Emo Baby, Emo Mama and Some NMR Updates

It's been interesting to see Marino's personality to develop more. He is actually a very sensitive guy. I had noticed that he is very troubled by other people's sadness...he'll cry if Evan or I cry or pretend to cry and he gets really concerned if a friend at daycare is crying (and won't focus on anything else). But he's also started to get really sad if Evan or I say "no" in our serious mom and dad voices. He doesn't get frustrated (we know if he is because he throws a mini-tantrum)...instead there is a 3 minute transformation where every part of his tiny face crumples up, the lip comes out and he starts wailing like he lost his best friend. Very heartbreaking but we only use the "no" for serious offenses (the latest on that comes to mind is snatching his spoon from my hand and throwing it while I was feeding him). I wonder if he will always be sensitive...

Speaking of sensitive, I had a terrible "working mom" moment on Friday. When I went to pick Marino up from daycare, he CRIED when I took him from the arms of his favorite teacher, Sherry ::sob::. I gave him back to her and he was happy as a clam, snuggling with her. I pretended to leave and when I came back he reached for me, but, wow. That really broke my heart and made me wish (even more than I normally do, that I could be a stay at home mom for now). Ouch. All moms long for the day their newborn starts to prefer them over everyone else...I didn't realize this wouldn't be the case 100% of the time:(

This is NMR (Not Marino Related), but on Wednesday, we had a baby shower at work for my friend, Monica. You may remember she is the one who went into PTL at 29 weeks in June. Well, she is off bed rest, back at work, and doing a great job of keeping Baby Vincent safe inside her! I'm looking forward to meeting Baby Vincent...once he gets to 40 weeks gestational age!

Here's a couple pictures from the shower...in this picture she is showing off her special sugar-free cookies (she has gestational diabetes)

And here she is showing off her bump (she's still tiny...I could carry her in my pocket)

Evan, Marino and I went to visit Sandra, Ishmael and Baby Anthony on Wednesday evening. He is so precious. Marino would giggle every time he saw him (maybe he wants a sibling? :) j/k). He was sleeping peacefully the whole time we were there. I forgot how sweet newborn babies are!

Special Pictures to Share

When Sonia, Wil and Catalina were visiting last week, our friend Dave took some pictures for them and he managed to get some really cute ones of Cat and Marino. I LOVE these pictures; they are some of my favorite ones since he's been born. Catalina is so adorable and such a great little girl. She is very sweet and loving and so smart! Her vocabulary is really amazing. I can't wait to see her again (we're going to visit them in NJ next month). I miss hearing her around the house saying "Momo" and "woof woof" to Max!!

Quiet Summer Weekend

This weekend was a relatively quiet one for us. I was feeling pretty burned out from planning for and having last week's party so I wanted a peaceful weekend. Saturday morning, Evan, Marino and I went to the pool for a little while. Marino loved it; he is getting really good at grasping the concept of kicking his legs to get where he wants to go in the pool via his boat. We also made a friend in the baby pool. He just learned "splash" this week (receptively, not expressively) so we had some fun splashing.

After a nap (Marino, not Mama, unfortunately) we went to Sarah's house to have a playdate with her and Claire. Claire is getting so big and she can do everything Marino can! It was fun to watch them play, although I wish there was a simple way to teach Marino "gentle." He is pretty rough.

Doesn't he look like he's up to something in these pictures?

After a nice long nap, Daddy helped us clean up the yard and we played with the water table, a birthday gift from Aunt Sonia, Uncle Wil and Cat. As you saw in the pictures from Marino's birthday party, the water table is a big hit with kids of all ages. Marino loves splashing around in his.

By the way, if anyone has advice on how to grow healthy grass, please tell me! We've grown some new grass since the spring but then some of the formerly healthy grass died. I'm lost!

Today we just relaxed and ran errands, including buying a big boy carseat (although he can still fit in his infant seat for now). I have to say that Marino is becoming increasingly opinionated and tempermental. I suppose it could be teething but it is probably more likely a sign of him becoming a toddler. He has adopted a new cry that sounds like some small animal is being tortured. I'm hoping once he is able to communicate better, the amount of crying and tantrums will be reduced, but I am probably kidding myself:)

We got a few new things for the tub today, too. Last week Marino fell backwards in the tub and hit his head, since all he wants to do is stand in the tub. My mom suggested we get a no-slip mat and we found it serves a dual purpose, since he like pointing at the cars and "telling" us about them. We also got a fun new toy, hoping he would sit in the tub longer.

Here's a picture from tonight's bath.

Our efforts seemed to be relatively successful!

Marino's 1st Birthday Party!

Last Saturday was Marino's birthday party. It was a really special party for us...not only was it a chance to celebrate our amazing boy but also to celebrate lots of the wonderful people in our life who have shared their love, support and prayers for us over this past year. It really has taken a village to raise our child and we're lucky to have all these special people in our lives. We had lots of old friends, like Sonia and Rachel, who have been my friends since we were in high school, and new friends, like Dr. Simon, who was Marino's critical care doctor in the PICU and Lauren, who was my nurse the night Marino was born (and after).

Another very cool part of the party was that people knew each other from the blog! I loved it!! And of course, Marino was spoiled with gifts from all our generous friends and family. He also really liked the "Happy Birthday" singing (both versions that Daddy had us sing). He was pretty indifferent about the cake...he seems to prefer cauliflower!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the party and a video of many others.

Note: As always, all the decent looking pictures here were taken by our friend, Dave King. Also, if anyone is looking for a 1st (or 2nd, 3rd, etc) onesie/shirt (some people have asked me about this already), this is where I got Marino's http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6119023

Welcome to the World Anthony James!

Our friends Ishmael and Sandra welcomed their baby boy, Anthony James, into the world last night. He is 7lb, 6oz and almost 21 inches long! Evan and I had the honor of going to visit them in the hospital tonight and I even got snuggle time with Baby AJ! He is adorable and so peaceful! I can't wait to watch him grow!!

Staycation

Since Evan and I both have very little vacation time (and even less money), we decided just to take a few days off from work this summer and stay home with the boy. Lucky for us, my dear friend Sonia, her awesome husband, Wil, and their 17-month-old daughter, Catalina, were able to come stay with us for a few days (they live in New Jersey), so we had a lot of fun together.

Thursday, Richelle and I took Max and Marino for a walk around the lake and got caught in a huge rain storm! Richelle took this very cool picture of us trying to keep dry under a tree...note Max's innovative way to stay dry...

On Friday, which was Marino's actual birthday, Evan and I spent most of the day getting things ready for Marino's birthday party the following day. My mom, stepfather, dad and stepmother all came over to spend some time with Marino, which I think they all enjoyed.

Saturday was the birthday party (seperate post on that to come once I have the pictures). My wonderful friend Rachel and her boyfriend Wrenford stayed the night and we loved having all our great friends with us!! After the party, we attempted to go watch the fireworks at the Soccerplex but we ended up watching them from a nearby field (which was probably better for the babies anyway, since we could see them but they weren't very loud).

On Sunday, Wil and Sonia cooked breakfast for us, which was awesome! Catalina calls Marino "Momo" which is the cutest nickname ever! I love it!! Then Sonia and I went to Wheaton Regional Park where we met up with one of Sonia's college friends, Cara, who lives local. We rode the carousel (on the big zebra this time), played at the playground, and rode the train that goes around the park.

Sunday evening, Sonia and I went to see "My Sister's Keeper." The movie was good, but whoa, it was sad. I mean, start to finish, I had tears in my eyes...and Sonia is 6 months pregnant so she likely felt like she was being emotionally tortured. I read the book long before I even got pregnant, but being a mom gave me a very different perspective on the entire storyline...I think you'd have to be a mom to really understand the pain that the mother in that story feels; I can't imagine. Anyway...on to happier things...

Here's Sonia and Cat before the train ride.

And here's Momo and Cat on the cars at the playground.


Then Momo decided to work on his big boy skills, like holding his own bottle...

Later that afternoon, I snapped this picture of him...ready to take on the world.

On Monday, we took the kids to the zoo. This was Marino's first trip to the zoo. He was definately more interested in the indoor exhibits, which were closer to his eye level and sight plane, but he seemed to enjoy himself.

We saw some cool animals like...seals

and gorillas.

Momo tried to put his sun hat on Cat.

We saw some creepy crawlies...

And Cat and Marino had a chance to bond. Seeing them play together just melts my heart...Sonia and I have been the best of friends for almost 17 years now and seeing our children together is just a beautiful experience.

As you can see, Marino was very tired by the end of our zoo trip...

Tuesday was my 31st birthday. Let me say that my 30th birthday was the worst birthday ever. And I don't just mean for me. It seriously has to rank as one of the worst birthdays of all time (although no one died or anything, so I realize it could have been worse). Overnight on my 30th birthday, I developed c.diff after having had a blood transfusion (ie: my body was already beaten down) and being put on antibiotics (which killed all the probiotics in my belly). I was already so sick that when the c.diff came, the doctors and nurses had a hard time getting it under control, which was why I ended up having to spend 2 full weeks in the hospital. C.diff is an infection of the colon. The bacteria can only be controlled with hand washing...hand sanitizer doesn't kill the bacteria, which is why it spreads quickly in a hospital setting (where I picked it up). But when it started, I was still immobile, catheterized, etc....I had to have Evan and everyone else leave so I could spend the entire night developing a bed sore using a bed pan. Ummm...if anyone ever told me that was how I would be spending my 30th birthday, I would have never believed it. Then, of course, to add insult to injury, everyone who came in my room had to be gowned and gloved (as if I had the plague) AND I couldn't see Marino until my fever broke (days later). So, yeah, bloody colon, no NICU visits and a bed sore = worst birthday ever.

Back to the present...my 31st birthday was great! Not only do I have a healthy body and a healthy son, I also got to do lots of fun things! In the morning, Sonia and I went to Glen Echo Park to see the Tiny Tots puppet show with the kids. It's really cute...the kids can run around, dance, etc. I really enjoyed it and Marino gave some "YAY"s with his arms up, so I'm assuming he liked it too:) Then we all went to Buy Buy Baby to test out some double strollers for Sonia, before she joins the world of "2 under 2" (we found a great one).

Then we came home for naps and were off to the pool. Sonia and family had gotten Marino this turtle float as one of his birthday presents and he loved it! He was kicking his legs, and dunking his face in the shallow part in the front of the float (don't ask me why, maybe he was trying to drink the water?)

Here's Sonia with Marino and Cat in their boats.
Evan and Wil hanging out in the pool.

When we got home, we gave Momo and Cat a bath together. What's cuter than that? I censored the private bits, so Cat doesn't hate me one day... Marino has gotten so tan since the summer started (I put plenty of sunscreen on him but he tans anyway).

After the baths, we went to dinner at my favorite thai place, Jasmine Thai.

Here's a family shot...

Sonia and Wil

Sonia and I.

And here's Max from last night, snuggling with Marino's new Laugh and Learn Puppy.
Sonia and family left this morning and we all miss them already! I took Marino to daycare around noon today so Evan and I could have some time to relax before we go back to work tomorrow. Today was the first time Marino ever cried when I was leaving him at daycare...it was tough.

Today is Evan's 30th birthday! We ordered in, watched a movie, and spent the day being lazy. It definately wasn't an exciting day, but I hope Evan enjoyed it anyway!

Happy 1st Birthday, Littleness!

Dear Marino,

Happy 1st birthday, my beautiful boy. While I can't believe a year has passed since your birth, I also can barely remember my life without you (I do recall there was more sleep involved). I am so proud of you today and every day. You have had to fight for the life that most people take for granted and not only did you survive, you have thrived. In spite of all that you have been through, you are an amzingly happy boy and you are the truly the light of our lives. When you smile and laugh, I feel sad that the whole world can't experience your wonderful spirit. Spending time with you always reminds me to live in the moment. I just know that God has something special planned for your life, Marino, and I'm so glad I get to be a part of it.

I'm not sure what I've done to deserve to be your Mama...out of all the wonderful mommies in the world, how did I get so lucky to be the one God chose for you? I intend to spend the rest of my days making you proud that you fought the battles you did in your first year and trying to make your life a wonderful one. I'm looking forward to this next year with you...a year where we can experience the world instead of hiding from it.

Happy Birthday, Angelness. Mama and Daddy love you!