Totally Tubular

Baby's First Surgery was today (although I don't see a page for that in the baby book, weird) and I'm happy to report that everything went just fine. We were originally scheduled for a 6:45 arrival and 7:45 procedure, but yesterday we were rescheduled to an 8:45 arrival. That meant two additional hours without food or drink, which made me cringe but what can you do? We left the house at about 8:15 and arrived right on time. Check in was a breeze and they had plenty of toys for her to play with and keep her mind off of wondering where the heck breakfast was. We went back to pre-op at about 9:00 and changed her into her little surgery pajamas.

Not really the look I was going for, mom


Ooh, this looks like something I could destroy


Someone let me outta here!


Thank you, distractions

At 9:30 or so they gave her a dose of happy juice which made her loopy as all get out. The intention was to make it less traumatic for her when I handed her over, but I had to wonder where my dose of that was because when the nurse came in to take her it was pretty rough. I held it together but I won't mind if I never have to do that again.

I walked out to the waiting room, set my stuff down, and got a coffee. Before I could even reach for the newspaper at the next table the nurse called for me and said, "the doctor wants to see you". I thought great, something's gone wrong and he can't do the procedure and this is going to be a huge disaster and oh my god the insurance is going to be a nightmare. So I went into the consult room and about two minutes later he walked in, sporting the blue scrubs, and proclaimed that it was done and she was waking up. What? I knew it would be fast but holy cats, that was unreal. A few minutes later they let me back in recovery. She was still loopy but awake enough to be super irritated. I brought some of her favorite books so we hung out in the recovery room for a while while she came out of her cloud. She was still cranky and whining when the nurse said they had some graham crackers and did we want some? Uh, yeah we do, on the double! They changed G's life and in between the first and second one I'm convinced that she said, "cracker". 'Atta girl.

We drove home and while I thought she would be famished she basically ate three bites of a banana and was done. So we played in her room and after about 30 minutes she was ready for a snooze. She went down like a dream and slept from noon-4, a definite record for this non-sleeper. When she got up, dadddy was home and life was back to normal. We have a check up in two weeks but in the meantime thanks for all the good thoughts and calls, and hopefully this is the end of the wretchedly infected ear-road for this little one!

First Steps

There's lots to catch up on from the last couple of weeks, which I promise to update on later this week. But first a video of Genevieve's first few real steps, with special guest star Poodle McIrritating. Enjoy!

On The Go

Among the piles of fun stuff G received for her first birthday was a proper push toy from Melissa & Shawn. No more laundry basket for this fancy girl! Genevieve loves it and has been motoring her away back and forth from the living room to the kitchen, making pit stops in the guest bedroom to dig through my purse and her diaper bag. As an aside, she's showing an early fondness for lipstick.

After I picked her up at daycare yesterday I decided to take her outside to give the new ride a spin. It was pretty brisk but she had a ball.

Out of my way, mother!


Let's see what this baby does off-roading


Helping Dad park the car




I love to play outside!

In other news, we have scheduled Genevieve to get tubes on October 20th. She's on the tail end of her fifth ear infection in the last six months, and as our pediatrician put it, we haven't even hit winter yet. The procedure takes about ten minutes, and although she'll be under general anesthesia they won't even put a breathing tube in. Our ENT specialist said that it takes one good nap to get the anesthesia out of their system and that she'll be ready to go the next day. So boo for surgery but yay for the hope that they take and Genevieve doesn't have to deal with the pain of ear infections anymore (or the other lovely side effects of chronic ear infections, such as loss of hearing or the expense of gallons of antibiotics). Here's to ears!

Last but not least, we are so excited to add another baby to our friends-family! Addison Karen was born on September 26. Mom, dad, and big brother Ethan are all doing well and we cannot wait to meet the adorable addition - way to go, Harms' family!

Happy Birthday!

365 days ago Matt and I were sitting in the recovery room totally exhausted but with a lovely little Squish in our arms. Today our big girl turns 1 and we are so excited to watch her grow! She's not walking yet but it could be any day now, and she's got 8 teeth with molars on their way (as confirmed at her first dentist visit this morning). She's got her 1 year appointment on Wednesday so I'll have to wait for the height and weight update, but generally speaking she is a happy, healthy, busy little girl.

9/25 Update: Genevieve came in at 22 pounds and 30.5 inches, which is the 70th and 90th percentile, respectively. Can you imagine nearly tripling your weight in one year? Yikes!

Our little princess had a jammed packed schedule leading up to her first birthday festivities. Grandma Martin came into town last Tuesday afternoon and spent the week helping get ready for the party. Her timing was perfect because we have swimming on Tuesday nights so she got to check out G and her dad at the Y. We spent Wednesday at the zoo, and squeezed in a few 1-year old photos in the park. Thursday was spent shopping for decorations, prepping food, and somehow managed to find time to add to Miss G's fall wardrobe. Fear not, she will now be sporting the season's latest styles at all of her social appointments.

Riding the carousel at the zoo. Not sure who had more fun...


The stroller's for the birds. Hoist me up, mama!


At the park








Ha ha, I choke Grandma. What fun!


And now a display of how we catch our kids' colds

Grandpa Pete and Uncle Grant both showed up on Friday night for the big par-tay on Saturday afternoon. We ran around all day including a stop at the party store for balloon centerpieces for the tables. In my infinite wisdom I decided it would be easier to walk the two blocks home than try to stuff 30 balloons into my car, which was already packed with groceries. Alas I misjudged the wind so by the time I got to the house the balloons were tied in knots which took about thirty minutes to untangle. Plus I'm sure the sight of me walking down the street with 30 balloons spinning behind me gave the drivers a good chuckle. Matt busted his chops getting the backyard ready and it looked great for party time. Streamers, balloons, games, and food as far as the eye can see. The sleeper hit of the party was the sangria. Yeah that's right, sangria at a child's birthday party. What about it?

The rat's nest

G slept for a total of about 25 minutes the day of her party, but despite the lack of sleep she was an angel the entire night. She was passed around and around and I didn't hear her peep once. We thought she might get a little freaked out when the entire crowd faced her to sing happy birthday, but the exact opposite happened and she sat there like a little queen on her throne, allowing her adoring people to serenade her. She didn't go nuts with her smash cake but she made a good dent. Mmmmmm, cake.

Happy birthday baby girl!


Dang this is tasty!


I shall share with you, papa


Having her cake and eating it too


Flying is fun when covered in frosting!

Busted.

The rest of the night got away from us and we were not planning on opening presents, but we got a request from Matt's cousin Andi to open theirs. Of course not wanting to offend anyone we opened just one and I'm so glad we did. You see Andi just purchased a hot new Harley from my place of employment, and so imagine our delight when G opened up her very own Harley-Davidson bike. And to our surprise she completely knew how to ride it. Just hopped right on and waited for dad to drive her around. The bike also came with some flower stickers so we can customize it. Excellent touch.

Yessssssssss!


Faster daddy, faster!


Yeah, I roll on my Hog.

We opened the rest of the gifts on Sunday - what a haul this kid made! We are enormously grateful that Genevieve has so many people who love her, and moderately grateful to the people who gave her super loud, highly irritating toys. You know who you are. More photos from the big party!

So many grandparents, so little closet space


Hey you guys are smooooooooooshing me!


The year-at-a-glance, and the smash cake


Hooray for a "1" of cupcakes!

How did this....


...fit in here??


Sisters Lilah and Reese. Could they be cuter?


And their lovely mama, Heidi


The dashing Ford classes up the joint




The Maio boys


Proof that the Martins can actually all be in one place at one time


From biker to ballerina

Babies and Baseball

I had to work all Labor Day weekend which meant we were sticking around time for the first time in years. With that in mind we took off to the cottage for the last weekend in August. Ahh summer in the midwest: warm days of swimming, crisp nights with campfires. Scratch that. This weekend it was a fire going 24/7 indoors and many layers when going outside. The total times we swam in the lake this summer equals zero. Sad. We still had fun though, taking a few walks through the woods and spending time hanging out and - what else? - eating.

Let's go, daddy-o!


Can you spot the heron in the dam?


So THIS is what these teeth are good for

Another plus to staying in town for the holiday weekend was catching my husband the All Star in action. That's right, 33 was nominated by his team, the Orioles, to represent them in the All Star game. He has been catching and pitching this year, along with being a go-to guy at the plate. The first playoff game is this Sunday. Go Orioles!

Daddy's #1 fan


Clapping for....probably herself

Matt's trunk doubles as the Maio Athletic Storage Facility


Calling the shots


Matt's stand up double in the third inning

Meanwhile G has had a few big girl adventures of her own. We wrapped up music class a few weeks ago and last week started swimming lessons (in the event that we ever do make it into the lake). She hasn't had a bottle in almost four weeks and we're all transitioned from formula to milk. She also started in the 1-year old room at daycare yesterday. She was a little out of sorts when she got home so we're going to have to spend a little time adjusting. But they must have worn her out because she slept until 9:15 this morning. This must be what heaven feels like. And last but not least she is starting to stand on her own for long stretches, making me think that the first steps are mere days away. Better load up the camcorder.

Ta ta, ba ba


There's a silly baby in the mirror


Walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth