Mental Junk

We are kicking off a new (to us) tradition – the decorating of the Christmas Tree on Dec. 1st.

We were aiming for the first day of Advant, but kinda missed it with everything else going on in our lives right now.

So, tonight was the night!  Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

"Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. Some people find that thought disturbing… I find the reality thrilling."

On Tuesday, Cameron had an appointment to see how he is developing.  The last time he went, we were asked if he had a fifty word vocabulary yet.  That is a hard question to answer if you haven't given it any thought.  I mean, we know he knows words, but to just estimate how many – and on the spot like that, well it's tough to do. 

This time, I suggested that we make a list of words we have heard him use – and correctly.  So, on the drive over that is what we did.  Most of the words are nouns, as they seem to be easier to learn, or easier for us to teach.  Either way, this made an interesting list.  It's kinda neat.  It's a little slice of his world right now.

Both boys dressed up and we visited some friends and family.  I wish we could have gone to more, Nate was absolutely adorable.  Blue eyes and blonde hair?  Lady killer!

 The last photo was stolen from Rebekah.  It's okay, though.  She has to fogive me. 

It's been a few months since Nathanial has come home from his reversal
surgery and he is doing fantastic.

The largest difference between him and his brother is mainly the
frequency of bowel movements.  Since he is missing two thirds of his
large colon, most of the liquid remains in his stool, so it is much
softer…. okay… okay – it's more like wet cat food.  Also, since
things pass through him so much quicker, the enzymes that normally die
off in the large intestines, are still active when expelled.

This has increased the number of diaper rashes the poor guy has had. 
Since he is digesting is own flesh, we don't like him to sit with a
dirty diaper on.  We have also taken to coating him with a layer of
diaper cream on each change to give him an additional layer of
protection.  If we miss once, he gets a nasty sore.

As for distension and pain, he seems to be getting a lot better.  Every
now and then he gets stomach pains, but nothing like they were. 
Obviously, it is hard for us to be certain, the little guy is only one
year old – so he doesn't tell us – we have to guess based on his
reactions.  I think the most pain is from the speed of things moving
around inside.  You can hear it all the time.  Stomach noises galore
with this kid!  If a gas bubble is moving through and hits solid food,
he will get a pain, because there is a lot of pressure at that one
point in his intestines.  Again, only guessing.

We are concerned that he doesn't get enough nutrition from the food he
consumes, but we are still looking into that.  We have a dietitian
appointment coming up, so we are going to go over things with her.

I think toilet training may be interesting with this one.  Since he
will figure out that sitting in it is no good, he may be more inclined
to train, but on the other hand, with the speed that things move, he
may not get as much warning that he should be on the toilet.

Only time will tell.

Many moons ago, Mic was convinced to dress up as Lilu Dallas for Halloween.  This is a scantily clad character from Fifth Element.

Not only did I get her to dress up in this minimal outfit – I somehow convinced her to let me take pictures of the event…. and me being the techno-geek I am…. had fun in photoshop.

Lilu Dallas Leelu Leloo Leeloo  

There are aspects of living in the house that my best friends grew up in that I could never have anticipated.  Stumbling upon the hidden messages left behind by the previous owners brings with it deeper meaning when you know them.

 We decided to redecorate the stairway, so we started to peel off the wallpaper which has dutifully hung there for over ten years.  Once I stripped off a section, a hidden message was discovered.  For anyone else, the 'Fat Asses Tour' my just have become a never-to-be solved mystery.  We have the luxury of being able to ask Tim and David what they were thinking (and probably laughing) about when they wrote it.

I felt the need to record it before we paint over it.  Holding on to my past as much as theirs, I suppose.