The World of Mackay

Appropriate for the upcoming holiday... the last time we were up visiting my Mom (up in the woods, where various creatures large and small abound), I was packing up our bags to head home. Behind me, I hear Owen say 'Bug on head! BUG ON HEAD!!' I turn around, and sure enough, he has an enormous spider on the top of his head. Owen's just pointing at it, and is clearly waiting for me to do something. Those of you who know how much I love spiders will not be surprised to hear that I actually considered leaving the room and letting him deal with it on his own. However, I'm proud to say that I grabbed Mackay's sock and successfully knocked the spider onto the ground, where it skittered under my Mom's bed. Come to think of it, I don't think I mentioned that to her. Sorry, Mom.

Here's a pic of Owen in the hospital. He had a probe inserted through his nostril this am to test for possible acid reflux (he was NOT a happy camper about that process). But he's adjusted with his usual aplomb. The biggest issue is that there is a fairly heavy monitor attached to the wires that gave only about two feet of distance to the person holding it. With Owen being 'on the move' - this kind of tether was pretty much unacceptable. Bill,being the resourceful guy he is, quickly ran to a local shop and found this little backpack, so Owen can now tote around his monitor himself. After some adjustment to walking with this weight on his back (he'll probably fall flat on his face once we remove the backpack), he is now roaming the halls at will, with his food intake paperwork in hand - looking for all the world like one of the doctors checking their charts. This little guy is truly amazing.

If you ask Mackay how old she is, she will tell you definitively either 'five', or (inexplicably) 'two more months'. In either case, she is officially two years old -- with daily bouts of throwing herself dramatically to the floor to protest anything denied to her to prove it. She received some wonderful birthday gifts, including a karaoke machine from Papa John, a tricycle from Nana, her own 'puter' (aka DVD player) and perhaps her favorite gift -- a chocolate cupcake. Some milestones: she has officially moved from her crib to a 'big girl' toddler bed - which she seems to enjoy. However, on night two of being in her new bed, she managed to fall out of it. Fortunately it's only about 12 inches to the carpet. She seems undeterred and continues to climb into her new bed each night without concern. On the little brother front, Owen is officially a month old -- and has already gained two pounds, perhaps setting a record for newborn weight gain. Every da...