Fatty McButterpants

I told you he was fat. I don't think I ever made it clear that the reason he used to be so underweight was directly related to his breathing issues. We are supposed to be at rest while sleeping, expending minimal calories. This is when the body repairs and heals itself, secretes growth hormones. It's when the brain categorizes and organizes what we have learned that day. Before the Jaw Distraction Surgery, since he couldn't breath, he wasn't truly sleeping for more than a dozen seconds at a time. Since he wasn't sleeping, he was unable to do a decent job of just simply growing. Sleep was when he worked the hardest. It's another thing no one should take for granted. Now that he is actually able to grow, we are hitting the weight gain at full speed. It is very important for these kids to be monitored by a nutritionist, especially after a jaw distraction. I'm surprised by how many times this is overlooked. It may be as simple as just supplementing the milk.

His next appts are Tues and Wed, Nov 17th/18th to have what's left of the distractors removed, then one on the following Monday to consult with another pediatric opthomologist about his underdeveloped tear ducts. Until then the days are pretty swell, except for the water boarding sessions where we have to irrigate his eye and doctor his protruding Frankenstein screws. His development was evaluated again and everything was right were it should be, even his language. I'm sure impressed. With being deaf, week and grievously thin for the first 2 months of his life, and then going through that big ol' surgery, we expected him to be behind at least a little. And as you can see from the picture, he is making up for lost calories. So there just isn't much to report. Just normal baby stuff. How nice!

The skinny on swine flu

All the kids are over the 'flu' part, but it's not the flu part that's dangerous. You remember in the movie Labyrinth when Sarah fell down the oubliette and all those hands caught her and lowered her into the hole? Well, the lungs are lined with little 'hands' that help carry any foreign substance up and out of the lungs. H1N1 kills these hands which then fall to the bottom, not only congesting you but now there are no hands to help carry out the junk or make freakin awesome faces!. This causes the deadly pneumonia. So for the next couple of weeks we have to watch the kids closely to make sure they don't develop a persistent cough.

Other than that, we're having a pretty good time here at the McNally house. We got through the turning phase without any real discomfort, except when Dr. G had to crank on it. Garrett is relatively oblivious of all this strange stuff he has to go through. The big kids are so fun. They help out, they entertain us, they're exceptionally considerate. They're really like little adults... goofy, loud, demanding adults but that describes most of my family anyway.

Oh, you want to hear about what Bens been cooking? Fine.
Last night he roasted chicken with a very coarse dry rub and broccoli stuffing. He baked a butter nut squash in honey and some super special secret ingredient. So sweet and creamy.

We've got H1N1. Garrett is on Tamaflu. I'll make the jokes later.