My little man did well on the trip down here I have to say. He slept most of the first half and was just babbling when he was awake on the second half. So far he seems to enjoy it here as well as he can I mean the heat has just been zapping his energy. The first few days were kind of relaxed for us. We met a friend at House of Pies (or H.O.P.) and that was awesome b/c I LOVE H.O.P. sooooo much and so did he (when he finally realized that the fruit was pie-y goodness). Second day we went swimming and he about lost his mind because at my aunt's pool there is a handle that is on the steps so he figured out he could hold on to that and float to his heart's content. Plus he kept getting in, getting out, jumping in; little water baby wore himself out after about 2 hours of swimming he slept for 2 1/2.
Then we went to the Aquarium with his cousins and let me just say that if you are going to go there with children and you have the energy do the whole day fun package for $15.99. It is totally worth it especially if you have the coupon for "Buy 1, Get 1 FREE!!" We rode the little train that went into the shark tank and it was so adorable once he figured out what was going on he leaned back into me with his eyes really wide looking around like "What the heck is going on here?" He enjoyed the train as well as the carousel (obviously we skipped the Ferris Wheel for him) and he actually had a good time walking the exhibits. He kept pointing and babbling at everything. Well worth it.
Today has been kind of relaxed as well for us; we went to Rothers (I will ALWAYS call it Rothers it changed to 'The College Bookstore' middle of the junior year but dammit it's ROTHERS!!) and I got Trio some Cougar gear. A little onesie that says "Cougar, Born and Bred" and a beanie which he will just love come the winter months *sarcasm* And we got to see my godmama which I loved and she did remind em it's been awhile since she has really seen me or Trio which means we haven't been coming here often enough but that will change. We've also been seeing my aunt, two first cousins, and two second cousins all the days we have been here. Tomorrow we are going to go to the Children's Museum (b/c it's free after 5) and then Friday it's back home even if I'm not quite sure how happy I am about going home yet. I've really enjoyed my time here with Trio b/c even though my niece and dad came with us it was like a mini-vacation for us. But Pflugerville is where we live so c'est la vie.
I will post again to let you know how the Museum goes.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
My Cardio Baby
So last week we had an appointment with Trio's cardiologist to see how his heart patch and his pulmonary valve were doing. I like Dr. Holt he's really nice and personable to Trio as well as being very good at answering all the questions I may have. So he listened to Trio's heart and sent him to get an echo.
I have to say this was the best echos we've ever had. He sat still for the most part and he wasn't screaming and crying. In fact he was talking to Sue, the one who does the echo, and even flirting with her. It was awesome whereas it use to take us an hour and a half almost to do it this one took maybe 30-40 minutes. I mean we were there so long because the office had a lot of patients there (and from the way the babies in there were crying in the waiting rooms including my own at one point, you would have thought there were giving shots in there). According to the echo though the gradient in the valve got higher since our last check-up in January not enough for him to be overly concerned but enough to still keep him on the medicine and to put me on stand-by that a visit to the cath lab may be necessary in the future. Now while I don't relish the idea of going back to the hospital, at least this one is an outpatient procedure and at most we may stay in the hospital overnight.
As far as a lot of heart babies go I would like to think Trio does well. He is very active and he doesn't get over exhausted quickly. He doesn't seem to have a lot of breathing problems when he plays (thank goodness) and as for the sweat; well it's hard to tell if he sweats a lot because of the heart thing or because of genetics (seriously, his dad can be out in the sun for five minutes and is sweating buckets and that's on a normal not hot as the outer layer of hell day like the ones we've been having). He loves being active. He's certain he can swim without a float (that's always a fun story) and he climbs and runs and dances and plays. He's certainly a little boy.
I remember being sad when we found out how we had to get the surgery. My primary concern was that he wouldn't be able to do all the climbing, running, and sports that little boys do. I expressed this concerns to Dr. Holt who told me that while he may not be the star athlete he will still be able to play. And now that I see it in motion I love it. I love watching him play because I know it makes him happy. While I am sad that he still has to be on the medicine because I figured this would have been a huge fun step for us, we'll still doing good on the heart front and for that I am grateful.
I have to say this was the best echos we've ever had. He sat still for the most part and he wasn't screaming and crying. In fact he was talking to Sue, the one who does the echo, and even flirting with her. It was awesome whereas it use to take us an hour and a half almost to do it this one took maybe 30-40 minutes. I mean we were there so long because the office had a lot of patients there (and from the way the babies in there were crying in the waiting rooms including my own at one point, you would have thought there were giving shots in there). According to the echo though the gradient in the valve got higher since our last check-up in January not enough for him to be overly concerned but enough to still keep him on the medicine and to put me on stand-by that a visit to the cath lab may be necessary in the future. Now while I don't relish the idea of going back to the hospital, at least this one is an outpatient procedure and at most we may stay in the hospital overnight.
As far as a lot of heart babies go I would like to think Trio does well. He is very active and he doesn't get over exhausted quickly. He doesn't seem to have a lot of breathing problems when he plays (thank goodness) and as for the sweat; well it's hard to tell if he sweats a lot because of the heart thing or because of genetics (seriously, his dad can be out in the sun for five minutes and is sweating buckets and that's on a normal not hot as the outer layer of hell day like the ones we've been having). He loves being active. He's certain he can swim without a float (that's always a fun story) and he climbs and runs and dances and plays. He's certainly a little boy.
I remember being sad when we found out how we had to get the surgery. My primary concern was that he wouldn't be able to do all the climbing, running, and sports that little boys do. I expressed this concerns to Dr. Holt who told me that while he may not be the star athlete he will still be able to play. And now that I see it in motion I love it. I love watching him play because I know it makes him happy. While I am sad that he still has to be on the medicine because I figured this would have been a huge fun step for us, we'll still doing good on the heart front and for that I am grateful.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Fun of Genetics/Update
So today at the playdate Trio totally busted his head on the tile floor after tripping over someone's feet. This happens I'm not mad about it or anything; he could just as easily bust his head at home (and he has). But what surprised me was how fast it bruised and he got a goose egg. See I don't bruise easily at all; the only time I was in danger of it was when i was on medication following my C-section. So I know he didn't get it from me. I don't think his dad bruises easily so he didn't get it from us.
In my curiosity I called my dad only to find out that yup my mom bruised easily. From the way he made it sound, she could trip and have a bruise the next day. So he got that from his grandma which (in a twisted way) gives me a warm feeling because it is something he shares with her. See my mom died when I was 8 so he will never know her safe for stories we tell. And I know I liked hearing how I was like great grandparents who passed before I was born so I'm hoping he'll enjoy sharing something with his Grandma Janice.
And that gets me to the subject of genetics. For whatever reason, society only remembers moms and dads when it comes to kids and yeah while it is true that more often than not they are like their parents there are two who different family trees that features and personality traits can come from. It's not just you two when it comes to your kids there's a whole deep, deep gene pool in which to fish from. And sometimes this can backfire should there be some undesirable traits in your genes but sometimes it is a nice touch. Is it awesome that Trio bruises easily? Not completely because I don't fancy strangers thinking I beat the crap out of my kid as they will if he has tons of bruises. But since I know it's a trait my mother had it makes it kind of bittersweet.
On a different note, tomorrow Trio has an appointment with his cardiologist so hopefully we will find out that we can stop the medicine he has been on for the last year. Hopefully his heart is doing better and from my end it seems because he can run and play with the best of toddlers his age. And it was also brought to my attention today that he is losing baby fat and starting to look like a toddler which makes me somewhat sad because it means my little boy is slowly but surely growing up. I mean I know I have miles to go such as the wonderful twos-threes, not to mention potty training, the "joys" of pre-teen and teenage years, and the like. But this is a step in that direction and it make me sad. I am not sure if we're going to have more kids so this may be my only one and I enjoy all the time with him that I can and I'm not ready for him to grow up yet.
Of course he's not even two yet. I realize this is kinda morose to think that way now but I worry about future girlfriends so what are you going to do? I'm just a worrier and my poor son will find that out in the years to come.
In my curiosity I called my dad only to find out that yup my mom bruised easily. From the way he made it sound, she could trip and have a bruise the next day. So he got that from his grandma which (in a twisted way) gives me a warm feeling because it is something he shares with her. See my mom died when I was 8 so he will never know her safe for stories we tell. And I know I liked hearing how I was like great grandparents who passed before I was born so I'm hoping he'll enjoy sharing something with his Grandma Janice.
And that gets me to the subject of genetics. For whatever reason, society only remembers moms and dads when it comes to kids and yeah while it is true that more often than not they are like their parents there are two who different family trees that features and personality traits can come from. It's not just you two when it comes to your kids there's a whole deep, deep gene pool in which to fish from. And sometimes this can backfire should there be some undesirable traits in your genes but sometimes it is a nice touch. Is it awesome that Trio bruises easily? Not completely because I don't fancy strangers thinking I beat the crap out of my kid as they will if he has tons of bruises. But since I know it's a trait my mother had it makes it kind of bittersweet.
On a different note, tomorrow Trio has an appointment with his cardiologist so hopefully we will find out that we can stop the medicine he has been on for the last year. Hopefully his heart is doing better and from my end it seems because he can run and play with the best of toddlers his age. And it was also brought to my attention today that he is losing baby fat and starting to look like a toddler which makes me somewhat sad because it means my little boy is slowly but surely growing up. I mean I know I have miles to go such as the wonderful twos-threes, not to mention potty training, the "joys" of pre-teen and teenage years, and the like. But this is a step in that direction and it make me sad. I am not sure if we're going to have more kids so this may be my only one and I enjoy all the time with him that I can and I'm not ready for him to grow up yet.
Of course he's not even two yet. I realize this is kinda morose to think that way now but I worry about future girlfriends so what are you going to do? I'm just a worrier and my poor son will find that out in the years to come.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
What's in a Name?
I don't think I've ever really explained how my son got his nickname. His birth name is Albert Gregg Nieto III and "Trio" is a unique nickname for those who thirds in their family, don't think I don't realize that. So here is the explanation of how he got his nickname just for the record.
When he was born as you know there was a respiratory issue which caused him to go into the NICU at one day old. We still hadn't decided what we wanted to call him. Initially when I found out it was a boy I was thinking (like every other Southern woman who has a third) "Trey". It was then I noticed:
Treys=jerks.
Think about it. Every single kid at the daycare that I knew was a pill to say the least. My then preschool manager was going through a terrible patch with her husband who's name was? You guessed it; Trey. I could only think of one Trey I knew that wasn't a big jerk off and I didn't talk to him anymore. So I decided no Treys because of the bad ju-ju on his name and before you judge me think about how names hold powers and prejudices; I don't see many people rushing to name their child Adolf anymore do you? How about Benedict? When was the last time you met one of those?
Anyways so I looked up every nickname I could. I ruled out "Albe" right away for a few reasons. One it was a nickname my husband already had from his sister and he didn't want to share. Two (and this is quite honestly the most pressing reason) Trio would have hated it when he got older. The "e" sound at the end of names like that (Robby, Tommy, Bobby) all little boys end up hating because it sounds like a baby's name and it's true. Most Robbies I know are either Rob or Robert now because they don't like the way their former name sounds and I didn't want to go through the hassle later in life of coming up with a new name when he would shout "I'm not a baby!" I tried Tripp but everyone told me that was pretentious so I threw that out.
Going back to the hospital. One day when we were holding him in the NICU Albert made the comment that his dad had heard from his sister (Albert's aunt) of a woman who named her son Trio because he was the third boy. At this time Trio was asleep but when he heard that name his eyelids flickered and he made a movement. Albert and I looked at each other and I said the name "Trio" again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Sure enough he responded again.
And there you have it folks; his nickname was born. In essence he picked out his own nickname (because we did try other names and nothing happened like that when we said any of the other ones). That's why his nickname is Trio and that's why we call him it. It could be possibly in ten years he hates it and wants to be called Albert, or Triple A (which sounds like a bad rapper but whatever) or what have you. However until such a time comes I am going to revel in the unique nickname I gave my son.
But it does get me to thinking about how powerful names are. Many people pass names down in families not because they particularly care for them but because it's a family name and there is so much history packed into it. Had I been a boy, my name would have been William Virgil after grandfather's on my dad's side. My niece is named after my mother who passed away when my sister and I were younger. My brother has the same first name as his biological father and as you can see we passed on my husband's name. Will he name his child IV? Who knows? But there is so much more to names than people realize at first. I've noticed that once you hear what someone is going to name their child (and I myself am guilty of this) you immediately try to think of a nickname without figuring out whether the parent wants that or if they have a nickname they would like to call the child. I don't believe people do it to be intentionally hurtful but it does. A lot of people weren't thrilled with the nickname Trio and I don't know if I made it readily clear why we called him that. Because he picked it out himself; he choose it at a time in his life where he only knew us by smell because he was asleep in the NICU on constant feed a time where sadly it was touch and go still he picked the name. And that's why I call him that. Yes I wanted a nickname that was unique but I also wanted one that meant something and it does.
So there you have it. That's how Trio got his nickname.
When he was born as you know there was a respiratory issue which caused him to go into the NICU at one day old. We still hadn't decided what we wanted to call him. Initially when I found out it was a boy I was thinking (like every other Southern woman who has a third) "Trey". It was then I noticed:
Treys=jerks.
Think about it. Every single kid at the daycare that I knew was a pill to say the least. My then preschool manager was going through a terrible patch with her husband who's name was? You guessed it; Trey. I could only think of one Trey I knew that wasn't a big jerk off and I didn't talk to him anymore. So I decided no Treys because of the bad ju-ju on his name and before you judge me think about how names hold powers and prejudices; I don't see many people rushing to name their child Adolf anymore do you? How about Benedict? When was the last time you met one of those?
Anyways so I looked up every nickname I could. I ruled out "Albe" right away for a few reasons. One it was a nickname my husband already had from his sister and he didn't want to share. Two (and this is quite honestly the most pressing reason) Trio would have hated it when he got older. The "e" sound at the end of names like that (Robby, Tommy, Bobby) all little boys end up hating because it sounds like a baby's name and it's true. Most Robbies I know are either Rob or Robert now because they don't like the way their former name sounds and I didn't want to go through the hassle later in life of coming up with a new name when he would shout "I'm not a baby!" I tried Tripp but everyone told me that was pretentious so I threw that out.
Going back to the hospital. One day when we were holding him in the NICU Albert made the comment that his dad had heard from his sister (Albert's aunt) of a woman who named her son Trio because he was the third boy. At this time Trio was asleep but when he heard that name his eyelids flickered and he made a movement. Albert and I looked at each other and I said the name "Trio" again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Sure enough he responded again.
And there you have it folks; his nickname was born. In essence he picked out his own nickname (because we did try other names and nothing happened like that when we said any of the other ones). That's why his nickname is Trio and that's why we call him it. It could be possibly in ten years he hates it and wants to be called Albert, or Triple A (which sounds like a bad rapper but whatever) or what have you. However until such a time comes I am going to revel in the unique nickname I gave my son.
But it does get me to thinking about how powerful names are. Many people pass names down in families not because they particularly care for them but because it's a family name and there is so much history packed into it. Had I been a boy, my name would have been William Virgil after grandfather's on my dad's side. My niece is named after my mother who passed away when my sister and I were younger. My brother has the same first name as his biological father and as you can see we passed on my husband's name. Will he name his child IV? Who knows? But there is so much more to names than people realize at first. I've noticed that once you hear what someone is going to name their child (and I myself am guilty of this) you immediately try to think of a nickname without figuring out whether the parent wants that or if they have a nickname they would like to call the child. I don't believe people do it to be intentionally hurtful but it does. A lot of people weren't thrilled with the nickname Trio and I don't know if I made it readily clear why we called him that. Because he picked it out himself; he choose it at a time in his life where he only knew us by smell because he was asleep in the NICU on constant feed a time where sadly it was touch and go still he picked the name. And that's why I call him that. Yes I wanted a nickname that was unique but I also wanted one that meant something and it does.
So there you have it. That's how Trio got his nickname.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Trio's Busy Weekend
It's always amazing for me to see my husband and son interact. It does a lot; it gives me a preview of how it's going to be in a couple of years when he prefers Albert over me in terms of play (however I know I will always be the boo-boo healer so that helps). They played together at the water park which was fun to see because Albert had never seen him really in the water and he laughed at how much he enjoyed the water side walk and floating around the current pool in his floatie. Trio had a great time playing in the water with his father. It was fun seeing them swim together and I was grateful for it.
Then Saturday at the bowling alley was hilarious to see Trio running up and down the ramp and trying to "help" everyone bowl. At many points he tried to pick up a bowling ball and I would run to him going "Trio that's too heavy" and he would wave his hands at me like "I got this it's okay!" He even bowled a couple of times and it was good to see what a good time he was having. He lasted a long time there not falling asleep until we strapped him in his carseat (late I admit) but I know he had a good time listening to the music and seeing everyone bowl. Last time he was at a bowling area he was not walking and still in an infant carseat so this time was defintely more fun for him.
I enjoy all the time I get to spend with my son but I love it even more when Albert can join us. He has this Friday off as well so I'm hoping we can go to a park or something if Albert is up for it. As for us we have a busy week ahead of us; not too many playdates but we will go out and do stuff ourself like a park. Maybe today after we get the tire fixed. But it'll be fun because it always is.
Then Saturday at the bowling alley was hilarious to see Trio running up and down the ramp and trying to "help" everyone bowl. At many points he tried to pick up a bowling ball and I would run to him going "Trio that's too heavy" and he would wave his hands at me like "I got this it's okay!" He even bowled a couple of times and it was good to see what a good time he was having. He lasted a long time there not falling asleep until we strapped him in his carseat (late I admit) but I know he had a good time listening to the music and seeing everyone bowl. Last time he was at a bowling area he was not walking and still in an infant carseat so this time was defintely more fun for him.
I enjoy all the time I get to spend with my son but I love it even more when Albert can join us. He has this Friday off as well so I'm hoping we can go to a park or something if Albert is up for it. As for us we have a busy week ahead of us; not too many playdates but we will go out and do stuff ourself like a park. Maybe today after we get the tire fixed. But it'll be fun because it always is.
Monday, June 22, 2009
So this has been an eventful last few days in the life of Trio. On Thursday he started feeling feverish that went over to Friday (no actual fever reading as we didn't have a thermometer since Trio lost it) and I ended up taking him to his doctor (who admonished me slightly for not having a one since we didn't know how high his fever actually was). However she agreed that it was odd how warm and fussy he was and took blood and urine for a couture and CBC after checking for an ear infection and teething. We had to wait on the first test but the latter with the blood proved that he had some kind of infection either kidney or urinary tract infection so she give him a shot of antibiotics that day.
Which SUCKED!
First off all it hurt to put in the nurse told me that right off the bat. And then he kicked so hard he almost bent the needle so she had to take it out and give the rest to him in his other leg. Both his legs were sore that night. The next day we went to the After Hours Clinic for a follow-up and first they hadn't sent any paperwork over (which was mildly annoying). That doctor said he would give him more antibiotics and we went the oral route since I didn't want to have to deal with him being sore and cranky since we were going out to Blanco for a family reunion for the first part of the morning. So that was just rough all around. Then we went to my dad's for a BBQ for a friend who was back from Iraq on R&R and visited with some of his great aunts.
Yesterday he was a little better being off and on cranky but for the most part good. Which was good since we ran around a lot for Father's Day including going to see my dad, the great grandfather at China Star Buffet, the hubby's dad's in-laws, and then back to great granddad and my father's. But at the dinner yesterday there was a trampoline that he got on for awhile and he had a blast. So that was good to see him having a good time after having a kind of crappy weekend. We'll see how this week goes with him but we have a couple of playdates which is great I love going out and hanging out with kids around his age and watching him interact. Keep your fingers crossed today; we have to call to see what the test results said and if we have to continue the antibiotics for the full ten days.
Which SUCKED!
First off all it hurt to put in the nurse told me that right off the bat. And then he kicked so hard he almost bent the needle so she had to take it out and give the rest to him in his other leg. Both his legs were sore that night. The next day we went to the After Hours Clinic for a follow-up and first they hadn't sent any paperwork over (which was mildly annoying). That doctor said he would give him more antibiotics and we went the oral route since I didn't want to have to deal with him being sore and cranky since we were going out to Blanco for a family reunion for the first part of the morning. So that was just rough all around. Then we went to my dad's for a BBQ for a friend who was back from Iraq on R&R and visited with some of his great aunts.
Yesterday he was a little better being off and on cranky but for the most part good. Which was good since we ran around a lot for Father's Day including going to see my dad, the great grandfather at China Star Buffet, the hubby's dad's in-laws, and then back to great granddad and my father's. But at the dinner yesterday there was a trampoline that he got on for awhile and he had a blast. So that was good to see him having a good time after having a kind of crappy weekend. We'll see how this week goes with him but we have a couple of playdates which is great I love going out and hanging out with kids around his age and watching him interact. Keep your fingers crossed today; we have to call to see what the test results said and if we have to continue the antibiotics for the full ten days.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Our First Movie Outing
So yesterday we went to go see Up with a friend and her kids. It was at the Alamo Drafthouse since they have 'Baby Day Showings' every week and since Trio was free I figured it was a good time to try it out.
He did fantastic!! Starting from the previews he was laughing at the screen and watching just fascinated (probably by the sheer size) of everything. He liked the movie especially that parts with the balloons and Dug; he loves that dog even when he shows up on the trailers on the TV he laughs and watches just fascinated. He made it almost all the way through the movie before he became a wiggle worm too and that was impressive as well. All in all I can say it was a good first movie outing and I was very happy we got to go see this movie. Now when the next Ice Age comes out, I know that we can go see it too. And who knows? Maybe the hubby will take some time off to go see it with us and that would be awesome. Next Friday (which he's taking off for my birthday) we're going to both go and take Trio to the waterpark here in Pflugerville and I am looking forward to that very much because we need more time together just the three of us.
So in short Trio likes movies and we can go (as long as it is baby day showing if we go to the Alamo). I'm very excited about that.
He did fantastic!! Starting from the previews he was laughing at the screen and watching just fascinated (probably by the sheer size) of everything. He liked the movie especially that parts with the balloons and Dug; he loves that dog even when he shows up on the trailers on the TV he laughs and watches just fascinated. He made it almost all the way through the movie before he became a wiggle worm too and that was impressive as well. All in all I can say it was a good first movie outing and I was very happy we got to go see this movie. Now when the next Ice Age comes out, I know that we can go see it too. And who knows? Maybe the hubby will take some time off to go see it with us and that would be awesome. Next Friday (which he's taking off for my birthday) we're going to both go and take Trio to the waterpark here in Pflugerville and I am looking forward to that very much because we need more time together just the three of us.
So in short Trio likes movies and we can go (as long as it is baby day showing if we go to the Alamo). I'm very excited about that.
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