Milestone?

Gavin may or may not be crawling. He is doing something that is movement that resembles crawling but Ryan and I cannot agree on what that movement should be called. I think its crawling because he is definitely moving from a fixed point with purpose toward another point. Granted the movement is slow and the distance covered is an inch or two but it is still movement. If he can't get to the object he wants he will find something closer and roll over and pivot until he gets to something, anything, he can try to put in his mouth or grab, like, say, a fistful of dog hair or a cat's tail.

The is he crawling or not question reminds me of the Is-it-gas-or-a-smile question. Ryan and I had asked ourselves that a lot when Gavin was a few weeks old. With every facial grimace that could remotely resemble a grin we would exclaim, "He smiled! Did he? Was it a smile or gas?" Of course Gavin settled that question long ago with his big toothless, open mouth smiles - now they are big, open mouth two bottom teeth smiles which are often accompanied by squeals and screams.

Now that he is doing this thing that is kind of crawling we are doing the same thing but this time we know it is not gas. He still has gas but nothing that is propelling him across the carpet.
Watch out!

I wonder throughout the day if Gavin gets bored. We have three 'stations' of play in the living room. On the floor with a pile of blocks, stacking rings, rattles and a few plush toys then there is the exersaucer and the Johnny Jump Up. We go from station to station after naps and eating. I forgot a station: my lap. We sit and read books or sing songs or try to pet the dog with gentle strokes. Try is the operative word. He's going to think the label that goes with dog is 'gentle' instead of 'dog'.

Now that Gavin is interested in the animals in the house I think it is time to take him to the zoo. I don't know who will be more excited about the trip, me or him. I haven't been to the local zoo and I've been in Seattle almost 7 years. When we go I'm going to buy the yearly pass because I bet it won't be 7 years between visits.

Before we can go to the zoo I need to be released from this stupid boot. Recovery was only supposed to be 4-6 weeks. I don't recall being told that I would be in this boot for any period longer than 6 weeks. Of course I'm not going to take it off before the doctor tells me I can and I understand that the healing process doesn't always follow the prescribed plan but I wish it would!

Tomorrow I will see the podiatrist and present my scrawny shell of a leg to him so he can poke and prod it to see where my pain level is at. It usually goes something like this (imagine him running a toothpick across my foot or twisting, pulling and poking it):

Dr.: Tell me when it hurts
Me: ok... nope, nope, eh, a little, ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!
Dr.: hm (with a slight look of concern on his face).

Uh oh. Gavin just cried. Maybe he'll go back to sleep although I doubt it since he's been stirring for the last five or so minutes. He's only been asleep for 3 hours. Right on schedule. Last night he woke up 4 times. FOUR TIMES. Ryan has been great though because after the four a.m. waking he can't go back to sleep so if Gavin doesn't go back to sleep after I nurse him Ryan will take the little guy with him out into the living room.

I'm not the only one with a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Gavin is going to see his doctor as well. He's going to get checked out a bit and maybe we will figure out why he quit sleeping through the night oh so very long ago. He's also going to get a shot, which one I don't know off the top of my head.

Next month he is going to have an ultrasound on his kidneys and a VCUG. I don't remember what VCUG stands for but it is a test where they measure the volume of the bladder; if I remember correctly they measure it full and after it has been emptied. I'm not quite sure how they do that with an infant who has no control over his bladder, though.

His doctor ordered these tests because he had a bladder infection a couple of weeks ago. She was baffled as to why he would have a bladder infection - I asked and she told me that him being uncircumcised only slightly increases his chances of getting such an infection and she told me (without me asking) that this infection is no reason to have him circumcised. She thinks the tests are going to come back negative but is doing them to be safe since it is unusual for an infant, especially a boy, to get a bladder infection.

He did go back to sleep! Woo-hoo!!!

Tomorrow I'm also picking up my new glasses! I've had my current pair of glasses at least 7 years and it's been 6 years since my last eye exam. I don't remember if I posted on this or not but my eyesight has improved a little. The optometrist thinks its because I'm not sitting in front of a computer screen all day long anymore.

I know a few of you who read this (Crina) would like to see a picture of me in the new glasses. I'm going to beat you to the request. No. Sorry. I cannot promise to take a picture and upload it or e-mail it. Look, it took me nearly 8 months to upload pictures of Gavin and distribute them. We should be heading to the 'Couv soon (and by soon I mean maybe this summer) and we can meet up then and you can see them in person. We haven't been to Vancouver since Christmas! I need to make the rounds the next time we are down there and introduce Gavin to all of the wonderful ladies who attended my baby shower.

Now when I think of my baby shower I think of my friend Crina's baby shower which was a couple of months before mine. Her mom made Romanian cabbage rolls for me. Yum!!! I've been craving them again. I devoured the cabbage rolls her mom sent home with me within a week. If you google Romanian cabbage rolls a lot of recipes pop up; I'm going to have to ask Crina's mom which recipe most closely resembles hers.

If you are reading this and thinking to yourself, "Wow, April's nuts for writing about cabbage rolls. Who really cares?" then you my friend, have never had a Romanian cabbage roll for if you had you too would be writing of the deliciousness that is contained within the cabbage leaf - stuffed with pork and beef and spices and rice. They are nothing like the tomato sauce cabbage rolls of my youth (sorry, mom) - these contain far less cabbage and a lot more meat. Can't go wrong with pork - unless you are Jewish, or Muslim, or... what other religions disallow the consumption of the delicious pig? Eh. I'm so glad the apostle Paul had that dream... wait, was it Peter? The dream where God told him to not call unclean what he has made? The dream that gave the green light on pork. I suppose I could just google it (my bible is in the bedroom and I don't want to wake Ryan). It is past my bedtime but I don't want to go to bed because I know the second I get to that comfy sleepy dreamland place Gavin is going to wake up.

Besides, I should take a bath tonight because tomorrow is going to be a full day and I probably won't get a chance to take a bath tomorrow. I will have to choose between a nap and a bath and sleep usually wins out but who wants to go to the doctor all dirty? Fooey. I'll take a bath tonight since it is easier to stay awake now then to wake up early tomorrow to take a bath while Ryan is still home.