Leo Clement

 What can I say, except that Leo is fitting into our life as if he was there all along. And sometimes I feel like I have already met him and have known him and about him my whole life. Are we destined to have the babies we have? I've had some really strong and crazy feelings of deja vu the past couple months.. Or is it self-fulfilled prophecy? I don't get it, but at least I know that I don't. Life is one big giant mystery as far as I'm concerned, and Leo is the biggest...though he doesn't act like it!  Can't believe he is three months old already! Nika spends time each day making up songs about her "little, big, baby brother Leo," and though I still feel sometimes like I am in a daze, there are more moments of clarity. And the best part is that our little bud is doing awesome. Growing and giggling, he makes us cry and laugh at the same time. Next week he has his consul with the geneticists and a Well-baby visit with his PCP. I'll let you know how i...

Danger! Red Alert! That is a restricted area! One that I promised myself I would never go...Well I'm wearing my bio-hazard suit so perhaps the damage will be minimal.... What if they were all wrong and Leo's prognosis might be better then the they led us to believe? What if after the fluid pressure was relieved there is more brain tissue then the scans showed? What if through all the prayers a miracle happened? Can you imagine being in a place where you are wishing for just some brain damage? Not just wishing, but feeling as if that would be the most FANTASTIC thing ever? Whoa. Anyway, why lately we have been toying gingerly with these thoughts is all because of our sweet, strong boy. He is doing so well. Every week he makes his physical therapist pleased. He interacts, giggles, smiles, and watches us. He plays with his hanging toys and moves his head all around, and even can hold it up a little. I am seriously expecting him to be able to hold it himself once his body is big e...

I always used to think masochists very weird and strange. I mean really, who would go out of their way to inflict pain on themselves? Well, as I have grown older and wiser (that's still up for debate) I have realized that this self infliction of pain is not so simple. First off, there are many different degrees and manifestations of masochism and it is not limited to actual physical pain. Sometimes it's a habitual emotional response to an outside stimuli. Like a sad movie that we watch over and over again just so that we can shed those bittersweet tears. Or thinking about something that made us mad before, just so that we can get outraged all over again.  Maybe it's supposed to be a way for us to deal with whatever issues we have and when we fail, we have to keep going through it again and again. Hopefully by the umpteenth time we will finally get it and change, before the cycle becomes habitual because once that happens, you're heading for serious trouble.

Today's blog is a bit of a tangent.  Since so much of this blog has touched on parenting I wanted to point you all to someone who I think got it right as a parent.  Watch him, study him, learn from him.  He's the master.  His name is Uncle Iroh from the Avatar cartoon series.  He is not the kind of character you would think is the master parent but if you watch the cartoon all the way through some profound themes emerge I want to highlight.  A heads up:  if you haven't watched the cartoon this might be a spoiler, proceed with caution, or better yet go watch it!

It's almost like Justin and I are stuck in this super advanced parenting class where Leo is the teacher, and our life is the classroom. Before Leo we thought we had credit we could transfer in from our previous baby/kid class, but we have found out that our old credits aren't applicable. Now we are in the crash course like it or not, and failing isn't an option. So we try not to sweat bullets and handle each new assignment he gives us with optimism. On our good days anyway. On our bad days, at least we have the notes we kept from previous successes to console ourselves with. Sometimes it helps.