Adverturous Bubeaner

Bubeaner scared Momma half to death this afternoon. He learned how to climb out of the walker. Somehow he managed to push off the metal support bars with one foot and leaned over the opposite side. He was left doing a hand stand with both little legs up in the air! Thankfully, his belly got stuck on the tray so he did not fall head first. It was actually quite comical. At least it was comical once Momma had rescued Bubeaner and had caught her breath. The walker was put into storage.

"Yes? Umm, it was like that when I got here.
I did not touch it."

Oh, and this occurred minutes after Bubeaner spilled uncle Ivan's plant on the floor in the dining room. There is still dirt everywhere. Momma has been "trying" to kill that poor plant since she was entrusted with it a few years ago. Bubeaner may have succeed.

Then minutes after the walker incident he decided to climb into Sandy's empty bed. The problem came when Bubeaner tried to move into Bevo's bed while Bevo was still sleeping in it. Bevo did not appreciate it and actually snapped at him. He was immediately reprimanded and both Momma and Bubeaner sat on him. Usually he is pretty patient with him. We are hoping the swift reaction (and pack status reminder) will be enough to prevent future similar incidents.

"I am not talking without my counsel present.
Do you know Grandma's number?"

The scary part is that Momma was within arms reach every one of these times! Momma still don't know how he manages it. This boy is going to give Momma a head full of gray hairs! It is also worrysome to think about what it will mean when Bubeaner is a completely independent toddler.

We still made it to the doctor's office in the afternoon after all that excitement. After examining Bubeaner, Dr. Z informed us that he may have/getting over a cold, but that his ears, throat, nose and chest all looked fine. YAY! She also did not believe it was a reaction to the milk. However, she does believe that he is teething again because his jaw is swollen and sensitive to touch. Bubeaner is getting his molars! Momma felt silly because in retrospect it makes perfect sense. It is exactly what he did when he was teething the first time. It just never crossed our mind that he would be getting his molars NOW! Dr. Z recommended orajel, ice, tylenol/motrin, or pretty much whatever made him feel comfortable.

They had just received their new shipment of the seasonal flu vaccine, so Bubeaner got his first flu vaccine since we were already there. Poor baby was not thrilled. He even gave RN Sandra his scrunchy "angry" look. This only made her laugh which did not amuse Bubeaner. Bubeaner and Momma played the Spanish version of Pat-A-Cake (Papas y papas para Mama...etc.) while we were waiting at the doctor's office. When Momma stopped singing, Bubeaner continued "patting" while saying "papa... mama....papa....mama"! Momma immediately whipped out the camera, but Bubeaner stopped doing it. Of course!

Goofing off at the doctors before his shot.
On a cold day, it's nice to have on a pair of wool socks.

He had a better evening after having some tylenol. Bubeaner is still not back up to his normal diet, but he ate much better tonight which was a relief.

Weekend Workers

This weekend was all about errands. We ran errands all day Saturday from taking Dad's car to the dealership to buying new curtains for the master bedroom. Bubeaner is an amazing baby. He dealt with all the jostling around without a problem.

The introduction of whole milk into his diet had been going great until this weekend. Bubeaner has been throwing up (not a lot, but enough to notice) and not wanting to eat. We all know how much our Bubeaner loves eating.

Having a quiet conversation with Dad.

The only real change in his diet has been the increase in proportion of milk to formula (1/2 and 1/2). Strangely, Bubeaner continues to have a huge breakfast eating it without a problem. This is also the first meal where he has milk. Every meal afterwards is an issue.

We don't believe it's a "regular" reflux problem since it had been under control since his Nexium dose was doubled. And it looks like curdled milk, which his reflux usually does not. It's amazing the many things parents notice.

Practicing for Halloween?
No, just complaining about the food.

Now there is a possibility it might be something else entirely. He has started pulling/messing with his left ear more this weekend. Maybe an ear infection? And it could be a reaction to the shots from last Monday, which the doctor said would take about a week to affect him. Needless to say, Dr. Z will be getting a call from us in the morning.

Bubeaner is wearing only Halloween outfits this week.
Thanks to aunt Pau he has quite a collection.

In good Bubeaner news, he is loving to crawl now that he moves faster. We tried telling him how much easier it would be if he followed the proper form. He had to learn on his own. This weekend he started trying to get the dogs to bark. He will look at the dogs and say "woof, woof." He has also been playing with them more. And they are loving the extra attention. His other new favorite word is "no". This is not a big surprise since it's the one he hears more lately. We really try to redirect his attention or use other words, but some times "no" is the fastest and most effective one.

Playing with Dad on the couch watching the game.

Bubeaner also spent part of the weekend doing drive-by house hunting for aunt Pau. He really enjoyed it; he loves taking car naps. He will probably be enjoying more of those naps in the near future as the house hunting continues.

Miscellaneous Recent Pics

Daddy takes/gets some good ones occasionally but hasn't had time to give some of these an adequate description. However some were just so cute we couldn't resist posting for your enjoyment...

Friday Fun

Bubeaner started noticing the pictures on the computer screen. Really noticing them. Today he saw the picture on the background (one of his). He looked at it then move the screen down to look behind it, then looked back at the screen. He did this several times sometimes actually patting the screen and then patting the back of the screen. We love seeing his brain figuring things out.

Bubeaner loves the new snack cup aunt Pau got for him.

Bubeaner has recently been biting more often. He tends to do it when he is bored. Most of the time they are little love bite, but every once in a while he really bites down hard. Friends mentioned that babies go through a biting phase. We hope it's a short-lived one; little teeth can really leave a mark.

The dogs are really learning to dislike the baby gate.
They can't get to any of the dropped snacks.

Today we changed his napping schedule to allow for a pleasant visit to RN Tammie's new home. Bubeaner left bathed and in pajamas ready for dinner. He enjoyed playing in her play room. She has a large ballpit for her nephews. But he had the most fun feeding Miss Allie, Tammie's puppy. At one point Miss Allie did steal a cookie from Bubeaner's hand, but that only made Bubeaner laugh. He fell asleep taking the bottle from RN Tammie just like when he was in the NICU.

Bubeaner and Miss Allie.
They shared in his cheerio snacks.

We got back home late. We put on Bubeaner's sleeper and transferred him to the crib with no problems. He slept all night without any fussing. We will continue doing this in the future especially now that the holiday season is approaching. Hopefully, it will continue to be successful.

Drummer Boy

Wow! We had a long, long day away from home today starting with church group. Bubeaner is surprisingly comfortable with everyone and with the building too. He would walk (in his walker) over to several grandmothers and pull on their sleeves to get their attention! Thankfully, they were all thrilled to speak with him instead of being upset.

"Hmm, what is this strange new toy?"

And he traverses the room even more freely now too. Unfortunately, this time he also noticed the open door. He did stop to check if Momma was behind him, but he did not stop when Momma was not around! Bubeaner travelled all the way down the long hallway! Momma was hidding while keeping an eye on him, but he didn't know that! This boy is adventurous.

"Ahh, music to my ears."

Momma was bad today. We stopped at a restaurant to eat after church group since we still needed to run some errands in a neighboring suburb. (A great Mexican restaurant find too!) Momma ordered tortilla soup for both of us. Bubeaner loved the chicken and avocado. He had a little issue when he had the broth. It appears there were jalapeno seed in the broth. He started crying hysterically and pulling his ears. Momma could not figure out what was wrong; eventually he settled down and enjoyed being cuddled by Momma. It wasn't until Momma started eating her (now cold) soup that she discovered the problem. Momma's learned a lesson: when in a new place TASTE the food first. Poor baby!

"Move over Neal Peart! I'm goood!"

At home Bubeaner learned how different items make different sounds. He was hesitant at first but soon got in the swing of things. He was banging away with the spoon and/or his hands. We may learn to regret this in the future, but it was fun playing along with him.

Rainy Wednesday

The rain is back. It was not supposed to get here until noon, but we woke up to the sound of rain on the roof. Dad, unfortunately, had to head to work. Bubeaner and Momma had some plans for the day, but decided to cancel them and enjoy a day at home.

Bubeaner continues to enjoy taking toys out of boxes

Most of the day was spent playing, reading and napping. Well, the napping was done by Bubeaner while Momma worked around the house still organizing things after the party weekend. But it was still a relaxing and slow day.

But now, he is also enjoying putting them back inside the box.

Today Bubeaner started doing something interesting when playing with his books. He would point at the writing and babble. We assume he was imitating what Momma does when she reads to him. But it shows that he is seeing a corrollation between the black "stuff" on the book and the words Momma says. We are so proud of him.

And to top the day off, Bubeaner "properly" crawled all day long. He did slip a little every once in a while probably because his little hands still get sweaty. But he's got the hang of crawling now. We also practice walking by holding on to Momma's fingers. He did a great job walking back and forth down the hallway, and it's a long hallway too.

Monday 10.20.09

Monday, October 20, 2008 1:28 AM, CDT

We had a terrific surprise tonight when we popped in after breast pumping at 1am and John was having his tubes, etc. changed. We got to see and kiss him while he was uncovered. Pics being loaded now!

If Ruth continues to improve the insurance co. will send us home Tuesday evening.

It is CRITICAL that we avoid exposing John to illness, so please delay visiting Ruth if you are sick or caring for someone who is.

Monday, October 20, 2008 1:31 PM, CDT

Went through the evaluation notes with the neo-natalogist today and John is doing well...he went an hour without a C-Pap breathing pump, needs no additional oxygen and has never needed a ventilator. He goes off antibtiotics tonight.

On the negative side a nurse transposed numbers and falsely told us John had gained weight. He is now 6 ounces lighter at 3 pounds 7 ounces.

Monday, October 20, 2008 6:42 PM, CDT

When visiting, a standing Ruth (nice development) was allowed to change John's diaper and check his temperature..she is now exhausted.

Monday, October 20, 2008 7:23 PM, CDT

Daddy saw John's eyes open when he sang the "Eyes of Texas"

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!!

The past year has been filled with amazing adventures and incredible blessings. Our little tiny preemie Bubeaner has grown into a vivacious and healthy toddler. He loves to babble and get his hands on everything. His favorite past time is imitating Momma and Dad and chasing the dogs around the house. At times we wonder if he thinks he's one of them.


Family and friends joined us to celebrate the first year of miracles and answer prayers in Bubeaner's life. We were blessed with wonderful weather despite the recent rains and cold weather. The children enjoyed the bounce house and cotton candy machine.


Bubeaner mingled amongst his new friends and cousins. We are not sure of everything he ate, but pretty much assume that if it was being consumed by someone near him, he tried it. Which might explain why he was not so excited about eating his birthday cupcake and cake. (He had a beautiful Pinocchio cake made by Bita.) Or he could have just been shy; he was taken aback when everyone formed a circle around him and sang Happy Birthday.


Bubeaner received many lovely presents. Although he did enjoy playing with the tissue paper much more. Thanks to our family and friends we also collected a basketfull of preemie clothing to donate to his old NICU. We can't think of a better way to end this wonderful year than by passing on some of the blessings to little ones just starting out their own special journeys.

UT - OU weekend

This year we won't be going to the Red River Shootout game because we are having Bubeaner's party. However, we were still able to meet the group for the traditional pizza the night before. Granted it was a smaller group since only the ones with little ones chose to eat at a much earlier time. Actually, we were done and out before we would usually get to the restaurant. And there were 8 adults and 10 children! Oh, how times change!

Bubeaner made a good friend in Anton.
They immediately took to each other.

It was good to see old friends. And pretty interesting to see Dad and his college friend with their respective boys. They both had little clones! We fear for the trouble these two will get into when they are in college. Hopefully, it will not even be close to the adventures their fathers undertook.

State Fair And Other Fun

We were delighted to take Bubeaner to his first State Fair! Everyone should experience the spectacle and taste all the unhealthy, albeit delicious, food.

Momma and Bubeaner at the State Fair
before the fun started

Momma was happy because she also got to spend the day with aunt Pau and her cousins Lina, Daniel, and Luis. Bubeaner really took to Lina probably because she would not put him down.

Can't go to the Fair without having a
Fletcher's Corny Dog!

There were a lot of people around everywhere. Bubeaner enjoyed people watching. But he particularly like trying his first Fletcher's corny dog (the absolute BEST). We did make sure that he had some "nutritious" meal of beef tacos after he also had a taste of a corn on the cob, funnel cake, fried butter (surprisingly delicious), turkey leg and tornado fries. Don't worry he only had a bite of each unlike everyone else who probably gained about 5 pounds on that day alone.

Meeting Big Tex
Bubeaner was not impressed

Bubeaner did take his regular nap in his stroller. We just put on his cover to block out the view, and he slept soundly. The cousins were surprised. Once he woke up, he was ready for more people watching and eating not once fussing.

Nothing gets in the way of Bubeaners afternoon nap
not even the Fair, rain, or even noisy kids

Dad and Momma snuck away later that night to the U2 concert. Bubeaner spent the night with aunt Pau. They had fun and Bubeaner did not even miss mom and dad.

Momma and Dad on the way to the U2 concert

Enjoying the awesome music

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Bubeaner's first trip to a pumpkin patch was scheduled long ago. It was the only weekend we were free, and, of course, it also coincided with this cold and rainy front. We were not deterred and headed out with a bundled up Bubeaner. The pumpkin patch was not too far away.

Not so sure about the safety of the wagon.

We were pretty early (one of the advantages of an early mass) and got there before it was too crowded. This allowed us to get a good parking spot away from most of the muddy mess. Bubeaner started showing some unease about this new adventure when we placed him in one of the red wagons provided. He immediately braced against one side and held on to the other side.

Bubeaner flirted a little with some of the other visitors.

He soon was able to relax and enjoy the field littered with pumpkins and all the fun little gadgets, decorations and other "silly stuff" as described by Dad. He also enjoyed people-watching and a little flirting too. The boy will be a danger when he gets older. He even got his photograph taken by a couple of women because he looked so cute.

Our beautiful boy flashing a gorgeous smile

We took the obligatory pumpkin patch pictures and picked out two large pumpkins (Momma and Dad) and a little one (Bubeaner) and headed out. Bubeaner's patience was running out by this time probably due to the cold weather. We loved our experience at the pumpkin patch and imagine that next year it will not be as sedate once Bubeaner can walk/run around.

Bubeaner was getting a little tired

On the drive home we saw some Flying Tatanka! Ok, so they were not flying but that was only because we were watching them as Bito would have explained to us. Bubeaner was already asleep and did not get to see them. Aunt Pau and Momma made plans to take him back at a later time to see the Great Flying Tatanka. It's almost a rite of passage in our family.

Relaxing with a warm bottle watching a little football
after the busy morning.

Going Greek

It still surprises us how cold is has been lately. Today was down right chilly. The rain, though greatly appreciated, makes it feel even worse. For some reason the cold weather made us all crave Greek food. We couldn't figure out the connection. It just sounded good.

Extremely fussy Bubeaner

Bubeaner is usually great when we are out. But for some reason today he was just being a little pill. He was not happy with the food. He was not happy with the stroller. He was just not happy. And then he actually started making a scene! He cried and "talked" back (screamed) at us. Aunt Pau, Momma and Dad were stunned. He has never before thrown a tantrum in public. Hopefully, this will not be the start of a new habit.

How absolutely ADORABLE does he look?

The food was pretty delicious. And Bubeaner eventually settled enough to eat some too. Although he did continue to give us dirty looks with an occasional outburst of anger. It probably did not help his mood that we thought it only made him look cuter. He also appeared to resent the video we attempted to take of his outbursts.

These were taken a couple of days ago.
He actually left the hat on without messing with it.

Driving Duties

Dad went back to work today for half a day. Momma and Bubeaner drove Dad to and from work since it is a a long drive even without traffic. And also because we did not want Dad to over do it and try to stay later trying to catch up on things he couldn't work on from home the last 4 weeks.

Bubeaner enjoyed playing with Candy and Debbie

Bubeaner and Momma decided to stay in the area. It takes an hour one-way to get there. Dad was only staying for 4 hours. It just seemed easier to stay in the area and act like tourists. We stopped at an outdoor shopping center to walk around with Bubeaner in his new stroller. Even though it was cold and drizzling, the stroller's weather gear kept him toasty and dry. Bubeaner appeared to enjoy the people watching and even a little of the shopping. He now has a few thick sweaters to get us through the first cold/hot season changes, a couple more pants and an awesome golfer hat. Bubeaner looks adorable. Although, the hat is a size 3T-4T. There is no denying the Haltom genes.

Bubeaner eating by himself

Bubeaner enjoyed spending some time at Dad's office later in the afternoon. He sported his new hat to great reviews. And although Dad had seen no need for a chauffeur, he really appreciated it by the end of the day. He was surprised at how exhausted he was after only a few hours at the office. He appreciated sitting back and relaxing with Bubeaner rather than having to drive. Tomorrow he is going back for 6 hours. We hope he does not over do it.

Bubeaner practicing walking on his own
with a new walker-type toy

Another Tuesday

Bubeaner is getting used to his new chair. He's also learned which ways to move to reach things on the table. We have to be extremely careful with what is left within his grasp.

Momma turned to get his meal
and Bubeaner had reached for the croissant.

We switched television programing providers. Today was installation day for the new provider. The technician did an amazing job. He was very thorough making sure everything was properly done, fixing issues created by the previous provider's technicians, and explaining everything to us. The only problem was we were also adding a television with service to the nursery. This meant Bubeaner could not take his morning and afternoon naps in his crib. Bubeaner was not phased by it. He just napped in his play area.

Morning nap amongst his toys

The best thing about napping in the play area?
You can go back to playing right after you wake up!

We placed the Pack-N-Play mattress in the play area for the afternoon nap.
We thought it would be more comfortable.
Bubeaner preferred the foam mats.