Allan jammin' to the beat

Allan crawls

Helen saw Allan crawl for the first time yesterday, and she captured some of it on video. You can see a larger version of the same video here.

Allan's 9 month check-up

Today’s stats are as follows: Length: 30 1/2 inches (greater than 95th percentile) Weight: 24 lbs, 11 oz. (90th percentile) Head size: 18 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Applications for babies and toddlers

I’ve been meaning to write an application to let kids bang on keyboards since before Katrina was born. Thankfully the world need not wait for me to get around to this.

• If you use Windows: Baby Smash.
• If you use Mac OS X: AlphaBaby.

Elena and Allan really enjoy AlphaBaby — I’ve configured it to speak the letters pressed, display random pictures we’ve taken in the past year for other keys and mouse clicks, and draw colored stars on mouse movement. Allan tried Baby Smash yesterday on my work laptop and enjoyed it — it has a different yet equally enjoyable set of features. He also enjoyed pulling off the H and J keys from the keyboard.

(Comment from old site:)

These are great pictures!

Submitted by Mom (not verified) on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 9:59am.

These are great pictures! Why wouldn’t the Town Kids love computers?

Allan's new diet

"I prefer to call them dried plums, thank you."

I had to haul all the kids to the Doctor again yesterday since Katrina still seemed to have some sort of infection. While we waited, Allan began screaming bloody murder and straining again. Poor guy can’t even go when he’s just eating fruits and veggies! The previous Wednesday, I had actually watched him empty his bowels like he was a tube of toothpaste. We’re talking, like two feet of poop. By Sunday, I thought Allan’s pears would help him. Monday he struggled, but hardly went.

As the pediatrician walked in, Elena, Katrina, and I were yelling, “Come on, Allan! You can do it! PUUUUUUUUUUSH!” Allan was beet-red, on the examining table, with his diaper wide-open. Without missing a beat, the doctor ran out of the room and returned with a rectal thermometer to (ahem) “help” him out a bit. We knew he wasn’t finished, but he did feel some relief, poor boy! He went a bit more in the afternoon after much struggling and yelling.

So now I have to feed Allan prunes twice a day. I gave him two containers yesterday. We might have to up the dosage soon if we don’t get results.

Allan’s six-month stats

Length: 28 1/4 inches (97th percentile); Weight: 21 pounds, 9.1 ounces (95th percentile); Head circumference: 17 3/4 inches (75th to 90th percentile)

Allan’s car seat is good up to 22 pounds. Phew! We have a few more weeks left.

(Comment from old site:)

Hi after all this time!

Submitted by Amanda Crawford (not verified) on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 11:39am.

Hi you guys! I am so glad I found you! Please email me so we can catch up! Cliff Notes: Daniel and I have two little girls, Abbie and Amelia, and are still up in the Twin Cities.

Hope to hear from you soon!

April Fools

Yes, I admit I fibbed. Allan did not sleep in his crib the night before last. However, after an entire April Fools Day with no naps, Allan was exhausted and cranky—no joking! (We had no reason to go for a car ride, so Allan simply resisted all attempts during the day.)

We decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try to convince Allan that the crib wasn’t so bad, after all! 45 minutes and many tears later (Sorry, Elizabeth Pantley), Allan fell asleep for a whopping hour. It was nighttime, so I fed him and put him in the crib again. He slept for another hour. I did notice that the one thing that seemed to help pacify Allan was a fuzzy washcloth. For some reason, if he could get a hold of it, Allan would put it near his mouth and suck his thumb/or the washcloth and finally go to sleep. The longest he slept was two, 2 1/2 hour sessions, but I also had to feed him because I was too frazzled and sleepy to listen to the crying. This is a big deal because previously, Allan would have immediately awoken upon being placed in the crib! I don’t know if it was his excessive sleepiness, but I’m hoping we’ll do this well or better tonight.

By the way, Brad did fool me yesterday. He sent me a link to a Rick Astley video and said, “you might find this interesting.” I watched the entire video, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” waiting for something funny to happen. I mean, I know that Rick Astley looks much whimpier than you’d imagine. Especially considering his deep, full voice. As I read the comments on YouTube, I noticed the remarks kept mentioning April Fools. I didn’t see anything funny, though. NOTHING.

Later, after talking with Brad about it, I discovered the joke was on me. How embarrassing.

(Comment from old site:)

Clarification

Submitted by Brad Town on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 2:30pm.

First, I should mention that we didn’t just let Allan cry by himself. I was in there talking to him. However, I am not his Favorite Person in the Whole Wide World, and he found that unacceptable.

Second, when I sent Helen a link to the “Never Gonna Give You Up” video by Rick Astley, I didn’t tell her anything about it. I just said something about finding it interesting. She watched the whole thing waiting for something interesting. Ha! I was hoping to Rickroll her, but I didn’t expect it to go so well!

Incidentally, YouTube was Rickrolling people yesterday. Every “Featured Video” on their main page went to that video. That might explain why that video gained several millions views in one day.

Whoohoo!

Miracle of miracles! Allan finally slept in his own crib all night long! It’s such a relief that he’s finally figured out how to sleep by himself.

(Comment from old site:)

Date

Submitted by Brad Town on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 8:02am.

Please note the date of Helen’s post.

And the winner is … Mama!

Can someone please pass the disinfectant?

Allan had quite the exciting week, with the introduction of solids and all. Unfortunately, his bowels weren’t so excited. After the 2 1/2 tablespoons of rice cereal, I decided that it was time to introduce some sweet potatoes instead. On Thursday and Friday, Allan ate a container of stage one sweet potatoes. Surely this would jump start those bowels, right? By Saturday, I was really getting nervous. So was Brad. And most importantly, so was Allan. Somehow Brad convinced Allan that it was time to just let it go. When Brad changed his diaper, he was surprised to see only a small amount of substance. We knew more was coming. We could smell it in the air. The clock was ticking. Allan was miserable all day.

On Sunday Brad excitedly brought Allan to me and said, “This is for you.” I politely refused his offer to allow me the privilege of changing Allan’s poopie diaper. Alas, when Brad went to change him, there was Nothing! False alarm.

After Brad went upstairs for an afternoon nap, I placed Allan in the exersaucer so I could practice some music. Allan became fussy after a few minutes, so I decided to take him out. As I lifted him out of the saucer and onto the changing pad I noticed there were globules of poop running down his legs. Allan was so happy and giggly. Then I looked at the exersaucer. Surprisingly, Allan’s poop had propelled out of his onesie right onto the base of the saucer! There was no poop on the fabric seat! Katrina was kind enough to photograph this amazing feat.

I think I must have gone through half a bag of wipes in order to clean the boy off. He kept grabbing his dirty socks and spreading his mess everywhere.

As usual, Brad lucked out on this one.

(Comments from old site:)

That is just gross.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/01/2008 - 8:38am.

Poor Allan. He will surely have some very - uh- interesting pictures to show his family some day.

Ha!

Submitted by Helen Town on Tue, 04/01/2008 - 12:52pm.

It’s all part of my evil plan.

No poop yet

Allan in the pre-rice cereal days

So I began giving Allan rice cereal this week. The boy seriously poops like 3-4 runny stools a day under normal circumstances (with just breastmilk as his food source). on Monday, Allan ate 1 teaspoon of rice cereal. No poop. Tuesday, he ate another tablespoon. No poop. Wednesday, I gave him ANOTHER tablespoon. Still—no poop. That’s the definition of insanity, right? I knew rice was constipating, but I thought it would simply normalize his stools, not eliminate them!

By Thursday, I decided this was serious business. I called my neighbor, Vandana, and asked her to pick up some sweet potato baby food in the afternoon. Surely, that would loosen things up! Katrina fed him the entire container. Allan loved it. I’ve never had a child who actually finished an entire serving in one sitting at only six months of age!

Today I eagerly awaited the explosion of Allan’s bowels.

NOTHING.

Girls feeding Allan (updated)

Updated March 31, 2008: You can see a higher-resolution version with better audio and video at YouTube. I tried embedding that one here, but the YouTube player stretches the video vertically.

Allan eating rice cereal

(Comment from old site:)

Good job, Little Paddy!

Submitted by Nama (not verified) on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 7:25am.

Good job, Little Paddy! You’re eating like a pro!

Allan's Latest Stats

Today was Allan’s 4 month check-up. I think our pediatrician must have asked me at least two or three times, “So, you’re just breastfeeding? Really?” Allan was a whopping 18 lbs, 2.7 oz (above the 95th% for weight); 26 7/8ths inches long (also above the 95th%); and had a 17 inch head (75th%).

I love charting the information on a graph. It makes me feel as if I have some control over the situation. See, I can make big babies!

I’m thankful that I have another month before I have to switch car seats.

(Comment from old site:)

Ha! Addy had her 2-year

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/29/2008 - 12:38pm.

Ha! Addy had her 2-year appointment this morning and was a whopping 22 pounds, 8 ounces! In another couple of months he’ll have caught up to her and we can put them both in a play yard and watch them battle it out!

Doesn't it feel great to unsnap those jeans during the middle of the day?

Allan just turned 4 months yesterday. To celebrate, I decided that he was ready to put on his first big boy jeans. I think I waited too long. The 6-9 month pants are a little too snug for our big-bellied boy.

Oye, we make large children.

Elena’s concern for her little brother

A couple of weeks ago, our friends across the street, Vandana and Raj, invited us over for dinner. At one point during the night, we wanted Allan to be a little more isolated from the three older kids running around, so Raj fenced off a small area with Superyard for us and moved Allan into it.

Elena became very, very upset. We asked her what was wrong.

“That man, Mr. Raj, taked Mama’s baby, Allan, and put him in cage!”

Voice mail message from Helen

Allan’s two-month checkup was this morning. Helen left me a voice mail message.

“Here are the stats. Allan weighs 14 … yes, you heard it … 14 pounds, 1 ounce. Katrina was only 11 pounds, 12 ounces at this time. So he’s in the 90 to 95th percentile, which … head size is [15 5/8] inches, the 25 to 50th percentile. And his length is 24 3/8 inches, or 90 to 95th percentile, so he’s a lot longer than Katrina was. So, anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I’ll talk to you later. Bye bye! Elena, can you say bye bye?”

“Bye bye.”

Big Al!

I took Allan to see Dr Kendall for a recheck on his jaundice yesterday. When the medical technician took his weight, I was surprised to learn that Allan had gained 24 oz. since his appointment 14 days prior! The “norm” is gaining about an ounce a day. Apparently like our other children, Allan does not fall into the category of normal when it comes to weight gain. He was up to 8 lbs, 5.3 oz!

Since Allan was still looking about the same hue of yellow, Dr Kendall ordered a stat bilirubin. Luckily the labs showed that he most likely has a case of breastfeeding jaundice; no big deal. We’ll recheck in 2 weeks.

My Beaumont Hospital Brownie

After every delivery, I have enjoyed the savory sensation of eating the Beaumont Hospital Brownie. So, when I became pregnant for a third time, I couldn’t help but look forward to this tasty treat. Unfortunately, they ran out of brownies on Sunday, so I had to wait an ENTIRE DAY for a new batch. I was a little disappointed to find that the recipe had changed a bit, as there was no longer a frosting topping on the brownie. So, I saved it to take home and put a huge glob of chocolate frosting on it when I got home yesterday. Yum!

BIG NEWS!!!!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that it’s been 20 MINUTES, and our son is STILL SLEEPING in his bassinet up in our room! This is incredible news since neither Katrina nor Elena were fond of sleeping alone, and as a result the bassinet was more of a diaper storage aid than anything else.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed! :)

Baby #3: Allan Patrick Town

Allan Patrick Town was born at 3:51 a.m. at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 20 3/4 inches in length.

Thinking we were in for the long haul when I discovered I was only 2.5cm dilated at 11 or 11:30p.m. (? I think), we set out to walk the various halls at Beaumont at midnight. We met Brad’s parents and my mom there as they had started driving from Stevensville at about 9:30pm. Of course my mom seemed to be taking it harder than I was during our walking extravanganza. I guess I’d feel the same if my daughters were in labor.

By 2 a.m. I was ready to return to the unit. I was dilated to 4cm/100%effaced/-2 station. Upon admission at 2:30 or so (once again, I have no idea of exact times), I was ready to shower in order to help ease the pressure. There was no time. Dr Hakim’s exam showed that I was 8-9cm. After a few of those contractions I was ready to begin pushing. Except for a small charlie horse(should have eaten that banana!) and totally forgetting how to push (you’d think I’d be a pro by now!), it wasn’t too bad. Brad’s coaching and Amy H. RN’s reminders helped A LOT!

As was expected, I’m having trouble sleeping due to the frequent visits by staff, and occasional grunts from Allan. He made me a bit nervous because he was choking on some left-over amniotic fluid. I suctioned him, and he was alright for a while. Then it started again, and VOILA!—-he coughed up a huge amount. I think he feels better now. Hopefully he won’t need to be deleed (suctioned out with a long tube) like Katrina needed to multiple times for 2 days after her birth.

Allan’s cries are a lot different than the kitten-like howls that Katrina and Elena had after delivery. He appears pretty content now that he has eaten and ridden himself of the mucous.

I think Allan has copper-colored hair at this point with a touch of blonde as well. Oh, and his body is really as soft as velvet! I feel bad touching him with my sandpaper-like fingers.

I think now that the boys are sleeping, I will follow suit. I can’t wait to introduce the girls to their new baby brother.

(Comments from old site:)

HOORAY!

Submitted by Keri (not verified) on Sun, 09/23/2007 - 7:44pm.

Congrats! We are so happy someone other than us finally had a boy! WOOHOO! Glad it is going so well. Keep the pics coming!

Allan Patrick

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 09/23/2007 - 7:45pm.

Congratulations to all of you! Welcome, Allan!

Jamie Lynch

Baby Allan

Submitted by The Hoef Family (not verified) on Mon, 09/24/2007 - 5:14am.

Congratulations and we are so glad to have a new baby boy in the neighborhood all the boys will be so excited to show him how to play baseball, etc. (ok maybe in a few months).MH

Congrats!

Submitted by Rob (not verified) on Mon, 09/24/2007 - 10:17am.

Now Robby will have a little sidekick when terrorizing his sisters and cousins :)

YEAH

Submitted by Juanita (not verified) on Mon, 09/24/2007 - 11:43am.

We are soooo happy for you. He looks wonderful. Have fun with his plumbing. Remember to cover him up.

Love, Juanita, Carmen, and Family