New Pictures and video

From earlier in the week: John in his retro t-shirt

From today: John eating his Daddy's homemade mashed potatoes today at lunch, with video

Birthday Boy

Well, we made it through our first year as parents! John turned one last Saturday (the 16th). Nana, Carolyn, SaraBeth and James came on Friday, and Grammy and Poppy came on Saturday for John's party. We decided to go low-key and invite family only, which I am very happy about. Bill and I are not ones for big crowds, and John was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. Pictures are attached. He had his own little "Smash cake" courtesy of Publix. John had no idea what to do with it and didn't really eat any of it unless I put some into his mouth. He enjoyed playing with the frosting, though.

John had his 1 year check-up last Monday. He continues to make gains in the 'catch-up' process- his pediatrician says John will most likely level out by his second birthday, which is when all the literature says preemies usually catch up by.

John is still not walking on his own, but he cruises everywhere. Because he is such a fast and adept crawler, he is not terribly interested in walking, although today when he wanted to come to me, he walked down the length of the sofa to get to me (instead of crawling).

I'm very excited as school is officially out. I have a three day weekend due to Memorial Day, and then I have three work days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday), and then summer is finally here! I'm looking forward to playing with John every day.

Today's pictures: John eating birthday cake; opening presents in his diaper after being cleaned up; lying down on a pillow, ready for a nap; getting ready for American Idol tryouts.

Surgery update

John had his 'surgery' Tuesday to clear out his tear ducts. It was scheduled for 12:30. He wasn't allowed to have milk/formula past 3:00 am, and nothing at all after 8:30. He had apple juice and jello for breakfast at 8 since he was allowed to have clear liquids and both of those count. JohnJohn really liked the jello, especially playing with it. We had to be at the surgery center at 11:00, and John really enjoyed being there. There were toys to play with and other babies to pretend to play with. He did really well with everything. He didn't like when they put the mask on him to knock him out, and he screamed like a banshee when he woke up from the anesthesia, but all in all it wasn't bad. The ophthalmologist said the right duct was easily cleaned out, but he had trouble with John's left tear duct, like it wasn't formed correctly or something- he couldn't get the probe in there all the way. He'll look at it again at the follow-up appointment in June. However, there hasn't been alot of gunk in John's eyes, and the left eye has not been stuck together when he's woken up (like it was almost every time before), so that is good. John went around with a shiner on his left eye for a couple of days, but it is cleared up now. He has been acting like his usual self since we walked out of the surgery center!

Pictures: The day of the surgery, after we got home; the following day- John realized he could open the cabinet doors in that section of the kitchen (he has already found out how to open doors and drawers near the refrigerator)