Teeth and Wishes Unfulfilled

Teeth. There are teeth poking through the gums - top and bottom!! I think it was Sunday, or maybe Saturday when we noticed. Now, when I run my finger over the gums, they aren't squeaky smooth, there are rough spots. They haven't popped up much, about even with the gums. Time for the toothy baby look.

Wish I had visited New Orleans. Too late now.

Stats and Zoom

Some stat's from Wednesday's 9 month checkup: weight 19 lbs 5 ozs; length 27 1/2". Doc says he's right-sized for his weight/length. He's a happy, chubby, healthy baby... See for yourself, this is from the zoo last week:


Did I mention he's crawling? Baby zooooom.

Follow me, to the Little Gym

Last Thursday we visited the Phoenix Children's Hospital for a one-bang (high-speed) MRI, shortly afterwards we went to the doc's office. Galen seemed to be cleared of any long term affects from his head trauma. There is still a reservoir of blood inside his skull - don't remember the technical term. Long term it'll either be absorbed by the body, or calcify and become permanent, either way he should be OK. He'd like to see him again in three months. Only problem is, in 15 years when Galen's rebelling, is it because; a) he's a teenager, b) he's my descendent, or c) he cracked his skull??? Maybe a bit of all three.....

Galen can play follow the leader!!! Not in the traditional sense mind you, but in his own spinner way. When sitting, he will often spin on his butt, changing directions to gaze at whatever catches his eye. Well, if you walk around him, he'll spin and follow! Change directions, and so does he. He's playing follow the leader!

Later today we're gonna try a session at a "Little Gym". Something to supplement Daddy Monday's, Laptime Wednesday's, and Storytime Thursday's. Gotta make sure little man receives play, and some social interaction.

Scared...

We spent Friday night at the Chandler ER. Galen had developed a large swelling on his right-hand-side of his head. Wednesday he hit his head on the floor tile. At the time it was nothing more than a good scream, cry, and recovery. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday he seemed normal. But about two hours after being placed in bed Friday night, Galen let out a blood curdling scream and made his awakeness known. Shanna thought hmmm, is he hungry? Within a few minutes she came back out and said "look at this" and off we went to the ER.

Hospitals make ya feel helpless. Seeing little man tired, in pain, and prodded by strangers is a humbling experience. He has a tiny skull fracture, a good sized hematoma, and a small pool of blood under the skull. After what felt to be an eternity, we were transferred to Banner's children's ICU for an overnight monitoring.

As you can see, he was hooked, wired, and ready for monitoring... He almost seemed to forget about the wires, unless he was bored, then they became something to chew on and play with.

This brought our vacation to Yellowstone to a screeching halt, we were to leave Sunday. With the follow-up and any potential to aggravate the bruising, we just couldn't go. Instead, we are doing other around town vacation things. Went to the Phoenix Zoo this morning. And we were able to get the new carpet install done this week instead of in two weeks. We also have a cool set of CAT scan printouts, a relieved feeling knowing he is on the way to recovery, and a newfound appreciation for a baby's resilience.

I asked if we should start a pool for the number of times we take Galen to the ER. Shanna said she didn't want me smashing his arm or something to win the bet...