The First Day of the Rest of My Blog: September 2005

Captain Feathersword

Tate's newest favorite toy is the cat's feather. It's a stick with a string and a feather attached to the end for Keetah to chase after. He loves to whip it around and hit the floor with it and cries like a less than 1 year old when it gets stuck on something.

The absolute best it when Keetah hears him whipping it around and comes running to play. She chases it and catches it and Tate giggles like a school girl over this newfound game. Of course, his giggles turn to tears when she won't let it go.

Will someone please remind me that this child DOES NOT need toys the next time I feel the need to buy him some new fangled gadget to play with?

Forgetful

I keep forgetting to take my camera with me so I haven't taken that many new pictures lately. I know, I know, am I feeling ok? I feel fine. I just keep flaking out. I need to get a back-up battery for it because even with a fresh charge, my current battery isn't lasting that long. As if you all care about that...anyways, on to some pictures from the other day.

Practicing his one armed push ups.

Multi-talented. He can walk and sing at the same time.

Summer kissing Tate's knee.

What a day! Making such a mess is hard work!

So many kisses!

Been super busy. More pictures tomorrow.

Don't call it a comeback...

Actually, you can. The Face is back! And it's better than ever! Now, when he makes The Face, he says, "bop!"

Tate & Ginni sittin' in a tree...

Tate's friend Ginni came over to play today...and some other arbitrary pictures!

"Yay! Ginni is coming over to play!"

Pushing the truck together.

"Look Ginni, this is my truck. Isn't it cool?"

My name is Shellby and I'm addicted to sippy cups.

Floatin' in the pool at the Y.

We also had our appt with the Pediatric Surgeon. She couldn't find the mass that the pediatrician found last week. She said it's probably just fluid and that's why it was there, and now it's gone. He was also crying pretty hard and she saw no evidence of a hernia, which is good news.

She wants to see Tate again in November for a double check, but she's pretty sure it's nothing...just like we thought.

Word of the Day:

ar·bi·trar·y - Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle. Following is an arbitrary selection of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

I think the word random is overused. So, I went to thesaurus.com to find another word to use and came up with arbitrary. Might as well learn something while working on this.

Somebody likes chicken noodle soup!

Um, oops! The aftermath of Tate attacking me for taking his picture too many times.

Just chillin' in his house...rather, on his house.

Happy Baby.

Happy, drooly baby.

Playing Outside

The weather was a bit cooler yesterday because of all the cloud cover from Hurricane Rita. So, I decided to take Tate outside. I don't think it's really his thing yet. I brought his hippo along, but he only pushed it for about 5 seconds, then he crawled on the driveway (the grass was wet & sort of muddy from the rain) over to me and leaned against me for the rest of the time we were outside.

Maybe he'll like playing outside more when he can walk? I hope so.

Some pictures.

Cheesing it up for the camera. No, not really. Actually, I was tickling him.

Here lizard lizard!

The 5 seconds that he pushed his hippo.

Whistling Dixie.

All done. Can we go inside now where all the good toys are?

Incognito

A: 2

Where could he possibly be pushing that truck to?

Aaahhh!

Walking.

Such a cute face!

Q: How many posts of pictures would Shellby post if she posted posts of pictures?

One of the few things more fun than a plastic cup is a plastic hanger.

I'm not sure what he's staring at, but it kept his interest for quite a while.

Holding up the wall.

What did you expect? He's a momma's boy.

I thought I was doing so good making sure Tate had a sitter watch him every couple of weeks so that he wouldn't be sooo attached to me. The part I neglected to factor in was that the sitter always watches him here. At our house. In his surroundings.

So, this week when I joined the Y, I was so excited to take him to the FREE Child Watch. That's right, FREE! It makes me smile just typing it. FREE. Free. fRee. frEe. freE. free.

The first day did not go so well. I got a whole 15 minutes on the treadmill. They didn't come get me, but I could see him crying from all the way across the gym. I couldn't take it so I went and rescued him.

Today was much better. My friend Kim brought her 13 month old daughter Ginny who has never had an inkling of stranger/seperation anxiety. We thought that might rub off on Tate...and hoped that the opposite wouldn't happen. He started crying as soon as I handed him over. It was soooo hard to walk away. But I did. After 1/2 an hour on the bikes, Kim walked over to peek in on them. They were both fine, although Tate did have a death grip on the head lady's shirt. She's cute...can you blame him?

He made it the whole hour. Of course, as soon as I walked in to pick him up, he started crying again.

1 Year Appointment.

Be forewarned, this post includes talk of testicles, in a medical manner.

Tate had his 1 year appt today. He weighs 24 lbs. 15 oz. (75th percentile), he's 31-some odd inches long (95th percentile) and his head is 18 1/4 cm (75th percentile). I'm sure you all wanted to know all that.

He's not saying any discernable words yet. His Dr said that will come over the next few months. He's clapping, but not pointing. As you know, he takes up to 10-15 steps at a time. He got 3 shots, including the chicken pox vaccine. I chose to delay the flu shot for another couple weeks just so he didn't have to have sooo many shots at once. Basically a good appointment.

However, since we've all been relatively healthy around here for a month or so, there just HAD to be something else. The Dr found a mass in Tate's right testicle. It could be a hydrocele or a hernia. But, we have to go onto a specialist for a determination.

I feel silly for not having noticed it before. Now that the Dr pointed it out, it's sooo glaringly obvious. His right testicle is considerably swollen and blackish/bluish. We have an appointment next Monday, the 26th at All Children's Hospital.

I'm sure it will be nothing or something that will go away on it's own. But we'll take any good thoughts you want to send!

Note to Self:

Don't buy anymore toys. He's perfectly happy with a plastic cup.

"This is the best cup ever!"

"Gotta cup, gotta cup, gotta cup, gotta cup, gotta CUP!"

"When you bite it, it makes a crunchy noise!"

"Isth thisth my phone? Noooo, I'm not durnk. I pormise."

Blowing zerberts on the cup.

He's a Leaner.

I'm not sure where he gets it from, but he leans. It's like he can't be bothered to expend enough energy to hold himself up. He needs to lean against something or someone at all times. It's quite funny, actually.