Grady's kidney appointment

Grady went into Emanuel Hospital this morning for day surgery to check out his kidneys.  They wanted to do two things - figure out what exactly was going on with his messed up side (the right), and potentially re-pop the ureterocele on that side if needed. 

Matt is away in Seattle for business this week, so it was just the two of us.  Grady started out by exploring the room and his crib.

He really liked to climb on the pillows and then madly try to crawl to the rails - he didn't get far though - those pillows are tough to maneuver!

Once Grady got antsy (we waited for close to two hours from check-in) we checked out a cool little playroom across the hall.

Then it was time to go downstairs for the procedure.  Grady had to have anesthesia, but he did really well with it. And I didn't cry this time for the first time when they took him away.

Okay, so the good news is we finally have some answers on where to move forward.  I'm going to include a little diagram here that I drew after talking to the doctor, which is probably more confusing than helpful, but what the hey -

So basically - the left side is still looking great.  On the right side (Grady's right, left side of the page), they think that huge distended ureter is connected to where the upper kidney used to be, which is now mainly scar tissue.  That ureter is hugely refluxing, and needs to come out.  They will likely do a surgery in about 6 months to get rid of as much of it as they can.  The other ureter looks okay, but is connected to a ureterocele with a little slit in it.  They popped the ureterocele again today, but the bladder needs to be reconstructed a bit to prevent future blockage.  They will do a second surgery to do that and remove the stump of the huge old ureter.  That will be some months later, but I don't know the specifics on that yet.  I'm scared and sad about the two surgeries, but I'm glad that we have somewhat of a plan and know what we are up against.  Because the right kidney still has relatively good functioning at about 35%, they are going to try hard to keep it in.

After I spoke with the doctor, I got to go in and see Grady.  He was in heaven drinking 2 full ounces of sugar water.  He cried his way into 4 more ounces AND THEN 4 ounces of formula.  Here are some shots of him rehydrating.

Stink face after finishing his 6th ounce of sugar water.

Double-fisting

Grady's gut after 10 ounces of liquids!

Grady recovered so well that he got to come home after only an hour or so in recovery.  The nurses were very nice, and said that he was the highlight of their days - they really did!  He's quite a flirt, even after anesthesia.

Grady's napping now and hopefully will feel pretty good when he wakes up.  I think that's the full update.  I probably got some stuff wrong.  We meet with the urologist in a week so I will clarify if I misinterpreted anything. 

Clap clap clap

Grady had a couple of big firsts this past week.  Last weekend, he pulled himself up for the first time.  This video is his second attempt.

He's gotten speedier since then.  Here's a faster go at one of his boxes.

He tries to pull up on anything and everything.   Boxes, my legs, the cats, Matt's guitar - nothing is off-limits!

Grady also started clapping for the first time today.  We've been trying to teach him to wave bye, but he started with clapping instead.  (Probably from all our "BESA!  No!"s while clapping at her.) 

Grady really loves to play with the cats.  Here he found my tape measurer I use for knitting and started spinning it around for Bes.  He laughed whenever she jumped after it!

Grady had his nine month appointment yesterday.  He is 29 inches and about 20.5 pounds - I left the sheet in the car and am too lazy to go out and get it so I can't tell you exactly.  He's stayed consistent with height at around the 70th percentile and shot up in weight to the 40-something percentile.  Anyone who witnessed the Sweet Potato Massacre of Christmas 2010 will not be surprised by the percentile jump.  (Nor will those who have seen him in his speedo at swimming lately!)  He had his last Hepatitus immunization and his second flu shot.  He has a slight fever tonight, which I'm hoping is just after-effects of the shots.  He also has three top teeth and one bottom tooth just breaking through, poor guy.   He has been a good sport, but is definitely crankier than usual.  We will all be happy when he starts feeling back to his old self again!

Painting and other odds and ends

Uncle Cliff left earlier this week to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  (You can follow his progress here - isn't that amazing?  He's team RAPA - not yet up.)   Grady thought it would be nice to make a picture for Uncle Cliff with the fingerpaint Cliff got him for Christmas.

Like any good artist, he starts by tasting the medium.

Uncle Cliff wisely bought non-toxic.

Then he got into it - literally and figuratively.

And done!

He was pretty proud of himself!

A bath followed.   You can see how much hair he's gotten here!

And a shot of the elusive stink face caught on tape -

At daycare earlier this week, his teacher told us that Grady had a really fun time playing with a sheet that was covering one of the baby gates.  He was using it sort of as a fort, going in and out and laughing hysterically.  I was excited to try at home by covering up the coffee table with a sheet and letting him mess around.  Like many things this age it seems, he was no longer interested in it when he got home.  Or I guess I should say, he was much more interested in the video camera. 

Besa and Fuzz are both more and more wary of Grady.  He's picked up speed and drops everything to scoot after them once he sees them.  Besa and Grady did have a nice moment the other day, though, when Grady discovered Besa's favorite cat toy.

Now, I don't think Besa is spoiled - not at all! - but my family makes fun of me for little things like only gently scolding her when she jumps on the table during Thanksgiving dinner, or spoon feeding her the melted remains of my ice cream.  Anyway, we have been trying harder to get her not to jump on the table while we're eating.  The other day she jumped up on it three times, before I finally shut her in the bathroom.  After a few minutes I took pity on her.

Lesson learned, I'd say!

Grady the Comedian

Grady has been cracking himself up lately - and us too.

Here he is smacking his lips while eating - I assure you, Matt and I do not do this when we eat!

He also thinks it's quite funny to make splashes in the tub.

He also loves to make alternative uses of all his new toys.  Here he is in a dragon filled with balls - I thought it would be the most fun thing ever.  What does he do?  Reaches over the side and starts "reading" a book.

He thought that was pretty funny.  Here he is again, looking pensive on the dragon.

Grady also really enjoys breaking apart his playmat.  Usually he just puts it in his mouth, but sometimes things like this happen.

Grady has been very interested in Daddy's guitar lately.  He likes to bang it like a drum, but he also likes to experiment with the strings.  The video is from my phone, so forgive the quality.

He also has really started to enjoy books.  He likes to turn the pages himself.  (And yes, he also still likes to eat them.)

Grady turned 9 months yesterday - half in, half out!  It's amazing how big he's gotten.  He is all over the place all of a sudden, usually ending up in whatever room Matt or I have stepped into for a moment, or about to put whatever it is that we don't want him touching in his mouth.  He's gotten pretty fast, although he still is doing the weird army crawl. 

We've clearly lost track of how big he's getting, as you can see by the size of his shirt here -

He was pretty humiliated.

I think his face is changing, too.  Here are a couple of close ups.

Well, one close-up was all I could get in before he wanted the camera himself.

Grady has been really experimenting with noises too.  I still think cat (or "TAT") is the only word he knows, but he has been doing lots of mamamamamamas and dadadadadadas - just not associated with his mom and dad.   He does call Grumpy Bear "mama" consistently - I'm not sure what Grumps has been teaching him.  He's gotten pretty good at repeating sounds too.  Today we got back from the store and I said "We did it!" and Grady clearly said "Didit!" 

And I'll give you one picture of what I know you're all really checking the blog for - pictures of the elusive Fuzzy.  This photo was not staged - she tucked herself in! 

She loves to play under the sheets, so my guess is she did that and then got pooped.  No one ever said she wasn't lazy!
As you've probably noticed, I have slowed down a bit on the posting.  With working 4 days now (one from home), the website, Grady, and all the usual day-to-day stuff, I haven't had as much time.  I am trying to post at least once a week still.  I hope you stick with us despite the decrease in posting.

Cutest Video Ever