Desperation Samba

Happy Halloween everyone. Well, my folks are down in Destin with 80 degree weather. Apparently they were going out on a sail boat tonight for dinner as well.

Stings a little bit with the 29 degrees that it is in Denver today. With a nice sleet to go with it. You know the kind, where it gets on your car and it's so cold that it freezes and you have that great "Magic Shell" layer of ice.

Well, it's Colorado weather for you. It will probably be 70 again soon. It's been a pretty mellow Halloween for Destin, Sheri, and me. Destin will have his first feeding in November in a few minutes.

The pea packer and I will be baching it tomorrow. Sheris' girls have a game down in Colorado Springs. Don't think we'll be making the drive down there.

Anyway, with my folks being in Destin, I listened to a lot of Buffett today. Two songs stuck in my head, Desperation Samba and Boat Drinks.

Yo quiero a bailar en Mexico
We do the Desperation Samba con nos amigos

Halloween in Tijuana....I should stop, could go on all night. Buffett songs should have warnings attached.

Fun Ice

So I got down to my car today to find it covered with a nice layer of ice. It's not that it's too early to see this in Colorado, but I was surprised to see it.

But I'm kinda ready for the cold weather. Maybe it's because I'm ready for Destin's first holiday season. We watched "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on TV on Tuesday night. That was pretty fun.

Destin news: We are feeding him more. He destroyed his old eating record, and he's getting up to taking 4 oz every other feeding. He's going to be a monster before we know it. :-)

Great Weekend, So-So Clinic

Well, it's been a couple days since an update. Mostly cause we've been pretty busy. The weekend was great. Destin was out and about all weekend. And I think that we found his threshold, because he was pretty fussy on Sunday afternoon and night.

Saturday was jammed packed. We went to Sheri's soccer game and then out to lunch with Gran, Pop Pop, and Grandma and Grandpa Stackpole. Then, he went to the grocery with Pop Pop and Dad, and went home and cooked.

Dinner at the house on Saturday night was pretty loud so not sure how much rest he got. So Sunday was a little cranky for the little pea packer. But, we dragged him out to dinner with Uncle Jann and his folks that night. Crazy stuff.

Now for the cleft palate clinic. Sheri and I may have had higher expectations for this clinic, but we were mildly disappointed. This is most likely because we had a pseudo two-week cleft palate clinic while we were at Children's in early September.

Anyway, don't want to turn this into a Cleft Palate Clinic Bashing entry. We still feel very comfortable with the ENT that is going to do Destin's surgery and all of the support we will get from Children's Hospital, but the clinic did leave something to be desired.

We got a couple websites with more info on Cleft Palate and Cleft Lip. Feel free to check them out, there's some good info out there....

www.widesmiles.org

www.cleftline.org

Grandparents In Town

So Gran and Pop Pop Hirsch are in town this weekend. They got in last night. Mom had a little plane trouble and got in a little later then expected, but that didn't stop her from seeing the little pea packer.

It was a cool scene. Dad, Mom, Ty, and me were all hanging out with Destin.(Sheri was asleep, but I think we woke her up a couple times, Sorry, gorgeous!) He was smiling and checking everybody out. It was hilarious.

So, Sheri, and Mom and Dad are going to be out and about with him today. Babies R' Us, lunch....Bed, Bath, and Beyond, if they have time, if they have time...:: fun Old School reference ::

Anyway, it's going to be a fall weekend here in Denver. It's been beautiful lately, but we will be back to the reality of fall this weekend, which isn't a bad thing, I'm actually really ready for it. But, I can't complain about weather in the 80's either...:)

The Art of Making Bread

Destin broke his all time eating record yesterday, he took 448 calories (80 ml 7 times during the day) WOO HOO!

I'm up now between a couple night feedings, he is snoozing away. I've got some pumpkin bread in the oven. I've been infatuated with bread making lately. It is truly an art form.

Nothing beats fresh handmade bread. It is heavenly. Sheri and I are doing a lot of breads lately. I've done a few loaves of ciabatta, she's done a few banana, and now I've got a pumpkin working.

Anyway, Gran and Pop Pop get into town tomorrow night. So the little pea packer will have some out of town visitors. I'm looking forward to it. My folks haven't seen him since he was just born, except through pictures. I have a feeling they are going to freak at how big he is...:-)

To Grandma's House We Go...

Busy weekend.... On Saturday, Destin went to his first "party" at Uncle Gorske's house. We grilled out some yummy kabobs and hung out with Uncle Gorske, Uncle Myers, Auntie Amity, Auntie Teegardin, and Aunt Jeni and Uncle Jim Bob stopped by as well. :: lots of uncle's and aunts...:-) ::

Then on Sunday, we went down to Grandma and Grandpa Stackpole's house. We had a yummy ham, and hung out. He took two full bottles down there, it was great. Grandma and Mama spoiled him a little bit with pictures toys and snuggles.

So I was watching Better Off Dead last night while waiting to feed Destin. Classic 80's flick. The Pig Burger part came on and I thought to myself, this is the clay animation representation of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth:

The Pig Burger Dude is what I would have thought would be the offspring of the musical genius of Eddie, and the antics of DLR, or was that the 1984 album? Not sure....

First Friends

Destin met his first friend today. Sheri and he went over to Kristin's (MK's) house to meet Karter for the first time. Here's a pic....



We think that Destin has got him in height, but Karter still outweighs Destin.

I'm just in from the deck. I was enjoying a Cohiba on a fine Colorado autumn evening. It was so nice...

Just put some more pics up. The smaller ones got kinda grainy, so I'll have to see what is up with that.

Missed It By That Much...

Well, the Cubbies didn't make it into the Series as I'm sure most if not all of you know.

It's was so close, and that's what makes it hurt so bad, but my friend Dougy and I were talking, and the Cubbies are going to be there again. They've got a great team, two great young pitchers, and a lot of heart. They are going to be a team to beat in the next few seasons.

It would have been a fun story to talk about with Destin cause we watched the games together, and stuff, but oh well. Such is life...:-)

Speaking of the little pea packer. He's doing good. He been eating a ton, and he is 7 weeks old today!

Tummy Time, YEAH

Did anybody else get sick to their stomach watching Tim Wakefield's knuckle balls last night? Hopefully, it wasn't just me. But the REAL game is tonight, Cubbies are back in Chi-town, Prior on the mound, OH BILLY!!!!

I caught Jamie's Kitchen, Jamie Oliver's new show, off of UltimateTV last night as well. It was pretty brutal. As someone who enjoys cooking, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the "contestants", and I don't think I would enjoy myself that much. Basically, it was just a big haze fest on how terrible everybody's food was. But, there isn't much room for error in a kitchen, especially with how picky people can be.

ANYWAY, enough babble. For the real News, Destin was eating with Sheri this morning before I left. He looked over and kinda had that, "Hey, I recognize you, daddy" look. He's always been an attentive baby, but I think he is now remembering what he sees and commiting it to memory. He had some tummy time last night and he almost did a push up! It's all amazing stuff.

Columbus Day

Just another work day for us non-bank/non-government employees. Unless, of course, you have a wicked holiday schedule and do not fit into either of those categories. :-)

The Hirsch Family all fell into this trap. My Mom works at a bank, and I tried to call her there, and of course got her voice mail. For awhile I said, "Hmm, I wonder where my mom is today?". It didn't occur to me until a couple hours later. Sheri and Destin went to the bank because Sheri needed to sign something for her account. They got all packed up and drove to the bank, and the doors were locked. Luckily, it's only about 5 minutes from the house.

Destin is doing great. He's starting to sleep for 5 hours between one of his feedings at night. So it gives Sheri a little more of a nap, which is nice.

Destin's feeding schedule has been one of the blessings in disguise from being in the hospital. Getting him accustomed to eating every 3 to 4 hours there has made the home routine pretty easy.

Made the first batch of applesauce for the fall. It turned out pretty good. May have to freeze some for the little pea packer or wait until next year for him to try it.

Sports Weekend

Well, Destin went to his first soccer game yesterday. We went over to watch Sheri coach her girls team. They ended up winning 3-0, the kid must have been good luck. :-)

Then we came back and watched the some of the UT/Georgia game...very disappointing. But, CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! 8-3. Man, it's be a great championship series, especially with the Yanks/Sox fight yesterday.

I am up doing the late night feedings. The next one is going to be at either 1:30 or 2:30 AM. I've chosen to stay up until then, but it's definitely on the border of setting the alarm. If you draw a 3:30 or 4:30, I would opt for a little nap.

Anyway, have to go check on the pea packer...

Family Life

Destin and I bached in for a few hours last night, while Sheri went to soccer practice and on some errands.

We watched some videos and we ate. He's not up for much more, which was fine by me. :-)

He went to the doctor with Sheri today. It's kinda funny...Sheri called me and said that, "I don't have to go to the doctor for a year". We had gotten so used to monthly/twice a month/weekly visits.

But it's nice, we are starting to settle into, what I call, the NEW form of normal life. We are a true family now, and that's a comforting thought.

Mourning Cubby Loss

Well, it's just one game. I was talking to my friend Bryan and we believe that it's going to be a Red Sox/Cubbies Series and nobody will win. Game 7, series tied at 3-3; top of the 4th; score 0-0; the field will sink in or something. I will refrain from picking a location because losing either of those beautiful fields would be a tragedy.

Anyway, Destin went to work today, and slept. Wouldn't that be nice. Actually, 2 weeks ago, a co-worker of mine had no shame, and took a nap right at his cube. He had his legs crossed and up on his desk, and was out...it was quite humorous.

He then made a trip to Grandma Stackpole's work, and then ran a few errands. I think we wore the poor little bugger out because he slept through fussy time.

Go Cubbies!

The Jeep

Destin is going to make his first trip to downtown Denver today. Sheri is meeting some friends for lunch at Gov'nr's Park. It's not proper downtown, but close enough.

It's going to be beautiful this week, so hopefully we'll get a few walks in with "The Jeep"...

Lazy Saturday

Doctor report was good, he's up to 20 3/4 inches tall, weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz, and his head circumference is 14 inches. Not a tight end just yet, but maybe he could start at flanker... :)

Put some more pictures up, Check them out. They are all from home, a lot of bath shots.

Anyway, that's all for now, we are just hanging out waiting for the Tennessee/Auburn game this afternoon.

Doctor Visits

So the little pea packer goes to the doctor today at 12:45 PM. It will be nice to know what his weight is up to, and get a professional opinion on how his health is.

Not that there is a concern there, Sheri and I believe he's fine. It's just that sanity check that comes from a medical opinion. Take that for what it's worth :-)

I'll probably post some more pictures this weekend, so I'll let you know. TGIF!

NECTAC Visit

Today, Olga from Early Childhood Connection is coming to the house. She's going to give us some insight on in home care and other options we have for Destin with his cleft palate.

I believe this is part of "Part C" of the IDEA. For more info on that check out http://www.nectac.org.

It's interesting what pops up when you do a little research. Apparently, Tom Brokaw had cleft lip and cleft palate. So did Rev. Jesse Jackson. And, my personal favorite, Cheech Marin.