Pool Party

We went to the Taylor's this afternoon for a pool party and BBQ. Uncle Allen made awesome pork ribs! Both boys had fun swimming and are now exhausted. I think that Lee and I will have an easy night.

Two beers...

and Lee lets me buy the boys anything they want at Toys R Us! We went there after dinner this evening and each boy got to pick out one thing. Caleb put several toys back including three Hulk toys, Little People fire engine, and Little People police car. He was content to leave the store without a toy until he saw the Little People Garage! He went to the box and started to take it off the shelf. He said "off" and "pay" when we tried to put it back. (He had been saying "back" to all the other toys.) He loves his garage. This is further evidence that we have a future valet on our hands.

We picked out "Duke" for Graysen. We hope that it will be his comfort animal just like Geoffrey is Caleb's comfort animal. We had to pick out one that did not have bead eyes so that he can sleep with it and we don't have to worry about him chewing out the eyes.

Nap Time

All four of us had to wake up at 5 AM this morning in order to make it to dentist appointments starting at 8 AM. Although Lee gets up at this time everyday, the boys and I do not. So, the boys and I indulged in a three hour nap today to catch up on our sleep. (I know that we are spoiled.)

Since Caleb will be 3 in six months, we scheduled his first dentist appointment. It will be on January 15th and Lee and I will have ours the day before. That way, Caleb can watch the dental hygienist work on us and learn about his visit. I think that Lee and I will have to do a lot of practice with Caleb before the visit. He was offered a ride in the neat chair, and he did not want to go near it. I have no doubts that he will be terrified. They hygienist gave him a new toothbrush today which he loved. He carried it home with him and brushed his teeth as soon as he got home. The hygienist told me that 6 months is a long time, so hopefully she is right and we will have a smooth visit in January.

Caleb Teaches Graysen About Cars

I put Graysen in his Bumbo seat so that he could watch Caleb. Later, I heard Caleb saying, "red car, blue car, police car, truck, ..." as he showed Graysen each vehicle. It was really cute to watch him teach Graysen. Both boys love watching each other and get along great!

I spent today preparing for Graysen's heart catherization. The packet of paperwork came this past weekend, so today was spent reading it, making reservations, call insurance, etc... The cath is scheduled for July 29th. During the catherization, doctors will look at the condition of Graysen's heart. They will use the information that they gather to determine what action needs to be taken next and how long they can wait until his next surgery. After the cath, the doctors will send a "surgery request" to the surgeon. He will then look over the cath and determine what surgery needs to be performed and when. I was told to expect a phone call about two weeks after cath at which time they will tell us our expected surgery date. (Based on all of our doctor visits and last surgery, the surgeon told us to expect the Rastelli procedure within the first year. I do not think that we will find out anything different from the heart cath. The purpose of Graysen's cath is to determine the timing of the surgery more than the type.) Also, as a note, MUSC told me to expect to be bumped several times even after the surgery date is set. Nothing is set until he rolls into the OR for surgery. We learned that from our first experience...

The good news is that Graysen continues to be a super star heart baby! He is doing great and hasn't gotten sick even once. He is a very strong and resilient baby.

Growing Up

Both boys are growing up. Graysen is teething and is trying to move around. He is very close to turning over, but hasn't done it yet. I think that he will turn from his back to his belly by the end of July.

Caleb is growing up also. He will not allow me to pick out his clothes anymore. He wants to pick them out. I ironed an outfit for the park today. He told me to put it back when I went to put it on him. He went into his closet and brought out his blue collard shirt and navy shorts. I didn't think that it was the best outfit for the park, but you can see by the pictures that he won the battle. He must have been trying to impress Emily.

Future Parents?

Katelin spent the day with us today. Caleb enjoys playing with her. Both of them were really into taking care of the baby doll today. It was really cute to watch them interact together.

Back Home

We are enjoying being back at home with our two boys. Here is a picture of Lee introducing Graysen to music. Caleb is busy playing what Lee and I call the "parking lot game." We think that we may have a future valet on our hands. He spends hours each day meticulously parking matchbox cars as he observes the parking lot from the window.

We are celebrating Lee's birthday this evening. We plan to go to his favorite pizza place which has great pizza and good beer.