Peace

It was sometime in 2005. Jean and I visited our friends Scott and Katy in Olympia not too long after they moved into their house. We stayed for the evening. For some reason, that time their son Matthew decided to hang out with me. He had always been quiet and shy around us, so it was especially nice to be the "chosen one" for a few hours. We ate dinner, played a few games, along with his younger sisters, Anna and Emma, and he sat with me later in the evening while the adults talked. All-in-all it was a nice evening made even better by my little companion.

Matthew died Tuesday night.

Evidently, he had had a fever that he just couldn't kick. Katy decided to sit up with him Tuesday night. His breathing started to get very shallow. She called 911 and started CPR, which the paramedics continued. He never came back.

Matthew had a severe case of Huntington's Disease, which had progressed faster than we could comprehend. He was diagnosed less than two years ago. By the end, he was fed through a tube and needed a wheelchair to get around. How Scott and Katy were able to deal so well with what was happening to their son, I'll never know. It would be comforting to believe that children with special needs are only given to parents with the strength to deal with them, but it's not true. Not everyone has what it takes to care for perfectly healthy children, so when a child is devastated by illness, and his parents respond they way Scott and Katy did, I can't help but be amazed.

That same reserve of strength that helped them during Matthew's life is helping them cope with his death. They knew he didn't have a long life ahead of him, but they didn't expect it to be so short and to end so suddenly. But, as Katy told Jean the other day when she called to break the news, he's not in pain any more. It may seem like a thin reed, but it's enough for now. Matthew was too young, too innocent, and too gentle a little boy to have to endure so much.

And that's why, at least for now, I'm not going to dwell on the difficulty of the end of his life. Instead, I'm going to remember the sweet little boy who decided to be my friend for an evening.

Helping make cider:

Rolling Along

Adam had his 4 month checkup today. Everything is looking good. He's still off the charts for weight, but at least he grew longer too. As of this morning:

18.6 pounds

26 inches

He's also decided it's okay to roll from his stomach to his back. This delights his mom to no end. I like it too.

More soon. (Really)

Photo Dump: February

Taken in February but not used yet:

Catching Up

I need to update this thing more often.

When we left our intrepid protagonist, he was starting to grab at things now and then, and he was starting to sleep more or less through the night. That continued for a little while. He got better at grabbing things - and promptly putting them in his mouth; he was sleeping great at night.

Then Jean went back to work. The first day didn't go as well as we had hoped, what with Adam turning into Screaming Psycho Baby From Hell. But that passed, and Adam and I were getting pretty good at making it through the day without any meltdowns on either of our parts. We'd start the day with a bath (for him), food (for both), and a workout (for me) and daycare (for him). We then would meet Jean at her work, where we employed the Deere Room of Requirement - an empty meeting room they like to call the "New Mothers Room" - for a mid-day feeding. Then we would either finish our errands or head home for more playing, sleeping, and eating until Jean came home. Before long, it was time for a final feeding and bed.

When we played, he was starting to get pretty good at manipulating things in his hands. He was also in the early stages of learning how to roll over, digging in a heel and arching his back. He hasn't rolled over yet, but he's getting strong enough to do it soon. We're going to have to start changing him on the floor now. On the bright side, we get our bread rack back.

This was pretty much how things went until the infamous ear infection, when much of that changed temporarily. But he had improved quite a bit before leaving with Jean for Washington Monday. Jean reports that he was great on the plane - playing, sleeping or eating the whole time - and he has been a healthy and happy baby for his grandparents. He also evidently took quite a shine to his Uncle Brian.

Here are a few pictures from the past month or so, in roughly chronological order:

Adam was at a slight disadvantage in this staring contest, but he gave it a good effort.




Switched to #3s April 18.

What has captured Adam's imagination so fully? Is it one of the many great toys that were given to him or that we've bought for him? Certainly it's something that's brightly colored or makes interesting sounds, right?
Right.

Photo Dump: January

I'll have some more up-to-date stuff soon, but for now I thought I would pass along some of the pictures of Adam that we haven't used yet. These were taken in January. So small...

Everyone Is Stupid Except Me

"This must be some super interstellar mutant virus from space. Empires have fallen at the foot of this pox!" - The Tick

It's amazing how quickly new parents feel they're in a position to criticize other parents. For instance, one would think that someone who has only been doing the parent thing for three and a half months would be hesitant to lay into other parents who have multiple older children.

Yeah, one would think so, but...

Other parents suck. There. I said it.

After dealing with Adam's cold, which morphed into an ear infection, then put Jean out of commission for a few days, then kicked my butt for a few days, I just have one comment for the parents who drop their kids off at the YMCA daycare even though the rules and common courtesy suggest you shouldn't put the other kids at risk and whose child is clearly sick, as indicated by the multi-colored mucus sheen glistening across 2/3 of his/her face: DON'T!

Hey, I can relate. Those two hours that he's in daycare while I work out are important to getting me through the day at roughly the same level of sanity I started it, but it's not only about you. The rest of us have kids to deal with too.

So the next time you feel like dropping your sick kid off while you work out, hoping no one will notice your little snot-glazed Typhoid Mary is infecting more people than that monkey from Outbreak, don't do it. There's a circle of hell reserved for people like you, and when the End Times come, I'm naming names.

The Adam Is Coming! The Adam Is Coming!

If Adam's ear feels better (and he already seems to be perking up), he will accompany Jean on her work trip to Washington next week. They will arrive Monday evening and leave Sunday. Contact Jean for details and to arrange visits/meetups.