Back to UCSF...but for good reasons!

Today Cole got a chance to return to the place of his birth, UCSF. Or, more precisely, the place across the street from the hospital where he was born - the UCSF obstetrics clinic, where mom spent many a Friday being viewed and probed and prodded in order to keep him inside about 16 weeks longer than he apparently wanted.

Most importantly, he got to visit with our great doctor, Anjali Kaimal.

We feel so lucky to have found her as an OB while we went through this difficult pregnancy! And Cole took a liking to her right away - not surprising since she's the first face he saw when he was born into the world - and since she's a huge part of the reason he was born so happy and healthy all the way out at 35 weeks and 6 days.

While we're at it, there are at least three other people at UCSF who share the credit for the happy ending of it all:

Dr. Russell Laros, who decided we should go ahead with the surgery at 21 weeks (Labor Day weekend), despite the fact that others in the hospital thought I was too far along in the process of miscarrying to even try...

Dr. Mari-Paule Thiet, who actually placed the cerclage - doing so successfully despite what apparently were pretty long odds given what things looked like when she got in there...

Cathy Gleason, the ultrasound technician who noticed that my cervix was effacing slightly at my routine ultrasound visit on August 17th - only 18 weeks and 6 days along - the day my infamous bedrest started...

And so many more people who interacted with us and helped us along the way.

We feel so lucky to have had the wonderful people of UCSF working to help us through to the very end! Thanks to all of you.

p.s. - we might have gotten Cathy's last name wrong - if we did, sorry! :)

Marriage

Here's to all our friends and family living in California who, as of today, are able to be legally married if they so choose. We knew we picked this day to be married 6 years ago for a reason! Congratulations to all of you. We wish you as many good times and as much happiness as we have experienced since our wedding. It's about time!

6 months old.

Hard to believe it, but today is Cole's half birthday already.

9 months ago, we weren't sure we'd even be able to celebrate this day. And here we are! It has been six amazing months. So much change, so much learning, and so much fun. Definitely lots to celebrate.

Cole's first tooth broke through the surface yesterday - we'd include a picture but it's pretty impossible to take one at this point, because a) the tooth is still barely visible, and b) Cole's pretty big on covering up those gums with his tongue every time we try to get a look. Stay tuned for a picture once it grows in more, though.

He's still loving solid food - so far, he's tried rice cereal, apple, carrot, avocado, pear, and, as of today, peas. Apple seems to be his favorite. Rice cereal, not so much. And here's what he does with avocado:

Oh, and one more update: as of today, we've committed to stop swearing (at least in Cole's presence). We're not exactly sure when kids start really learning words (hoping it's not long before 6 months) but we figure we don't want his first word to be one that starts with an "f." Unless it's "fabulous."

He's still growing strong - started right around Maine and he's already stretching to Iceland! Here are the last 3 months - click here for the months before that (was he EVER that tiny?)

Today:

5 months:

4 months (he's happy in this one!):
Well, that's it for now on this turkey weekend. (Today's Cole's half birthday, tomorrow's father's day - happy 1st father's day Daddy! - and Monday is our 6 year wedding anniversary.) Like we said, lots to celebrate.

More later...happy father's day to all those dads out there.

Glossary of Terms

Since December, we've come up with quite a few terms we use to describe things happening in the Ambrocente household. So that all of you can understand our new terminology, we've decided to post a glossary.


bobblehead - quickly rolling or nodding the head, before the neck muscles have developed sufficiently to hold the massive noggin with any measure of control


Curly shuffle - circular "running in place" while lying on one's side in a crib. Often accompanied by the sound "boop-boop-boop-boop-boop!" See the Three Stooges.


doin' the monkey - being burped in a sitting position, with the palm of the burper's hand across the upper chest and thumb and fingers wrapping around the sides, so that arms and legs hang out, giving the appearance of a gangly monkey


monkey surgery - sitting for up to an hour in a bumbo seat, closely examining and sometimes chewing on a stuffed monkey lying on (and occasionally falling off) the tray in order to determine what ails him


paranoid face - looking side to side, wide-eyed, with a quivering lip and a very paranoid look (often with no apparent reason)


pleco - latching on, in the act of hunger, to any human surface, such as a nose, cheek, or arm, as a plecostomus fish does to the glass of a fish tank


poopy face - the adorably un-self-conscious scrunched baby face that signals a diaper deposit of the #2 variety. Often accompanied by an "uunnnhhhhhhh" sound


popcorn - a burst of quick, loud farts, sounding roughly like popcorn popping


Popeye - sleeping with one eye partially open. Freaky, but apparently normal in babies


splurt - otherwise known as "razz" or "raspberry." Making a farting noise with one's lips, usually against the skin of another person (especially fun on the stomach)


Stevie - swaying of the head broadly back and forth, apparently in an impression of Stevie Wonder


Stretchie McGee - usually immediately after eating or waking up, the stretching of the face, neck, and shoulder muscles, accompanied by raised head, pursed lips, a wrinkled forehead, and a fully extended neck. Unfortunately quite difficult to capture on film


Woody Woodpecker - the notification of hunger, by repeatedly bashing nose and mouth into the body of anyone with breasts, like a woodpecker, until provided with a nipple

Surely there will be more additions to the list in the future..........stay tuned.