Birthday Boy!

Harris turned ONE at the begining of August! Of course, he loved cake. Not much that boy doesn't eat!

G6pD update

In April, Connor got croup - bad. Poor guy swallowed a dime one day and the next day had croup. But he recovered very nicely. And what a sweetheart he was by trying hard to stay away from Harris in hopes that he didn't get sick. Well, keeping their germs separate is just impossible no matter how hard we try (these boys can't get enough of each other!)

Harris started feeling sick in the morning and by the end of the day his fever was 104.3! We managed to get things under control but after a few days of being sick, he stopped eating, got cranky, and started to look pale. A trip to the children's hospital for blood work showed that his hemoglobin had dropped to 6.2 - very low even for Harris who mostly stays between 8.7 and 9.7 The drop was triggered by the infection and fever. So our little vampire got a blood transfusion.

We were lucky enough to be able to have the procedure be outpatient but that meant that we were in a room with recliners full of other children receiving transfusions or chemotherapy. Harris needed to sleep so a nice nurse found us a room off to the side and Mike managed to get Harris to sleep through most of the transfusion which took about 2.5 hours. (100CCs of O).

Harris had blood work several times over the next few weeks and his levels climbed and have remained strong. Last test he was at 9.7. He had a check-up with the hematologist recently and while his spleen is enlarged, it is within the limits that are healthy for a G6pD patient.

We are so blessed to have a baby with G6pD and realize this every time we visit the children's hospital. On one trip we met a sweet 2 year old with cancer who could name all of her doctors. I can't imagine the emotions those parents must have.

So, HarBar is doing fabulously well. He is army crawling his way around the house and is slowly starting to climb (uh oh!). I'm pretty sure he hasn't turned down any food yet - seems to like everything! And we are learning how to survive in a legume-free home. Well, I guess I'm learning to survive. No one else seems to be an addict quite like me!

Update on the boys

These two are still best buddies & Harris thinks Connor does no wrong - even if it is painful! We have had some hot-hot days and playing in the water makes everyone happy! Here is Harris standing at the water table for about 45 minutes at only 10 months old!

And what a good time he had splashing himself! I rescued him from Connor dumping cups of cold water on his head!

Connor has shown a lot more interest in playing a lot of sports lately - golf, baseball, soccer. We believe he is left-handed in sports which means it might be a challenge for us to teach him some things. He has also been practicing riding his bike - with no training wheels. He'll be taking off in no time! And he has started playing soccer with some other friends his age at a local sports center. He likes to be fast!

Here are the best buddies! Harris is only chewing on his thumb!

Waterbugs! Pool time in Puerto Rico

My boys are WATERBUGS! Here are a few pool pics from our two week vaca in Puerto Rico! The picture with Aunt Beky is from ta saltwater pool at La Finca on the island of Vieques. Harris went in with Aunt Beky while Connor practiced walking under water and holding his breath.
The other 3 pictures are from the resort pool in San Juan. By the time we left there, Harris was so relaxed in the water that he needed a little umbrella for his milk!

Many more pictures to follow!

August 2010 - lots of plans!

August of this year is starting to look like a very busy month! Here is a look:

- Beky & Dan's Michigan wedding reception for a week (this has since been canceled so we will have to celebrate
extra at reception here in June!)

- August will be Connor's last month before preschool! How exciting! He talks about preschool almost every single day and has even asked when he can go look at his kindergarten!

- Harris will turn ONE in August! I already have a G6pD safe cake recipe and I have a feeling Harris will like Cake much more than Connor did on his first birthday!

Here are the boys on Harris' 6 month birthday



OH, YEAH one other thing that will keep us busy in August: Harris will become a big brother! Connor has already let him try on his Big Bro' shirt! Connor was very excited with the news but not until after we explained that this new baby was in addition to Harris - not replacing him!



You read that right, our family has been blessed with a new little one due to arrive August 12. Drs have told us that it's a good bet that this one will arrive a little early just like his/her big brothers! But we aren't going to count on it! 8-)
And for those of you keeping track, yes this is 5 pregnancies in 5 years. Two boys to snuggle everyday, two girls at home with God, and new life growing bigger and stronger in a safe, warm place.

WE ARE BLESSED! (and tired, he he!)

Diapers - a guest post!

Hi, it's me, Harris! Mama asked me to write something on the blog like Connor used to do all the time. Well, I'm going to write about something very close to me - my diapers! I am very picky about what I use and why shouldn't I be! That's my skin down there!

Before I was born Mama & Daddy bought a fancy new washer that has a setting for cloth diapers so they decided to do a little research on these fancy diapers. They learned that they would save money in the long run by washing and reusing instead of buying and disposing. Plus, the manufactoring & shipping of a cloth diaper ONCE is much better for the Earth than the manufactoring & shipping of disposable (we call them sposies) after sposie for 3 years. Even the water used to wash my diaps is nothing compared to the pollution and energy use in making sposie after sposie. Also, once I become a big brother, my little sibs can use my diaps saving even more money and energy!
Besides, isn't this so much cuter than something that will just be thrown away!

Here is my original diaper stash. I have since gotten some new ones plus outgrown my first pre-folds. Plus, Mama got a fancy new wet bag for going to playdates. Oh, and Mama & Daddy use cloth wipes on me, too. I guess I'm a little spoiled on the pampering...he he!

And, because we are cute and best buddies, here is a picture of Connor and me snuggle-bugging. Connor only used disposable diapers. I don't know how he did it! I am very uncomfortable in a sposie and wake up a lot more at night when I have one on. I guess Connor's bottom is a little tougher than mine!

(Note from my Mama: Here is a good calculator to determine if you will save money by using cloth. And a spreadsheet to determine how much diapering will cost you over 3 years. Keep in mind that the cost varies depending on many factors including types of both cloth and sposies used.)

5 months old!

Harris is five months old today! (Connor flashback)

Harris has discovered his tongue, likes to talk baby talk, LOVES toys (Connor pretty much ignored them at this age), and has tried baby cereal and carrots. If we don't get the cereal to his mouth fast enough, he hits the bowl!

Harris may love his toys and his food but his FAVORITE thing of all is Connor. Harris watches everything Connor does and most of the time can be cheered up just by Connor talking to him. Of course, if Harris is loud enough, Connor gets frustrated with the crying and leaves the room! Oh, Harris cries A LOT more than Connor did at this age. Harris wakes up angry most of the time - usually because he is hungry. And he doesn't calm down until the food is in his mouth! (His G6PD D causes a fast metabolism that could be the reason for the angry hunger!)

Harris and his Mama have a lot in common - if we're hungry, we're mad. If we're tired and not in bed, we're mad. 8-)
Harris already loves reading books. He is not happy unless he can see the pages and then he will sit and pay attention to book after book. We try to bring Harris in to Connor's nighttime stories each day.
Slowly our little guy is becoming ticklish and sometimes when he is playing by himself on his tummytime mat or in his swing, he laughs out loud! And of course he loves to snuggle. He sleeps on his belly in the crib for most of the night but around 5 AM he comes into our room and snuggles back to sleep. Harris still wakes up once a night - Connor slept 12 hours straight through by this age. (And Connor still loves his sleep, almost 4 and still takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday.)

Did I mention the drool? We did not experience this with Connor! No teeth yet but could this be the start?

So, our boys are little opposites! Well, except for all the love they get! Happy 5 months Harris!

The missing Christmas card..

We didn't send out Christmas cards this year. If we had, this probably would have been our picture. Connor is very cooperative for pictures lately and loves posing with Harris.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that we didn't get around to doing Christmas cards since we never even mailed out Harris' birth announcements. Kind of strange since I'm obsessed with taking pictures AND we had professional newborn shots done of our little Baby Bob.

Here are a few pics from Christmas. There are many, many pictures but these are just a few highlights.

Harris got a homemade hat from Aunt Beky and I took a million pictures of him wearing it. We love homemade!

Speaking of homemade, here's Har-Bar in an elf hat I made for Connor's first Christmas. Harris actually ripped a little paper off of his presents but he still needed some help.

We spent Christmas Eve at Mommom and Poppop's for dinner (and massive amounts of legos!) and then went to Mass. Poppop, Mike, Connor, and Harris all fell asleep during the 10 PM service! Mommom and I managed to stay awake!

Christmas day we had breakfast at our house with Uncle Mark and Whitney and then headed to Memom and Dada's. Some illnesses tried to bring down our Christmas spirits but we were blessed with a lot of answered prayers.

The day after Christmas Aunt Beky and Uncle Dan joined us at Mommom and Poppop's. Connor opened his new 'Connor sized' guitar and started strumming immediately! 'Cowboy songs' are his favorite, of course!

We read the Christmas Story to Connor often and make sure he knows the real reason for the holiday. At one point he said to me, 'Mommy, I know it's about Jesus but I really like presents!' We explained to him that Jesus is the best present and we celebrate him by sharing gifts with others. I'm not sure if he understands completly yet, but hopefully we are building a good foundation for him and Harris.

We hope that your Christmas was blessed!

November???

These boys can't get enough of each other! If Harris cries, Connor comes running to help cheer him up! We got a popcorn maker and Connor thinks this is how you get every last kernel!

Grandma and Grandpa Gene came down from NY and we all had a very nice visit!

Sometimes the only way to get Harris to calm down is to give him to Connor

Harris turned 3 months on 11/7. Here's a flashback to Connor at that age. (This pic is of Harris)

What happened to October?

Minutes before we left for Harris' Christening on 10/18, I lost our media card - our ONLY media card. I'm pretty sure I dropped it in the trash. Funny because I did the same to my cell phone a few months after Connor was born. So, I had to ask others to share pictures and I didn't get all that I wanted...Here are a few:

We had a beautiful day on Strubble Trail. Can't get enough of that place in the fall.

We took the train into Phila with our good buddy Colin to see a Disney exhibit. Tons of cute pics of Connor & Colin (holding hands,hugging!) but I haven't had a chance to ask Colin's mama if I can post them yet. She has been a little busy lately!

Baby Bob BOO! showed up on Halloween....Along with Super Why and his Super Readers!

2 months old!

Harris turned 2 months old on October 7. That went fast and he is really growing! At his 2 month check-up he was 10lbs 7.5 oz (21st precentile) and 22 1/8 inches (19th percentile) long. Of course, his head was in the 44th percentile. Little Bobblehead! Connor was only about 8 pounds at 2 months old so we think of Harris as our little chunker!



He hasn't had a blood transfusion since his second one on 9/1. His hemoglobin level has gone down slightly (lowest 7.8 since last transfusion) but has mainly held steady and gone up slightly. He still goes for bloodwork 2x a week but if the levels continue to climb, the frequency of blood work will decrease which will be great! Right now our plan is pretty simple - Harris and I get up & he eats. Then we bundle up and head to the hospital for bloodwork while Mike and Connor sleep/eat oats/get ready for the day. Since we are regulars in the hospital lab, we know a lot of the employees and some even make a special stop in to say hello to Harris. When we get home, Mike leaves for work.

When Mike gets home from work, Harris is usually just waking up from a nap. I think he already knows our family schedule because he wakes up and then won't settle down until Mike holds him. He is happy as can be getting snuggles from his daddy!

Introducing...

Harris Robert Cianciulli was born on 8/7/09 at 11:06 AM. 7lbs, 9oz, 20 inches long. Born at 36 wks, 5 days, he was 4 days earlier than Connor was but is still a whole pound heavier!

We all know that Connor is a kisser and a hugger and Harris got the full Connor treatment on day one! Connor then left for a special big boy trip to Memom and Dada's house. Before he left the hospital he said, 'Can I take the new baby with me?' So cute! Connor has told everyone that he will be calling Harris 'Baby Bob.' We love it!

Harris is less than an hour old in this picture. Chubby cheeks - opposite of skinny minnie Connor at this age! Before Harris was 10 hours old, he was in the NICU under lights for very early and very high jaundice. He is still in the NICU now at 48 hours under the lights but making fabulous progress. He gets a Mama-feeding every 3 hours and that's the only time he's allowed out of the lights for now. I will be staying an extra day in the hospital to be with him and depending on his progress, Harris will stay an extra day or two.

Here are Mama's boys! Mike is staying at the hospital and despite getting very little sleep on a very uncomfortable bed, is still an AMAZING father and husband! He gets to take Harris' temperature and change his diaper every 3 hours at feeding time and he does the hand-off from lights to me for nursing. Not to mention helping me with everything - even putting on my socks!

Harris is the biggest baby in the NICU right now and we are so Blessed that he is only in there for high billirubin. There are a few very tiny babies who are unable to feed, in incubators...
We thank God for our beautiful Harris and for his decreasing billirubin levels.