March of Dimes

Ericka and I (and M) decided to join the March of Dimes' annual fundraiser on Sunday. Their idea is brilliantly simple: get a big group of people together for a Sunday morning stroll around Lake of the Isles in south Minneapolis (and convince people you know to support the charity in exchange for you doing so).

















If you aren't aware - a brief spiel about March of Dimes:

• After contributing to wiping out polio in 1940s by literally asking folks to donate a dime (the stakes have been raised since!) they went on to conquer other things.
• Today, their focus is on research and support of neonatal intensive care units and treatments.
• Their main contribution to man-kind (as I see it - although folks with experience of polio may disagree) is their work in surfactants to counter Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome. We witnessed this firsthand in March 2006. If you're born really small your lungs collapse entirely every time you breathe out. March of Dimes was instrumental in developing the (my understanding) air lubricant that keeps the friction from breaking your lungs. For more detail see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_of_dimes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_respiratory_distress_syndrome

It was a lovely day with lots of sunshine. The March of Dimes people ensured that nobody was too worn out from the five-mile hike by serving breakfast before, lunch afterwards, and a couple of snacks along the route.

Thanks-a-mil to everyone that contributed!!
Via online donations, checks, and old-fashioned cash Ericka and I raised $800.

Faster yet

Of course, if it's real velocity you're after you can't beat the Mommy powered dump truck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcVwiMvWcZ8

Faster

There was a time when just getting around at all was new and exciting. We have just put the invention into overdrive with a brilliant insight:
Hey, leg's can help produce forward momentum rather than just slowing us down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0U2fNMn9AI
(sorry for the dark video)

Baby M 3.0: Omnivore

With M's slow weight gain our new marching orders have been to introduce protein in his diet. We're not quite up to pork chops yet (he still only has two teeth). But chicken and turkey, in semi liquefied form, have been welcome additions to his staples of fruit, vegetables, yogurt, oatmeal, formula, and Cheerios.

He is also showing interest in what Ericka and I eat. It's a whole new word of possible delights and setbacks. The latest:

• Orange - no!
• Strawberries - no!
• Plain bread - yes!
• Pasta - yes!
• Whipped cream - no!
• Cheese - yes!
• Chocolate - eh, no...

We are also entering the arena of self-serve food. The kitchen floor will never be the same...

Good night stars

Good night air.

Good night noises everywhere.

One-year check-in

We made a return visit to Children's. M is now "enrolled" in a long term study of outcomes of children with very low birth weight. The thought is that they will periodically check in on him and track his progress through life. The data gathered will be pooled with thousands of other children in the same situation and over the years all sorts of wisdom on treatment strategies will be gleaned.

In this introductory visit they determined that he is right on track with other 9-month-olds (with the exception of the weight which is below the third percentile), there are no signs of physical or mental impairments. They gave him a test called the Bayley and Ericka did a fine job of restraining herself from biasing the results!

Happy Easter!

For the Easter weekend we took a road trip to Ericka's family in South Dakota. It was very nice albeit a bit chilly. Clearly, it is spring in the calendar only! M traveled very well which bodes well for the summer season.



Angie's Easter brunch was terrific. Last year we dined at IKEA on our way to the hospital. I believe brunch in the temple of ready-to-assemble furniture was $3.99 including desert.


In case the picture on the right makes you wonder... yes, M had squash bisque for lunch...








Last year at this time, M was endowed with a special Easter bib. Since it got very limited use in the last go-around we figured we'd replay Baby's 1st Easter. The picture at the bottom is from this year.

Spring break

Last week we spent a couple of days in a cabin on the north shore of Lake Superior. The beauty of going this time of year is that there is nobody there.
You pretty much have the whole place to yourself. Once you step out on the beach it becomes obvious why!

While the cities where in the 80s (25 degrees) we were significantly chillier with fog so dense you could spread it on your toast.

But it was very fun and at least two thirds of us enjoyed a change in the scenery. I don't think M is enamored with his travel bed. It was a relaxing couple of days that even included some light reading and a couple of movies.

On the way up the north shore we stopped for lunch at Bellisio's restaurant in Duluth. It's a lovely little Italian place with white linens, soft background music, and a terrific lobster bisque. It was one of the first times M went to a restaurant where he participated in the dining (he brought his own milk and Cheerios). It was also the first time he barfed in a restaurant setting. It was a quick lunch.