Timmy's First Birthday

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Timmy's actual birthday was last Thursday, the 21st.  Amazing to think back on the day one year ago.  I'm not going to retell it in detail because I already have!  =)  In any case, April 21, 2010 was a bit rough for him, I would imagine.  Being forced into this world more than ten weeks early and wrapped in plastic wrap to retain the heat in his little 2 pound 6 ounce body, rushed over to the NICU to be hooked up to monitors that would be with him for almost another four months, forced to breathe oxygen before his lungs should have had to draw air and taking nourishment before his mouth even knew what it was meant for!

Although it would obviously take quite a bit to top that, April 21, 2011 was a bit rough for Timmy too.  He didn't sleep well.  He had thrown up the night before and I was wondering if he might be coming down with whatever I had had.  He woke up around 4am almost inconsolable.  Nursing seems to be the one thing that can comfort him when nothing else can.  He looked so pathetic it broke my heart.  He also felt a little warm and I was willing to do pretty much anything to give him some relief.  So we nursed.  And then he threw up all over me.  Twice.  So sad.  (Although, on a positive note, it was nice to see such a quantity to know that I really am producing something! )  Callie had woken up too and was keeping me company.  Love the girl, but she had something to say every time Timmy was just about to nod off and kept waking him up.  She had woken around 2 and asked for cereal.  I had told her not until the sun came up.  Theb she wanted to watch a movie.  After having Timmy woken up a few times and then being covered in his vomit, I caved.

I posted on Facebook while Callie watched her movie, trying to type with one hand and comfort Timmy with the other.  He finally fell asleep around 5 or so so he and I went back to bed for another hour or so.

He had runny diapers throughout the day but no more vomit.  I debated on whether or not to keep his appointment with the pediatrician at 2pm and finally decided to keep it, just in case there was anything I was missing.

Turned out I wasn't missing anything, he most likely had just caught the 24-hour bug that Callie and I had had and was working his way through it.  Bless Melissa for being home and willing to watch the other three kids so I could take Timmy alone.  They were running late at the office and we weren't seen for about 40 minutes.  It was actually nice because Timmy was asleep when we got there so I was able to let him nap and just mindlessly peruse magazines for a few minutes.

Leah was our nurse again.  She said that at 12 months they usually start weighing kids with clothes on but since we've been watching Timmy's weight, we'd just keep with the trend.  She got him at 12 pounds 1 ounce on the official scale.  She tried to give him an extra ounce, but he just wasn't heavy enough.  It definitely doesn't help to be sick when you want to weigh more!  (Length was 24 inches even and head circumference was 43.5 cm.  They just recently switched to another computer program so I didn't get percentiles.  But I did get to see that I was wrong in one of my previous postings.  Timmy's growth is not linear.  His growth curve parallels the norm.  He's just below the norm.  =)  )

Always a pleasure to talk to Dr. Peterson.  Still no teeth and no crawling, but Timmy is showing less and less interest in pureed foods and more and more in real solids.  For instance, we had the missionaries over for dinner a few weeks ago.  I picked up a grape and his hands instantly wrapped around mine and the grape was in his mouth.  Fortunately, I still had a grip on it so I let him gnaw on it while I held it and he just sucked out the flesh.  Loved it!  He loves grapes.  He also loves macaroni and cheese and Honey Nut Cheerios.  He'll also work on homemade pizza crust and rolls.  Amazing to watch this little toothless guy working on normal food already!  I feel very lucky because we have other friends with kids who refuse or gag on anything with texture.  Eating has never been a struggle for Timmy.  One of those tender mercies, in my opinion, as he has had plenty of other obstacles to overcome.

Timmy is getting better and better at sitting.  He still topples when he reaches for things, but his muscle tone is definitely improving.  He has also increased his stamina for using the Passy-Muir Valve.  He can wear it for about two hours or so now.  Such a joy to hear his happy little noises!  I got the best laugh out of him right before leaving to see Dr. Peterson but I couldn't find the camera right away and didn't have the time to search very hard.  Haven't had a repeat since, but I'll be working on it until I get a good video!

The Birthday Party

I think this is the first time I have ever completed a birthday cake for my kids before any guests arrived.  Trevy, Landon and Callie helped me bake them earlier in the week and I put them in the freezer and told myself that I would have them decorated no later than Thursday night.  Even though James is home on Fridays, trying to decorate with kids helping just didn't seem like it was going to work out very well. 

Proud to say, I kept my promise to myself and actually got them done Thursday night.  Surprisingly, I was pretty awake the entire time I was decorating and I can only begin to describe the joy at having two cakes completed well in advance of the party as I slipped them into Melissa's refrigerator at 4am on Friday morning.  (I'm such a using neighbor!  Babysitting, refrigerator space...)

I think they turned out pretty well.

Timmy's cake to destroy.

And the one for the rest of us to enjoy!

(Snickerdoodle flavor!  Go Cake Mix Doctor!)

(Remember Timmy's Tigers? Here's one of his tiger stuffies from the NICU.)

Well worth the lack of sleep to be able to go to be earlier Friday night and get up more rested Saturday morning to finish setting up for the party and not have to worry about rushing to get the cake done.

We started the party at 10:30.  My parents and Dr. Zukowski arrived early and helped cut up food and set up the dining fly.  Most of the guests arrived by 11:00 and we were able to start the whole shebang.  Sandwiches, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, chips...  I had planned an Easter Egg hunt for the kids to start off with.  It kind of fizzled, I'll be honest.  Never got to the Egg-streme games for the adults.  Timing just never seemed right and everyone seemed to be fine conversing anyway.

We had a lot of special guests:

The siblings.  (So cute!)

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor and our neighbors, Scott and Abby, who supported us through Timmy's entire ordeal, and I don't just mean bringing dinner!  We're very lucky to have been surrounded by people who truly understood what we were going through and knew what we needed better than we did.

The Merrill and Owens families.

Auntie Bridge and Uncle Daniel.  (A.k.a. the Barnett family.)

The Julianos - Melissa, Declan and Merrick.

We were so blessed to have the best primary nurses.
Jenny Koch also made the long trek to make Timmy's day special and our favorite resident, Dr. Zukowski, also came.  Truly touched me to have such special people who played such an important role in Timmy's first few months of life in our home to celebrate his first year.

More near and dear friends - Timmy's NICU twin, Dakota, and his mother, Brittany Summerkamp.  Dakota is 16 hours older than Timmy and was due 2 days later.  An incredible blessing to get to share the ups and downs of the NICU journey with someone at the exact same stage.  Both boys were 29-weekers.  (Not born on the same day, though.  Dakota was born around 10pm and Timmy was born just after 2pm the following afternoon.)

Our cute birthday boys.  It took a little work to get this shot.

Timmy kept wanting to grab Dakota for some reason.  It was kind of funny.  I've never seen him do that before.  I don't think Dakota found it that entertaining, though.

Aunts Leah and Bridgette.

Aunt Amy and cousins Dillon and Makayla showed up just in time for the cake. 

 Bless Dillon for making the egg hunt worth the effort!

We broke out with the cake around 11:30. 

Timmy got off to a slow start. At first he just picked off the "Y" from his name and ate it. Then he moved backwards to the second "M" and ate that.

At that point, I turned the plate around and he went for the bigger stuff!  Starting with the left ear...

Progressing to scrape the frosting off the bear's back...

Digging into the bear's back...

There's a reason I make a separate cake for everyone else.  (It's a tradition dating back 4.5 years - the 1-year-old gets a chocolate 3D bear and the rest of us get something else!)

Love the pink nose!

And I think he loved his cake!

 The decapitation.  That was a first, believe it or not.

The look of innocence amidst the culinary carnage.

And in case the stills didn't take you long enough (that wasn't even half!), here's the video coverage!  =)



Not everyone was quite as captivated by every second of Timmy's first cake experience...

(Boy do I love having a swing set!)

But there were those kind souls who endulged us.  =)

Hey, first dibs on the ice cream!  Can't beat that!
(Might I just say that this was a really nice weekend to have Bashas' have the good ice cream on sale for Easter?)

Bless Makayla.  She's the idol of all the cousins under five...eight...?

(Note Trevy's outfit.  She dresses herself these days.  Always required - daytime or nighttime - is the green cardigan because it has four big buttons and buttons are very in when you can do them yourself.  As are broken tiara headbands. More to come on duplicating this ensemble.)

But the present-opening got everyone's attention.  We started with the gift from Mom and Dad that I never got around to wrapping.  (I really don't think he cared.)

 And then it started.  Callie grabbed a gift...

All the siblings grabbed a gift...

I did open this one from Scott and Abby, however.  Absolute most adorably fitting shirt ever!

Wouldn't you agree?

The toys got played with before they were all opened. 

Thus my sincere apologies to everyone.  I have no idea who brought most of the gifts, as they were opened faster than a speeding bullet.  But thank you all!  The outfits are perfect, you can never have too many books - especially educational ones! - and Timmy is just really coming into the sitting phase so all the toys are great!

A huge "Thank you!" from Timmy.

Sara was able to make it too.  So glad.  There was a little confusion about whether or not we would have the party so we missed one or two and there's been so much sick stuff going around that I think we missed another couple not feeling well.  So grateful for all who came and made Timmy's first birthday party a great one!

It was a beautiful day all around.  Overcast and only in the 80s.  Great food, amazing friends and a good time had by all!  We couldn't have asked for more!

Happy 1st birthday, Timmy!