Ok… so I’ve done a really, really bad job of blogging lately.

What can I say? I’ve been busy.

All is well on the home front, as both L & E are doing fine.

We had a minor issue with Emerson about a week ago. She started to get a little bit “fussy” for her and we noticed a small amount of blood in her stool. It turns out that she has a (seemingly mild) milk allergy. So, we’ve switched her to a soy-based formula and all returned to normal.

E’s been growing like a week. But, she’s still very much a newborn – meaning she’s more in “receive” than “send” mode when it comes to interpersonal communication (aside from crying and a limited range of facial expressions, of course). However, she has become more alert and aware of her surroundings (motion, noises, etc.). According to the books, she’s right on target (and sometime ahead) developmentally. For example, she learned to suck on her own thumb yesterday. I find watching her learn new things fascinating.

Here’s a picture of E at 1 month old…

Life returns to usual

I’ve returned to my usual work schedule… including travel. This has been modestly uneventful, and both L and E were fine while I was gone. Did I miss them? Sure. But, it’s what I do to earn a living, right?

Last week, I went to a conference in Atlanta. I came home and managed to bring a cold back with me as a souvenir. That sticks because I’ve had (at Libby’s direction) to stay away from E while I’m sick. This is actually more frustrating than being away from home, as I really like interacting with my baby girl.

Another silver lining

In other good news, I got my annual bonus payment recently. I was very pleased, as I managed to pay myself back the entire “shared risk program” fees in a single bound. This is another example of being perhaps more lucky in life than I deserve – a fact which is never lost on me. I suppose that at least I’m grateful… and, I’ll take it!

Now, I just need to save up for private school and college.

Medical update on Harley

I’ve mentioned in that past that one of our four-legged children, Harley, was diagnosed with diabetes. And, we’ve had a heck of a time regulating his insulin levels. I think we finally have that under control, but the poor dog now has GERD (reflux) and/or pancreatitis (common in diabetic Min Pins). I think we’ve actually lost more sleep due to H’s condition than we have due to E. We started some new medicine yesterday, and he finally managed to sleep through the night. So, I’m hopeful that we’ve finally got this thing on the run, which will be great for all of us. Harley’s a good little dog, and we’re hoping to keep him healthy and happy for many more years (he’s about 10 now).