Fancy Feet!

For all my fans who can't be there when it happens. Enjoy.

Hunter

This Land is My Land!!

This land is my land. It is my kingdom and I reign over it with authority that no one questions. From the hallway of the guest bathroom to the pocket door in the far away kitchen I am the law maker, he who oversees and maintains the quality of life in the Land of Home. There are baskets of toys for all children to enjoy and I dispense then evenly throughout the territory. There is no toy too small, no plaything too daunting, no creation I have not mastered, and I fill my home with their excellence.

Of late, I have discovered the most peculiar item with which to play. I am told by my Big People that they are called Face Cards. They are the most extraordinary things, whatever they are called. Their fascinating construction of thin, glossy paper, rich color, and intricate detailings are like nothing my experienced hands have ever touched. I find them absolutely fascinating and fling them all across the land for everyone to enjoy.

Come all ye toy-makers and makers of things for playing, whether ye be from the Lands of Playskool, Little Tikes, FisherPrice, or Leap Frog, from Parents or Disney, from Infantino, Embryonics, or Lamaze. Bring me your creations and I will put them to good use in the Land of Home.

Fair ye all well until we meet again.

I am Hunter. Hear me ROAR!!

I Love to Smile

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There is always time for a smile. Smile a lot. Smile often.

My Mom and Why I Love Her.

So, life hasn't been much of a cake-walk for my mom and I for some time. It started about five weeks after I was born in December of 2005, and by "it" I mean GERD (that's Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease for short). Although my pediatrician couldn't get things figured out until I was almost six months old and had to hospitalized, a ph probe finally diagnosed the reason for my lack of desire for food and slow weight gain. I was as happy as can be when no one was trying to force food into me, but man oh man, food, in any form, really, really upset me.

Surgery. That was to be the cure-all for this problem with the valve at the end of my esophagus and my body's inability to control the flow of acid in and out of my stomach. Surgery. Mom said no way. There was no way she could consent to having a makeshift valve created at the end of my esophagus, not if there was a chance I could get over my condition with a little more time. And with that came the medications: Prilosec (currently 9 mls twice a day), Zantac (currently 1.2 mls twice a day), and Reglan (currently .3 mls three times a day). The doses changed as I began to gain weight, and figuring out the medication was a bit tricky at first (I have my Prilosec mixed with Dark Karo Syrup to mask the nasty taste of the meds and add 40 calories to my diet), but ultimately, the real test came in figuring out how to get food in me and at an amount to meet my dietary necessities (calories and protein mainly, amongst all the other good stuff a little boy needs to stay strong and healthy).

My food. Mom tried everything you could think of to get me to eat with the help of my Feeding Specialist, Marjorie Palmer. There were all kinds of syringes, spoons, fancy bottles, and other food dispensing items. We tried all the formulas, various brands of the usual baby foods, and all the finger foods we could find at Target (they had the best selection of that type of stuff around here). I ate Cheerios for a little while, but quickly lost interest in those and started gagging and throwing them up when I was given them. There were brief periods when I'd munch down a Cheeto or two, but eventually they went the way of the Cheerio as well. There were arrowroot cookies, too, but they were hit and miss treats. Ultimately, Mom learned they only way to get me to eat was if it came from a bottle and that was when the gourmet came out in her.

She spent hours researching what liquid foods contained the essential vitamins and minerals I needed to grow healthy as well as the ones that were calorie rich. My bottles had to be thickened enough to stay in my tummy as much as possible, but not so thick I didn't want to do the work necessary to get the food out of the bottle. That also meant the nipple had to modified (cut) to make the hole big enough so the food would flow easily through the nipple, but then not so fast that I would gag on the amount of food I got when I sucked. Mom tried Pediasure for a couple weeks but when I refused to eat that, Mom found the base of my current diet, Nestle's Nutren Jr. My complete formula and current diet consists of three bottles made of 4.25 oz of the Nutren Jr., 1 oz of heavy whipping cream, 13 mls of rice cereal, 13 mls of oatmeal cereal, 13 mls of prunes (for constipation issues that can sometimes accompany thickened liquid diets), and 10 mls of a dietary supplement Mom later added to the mixture called Benecalorie. That makes for about 1200 calories a day, on a good day. There are still bad days, especially when my teeth started to grow in. Those days weren't so fun for anyone.

Once the food thing was figured out and fit in to my medicine schedule, there was figuring out how to keep me from being distracted during my feeding times. Three times a day, Mom had to find a way to keep everything around me from doing anything but letting me eat. The phone's ringers were turned off and left off, no one was allowed into the room where I was eating, one of an assortment of videos (ultimately one of the Baby Einstein videos) was put on the TV for me to watch while I ate, and there was my chair where the actual feeding took place. After I ate, I had to stay upright for 45 minutes to an hour. That meant someone was usually sitting right next to me, making sure I didn't sneak out of my chair as I quickly learned to do.

Sleeping also became an issue, my naps were short and although I slept through the night, I was up at the crack of dawn most of the time which was hard for both Mom and Dad who work nights. My bed was elevated at one end for the longest time, Room Darkening measures were taken to keep my room as dark as possible during times of rest, and 'white noise' in the form of a static radio station and a sound machine became a regular part of my sleeping habits.

So, as I'm sure you've gathered by now, there wasn't a whole lot of time left for my Mom to spend on herself, doing the simple things that make women feel womanly. Because she ran such a tight ship, if an opportunity was missed to get her hair done, or go to a movie with my Pa, or spend a few extra minutes painting her toenails, well, then those were just missed opportunities. She never complained about it. Her loyalty, her love, and her concern were for me alone, to keep me happy, healthy, and away from the surgeon's knife. My mom is the most unselfish person I know and loves me in a way that makes me run around the house on my tippy-toes.

I love the way she feels when I snuggle up against her as she carries me up the stairs to my room for a nap or bedtime, the way she smiles when I finish a bottle to the last drop, and the way she smells when she finishes getting ready for the day. She knows all the ways to make me laugh and smile, and is always the first person I go to when I need tears dried. She's my Mom and there's no other woman out there quite like her, just ask my Pa.

Here's lookin' at you , Mom. I love ya.

(And thanks, Pa, for helping me with some of the big words and numbers in this tribute to the special woman in our life.)

Choa for now. Hunter - 1 year 8 months 6 days 1 hour and some minutes, and still GERDalicious.

Loads of Summer Fun

Well hello again,

I know, I know, it's been a while, a long while cause I'm now 20 months old. But at my age there's a lot of things I've got to do and not nearly enough time to do them, especially with parents who are constantly trying to find ways to feed me. I mean, seriously, can you think of anything that wastes more time than eating? I can't.

So, what have I been up to? Well, let me try and show you just a few of the things I've been doing...

Well, there was laundry day, and there's nothing like running and throwing yourself into a giant pile of laundry. I had loads of fun. I've have become aware that my Mom and Dad seem to go through a lot of clothing items as well, though they seem to have a much greater variety of things to wear. I, myself, find a sturdy diaper (size three for now) and a pure cotton undergarment (some might call a onesie) more than sufficient for the activities I find particularly entertaining. Although, Mom has been putting more and more clothes on me as I get older. Shoes, she seems oddly fond of these days, buying two and three pair at a time if Dad will let her. Odd, strangely heavy things I find them, though essential for some environments that I am now drawn to explore. Clothes...something I shall have to look into more, but later.

And, not long after laundry day, we loaded Grandma Jacobs up in our sweet Honda vacationing ride and went to Disneyland. It was my first time. Pirates of the Carribbean, Small World, Jungle Cruise, come to think of it, just about everything we did had some kind of boat involved. I finally passed out in the bjorn, but not after eating the littliest amount of food I'd ever eaten since leaving the hospital (2 ounces), finishing my day at 8.25 ounces of food total. Sadly, I've not been eating happily recently and my personal low is something that has my Mom and Dad on edge every time that magical feeding hour comes around. Then there was traffic on the way home and I cried, and Mom cried, and Dad, well Dad just tried to hang on desperately as our world spun wildly out of control. I heard Dad keep saying, "Apparently, Disneyland isn't the happiest place on earth for this family." He's really good at bringing a smile to your face, most of the time. That day was an unusually tough day.

But back to my Grandma Jacobs, she is the best grandma ever. I especially like going over to her house on the weekends. I spend the night there cause my Mom and Dad both work during the night on the weekends, so Grandma and I get to hang out. I always let her know when I get to her house by ringing her doorbell and then tapping on the front door. My Grandma is the coolest lady ever.

So after our week trip to Southern California, we were off to Santa Rosa, California. Mom had some schooling she had to do for work, so Dad and I tagged along to keep her out of trouble. Truth be told, I don't think she's very good at life without us, so while she was in school Dad and I made the most of each day by going to the pool, or on a walk, or just hanging out in the room where I discovered how much I love EVERYTHING cold. I'm not joking! There was this glass table in the suite we stayed in that was always cold and I would climb right up onto it and just lay there with my face pressed firmly against it. Then I began to experiment. There is a whole world of cold things out there that you can only truly appreciate by putting your mouth right on them. It's probably one of the two things I love having in the mouth: something cold and my Binky. And that's what started my love of a wet, cold washcloth. Absloutely the most amazing treat ever. If I'm unhappy, just give me that wet, cold washcloth and I will be in heaven for the whole thirty seconds it takes me to suck it dry and then give me it again. I mean, wow. No body ever told me how amazing water is. Cold, refreshing, easy to swallow, did I mention cold?

Speaking of Santa Rosa, one of the days we were there, Dad took me to a comic book store. Comic Book stores are cool, especially my Dad's favorite, a place he calls Flying Colors. He and I were there together not long ago for my first ever Free Comic Book Day. It was very exciting, lots of people, free comic books, and cake. Oh yes, there was cake, but if you haven't caught on yet, I DON'T LIKE FOOD, not in my mouth anyway. Dad was having a heck of a time trying to keep me from climbing out of the bjorn while grabbing his favorite reads and as we were walking up to the register, he stopped to let these older ladies batt their eyes at me. They just thought I was the cutest thing ever, right up until they shoved a piece of that blue and white cake at us. I let them know exactly how I felt about that by sticking my left foot right into the corner of the frosted beast they'd cut the smaller piece from. Blue and white frosting went everywhere as did the oogling ladies as they were trying to find something to clean up the mess. And there was no more offering us cake like it was the next best thing to a wet, cold washcloth. Ooooooo, wet, cold washcloth. Now that sounds good.

But as the summer progressed, I discovered the ever fascinating soap bubble. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. I could sit for hours out on the back deck and let them explode in my face, soak my pants, and gather on my fingertips until they're a dripping, sticky goo mess. I love the summer, so much to do, especially in the backyard. I'll push my trike around for a bit, or wander into the grass, but I always come back for the bubbles. Next to my Binky and a wet, cold washcloth, bubbles are my Number Three thing. Ooooo, wet, cold washcloth. That really does sound good. As soon as I finish my little inner monologue thing with you, I'll have to go get one. I say inner monologue cause I have yet to find a need for actual, audible speech. I get everything I need from my ever diligent parents and rarely have to prompt them for anything, so I imagine I'll be content with an inner monologue until I'm forced to express myself through conversation, although Dr. Sultan really freaked my Mom out by suggesting I might have autism. Well, we'll have to see about that. I think Mom and Dad have enough to worry about for the moment.

A couple of months ago, my older twin brothers were in town for summer and we hit the road for a number a thrilling activities like visiting the zoo. Yes, that's me chilling in my roller buggy at the elephant paddock with a wet, cold washcloth. Other than not sleeping, causing a fight between my Mom and Dad, eating very little and then throwing up everything I'd eaten, the trip to the zoo was a pretty excellent one. I wore one of my Dad's favorite outfits, an Oakland A's baseball get-up. He's a baseball fan. I just love any kind of ball I can get in my hands, and I'm quite adept at throwing them as well. But the zoo, fascinating place it is, much more fascinating then say, trying to eat food. What is it with that stuff? Although Mom and Dad, the Boys (my older brothers Ethan and Caleb), my Uncle Jeremy and Aunt April, Grandma Jacobs, Hailey, Hannah, Logan, Miranda, and my newest little cousin, Lauren, all had really excellent looking desserts from a creamery called Fenton's. I watch everyone eat and I wonder, What is it with the sticking of edible stuff in the mouth that gets everyone so exicted. I don't get it, hopefully someday I do though. Mom and Dad really enjoy eating, you can see it when they eat, all dreamy eyed and happy as they clear plates full of food stuffs. Odd my parents, strangely unlike me sometimes, especially in the eating department.

So with my brothers in town, we continued our trek around California looking for interesting places to visit, like Zuma Beach in Malibu. That's right, Malibu and the Pacific Ocean. It was lovely. Water is lovely. Water is Life, and Life was good on Zuma Beach in Malibu.

The waves were perfect, the weather was great, and while my brothers and cousins spent their time getting pounded by waves and digging for sand crabs, my Mom and I just cruised the beach getting our feet wet. Dad was behind the camera taking pics when he wasn't out trying to body surf some of the waves. We had loads of fun at the beach and all took quiet naps on the way home, well everyone but Mom and Dad I suppose, but I couldn't tell you for sure cause I was certainly out. There's a picture of that as well, but I like this one best of me and my Mom at the beach. I'm not one for a lot of sun like my Mom, but we both love the water and the beach.

We made days out of a few other things close to home, like a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory, home of the world famous and original gourmet jelly bean. But mostly, we crashed at the pad, watched flicks (Little Einsteins, Happy Feet, things like that), and hung out in the pool. We got a rather large above ground pool this summer because my bros and I love playing in the water. Hopefully, Mom will soften up and let Dad seriously look into having a pool built into our backyard. That would be the coolest thing ever.

So that was our summer. It was a good one. Things are going pretty well, otherwise, although there always seems to be challenges. We make pretty good use of the time we have together as a family. Pretty good time indeed. It's fun to have fun together and we're good at having fun. Mom and Dad have another project, as if trying to get me to eat wasn't enough, they're now focusing intently on getting me to talk. No words yet, still on a liquid diet, but I'm happy. I love my Mom and Dad. They love me. What more could you possibly want? I know, I know, eat solid foods. Fat chance.

Hunter out.