WOW! Is how I need to start this.

The atomik blonde and I were talking about this, the other night, with friends over sushi. What you ask?

Well, the fact that last year at this time we were in real dire straights with our child. We were waking up every hour with him, because he would not sleep. And feeding him was so brutal with the $30-$50 a day in formula he was going through. Not to mention the strain on our marriage. We wouldn’t even talk with each other in the morning, because we were so tired and frustrated. There were days that I think both of us thought we wouldn’t make it. Days we thought that we would crack and need to seek help.

But thanks to God’s grace and great family and friends, not to mention the doctors as well, we made it. This boy is not the same child he was a year ago. He sleeps through the night, eats “ok” and is just an extreme joy to have. He wants to wrestle every chance he gets and run around screaming like a little child should.

Not only that, but language! He is starting to talk and form some sentances. It is hilarious. One of his favorites is “where are you?” But said in such a cute little two year old way. It is hard to explain, just believe me when I say it is one of the cutest things you will hear. He also says yes and no and he knows what they mean.

Coming home from work is hilarious too. I will walk in and hear “daaaaaaddyyyyyyyyyyy!” And he runs up and hugs me. Then I get yanked to the floor for 15 minutes of WWF Royal Rumble action.

There is a lot more to say about this. But all in all it is so strange to look back at notes that we had written from this date of last year and to see how hard it was.

Thank you to all of you that brought us food, bought formula for us and prayed for us. I do not know how we could’ve made it without you all and you all reminding us to continue to give it to God and to seek His strength and to lay our problems upon His lap. I’m sure you all will be rewarded for these deeds, here on earth and in heaven.

thank you all so much.

Well, in one sense she has.

She has moved up from the child seat, to a booster seat. This is very exciting for all of us. One, it makes it easier to get her in and out of the car. Two, it makes her feel like a big girl.

This was so exciting for her that she came up to me and asked, “Daddy, can we go somewhere so I can ride in my big girl seat?” So we went to the mall and hung out.

She is also telling everyone about her seat and how “it’s pink and has flowers on it”.

I think it’s great to see how excited kids get over simple things like this.

WHY? Why are parents so dang self centered?

Everyone at my children’s daycare knows about Titus’s issues. Yet they still send their germ laden kids to daycare. As if it is a hospital and that the daycare provider will take care of them. But all it does is get everyone else sick. Including my son who can not have a flu shot due to his egg allergy.

So, a mom brings her child and hides the fact that the child is sick. So the kid is there for 1/2 the day before it is noticed and all the children are now exposed.

Thanks to this, we have been up every hour or so, for two nights in a row and have done a 48 hour Dora and Diego marathon. T has had a fever as high as 105 for a short time and has been hovering around 103 for the most part. Today, two days later, he is at about 99.7. This is great, fianlly. Oh and he’s not as clingy, so he seems to be doing much better.

He has been doing so WELL! He is really consistant on his sleeping. However now we are battling eating, again. He just doesn’t want to eat and pretty much only wants a bottle. Feeding him steak every night would be cheaper, due to the cost of this elecare!

He will get over it. It just needs to be soon! LOL

Liana loves her nyuk-nyuks. You may call them binkys or pacifiers. But we call the nyuk-nyuks.

Well, she’s almost 4 and we’ve really tried to ween her from them. So last night we gave her a radio and said she could have it, if she gave them up. She said “Sure.” Well, I was not convinced that she understood, so I asked her about it. I said “Honey, if you throw them away, you can never have them back.”

She said, “I don’t need them, I’m not a baby any more.” and walked to the trash can and threw them away.

WOW!

She did ok, but woke up twice. However we don’t know if it was because of the lack of the nyuk-nyuk or just having a bad night. But she seems to be doing great without them.

Merry Christmas from California. I am writing this from my parents house while sipping a cool refreshing beveredge.

We’ve been in Cali since Friday and are having a good time.

However I only brought one pair of shorts, so I’ve had to wash them every day. Why? BECAUSE IT’S FREAKIN 80 DEGREES! That’s why. Somehow it’s just not christmasy when you see Santa surfing in H.B. (Huntington Beach). And then you see all the people trying to look cold. I must laugh at the girls wearing their Ugg boots and short skirts. I also snicker at those people wearing long pants and sweatshirts with the hoods over their heads. Oh and a beanie under the hood. Come on, it’s not cold. It’s been in the mid to upper 70’s.

We did the present thing, this morning. It was hilarious. Almost like watching Ralphie and Randy from A Christmas Story. Ganoosh was constantly exclaiming “That’s mine….. that’s mine….”. I was waiting for the “OH WOW! A ZEPPLIN!” But since we didn’t buy her one, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t say it.

Liana ended up with a pony this year. This is that pony you may have seen at Target. If you haven’t, it may have been due to all the kids that were playing with it. You can feed it, pet it, groom it and even “ride” it.  It’s interesting, all the sensors that are in it and how it responds to a myriad of stimuli. (yes I did write that, remember I am enjoying beveredges). Now the issue is trying to fit it and everything else into the family truckster.

Oh and this family truckster is Anna’s present. The 2008 Toyota Sienna. Just shy of fully loaded. It is a great travelling vehicle. Plenty of room, DVD player, GPS navigation, 15 cup holders (still not enough) and heated windshiled wipers. It drives so sweet and we love it.

Everyone made out like bandits for Christmas. I got to see my family, Anna got to get out of town, the kids got more stuff than they realize and my parents got to see their grandkids.

This year I think more people were in the Christmas spirit. I say this because even at the liberals “Mecca” (aka Starbucks, a place I try to avoid however they have taken over all the good coffee shops in So. Cal) I was wished a “Merry Christmas”. WHAT?! Merry Christmas from the place that has these little quotes on their cups that sometimes say things just shy of ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses’. I was in shock. However I smiled and said it right back and as I left I turned and said “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” loud enough for all to hear. I wonder how many thought I was about to blow the place up?

We will be making our return trip tonight. We have realized that even though we have a DVD player to keep the kids entertained, SLEEP is much better at keeping the children quiet.

In closing, I want to wish all of you, who read this, a Merry Christmas!!!! I hope you have a great day and reflect on what this holiday is about. The joy, the happiness, the politeness and the Christmas spirit does not have to end tonight. 

Peace, Love and Joy from the Lord Jesus the Christ to you and yours. May God Bless.

As you all know, Titus has been through a lot in his 15 months and 3 weeks of life. More noticeably his eating problems, from his milk and poultry allergy, to his underdeveloped esophagus (did I spell that right?).

Due to these problems he has problems eating some foods. Mostly he only eats level 2 baby food. Well, he should be on solids by now and off of his formula.

With these problems our pediatrician has suggested that we get him some therapy and it’s not cheap. You also may know how much we do and have spent on T. Roughly $800 a month for formula and then the doctor visits. He is our million dollar little man.

This therapy is called Early Intervention. What this does is help toddlers, that are slightly developmentally behind, catch up. They come to your house and play with the child and do an evaluation. They watch for fine motor skills, speach, interaction and more. Now, many of you know me and know that I have issues with therapists and psychologists. Too many Dr. Phil’s out there that want to make a buck by saying you or someone you know is messed up. I know some are good, but I am of the opinion that they are the minority.

So the group came to the house and played with Titus. They did some neat stuff like taught him American sign language for “more” which is something we were working on. They did it in just a matter of minutes. As they played they were watching him and evaluating him. He really loved the attention. After all this was finished they said they would write up their assesment and let us know if he qualified for it. To be qualified, a child must show at least a 25% delay in 2 out of 5 areas.

Fast forward several days and we receive the assessment.  The assessment detailed those areas Titus was slightly behind in. Now please note that Titus was really sick for a long time and he spent many weeks in hospitals and never got to really play and learn what he could do, due to his health problems. He is not developmentally behind due to any other reason than lack of exposure to life. The areas they stated he is behind in are; Fine Motor, Language (he’s only 15 months old) and Relationship to Inanimate Objects. HUH?! Relationship to inanimate objects? Ok, so my child does not love lamp. (if you have not seen Anchorman, you need to)

What all this means is that he will participate in the program to get him back up to speed. And should also help him with his food aversions. This is the critical issue in my book. My son needs to learn the goodness that is bacon! We are looking forward to this as Titus needs to get to that normal stage. He is so excited to be walking and we think that if he can eat like he should, then he will sleep through the night and be an even happier child.

Liana received her first black eye, a few days ago. As cute as that is, the story isn’t.

A few days ago, my father in law spilled some coffee in the van and his wife took it to get it cleaned. Well, it seems that they took out one of the child seats to do this. Then when they were done, they put it back. But did not attach and did not tell my mother in law that this had happened.

The next day she put my daughter in that seat and went somewhere. As she went around a turn, the whole seat fell over and Liana landed face first on some part of the car and was stuck there. Nana sees this and pulls over to get her out. Liana was really afraid because she was stuck for a significant amount of time, for a 3 year old. Now my daughter has a small black eye, nothing too big but enough.

I am very grateful that all that happened was a black eye. It could’ve turned into something as serious as her death, had my mother in law gotten in a car accident.

As much as this is the carwash’s fault, I want to encourage you all to check your car seats, if you have them, after you go to a car wash.

Anna’s sister has delivered a healthy baby boy at around 4:00am, today. He was 8 pounds 9 ounces and 20.5 inches long. He was a little early but let’s be thankful (I know Chee is) that he was early. Imagine another 2 more weeks cooking. WOW!

Congrats to Rachael and James! And also to AJ, who will be a great big brother. Can’t wait to see you all in Aspen this year.

To all you fathers out there, I just want to wish you all a happy New Years.