Santa #3

Scarlett was an old pro by the time she met up with Santa #3 at my firm's kids Christmas party, thanks in no small part to the fact that her Daddy was holding her.



Max, however, did not get Scarlett's "screaming at the sight of Santa is for babies (at least if one of your parents is holding you)" memo.



But hey -- he is a baby, after all. I would hope for better luck next year, but chances are good that Max will freak again. My money is on Christmas 2013 being the earliest we can hope for a nice calm shot with both kids and Santa. Truth be told, I'd be a little disappointed if I didn't have the obligatory "scary Santa" shots of the kids. It's a right of passage in my book (quite literally in my baby book, where Santa's reign of terror was documented at Cielo Vista Mall as far back as 1977).

Santa #2

We had two additional Santa encounters this month, and the good news is that Scarlett found Santa #2 and Santa #3 far less horrifying than Santa #1. The apparent key to no screaming: interacting with Santa from the safety of Momma's lap or Daddy's arms.

Scarlett clings to her balloon wand/sword/light saber. Might come in handy as protection against Santa #2.



Scarlett continues to size up Santa #2. What's up with the pom pom grab? I was a bit leery, too.


Santa #2 strikes another strange pose. But is that a smile I see on Scarlett's face??



Story time with Santa #2. Maybe this guy isn't so bad after all. He even let Scarlett turn the pages of the book. (She was so enthusiastic about it that he had to remind her to let the other kids have a turn.)



Max decided to pass on Santa #2 and to hang with Papa Tig instead.




And no visit to Santa is complete without a balloon sword fight.

Rub a dub dub, Baby Max in the tub

Here are some shots from Max's first bath. Although Max made his displeasure clear, no worries -- he has come around and seems to really enjoy bath time now. Please note the strategically placed towel for both warmth and modesty. Max is a gentleman, after all.

Max's Two Week Checkup

Max had his two week check up today with Dr. Curry, and everything looks great. Max is growing like a weed. He's up to 9 pounds 4 oz (95th percentile for baby boys), is 21 inches long (95th percentile), and his head measurement is off the charts at 15 inches (greater than 97th percentile). Ideally a baby will be back to his or her birth weight at two weeks (since they typically lose a bit of weight after birth). Max not only got up to his birth weight (7 lbs 15 oz), he surpassed it by a pound and 5 ounces (which shouldn't be all that surprising given that he wants to eat ALL the time)! Looks like he might give Scarlett a run for her money after all. He still seems so tiny (and he still has his signature skinny chicken legs), but I think you just forget how little newborns are until you hold one.

Santa Fail

Scarlett went to see Santa a few weekends ago (it was the same day Max and I came home from the hospital, so we stayed behind). Despite reports from those that took her that Santa sent Scarlett into a spiral of terror (and I would note that Santa doesn't look exactly thrilled himself), Scarlett announced upon her return home that Santa was fun and told her "ho, ho, ho" and has been talking about him daily. We'll see Santa again this weekend at the neighborhood tree lighting, so we'll see if things go better next time.

Thankful

This Thanksgiving Chris and I are so thankful for the birth of little brother Max and the good health of big sister Scarlett.

Max is thankful for warm snuggles and being too little to be embarrassed that his Mom dressed him as a turkey.





Scarlett is thankful for cupcakes and friends who are willing to share.

Fun Max Facts

Some interesting facts about Max and his birth:

1. Max was born on a Thursday following a delicious Wednesday night pork chop dinner prepared by Chris. Coincidentally, the same thing happened with Scarlett -- I had her on a Thursday after I went into labor on a Wednesday night following Chris's pork chop dinner. Conclusion: Chris's pork chops have magical powers. Or my babies like to be born on Thursdays. Or my babies like pork chops. Or something like that.

2. After several very difficult hours of labor early Thursday morning, they tried to send me home because I wasn't progressing quickly, the Labor & Delivery rooms were full, and there were a number of scheduled c-sections and inductions that day and they needed more room. Thankfully they let me stay, because when Max was ready to arrive, he came really fast. Dana (who works at Medical City) saw my doctor running from his building toward the Labor & Delivery building at 12:08 p.m. and Max was born at 12:14 p.m. just moments after Dr. Ruk raced into the room.

3. Scarlett outweighed Max at birth by 10 ounces, but Max was 3/4 of an inch taller than Scarlett was when she was born.

4. Max has a full head of dark hair, much more than Scarlett did at birth. Hers was also dark but turned blond by around three months, so it will be interesting to see if Max's hair gets lighter or stays dark.

5. Max has dark blue eyes, just like Scarlett did when she was born. Her eyes have turned lighter blue with time, and my guess is that Max's will as well.

6. Today is Max's due date -- 11/22/11. He was born five days before his due date. By comparison, Scarlett was born two days before her due date.

7. Max was born on Mimi and Papa Tig's 27th wedding anniversary.

8. Max's middle name -- William -- is in honor of his grandfathers and one of his great-grandfathers, William John Schwegmann ("Grandpa", aka"Paw"), William Telford Barnhouse III ("Papa Tig", aka "Pie"), and William Telford Barnhouse II ("Pockets").

9. The name Maxwell doesn't come from anywhere in particular, we just like it. We also like that it ends with a double "L", Scarlett ends with a double "T", and of course Schwegmann ends in a double "N."

Here are some photos of Max meeting his loving grandparents for the first time.

"Happy Anniversary, Mimi and Papa Tig!"



"Hi there, Paw!"



"Howdy, BB!"



"So happy to meet you, Grandma!"

Welcome, Max!

Chris, Scarlett, and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of Maxwell William Schwegmann, who made his grand entrance on November 17, 2011 at 12:14 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Scarlett has been fantastic with him. She calls him "baby brother Max" and loves to kiss and hug him and pat him on the head. I'll share more about Max's birth and first few days of life later, but in the meantime, here are some photos of the newest member of our family.

Our precious boy.



Scarlett can't get enough of her baby brother.



Our first photo as a family of four (with Scarlett too busy inspecting Max's feet to pose for the camera)!

Fall Photo Shoot

The weekend after Scarlett came home from Our Children's House, we had a mini fall photo session where we got some fun pictures to document our last few weeks as a family of three. Enjoy!

Fall Adventures

Given Scarlett's hospitalization and recovery, we lost quite a bit of fall and had some catching up to do. A trip to a neighborhood fall carnival with Mimi and Papa Tig and a visit to the zoo with BB were just what the doctor ordered!

Hanging out at the Kessler Park fall carnival with Mimi and Papa Tig.



Our little pumpkin among the pumpkins.



Saying hi to the bear, who apparently sells State Farm insurance.



BB and Scarlett posing with a giant pumpkin and kitty cat.



Posing with the regular-sized pumpkins.



"Hello there, giraffe." "Why hello, Scarlett."



Checking out the penguins.



Scarlett's favorite at the zoo was the "cheeee-tah", but he was elusive and we couldn't get a good photo. She still talks about him, and since we saw him through a glass pane, she looks for him through the windows at our house. If we looked outside and actually saw a cheetah in our yard, I think Scarlett would be the only one who wasn't surprised. I'm happy to stick with squirrel sightings.

The "Buzz" on Halloween

Scarlett was a bee for Halloween. Here's a shot of our "bee-utiful" little girl.



The whole family got in on the bee-themed action. I was the queen bee, Chris was a bee keeper, and even poor mistreated Winnie was a bee, too. (Is it embarrassing to admit that Winnie actually already owned a bee costume? It is? Forget I just said that.) Here's the whole hive (with one bee trying to escape and another looking the other direction in shame).



The queen bee and her little bees.



Stopping to smell the flowers, as any respectable bee would do.



The bee is not amused. No more pictures -- let's go trick or treating already!

Uh-Oh

To call Scarlett's recent health issues an "uh-oh" is the understatement of the century, but the first word she said after she had her breathing tube removed in the Pediatric ICU -- and what she continued to say over and over and over for a couple of days -- was "uh-oh." You've got that right, Scarlett. You had one BIG uh-oh.

Here's what happened in a nutshell:

Scarlett started having typical cold symptoms (cough, runny nose) the night of Sunday September 11 and through the next day. She had no fever and otherwise seemed fine. The morning of Tuesday September 13 she was a bit sluggish and stuffy. She didn't have much of an appetite that day and took a four hour nap that afternoon. Still no fever, and no symptoms that indicated anything other than that she had a cold. Later that evening, however, Scarlett became extremely lethargic and started breathing quickly. After a call to our pediatrician's after-hours line, we decided to take her to the children's emergency room at Medical City.

The next 24 hours were a blur. Scarlett was admitted to the Pediatric ICU where it was determined that she had (a) rhinovirus (the common cold); and (b) Rhabdomyolysis (rapid breakdown of the skeletal muscle tissue). The big risk with Rhabdomyolysis is kidney and/or liver failure. Her kidney levels in particular were sky-high, and dialysis seemed imminent. Scarlett was sedated, a breathing tube was inserted (and later a feeding tube as well), she started receiving lots of intravenous hydration to flush her system, and her blood was drawn and tested around the clock to try to determine what was going on and how her body was responding. Needless to say, it was terrifying. After several days, she became less highly critical, but was still very, very sick and ended up having to stay in the PICU for a total of ten days, followed by 4 days on the regular pediatric floor.

The combination of being sedated and bed-ridden for two weeks and the assault her muscles suffered from the Rhabdomyolysis left Scarlett very weak and unable to walk, sit up, or even swallow solid foods. Fortunately, despite the severity of her illness and the incredibly high numbers that her blood work showed during the height of her illness, she did not suffer liver or kidney damage and dialysis was avoided. After she was discharged from Medical City, she moved over to Our Children's House at Baylor where they continued to monitor her medically and also provided daily physical and occupational therapy. She was treated at OCH for two weeks, and finally came home after exactly one month of being in the hospital.

While she was at Medical City and still in the throes of the Rhabdomyolysis, they removed some muscle tissue from her thigh for testing to try to determine what caused the entire incident. All of the results so far have come back negative for an underlying metabolic (i.e. genetic) cause, although there are a handful of results still outstanding. If all of the results come back negative, we will be left with the conclusion that everything was caused by an unusual reaction to a particular strain of the rhinovirus. Given that we are exposed to cold and other viruses all of the time, this is a frightening thought. But the good news is that Scarlett had obviously been exposed to colds before this happened and didn't get critically ill, and in fact the week after she came home from OCH she got a cold and nothing happened other than typical cold symptoms. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that it was a once in a lifetime freak occurrence.

The outpouring of love and support we received from family and friends was nothing short of amazing, and it gave such comfort to Chris and I as we struggled to get through the darkest days. Prayers were being said all over the world, including a mass in the Philippines and a prayer inserted into a crack in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. We feel so incredibly blessed not only that our sweet girl got better but that we have such an incredible network of people who love us.

Here is a picture of Scarlett leaving Our Children's house to come home after the longest month ever.



Scarlett is still doing out-patient physical therapy at OCH and is doing great at home. The only obvious sign that she's not quite 100% is that she's still a bit too weak to make it up and down the stairs at our house by herself, but she's getting stronger every day and is just about back to her old self.

Scarlett's Going to be a Big Sister!

Scarlett is thrilled to announce the upcoming arrival of her baby brother sometime around Thanksgiving! (Ok, so maybe thrilled is a bit of an exaggeration seeing as how we're pretty sure she has no idea what's coming. When asked "where is baby brother?" she points to my belly and kisses it, but it's entirely possible that she just thinks I'm crazy and decided to name my belly "Baby Brother." Scarlett's belly is named "Babaloo," after all, so I guess it's not beyond the realm of possibility that I could have named mine, too.)

Anyhow, the official due date is November 22, which is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I had a doctor's appointment this week, and everything looks great. We were surprised with some cool 3D shots during my ultrasound, so here's a sneak peek at what baby brother looks like at 28 weeks (roughly 7 months). Its hard to tell, but there's a hand up by his eye (with his fingers curled outward like he's waving) and a foot up by his mouth.



Assuming the baby arrives on time, he and Scarlett will be almost exactly 22 months apart (so just shy of two years). Scarlett has taken a huge interest in babies and dolls over the last several months. She hugs them, kisses them, feeds them, gives them drinks from her sippy cup, and puts diapers, clothes, and shoes on them. She shushes you if one of her babies is sleeping, and tells them "night night" when it's time to go to bed. We're hoping these are all good signs that she'll be interested in -- or at lest tolerant of -- the baby when he arrives.

Here is a picture of Scarlett back in May posing for the pictures we used to give to grandparents on Mother's Day to announce the baby's upcoming arrival.



One of the baby's nicknames is "Little Turkey," so how perfect is this get up? (I'm already embarrassing the poor little guy and he's not even here yet.)