Happy Holidays!

Delaney, Joe and I traveled to Scottsbluff for the Christmas holiday. We had lots of fun visiting my parents, sisters and their families. Delaney especially enjoyed watching her four cousins run circles around the house. We also were able to spend a few hours with my cousin Ross and his family, Kristin and Baby Brig.

She has currently mastered pointing and is curious about the names of everything. She is quick to offer her toys to you, but just as quick to take them away. Not so sure about sharing yet.

New photos in the album. Delaney met Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

What an exciting year! It has really shown us how blessed we are. Delaney has changed our lives and made everything even more fun. (Well, almost everything.) We have also experienced an amazing amount of support and generosity from all of our friends and family. Our deepest thanks to all of you.

Here's to an even better 2009!

From DelaneyJeanette

1st Birthday!

We've made it a whole year!! It's hard to believe it's been that long (or that short).
Brian, Angie, & the kids and Kristin came over tonight and helped us celebrate DJ's birthday. She had a good time and really tore into the cake. New photos are in the album.

Tomorrow we head for Dallas, to celebrate Thanksgiving with Matt & Steph (and Maggie & Quinn) and Mom & Dad.

Cruisin'

Delaney cruises around the coffee table...



Getting rid of the hat...





Today I installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Within moments of finishing Delaney had already worked her way over to it and started shaking the bars. It's all about ti ming.

Moo cow

Last week was Delaney's first Halloween, which she celebrated by dressing up as a cow. We took her to visit both of our offices and she seemed to have a fine time scrutinizing everyone. It was unseasonably warm so we took the costume off until later in the evening, when several of our friends came over. It was at that point that "Moo Cow" became "Barf Cow", and the costume was retired for the rest of the evening.

From DelaneyJeanette

11 months!

We've reached 11 months! Delaney's just moving right along...she's getting really good at elbow crawling, but hasn't quite figured out how useful her knees would be in crawling. She's also pretty good at pulling herself into a standing position (depending on what she's pulling on) and she love love loves standing. She can cruise the length of the coffee table (as long as it's to the right) and navigate the corner as well.
Friday will be her 1st Halloween, and we've got a nice costume for her so she can go trick-or-treat at both of our offices.
New pictures are in the album...

Goin' Mobile

Delaney's new trick:

Sumter

Sumter

Had a good time in Sumter, visiting old haunts and relearning the streets. The reunion was pretty fun, consisting of a rainy football game (Sumter kicked ass), a picnic at the school, and a dinner/dance. The picnic got rained out, so it was moved inside the school. 20 years later we were eating lunch in the Commons again. We also got to take a tour of the Sumter High and see all the new additions that have been made.

It was a great vacation, but now we're happy to be home with Delaney again. We're really grateful that Mom and Grandma Jan came out to watch DJ while we were off eating shrimp and learning that Spanish Moss is neither Spanish nor a moss, and is, in fact, related to pineapples.

Charleston

Charleston

Charleston has been pretty cool...the street in front of our hotel was under construction so it took a while to find the parking. The hotel was pretty nice, squeezed in among the other buildings. The streets in downtown Charleston are very small, and it's interesting to walk down those streets and realize you're walking through history. The oldest buildings date to the late 1600s.
We took a really good carriage tour, an excellent walking tour, and went to a couple of plantations, Boone Hall and Middleton Place (which was featured in The Patriot, with Mel Gibson). That tour got cut short because of the torrential downpour we were receiving.

Now it's on to Sumter!

Savannah

Savannah

We're getting ready to finish up the Savannah leg of our vacation.

Savannah has been really enjoyable, very pretty. We stayed at the Inn at Ellis Square (A Days Inn joint) which is really nice. It's located within easy walking distance of just about everything and we had a pretty good view from our 4th floor window.

We did a lot of walking around, ate a lot of food, took some tours (including a really cheesy Ghosts and Graveyards tour...the guide was like a cross between Jon Lovitz and Dwight Schrute, but with no talent and an annoying tendency to over-emphasize the wrong words) and generally had a good old time.

Best quote so far..."No ma'am, we don't have any plantations, General Sherman burnt them all down".

Now we're off to Charleston...

10 months!!

Delaney turned 10 months old yesterday. She's getting bigger and bigger, but she's still a wee girl.
She really wants to be mobile, but she just hasn't worked out the mechanics yet.

Next Sunday Jess and I go to South Carolina for a week, so my mom's coming out to take care of Delaney. I think they'll both have a great time.

From DelaneyJeanette

Takin' a walk...

Last week we took Delaney on a stroller ride to the park. It was the first that she took an active part in, as opposed to falling asleep. She leaned forward, hands on the tray the whole time, and was constantly scanning the world as it went by. Very cool.

From DelaneyJeanette

We've also been working with her on standing, and she loves it. Any time we pick her up she tries to pull herself into the standing position (and we help just a little tiny bit). The other night she took it upon herself to latch onto the coffee table and try to stand up. She pulled with all her might and managed to float her butt above the floor for a while, but she couldn't quite get her feet under her. It's only a matter of time, though.

New pics are in the album!

Over the river and through the woods...

This weekend we went to Bolivar, MO, where Delaney got to visit with Grandma Jan and Uncle Maynard.
She had a great time, making her first visit to a mall, enjoying her first tapioca pudding, and having her first big girl bath.
She's getting much better at pivoting on her belly; crawling isn't too far around the corner.

9 months!

Delaney turned 9 months old this week, and is growing like a petite little weed. She's 14 lbs 3 oz, and is learning that she can pivot while on her tummy, and that if she really works at it, she can move from Point A to Point B, as long as Point B is only a couple of inches from Point A.
She gets a cold every other week or so, which results in coughing spells, but her immune system is learning new things all the time and she stays pretty happy through out the process.

Earlier in the month Delaney got to visit with her cousins Ian and Erin Kubik. She had a really good time and went to the Lincoln Children's Zoo for the very first time. The only down part was when we all went to Grisanti's and she Brought The Barf, big time.

At the beginning of August I attended the Doane Woodcarving Experience in Crete, NE. I took a week-long Santa carving class and really enjoyed it. I've really got to work up to doing more than just one project per year, because I really do like woodcarving.

Woodcarving-SantaSlim

8 months!

Delaney is 8 months old today! It's amazing how the time alternately creeps or flies.
Delaney's a little hoot...she's very curious, quick to grab things that catch her eye. She's getting very good at sitting by herself (but she does have a few wobbles to work out). She's not talking but she's been matching tone...she was doing really well with "Hello" last weekend. If her first word is "hello", does that make her a Mac person?

4th of July in Colorado

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. We spent it in Colorado with my parents. Delaney's still working through her cough, but she had a great time. She was a very happy baby, and really enjoyed hanging out with her grandparents. She spent a lot of time in the car seat, but she was a real trouper and didn't let it bother her too much. DJ also rolled on to her stomach for the first time ("Did you put her on her tummy?!"; now we're just waiting for her to do it again.

I've said it before, but she's a very grabby girl (last night during her bath she grabbed a hold of the water bowl and poured water into her face...she didn't seem to mind). She wants to grab/touch/manipulate everything, and I really think we're going to be in trouble when she gets more mobile.

On the way home we stopped in Greeley so we could meet Delaney's cousin Brigham. We had nice visit (and Ross made some really good brats) and Brigham is a cute little dude.

There are a bunch of new pictures in the album...enjoy!

7 months!

Delaney turned 7 months on Thursday. She's got another cough right now (bronchiolitis) but she's just smiliest girl on the planet.
There are some more pics in the album.

This week we head to Colorado to visit the grandparents. Should be fun!

Assorted Stuff

As of today Delaney is 12 pounds even. She's moving right along, but she still has a fair bit of weight gain to go.

She's really close to sitting up and rolling on to her tummy by herself. She's also a very grabby and very chatty little girl, and very importantly, she has an unending supply of smiles to hand out.

I'm posting 2 videos...the first is Delaney learning a new game, the second is Delaney telling a story.

Yum yum

Delaney had her first solid food today. "Solid" is a relative term, because it was basically rice water. She did really well, and particularly enjoyed blowing bubbles in the spoon (i.e., "motorboating").
New pics in the album...

Six of one...

This weekend we were in Scottsbluff to visit Jess's parents. Delaney had a good time chatting with her grandparents, and she even met her great-grandmother Ellen (and DJ only barfed on me twice).

On Saturday Jess and I went on a date and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Long title, kick-ass flick.
On Sunday Wayne and I went golfing in Bayard. It was a beautiful day for golf, it would have been even better if I could have hit the ball with something resembling consistency.

Today is Delaney's 6-month birthday. She's a killer cutie, and she just keeps growing and growing. She's starting to figure out that she can control her pacifier...she holds it like a little steering wheel. She's also getting very close to turning over..she only needs a little help now.
As always, she's a talker...she tells stories to her toys, to her bottle, to her blanket, to your hand, whatever will listen.

New pics are in the album, enjoy.

On the Road

Delaney goes on her first long trip tomorrow, as we're headed to Scottsbluff for the weekend to visit Grandma & Grandpa Hofmann. Hopefully she does plenty of sleeping during the car ride, and hopefully I don't.

This week Jessica was in Asheville, North Carolina on business, so it was just me and the kiddo. Other than the cough she's working on, we did fine; the house didn't burn down and Delaney was still smiling at me by the time Jess got back.

On Sunday Kristin watched Delaney while I played softball; we're still maintaining that perfect record ( 0-3 ).

Update

On Friday when I picked up Delaney from day care, Sarah the day care worker told me that Delaney had cut loose the loudest burp that Sarah had ever heard from a baby. Daddy's little girl...

Yesterday we went to Deepa's birthday party; it was Delaney's first visit to an Indian restaurant. She didn't sample any of the food, but she did visit just about every corner of the table and met some new people.

Today she went on her very first trip in her stroller, as we went for a walk with Deepa and Maya. Delaney spent most of the trip sleeping, but while she was awake she enjoyed looking at the passing trees.

Yesterday was Delaney's 5-month birthday (already?), so there are new pictures in the web album.




Delaney does tummy time and explains...something.

Updates

Last week Delaney had her 4-month appointment, which went really well.  Her weight was 10 lbs 3oz. (less than 3rd percentile), her length was almost 24 inches (25th percentile), and her head circumference was 16.75 inches (75th percentile).  Obviously her head has experienced a bit of a growth spurt.  I'm not gonna say"orange on a toothpick", but there you go.  Actually, Mom tells me I had a bit of a large noggin as a youngster also; the doctors had her measure my head frequently so as to make sure it wouldn't swallow the sun.  Or something like that.

On Friday we took Delaney to visit the doctors and nurses at the St. Elizabeth NICU.  It was fun to see the people who did so much to take care of Delaney (and us), and they marveled at how much she's grown.

Today Delaney went in for a developmental check-up.  Basically, if you go through the NICU, they keep track of you for a few years to make sure you're hitting all the developmental milestones;  Delaney is right on track.

Also today, we got the official word: it's endex for the heart monitor.  Delaney is now free of all the wires; which means she can now wear clothes with zippers as well as two-piece outfits (and they're just sitting on the hangers, waiting for their chance to shine).  It also means she'll be easier to carry around and do things with; now that the weather is better we'll try and break-in the stroller.

Yay for Lazlo's!

Yesterday Delaney went to her first restaurant, the south Lazlo's. I had a really good burger and Delaney...well, Delaney just sort of sat there.

We also weighed her, and she's now tipping the scale at 10 lbs (almost) even.

4 Months!

Wednesday was Delaney's 4-month birthday. She celebrated by spitting up on her nice yellow outfit.
Papa Wayne and Grandma Janice are here for the weekend, and DJ is always happy to have visitors, especially if they feed her.

Grabby Girl

Delaney's really working on the hand-eye coordination, and is really interested in grabbing, well, pretty much anything she sees (including Daddy's chin). She's not always capable of completing the grab, but she's working on it.

Last week DJ started daycare, and didn't really seem to mind. As long as someone's around to feed her she's pretty happy.

Grampa Terry and Grandma Kathy were here Wednesday through Sunday, and enjoyed hanging out with Delaney. I think they were impressed with the variety of noises she can make (not all of them polite and ladylike).

Dad and I went golfing on Saturday. The temperature was somewhere in the low-40s, so it was wee bit chilly, but it was a lot of fun. Don't ask what the score was.

New pics are in the album...

So far so good

Day care seems to be going well. I'm still getting a feel for the new morning schedule, but I'll get there eventually.

Jessica is in San Diego until Friday for a quarterly meeting; my parents arrive tonight so they can have some quality time with DJ Mac.

Delaney's really digging her hands; you can almost see all the connections being made.

Updates

Much mahalo to Jessica's sister Heidi for coming all the way from Cali to watch Delaney last week. We really appreciated it, and Delaney enjoyed meeting Aunt Heidi and Cousin Lacey (as far as we can tell). If any other Cali people are interested, the line forms to the right.

Heidi also took some really good pics, which are now in the album. Delaney looks really different without the oxygen tubes.

Yesterday we noticed Delaney making several cross-eyed examinations of her hand. Very cool, and kind of funny when her hand distracts her from crying.

Today's the big day...first day at day care.

O2 - DONE!

Delaney went to the hospital for her sleep study last night. This morning's verdict was...no more oxygen! She averaged a 95 oxygen saturation level, and only de-satted 33 times (as opposed to January, when she had over 300 desats); the desats that she had last night were only by a couple of percentage points, and she bounced right back up. She still has to wear her monitor for another 4-6 weeks, but we can handle that. We're really excited to get rid of the oxygen, it'll make it much easier to move around with her and it'll give her cheeks a chance to heal (they're pretty irritated right now).
Her latest weight is 9 lbs 5 oz., she just keeps growing and growing.

Next big event is day care - March 17!

A few updates-

Delaney spent the week with Kristen. They had lots of fun together and Kristen never once ran screaming from the house! Just kidding - it was a great week for both and Kristen said it went too quickly.

My new job is going well. I'm now at The Governance Institute. Its mission is to provide board training and development to hospital boards. Everyone is very nice and it's taking a while, but I'm figuring out what I'm supposed to be doing and think it will be a very rewarding position.

On Feb. 13 I broke two toes on my left foot. Graceful, I know. I got to start my new job with a hobble and a smile. One toe was broken clear through and had twisted (because it wasn't attached to anything) so the doctor had to twist it back and tape it. I wore a funny boot for about 2 weeks and now I'm back in regular shoes.

Joe is home with the wee one this week and then Aunt Heidi and Cousin Lacey are flying in from California to spend the following week with us.

Everyone should send us good thoughts on March 11th. That's Delaney's next test to see if the oxygen can be removed. I'm sure we'll post more about that later.

-Jessica

Weight Weight

We visited with a new pediatrician last night, and Delaney was weighed at 8lbs 14oz.
Moving right along.

3 Months!

Delaney hit her 3-month birthday yesterday. I've said it before, but it's hard to believe it's been that long (or that short).
She's a regular cutie.

Here's her 1-month picture. Feel free to compare and contrast.

More pictures are in the album. Enjoy!

Hangin' with Delaney

I took the week off to stay home with Delaney, since Jessica started her new job on Monday. Everything's been going pretty well, and neither the house or the baby have exploded (but I don't want to jinx it).

She's started smiling more and more. Last night she was grinning after spewing all over Jessica; I told her that wasn't very polite.

Smiley girl

New pics in the slideshow, check 'em out.

Last weekend Delaney got to meet her cousins Ian & Erin. I wasn't there, but I understand a fine time was had by all.

Delaney's been engaging in some sporadic demonstrations of her smiling abilities, which is just so dang cute; unfortunately it's not always easy to grab a picture of said smile.

She's also been stretching out her nighttime sleeping, which we heartily applaud.

Here's the video of Delaney's sequestration removal.

Pretty cool, and amazing that they can do so much in such a tiny space.

Segment 1: The diaphragm, the sequestration (we'll call it "Ted"), the lower lobe of the lung, and the upper lobe.



Seg. 2: Ted has caused some scar tissue that's a bit sticky.




Seg. 3: Ted's scar tissue will now be removed. Do you smell smoke?




Seg. 4: Ted's blood supply is provided through this here artery.




Seg. 5: Clips placed on the artery.



Seg. 6: Ted is cut loose.



Seg. 7: Bag is inserted and Ted is placed in bag. Hefty, Hefty, Hefty.
Bag is pulled through the larger incision. So long, Ted. Smell ya later.




Seg. 8: Suction.



Seg. 9: Chest tube inserted.

Miss Delaney goes to Omaha

We went to Omaha Children's Hospital today for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Abdessalam, Delaney's surgeon. He says she has recovered really well. He also showed us video of the procedure, which was very cool;he's going to send it to us, and I'll try and post it here.

Delaney's starting to show us some real smiles, which is pretty cool, even if the biggest one came right after a big fat spit-up.

2 Months!

Yesterday was Delaney's 2-month birthday. Hard to believe it's been that long. Heck, it's hard to believe it's been that short.

Denied!

We picked up Delaney from the hospital this morning, where we found out that Dr. Neyazi would like to keep her on the oxygen for another six weeks. She's not having any more apneas, but her oxygen saturation average needs to come up a couple of points. Sort of a bummer, but it's better in the long run.

After that we went to her two-month appointment, where she received 3 vaccination shots. That was fun. I think we officially reached her last nerve and trampled all over it. Since then she's been alternating between deep sleep and hair-trigger meltdowns. So yeah, fun times.

Slug bug!

At Vanessa's request, here's the Civic's predecessor, circa 1987. This is just after Dad and Stephanie drove it from Colorado (having purchased it from the Dukes) to South Carolina. It was showing off a little more rust and primer by the time Vanessa saw it (1990?).
It's probably in a junk heap somewhere, but it was a good first car (mostly), full of (mostly) good memories.

edit: The more I think about this, the more I think the picture is actually from 1988, right before my high school graduation, mostly because the picture was taken with a camera I didn't have in 1987.

Expensive babysitter!

Delaney's at the hospital tonight, getting her pneumogram done. We'll pick her up tomorrow morning, and hopefully find out that we can take her off the oxygen (fingers crossed).
Awfully quiet around here...

Zounds, Seven Pounds!

Delaney hit seven pounds yesterday; I'm not sure if seven pounds hit back.

She's doing really well, and has apparently decided that, for the most part, if she's going to spit up or provide any other kind of bodily fluid, she's going to do it on Jessica. I in no way condone this shameful behavior.

More pictures are in the web album, add some captions if you like.

DelaneyJeanette

6 of one, 13 of the other

Delaney had a doctor's appointment yesterday, just a check-up. She's at 6#13oz., which is pretty good progress.
In two weeks she'll go back for another appointment, get some shots, and then spend the night at the hospital, where they'll do another pneumogram. That will help to determine if she still needs oxygen. Keep your fingers crossed.

When we came out of the doctor's office, this car was parked next to Jessica's car.



Upon examination of certain identifying characteristics (USAA Roadside Assistance sticker, non-standard tailpipe, non-standard wheel covers, Honda Cars of Bellevue sticker, rust spots on the edges of the rear wheel wells, leftover velcro tabs from the auto bra,) I realized it was my old Civic that I bought in 1990 and sold in 2002. Cool, huh? It's kind of like an old friend stopping by for a visit.
Everybody say hello!

Due Date!!

Well, we made it to Delaney's due date. She's doing really well, sleeping, eating, gaining weight, and filling her drawers. She's still got her oxygen and monitor, and I won't be sorry to see the end of those. Once in a while we put her on the portable oxygen and take her on a field trip to the living room, which she seems to enjoy.