Announcing...

(Kind of) Nicholas Gamette Hutchison. For now this will have to do. I'm not to savvy with the blogger. Robyn's sister jana will be posting some pics of Nicholas later on tonight. For now, he weighed 8 lbs, 13 oz and was 21 1/2 in.

http://www.theslothowerfamily.blogspot.com/

Amblyopia?

Aye matey, Jacob has joined the proud ranks of "patch kids".



We noticed that his eyes were getting a little drifty a few weeks ago. It's not very severe at all, and it's mainly an issue when he's tired or angry, but we knew we had to get right on it because there's a "lazy eye" on both sides of our family.

So, how does he look?



We definitely had a flail-filled half hour at first as he pulled and tugged at it, but eventually he didn't even notice it was on. What a good boy. Two hours a day for two months, let's hope he adjusts fast!

We even got a little "crazy" with the patches...you know, fun with Amblyopia!

A well proportioned little boy

Such was Dr. Abrams' comment after assessing Jacob's growth and development at his well-baby visit today.



Don't you agree?

We've been busy

No, really, we have! We decided last week that we would paint our dark, dreary living room to brighten up the joint. Matt and our friend Rick worked very, very, very hard and by Saturday evening our house went from this:



to this:



If you can believe it, these pictures were taken at the same general time of day!!! Granted, our "subtle creamy color" turned into white on our HUGE walls. But, we'd rather have it a bit too bright than a bit too dark, so basically, we'll deal. Hooray for the power of paint!

Who knew corn could be so cute

Honestly

Is there anything we won't throw on the ground and play in?

Thloo-thloo

A week or two ago something in our neighbor's yard caught Jacob's eye. Namely, this pinwheel. He begged to cross the street and investigate that spinning wonder and I obliged. Once we got there I told him it was a pinwheel and a new word was born, "thloo-thloo".



We started crossing the street three or four times a day to say "hi" to the thloo-thloo. Each visit lasting no more than 2 minutes. Just a few quick spins and we were on our way.

After a few days of that I decided it was time to get our own.

Ta-da!





(In case you're wondering, we still pay daily visits to our neighbor's thloo-thloo.)

Beans, Beans...

It started modestly enough: one bag of red beans, one bag of great northern beans, two metal bowls and two plastic measuring cups.







Sometimes things with small beginnings turn into a whole lot more. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.























We LOVE beans.

Sick House

That's right, I believe I am incapable of keeping my child healthy. Heaven help us when we have two! I would like to blame church nursery (and do), but seriously, what is it that makes germs stick to Jacob like flies on stank (no offense, J.J.). This latest sickness has included a mystery fever for two days and now some mild stomach problems, about which I will not elaborate. It hasn't been a terrible experience by any means...we've just spent a lot of time inside, which is a tall order for us.

He fell asleep on me today, which is a sure-fire sign that he's feeling ill and I didn't know what to do!?! Let me explain.

1. I was REALLY hungry. In fact, my stomach was growling. In other words, which child do I take care of. Hmmmm.

2. I needed to use the bathroom.

3. He was only wearing basketball shorts. No socks, no shirt.

4. I had put his bedding in the wash and had not put the new sheets on his bed yet.

So there I was, trapped under a child woefully unprepared to take a nap in every way yet desperately needing a quality nap (read: a nap in his crib). So, I eased him onto the couch. I got up, turned to look at him and gasped. He was an angel. An angel wrapped up in a ratty old Daytona Beach towel laying on a sheet to protect the couch. It didn't matter, he took my breath away.







(The end of the story is a 4 hour nap in his crib once I dressed his bed and dressed him. Tricky mommy!)

(Also, I do know how to take pictures, but silly blogger cropped them...just use your imagination for the forehead, fingers and toes that are missing.)

My Body Makes Music!!!

That's right. But don't worry, this is not one of those posts. It's merely the first line of Jacob's new favorite song! It's called "Mi Cuerpo" [My Body]. I have used this song in every Spanish class I've taught. Here's the translation:

My body, my body, it makes music;
My body, my body, it makes music.
My hands go [clap, clap, clap],
My feet go [stomp, stomp, stomp],
My mouth goes "la, la, la",
and my body, "cha cha cha".



He's bilingual!