babypundit

2003-12-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

Eighteen

Pounds and 14 ounces, that is. Joshua had his nine month check up on Tuesday. Everything went wonderfully, he is 25-30th% in height and weight, and is perfectly healthy. He got a flu shot (thankfully) and that was it.

Until he gets his teeth up top, he probably won't want to chew, but we can start slowly and carefully allergy testing and starting him on table food.

We're getting closer to a year old, and doing great!

2003-11-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

Update!

So, we haven't posted here in months. But I'm going to make sure we keep it updated a little more frequently!!

Joshua is an energetic, beautiful, inquisitive eight and a half month old. He's getting into everything -- and he's starting to pull himself up on low boxes. He hasn't figured out he can pull up on anything, but I figure he'll find out soon enough.

Right now his favorite thing to do is get into MY cookbooks. And eat them! He loves paper and you must be super careful to keep it away from him!

He will not take a bottle. At all. Of anything. Same with sippy cups and even regular cups. That's a habit that better change SOON.

He's perfectly healthy and eating well. And other than the fact he STILL has no teeth, he's right on schedule! Ahead, in some parts.

He's saying mama and dada, and babbling constantly. He's very vocal.

And he LOVES his brother. Andy and Josh are so sweet and beautiful together. They adore each other.

We're looking forward to Joshua's first Thanksgiving and Hanukkah -- and hopefully they'll go smoothly and with lots of laughs.

2003-09-30T17:28:00.000-04:00

On the move...

Joshua is moving even more now. He gets on his knees amazingly quickly and then rocks back and forth, wiggling his little butt in the air. He's adorable. He's so close to crawling it's scary! He's gotten his first tooth and you can see where at least four more are ready to come through! No wonder he's teething so hard.

He's seven months old and is ahead of where everyone expected him to be. He's developing normally for his age -- in some things he's even ahead. Amazing for a child that had open heart surgery in June!

2003-09-17T16:50:00.000-04:00

Six Month Visit

Joshua went to see his pediatrician for his six month visit. As usual he's doing great.

He is 16 pounds and 9 ounces, 26 1/4 inches long. He's 40% in weight, 35% in height, and 75% for head circumference. His heart sounds great according to the doctor, and his spider bite has healed wonderfully.

Aside from being rather upset over the three shots he had to get, Josh is doing perfectly.

And now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's a new picture of Josh and his big brother Andy:

For the big version of the picture go to Mommy's site at Mrs.PseudoPsalms

2003-09-11T08:42:00.000-04:00

Wrong Way

Joshua now gets on his hands knees for excessively short periods of time.

But instead of getting where he wants to go with his, he goes BACKwards. It's actually irritating him so much so that he squeaks and screams when he does it, so I'm sure he'll get it right way too soon!

He creeps and half-crawls, turns in circles, rolls EVERYWHERE, and grabs anything. He puts everything in his mouth -- except green beans and bananas. He hates both of them.

His poor tooth STILL has not come in yet, though he's desperately trying to force it through. So much for the doctor's saying "it's so close and it's ready to come through". That was two months ago!

Josh is doing wonderfully, and enjoying life to the fullest. And on this terrible day in history, I can't help but be even more thankful he's here.

2003-09-03T14:44:00.000-04:00

Creep

That's what Joshua does now. He creeps, rolls over, wiggles, inches and does everything else you can use to describe his odd movements that are desperately close to becoming crawls. He's teething HARD, and eating a ton. He's playing more and more and sleeping less and less.

All in all, life is great. Joshua is perfectly healthy and is now off all medicines. We couldn't ask for more.

2003-08-26T08:29:00.000-04:00

Camp

Joshua came with me to a conference I had to attend for Religious School. It was a the UAHC Camp Coleman in Cleveland, Georgia. We flew up Wednesday and came home yesterday.

Joshua loved the plane. On the way TO Atlanta, he slept through EVERYthing -- take off and landing included. On the way back, he watched out the window and was talking to everyone/everything he could. He especially enjoyed the seat pattern for some reason!

Camp was a rather dismal experience for me. Josh loved that too though. Why? He got to be held, cuddled, loved, played with and generally be the center of attention for six days straight! Four at camp and two with his cousins. What more could a kid want?

On Saturday, Joshua turned six months old. My son is now one half of a year old. It's scary how fast time flies. I mean, it all seems so quick. First we were waiting for him, then he was born and we had his surgery coming up, now surgery is over, everything is fine and somehow he's already six months old! What's even worse is that I'm planning his first birthday party already!

2003-08-11T22:05:00.000-04:00

Time

Time flies. It is now TWO months post-op for Joshua. He's almost crawling. He's almost got teeth through. He's LOVING his brother. They play together everyday and Josh laughs his little butt off at Andy. It's amazing how precious and sweet a baby's laugh is.

Joshua has now met everyone in the "immediate" families. He met Greatmom Harriett this weekend. We drove to Florida to see her because she's in the hospital -- having had a heart catheter and stent put in (and we wondered where Josh got it from). She had never met Joshua and was upset by that. The hospital didn't want to let us take him up or let her down -- but after talking to the doctor, Greatmom came down and Joshua met her. She was thrilled. He smiled and cuddled and delighted her. Babies really are the best medicine ever. Don't believe me? Try being upset, mad, depressed, anything but happy when a baby smiles at you or cuddles into you or laughs. It won't happen.

Joshua is an amazing baby. He's recently discovered the joy of reading. He likes to sit with Daddy and Andy and read bedtime stories. He also likes Andy "reading" to him (Andy has memorized almost 40 stories). And he sits with me while I read my books, and when I read his books we lay on the floor together. He is very observant and loves to look at books -- among other things.

Joshua also has discovered the delights of his Megasaucer. It's basically a walker that doesn't move. He's constantly rolling over and moving. He's NEVER in the same place I put him down in -- not even two minutes later. He is like a little inchworm the way he moves. He's so close to crawling but can't quite get it -- so he inches.

He's VERY coordinated. Grabbing at things and getting them -- EVERYTHING to the mouth. Andy never put things in his mouth and therefore I really didn't babyproof much. Plugs were covered, cabinets with chemicals and heavy things locked, but really that's it. With Josh, I'm going to have to babyproof ALL of it. He's a great baby (at least until I try to sleep this week, that is!).

His scar is fading. Almost invisible from a distance and it'll fade more. Up close you can obviously see it, but now instead of reliving the horrible feelings of the surgery, I think about what a miracle G-d and science have created.

For those of you that will want to see them, I will have Joshua's surgery pictures up soon -- hopefully by next week. And for those of you that don't want to see the surgery pictures -- I'll have recent pictures of my baby up.

2003-07-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

One Month

Tomorrow, July 10th, will be one MONTH since Joshua's surgery. I can't believe it.

Josh is a BIG, healthy, happy boy. Last Thursday he went to the doctor and got a perfect bill of health. He's only on one medicine (and instead of a high dose three times a day, it's down to a low dose twice a day) and then just until his next cardiology appointment.

The best part? Even though it means he'll be on the last medicine (just a diuretic) for a bit longer, his next appointment is NOT at the one month mark. It's for two to THREE months. Even with as well as he was doing before, they wanted to see him once a month.

You wouldn't think that would be such a huge deal. But it is. It means my baby is doing even better than they thought, anticipated and even hoped for. And for that, I couldn't be happier.

2003-07-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

Update

Peter and I have been extremely remiss in not posting for Joshua since he came home. So, to catch everyone up in case they didn't migrate to one of our other blogs:

Joshua is now 4 months old, and doing GREAT. He's back to rolling over, smiling, sleeping and eating normally. He's constantly talking now and his scars and bruises are almost all gone. He hasn't had Tylenol or any other kind of pain medicine since Sunday June 15th. Pretty impressive, in my opinion.

Andy is adoring his brother and plays with him constantly. They love to read together, and they spend every morning cuddling. It just doesn't get any better than this!

I am putting together a journal of his surgery for Joshua as he gets older. In it I would like to put the prayers and well wishes everyone left on all the web pages. As time permits I will also be posting the journal online for everyone to see.

From the bottom of my heart I thank everyone for all their wonderful prayers and support.

2003-06-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

HOME!!!

Joshua has been released from the hospital today!!!!! For a complete rundown of the past week please visit: Daddy's site or Mommy's site.

2003-06-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

LOA

It's time for Josh to head out of town for his surgery. Mommy and Josh leave tomorrow (Saturday) and Daddy and Andy will leave Monday when Grandma Salomon gets into town.

Today, Josh will go get his three month pictures taken and finish packing. We will post some pictures on Mommy's blog and Daddy's blog.

Josh will be out of town until the end of June. Mommy and Andy will be with him. We will post again as soon as we are able.

Until then, all your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!

2003-06-02T13:38:00.000-04:00

Toys

Joshua has become increasingly interested in toys. Today, Andy gave him a toy duck (what else?) to play with and Josh wouldn't let it go.

2003-05-21T09:40:00.000-04:00

I did it again ...

And we're not talking about a Britney Spears song either.

Joshua has again slept through the night. It appears he's going to make a habit of it. It's amazing how much cuter and more enjoyable a baby seems after they've slept through the night ;)

In other news, tomorrow at some point (or so they say), Joshua will receive another vaccine. This time for RSV. RSV is a serious disease that kills TONS of preemie babies each year, as well as children with supressed immune systems. Because it's basically like pneumonia, but even more serious, it targets the lungs. And since Joshua has a problem with his heart that will eventually manifest in his lungs, they want him vaccinated against it.

Not a problem, right? Wrong. It costs $2800-3500 per shot. And you have to get it every month during RSV season (October - May). Our insurance is a PPO and there isn't an "in network" provider here. It took a lot of calls to find someone to do this and have the insurance pay. What's even better is the shot itself. Apparently, the vaccine is so incredibly potent it must be used within THIRTY MINUTES after being mixed. So, we have a nurse coming to our house to shoot our son up with this vaccine. It seems like something out of the X-Files.

But hey, if there's even a CHANCE it could hurt my son, I'd rather go through all the crap I have to to get him this vaccine. We'll end up bankrupt with medical bills, but I'll have my happy, healthy baby. :)

2003-05-19T10:13:00.000-04:00

Cartoons

In thee mornings while I do my work online, I put Joshua in his bouncy seat next to me. Today, Andy asked if I would turn on my television so he could sit in here with us. He usually plays on his own computer during this time, and didn't want to today. So I said okay and turned on the Disney channel.

Andy and Josh are both sitting here staring at Rolie Polie Olie, doing little more than breathing. Apparently, Josh adores computer animation as much as Andy. They're having a great time together watching cartoons.

2003-05-19T10:03:00.000-04:00

Milestones

This weekend was full of firsts for Joshua. He had his first sleepover. Mommy and Josh spent the night at Temple with the Sunday School kids Mommy teaches. For their end of year party they wanted a shul-in, so in the shul they went.

Josh had a GREAT time. Lots of kids cuddling and loving him, playing with him, making faces with him and just generally adoring him. What more could a baby want?

The other firsts we experienced were his rolling over 100% on his own from stomach to back on a flat surface -- and doing it repeatedly -- and his first time REALLY sleeping through the night.

I guess the sleepover tired the precious little thing out, because last night he was out at 9:30 and not up until 6. That's NINE whole hours of sleep. Then, he ate and was asleep from 6:30-9.

Maybe we'll have to have shul-ins a LOT more!

2003-05-16T11:08:00.000-04:00

Feeding

Yesterday Andy wanted to hold Josh, but I had told him he had to hurry because Josh wanted to eat. Andy said okay, took Josh and then said, "I'll feed him."

Since Josh is breastfed, and I had not expressed any milk for a bottle, I was rather intrigued. Andy lifted his shirt, put Josh at breast level and told Josh to eat.

2003-05-16T11:02:00.000-04:00

Update

Joshua went for his two month immunizations and a checkup with his pediatrician earlier this week. He is up to 12.46 pounds, and is in the 75th% for weight now! He's gained some inches too -- he's up to 23" long, which puts him at the 50th% for length.

He's gaining weight far better than babies with his heart condition are supposed to, and even better than some "healthy" babies do. (He is, however, short and chubby -- while his brother was always (and still is) long and lean.) His pediatrician says that it's a good thing we have the modern technology that we do, because no one would ever think a thing wrong with Josh.

He got four shots, two in each leg. And he was NOT happy. We had a miserable night Monday, and a pretty crappy Tuesday until mid-evening. And he's been fine ever since.

His surgery is scheduled for mid-June, and it's still so far away, but approaching far too fast for me. RIght now though, we're just enjoying Josh and trying to focus on his growth rather than his surgery.

2003-05-15T14:42:00.000-04:00

Sweet Cheeks

I made the mistake of letting Andy help with Joshua's diaper change today. No, he didn't make a mess with the diaper or anything like that. Instead, he was a bit too helpful.

Joshua has had a little red bottom for the past day, so today I put diaper rash ointment on it. At his last diaper change, it was time for him to go down for his afternoon nap -- so I was going to put the ointment and powder on it.

When I went to put the powder on, I remembered I had moved it back to the other room yesterday. So, I asked Andy to watch Josh while I went to go get the powder. As I am getting the powder Andy yells "Mommy, I got it. I put it on him!"

Now, I've got the baby powder in my hands, so I am wondering what in the world my son has just put on his baby brother.

Powdered Sugar. Yes, that's right. Andy poured powdered sugar all over his baby brother's little bottom.

Guess Ducky is now Sweet Cheeks.

2003-05-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

Playing

Joshua has discovered the fine art of playing. He will sit under his mobile for about a half hour or more, staring at it and talking to it. He'll play in his bouncy seat as well as under his jungle gym and kick at the toys, again while talking to them.

He's desperately trying to learn how to roll over from his back to his tummy, and howling when he can't. He makes faces at people and talks all the time.

But, much to Andy's delight, the thing he likes to do best is play with his big brother. All Andy has to do is lay down next to him and Josh is all smiles. Andy reads to him, shows him pictures and toys and is trying to get him to hold a rattle. It's amazing how cute they are together!

2003-05-12T09:53:00.000-04:00

Water Baby

Josh went swimming for the first time yesterday -- on Mother's Day. Honestly, he didn't seem to care one way or the other about being in the pool. He loves the bath and I'm fairly certain he thought it the same thing. He DID however, look adorable in his bathing suit!

2003-05-08T14:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Today Joshua's big brother Andy turns 4. Joshua would like to say thank you for being such a wonderful big brother and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY

2003-05-06T13:27:00.000-04:00

Cousins

Joshua has just returned from a five day visit with his three male cousins, ages 5, 8, and almost 11. He has been cuddled, squeezed, laughed at, changed by a five year old, and just generally, loved.

The boys had a great time with him. Justin and Zach would ask him questions -- you see, Josh can't control his head completely, so at times his head bobs up and down, so they'd ask him questions that he would "answer". They thought it was hysterical. Dylan thought it was neat that his bowel movements are a wonderfully yellow color. He wanted to know why HE couldn't do that.

And through it all, Josh just smiled and took it all in.

2003-04-30T12:47:00.000-04:00

Joshua

We know now the date of Joshua's surgery. It seems so 'REAL' now. As though the protective coating of 'surreal' has withered away leaving only 'REAL' behind.

'REAL' sucks.

2003-04-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

Sick

Josh is sick -- and so the posts to his site will be few and far between for a few days until he's better. It's nothing serious, just the latest bug going around, but he is quite the most pathetic little thing when sick.

He kept me up all night (Daddy, on the other hand, kicked us out of the bedroom so he could sleep) and is still being rather sad. For "full" details, visit my site Mrs.PseudoPsalms.

2003-04-25T18:12:00.000-04:00

Nap Time

On Easter Sunday, Josh went to see his great-Grandma (on Mommy's side). She made a big turkey dinner and lots of desserts. Everyone had a great time. But I'd have to say that Josh and his Grandpa Darin had the best time of all. After filling themselves with dinner (Darin with turkey and sides, Josh with mommy milk) they curled up together on the couch and took a nap. They looked very cuddly and slept for about an hour.

Again, pictures coming soon!

2003-04-23T17:13:00.000-04:00

Ohio

Well, since Daddy got left behind this trip, I figured I should post about Josh's trip to Ohio. This was Joshua's first big trip. We drove for fourteen hours to get to Ohio to see my mother, grandmother and my best friend. He saw everyone important on my side of the family this trip. He was utterly wonderful. The drive was easy with him, Andy pacified him the few times he needed it before we could stop. But, the best part was how he was in Ohio.

He is now rolling over, cooing to everyone and recognizing voices and turning towards them. He interacts with people now and is also practicing making faces. He even made friends with the dog.

Willy is a basenji -- a barkless, sweet and beautiful dog. And he was sooooo jealous of the attention "his" people were giving to the baby. He didn't bite, growl or in any other way show displeasure towards the baby. Just whenever the baby was in someone's lap, Willy put his head there too. Even at times putting himself under the baby so that Josh was sitting on him. Three or four days into our trip the dog decided Josh wasn't so bad. And he began licking his head. Willy grooms people when he likes them. Josh was groomed by a soft doggy tongue on his head. I thought that Josh would be displeased with this weird display of affection, but he wasn't. In fact, everyday when Willy did it, Josh sat there with a wonderfully amusing look of contentment on his face and would lean his head back more for the dog to get it better.

All in all, Josh's first trip was a big success. He slept the drive up and back almost entirely. He slept through the X-rated trip to the zoo, and he played with the people he saw.

Pictures will be coming soon ...

2003-04-08T11:02:00.000-04:00

April

Well, it's been too long since I've posted here. Joshua has learned the fine art of rolling over. He has not, actually, perfected the art. But he's learning. He has, however, perfected eating, sleeping, and pooping.

We've requested the doctors to schedule surgery. It should take 3-5 more weeks before we hear when it will be but we've asked for mid to late June.

For now, Joshua is a little prince. Andy adores him. The cat is still ambivalent.

2003-03-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

Just Ducky

I've been remiss in posting lately as I've concentrated on being the father of a newborn. But here's a brief reminder of what you're missing:

2003-03-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

War

Joshua celebrated his one month birthday on Sunday. American soldiers, men and women fighting to protect my wife, my children, and myself, were paraded (alive, wounded, dead) on Al Jazeera television. Andy turns 4 in a little over a month. American citizens, men and women fighting to protect the UN, the French, and, of course, Saddam Hussein, paraded as well. And, lest we forget, the 'Arab Street' cheered that American soldiers were dying.

Andy knows The Pledge of Allegiance. Joshua knows he is loved, where to find food, how to cry. There are people, complete and absolute strangers, who are, right this moment, putting their very lives on the line for my children. To protect them. They are there, in a foreign land, far from their own children, their own parents, their own loved ones, so that my children will be safe. They stand there, ready to die, to defend my children.

And people protest against them? People cheer their deaths? These people sicken me.

American soldiers, men and women I will never know, have never heard of, will never speak to, are fighting, for us. Willing to die, for us. Willing to risk everything, for us.

God bless them.

God bless America.

Every night, holding my children while watching grainy video footage of a war half a world away, I know, deep down, that God has blessed me. With a wonderful wife, beautiful children, and the knowledge, sure and strong, that I live in the most free nation in the history of this planet. America the beautiful. Amber waves of grain. Purple mountains majesty. God bless the USA.

2003-03-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

4 years ago, today...

I said 'I do', repeated the vows and kissed the bride.

Actually, the day started with me running over a concrete barrier in a Publix parking lot, continued with a farce as we tried to locate one of the groomsmen (my uncle, delayed by Delta (or whatever airline it was, but 'delayed by Delta' sounds better than 'un-early by United' don't you think?)) and then there was the 'how do I place a veil on her head' since that was never practiced before the Rabbi asked me to do so. And who could forget when I walked down the aisle and, despite repeated instructions from Anna prior to the event, walked to the wrong side of her and had to circle around?

To be honest, I have few real memories of the ceremony. Or of the reception. Or of much of anything from that day. Oh, I listen to Anna or others tell their stories. And I laugh and nod, knowingly, of course, but really, it's all a blur.

Everything but 'I do.'

And the vows.

And, of course, the kiss.

Happy anniversary, sweetheart. I love you...equally.

2003-03-17T14:18:00.000-05:00

Monday

Anna tells me that I don't post anything positive, that my posts are too negative.

As usual, she's correct. Though I don't set out to be 'negative' the posts just sort of end up that way. I'll try to stay positive, as everyone keeps reminding me.

With that in mind...

Hey, it's a start...

2003-03-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Purim Carnival

Ducky didn't win. Why didn't Ducky win? Because he was the only baby there and all of the prizes were for big kids. But, come on, isn't he adorable?

2003-03-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

Second Opinion

The same as the first. We'll be scheduling the surgery at Joshua's next appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. Did we hold out hope that the diagnosis would be incorrect? Perhaps, though really we both realized that the odds were slim. They tell us this surgery has been perfected. They tell us a great many things. All I hear is this: Open heart surgery, bypass, shut the heart down. For upwards of 90 minutes. My infant son's heart will be shut down by the hand of man for an hour and a half.

Someone will have to remind me to breathe during that time.

2003-03-11T20:32:00.000-05:00

Big Brother

Joshua went to his first soccer game this past weekend, where Daddy coached and Granddad took pictures. Of course, it would have been nice if Granddad had not had his camera stolen in Vegas, so he was stuck using my camera which isn't the greatest. Still, the pictures are wonderful! Andy, as readers of his site know already, scored a goal and played great!

2003-03-11T14:08:00.000-05:00

Work

Well, for lunch today my wife brought both my boys into the office. So I blog today holding Joshua as he sleeps. Life is, every so often, absolutely perfect. Just don't tell anyone that.

Thank you to everyone for the prayers, the support, the encouragement, the wonderful comments and the love.

We'll be leaving for one of the best pediatric heart centers in the country on Thursday for a Friday appointment for a second opinion. Please keep the prayers coming, the fingers crossed, the wood knocked, and the angels hovering.

Thank you. Sincerely, thank you. You will never know how deeply appreciative we are.

2003-03-10T23:44:00.000-05:00

PunditJunior

Andy, the eldest boy (all of almost 4 years old) was feeling left out, so Mommy made him a blog. Go say Hello.

2003-03-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

School Days

Since my husband has posted on his blog that I have no interest in blogging, I thought I'd have to prove him wrong. In order to do that I had to come up with something to post -- and after an hour of thinking, I've decided to talk about Joshua's day yesterday.

Yesterday I took Joshua to Sunday school for the first time. I teach two classes -- one for little kids (about 4-7 year olds) and another for bigger kids (8-11 year olds). My little kid class is on hiatus until I tell them I'm back from my miniature maternity leave. But my bigger kid class goes on. So Joshua went with me to my bigger kid class. (Daddy was scared Joshua would cry the whole time if I left him since he'd have nothing to feed him.)

The kids all thought Joshua was the most adorable little thing they'd ever seen (which he is!) and had a blast playing with him when he was awake. We spent the day preparing for our Purim carnival by baking, decorating, and setting up games and prizes, all while Joshua slept! He woke up for about half an hour, during which the kids sang him Purim songs, and said a prayer for him. They don't know about his heart condition yet (they're so young I honestly wasn't sure what to tell them) but they all wanted to say a prayer for him to grow up "big and strong and good" as they put it.

All in all it was a very sweet day for Joshua's first school day. And be sure to watch for pictures of the Purim carnival after next week -- Joshua is going in costume as a duck.

2003-03-10T10:18:00.000-05:00

Nightmare

I knew, somehow, that it would really be only a matter of time before I started having nightmares about this whole Tetralogy thing. The facts are plain enough. Plus, Joshua sleeps in our room to ease feedings in the middle of the night so he's a constant (reassuring) presence. I still remember seeing Andy in the hospital last June, in his little pediatric oxygen tent and his lime green gown and the IV tube (he had an allergic reaction to a bunny...) and that image also was incorporated into my dream.

Actually I don't remember much of the dream, just that it was there, that Joshua was in the hospital, but not in ICU (which I guess was a good thing). I'm rather afraid that the dreams will just get worse as we wait and wait for the surgery.

The truth is that Joshua seems to be doing great. He's gaining weight, eating well, sleeping well. He's aware and alert when he's awake, always looking around and trying to roll over or crawl. His color is good, he's perfect (ok, I'm biased). And, so long as I don't think about it, I can almost forget, as I hold him or watch Andy kiss him or watch my wife feed him, that in a matter of months doctors we've yet to meet will stop his tiny, precious heart and fix him. Dear God, please protect our son.

2003-03-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Time Flies

We met 'cute.' No, really. Actually, the way we met has become fairly common today. It was far less so 7 years ago. Yes, we met online. Not through a chat room or a dating service of any of the other myriad ways which couples are now created via the internet. We met, literally, through the Cartoon Network.

What, you didn't see how this post would end up being about the Cartoon Network?

Back in the good old days, when I was on a Mac IIsi which had a 20 MHz processor using AOL version 2.7 (I told you this was a long time ago) paying hourly rates to surf the AOL world (the browser had just been added to AOL and rarely, if ever, worked and the world wide web was in its infancy), I became a host for the Cartoon Network's site on AOL.

We had CNW screennames which kept us anonymous as well as giving us characters to entertain the kids in the room. In telling my wife that I was going to post this story she suggested I not give out my CNW name for various reasons. So I won't. But the story continues.

We were both management for CNW and while we knew each other it was a long time before our friendship progressed. But, progress it obviously did.

CNW didn't pay us, although at one point I was working well over 50 hours a week for them. But, from that 'volunteer' job, which I took more because it came with a free account than from any overwhelming love for the Cartoon Network (which, at the time, I didn't even get on my cable), I have ended up with a wife whom I adore and two beautiful children.

There are other stories about the beginnings of our relationship, some joyful and others less so, and perhaps, over the months, I'll relate more of them simply because they are, in some small way, joyful. Joshua went to his brother's soccer game today. It was colder than March should be but it was wonderful to be outside, to forget, for a while at least, that surgery approaches.

In 11 days my wife and I will celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. I don't honestly think many people thought we would ever actually get married. Too far away, too many obstacles, too many mountains to climb. But we survived and thrived and produced a beautiful family. All thanks to AOL and the Cartoon Network.

I am, as always I suppose, smarter than the average bear.

2003-03-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

Granddad

So, Granddad shows up for the weekend to make up for having to miss the bris due to previous business plans which kept him in Vegas for the past week. However, due to his weekend trip to visit his newest (and fifth) grandson (yes, 5, my sister has 3 boys and I now have 2) my father will now be missing my mother's 60th birthday, which happens to be tomorrow. I'll assume he's planning on making this up to his wife. I'll assume, as well, that he's also planning something for their 40th wedding anniversary which is rapidly approaching. Which immediately puts in perspective the fact that my wife and I will shortly be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary on the 19th. But, none of that is what I wanted to post about.

This post is, believe it or not, about ballroom dancing. More specifically, ballroom dancing in the 1950's. Even more specifically, ballroom dancing in the 1950's on national television. What, you're probably thinking, does any of this have to do with granddad being in town for the weekend?

I can remember my father dancing on exactly 3 occasions: my sister's bat mitzvah (late 1970's, it'd be rude of me to list the year for her), my bar mitzvah (1980) and my sister's wedding when he danced with his daughter.

Well, it turns out (my wife and I just discovered tonight at dinner overlooking the Atlantic ocean) that sometime in the 1950's my father appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Yes, that Ed Sullivan show. You know, the one the Beatles, Elvis, and the Rolling Stones performed on. And what, you probably can guess, did my father do on the Ed Sullivan show? Ballroom dancing.

Go figure.

Now, the search begins for Ed Sullivan archives to try to find one episode from sometime in the mid-1950's (he thinks he was around 15 which puts it around 1956) because someday I want to be able to show Andy and Joshua their grandfather's 15 minutes of fame on the Ed Sullivan show.

2003-03-06T12:53:00.000-05:00

My Two Sons

Ok, I might not be much to look at, but they're absolutely adorable!

2003-03-05T19:17:00.000-05:00

Tetralogy of Fallot

For those interested in more information, the link above will take you to a site with the most detailed explanation of the problem and the repair procedure that I've been able to find today. Thank you all for your prayers and support and love.

2003-03-05T19:11:00.000-05:00

Ducky

When Anna was about 4 months along we found out the sex of the baby. Male. Trying to keep Andy involved with the entire pregnancy so that he wouldn’t feel left out we asked him what we should name the baby. His response? “Ducky.” So the baby became ‘Ducky.’

For over 5 months everyone called him ‘Ducky.’ So much so that even now we still occasionally call him ‘Ducky.’ Most of the gifts from his baby showers have ducks on them, stuffed ducks, rubber ducks, duck towels, duck blankies, you get the picture. Now, Andy calls the baby ‘Joshua Ducky’ which I’ve jokingly shortened to ‘JD.’

This was, I had assumed in my hopeful naiveté, going to be a cheerful post. Full of good news and happy thoughts. I was wrong.

During the sonogram when we found out the sex of the baby, the doctor noticed that there might possibly be a problem with the kidneys, so he sent us an hour away to see a specialist to take a closer look at the baby. The specialist, after a more intensive ultrasound, found nothing wrong with the kidneys. However, there’s always a however, isn’t there?, he noticed something possibly wrong with his heart.

Next was yet another specialist, a pediatric cardiologist, who diagnosed a VSD, a ventricular septal defect. A hole between the pumping chambers of the heart in other words. On the scale of birth defects, this was fairly minor. For the remainder of the pregnancy we drove the 60 miles each way to check the VSD. The OB/GYN and the pediatric cardiologist all said that this wouldn’t affect the birth, and they were right. The birth went fine. The hospital did an EKG and a chest X-ray when Joshua was a day old. His pediatrician heard a loud murmur (which, he informed us, usually meant a very small hole) but, other than that, he was fine and healthy and we could take him home on schedule.

Today, we took Joshua to his first appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. We went with good thoughts because of how well he was doing. I had almost looked forward to this post, to let everyone know that, even though there were health problems, they were minor and going away. I was wrong.

We’ll get a second opinion, and probably a third. But the diagnosis today is Tetralogy of Fallot. This has four major components: a VSD of varying severity (Joshua’s seems to be moderate, which is the middle size); a stenosis (or narrowing) at, or just beneath, the pulmonary valve which partly blocks the flow of venous blood to the lungs of varying severity (Joshua’s seems to be mild, the smallest size); the right ventricle is more muscular than normal; and the aorta lies directly over the VSD.

End result? Open-heart surgery in the next 3-4 months at latest. Sooner if his oxygen saturation goes down (it’s currently in the high 90’s and as long as it stays above 90 they’ll wait the 3-4 months). There’s, according to the doctor, a 90-95% chance that everything will be fine after surgery.

He’s so tiny, so adorable. Hungrily snacking on his mother while she cries silently, staring down at him. Tears, every once in a while, falling off of her cheeks to splash against his forehead.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.
Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever
Love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you on this day, shall be on your heart. Teach them faithfully to your children; speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise. Bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. Write them on the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates.... That you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.

Please God, take care of my son.

2003-03-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

Photos

There's a trend here, of posting pictures of Joshua, alone, and one with both boys. We're still trying to find 'the perfect birth announcement picture' and, until we do, I'm just going to keep posting the 'close, but not quite' pictures.

2003-03-04T14:21:00.000-05:00

ah, Bris

All done. Back home. Exhausted. Joshua did great! Actually, the whole thing went wonderfully. Except for one small detail. No one thought to take any pictures, whatsoever, of the entire event. Photographically, the day ceased to exist except in memory. Now, while pictures of the actual procedure aren't required, it'd be nice to have one of my brother-in-law holding the baby, or my sister carrying him in. Or, perhaps, my grandmother reciting the blessing over the challah. Or, at least, my mother reading the Prayer for the Grandparents. But no. Not a single picture was taken. Not even that blessed moment when Joshua, proclaiming mightily his will to affirm his convenant with God, peed, the moment his diaper was removed, all over the mohel.

And, let me repeat, not a single picture was taken. These are the moments of our lives. I still can't believe I forgot my camera.

2003-02-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

The Blog Continues...

Slight technical problems here at babypundit, which is to be expected when the person actually blogging (me) is rather exhausted (though not, I must admit, as exhausted as my wife). So, once again, I blame lack of sleep on any stupidity on my part.

Actually, though, Joshua is wonderful, sleeps most of the day, only cries when his diaper is being changed, at which time he briefly turns into a banshee from the outer depths of hell. Then, immediately upon being reswaddled he becomes a smiling little lump of baby, smelling like a Johnson & Johnson showroom floor. Andy, when he was a newborn had two facial expressions: Smiling (almost constantly, he was born with a smile on his face) and the 'I don't think so' look which he still uses to this day when he's angry or upset. Joshua, on the other hand, seems to have a facial structure partially made out of Jim Carrey. The Mask had nothing on the contortions that Joshua has been amusing us with this week. I've a feeling we're never going to tire of seeing the funny faces this little person can make.

Leaving the hospital my wife decided she wanted to show off Joshua to all of my co-workers so we spent over an hour at my office before going home to relax. The next day she went out with my mother and the baby to go shopping and yesterday we went driving around seeking a decent seafood resteraunt (ending up, of course, at decent Italian). Today she's out shopping with grandmom again. My wife is tireless, determined, and a wonderful mother. Tomorrow we drive 4 hours to get to a city large enough to have a mohel to do the bris. Yes, a 4 hour drive with a newborn and a woman who gave birth this week. And I bet that I complain more than either of them (I'll have to do all the driving. See, you can almost visualize me complaining already, can't you?).

There will be more pictures. The bris is Monday. Have a wonderful weekend.

2003-02-26T09:58:00.000-05:00

Two Stones

When my wife and I were planning our wedding, back a hundred years ago (to quote Shenandoah), I wrote her a short little poem, Two Stones. The poem ended up being printed on bookmarks that we gave out as favors at our wedding. In addition, we decided not to use the traditional tiny bride and groom plastic figurines and ended up using two polished rose quartz stones as our cake toppers (yes, we have lots of pretty pictures of the cake).

Why bring this up? Well, if Two Stones were representative (in some surreal poetic fashion) of my new bride and myself then it only seemed natural that Three Stones would represent my wife, our son (Andy), and myself. So when Andy was born I wrote a poem, similar in concept and design as Two Stones. Which, of course, brings us to Joshua Kyle.

I was amazed that I found a blog template which has pictures of, well, stones on it. Ok, so it's incredibly yellow (which makes sense in a way too but I'll explain that later), it's got stones on it so I'm using it. But, I haven't written Four Stones yet. Will I? I assume so. Why have I hesitated? Because I didn't much like the poem as a poem when it was Two Stones, I liked it a little less as a poem when it morphed into Three Stones, and I can't imagine that as a poem it will really survive being turned into Four Stones. Why will I end up doing it? Because I feel like it's appropriate and sweet to do so.

I wrote a lot of poems for my wife, both before and after we were married, and of them all I probably like Two Stones least. Which only makes sense since it's my wife's favorite and everyone else usually agrees on this with my wife. So, Four Stones.

Eventually.

In the meantime:

two stones came to rest today
upon the riverbank...
they began their journey lonely
and struggled to survive...
the water carried them and shaped their thoughts
taught them and brought them together
if only to teach each other
and the river was pleased...
the water supported them
watched and learned from them...
two stones came to rest today
upon the riverbank...
the river smiled
murmuring over them
and continued on its way...

So, I look at those stones on the top of this blog and I think, that's my family.

2003-02-25T18:23:00.000-05:00

Home sweet home

Well, now the adventure truly begins. Joshua came home from the hospital this morning and all is chaos at home. Grandmom is in town, helping out with Andy. Saturday will see us driving 4 hours for the Bris on Monday (isn't that what every woman wants to do a few days after giving birth, not to mention driving that much with a newborn). And, just for fun, I have to be back at work Tuesday. Yes, it's going to be hectic. But, Joshua's adorable and it's going to be wonderful. It's hard to believe, now, that I have two sons. One more and I become a cheesy sitcom from the 60's with the star of Double Indemnity. I know, I could have put a link to imdb.com but I didn't feel like dealing with html since I've had no sleep in the last couple of days.

Another thing I wanted to discuss is some history, mainly that between my wife and I, how we met, things like that. I'll get to that eventually. It'll be worth the wait. No, really. Ok, maybe not for anyone other than me so I can stroll down memory lane and remember the first moment I met her. You'll have to forgive the sentimentality. It's a sentimental kind of day.

PS: Aren't they cute?

2003-02-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Ladies and Gentlemen...Joshua Kyle Salomon...

and, of course, one of Andre Logan and his new baby brother...

2003-02-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

It's a blog!

Hello world. I was born last night at 7:43 and it's great to be here. My dad and mom will be doing the blogging here (obviously) but we'll try to all get along and post the joyous events of my life. And, occasionally, I might let my dad do some stream-of-conciousness thingie. And, soon, there'll be pictures for family and friends to celebrate along with us. I'm the babypundit, and it's going to be a wonderful ride.

PS: Until pictures appear here, you can check some out on my daddy's site (once he posts them this afternoon) at Pseudopsalms. Thanks for sharing my life with me.