Chillin

Connor, here is a shot of you chilling on my stomach while I try out the new Blogger iPhone app.

The ladies

Jacob, you are already in high demand with the girls. This morning when I dropped you off at school, two little girls in your class literally started fighting over you. Your "girlfriend," Emily won handily. :) -Dad

Smiling baby

Untitled, a photo by ben.truitt on Flickr.

Connor -
You've just begun to smile for us in the past couple of weeks. Mostly you are still pretty serious, but here is a nice smile shot. :)

-Dad

Birthday party on Flickr

Untitled, a photo by ben.truitt on Flickr.

Jacob -

Some pictures from your birthday part are up on Flickr now. Clicking this photo should jump you in to the relevant section of the photo stream.

You had a blast at the party. You say your favorite part was being towed around in the wagon, but to my mind, it must have been sitting on this police car toy. You spent the majority of the time there "driving" it around amongst your friends and their parents.

Your only regret of the party is that you didn't play in the cool ball pit. The night after the party, as you were falling asleep, you suddenly sat bolt-upright in bed and exclaimed: "Oh no! I forgot to play in the ball pit!" Next time, dude, next time.

-Dad

Emily is my girlfriend

Jake, Today you came home and announced: "Emily is my girlfriend." we suspected this already, of course, having recently heard that Emily told one of the female teachers at school that she (the teacher) was not allowed to talk to you because you were hers (Emily's that is). Apparently the feeling is now mutual. :) -Dad

Birthday

Jacob, this past Saturday was your 3rd birthday. We had a great party thanks to your mom. Lots of friends from in and out of school came. Your favorite part was being paraded around in a wagon while your friends sang happy birthday. Pictures soon hopefully. Happy birthday, little man. -Dad

July 4th at the beach

Jacob, Since watching the fireworks at the beach the other night, you often ask me to tell you the story of what we did that day. Too hard to type on the iPhone, but here is the video. :)

-Dad

I'm king of the world!

Jake, There are several words that you say that cause your mom and me to remark "we really should record that cute pronunciation before he grows out of saying it that way." One of these words is 'world.' Here is a short video of you being forced to say that word, for the sake of posterity:

-Dad

"hiding"

Jacob, Here is a pretty funny video of you "hiding" from us. Hiding is one of your favorite games to play. Each evening includes at least 5 minutes of hiding under the covers of your bed, then popping out to "surprise" your mom and me.

As this video shows, you may not yet understand that the fact that your eyes are shut does not prevent others from seeing you. Pretty cute.

On an unrelated note, you are such a great big brother. At dinner you request that Connor sit next to you (in his bouncer). You never let more than an hour pass without sweetly hugging your brother.
-Dad

Nice to meet you Connor!

Jacob - I took this video of you learning that your little brother's name is now officially 'Connor James Truitt.' You continue to be an amazingly wonderful big brother. Love, Dad

Connor and his Koala

Mason (not really), Here is a picture of you with your Koala. The day before your brother Jacob was born, I got him a stuffed animal he subsequently named "Baa Baa.". The day before you were born, Jacob and I got you this Koala. Looking forward to seeing what you name him. Today I am trying to use the name Connor for you, and also trying to convince your mom to consider William. She is behind the program though and still thinking about Dylan, though Connor remains her favorite at the moment. You are officially the easiest baby in the entire world. I think you've cried fewer than five times in your whole life, and never for longer than 30 seconds. You've also opened your eyes only five times or so, which probably means it is way too soon to draw any conclusions from the data so far. :) -Dad

What an awesome doctor!

Carter - What a totally great cardiologist you have. He teaches as the med school here, and gave probably the most thorough and clear explanation I've ever heard from a medical professional! The status is that you've got a small VSD or Ventricular Septal Defect and also a small PFO or Patent Formane Ovale. The PFO is no biggie and totally expected at this age (see previous post for explanation). The VSD is also probably not a huge deal, but something we'll keep an eye on over the next months and years. The doctor said 1-5% of kids have a VSD, and most grow out of it. Many olympic althelets have worse defects, and in the event that it doesn't fix itself, the worse consequence is probably going to be no tounge piercings (too bad!) and some doctors think no SCUBA diving. I'm going to update with lots more detail about what the doctor explained to us about these two issues, but typing with thumbs is too tough for now. Love, Dad

I think I found it

William, I think I found the source of all the mounting healthcare costs! Medical bureaucracy! We've had to register four different ways and you still have yet to see a doctor. First, do no harm, but before that, make sure they are insured. Dad

Headed to pediatric cardiologist

Max - We're taking you across town to another hospital that specializes in kids with heart murmurs to figure out what's up. More soon! Dad

American idol

Braeden, (not really), you spent the night sleeping very peacefully. Occasionally you sing for us as if you want to be in the opera or on American Idol, but mostly you are the world's easiest infant so far. We'll see if that continues because as I type this, a man is carting you off for a circumcision. Ouch! Just before that knife-wielding maniac stole you, another Doctor came to check on your general condition and heart. She said you are looking great, but the murmur remains. She is going to consult with a cardiologist, but like the other doctors is pretty unconcerned. Your mom says it may be VSD, which is a small defect in the ventricles. Unclear if that would even merit correction. More data required. In the mean time, you've passed the second standardized test of your life with flying colors: your hearing is perfect, as was your APGAR score. Stanford, here you come! Ginger wants all of your fans on the interwebs to know that there is no reason to worry. I'm signing off now to go get your Nana and aunt Sam so that they can meet you! Love, Dad

Small heart murmur

Gavin, (Well not really, just trying this name out), Tonight we learned that you have a small heart murmur that the doctors expect will go away on it's own, hopefully tomorrow. The human body is so amazing. When you were in the womb, a special valve called the ductus arteriosis bypasses the lungs since they are no help to you inside amniotic fluid. After babies are born, this valve turns off (on?) so that you can get oxygen from your lungs. In your case the valve isn't acting right, we think, since this is the most common cause of a heart murmur on day one. We hope this will clear up tomorrow, but we will keep you posted! Dad

Pictures

Mommy and baby. Baby More to follow

It's a boy!

?????? James Truitt was born at 8:04, weighing 8lbs 4oz. Baby and Mommy are both happy and healthy. Labor was difficult because the meds didn't have time to take effect, but despite repeatedly announcing "I can't do this," Gnger was awesome and had him out after just three contractions. We're waiting for him to tell us his first name.

Water broke!

The meds took a while because of shift change. Epidural is in now. Water just broke. "make it stop!"

Dylan

Dylan, This is currently my favorite name. Your mom still likes Connor. The contractions are getting more powerful now and 3-4 minutes apart. Your mom's doctor, whom she also works with, slept at the hospital last night. She got lots of sleep because nothings happened yet. Ginger has said the word epidural 10 times in the last minute. I'd better go Dad

Anderson

Little Anderson, The sun is starting to rise over your birthday. Mom says "the contractions aren't strong enough!" No real news to report. Back to sleep. -dad

Declan

Number 2, For the record Ginger just agreed that your name is Declan. (i.e., I asked, "is Declan okay?", and she said, "Yes," without calling you any other name.) -Dad

Contractions

Contractions just woke us up. All is well. 7 minutes apart. Doctor is here, awesome nurse. Back to sleep.

Jake and Mom pre-labor

picture

Mother's Day Surprise!

Jacob, Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and a wonderful present is on his way to your mom (and the rest of us)! As I type this, Ginger is getting her first dose of Pitocin, and exclaiming "I'm not ready fir the pain!" Your little brother wasn't supposed to arrive for another two weeks, but today fluid levels dropped low enough that your mom, her doctor and fellow residents decided it is time to accelerate the plan. This morning, you told our friend Lakshmi that your baby brother will get here in "one more minute." You weren't far off. This kid needs a name still, so friends, leave your suggestions in comments to this post! More soon, Dad