Hormones and hissy fits!

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorn  pregnant! 

As we enter week 12 and the end of the first trimester, all I have to say is "Whoa!" Yup, pregnancy has been a wild ride this time around. The only two innocent people in this story are Apollo and myself and we have suffered a wrath of hormonal terrorism that is second to none! In fact, I hope that when Melanie reads this, I am not at home, or I will be beaten severely, before she gets through this blog and sees that I actually had a chance to redeem myself. 

  Yes, I am exaggerating and being slightly dramatic, however, those of you who know Melly well, know what I am talking about and will find humor in this. 

  To save my hide, let me set the stage. This whole month, since the first of the year has been pretty rough. Kylie, a 10 month old baby that Melanie has been baby sitting since she was 3 months old, has been very sickly; severe cold, runny nose double ear infection, kidney infection, rashes, etc... Poor little thing has been miserable and needed to be held and tended to all day every day. As if this is hard enough as is, Apollo, came down with a fever by weeks end, followed by a runny nose, and by day 4 of his fever, a visit to the doctor revealed that he too, had a double ear infection. This was Apollo's first time on antibiotics. The funny thing is, the first four days, prior to receiving antibiotics, he was actually in good spirits while he was awake, and really wasn't complaining for how sick he was. In kind, Mel became sick, I became sick, and even Ian tried to be sick. Now, I can't blame Melanie's antics on this nasty cold, as some of her "verbal" abusing was done prior to her falling ill.

  Case #1: Mid-day, mid week. Mel is sitting on the couch watching tv, while rocking Kylie, who had been crying for an hour, to sleep. Apollo was also, crying and trying to fall asleep on Mellys lap. Just as Kylie drifted off and Apollo was starting to settle, "DING-DONG". The door bell rings, and Kylie was startled awake and begins to cry. The parrots in the garage begin to scream as well. "KNOCK KNOCK" Came a follow up. Both kids were awake now and crying. As Melanie relayed this story to me, my skin began to crawl at this point as I know what was coming next. On the other side of the door, was our poor, unsuspecting, sweet, innocent, little mail lady. As the door flew open, this cheerful mail lady (with 2 boxes for Melanie, in her arms) started with. "Wow, the birds sure are excited today, were you out in the garage with them just now?" "NO!" Mel exclaimed in her best sarcastic, and demeaning voice, while holding one crying infant with a crying toddler clinging to her leg, " I WAS TRYING TO PUT TWO SICK BABIES TO SLEEP! THEY HAD BOTH JUST FALLEN TO SLEEP WHEN YOU RANG THE DOOR BELL AND CONTINUED TO KNOCK UNTIL EVERYONE WAS AWAKE AND SCREAMING AND CRYING! THANKS ALOT!" Then Mel slammed the door in her face.

  Case #2: So, this time around, the events started out very similar. It was nap time, a few days later, and the babies were just falling asleep. Because we live in gods country, it was a nice 70 degree day and the front windows were open and Mel is sure that the unsuspecting solicitor, could hear the tv, which is why he was persistent. "DING-DONG.....DING-DONG....DING-DONG!" When the door flew open this time, there stood a large black man, he started to open his mouth to speak and was cut off by Mels wrath.  "YOU KNOW WHAT?! WHEN SOMEONE DOESNT ANSWER THE DOOR AFTER THE FIRST RING, YOU DONT KEEP RINGING IT JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN HEAR THE TV OR BECAUSE YOU THINK SOMEONE IS HOME! I HAVE 2 SICK BABIES THAT YOU WOKE UP AND ARE NOW SCREAM BECAUSE YOU WERE SO RUDE AND INCONSIDERATE...." Slam went the door once again. I am sure there was an expletive or two in there and I am sure there was a lot more said in both incidences, but you get the gist. In the latter, Mel said the solicitor kept trying to interject with "But......but....but" and turned pale white by the end.

  I was fortunate enough to be at work during both of these Verbal altercations, I was however, unfortunate enough to be present at several others. Each time, I want to light myself on fire and run from the building.

  Honorable mention goes to the nurses at the OB/GYN office. Kaiser has a policy that when they seat the patient, they take her in first and come and retrieve the husband or father latter. They do this because they are now required to ask the woman if she is being beaten or abused by her significant other. First, the receptionist got an earful about how they asked those questions last time and that their policy was completely ridiculous and they needed to change it and that she didn't have time for their "dumb" policies. Upon being quizzed by the nurse, Melanie informed her how stupid and ridiculous their policy was and that no one was asking her husband if he was being abused and "he is the one you should be worrying about". At last, a moment of clarity! 

  I know I am making light of this whole situation, but, if you understand that first Melanie has had crabby babies all day, and then two teenagers that are incapable of doing anything on their own and then act like they are so put out that they have to lift a finger to do anything (which is typically picking up after themselves), then you add pregnancy hormones on top of inherited, fiery rage, well...its like tossing a bucket of gasoline on a small fire. 

I cant even imagine the the physical and emotional changes that a woman undergoes while pregnant, and to all this I am sympathetic. Our goal is one and the same; to have a happy, healthy full term baby and a mother that is equally happy and healthy. 

  I love Apollo more with each passing day and will love the new one with as much vigor. We have been so blessed with healthy kids, and are so thankful for Apollo and what he has brought to our family and our relationship. He talks nonstop now and has become so good at articulating what he is thinking. "Mama, I not honey, I'm Apollo.", "Mama has a baby in her belly.",  "I don't want a baby sister.", "Mama is really crabby." and my all time favorite to date; "Dada, I love you so much!"

  Apollo knows his alphabet all the way through, and can identify them by sight. He can count to twenty, and believe it or not, he is learning some spanish from his new favorite cartoon, "Dora the Explora";  Abajo (down), Hola! (hello), Cocodrilo (crocodile), Delicioso (delicious). and, Shak a la mano! (smack the hand or shake the hand). Okay, that last one he got from me.  

  Needless to say, this is such a fun age. I adore everything this amazing little guy does and says. I credit Melanie with so much of his learned abilities (less the spanish of course). She does an amazing job of keeping him up on 'Your baby can read', working with him on his alphabets, reading to him, counting with him and more. I do my part by trying to inject the humor and personality into him. Apollo and I are working on "Don't shake me mama!" Mel will be so horrified when he screams that one in the store!
  At the end of the day, Melly is such a good mom. She provides Apollo with an artistic, fun, active and educative environment, and is very nurturing. Apollo has learned that his mom has limits. On several occasions when he realizes that his mom is about to have a melt down and is getting angry, he gently takes a hold of his moms arm, looks her directly in the eyes, and reminds her, "Mama, we don't hit!"

(Disclaimer: Apollo has never had a spanking. We don't hit comes from "Apollo! We don't hit!" as he often likes to hit to express himself)

Spread your wings

 We turn away to face the cold, enduring chill, 
As the day begs the night for mercy love.
The sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars,
carved into stone, on the face of earth.
The moon is up and over one tree hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes. ---U2, One tree hill


  With a heavy heart we once again say good bye to one of our beloved family members. Harold spread his wings and departed us this afternoon. It is our belief that Harold suffered a massive heart attack due to a blood clot. He passed away in a matter of minutes in Melanie's arms. We are still in shock. It happened so fast that I still have not had enough time to process it. 

 Harold was our first rescue and second feathered family member. He came to us in his early teens and had been passed around through several homes over his life before we adopted him. Harold had some serious health issues. We quickly discovered that he had broken his thigh at some point and had never received medical attention. The bones fused side by side. He had a permanent limp and another possible injury affected his ability to fly in a straight line. The first year we had Harold, he suffered a mild blood clot or stroke, that left him temporarily incapacitated and confused. With all these problems, he managed to carve out quite a place in our hearts and lives.

    Harold was a sweet soul. He loved his flock, and protected them fiercely. He liked nothing more than to cuddle. He mimicked the sound of breathing, snoring, teeth brushing, and a baby crying. He, more than any other bird in our flock, was completely in tune with all our emotions and actions. He would cry when the boys would cry, sing when we sang, join in with Melanie when she would reprimand the boys with a very sarcastic "Blah, blah, blah!", and then chase any offender of the peace around the house with wings spread and beak open.

 Harold loved the sun. He would find that perfect spot, spread his wings, throw his head back, and start flapping. We called this his "Sun Dance". It was his way to pay homage to the sun and all its warmth and glory. It was quite the spectacle. In this series of photos, he even picked up an offering in the form of a dandelion, less the flower of course, as I am sure he ate it it first.

 One of my fondest memories of Harold was his love of music, especially 'Happy Birthday'. He would try to sing along the best he could; "Happy...happy..Harold".

Harold with Aden 2003

 In the short 9 years we shared our lives with Harold, he had made several long road trips with us and was the best passenger. Always the gentleman, he would let you know when he needed to relieve himself, we would pull over, roll down the window, hold him out the window or set him on the mirror. He would take care of business and we would be on our way.

Apollo with Harold 2010

 Harold also visited classrooms with Melanie and he always put on a show.  He loved to entertain and loved the attention.....

We miss his voice, his spirit, and his sweet presence. Harold, you are so missed. God speed my friend.

Harold
1988 - January 11, 2011

New year, new life!

Baby Miles 8weeks 3 days

Surprise! We are having a baby! This is what the New Year has in store for us. This was a total surprise to us as well and completely unexpected. For some unknown reason, we are excited to add one more mouth to feed to our little family. We have known since December 1st but have for the most part kept it on the down low, mostly because we were uncertain if things were going to stay this way. It is still early and we are still worried that something could go wrong, however, we wanted to share our joy with all of our friends and family.

Baby Thomas 8 weeks 6 days

  Sometimes, certain things happen, and they are seemingly beyond coincidence. I believe that in many cases, a coincidence is nothing more then that, but other times, there seems to be something else at work. In this instance, it is two fold.
  Case in point: December 1st, Melanie takes a pregnancy test, instant result was positive. December 2nd. I text my BFF Aaron and tell him the news, as we have often kept each other apprised of this type of info this early on. Aaron tells me that Michelle (Aaron's wife) thinks that she might be pregnant and she is taking a test latter that day. Her tests are confirmed. Now we are all kind of blown away by the odds of this as we could not have planned it if we tried. It turns out that both our due dates are 2 days apart. As weird as this might be, the coincidences keep on coming. Melanie's due date is August 7th, 2011. August 7th is Melanie's grandpa, Joe Hall's Birthday. Grandpa Joe passed away less than a year ago with Melanie and other family members by his side. Now, I know that fewer than 5% of babies are born on their due date, however, if you knew Joe Hall, you would know that it would be just like him to some how make things  happen this way for two reasons that I can think of; First and foremost, Joe was (and apparently still is) a prankster, and would have found the irony of this situation, to be funny. Secondly, Joe liked to be in control and take charge and to me this sends a message that "Hey, I'm still here, and I am still calling the shots!"
  Melanie has often talked about wishing she had a little girl, and I have often dreamt that Apollo had a little sister, so we are thinking there is a good chance that this new life could be a little girl. Only time will tell, and we will be happy either way, but for all our sakes, I am hoping Melly gets her little girl.
  There is another "coincidence" to this story that I am not privy to tell at this time, but it just adds another dimension to this whole situation. I will provide an update to this when it is appropriate.
  Say your prayers for all of us that all will be okay and that we will have  healthy new babies at the end of July or beginning of August.  Also, say your prayers for Apollo as he will have to accept sharing his throne. I think his life will be changed more than the rest of ours.
Happy New Year!!

Who's having a baby?

Christmas 2010

Christmas...what can I say; we made it through. It is such an incredibly busy time of year for us, that I have not had time to sit and write. It was very enjoyable all said and done. We finished our shopping way ahead of schedule, for the most part, but there just seemed to be an endless amount of things to accomplish, places to go and people to see. We kept the holiday music streaming in the background pretty much everyday from thanksgiving until Christmas, this coupled with our fresh Nobel Fir Christmas tree, and our home was filled with a little extra Christmas spirit this year.
  The hardest part about this Christmas season, was trying to convince Apollo to go see Santa. We showed him pictures of himself sitting on Santa's lap from the past two years, even had Santa send him a little Christmas video where he was talking to Apollo, watched all the animated Christmas movies, and still he did not want to go. Every night turned into a battle; "Apollo, look! Santa is on Dada's computer! Wanna see him?", "NO! I don't like him! Close it!" he demands, as he extends his hand out in front of himself and positions it to block out Santa, yet spreading his fingers ever so slightly to allow for a view of the bearded man, "Close it, right NOW!". It was time to change strategies. With a little help from one of our favorite Christmas movies, Elf, I encouraged Apollo to get super excited when he saw Santa on TV, "Santa! Santa! Santa!" He would scream at the top of his lungs...that is until we got to the mall, and there was Santa in person. "Dada, Apollo want to go home. I don't like him." It was our strategy to have the big brothers go up there with him, and Apollo could actually sit on Ian's lap instead of Santa. This sounded good in theory, however, once they began to walk towards Santa, Apollo went into full on 'fight or flight' mode; twisting and convulsing while screaming "No...no, NO!". Needless to say, Mel drug him up there anyway but had to stay by his side even for the pictures. The only picture where he managed to not be freaking out, is the one I posted here, where he decided to do his best impression of his dog Remi, by shoving his lower jaw forward, so he would have the same under bite as his dog. Well, at least we got a picture.
  A nine hour car ride, and we found ourselves in Southern California at my parents house for Christmas. We were joined by Uncle Gooch or "Goochie" as Apollo calls him, along with Aunt Debbie and cousin Alexandra. Apollo was excited to be at his Yiayia and Papa's house, and to our amazement, he even remembered their house when we pulled up in front; it has been 8 months since we were last there. "See Yiayia's house?"
 My favorite memory from this Christmas will be Apollo's singing. He is very intuitive and picked up on how much everyone liked his singing, and decide to grace us with his cute little singing voice several times a day. Apollo can actually carry a tune quite well! I am sure he spent a good 4 hours a day singing to all of us. Some times, he would invite you to sing along with him, but most times, if you joined in, you were quickly put in your place. "Mama! No sing Twinkle little star!...NO!!" while pointing defiantly at his mom. His favorite songs to sing right now are: Twinkle, twinkle little star, ABC's, and jingle bells. I am working on getting video of him singing and I will post it here when I do. For now, I will write his favorite versus as he sings them: "Twinkle twinkle little sar, how I what you what you are, up above the worl so high, like a dino in the ky, twinkle, twinkle little sar, how I what you are ....yeah!"

Let the holidays begin

I spend a good portion of my day in front of a computer, staring at spread sheets or blue prints, but from time to time, I will close out enough of my documents that I can see my wallpaper. It is a picture of Apollo. Some times, I see the picture and think, "Holy crap! I have a kid!...When did this happen? I am way to young to have a kid." Way too young...Melanie would certainly equate this with my maturity level. But the point I am trying to make is, there is this rush of excitement inside, I can only compare it to climbing out of an airplane at 13,000 feet getting ready to make a skydive. Its like a quick little adrenaline rush. It startles me at times, but then I cant wait to get home and see my little man.
  The Holidays are upon us, and Melanie has done an amazing job with the lights and the decorations. Our tree is up and the house is filled with the fragrance of Noble Fir...thank you Oregon! This is truly one of my favorite smells.

  Apollo's excitement levels are rising. He loves lights and is mesmerized by them. Our street has some very festively decorated houses and yards which makes it a fun time of year for Apollo. We have been talking to him about Santa and letting him watch some of the animated Christmas movies.  I can tell how much he understands and is excited about Christmas, by his mumblings in his sleep; "Dada... go see Santa?". We will see how much he really wants to see Santa when we place him on Santa's Lap this year. His first two years visiting Santa, he was absolutely fine. I am almost certain that this year might be a little scary for him. One of Apollo's recent developmental phases, is the ability to differentiate between unsavory characters. Not that Santa is unsavory, but a white bearded guy in a furry red suit that likes to have kids sit on his lap, is definitely a little creepy. In the past few months while reading stories to Apollo, he has started to express his disdain for certain characters in the picture books. It is pretty cute to watch actually. He will place his hand out in front of himself, fingers up, palm facing away, like he is saying "stop". He then adjusts his had forward and back to block out the figure he does not want to see.    He has especially been having a difficult time with the Finding Nemo book. If you have seen the movie or read the picture books you can totally relate to the scary characters. The first villain in the book that he does not like is, the scuba diver that captures Nemo. We sometimes have to close the book at this point in the story, and put it out of sight. If we make it past this first villain, the next is the dentists' creepy little niece who has red Pipi Longstocking pigtails sticking out of the side of her head, and a mouth full of braces complete with head gear. We still like the sharks at this point, but the little girl is just a bit much. So, I am thinking Santa might be too scary this year. 
  Conversations with Apollo are becoming more complex. I am constantly entertained with what he says, how he says them and the context that he uses words or phrases. Last night, Apollo and I were sitting on the couch discussing his "owee's". "Dada, see owee? thats a big one!" "That is a big one Apollo, this is a big one too." I reply pointing to another abrasion. "No Dada, that a little one." "What about these other two owee's?", "Those ones all gone dada." At that moment, Apollo lets a rather loud fart. "WOW APOLLO!! Thats a BIIIIIG owee!!" With a straight face he looks at me a bit perplexed and very matter-of-factly, proclaims, "No dada, that's a really big fart!"

A day in the life: Assorted videos

Just for fun on this Thanksgiving day, I have posted some little clips of Apollo moments that are typical of the day to day of Apollo. Keep in mind that it is hard to catch anything on video with this kid, because he knows what the video camera is and how to work it. As soon as he sees the camera, all he can say is; "(I) want to see Apollo." and he will follow you around reaching for it. I am trying to capture some of his cutest phrases to compile in a video which I will post here. In the mean time...enjoy!

Fall Festivities.

  I could write a couple chapters on all the things I don't like about this time of year, however, I will simplify it all in five words; shorter days, and cooler weather. All complaints aside, there are many things I do love about this time of year. Each place that I have lived, has its own charm for me during this season. In Southern California, its the Santa Anna winds that clear out the air; I love the energy of the wind. In Eugene Oregon, they have their own winds; I have spent many a late night in fall, walking the streets, watching the fallen leaves blow around, swirl and dance. In Bend Oregon, Its the first snow of the season and the first hard frost that kills all your plants that have not gone dormant yet...oh wait, that was one of my dislikes, (I do love the first snow though). In Santa Rosa, it is the splendor of fall colors, gifted to us by the vineyards. I know its a far cry from the show they get in places like Maine, but it is stunning none the less.
  This past month has been a whirlwind of visitors. Apollos' YiaYia and Papa, arrived a few days before Halloween. Apollo went with me to the airport to pick up his grandparents, and he was beside himself with excitement. He talks to his YiaYia and papa on Skype a couple times a week, so he could not wait to see them in person.     Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. In Bend, we had costume parties to attend and good friends to carve pumpkins with.

Now, we get our thrills dressing Apollo up and watching how excited he gets over the whole experience. Our neighborhood here is awesome. We have a couple hundred trick or treaters each year. Even many of the parents dress up. It reminds me of the street I grew up on in the seventies before the sickos started poisoning candy or sticking needles or razorblades in candy as well, and ruined the whole trick or treat experience. This year was was especially exciting; the world series was on, and the San Francisco Giants, were playing. They have never won a world series since they moved to SF in 1958, and this year, they were well on their way to winning, in fact they won their game Halloween night and the following night, they won the world series. Our neighborhood went nuts that night! People were screaming! Many could not contain themselves and ran out into the street, banging pots and pans. An impromptu parade ensued with kids on bikes or on foot, screaming at the top of their lungs, while I saw several adult men running wildly through the streets, "high fiving" one another, and hugging, while in the background, you could here fireworks and gunshots. It was a sight to see, and made me like it here even more.
  We took the grandparents around to see some of the sights, but really spent most of our time hanging out and enjoying each others company. A week is not nearly enough time for a visit. Uncle Gooch's visit overlapped with the parents, and he showed up on Halloween. It was nice having them all here at the same time.
 With the parents gone, and Uncle Gooch in town, it was time to head the coast for a fall camping trip. We had such a good time. We spent a few hours on Saturday fishing and caught some nice ocean fish, and harvested some mussels. Mel did a fantastic job of making some steamed mussels with the dutch oven followed by some fresh fish tacos with fresh pico de gallo made with tomatoes and peppers from our garden. So simple, yet delicious.
  I love these times we spend with family.  As I have grown older, my appreciation for life, family and loved ones has deepened. I have always had a special place in my heart for all things living, but there is something about having a child of your own, that will take you to a new level. I think it is important that Apollo knows who his family is. I remember spending time with my relatives that passed when I was still very young and I still feel connected to them because I have some faint memories and pictures to make them real.

Apollo pretty much talks non-stop now. He will repeat anything and everything that he heres. Some of our favorites right now are: "Whad da heck!"
"Oh my gosh", "Oh my goodness" (thanks Yiayia), and my personal favorite; "Brothers, busted!"
  In the same way that he mimicks speech,  I am possible even more impressed how much he notices and replicates, body language, movement, and motor skills. Melanie has been training Apollo's dog Remi, and it is one of the cutest things to watch Apollo throw himself into the mix. He will stand at Melanie's side, bent over at the same angle (as if he is looking down at his dog), his fingers closed upon an invisible treat, repeating "Sit! Sit! Sit!"or "Speak!". When Remi earns his treat, Melanie gives him the real one she had in her fingers, and then Apollo offers up his invisible one, which Remi always pretends to eat and then is rewarded with "Good boy, Remi!" When it comes to  iphones, flash lights, camera's and computers, Apollo watches, end memorizes every button you push or move that you make. He navigates through an iphone like he was born knowing how. He rewinds, fast forwards, stops, and presses play on my video camera to get to the parts he wants to watch. He is fascinated with lights of any kind and even more fascinated with how they operate. He even proclaims when he cant get something to work; "Maybe it needs batteries."

San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Champions Official Locker Room Flex-Fit Hat