Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Opa and Oma: Back Again!

Oma and Opa visited me again today, and as you can see they made a special effort to coordinate with my outfit. I was very awake and interactive for the first part of their visit, but then I kind of conked out for the rest of the evening. Thanks for all the yummy veggies!

AOV

Saturday, August 25, 2007

A Busy Baby Day

Whew! What a busy day I had today!

We started out this morning with a story session. First it was mommy reading me "The Aristocats."



Nice PJs mom!







Then daddy read me "Chicken Little." Both books are from my new Disney collection.









Then it was time for a fashion show, featuring this saucy little number from my auntie Meli. I'm growing so much these days that I need to keep trying on my clothes to see what is too small and what I'm now growing into. Mommy REALLY likes this part of the whole parenting process. She didn't rest until she had organized my closet by months and colour. That lady loves clothes, man.









Not just content to make a fashion statement with me, she decided it was time to take it to the streets in my new sling carrier.

Work it, girl!










And to top off this busy day, I should point out that today was the first time I had only breast milk for all my meals! Usually I need to have a couple of meals of formula during the day, but mommy's production has gone up dramatically in recent days, so I'm all boob, all the the time.

Yum!


AOV

Friday, August 24, 2007

Lights... Camera... Action!


Hey every body!

I'm trying out Blogger's new video upload feature. I don't have to put my videos on YouTube any more.

In this video, I'm expressing concern for my friend Blake, who seems to be upset about something. Oh, and that's Blake's mommy in the video.

Tres cool!

AOV

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Big Red

Here I am in a dashing red ensemble from my auntie Susan, who is actually my daddy's cousin.

Stylin'!



AOV

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Tribute to a Great Team

I'm Andrej: Version 4.1. What is this 4.1 you ask? Well today I hit 4.1 kilos, which is a mighty 9 pounds! As indicated by the back strain in both mommy and daddy, I am officially a big baby.

Today we had yet another family outing at the hospital. This time around it was the breast feeding clinic where mommy received the good news that her production is great and I'm growing at just the right pace.

After our appointment at the clinic, we went for a visit to the NICU, where I was finally able to complete my set of photos of the team of doctors that helped me into this world. Here they are:

Dr. Papageorgiou, the big cheese, the grand poobah, the master and commander of the whole NICU. He always remained confident that I would make it out all right, and is convinced I'll make a great soccer player. I'm convinced that my parents were his favorite at the NICU, because they were up to date on all the lingo and procedures, and toward the end were capable of giving a full status report to the residents and med students--which would always freak them out!


Dr. Kovacs, who along with saving me, can also be credited with saving mommy's sanity! His positive outlook and determination were inspiring, and it was he who first told my parents not to give up on me. When things looked the worst and mommy and daddy were getting upsetting news from everyone, he would often come in and simply say, "I wouldn't worry about it, he's a fighter." And sure enough, I would get better! It must have been that Eastern European connection that he and mommy shared.


Dr. Pelausa was the first doctor to take care of me in the NICU. She was my main hook-up when it came to central lines, having performed the procedure on me at least twice. Her smile and laughter were very welcome in the unit, and I think she developed quite the soft spot for me. She still calls me "her little boy," and "Mr. V," a name by which all the new residents and med students know me. Even the newer ones who have never even met me know me as Mr. V. To fully appreciate this nickname, you have to imagine her saying it with her hands in the air in a big "V" shape. Mr. V!!!


Finally, Dr. Ferdinand. Oh poor Dr. Ferdinand! Three times I had major crisis in the NICU, and all three times it happened to be her shift! I think she began to think I had it in for her. Of course, after the third incident, everyone would always laugh nervously when they heard that she was on call. Luckily, three times was plenty enough for everyone! I know that we joke about it, but seriously, she saved my life three times, and for that my family will always be grateful. We'll also remember how she would carefully consider my parent's opinion, and would include them on many of the decisions concerning my care and development. I'm lucky that I will still get to see her often, as she is one of my docs at the follow-up clinic. I think I'll give her an easier time from now on!


AOV

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Boyz in da Hood

Hoodie by Baby Mexx.
Shirt and Jeans by Gagou Tagou.
Socks by Air Jordan.
Baby by mommy and daddy.


AOV

Friday, August 17, 2007

Back Again

"What chu talkin' 'bout Willis?"

It's been a while, but I'm back! Today is a landmark day--I've broken the 4 kilo mark, and I had a visit from my buddy Blake. We went to the Jean Talon market with our mommies for a bit of shopping and a nice lunch.

As you can see by the picture, Blake has a few pounds on me, but I'm catching up! You can see how far we've come in just a month by comparing us in this post.


AOV

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

My Dodah Bonnie

Ah yes, the never ending stream of aunties continues. Today it was my dodah Bonnie (dodah is auntie for all you goyim out there). I met her for the first time, although she had been involved in my family's story from the beginning. Before I was born she visited my mommy in the hospital with some food and DVDs to keep her busy. I can't wait until I get bigger and she takes me shopping!


AOV

Monday, August 13, 2007

Me and my Mommy

A picture of contentment!


AOV

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Clean Bill of Health

Today I went to the hospital for yet another check-up. This time around it was for an X-ray to see how my lungs are progressing. I didn't like being strapped down to that cold table, but I realize it for my own good. The X-rays showed that my lungs are so much clearer than what they looked like when I was in the NICU. You can actually see my entire rib cage now, whereas before it was just a mess of white liquid and gunk. The only evidence that I had any problems was some scarring that isn't such a big deal, since as I grow I'll be generating new, healthy lung tissue.

Like my outfit that mommy bought me? I'm becoming quite the style diva, just like her!


AOV

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Big Baby

Hi Everyone,

I went for my first visit to our family doctor today. While I was there I weighed in at 3.64 kilos, which officially breaks the 8 pound mark for me! Woo hoo! I've started wearing some of the bigger outfits that I've been holding on to for a couple of months. It's a regular fashion show around here these days!

Unfortunately, mommy and daddy are feeling the effects of having to hold a bigger baby now. Lots of lower back pain. Time to hit the gym, you slackers!


AOV

Monday, August 6, 2007

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Well it was a busy busy day here in Andrej Land. It was my parent's anniversary today, and I celebrated by giving them what they always wanted: an end to my constipation.

Three times.

We got a visit from Opa and Oma from Ottawa, and they brought along a special present: one of their extra scales from their farm so that mom and dad can weigh me on a regular basis. This is a fancy scale that is normally used to weigh fruits and vegetables, so it is accurate down to 5 grams. As an added bonus, you can even input a cost per kilo. Dad says that if I was made of cheese I would cost about eighty bucks.

My grandparents were really excited to see me! They haven't seen me for over two weeks, so I look absolutely HUGE to them. This photo of my Oma and me is a recreation of my second mighty bowel movement of the day. I shook the whole couch with my bum thunder! Mommy has me on a new, all-organic formula (for in-between breast feeds) that cleaned me out good, and man, was my poop really, really stinky. We almost had to call in a HazMat crew, it was so vile.

Then for the first time Oma got to take me for a walk, even if it was just a couple of blocks down to the grocery store. We had a nice BBQ in the backyard with Baka, teta Zdenka and cika Vule that featured fresh veggies from the farm. But of course, I only got milk. I know it's good for me, but those mesquite pork chops smelled goooood.

Sigh. Some day.


AOV

p.s. You're probably wondering how much I weigh now. Well, I tipped the scale at 3600 grams even! That's an ounce shy of 8 pounds!

Sunday, August 5, 2007

15-Love

Another day at the tennis tournament! As you can see, the excitement was just too much for me. Some people go to Wimbledon in England for tennis and strawberries and cream, I go to the Roger's Cup in Montreal for tennis and breast milk.


AOV

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Tennis Pro

I had a fun day with mom and dad! Mommy's a big tennis fan, so we went to the Roger's Open to watch my first match. The weather was beautiful and I was well behaved, so all in all, a great day. Unfortunately my parent forgot their camera, so I came up with this reasonable facsimile of what the day was like:
Ace!

AOV