b e n j a m i n f a l k e n b e r g

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  Tongue-Tied...Surgery!

  Dad 20:10 pm on April 13, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: anesthetic (4), doctor (6), eating, frenulectomy (4), frenulum (4), pediatrician (15), speech (5), surgery (4), talking (6), tongue (4), tongue-tied (4)

  I think we’ve mentioned before that Benjamin was born a bit tongue-tied. The bit of tissue that connects his tongue to the bottom of his mouth (called the frenulum, and we all have this), is attached much too close to the tip of his tongue; it prevents him from sticking his tongue out all the way, and could be impacting his ability to speak properly.

  In some babies, it not only can cause speech issues, but may affect eating. Benjamin never has had any problems eating or nursing, so it’s not that bad for him, but his tongue is still rather tightly bound to the bottom of his mouth, and you can see his poor little forked tongue when he tries to stick it all the way out.

  In less than a week, on April 19th, his tongue will finally be free. After discussions with his pediatrician, we’ve scheduled Benjamin for a frenulectomy to correct the problem. As it turns out, he’s old enough now that they have to actually knock him out with a general anesthetic/laughing gas, and then snip the thing. The ENT (ears-nose-throat) doctor doing the procedure has told us Benjamin will also get a stitch or two to help prevent reattachment of the tissue and help maintain the freedom he’ll have.

  So that’s great news. As endearing and cute as his little forked tongue is, it will be nice to have this finally remedied.

  The only thing that’s, well, obscene about this is how much the doctors/etc are charging. By the time we’ve had our initial visit, the surgery itself and all the related trimmings (laughing gas, etc.), and the follow-up visit, the total charges (before insurance) will exceed approximately $1500. For what is basically a simple half-second snip with a pair of scissors of some tissue that Ben won’t even feel being cut due to a lack of nerve endings in the area…

  It seems a bit, umm… excessive, really.

  Sure, we get that he needs to be knocked out so they can actually do the work, but wow. The initial consult to get the ’surgery’ set up was billed at (pre-insurance, again) $275. The ENT did–literally–nothing! Some racket they’ve got goin’ on there, for sure…

  Anyway, wish our little guy well for his first-ever surgery!

   

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  Haircut and Brownie

  Stacey and Alex 19:20 pm on February 21, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: age (20), birthday (13), eating, food (13), haircut (2), party (8), solids (11), table food (3)

  The hair…has been cut!

  It wasn’t really THAT long… but there were some ‘wings’ that were sticking out behind his ears that were apparently driving his mother crazy.

  Twelve bucks and literally about twelve snips later, we were done. He sat in Stacey’s lap, and didn’t raise a stink, cry, moan, wiggle around, nothing. He sat there, very politely, and let the stylist cut his hair. She even went around his ears and his neck with an electric trimmer, too, and he was fine with all of it.

  After dinner he had a brownie with some cocoa buttercream frosting…his “birthday cake”, basically. He didn’t really care for it… It’s really the first sweet thing other than fruit that he’s had. He seemed to be OK with the brownie itself, but the frosting…not so much; he was mostly making funny ‘what the..?’-style faces when he got some in his mouth.

  Stacey and I noticed we didn’t have any candles, so we stuck a lit wooden matchstick in his brownie instead. Actually, we went through about three of them by the time we got all the pictures taken…

  All in all, a very good day! We’re having a small party on Saturday for him yet, too. Should be fun!

   
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  The Mouse

  Stacey and Alex 0:08 am on January 21, 2007 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: age (20), animals (3), cousins (6), Disney, eating, flying, food (13), grandparents (9), playing (30), sitting (13), sleeping (19), toys (8), vacation (3)

  Didn’t really get a chance to mention it before, but for Christmas, Lyle and Vicki popped for all of the grandkids and their parents to go with them to Disney World in Florida.

  We just got back on Thursday. It was a great trip! Really good experience for Benjamin; lots of socialization, lots of animals and sights and sounds for him to experience. He seemed to really enjoy himself!

  We were really concerned that we might have some trouble with him as far as naps and food were concerned, but he managed to nap when he needed it, falling asleep and staying asleep during some louder show finales, for example. He ate well, and he slept well during the overnights. He handled the later evenings just fine, and loved all the attention and company, playing with his cousins, etc.

  The most impressive aspect of the entire trip was how well he handled flying! While everyone else drove from WI down to FL, we ended up flying down, because 20 hours in a car seemed like a bad idea with an 11-month old. He was perfect on the plane in every way. Didn’t cry or become upset during takeoffs or landings, and lasted the entire flight with no trouble, despite being a lap passenger and not having a seat or an opportunity to get down and crawl around at all, being held the entire time, etc. He ate, he drank, he made faces and flirted with the stewardesses and other passengers…he is such a great social being!

  We ended up with a few souvenirs from the trip, and a few pictures, too. We’ll try to post some of the pictures soon.

   
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  Some updates again...

  Stacey and Alex 22:48 pm on November 27, 2006 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: age (20), clapping (3), eating, food (13), height (7), pediatrician (15), playing (30), shots (6), sleeping (19), solids (11), standing (7), table food (3), talking (6), teething (9), walking (5), waving (3), weight (8)

  This morning Dad’s working at his desk when he hears a repetitive noise behind him; he’s not sure what it is, so of course he turns to look…

  It’s Benjamin, CLAPPING. We’ve been practicing clapping with him a little bit, but this was the first time he’s really done it on his own, deliberately, that we’ve noticed. He was watching his hands, as if studying the movements and the resulting sounds; it was very, very cute.

  He went in for his nine-month wellness check with the pediatrician today, too. Stats:

  • height: 28.5 inches tall
  • weight: 19 lbs 15 ounces
  • head: 18 inches around

  Everything went well; he’s average weight, and slightly above-average height.

  We were asked a number of questions about his development, and the only question we couldn’t answer yes to was “does he wave goodbye to people?”. He really doesn’t, but he also doesn’t really ever see Mom or Dad leave separately. Well, occasionally, but not that often…not often enough that he would have a lot of practice with the goodbye-waving, in any case. We do practice with him when we’re out and he’s socializing with other parents and kids at a store or something, and around his relatives.

  The funny thing? Tonight, just a few hours after his doctor visit, Mom was taking him to bed, and he waved goodnight to his Dad! Very deliberate, and he even repeated it a few moments later. VERY COOL! We also blow kisses at him, so we figure he’ll pick that up on his own at some point soon, too. Very exciting!

  He got his second flu shot today. Must have been a clean stick, as he barely cried. He takes shots pretty well.

  He started calling his Mom “mama” a couple days ago! Dad’s with him most of the time during the day, so Dad’s kinda bummed it wasn’t “Dada”, but Dad will survive. ;) In the meantime, since he’s figured it out, Mom’s feeling both excited and a little frustrated, because he wants her ALL the time now, and there’s no denying it when he’s asking for her BY NAME. Hah!

  He’s also able to take a few steps walking now! He walked about 5 steps tonight for Mom during the football game, before he plopped onto his butt, but it’s progress!

  Stuff that makes parents so proud…

  He’s moved on to stage-three baby foods and table foods now, too. There are of course a handful of foods he still can’t eat, to avoid potential allergies, but not a big deal… We’re eager to get away from the baby foods and let him start eating “real” foods.

  He’s also been teething like CRAZY, and overnights haven’t been very fun… He’s got about 6 teeth now, and he’s gnawing on everything, and drooling like a maniac…

   
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  Thanksgiving

  Stacey and Alex 11:15 am on November 26, 2006 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: eating, food (13), solids (11), table food (3), Thanksgiving

  It was great, but a little overwhelming in the end for Benjamin, with it spread out over a couple locations and several days.

  Thanks to everyone for their kind words about his growth and development and everything. :)

  Benjamin enjoyed some sweet potatoes, some turkey, mashed potatoes, and a few other traditional items… Oh, and PUMPKIN PIE! He ate nearly half of his Dad’s piece!

  We’re looking forward now to Christmas!

  Hopefully everyone’s having a great holiday season. We look forward to seeing and hearing from all of you. :)

   
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  Sooo darn sloppy!

  Stacey and Alex 10:12 am on September 4, 2006 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bumbo (3), eating, food (13), solids (11), teething (9), thumbsucking (4)

  OK, so he’s eating solids, and eating quite well. That’s great. He’s also teething, and that’s great too… but he’s soooooo messy now when he eats!

  He’s recently decided that he should stick his left thumb or another finger (but 90 percent of the time, it’s his left thumb) in his mouth after he gets a spoonful of food–before he’s chewed, swirled or swallowed the food at all–and suck on that digit until the cows come home.  And in the process of doing this, he ends up slathering food all over himself, the table, his Bumbo seat… Our favorite places to find food after a meal is in his ears or in clumps in his hair.

  Oh–eating now takes forever!

  It’s something to do with teething, we’re told, but we watch him make a HUGE mess and while it’s sort of endearing and funny to watch, you then realize he’s not someone else’s kid and that it’s happening to you, and it’s your mess to clean up… At that point, you feel like you’re regressing somehow with his feedings and learning to eat.

  We’re trying really hard not to take the whole thing too seriously or personally, but wow!