Fun and Tummy Time

An Update

Luca got new casts on today. He also got new splints made for his wrists. He had out grown the old ones. Overall, the appointments were successful but generally discouraging. The OT told us were were not stretching Luca enough and taught us at least four new stretches we have never even done. I guess we needed a kick in the pants.
The chief orthopedic surgeon at Children's did the casting today and used the term "god awfull" when refering to Luca's feet. Where's the bedside maner?

The good news, we got the car window fixed. The people that stole and used the credit card got caught on video at the pawn shop. I hope they get busted (they also spent our $200 gift card at target).

Who shops at pawn shops? - A Bad Week Gone Worse

Today, Katie called me at work to tell me our car was broken into while she was at Lincoln Park. They/he/she/jerk broke the back window and stole Katie's bill fold and managed to spend $2000 on our credit at a pawn shop. Funny, that just a few days ago Katie and I drove by a pawn shop and asked each other who shops at a pawn shop? Now we know. Thankfully, Betsy is here to help Katie clean up his crap while I'm at work. And thank you to our friends that let us park our car in their garage overnight to keep it safe.

Congratulations Chris!!!

I am very proud of my brother, Chris! Your hard work is going to pay off! Wish I could have been at the celebration.

Sleep

Sleep is such a wonderful gift and necessity in life. John and I have been lacking it quite a bit this month and are looking forward to days when Luca begins to sleep 5, 6, or 7 hours at a time. I hear it happens and I am going to believe it. (That is why we look a little blurry in the picture:)

What a week

A lot has happened this week.

The low lights included:

• me (Katie) getting horribly sick with mastitis (a breast infection) which is luckily not contagious as it feels like the swine flu. I could not get out of bed for two days, had the fever, chills, the works. Thankfully with modern medicine and time it has passed.
  
• Luca getting too tight of casts put on Thursday and screaming all day.

Highlights included

• AUNT BETSY coming on Tuesday (perfect timing, and the most wonderful sister in the world caring for me, Luca, and John since she stepped off the airplane).
• Luca getting new casts that he could tolerate on Friday.
• A wonderful shower at church thrown by my amazing co-worker, Mary Maulding!!!
• Added bonus:we have been having amazing warm weather. It was sunny and 78 today!

New cast take 2

Luca got a new set of casts put on this past Thursday. They were put on at 9 am and taken off at 9 pm (by us) because he screamed the whole time in between. He even had trouble eating he was so upset. I was kind of worried that he wouldn't be able to handle having casts on anymore, but we had him recasted on Friday and now he is doing great. We also had him weigh on Friday at 9.9 pounds with a onsie and diaper on. Wow! This kid is gaining almost a pound a week. Good thing we adults don't gain weight that fast:) He is in the picture with Nora and Mari, smiling away!

Big Boy Diapers

Well, the little guy has graduated with so many other college grads this weekend from new born size diapers to size 1. Luca gets cuter and fatter each day.
Yesterday, Katie took Luca to Childrens Hospital get his cast put on. Luca came home with no casts on because his legs still have to healed all the way. I had told Katie to not bother going to since they would not be able to cast him. I suppose Katie did the right thing, in the event that this affects the long term outcome. We are hopping to get this process started up again on Thursday.

Mother's Day

I am enjoying my first mother's day with Luca! What a gift.

Pioneer Club

This year we started a new mid-week program at our church called Pioneer Club. This last Wednesday was our last meeting and we combined it with an event for raising money for clean water in Uganda. It was a great pizza and family night with activities, fellowship, and special pioneer club awards. I was thankful to get to be there to conclude the year! There is also a picture of Pastor Brian and I's sons. They were born in the same week, who could have known?

Cuddling with Dad

Luca enjoys being close and cuddling. The novelty of Luca sleeping in our bed still keeps us from falling asleep, so we have to put him in his crib when we really want to sleep. He is back to his cute little self, crying when hungry or when he has to get his dreaded diaper changed. His legs are healing up quickly. He is also growing quickly and is up to 8 1/2 pounds as he approaches his original due date of May 9th! We have been overwhelmed with all the cards, gifts, and meals we have been given. Thank you so much for your love and support.

Hard day for all of us

This morning around 11 am John and I took off Luca's first set of casts. Through the screaming of Luca, John carefully unwrapped the many layers of soft fiberglass casting material. Under the cast Luca's skin was bruised, swollen, and had a few sore spots. It appears that the casts were on for too long and his legs grew from the original casts. Luca was unusually fussy last night as he was up most of the night. John and I took two hour shifts with him as he screamed through the night, which is very unlike him. He usually just wakes up to eat and goes back to sleep every 3 hours. So we went to Children's Hospital to have him recasted and the doctor said that we should give his legs a week to heal. It was very hard to see our newborn go through this. He seems to be quite calm now and not in pain. We know that babies heal quickly and pray that this won't happen again through this casting process.

smile and eyes open

Here is the first smile of Luca's caught on camera! These smiles might just be reflex but they sure are cute!

Meeting the old roomies

Luca got to meet his parents old room mates last night. I think he fell in love right away! Thanks for coming to visit!

Tulip fields

Yesterday, Luca went on his first trip to the tulip fields (about 1 and 1/2 hours north of Seattle). It was a beautiful sunny day and he slept the whole way up and back and most of the time while we were there. We had a great time.