Five questions meme

The lovely and talented Jack sent me the five questions meme. He writes the questions, and I answer them on my blog. I think I'm supposed to ask other people questions now, but I'm too lazy for that.


1. What historical figure's life would you most want to have led, and why? (No changing that person's life - you live it as s/he did.)

I think I need to have read more biographies to answer this one. It seems that most famous historical figures lived lives of great accomplishment, but also great adversity. Is there an historical figure who had a lot of fun and was enormously happy? I’d like to be him/her.

2. At what point in your life did you become essentially the person you are today? (I was going to qualify this one further, but I'll let you answer it as you interpret it).

I believe that the core of who I am was solidified around the time I was in college, but who I am today began a year ago, when Roxanne was born. Being a mom overarches and colors everything else about me, and influences every decision I make.

3. What non-performance type of art would you most want to pursue as a career? Why?

I’d love to be a visual artist, particularly working with textiles and dying, and perhaps weaving. Something about making art from cloth seems very primal.

4. Name a movie that you think is almost perfect, and describe how you would change it to make it perfect.

The Wizard of Oz is nearly perfect, but that scene where Dorothy and friends are being spiffed up to go see the Wizard seems like an add-on. I would delete it.

5. Describe your ideal meal (food, setting, companions, etc.)

My ideal meal would be a dinner outside (about 75 degrees, no humidity, no bugs) with about 10 of my closest friends. The food would consist of about five courses, served over several hours. I haven't figured out exactly what food would be served, but it would be very high quality, and something I could never make for myself at home.

Gentlemen, we have yogurt.

Every day for weeks, I've been trying to get Roxanne to eat orally. Usually she eats a few Cheerios and a reluctant bite of baby food, and that's it. Yesterday, she ate yogurt. A bunch of bites! I'd say about a tablespoon or two, which is a huge increase for her. She was watching Dan eat his yogurt, and when he offered her some, she actually opened her mouth and came back for more, as opposed to us begging her to eat.

Today she ate more yogurt, plus baby applesauce (enthusiastically), and hummus. WOW!! Her feeding therapist told me that after the NG tube was out of her throat, Roxanne might show more interest in eating. The therapist was also the one who suggested the hummus -- it seems too flavorful for babies, but Roxanne likes it, and it has a lot of calories and protein.

This isn't to say that Roxanne is done with the tube. We still have a long way to go in increasing the quantity and variety of foods she'll eat before we start reducing her tube feedings. But today was a great step in the right direction. Go, Roxy!!

News in brief

We have family visiting from Illinois, so I’ll be brief. This is good, because I don’t have anything profound to report.

Almost exactly one year ago, Dan and I took on the task of painting the soon-to-be-born Roxanne’s room, and griped our way through the challenges of dripping paint, cleaning brushes, and sore muscles. This year, we apparently lost our minds and decided to paint Dan’s son’s room. Again with the drips, fumes, etc. Oy. Plus, we had the deadline of the aforementioned family’s arrival, so we had to be quick about it. And once again this year, I got paint in my hair.

Neither Roxanne nor I were feeling our best this weekend (we have GI problems that seem to be resolving today), but we rallied on Saturday to attend Miss S’ baby shower, hosted by TOWWAS and GDog. Most baby showers feature at least one dorky game, but this party’s game was quite intelligent. It was kind of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” style, with the guest of honor as the contestant, and all the questions about babies. Did you know that babies are born without kneecaps? Neither did I.

On Sunday, I went to the last hour of the Revels’ Community Sing, which was basically a bunch of folks singing outdoors in a lovely park. It’s always great to see my Revels friends, and it felt good to sing. Revels is really stepping up the year-round events, which is very cool, and very much in the spirit of its founders.

Roxanne seems to barely notice her new G-tube, and if she wasn’t recovering from a stomach bug, I think she’d be almost 100% back to her normal activities. Did I mention she’s full-out crawling now? And opening drawers to empty the contents.

Doesn’t she look great without all that stuff on her face?

Home

Roxanne was released from the hospital around noon today, and she's doing very well. We're all happy to be home.

Gimme just one more night...

Well, the doctor wants to see if Roxanne tolerates being fed several times through her new tube before she goes home. That means another overnight stay. Bummer, but we'll be OK.

Roxanne's surgery

Roxanne had her G-tube surgery yesterday, and she is doing fine. She spent the night in the hospital last night, and slept pretty well (better than I did, fortunately). We're hoping she'll be released today, but her surgeon might keep her another night. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Bits and pieces

Last week, Dan was interviewed by Liz Crenshaw from NBC 4 news. She’s the consumer reporter that gets the scoop on whether products are as good as advertised. Dan was filmed for a segment about hybrid cars, and he’s a great spokesperson for the Prius, because he loves it. He figured out that by switching from the Ford Explorer to the Prius he saved about $100 a month in gas, and he has the spreadsheets to prove it. The segment is scheduled to air July 16 at 11:00pm.


This week, Dan starts his sabbatical. Every ten years, his company requires employees to take a month off. This is his 20 year anniversary, and July is his month. I’m encouraging him to lay around the house a lot.


So much for Roxanne being off the anti-seizure drugs. While we were weaning her off her previous medication, she had a follow-up EEG in early June to see how things looked. Dr. P, her top-notch, but overburdened, neurologist just got around to reading the EEG, and called us last weekend. He saw brain waves coming from the surgical area that had the potential for causing seizures. He put her back on anti-seizure medication, but explained that it is one of the mildest drugs available, and shouldn’t cause any problems. I had been feeling so elated that Roxy hadn’t had seizures and was off the drugs that this news hit me hard. Just the idea that she could still have seizures is depressing. But I’m adjusting to the idea of the drugs as a preventative measure, and so far, I haven’t noticed any ill effects in Roxanne. Fingers crossed.


Happy 4th of July! Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays and yesterday was Roxanne’s first! Her initial exposure to fireworks wasn’t a great experience. Dan lit a few in the backyard, and the one that sounded like a “burning bag of screeching cats” (as noted by an observer), made Roxy cry, so I took her inside. Still optimistic, we took her to the local fireworks display, where we’ve gone several years in a row. (We used to go downtown, but the crowds and traffic weren’t worth it, and we sit right under the fireworks at the local show.) Dan held Roxy in his lap during the fireworks, and for the first half, he had to keep up a cheerful banter to keep her from getting upset (“Yay! There goes another one! Fun!”), but toward the end, she seemed mesmerized. I’m sure the fact that she was up waaaay past her bedtime didn’t help. But we all made it through. I think I watched her face almost as much as I watched the display. She looked really cute, lit up in reds and yellows. It’s funny how having a baby changes everything.


This weekend we have nothing planned. Really. Nothing. But last weekend, we had very little planned, and spontaneous get-togethers sprung up. It’s been cool and strange like that lately, so I’m open for anything. If you feel me thinking about you, go ahead, call.