phrase.
So Jacob did have a check up in September. He is now 27.25 inches long, putting him somewhere in high teens percentage-wise (I don’t remember the exact, and they didn’t write the percentages down this time). This was a huge jump down from the 50% he was at 6 months. He was 19 pounds 2 ounces, putting him around the 25th percentile, another huge jump down from the 61st he was at 6 months. His head circumference was 45.8 cm, putting him about the 70th percentile, just slightly down from 6 months. So, basically he’s a peanut with a big head. :-P
Jacob’s eating a lot of baby food, and has still liked every single one he’s tried. He’s still getting bottles of formula, too.
The boys are MOSTLY good with him. They do love him. Caleb loves him TOO much sometimes, and squeezes really hard when he hugs him. Sam is just somewhat mean to him. He walks by him and just pushes him over. Or crawls on top of him while Jacob is crawling and pins him down. Typical brother stuff. But in general, I bet they’re going to be the BEST of friends (when they stop beating on each other).
2012, September 4
8 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics, Uncategorized at 1:26 am by Katie
Not too much to report this month, since there was no check up. I suppose this isn’t TOO late, considering he turned 8 months in August, my absolutely busiest month at work.
Jacob is plain adorable. He still has a calm and happy disposition like the other boys (when they were that age. Not so much anymore). He is FINALLLLLLLLY sleeping through the night. I think one of the main culprits of his waking up were his teeth.
And he is teething like crazy. He currently has three teeth in – one of the front top ones and both front bottom ones (no, I have no idea what they’re actually called). He goes to sleep well about every other night; the other nights he’s screaming and crying in pain. Tylenol, Advil, and Orajel are our friends.
He’s learning like crazy, too. He now claps, says Dada and Mama and Yaya and Lala and pretty much anything else that ends with “ah”. He’s not crawling forward yet, but he crawls backward, and goes from crawling to sitting in a second.
He’s now officially on formula. I was extremely proud that I made it until 8 months nursing, but life is just so much easier now that he’s on formula and I can give him a bottle. He holds it himself easily, so I can put him in the high chair with a bottle and do the other million things I need to do. We’re feeding him baby food, and so far there is not one he dislikes, including all veggies and fruits (like peas!). We’re doing puffs, too, and he’s getting better at chewing them, too. So. Big.
The older boys are generally not great with him lately. They LOVE him, but are extremely rough showing it, mainly because the two of them are always wrestling each other, and feel that LOGICALLY they should be able to be as rough with Jacob, too. Since Sam doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of NO or STOP right now, it’s a headache and a half.
Normally? They’re super cute and fun together.
2012, July 28
7 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics, Uncategorized at 3:08 pm by Katie
No weight and measurements update this month. Jacob still seems extremely chunky, with his adorable rolls and whatnot, but I’m guessing he’s still about average in his stats.
His hair is still ridiculously crazy. Here it looks at least a little tame, but normally there are random curls flying every-which-way, with the rest straight, and the back is still half coarse and frizzy and half silky. I’m wondering what it’s going to be like after his first haircut, and how long it’s going to grow before then!
Jacob has indisputable Cates eyes. I love looking at them and thinking of my grandfather and his siblings, and all my cousins who share the eyes in some part. I think they’re even more apparent on him than even on Caleb, who I considered to look so much like me before Jacob was born. (Actually, Caleb looks so much like his Auntie Beth, but people often weirdly think Beth and I look like twins, so I guess it’s not too surprising.) But I do actually think, at least at this stage, that Jacob looks more like me than Caleb does, and I think it’s because of the eyes. Sam’s the odd one out, looking only Waloesque, like I didn’t even birth the kid. So funny how they’re made.
Jacob is now eating rice cereal, fruit and veggie baby foods, and yogurts. He definitely took a while to start to like them, but now he’s great about trying them, usually only giving a face at the first couple mouthfuls. He’s also still doing bottles of 4oz breastmilk and 2oz formula now, and nursing only once a night. I still have 2.5 shelves of milk stored up, and I’m hoping to make it to 8 months before he’s completely on formula. That stuff is freaking expensive. 😛
But in general, Jacob is an absolute love. He is happy all the time (when he’s not screaming all night from teething, oy), and his smile truly does bring happiness to my heart at its pure joy.
2012, July 9
6 Months Old
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:11 am by Katie
Well then, since it’s less than a week from when I’m supposed to be writing Jacob’s 7-month post, I guess I should get his 6-month one up. He’s going to have such a third-child complex when he’s older at my lack of posting and everything else. Hopefully when he gets to be in his thirties he’ll understand *sob*. Okay, not even close to there yet. Let’s move along.
So for Jacob at six months, he seems huge, but is actually pretty average. He weighed in at 16lbs 8oz, putting him in the 61st percentile. He was 25.75 in long, exactly 50th percentile. And his head circumference was 43.5cm, the 79th percentile (whoa!). Somehow these stats are way off of Sam’s, so I wonder if they’re somehow based on different years, or something. Not sure. If anyone can explain why a head circumference of 43.5cm for Jacob is the 79th percentile, when 43cm for Sam was 29th percentile, be my guest.
I love this picture. Really shows his back and neck strength, since he stayed like this for a good few minutes. At 6 months he still hadn’t really started rolling, and couldn’t sit by himself.
He is still not sleeping through the night. He wakes up about twice to eat, though clearly he doesn’t need the extra sustenance. At this point I’m sure it’s habit more than actual need, so I hope it’ll go away once he’s really on solid foods and his belly really stays full at night.
We’ve started to feed Jacob some solid foods since he’s now six months. As you can see from the clear WTF-is-that face, he is very much not a fan. His main food is still going to be breastmilk, but we’ll be doing two meals a day with solids (rice cereal, vegetables and fruits, and yogurt). We also had Jacob’s baptism on June 24. It was nice and calm, we had friends and family, and was overall a nice day.
That’s all until another week or so (or until I get around to writing the next post!).
2012, June 2
5 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics at 5:53 pm by Katie
Wow, post is so late. It’s almost time to write the next one, so I figured I’d take some time to write this now.
Not much has changed with Jacob, other than that he’s continually growing! His fat rolls are so darn adorable, and I’m constantly squishing his cheeks! He’s been sick recently with conjunctivitis and an ear infection. It is not fun giving babies meds and eye drops, let me tell you. But it all cleared up, and now we’re just dealing with the beginning of teething. Fun months ahead for us, to be sure.
He is STILL not sleeping through the night. At this point I think it’s more of a habit thing, but we’re going to start him on some rice cereal in the evening to hopefully fill his stomach a little more to keep him either asleep, or at least feeling full when he wakes up in the middle of the night.
The kid seemingly has my dad’s hair. Poor thing. It’s becoming redder and curlier by the day. He, even more than Caleb, seems to have baby Katie eyes. My eyes were very small, close together, and often cross-eyed in pictures, and Jacob seems to have that to a T. So my dad’s hair, my eyes, Douglas’s nose – he seems to be more of a mix than the other two. Although I guess that’s not hard since Caleb seems to be all of me and Sam looks nothing like me, lol.
Jacob is not really moving much still. Despite rolling over by himself a few times a few weeks ago, he has not tried to do it again. He gets cranky if left too long on his belly, so it’d be nice if he just turned over himself! (Yes, I am that lazy.)
I love this picture (taken on Mothers Day) for the candidness of it. With three boys, it is impossible to take a picture with all boys smiling, or all looking at the camera, or even to get Sam to sit without a bribe or holding him down. And Jacob’s one of those babies who laughs and smiles and the second a camera is pointed at him, he looks frightened or confused.
The brothers love Jacob, and Jacob ADORES Caleb. Just Caleb saying hi to Jacob will make him smile and coo.
Other than that, there’s not much else to report this month. We’ll have much more info after his 6-month appointment!
2012, April 22
4 Months Old
Posted in Baby, Family, Pics at 8:03 pm by Katie
So let’s see, four months. Hard to believe it’s been that long.
Jacob couldn’t be any more different than the other two boys if he tried. He is STILL not sleeping through the night, which the pediatrician says is extremely strange, since he’s a chunky little dude. Usually the ones who still wake up are in need of food to get through the rest of the night. This guy wakes up at least once, usually around 2am, then might wake up around 4:30am. Not. Good. For. Mama.
So his stats for this month, because he had an appointment, are in. Height is 24.25in, the 48th percentile. Weight was 14 pounds 8.5 ounces, the 70th percentile. And head circumference was 41.5cm, the 65th percentile. Unlike Sam at this age, whose stats were almost identical to Caleb’s, Jacob is smaller, by almost a pound and an inch. Which is hilarious because he has ROLLS, but he’s completely normal, so we’re happy.
I’m also extremely proud of the fact that Jacob is still exclusively breastfed. There have definitely been times I’ve wanted to give up, between working full time and in a master’s program with two other young children and a husband who works a lot of nights and weekends. But I’ve pushed myself because I know it’s good for him, but also waaaaay cheaper than formula. I now have a whole freezer door of stored-up milk, about 170 ounces or so. So if all I do is maintain what he gets at daycare, I’m hoping I can go past the 6 months I did with Sam. I’d be ecstatic if I could even make it 9 months, but I’m not sure if it’s an unrealistic goal to say 1 year, as I only did 11 months with Caleb and was only working part-time then with no school.
But I digress. Caleb has been absolutely wonderful with Jacob lately. He sings to him all the time, helps him with his pacifier, and likes to sit and try to make him laugh, which Jacob does a lot now. Sam is going through a lot of teething right now (in fact he just had four teeth come in in the past two weeks), so he’s cranky and needy, a hard combo with a newborn.
But everyone’s healthy and mostly happy, so that’s all I can ask for.
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