Tuesday, July 21, 2009

What a difference a day makes...

Yesterday we had smiles...today a different emotion:

Furious. Hysterical. An emotion we not so fondly refer to around here as "snorting mad." Now what on earth could put our sweet little baby into such a terrible mood?

The evil torture device known as the crib. Apparently the only acceptable place for naptime today is laying on Mama. Nowhere else will do.

Monday, July 20, 2009

A Picture Worth One Thousand Words


There's no mistaking it. The little monkey man is officially smiling! And today I finally caught him with the camera!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

AJ at 2 weeks


Okay, so this is a little late, since AJ will be 3 weeks old tomorrow, but we can't miss this milestone!

Here are the stats from the big 2 week dr appt.
  • Weight: 9lbs 1oz (2 oz shy of birth weight) 60th percentile
  • Height: 21inches (.5 inches taller than birth height) 62nd percentile
  • Head Circumference: 37.5 cm 60th percentile
Dr. R says AJ is perfectly proportional and growing well! He's still wearing newborn diapers and newborn or 0-3 month clothes.

We're also happy to report the little guy also lost his umbillical cord stump this week.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Here I am!

Tap...tap... tap...is this thing on?

Can you hear me now?
Can you hear me now?
Good..

Okay, so it's been a while since anyone wrote on this here waiting for Monkey blog. Why, you ask? Well, that would be my fault...

Allow me to introduce myself...

My name is Anderson James Homburg...also known around these parts as Monkey! I arrived at 9:05pm on Thursday June 11th. I shocked my parents and the doctors by weighing in at a plump 9lbs 30z. Mom says she's glad she didn't know how big I was going to be!

I've been keeping my parents busy the past couple of weeks so they haven't had time to blog. They've been trying to keep up with pictures though, so here's a quick look at a few of the things I've been up to in my first two weeks of life. I promise to be back soon with more stories and pictures. These are just the ones Mom had easy access to.
So, first, I was born. I met my mom and my dad, Dr. Kaldas and a couple of nurses. Then, I got to meet my Aunt Barb. She came right away because my parents desperately needed food. She held me while mom ate a cheeseburger and dad scarfed a big mac. Then, she used Mom's camera to take this picture. Our first as a family!


The next morning I met my Grandpa Fred. He was in Wisconsin for work and drove a little out of his way to come meet me. He is eager to take me fishing. I guess that means Mom and Dad need to buy me a fishing pole.

I actually had lots of visitors that first day in the hospital. Aunt Barb came back and she brought Brad and Angie. Toni and Jason came to introduce me to my new friend Lily. Sam Fredlake came to see us too. She's carrying a new friend of mine in her belly who I'll get to meet this fall. Later that night I got to meet the Ossmanns!

I got sprung from the hospital on Saturday, which was very exciting. Unfortunately for me, I was feeling a little yellow by Sunday morning and so Mom and Dad had to take me to the doctor. The dr said I had jaundice and so I spent the next two days chilling out on this thing. The doctors call it a billi blanket, but around here we referred to it as the baby tanning bed.

Monday was a big day. I met my pediatrician Dr Riddlehoover. Despite my sassy face, I think she's quite nice. She has three boys of her own, so I think she's pretty qualified to be my doctor.

Then, when we got home, I met my big brother Walker. Mom says he's a crazy dog, but so far he seems to be pretty happy to have me around. He guards me in my crib and makes sure Mom and Dad know if I'm crying.

Tuesday is where things started to get a little scary around here. Monday night Mom noticed I was "twitching" a few times when I was awake and alert. She decided to call the doctor on Tuesday morning and the doctor decided we should go to the hospital to get checked out. Here I am sporting a big blue bandage on my arm so I wouldn't accidentally take out my i.v. I found the bandage made a pretty good pillow.
Wednesday morning I had to have a test on my brain called an EEG. But before they could do the test I needed to be awake for 2 whole hours! That's a long time for a baby as little as me. Mom did some pretty mean things to me, like tickling my feet and playing with my legs, to keep me awake for that long.
Then it was time for me to go to sleep while they watched my brain with those 25 electrodes. While they were watching my brain I started twitching and the doctors decided my twitches are actually seizures. They put me on a special medicine that I have to take every day until I hopefully outgrow the seizures.

The doctors let me go home from the hospital on Thursday, just in time to take a one week old picture with my monkey friends! Mom and Dad want to take this picture once a week so we can watch me grow.

For my first weekend home, Mom decided to give me a bath. I thanked her by peeing all over her when she took me out and wrapped me up to dry off.
My little pee routine was quite funny to my Uncle Steve and my Grandpa Mark. They were quite proud of me for already driving Mom crazy!

Lucky for me, my mom is very forgiving and once she changed her clothes she was ready to take me to my first block party. My mom is one of 5 women on the block having a baby this summer so I will have lots of friends to play with as I grow up.
Sunday was very exciting since we got to celebrate my dad's first Father's Day! We went out for breakfast (my dad's favorite meal) and then I gave dad his gift...a deep fryer. He promises to make me lots of yummy things when I get teeth.

So far this week things have been pretty quiet. I'm learning lots of things about my new home. I spend a lot of time in Mom's arms, but when she has to put me down to do something Walker is great at cuddling with me on the bed.

And when Mom has to do some work downstairs, I get to hang out in my swing! Pretty cool, huh?

So I think that catches everyone up on my first two weeks of my life. Mom says she's hoping the next two weeks are a little more quiet. I'm not making any promises.





Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Final Countdown: June 10th: The Day Before We Meet You

Dear Monkey,

I can't believe we're really here. If all goes as planned, this time tomorrow I'll be holding you in my arms. We'll finally know for sure if you're a boy flavored monkey or a girl flavored monkey. We'll be able to call you by your name. We'll be able to see if your cheeks really are as chubby as they appear on the ultrasound. We'll count your fingers and your toes and fumble to change your first diapers.

I wish I could bottle this feeling I have right now. It's like the night before Christmas meets the first day of college meets the night before my wedding. And yet it's like none of those things, because all of those things came easily compared to what we went through to get to this day. Every moment of the last 39 weeks has been a little surreal. Tomorrow will be surreal too, I'm sure.

I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight with all this excitement but I know I'll need my rest.

Can't wait to meet you!
Love
Mama

Monday, June 8, 2009

Final Countdown: June 8th: The Last Weekend

Good Morning Monkey!

It's quiet here in the house as I'm typing this morning, much different from the craziness you would have heard a few hours ago. You see, we had a thunderstorm last night. If there's one thing you need to know about your big brother Walker, it's that he *hates* storms. He thinks he needs to protect the family from that loud scary thunder. It makes for a loud and long evening when those storms happen overnight. Nobody got much sleep around here until the storm ended at around 4 this morning. Now, of course, Walker and your dad are sprawled out in bed, but Mama can't seem to sleep anymore.

Our last weekend before your big arrival has been a busy one, with lots of errands to run and last minute things to catch up on before you arrive and turn this place upside down. Saturday your dad shot a wedding while Mama stayed home and focussed on not having a baby while he was gone. I did get out for lunch with Barb and Brad at Panera before coming home to wash and fold some itty bitty baby clothes while watching the RedWings game.

Sunday called for more housework and some photoediting before Aunt Barb came over for our last girls night before your arrival. She brought the coolest album for us to fill with photos from your first month on the outside! Then, we had a very yummy dinner at Fratellos before heading over to the Performing Arts Center to see Grease! You seemed to really like it, or else you were kicking the daylights out of me in an attempt to get someone to turn down the volume. Grease was the last show in our season of tickets which worked out to be perfect timing.

Now here we are at Monday morning. Our last doctor's appointment before your arrival is in just a couple of hours. It's hard to believe that we're having our last NST after all of these weeks. Let's hope you once again prove to be a rockstar.

Oh, and if you decide you want to come out today, that would be just fine with us!
Love you!
Mama

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Final Countdown: June 4th: The Day Mama Gained 10lbs

Dear Monkey,

One week from today you will be here. You've got 6 more days to pick your own birthday, because come next Thursday, Dr. K is issuing an eviction notice. That doesn't sound very fun does it? It involves this nasty thing called Pitocin that Mama is very afraid of. So let's shoot for sometime before June 11th, okay? Sunday sounds good to me.

Today we went to our 38 week doctors appointment, even though it felt like we had just been at the doctor. Oh, wait. That's because we DID just go to the doctor on Monday. At this rate we should have our own parking spot right near the door! The appointment wasn't very exciting. You were a rockstar on the non stress test, which was a big relief after the worries of Monday. Mama stepped on the scale. It wasn't pretty. According to the scale, Mama gained 10lbs in a week! It's pretty easy to see why. Mama no longer has ankles, or calves, or knee caps. The doctors say swelling is to be expected at this point in the game, but 10lbs is a lot of water retention. No more salt for Mama.

Dr. A also checked to see if things were progressing and delivered the bad news that nothing has changed in there since last week. So, we're still waiting on you Monkey. The bags are packed, the car seat is installed, and if Mama's feet get any bigger she'll have to walk into the hospital barefoot. Lets get this show on the road, okay?

Love,
Mama