Wait... It's August?  How the heck did that happen?  One minute I am whining about my parents being in Africa for a month and the next thing I know... that month is over, mom has had her surgery and is already complianing about being bored with her recovery time.

I guess being overwhelmed with things is an easy way to make a month disappear.  Things have gotten a bit better since my last post.  I have let go of exclusively making Sam's food (Yes Shawna... I listened!).  I am making some and purchasing the rest.  While its not what I wanted, the reality is I just do not have the time to do it all.

I am working a bunch for my old company.  Its great- but hard.  Right now I only have help with Sam 2 days a week, so the rest of the time I am trying to get work done when he naps... which isn't often and can sometimes only last for 40 minutes.  This makes for a lot of late nights and stressful days.  My book has totally been pushed to the back burner.  I really want to work on it, but I just do not have the time!

Irene has been loving her summer.  She spent 6 weeks at camp at Head-Royce and is now going to camp at the Berkeley Playhouse.  Both camps have been a huge hit.  Thank god!

Sam continues to defy his preemie status.  He is now a whopping 18 lbs 7 ounces at 7 months corrected, 11 months actual age.  We are starting to see some pretty fun changes in our little man.  For one.. he is laughing a lot more now:

Even more fun than that are his attempts to crawl.  We like to call this the downward dog style of crawling.  He gets very frustrated, but it is just so much fun to watch!

I am still concerned about Sam's left leg.  As I have mentioned before, Sam really will only stand with his left leg on tippie toe, which is not something the doctors like to see.  I have had him looked at by a physical therapist, and she has assured me that it is nothing to be too worried about.  We have some exercises for him to do at home and I am trying to relax and not borrow trouble.

The other thing that has been making me nervous is Sam's digestive tract.  New parents always seem to obsess about their babies bowel movements.  I remember this very well with Irene.  My obsession with Sam's makes my obsession with Irene's look like neglect.  Ever since the NICU Sam has had finicky bowels.  Some days they work, some days they don't.  Since he's been home he either will not poop for 5-7 days (and then has a normal poop- usually with some "help") or he poops 5-7 times a day.  His latest trick is to go from normal poop to charcoal briquette in a matter of hours.  The past 3 weeks he has been miserable and having the worst time pooping.  I keep telling my doctor I am worried, and she keeps telling me he has immature bowels.  I just don't think that answer is going to cut it anymore.  I need a GI doctor to tell me he has immature bowels.  I am seeing the pediatrician next week- can you guess what we will be talking about?

As for my mom... I think we now all know where Sam's ass-kicking healing ability comes from!  Her triple bypass surgery came and went in a blink of an eye.  96 hours after they started the surgery, my mom was home fighting with my dad about taking a shower!  She is amazing.  Aside from getting tired and being pissed off that she is not allowed to hold Sam for 3 months, she is doing great.  Talk about miracles- this family has two.

Here are a sampling of photos from the past few weeks: