The Toddler June 22, 2009

Wow! We are having quite a time with our teething little guy. He already has the first 10 teeth up front in...now he has one molar and 3 more trying to break through. This has been our most challenging teething experience to date. Poor little guy! I'm hoping this eases up a little bit for him soon. He is quite miserable right now.

There is nothing like the resilience of a toddler, though. Even feeling cruddy this weekend, Blaze managed to: take a couple of steps on his own, give himself a black eye, cut his leg, bruise his head (twice), bounce balls of various sizes, put two halves of a toy together (right color and shape), play peek-a-boo by going around the chair to "surprise" me, two times used words to communicate what he wanted and invented a new game where he takes a toy and wears it over his nose. The last one delighted him and I have several funny pictures of my boy, smiling enormously behind a circle shape that he holds in his mouth and it covers up his nose. He thinks it is hilarious...and because he thinks it is so funny, it makes me laugh, too. He decided to stand up on his own and while he had a toy in each hand. He lost his balance and fell on one of the toys, giving himself a black eye. That was a first for us. It is just a small bruise under his eye, but it still made the baby book! Saturday he had gotten his breakfast all over himself and I started to take him down for a bath while Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on. The very last thing on every episode is the hot dog song and they do the hot dog dance. I did not realize how much Blaze loves to do the dance, until I started to take him downstairs. He looked at me, pointed to the t.v. and said "Dog!" Of course I waited until the song was over to take him down. I was so surprised. On Sunday I was fixing lunch and Blaze wanted me to pay attention to him. When fussing didn't work, he crawled across the floor to me, pulled himself up on his feet, walked around until he was between me and the counter, and patted my leg while saying "A-Boo! A-Boo!" That's what he says when we play Peek-A-Boo. He obviously wanted me to look at him. Once again using his words was rewarded. I picked him up and he watched me fix lunch one handed. Who knew that 11 months of age would be such a fun and active time?!?

Father's Day we had a full day planned. Unfortunately, Tim got sick that morning and we stayed home. Thankfully, we had gone to see Yakov the day before, so the whole weekend wasn't lost. It was disappointing. We'll have dinner with Tim's grandparents and swim at their pool another day. I can't say what we did for Tim--the grandpas might read it and guess what their gifts are, too! We'll fill you in another time.

We are constantly amazed over our little guy. Every day is an adventure. We are so incredibly blessed. Sometimes Tim & I wonder together how much energy Blaze would have with a whole heart, because he is going full speed with his. It is simply amazing.

Thanks for checking in with us! We'd love to hear from you.

Blaze in Bloom June 18, 2009

Blaze continues to grow, thrive and generally amaze us all! He weighs in at 18 lbs. 7 oz, which is above the 10th percentile for his age. He's also above the 10th percentile for his height! He is trying so hard to walk on his own, but he gets too excited and loses balance. Several times today he has pushed away from Melissa to stand on his own and attempted to take a step. He is so close to walking alone! Our house will never be the same!

Blaze's favorite thing in the entire world right now is Dad. Tim walks into the house and Blaze lights up like the sun. He clings to Dad, has to help him put on his shoes and together they play the evening away. Blaze was feeling cruddy on Monday, Melissa and I were told by the doctor to monitor his food intake--clear liquids only until that evening. Blaze was hungry and frustrated by this development. I was changing Blazey's diaper when Tim walked in the door. I had to tackle my child to keep him from flying off the changing station. As soon as Tim picked him up, Blaze looked into his eyes, then collapsed his body against Dad's shoulders and said, "Dad-dy" in a dramatic sigh. He says "Da Da Da" all the time, but it was so sweet to hear that precious word and just see Blaze's relief that Dad was home. Tim went over to the pot of mashed potatoes I had fixed for Blaze. Tim stuck his finger in the pot and licked some off his finger. Blaze saw there was some on Tim's finger and shoved Tim’s finger into his mouth. Obviously the child was ready to eat! He's been feeling great since then.

This is such a precious time. Father's Day used to be so hard for me, after my dad passed away. My grandpa had died less than three years before that, so I was left without any "fathers" in my life until I married into Tim's family. Usually there is still some sadness as the day approaches. I cannot tell you how excited I am about Father's Day this year! Blaze's adoration of his dad is such an amazing thing to see and it makes this time just especially sweet. We're looking forward to a terrific Father's Day!

We got to have a small part in the worship service last week. It was so wonderful to share the testimony of Blaze's life, even in a 6 second spot. I keep thinking about what we were doing this time last year and how things are different now. God is so good!

As Blaze's birthday rapidly approaches, we're preparing for the big day. We'll have a big announcement regarding his party soon!

Thank you so much for your love and support over this time!

Joy Gilzow

Big weekend June 1, 2009

WOW! Blaze sure had a big weekend. Friday evening we went to dinner, then to Treasure Lake resort with Tim's grandparents. We met them at a buffet. Melissa had fed Blaze at 5 p.m., but you sure couldn't tell it! Blaze ate non-stop the whole time we were there. And there was nothing that he ate that he didn't like. That child had mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, pineapple fluff, cinnamon apples, strawberries, broccoli and cheese and some vanilla ice cream. He was bouncing later. Blaze normally falls asleep by 7:30, that night he didn't go to sleep until after 9. That was the first night we've ever been able to get him out of his car seat and into bed without waking him up. It was nice to visit with Grandpa and Grandma. Dining out with Blaze is always an adventure. The one time he started to fuss, an older lady bent down to talk to him and immediately he turned on that Gilzow charm and smiled at her. I am not used to all the attention when we go out. I told Tim I would expect this with multiples, but he's just one little guy. It's odd to me, but I'm glad it's all favorable.


Saturday morning, Melissa and I took Blaze to have his picture taken. He did fairly well. Much better than the first time we took him there. Choosing is so hard! We'll have a nice selection for Father's Day. The photographer suggested having his picture taken for his birthday with a small cake with a "1" on it, just wearing a diaper. He said those are fun. I thanked him for his suggestion and told him I was hesitant to do that because of Blaze's scar. He said we could just get a "1st birthday" shirt or something and that would have the same effect. What excites me about this is that the photographer, who spends all of his working days with children, hadn't noticed anything different about Blaze at all! That's such a good feeling, as a mom of a heart baby! How grateful I am that our child doesn't seem sickly or ill at all. What a blessing!

Saturday afternoon, Melissa and I took Blaze to see Peter Pan. Cathy Rigby stars as Peter Pan in this traveling Broadway, live theater production. For the entire first act, all 35 minutes of it, Blaze leaned forward to watch and didn't even blink. The second part (which was much longer) Blaze was a bit restless. His attention was completely captured while Peter Pan, the Lost Boys and Tiger Lily with her Indians beat on the floor and on the drums. Blaze loves to use Maggie's bones as drum sticks. The drumming fascinated him. He loved it when Peter Pan flew over the audience, scattering pixie dust over the crowd. It was so fun to watch him. Peter Pan isn't my favorite story, but they did a fantastic job. The cast was wonderful. We had Blaze's picture taken with a pirate, on a pirate ship set up in the lobby. It was a fun day. Blaze fell asleep after the matinee and once again, I got him to bed without waking him. Tim & I woke him up at 7:00 to give him his medicines. He took them, then went back to sleep and slept until 6:30 Sunday morning. The poor guy was totally worn out, but he had a good day!

Sunday morning I took Blaze to church. Everyone is amazed at how well he is doing. It made me laugh, though, he came out of the nursery with a bib on. He must be cutting another tooth...or maybe he just likes the drool. In any event, he's been soaked lately. No one said anything about him being fussy, but I also noticed he had gulped down a bottle of milk and was using a pacifier I put in the diaper bag. He never fusses when we leave him at the nursery. I appreciate how good he is in public!

Tonight should be quiet. Tomorrow Patricia from Parents as Teachers is stopping by. That should be good. He has an entire day to recover from his big weekend . Unfortunately, this morning Blaze had lost his voice and couldn't cry. I think he just has quite a bit of drainage. We're keeping an eye on him.

Tim had a rough weekend. He wasn't feeling well this weekend, by Sunday night he was starting to feel better, then he ended up breaking his toe! I am praying this is a better week for him!