the Daily Grind

Ahhh. Another day. It seems like so many things happen in a day, yet they aren't significant enough to write about... Tristan is growing and developing just as he should, and it is so fun to watch. One day he wasn't really grabbing for things with his hands, and the next day he started. Now he has those "powerful urges" to grab everything remotely within his reach. He slaps at it, whatever it is, or grabs it, or scratches it. I have to keep his nails clipped to not be clawed daily. I took him to the doctor for his four-month appointment, although he was more like five and a half months. He finally got his first set of vaccinations. Before we knew if he had hemophilia or not, while he was still in the hospital just after birth, they were of course poking and prodding him with the usual battery of tests, including taking blood to test for hemophilia. Finally, Dean said enough, and wouldn't let them stab or stick him any more, hence no vaccinations in the hospital (hemophiliacs should have pressure held on needle sticks for five minutes afterward, but of course no one at the hospital knows that). His doctor never mentioned anything at his next couple of appointments, so he still didn't get any vaccines. Anyway, this guy (a Navy captain, no less, an O-6) who just saw him was enthralled with him, and kissed him more than once. It was so sweet. He is indeed a sweet little guy and we all love him to pieces. He has been rolling over I think since just before he turned four months. He doesn't roll around, just over once. He is finally taking infant cereal. He didn't think much of it for some time, but tolerates it now. He has been hungrier lately it seems, or at least draining me thoroughly. He loves to smile and wins people over all the time by smiling at them, and even laughing when Kyler plays with him. He also has his two bottom teeth, and uses them to let me know when he is done nursing. I need to put a stop to that before it becomes a habit.

That Kyler. He is something. This morning I gave him a kiss on the mouth. He slipped me the tongue. I was so shocked that I hooted and hollered and made a lot of noise. He thought it was great and laughed hysterically. I won't be kissing his little mouth any more. He is a doll, though, and full of fun and mischief. He is noticeably taller and thinner to me by the day almost. His pants are loose on him and his cheeks are losing the baby fat. He likes to help with things around the house, like a little cooking (stirring on the stove), vacuuming with the hose, wrapping presents, etc. I worry about his teeth. He gets into so much candy and whatnot, and is not obedient about brushing his teeth. When I go after them they sometimes bleed.

Hunter is thoroughly enjoying his time off from school right now. He is getting addicted to one of Dean's computer games, Age of the Empires or something like that. It is an involved strategy game. Dean's hard work of grooming Hunter since he was small to enjoy games is paying off. Hunter can actually play those games with Dean, and board games of the same strategy and complication. I have no interest whatsoever in such games. I'm more of a Scrabble or Apples to Apples kind of girl. Hunter had tubes placed in his ears today, for the third time in his life. A lot of thick fluid came out, so once again it was warranted.

Dean is up to his usual tricks, ha ha. Actually he had today, Tuesday the 22nd, off of work. He is on tomorrow, then off the next few days. We certainly enjoy the time off he gets in the army. He said the other day that he is much less stressed than he was in private practice - at any of his jobs, and he works fewer hours as well. Of course he makes far less money, but it has been well worth the change to the military for so many reasons. We don't know how long he will stay in the military. He could be done after his three-year commitment, or he could make a career of it.

I have hesitated to say that we may go to Korea in the summer for his next assignment, as nothing in the military is definite until you are traveling to your new assignment with your orders. He has been penciled in for an assignment in Korea for a few months now, and we were all hoping/expecting to go. We are not sure if we will be able to accompany him, though, only because Hunter and Tristan have hemophilia. The medical facilities there would have to be comfortable taking us. All that we really need is available "factor viii", which is what they are deficient in (which means that their blood doesn't clot well when they have a bleed, or a procedure such as placing tubes, or surgery). It will likely be months before we know anything for sure. If we can't go with him, he'll go unaccompanied for a year, or possibly get assigned somewhere (undesirable) here in the states. Dean is scheduled to have his knee operated on in the near future to fix the meniscus or ligaments or whatever is damaged (from the army combatives course in the summer). The recovery time will be three to six months.

I am always busy, yet hardly seem to get much done. I bought a new digital camera recently, and have taken a few pictures with it. I still need to read the manual to figure out all it's capabilities and to learn how to get the pictures on the computer. I spent a lot of time researching cameras on Consumer Reports and from online reviews, so hopefully I got a good one, at least for the price, which was fairly inexpensive.

Last night we decided to use one of the gift cards we've received in the last year and go to dinner, to probably my favorite restuarant the Olive Garden. I guess it's been a while since we've eaten there, as there were a lot of new things on the menu, and the prices were noticeably higher. It was delicious as always. Dean had the ziti, and actually said that mine is better. I tried it, and agreed. It didn't have meat in it, though, so my sausage of course would make it better. I had the braised beef and tortelloni. It melted in my mouth - oh, sooo delicious! Hunter enjoyed his ravioli and Kyler had fettuccini alfredo.

After seven years of PTSD, I have started trying to make Christmas candy again. When we lived in Colorado, I worked with the Young Women at church, and some of the other ladies had "no fail" recipes for making different kinds of candy, and for an activity one week, we made them at the church. Well. We went to my parents' home for Christmas that year and I attempted on my own to make one of those no fail recipes. About three batches of it went in the trash, and I've never tried since. So this year I decided to find recipes that don't need to boil or need any specific temperature. Dean's brother Dusty has said before that he makes microwave fudge. I figured if he could do it, maybe so could I. He's given me a recipe book before (1001 Fast Easy Recipes) that has several easy candy recipes. So, I've made several batches of different types of fudge, and even some toffee that only had to boil for 7 minutes (no thermometer or ice water needed). It all worked out well. The toffee actually must have gone just over seven minutes, as it went from just right to starting to caramelize/burn in a few seconds, but it wasn't ruined, and still had a wonderful flavor, so I call it a success! I'm so excited! We'll see if I'm still so excited in a couple of weeks when I step on the scale!

We had a Christmas party last weekend. It was a lot of fun. I went the easy route and had the guests each bring a food item, so that made it pretty easy on me. I threw some frozen meatballs in a crock pot with salsa and grape jelly as I learned from Aunt Linda, and they were a hit. I also put together grape juice and ginger ale, which she recommends, and it was also well received. I made some crescent rolls, rolled up with cranberry sauce and ham, which were ok. There were lots of yummy things to eat, and we did a white elephant gift exchange. Those are always entertaining.

We are enjoying this wondrous time of year, and wish you a Merry Christmas!