It’s all about me

A beauty with taste!

So I was feeding Katie the other night and Katie just didn’t want any of it!  Rather than reasonably understand that her unwillingness to eat was a reflection of her lack of appetite, I left the feed feeling like I hadn’t had a good feed.   Wait!  I didn’t have a good feed?  In what wharped world does my ”bottle technique” impact Katie’s feed?  It’s quite strange.  The more I learn about parenting, the more I feel that my performance matters.  Silly Daddy.  I should know better.  Katie eats when she wants.  Katie sleeps when she wants.  Katie rules the roost.

We’ve been living a very quiet life of late.  The very important cath lingers in all of our minds but there’s not much that we can do to change the situation.  We are a family, enjoying life, planning a long future together.  Katie continues to grow.  She is holding her head up, talking a lot (must be from her mother- wink, wink), and behaving like a 3 month old.  The thing that worries me most at the moment though is not the cath, the Glenn, or Katie’s future-  it’s the fact that I think she is going to ask “WHY?” all the time!  When Katie is awake she never stops surveying the room.  She is highly aware of her surroundings and enjoys to babble with anyone who’ll listen.  If this trend persists, I foresee a little Katie who’ll say “Why Daddy?” to every feat, no matter how large or small.  Good times.  I am rehearsing my answer too-  “because Daddy said so!”.  I never thought that this would be an acceptable answer, but predicting where our mumbling hawk-eye will continue to develop will render me with no alternative…I suppose I am your typical Dad after all. 

On a serious note, while Katie seems to be coming along well, she qualifies for some additional services b/c her overall development is not where it should be. The major reason for her qualification is her inability to function when lying on her stomach.  Don’t get me wrong-  I am glad she is getting the service and I am happy that we can get her to where she needs to be, but if I was 3 months old with a large incision down my chest, I wouldn’t enjoy tummy time either!  We’ll keep you posted on how she progresses but it will take some time for her to get back in line since she’ll be undergoing another major surgery next month…it’s fair to say that this slight deficiency isn’t too worrisome to Vickie and me.  We currently have “bigger fish to fry.”

Uncle Paul and Aunt Natasha moved to the good ol’ U.S.A this week.  They are currently staying with us before settling in New Jersey.  They are enjoying their neice-  marvelling at how much she has developed and and the explosiveness of her posterior.  Like I said, she’s like her mother after all (I’m going to be in trouble for that one).

All grown up…sort of

Sporty Spice

Katie slept in her own room overnight for the first time on Friday night.  We decided that as her 3 month birthday approached it was about time that she move out of our room and into her own.  It was a seamless transition for Katie who doesn’t discriminate about where she sleeps.  It was a little more difficult for Mommy.  If possible, Katie is growing up too quickly.   With each milestone is a distinct change, and while we are both excited and encouraged by her development, Mommy was a little saddened by young Katie’s independence on Friday night…understandable given the turmoil our Munchkin has put her mother through!

Other than that it has been an uneventful week.  I worked, we watched the Olympics every night, and Katie continued to pack on the pounds.  I had another one of those long day trips, this time to Chicago, that saw me leave the house at 4:30am and get home at 1am the next morning.  While I don’t enjoy being away from Vickie and Katie, it isn’t the worst thing in the world because when I come home, seeing Katie lying in her crib is the most envigorating feeling one can have.  Coming HOME to my wife, baby, and nice house reminds me why these day trips make sense, and why this effort makes sense. 

We had a special visitor on Saturday-  Nurse Sarah from the PICU stopped by to see Katie.  It was very nice to see her and especially nice to parade our pride and joy.  Sarah was incredible to Katie when she was in intensive care and continues to be a great source of knowledge and encouragement.  Both Sarah and Erin are testiment  to the fact that there are still wonderful people in the world, people who care about the welfare of others, people that give of themselves every day so that families like us can be as happy as we are!

Wait a minute, I forgot something!!  It wasn’t an uneventful week-  Katie has a full out laugh yesterday!  She has been talking up a storm all week and will smile at the drop of a hat, but yesterday was a full chuckle that both Vickie and I were in the room to witness!  It is so strange how such a simple act was so monumentous to Vickie and me.  A simple 2 second laugh and you’d swear she had recited a Shakespearean sonnet!!  Hey, if you ask me, a laugh from Katie Manning beats a poem from Billy Shakespeare any day!

By the way, no need to fret over Man United’s draw today. Katie was not in the room, so her special force could not be fully felt.  We’ll still be fine.  As for the requests I have received for Katie to improve certain teams, I have this to say:  while Katie’s power is magical, it is not without its limits.  She can help the good be great, or even the mediocre be above average, but she’ll never make Arsenal a winner!

Great weekend!

Big chair or small baby?

We had an uneventful doctor’s visit on Friday…that’s right, uneventful.  Our appointment started right on time at 1pm and we were completely done by 2:15pm.  Katie was a pillar of strength during her EKG and echo.  It was remarkable. No tears, some smiles, and a lot of courage. Then we met with Dr. Asnes and he said that everything looked great.  Wait!  No catches?  No tricks?  Katie must be up to something.  Perhaps she is developing a bigger ruse and she’s learning how to lull us into a false sense of security before pouncing.  We’ll take it.

 

We received a more definitive timeline for the next month or so while at our appointment.  They will attempt the angioplasty again during the first week of September.  Then Katie will undergo the Glenn Surgery in the last two weeks of September.  The complexity of that surgery will be significantly impacted by the success of the angioplasty so for now our focus and prayers are firmly on everything going smoothly in early September.  Many of the complications and potential risks of the second surgery would be tremendously mitigated by a widening of Katie’s aorta during the angioplasty…the alternative is reconstruction of the aorta plus the Glenn which heightens all of the risk factors- we’ll wait and hope.

 

After the hospital we went to the mall like a normal family and came home to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony.  I haven’t missed an Olympics since 1984 so I wasn’t about to start now.  Saturday was a test for us.  I drove 6 hours to Pennsylvania to be a groomsman in Schmittle and Courtney’s wedding.  Obviously and understandably, Vickie was unable to attend.  That meant that I would be away from home for the first night since Katie was born.  But who was the challenge for?  Me or Vickie? 

 

While it was very difficult to leave Vickie and Katie overnight and it was disappointing not to be able to share the wedding festivities with Vickie, I did have a great time at the wedding.  It was at a beautiful resort in Central PA, and as expected the bride looked stunning…Schmittle wasn’t too bad either!    All in all, I am very happy that I made the trek.  I went wanting to support Schmittle and Courtney but it turns out that the help was for me.  I came home today feeling rejuvenated albeit quite sleepy ( I got up at 5:30am Saturday, drove 6 hours, went to the wedding, got 5 hours sleep, got up, drove 6 hours back-  I was home by noon!).  To see two incredibly happy people who are obviously very good for and to each other is uplifting.  Add to that the opportunity to spend the day with great people who repeatedly expressed their support of Katie-  perfect. 

 

The fact that my first night away from home was for Schmittle’s wedding was fitting.    The wonder and power of prayer, the importance of relationships, and the capacity of the human spirit are all lessons I learned from John Schmittle.  He also gave me great preparation for dealing with trying circumstances which is coming in very useful lately!  I remember valuing and appreciating everyone who came to my wedding (the summer after 9-11) but having Schmittle there was extra special given all he had been through-  so to be able to return the favor and share in his big day was an honor.  His trials and tribulations showed me that nothing is guaranteed or promised to us.  Seeing him yesterday was also a reminder of how we can all come through those challenges-  at 9:30am on September 11th 2001 I couldn’t have predicted that we’d be laughing, dancing, and celebrating like we did yesterday.  We did!  It gave me hope that Katie will come through her challenges the same way John walked out of the World Trade Center unscathed on that faithful morning.  In fact,  hopefully Katie comes out of her situation with the same sense of normalcy and humility that John did.  9-11 doesn’t define Schmittle-  in fact there wasn’t even mention of it yesterday.  We all knew what he had been through.  I know it was on the forefront of my mind as his bride made her way down the aisle.  But he is just Schmittle- a normal, good man that was getting married.  Hopefully, Katie will be the same- defined by who she is not what she has to endure. 

 

As usual, I am off to catch a couple of more smiles before I need to go back to work tomorrow.

 

By the way, another game and another win for Man United today!  Keep up the good work Katie Manning.

left, right, left, right…

Happy Baby

It has been a week that has demanded the utmost patience.  After getting home from the hospital, feeling tired, bruised, and weak, Katie had to go for vaccinations from her “regular” doctor.  These shots had side-effects.  “You can expect Katie to be cranky and irritable after this” we were told.  Well thank you very much!  Poor Katie got put through her paces last week and as a result we had a very tiring weekend that found Vickie and I paying extra attention to her every move.  She certainly had some worrying behavior, but with every day Katie improved incrementally.  Now, she appears to be back to herself. 

Besides the very obvious concerns about her health due to her breathing, claminess, etc.  which is very draining, the Katie of the early parts of last weekend were a stark reminder of how amazing our baby is most of the time.  Those couple of challenging days aside (or even included given the amount she had to endure) we have a very happy, friendly, and generally uplifting little girl.  I didn’t need the reminder from her, but that’s life!

      

 I am actually writing this from an airport after a day trip to Washington D.C.  I am on my first trip since a couple of months before Katie was born.  It is, as usual, bittersweet.  I love being on the road.  I love the travel.  I love giving presentations.  I love visiting schools.  I love my job.  However,  I hate being away from home right now.  I used to enjoy sitting in airports watching the world go by.  It could and did entertain me for hours.  Tonight, my flight is 20 minutes delayed and I am anxious.  Get me home…I want to see Vickie and Katie.  It is going to be a challenging couple of months as we return to normalcy…

     

Why the left, right, left, right?  This is my mindset at the moment.  Ups and downs will come but we need to keep in step…one foot in front of the other.  We see the bigger picture, we know the greater consequence, but a marathon was never one in a single step.  Left, right, left, right. 

     

We’re back to the hospital this Friday for an echo so I will keep you posted.