Mr. Chunk

Allright. . .I guess calling William Mr. Chunk is a slight overexaggeration, but the kid weighs in now at 11 pounds 11.5 ounces, and since he started out at 4 pounds 2 ounces, to us, he is MASSIVE (and very, very cute). Just as un update, things are going super well. William is doing great. . .he's still confined to the house and we still are super careful as far as having him around other people, but he's just doing great!!! I will have to say that I'm a little concerned that he might be developing a kind of Pavlovian (is that even a word?) response to hand sanitizer. . .the reason being that we never pick him up or touch him without sanitizing our hands first, so we have about 6-7 bottles of sanitizer placed throughout the house and I get the feeling that now when he smells the sanitizer or senses that we are putting it on our hands he starts getting pretty happy because he knows he's going to be picked up. . .he can be crying and screaming and the second he smells the sanitizer he starts to calm down. . .I hope this doesn't have any long lasting effects. . .but, oh well, what can you do.

He was lucky enough to qualify for these RSV shots that high risk kids get once a month. . .they cost about $3500 a shot, but since we've pretty much already reached our out of pocket maximum for our insurance, they're free!!!! Isn't it funny how that works. . .you pay a ton load of money to the insurance company, hospital, doctor, etc. and once you've reached a certain amount ever thing else is "paid for". You forget that you've already paid into insurance your whole life (which amonts to alot of money if you think about it) and that you will continue to pay into it for the rest of your life (again, alot of money) but for this one year, everything is "free". It kind of plays with your mind. . .it's like when we were in the NICU, and one day they gave me this diaper bag with formula and wipes and a bunch of other stuff in it. I asked if I needed to pay them for it and they just laughed and said that no one had ever asked them that before and that I could just have it. I started thanking them profusely, but then on the way home I realized that really, that wasn't a free diaper bag, it was just a mere token of appreciation for us (and mostly the insurance company) having paid the NICU and hospital $30,000. . .I think that's why the nurses were kind of laughing at me. Anyway, that being said, I have told Roland that if he is going to have to need any kind of major surgery or anything like that, that now is the time to do it. . .because it's FREE!!! I wonder if they take out appendices or other miscellaneous, extra body parts even if they aren't rupturing. . .it sure would save us money in the long run! But really. we are grateful to have insurance!

In other news, we blessed William on February 1, 2008. It was wonderful and so good to see all of our family at the blessing. We took him in, blessed him, and kept him covered the whole time, but it definitely was the most people he's been around ever and I think it took him by surprise that more people than just mom, dad, and the grandparents exist. . .poor kid! But it was a beautiful day and we are just so grateful that he's doing so well!

Well, I think I've written enough. . .most people don't read the blog anyway. . .they just look at pictures, so I've included a bunch. . .ENJOY!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering. . .yes, his hair is still red. . and his eyes are looking like they might be blue. . .go figure!

This is the William look. . .he seriously always has this half grin, content look on his face. . .he's a great baby!

Enjoying some time on his tummy!

Look at that double chin--he loves sleeping and is actually sleeping through the night now--hooray!

William and mom

On his blessing day

He smiles all the time now. . .it's the best!

"What the heck do you have me in?"

William and his Christmas stocking