Around Here

Baby blankets adorn furniture, the swing, the carseat, the pack-n-play. Burp cloths can be found in all major areas of the house. Grocery sacks are filled in a day and a half with itty bitty diapers. Desitin is under my fingernails. We've got a baby in the house!

Life around here...

Well, I can see that its been a while and of course, I know all Charlie fans are wondering-- how IS that awesome kid? Well, I'll tell ya! He's awesome. More details? Ok, he walks everywhere now. And Keith and I just sit around and watch him in amazement. He can also now say "Mama" with much certainty and clarity. We know he knows what he means. He loves to look out the window (he's doing that right now). Even more, he loves to play outside, so much so, he can say it: "Ow sigh?" That means, "can we puh-lease play outside now?" Unfortunately, its been raining a lot, so not much ow sigh time. He can't say "Papa" yet, but looks hopefully at the front door everytime I say "Papa." Oh yeah, and we walks right to Papa when Papa gets home from work. That makes someone very happy.

Charlie's sippy cups have built in straws, so he'll bite down on the straw and wrap his little arm around the cup so he can walk and drink at the same time. Sometimes, if he needs both hands, he can just use his teeth to hang on to his cup. He loves his sippy.

The other day, Charlie saw me washing windows. He picked up an extra rag and started wiping the window he was closest to. Then the next day, at a babysitter's house, he used up all her kleenexes wiping down whatever surfaces he could reach. If he spills milk, I hand him a napkin and he wipes it up. He also helps me load the dryer (he gets to put in the dryer sheet and press "start"). I haven't taught him to iron and vaccuum yet, but we're definitely on the right track. Oh, and he takes to resetting Keith's alarm clock almost everyday. Wants to keep us on our toes, I guess.

He's still blond, still has a sweet, generally cheerful disposition. We like him.

Flying Feathers

Well, it has happened again. The Dimelers have had another Adventure, charting new territory. About a year ago, we had a big adventure when we had Charlie in the hospital. Strangely, our New Adventure brought us to... another hospital!

But let me back up... On Monday, I found myself sitting in a courtroom among some 30 or so other prospective jurors prepared to accept my fate, give up a week of my life and a small bundle of cash to a babysitter, when our gracious Heavenly Father miraculously freed me from my patriotic duty and I was "excused." The next day, I was able to take Charlie in for his one-year well-child checkup. I'm so glad I was able to do that! Our wise doctor noted that he looked a little pale, too pale, and suggested we do a blood test to see if he was anemic. So, I went straight to Gritman and Charlie got a poke (he didn't even cry!). The next day, our doctor called to tell me that Charlie was definitely anemic, in fact, he needed a blood transfusion and that he was referring me to a pediatric hematologist/oncologist in Spokane. Um... what? I thought anemia just meant low iron? Well, no. In fact, anemia is caused by about 100 factors; 90 of which are no big deal and 10 of which are, well, a big deal. Well, all right then. I packed a bag in a hurry and whisked Charlie up to Spokane, about an hour and a half away. Keith was able to come up the next day, and brought a lot of good cheer (along with some shampoo) and took over chats with the nurses and doctors, much to my relief. He also had fun playing Wii and chasing around other children in the ward. Let us hope they recover (from Keith AND their illness).

So, after a couple very long nights of pokes and prods and countless sleep interruptions, Charlie's levels are back up to normal and we are home again. His cheeks are rosy and his disposition matches. But we still don't know what caused his anemic state, so we are now playing the waiting game. At this point, the hematologist is leaning toward some of the less serious possibilites, and the scary ones (cancer-related) are off the radar screen (for now). Once a week we'll do a blood test (at our local hospital) to keep an eye on his levels as we pray and wait for test results. Praise God for good doctors who follow their hunches, for release from jury duty, for good traffic and weather for driving, for kind and attentive nurses, for coffee, for a son who was able to bounce back from a lot of invasive and uncomfortable procedures, and for being able to come home so quickly. We are grateful for our Father's profound and pervasive care of us and for our sweet Charlie.