Take This Job and Shove It

Note: new pictures are up, finally. And he now weighs 20 lbs.

Hey. Remember me? I'm the one that brought the Y chromosome to this party. OK, so I've been a little derelict in my posting duties. To say that school's been a little consuming would be a monumental understatement. But that's all done now - my undergraduate degree is complete. Whew!
But hey, that's boring news. You came to hear about Jeffrey, right? Of course you did.
Last week we met with Judy, an occupational therapist. Despite the fancy job title, she will not be helping us to find gainful employment for Jeffrey. That's too bad, it would sure be nice to have two steady paychecks again. In fact, an occupational therapist works with developing fine motor skills. Jeffrey may carry cuteness in spades, but his cup does not necessarily overfloweth with fine motor acuity. We met at RIT because it was convenient for all of us. In one of the meeting rooms, Judy conducted a series of tests to evaluate how well Jeffrey could perform certain tasks with his hands, feet and... get this... his tongue. Yup. Who knew being able to roll your tongue at 12 months is an important milestone? He can, by the way. According to the evaluation, she was supposed to stop after Jeffrey was unable to perform more than 3 tasks. It was a good thing that she didn't, because he surprised us by showing us more advanced skills. Overall, Jeffrey scored just shy of being age appropriate. That's nothing to be concerned about, though. He's not going to catch up overnight, or over... year. Most preemies catch up between the ages of 2 and 5.
The end result of all this is that Jeffrey will be seeing an occupational therapist bi-monthly, just like he's currently doing with his physical therapist, Monica. And speaking of Monica, she came to visit Jeffrey this week. It's always funny when see works with him. We could be working diligently with him all week on some new exercise to no avail, but the moment she shows up he turns on the performance art. She asked us if he's making any deliberative sounds that correspond with an action. We turned to Jeffrey as he tries to place a puzzle piece into the wrong shape... and he replied, "uh oh!". Well, maybe it was more like "UUUUHhhhh..... ahhhhhhh". "How's he doing with standing?" she asks. From his stool, he stands up and then leans forward to the couch. Previously he had been doing that in the wrong order.
By this point, I'm convinced that she could ask us, "So, how's he doing with riding a unicycle while spinning dictionaries on poles and singing the French national anthem?" and he would dutifully perform it with a smile. He's such a flirt.
Today's post title is a triple-entendre. Now that my studies at RIT are drawing to a close, it's time for me to rejoin the work force. I mean, if Jeffrey's not getting a job then it's probably up to me. So today I attended the Digital Rochester job fair. Rather, I mean "we attended". Jeffrey was sent home from daycare yesterday with a low grade fever, and that means he's not allowed back until he's been fever free for 24 hours. While he was busy waiting out his sentence, he rode front seat in a Baby Bjorn at the job fair. "I'm looking for 1.5 full time positions." All the recruiters got a kick out of it. Let's hope that he brings me some luck. There's another career fair at the end of next month at RIT. If I can't land a job between the two of them, then I'm just not trying hard enough.

Song link

Jive Talking

Today is an amazing day, for I have finally learned how to post videos on the blog. Unfortunately, only on wordpress so far.
So...head over to phonemom and checkout Jeffrey in all his video goodness. If you think he looks cute in pictures; he's even better on film.

In other news, Jeffrey got his sixth tooth this week. He is definitively dangerous to get your fingers near. Therefore, he's well on his way to self feeding at least with finger foods. We're still working on spoons and forks. He gets about one mouthful and then he throws the spoon. Jeffrey has an appointment with an occupational therapist on Tuesday to discuss self feeding, drinking from a sippy cup and other developmental milestones. Hopefully she'll be able to help us or tell us that Jeffrey is okay and doesn't need help. Either outcome is alright with me.

The other GIANT update is that Jeffrey sorta said a word. Not for us of course. He only shows off for Miss Monica, his physical therapist. On Tuesday, we were working with sorting toys and Jeffrey dropped a few blocks. This lead to Monica and I saying Uh Oh, several times. Jeffrey was repeating us and he said "Uh Oh!" It was pretty disjointed but still clear. Yay!! I realize that it isn't the greatest utterance of all time but we are so excited that he's started down the track to talking.

Until the next time, don't forget to check out the video and we'll keep you updated.

Song Link: Jive Talking performed by the Soultans and composed by Barry Gibb

Comin' Home

We took the long trip out to Minerva to visit the Meehan clan. It's been a while since everyone had seen Jeffrey and I think everyone was surprised by how much he has grown.
We left from home late in the evening as I was not feeling well. I felt quite dizzy and was extremely nauseous. I ended up taking a muscle relaxant on the way out. Eventually I realized that I had forgotten to take my medication for a few days and these were the side effects. We arrived late at the homestead and went to sleep.
We got up Saturday morning and had a relaxing day with Brian's parents. It's been a long time since it was just us visiting and it was nice to just visit with the 'rents for awhile. We had a low key exchanging of Christmas gifts. Jeffrey played with his new toys and ran around Meme and Poppy's house. For dinner we traveled down to Glens Falls to meet with Kelly, Joe and Victoria at Outback. We had a pleasant dinner and stopped by their apartment after. Jeffrey had fun visiting with his cousin Tory and with Kelly and Joe's dog Spud. Tory is a fabulous child, she's so happy and vibrant. Kelly and Joe seem like they're doing pretty well at home and with Tory.

On Sunday we went to Meme and Poppy Sharrow's house for a birthday party for Jeffrey. Almost all of the cousins, aunts and uncles were there for Jeffrey. He received a ton of great gifts and had fun visiting with all of the family. When it came time for cake he did what we thought he was going to do at his original birthday party. He played in it for a few minutes, dragged his fingers through the icing and then promptly threw the cake on the floor. Luckily there were dogs at this party and Jeffrey was thinking of them. After tossing the cake on the floor, he smeared it through his eyes and hair. Needless to say he got a bath at Meme's house.
After the party I ran over with all the girls to see Dee's wedding dress. The dress was beautiful and I was glad that I was able to be there to see it.

We left late from Meme's house. Brian stayed to help with Meme's computer and just to gab for a bit. We got home late tumbled into bed. The baby slept the whole way home. He's a good sleeper and he travels pretty well. I guess he kinda has to with all the long trips we take.

All in all it was a really nice visit. We got to visit with most of Brian's family and got to relax a little. Everyone was really generous for Jeffrey and we had fun at his party. Thanks everyone! Can't wait to visit again!

Song Link: Comin' Home by Kiss

Bigger Cars

Alright, alright I've been awful about posting over here. I have been quite prolific over at phonemom though. However we do have things to talk about.

First, Brian put up some new pictures but not nearly all of the new pictures. This quarter ends at the end of February, expect tons of new pictures at that time.

Second, did we mention new car seats? Jeffrey purchased (thanks to all who have given him money) two Britax decathalon car seats. Shortly after his birthday we noticed that he wasn't quite fitting into his infant carrier anymore and it was time to upgrade. Since everyone has given him money this past year, we thought it was only right that he pay for them. (The boy needs to learn the value of a dollar sometime). The car seats still need to be rear-facing, until he reaches 20 lbs. Hopefully that will be soon because it would be nice to be able to turn and see him to soothe him.

Lastly, Thank you everyone for the generous gift-giving from Christmas and Jeffrey's birthday. I have been a horrible person and have not sent thank you cards yet. Trust me, they are coming. Thank you.

Song Link: Bigger Cars by The Buzzrats