Finley has learned how to share his meals with the dogs these days. He is in love with feeding Opsec and finds it pretty much hilarious. At lunch today I caught him letting Opsec lick what he had in his hand, only to have Finley also put it back in his own mouth. YUMMO! I guess I have to watch very carefully now, no more rinsing dishes during meal time!
We are pretty sure Finley says Opsec. Actually it could very well be considered his first word besides babbling ba ba and da da.... You can hear him say it in video number 2. I don't know but it sounds awfully close!! Oh the irony if it is Finley's first word (those of you who know Opsec personally can agree here?)
Here are some videos of Finley this week. He is walking all over and into everything. He highly enjoys his games of peek-a-boo using the doors. It's a miracle he doesn't smash his fingers but he is very careful. I am pretty sure after pinching them once he learned a technique to minimize the danger of this so that he can continue with his fun game. He is also vocalizing more and more. Sometimes he is just plain loud!!
Things have been a roller coaster around here this week. Since my last post (Sunday) Sealy cat spent 3 and half days at the Vet school. We finally found out after countless tests, x-rays, ultrasounds and an ECG, she has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and the cause is most likely genetic. It's a fancy way of saying heart failure. Her heart muscle is increasing in size putting pressure on her chambers to adequately pump her blood. Due to being sick for so long untreated (probably for more than a year- she had a bad spell last year that we never were able to diagnose but was probably due to this) she has suffered a lot of damage and has now started to develop Congestive Heart failure as a secondary condition. She is amazing because she is still alive and fighting, though weak. I took her home to continue to treat her here vs paying the vet school. I figured she would be happier and more comfortable too. At this time the vets are unsure what her prognosis will be. She has improved slightly since coming home as she is drinking on her own but I am giving her Subcutaneous fluids, 2 medications daily and syringe feeding her food to stimulate her appetite and give her calories. It really could be days to years at this point. We are just striving to get through each day and hoping each one is better than the last. We realize there will come a point where we no longer can remedy the situation and what were doing will not prolong her life anymore but I am going to give her the fighting chance she deserves.
Upon all this life goes on in our house in different ways. Obviously we are still trying to do things as normally as possible. We had a lot of help/company this week which was great. My sister, my parents and Nate's mom all stepped in to help. Also our babysitter is wonderful and understanding not to mention flexible for all the chaos. Without everyone I would not have been able to keep up with some of the little stuff to keep us running smoothly here so SHOUT OUT to you all. As for Finley man. He is doing awesome. The weather is so hot here the only choices for him are to stay in the AC and play or to go in his baby pool outside. Well he LOVES his baby pool. Grandma Patti and Grandma Erika and Grandpa Bill all took him swimming in his baby pool this week while I cleaned up, ran errands and tended to a sick kitty. I don't think Mr. Finley is suffering in any of this? So many people giving so much attention and fun!! He has also began to walk so well he now carries things to me or the dogs or even Cooper. Nate laughed that it wasn't good enough to just take it easy and master walking, you have to carry things now too? That's our little strong willed boy (hmmm? I wonder where he gets his perseverance from?). He has been pretty happy and super well behaved this week. Although his top teeth are coming in so he's been a bit fussy going to bed at night but ultimately sleeps through the night pretty well. I think he knows we have a mission to tend to our Sealy cat, after all, he loves her too. He figured being on good behavior for mom would be how he could help out. Nate is doing well too despite all the crisis at home. I talk to him daily and he has been as involved in decision making of Sealy's treatment and course of care as he can be. It's been a roller coaster for him too but he knows I've got it and he doesn't need to worry or be distracted. We have had sad and happy moments all week and ultimately we all just wish we could be together, especially for these tough times. I know he misses Finley and I, but he misses the pets too and at the end of the day we are all a family and every member counts. I have some videos and pics of Mr. Finley from the week. Hope to get those up soon!!
Maybe you have noticed my hiatus from blogging this week? Well, let me explain. It's pretty much been a week from hell for lack of a better way to put it. You know that Finley was pretty sick earlier this week and just as he was feeling better I was lucky enough to come down with the same thing!! I ran a fever for 3 days and felt pretty miserable with a sore throat and all. I can't believe what a trooper little Finley was to deal with that and now know how he must have felt!! On top of this Finley has been teething hardcore and somewhere in the midst of my feverish confusion (lol) he cut his second bottom tooth! I have been trying to get a picture of his first tooth for 2 weeks and now he has two!! To add to the week our cat, Sealy, fell very ill and had to spend the night at the vet on Thursday. I picked her up on Friday and she actually took a turn for the worse over the weekend. She is currently at the UW Vet School hospital. I took her there via emergency appointment this morning. At this time we do not know what is wrong with her and can only hope for good news and that she will get better. I know she is in the best hands now and that gives me some relief yet it is still very stressful and I am not sure how I juggled everything while feeling crappy myself? Here are some of the only pictures I took of Finley this week in a cute romper. Oh, and it's finally summer here. The weather turned hot!
Happy first Father's Day to Nate. You are a GREAT daddy. We love you and miss you. We know you have a job to finish up but we look forward to everyday closer to having you home with us!!
Well the good news is after Finley took a 4 hour nap this afternoon his fever had completely broken! Yay. The bad news? He is clearly feeling better as getting him to sit still was near impossible. Here's what I got!!
So maybe we have graduated to standing next to the chair??
Tonight Finley ate 4 frozen melon cubes for dinner. I am pretty sure he was especially digging them due to his sore throat. Hence the double fisting?? Notice in this picture he has now swapped feeders?? Too funny.
Well, after a LONG, pretty awful night, my sick little monkey went to see the Doctor this morning at 10:00am. My mother in law, Patti, who came up to help me last night actually ended up staying the night and sleeping on the couch as Finley was so inconsolable last night. He cried and whimpered until 1:00am then finally cried himself to sleep in his crib. He would not get comfortable being on a lap or being held and walked around. Well, the verdict is that he has a virus.... the Doctor called it a "summer" virus as he says he sees it every summer. Kids come pouring in with the same thing. Besides the high fever, Finley has canker-sore like blisters in the back of his throat. He said it lasts about 5 days, oh boy. Ok, I can now understand the discomfort that he was in and I am sure crying it out did not feel great either. His fever has dropped to 101.6 as of the Dr.'s office and this is without any tylenol in his system. Poor guy!! I am supposed to switch him to Ibuprofen for his pain and fever and also push liquids as he is dehydrated. He did drink some water and pedialyte and has had 2 bottles today. He at a tiny bit for lunch but wasn't really interested. After visiting the doctor I hated to do it to him but we had to make a quick Target run for the childrens Ibuprofen (Doc said use that NOT the infants??) and I also picked him up some sippy cups with straws to entice him to drink more. Finley is in love with straws. He also got some more of his new favorite treat, his yogurt melts as that is the only thing he is interested in eating now. The straw sippy seem to be a big hit and he sucked on his water for awhile which made me happy. I am glad for my quick thinking to get those... I hope we are on the mend!! More later and maybe a picture!!
Today Finley is 10 months old and he has been running a mysterious fever all day. Actually it started last night. He slept all night but was restless and woke up to fuss at least once an hour but would put himself back to sleep. He has been pretty miserable since he woke up today and has spent the majority of the day either asleep on my lap or in his crib. His fever topped out at 103.7 degrees and though I called the on-call nurse at UW Health they assured me that unless the fever goes to 105 degree or above that I should just keep giving him Tylenol to keep him comfortable and push the liquids. He has no other symptoms besides the fever at this point. He will be going to the doctor ASAP tomorrow!! Poor guy. These pictures were of a rare 10 minutes of playing today. I did not get his "chair" picture today due to Finley's feeling poopy, but definitely will get one later this week when he is feeling better.
Today my parents came down to spend the day here and also to babysit Finley for me while I attended a friends baby shower this afternoon. My sister Chris also stopped by for a bit to visit too and brought her dog, Gus, who I think I mentioned before just went through a pretty traumatic period of being diagnosed with diabetes and going into diabetic shock. He spent many a night at the UW Vet School and though he is now getting stable he has gone blind from cataracts due to the diabetes. Poor Gus!! He does well though despite all the challenges he has faced lately. My friends Leslie and Erin came over too so that we could all ride to the baby shower together. We had a good time and I regret that we did not get a picture taken with Shannon... whose shower it was!! She is due at the end of July and the baby's gender is a surprise!
Finley fell asleep on my dad- the only napping he did all day!! l Chris and Gus Leslie and I Leslie, Erin and I
Finley has been walking all over today! The YMCA child care staff said he was walking a lot there as well... without using something to hold onto. I tried to capture him tonight on video and got a little of what we saw all day. He just seemed to have gotten the confidence to take steps out in the open without the safety of furniture to hang on to. I am sure this is the beginning of even busier days for me!!
In the first video it was right before dinner time so Finley was getting pretty crabby The second video was before bed time tonight...
Does anyone else see something WRONG with this picture? I tell you, with 5 pets and a baby someone is always doing something naughty around here? I can't win if I try. This was the scene when I walked into the kitchen...
This afternoon we headed to the Zoo to meet up with our friends Mary and Isabel. Izzy is only 3 and half months, so tiny!! I remember when Mr. Finley was that little. Now he is a big boy!! We had fun catching up since the birth of our children and seeing what animals were out and about. Finley also helped me clean this afternoon and he decided to try and clean the pets too. His new thing is trying to dust-bust the pets and chasing them with the Dustbuster. Of course! It's combining his two favorite things, vacuums and the pets!! I am not sure the cats and dogs agree with this new entertainment? I also including a picture Finley lounging on the couch... he loves to get up on the couch and just fall backwards onto the pillows and chill for a minute then do it again, and again and again....
Penguin Boy Mary and Izzy That's a BIG Kitty Big Kitty going... Couch Lounger
Big Boy Walking Come here Ella? Finley looking calculated with that Dustbuster and Howie looking worried...
, Whew!! Yes, it's been a long time since I posted about my ad for a babysitter. Well, search no more will I. I hired a GREAT girl today. Since I am not sure if she will want to be on the blog I won't name her yet but she is going to be awesome, Finley and I both know this. Finley loved her the minute he met her so that was the most important part! I am excited to get some much needed time each week to do things and run errands without Finley. At this point I am only committing to a 4 hour afternoon each week and then as needed hours as well as some nights and weekends. Hope she's not afraid of a little messy eating? (Ok, a big mess!!) I am sure it will be great!
Here are a few videos I had taken this week of our little ball of energy on the move. I have a hard time capturing his walking steps as he likes to walk from person to person and it's just me most of the time. He loves when my sister comes over (Aunt Chris) and does a ton of steps for her!!
Tis' the growing season around here and I decided to try my hand growing quite a few vegetables this year on top of what we regularly plant. This post may be a little boring for most but I know Nate will enjoy it as he misses Wisconsin summer and was curious to see all the flowers and plants we put in a few weeks ago. Everything is growing nicely, even the seeds we planted. Finley helps me take care of our garden and flowers daily and enjoys the time outside. Tonight we took a nice walk before dinner time and then snapped these pictures. Mind you I was carrying Finley and taking the photos at the same time...quite a tougher task than I thought considering he grabs the camera constantly. We can't wait for all of our veggies to be ready!! You cannot beat your own home grown organic vegetables! Now... lets hope it's not going to turn into "Bunny wars" as the rabbits may have their eye on my veggies. I don't believe in harsh tactics to keep them away so this should be interesting considering our back yard seems to be an exclusive meeting place for neighborhood rabbits and squirrels despite the doggies. Wish us luck!! Oh, and check out pictures of the little dog food eater at the end... gross but it's life.
Nate: Your beloved Hibiscus after a winter of dormancy in the basement. Mom clipped the dead branches but it's making a good comeback. I chose to do fun, bright colored flowers for the patio this year. Our tomato, pepper and herb pots mixed with some flowers The perennial garden is doing well, thanks mom for weeding it! We added a few new species of Sedum as they do so well here. Oh and I bought the patriotic pinwheels for the pots as I thought Finley would like them. The far right is zucchini, the middle is some random melon or pumpkin that's coming up from last year (Nate?? what did you put in there last fall?) Next in line are the gourds and then one of our way abundant rhubarb plants. I don't know why these pictures did this but didn't want to risk messing things up to fix it. So there is Finley on the patio... A side view of the back garden where most of the veggies are planted Broccoli in between more rhubarb and the chives The gourds! So excited about these! We have had poor luck with these in past seasons. Wait. I just blew this picture up and see rabbit bite marks on the leaves! Not my gourds rabbits! Green beans... Can you see the tiny shoots of spinach? Also, tiny shoots of Mesclum lettuce coming up. Rabbits...stay away!! Oh and more random melon/pumpkin too? Nate you must be thrilled. The front yard flower pots (I always do red, white and blue for the front) Close up...looking good and the humming birds love those red flowers My new shepherds hook and hanging baskets. An addition this year- oh and the Yew bushes we put in two years ago are doing great aside from the last two on the end. Not sure but those just are not making the winters? So this is what a reaction to NO! looks like...he kind of throws his body around. Appropriate No as he was helping himself to the dog food. Mmm. dog food flavor is just as good as cat food. Finley has tried both. I figured it would happen one of these days.
