Sippin' the night away

Tonight was the first fundraiser for Abeona House, the child development center that Paul and I are involved in starting. The event was held at SIP, a local wine bar on Magazine and had food tasting from Cochon, a popular FQ restaurant.
Along with the wine tasting for adults, kids had juice tasting. Will took this task quite seriously and went to town on the juice boxes. We're not sure how many he had, but in the future, we will look to cut him off after two. If not for our sanity, for the limited absorbancy of his diaper.His friend, Aya, was also there. Will and Aya spend Thursday and Friday mornings together and are THE hot item. They hold hands, hug, and give kisses. We got to see a lot of this action tonight. I fear that we are raising quite a lady's man. They had a great time drawing chalk patterns on the sidewalk (and on each other), stopping every once in awhile to "aww" us all with spontaneous acts of cuteness.
Along with the wine and food, there was a silent auction offering a range of truly great stuff... jewelry and art from local artisans, massages, Zoo memberships, photography sessions, AND... three hours of Paul to fix your computer. Paul's services went for $80.

We invited our awesome babysitter, Michelle, to the event. (We're hoping she'll apply for a job teaching with the Center; she's great.) Paul got the shock of being called "Sir" by her super nice boyfriend. Reflecting on it tonight, we realized that once we were the ones being extra polite and having folks tell us not to call them "sir" or "ma'am"... and now WE are the "sir" and "ma'am." When did that happen??? Actually, no one called me "ma'am" tonight, so maybe it's just Paul. I guess I've got a few more years?

Sip was also the place to be seen tonight. We saw one of our Octavia Street neighbors, the realtor who sold us our house (Helen Katz, who we adore and recommend to anyone moving to NOLA), and Carl, my committee chair. I ran into another committee member at Whole Foods yesterday -- signs that the universe is pulling me back to work!?! Mostly, we enjoyed the company of the other Abeona families... progressive, child-positive, relaxed, artsy, intelligent, informed, and interesting... it felt wonderful to be in a place where we FIT.

The night was poised to end perfectly. I walked into a favorite coffee house for an iced coffee to take home and met Paul and Will at the car.... where Paul informed me that Will's Very Wet Diaper had been joined by a Very Big Poop. And together, they had formed a Very Wet and Dripping Mess. And did I mention that Paul discovered this while carrying Will on his shoulders? Thankfully, husbands and children wash well. The car seat will have to get washed tomorrow. An interesting end to a long day!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Skip!

We love you and can't wait to see you soon! 

Toddler Tunes

This morning, Will, Kate, and I went to Abeona House for our first Music Together class! Aimed to kids from newborn to age 5, Music Together works on the belief that all children are musical. The classes work to foster that natural sense of music in young children.

In other words, it's seriously cool.

Renee, a teacher at Abeona and classically trained vocalist, directs the class. She's great with the kids and we had a wonderful time. Even Kate seemed to get involved -- moving her hands and watching with rapt attention that seemed beyond what an 8 week old should muster.

I also discovered something about Will: he is really shy. Yes, SHY. There were several activities where Will was the only kid clinging to Mommy. But he did begin to open up towards the end and I think after another class or two that will be all over. I know he enjoyed it, though -- we sang parts of one of the songs at his naptime.

To all parents: I whole-heartedly endorse the Music Together program for you and your kids!

He's Blue.

Me: "Will, do you want to use the red paint, too?"
Will: "No, I blue."

Babe in Boots

Paul to Kate: "This is an example of how your parents will embarrass you for the rest of your life."
Will (in the background, playing with blocks): "I hope not!"

This photo is a good example of the child we call "no neck." 

On the Menu...

Last night:
- Rachel Ray's bread gnocchi with garlic and tomatoes
- Sugar snap peas
- Red leaf lettuce with vinaigrette

(Report: liked all around, but is a direct to serve dish -- gnocchi done before everything else and Paul and Will weren't ready for dinner until long after things were ready.)

Tonight:
- Masoor dal (red lentils) with tomatoes
- Hari Bindi (Indian-style stuffed okra with potatoes and onions)
- Rice
- Red leaf lettuce with vinaigrette

(Report: Dal has already over-flowed on my newly cleaned stove top. *WAA!* Kitchen is steaming... I'm sweating like a whore in church. At this point, I could care less what it tastes like as long as it feeds the family for the next day.)

Toddler Creed

If I can see it, it's mine.
If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.
If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what.
If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

As a parent, sometimes I feel it's hard to compete with the Creed.

Morning snack

Bright Eyes Before Bed

 

Scarred... for life?

We met with Vicki, our birth provider, for our final appointment on Monday. During the visit, we discussed 'what happened' in great detail. The most interesting part of our discussion was revisiting what Dr. Maher found when he opened me up... the extensive scarring ("intra-abdominal adhesions") throughout my abdomen and mis-placement of organs. According to Vicki, Dr. Maher spoke candidly at length to her about it the day after the delivery, using colorful and pointed language about the horrendous job the surgeons had done.

(Note, this is the part where things get personal.) Immediately after the surgery, I noticed a drastic change in my ability to pee -- since Will's birth, I'd had a very difficult time going to the bathroom... it took time, I rarely felt "empty", and had to visit the WC much more than before. I chalked up the changes to normal stuff that happens after having a baby. Another change I had post-Will was pain during intercourse. I figured it would take time to "get better" and again, chalked it up to pregnancy and body changes. Now, at 8-weeks post-partum, I can say that that symptom has also gone away. Which makes me believe that both were related to the poor job the surgeons did during my first Cesarean.

If Kate had been born vaginally, I never would have known how the scarring was affecting my quality of life. I would have gone on without complaint. It makes me wonder what else I could be missing.

Another issue that Dr. Maher explained during our 2-week follow-up was that the scarring is so extensive that it actually includes my bowel -- now attached in layers of scar tissue to my uterus. This is a bit alarming to me because of my history of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Normally the bowel is able to move and twist in the abdomen... now, mine cannot. Should I have a flare of IBD, how will this impact it? During this visit, he also mentioned that I may need future laproscopic surgery to repair some of the damage. He addressed the areas that needed to be disturbed for the purpose of delivering Kate, but decided not to go further because of the great impact it would have had on my recovery. With a new baby to handle and feed, getting me healed quick seemed the better option (for this, I'm thankful.) But does this means I face further surgery in the future?

Now that we've had time to process -- and I've had time to enjoy the relative ease of using the bathroom and being intimate with my spouse -- I'm shocked to think that I would have lived with these impairments for years. And I feel compelled to do something about it; I'm just not sure what.

I'm puzzled as to how an attending allowed my surgery to happen the way that it did. I understand that there is no clear way of performing surgery... it's not like you can do a random assignment of different surgical styles and then re-open patients years later to see which healed better. So does that mean that what was done on me (basically, very very over-zealous and unnecessary stitching) is what is taught at this facility? If so, then I really need to follow-up; perhaps my experience could provide insight into better practices.

What would you do?

8 weeks

Very serious.
Such blue eyes!
So sleepy...
...and totally zonked! 

Today in history

1608: City of Quebec founded
1863: Battle of Gettysburg ends
1928: First color TV transmission
1944: Oriole Park burns down in Baltimore
1967: "New at 10" premieres on English TV
1976: Chris Mergerson born

Happy 30th Crisco!

The blocks only have one "E"

So weeks is abbreviated. Kate is staring at PapPap in this picture. She is fresh from a bath in Granna and PapPap's bathroom sink! 

Dauphin Island Treasure

PapPap, Granna, Kate and I followed Cap'n Will to Dauphin Island this morning to explore the Dauphin Island Estuarium. Pirate Will had a blast driving the boat through Mobile Bay and into the island harbor, where we unloaded and set out to search for treasure (and fishies).
Will had to confer with many of the local residents for information on where to find the bounty. A moray eel whispered secrets to Will as it gulped in sea water and plankton.
PapPap helped Will read the subtle words being spelled out by the tiny worm fishies, who had to stop from their busy task of chasing shrimp.
To gain the trust of the locals, Will had to show he was bigger than a red snapper. He managed to just eek by at 36 1/2 inches and 34 pounds.
A panicked box turtle swore he knew nothing and swam against the current to get away from Will's sword.
But the smooth shell turtle was happy to show the way.
Granna and Will visited with a hermit crab for the inside scoop.
Baby Kate held the final clue. She made a big diaper and everyone had to go to the restrooms... right by the gift store.
Finally, Will found treasure in the gift shop! A cool t-shirt and pirate telescope, perfect for searching out further adventures. He needed Granna and PapPap's help to release the treasure from it's chest, then happily skipped back to the boat with it in hand."Arrgh!"

Come on down!

This is why I don't want to leave New Orleans. The opportunities are much too great!

"It's an adventure," said Dr. Nicole Giambrone, an LSU resident in medicine and pediatrics. "How many people can say they were here when the city was rebuilt? How many people can say they helped rebuild the health-system infrastructure? You don't know what to expect, but you know whatever it is, it's going to be great."