First of many?

Nursemaid's Elbow...look it up.

So, Sam was playing by the coffee table while we were watching TV on Monday night. All of a sudden, he gets up crying and walks over to me with his left arm limp. It wasn't a death scream, but just a sob that usually goes away in a minute after he gets over it. However, this time, he did not get over it. He sat with me for a while and continued to not use his arm. I checked it out by pressing on the bone and feeling around and didn't feel any brokenness, and he didn't cry when I did this. He only cried when I (or he) tried to move it.

This prompted a call to Lauren's mom, who told us to ice it and put him to bed. Leslie said a call to the pediatrician would not hurt so we did that. The pediatrician said it sounded like nursemaid's elbow, but we should take him to urgent care anyway.

Nursemaid's elbow is caused by pulling the hand of a child that separates the forearm bone out of the elbow socket. Bones have knots at the end of them to keep them in the sockets, however children under four do not have such large knots so pulling them out of the ligaments is easier. Apparently, this is more normal than you think and there is no lasting damage. I guess Sammy got his arm caught in the coffee table and he tried to yank it out.

So, I look up the diagnosis, symptoms and treatment and was ready to put the bone back in place, but Lauren said we should let a qualified expert perform the operation on our first child. Whatever!

Keep in mind that I just put a load of laundry in at 8:45 (in the communal laundry). So, I take out the wet laundry while Lauren packs up Sam and we head to Urgent Care. There were not that many people in the waiting room so we got to see the doctor rather quickly. She checked it out and popped it back in place. I could have done the same thing with less hassle, but I guess I have to earn that trust in the medical field.

So, Sam fussed after she repositioned the bone and she told us to wait a little to see if he starts using his arm again. Sure enough, five minutes later he started to push us away and grabbed the stickers that she gave him...all better! We get down to leave and Sam jumps down and walked out the door ready to explore this new place...back to normal.

So this was the first trip to urgent care, we can only pray it will be the last...but, it won't be.

Iko Iko

Rockin' in the Free World

Here is a picture of Sam rocking out on his air guitar.

Slipping into old habits...not posting.

So, Halloween has come and gone. Sam was Crush from Nemo and, I have to admit, that he was much cuter than the real version. Here is the picture of the cousins...

Sam had a blast with the trick-or-treating. We went to Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia while it was still light. All (or most) of the business along the stretch were giving out candy and there were gobs of kids taking advantage.

Then, Lauren dropped me off at my parents so I could watch the beloved Trojans lay a stinker on the Oregon field. She then continued on to her parents to continue the "Diabetes Walk" in her old neighborhood. Apparently, Sam wanted to walk for most of the beginning and would not get out of his stroller for the second half. Mommy was exhausted.

Then, Lauren brought the boy back to my parents. We finished up the Trojan beatings and ate dinner out in the back. Jim got the A/V together and we watched "The Skeleton Key" under the stars. That song is still in my head...

"My grandma and your grandma...sitting by the fire.

My grandma said to your grandma, I'm gonna set this house on fire.

Tell me now, hey ya, hey ya. Achi Achi aye..."

Such a great evening...except for that whole USC loss thing.

The Decades of Injuries...

I have noticed that the major injuries in my life have come at the end of each decade. With this decade coming to a close, I realized that I had not had a major injury and I was not looking forward to 2010 and the injury I had to live through to get there.

In August 1977, I was a fat fetus that was so fat that I broke my collarbone during the process. Apparently, my manliness showed early because I did not cry much which is why Mom and Dad did not think anything of it. I don't know how they figured it out, but they did...and the legend begins.

In 1989, we went on a bike ride to the beach. At the end of the bike ride, we played a full tackle football game that existed without incident...until the last play of the game. There was fumble that I recovered, but my loving brother decided to jump on me. I hear a pop and immediate pain in my shoulder...the same collarbone I dislocated twelve years earlier. The best part of the story is that my "girlfriend" at the time (girlfriend is in parenthesis because it's not really a girlfriend until at least your teenage years) toilet papered our house and the story that went around was that I fell out of the tree taking the toilet paper down. I never denied it, and made the girl feel horrible. We aren't together anymore.

In June 1998, my last summer, I was playing shortstop on Team Manana and I took a dive for a ball and rolled my wrist. Immediately, I felt pain but it wasn't enough to stop playing. I finished the game (even batted) and on the way home, my mother (who luckily still went to the games) thought it a good idea to get an x-ray...just to be safe. We went to County and they did an x-ray but couldn't decipher it. They sent the x-ray to our orthopedic doctor for us to check with him in the morning. I was expecting him to say that it was no problem. However, he made the decision to put me in a full arm cast for six weeks and a short cast for six more weeks...keep in mind, this was my last summer off of my life and I had to spend twelve weeks in a cast. Also, keep in mind this was my right arm that was now not able to touch my face...which includes shaving, brushing my teeth and combing my hair. It was a long six weeks.

In October 2009, I was playing outfield for Team Manana. The second to last inning I was moved to the outfield from shortstop and I ran to catch a fly ball. On the second step, I feel a pop in my right leg and immediately know that I had just pulled my hamstring. I had never done that in my life and I immediately knew that I did not like it. Luckily, this was near the end of the game, however I knew I was up second for the next inning. Rudy gets a base hit and I drag my leg to the plate and stand on my left leg with my bat on my shoulder, praying for four balls and a limp to first. I get it, and a pinch-runner while spending the rest of the inning stretching my leg out. The bottom of the inning I volunteer for first base and the first batter (of course) hits a grounder to me. I struggle to bend down and hobble to the bag for the out. Even the umpire laughs at me for my bad luck. Oh well...

Now, this injury is nowhere near the previous three, but I am hoping this is the injury to take me to 2010...I'll take this over a broken bone any decade. Picture me knocking on wood as you read this.

The NERVE!!

A haircut was much overdue, so the deed was done over the weekend...much to the dismay of my lovely wife. She likes when my hair is long, I like it short. It is a never ending battle, but I always win because...it is my hair!!

But, the nerve of the woman doing the trimming said a dye treatment could do me well, because of my obvious graying hair. For one thing, LADY, it is not obvious. The two or three blades of gray on my scalp does not constitute a full head of dye. Secondly, back down woman.The hair on my head is becoming more and more a rarity. Dying it will only quicken the exodus of my follicles and push me to the razor sooner.

The nerve of some people.

The Loves of My Life

Pants-less Sam

So, I hadn't posted a picture in a while, so here is my newest favorite. It was stolen from Nicole's camera, so I hope she doesn't mind the thievery.

So, I gave Lauren a night off last night and made her go to the Dodger game. A sacrifice on many levels considering my love for the Boys in Blue, it was fleece blanket night and Andre Ethier had a walk-off home run...another one. But, Lauren deserved it and I was happy to spend time with my boy.

However, he only had 15 minutes of naptime all day and I was prepared to play with him for a little while, feed him and put him to bed. He had different plans. I guess I'm a lot of fun to play with, because he kept going until 9pm like a champ. I then sat down with my dinner and watched the end of the game until it got to the bottom of the ninth...we are losing by a run. I text Lauren and she says we will win...her little psychic thing. Ethier gets a double and Matt Kemp comes up with two outs. I know he will get a hit (because Lauren says so), but Sam decides to wake up screaming. So I hit pause and attend to him.

He proceeds to scream for about 15 minutes without any ability on my part to console him...and I tried everything. So, I thought he might be dirty so I took his pants off. He immediately stops screaming and falls asleep. So, he slept great the rest of the night without any pants. I quietly told him that his future teachers will not accept this type of attire when kindergarten comes around.

So, I then unpaused the game and watched Matt Kemp get a basehit to tie the game. Ninety minutes later, at the command of my lovely wife, Andre Ethier hits a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning to seal the deal.

It's good to see most men cannot stand up to her. I don't feel so bad.

Lucky or Unlucky?

The poker tournament was on Saturday and I have come to the conclusion that, in the end, poker comes down to luck. By luck, I do not mean putting all your chips in the middle and pray (which is what some of the players did on Saturday). I mean that you have to play well and hope to not get unlucky.

I was playing well...even with the alcohol flowing through me. Reading my opponents, making good guesses on their hands. For a lot of them, I was giving them more credit than they deserved. But there were two hands that broke me and both involved me getting unlucky. The main hand was when I had AA and the flop came King, Jack, Four...two spades. I felt my opponent was playing a draw so I went all in, in the hopes of him folding because I was pretty confident I could get the best of him down the road. I didn't expect him to call all his chips with a 30% chance of getting his card. He had two spades in his hand (which is what I thought) and...of course, he got is fifth spade on the turn. The poker pros always say that all you can do is get your chips in with the best hand. I did that all night, but I still ended up in 10th place.

So, my apologies to Party Poker, PokerStars and Facebook poker sites. Apparently, bad beats happen with a good old deck of cards as well. I guess losing the Mega Millions Jackpot was not the end of my unlucky streak.

Something Manly

So, I was watching the World Series of Poker last night and it struck me how the commentators...Lon McEachern and Norman Chad...make the professionals look like they are better than they actually are. There was a hand where it was obvious that neither player had a clue what their opponent had. For the entire hand, Chad tried to convince the audience that Harrington was "setting up" Varkoni because Harrington "knew" he had the better hand and was trying to maximize his win. However, it was completely obvious that Harrington had no idea what Varkoni had and ended up checking the river to be surprised that he won the hand. I am convinced I can play with these guys...they're nothing special.

Maybe it is the amount of online poker that I have been playing, but I feel luck plays more a part of the game than professionals try to portray. I need to get into some live games (if the wife allows) because I am positive that online play (no matter if it is Pokerstars, Party Poker or Facebook) favors the longshot rivers. Countless times, I have the best hand going into the final card and my opponent "miraculously" pulls his fifth club or completes his straight or finds the one in two cards left in the deck to make his trips. Playing online is killing my buzz.

I guess the moral of the story is that I can only trust a deck of cards and computers lie.

Lauren...can I go play poker?

Julie and Julia

Ya, so we watched Julie and Julia last night...I know, I know...it was the wife's pick. But, the movie struck me in two ways...

The first and most obvious way is that we need to cook more at home. I'm not sure if the movie is supposed to make you a fan of Julia Child, but I found myself becoming less of a fan afterwards. Nothing in the way the movie portrays her...well sort of the moment at the end, but more of the idea that I really don't care too much for French food. Maybe I haven't eaten the right type or amount of the delicacies, but when I'm thinking of something to cook in the kitchen, France does not come to mind.

So, I decided to buy the cookbook that the movie tries to debunk, "The Joy of Cooking". I texted Lauren and she immediately tells me that she already has it...only it's in storage. So, I might spend this weekend trying to locate the "Bible of all cookbooks" in the bro's garage.

The second way the movie struck me was that it was mostly about blogging and writing. Julie (Amy Adams) is not sure of herself and her writing and needs to be pushed back into the writing scene by her husband in the way of blogging. Now, in no way do I consider myself a writer and I really do not think I have much to say that is interesting to anyone but me. However, the movie made me realize that I need to put entries in this blog more often. It was not really a realization because I have always known that I do not write enough, but is was more of a push to do it...another push.

I have been reading a blog of a friend that I will not mention, however the blog is everything I wanted this blog to be, the only difference is that the writer is actually writing it. It is a mostly-daily account of all the stuff they and their kids go through and the thoughts, wishes, feelings, prayers and anxieties that the chaos brings. All of this will, no doubt, be held until the memory fades and they need to be reminded of the wonderful times they went through.

My problem is stage fright. The increasing nervousness that I devulge too much of myself or the fact that what I say is not interesting. However, last night I realized that it only matters to me. Twenty years from now, I will laugh at myself for being so stupid back in my thirties, but I will also be glad that I CAN laugh at myself.

Morro Bay

So, the family spent a week in Morro Bay. It included a lot of relaxing, biking, drinking, eating, wine tasting, laughing, crying, sleeping, sun tanning, jacuzziing, playing, driving and whale watching. It was a fantastic week and we were all sad to leave that awesome house.

Here are some pictures from the week.

Okay...I'll post something.

I didn't even think people still looked at this blog...at least I have one fan.

So, since the beginning of April, we...

...Celebrated Sam's Birthday Extravaganza. We stayed at Disneyland for a few days...Sam got sick. It was pretty funny (now, not then) because he went through this phase of eating too much and then throwing it all up. So, we were feeding him eggs for the first time and he was loving it. Then we went on the Mark Twain river boat...awesome parents, huh. Well, we were walking past Thunder Mountain when I hear Lauren say "Peter Peter Peter Peter". You know it is bad when other parents are walking by and upon seeing your vomiting child, they say, "Ewww".

Mom, Julianne, Jim and Nicole met us the next day for the Character Breakfast. We all had a blast, but most importantly, so did Sam.

Saturday, the Birthday Extravaganza continued. We invited Sam's closest friends (in other words...our friends) to a birthday party at Pat's house (across the street). It was a fun afternoon of just relaxing and having good conversation. It wore Sam out because he took two naps during the party.

That night, we hoped in our car and headed up the 15 freeway for Vegas. Since Sam turned a year, we were able to turn him around in the car seat and he loves it. He slept most of the way (that was the plan) and upon seeing the lights of Vegas, he says, "Oh, WOW". My feelings exactly, son.

Vegas was great...we met up with Pat, Tammy and Tim for some catchup. I played some poker and took their money and then went to the craps table and took some more money. Lauren doesn't seem to mind me gambling as long as I win...funny, huh.

...went to La Quinta for our anniversary (four years already). It was just one night, but it was a good night of good food and a bed to ourselves. It was hotter than hell, but it was relaxing.

...sliced up Sam's mouth. On May 20, Sam went in for his surgery on his tongue. He was born with a short frenulum...like I did. I had mine cut when I was seven or eight and we thought it would be best if he got his done when he can't remember it. So, he did it and was a champ. I think it was harder on his parents, but he might argue that. The entire procedure took 30 minutes and he was grumpy that day, but he was back to his normal self in a day or two. But, he still does not trust doctors yet.

...got kicked out of grandma's house. The end of May brought the house/grandma fiasco. To make a very long story short...Grandma decided she wants to sell her house, so she is kicking us out. We scrambled around looking for a month to month apartment and Lauren finds one that is owned by our good friend. Perfect!! So we spent the last two weeks of the month packing up and moving out. We are still in boxes at the apartment, but it is great to be out from under the thumb of grandma.

The whole situation was very tense and stressful, but it has turned out to be a blessing. Sam is a completely different baby...he sleeps through the night, he doesn't take his pacifier anymore and he has weaned off mom's...you know whats. I am also a completely different person...I can sleep through the night, I don't need a pacifier to be put to sleep and...I won't comment on the third thing.

So, that is where we are. I know a one-year collage is extremely overdue, but we just his one year pictures and they are magnificent. Lauren had Sam go through a few costume changes and he was a great show for all the mall patrons that passed by Picture People.

Sam is quite a ham...which makes me such a fan.

These boots were made for...

...walking...and that is what Sammy is doing. Officially, his first step was March 1, but he has spent the entire month taking two, three, four steps and then lunging into the nearest set of arms. Now, he is getting more confident and has stopped the lunging and is able to stop walking and then continue again when he wants. I must stress the "when he wants", because he really only walks when he feels like it. He likes to cruise around furniture, walls, doors...anything that can get him to point B. We are not sure if this is good or bad. We like the fact that he is progressing fast...just not too fast.

He has also been watching "Your Baby Can Read". It is yet to be decided if he can read before two, like Dr. Titzer says...but we are giving it the old college try. The videos are teaching him how to clap, wave and put his arms up. Whether he is reading the word, hearing them say it or watching the kids on the screen do it is yet to be determined. We think he was born a genius, so he'll probably be quoting Poe by Halloween and Shakespeare by Christmas.

The house situation is still, well, a situation. Grandma is getting appraisals on the house while we rush to get all her stuff sold. It could probably take a year to sell all her stuff to her satisfaction, but there will come a time when she will say "Just get rid of the stuff". That day will be a family holiday in the Johnston houses.

Twenty five days til the first year comes to an end. It sure has been a fun, stressful, quick, amazing, life-changing year that is sure to get more interesting. God only knows what Year 2 has in store for us. Stay tuned...

Nine Month Collage...

Filler...

So, I'm working on a new collage since Sam has turned nine months...but, until then, I should update on his progress and ours. We went to the doctor for his nine-month checkup and they tricked us by saying Sam gets a break this trip with no shots. The sneaky bastards did not pump Sam full of vaccines, but just happened to mention to us that we would have to take him to the labs for blood work. NICE! Much easier than shots!

But, he is well...19lbs. 2oz. and 29 inches tall. The doctor thinks he is progressing nicely, but he is on the smaller size (25th percentile). We think this is since he has not been eating enough solids. He is a very picky eater, like his mom. So, that is our goal in the next few months...fatten the boy up!

At home he is crawling as fast as a lizard and has just started getting the confidence to stand up without holding on. I think he is up to about ten seconds before he gets scared and drops to the floor. God help us when he starts walking. When picking furniture, we were not too baby-conscious, but he has adapted well so far.

He was finally baptized on the 24th. He was the oldest in the ceremony and he behaved like the older gentleman that he is. We were worried he would cry like a baby...wait...never mind. So, he is completely devoid of original sin from those naughty ancestors and all his sins from here on out are of his own volition. Enjoy them son, but don't go overboard.

The house is coming along. We had our first yard sale, which did not prove too fruitful. I keep telling people we are selling items for a purpose, not a profit. By the way, anyone want a 1964 Oldsmobile?...low miles! Financially, we are getting things squared away to buy the house, but that all depends on what grandmother thinks it's worth...we'll probably be moving in a couple months.

That's it for now...stay tuned for the third collage. Pictures are much tougher when your home computer is in a box.

Ya...it's been a while...

Well, we survived Christmas and New Years. Though, it was not looking good for a while. Sam got the flu shot in early December and then proceeded to be sick for about three weeks. It was not fun watching him try to breathe at night and drool all over himself because he did not know how to breathe through his mouth.

Then, Lauren caught a stomach...thing...and shared it with the rest of us. We spent the week of New Years on the couch or in the bathroom. It was sad to see Sam on New Years Day, when he greeted us with a nice present in the middle of the night. He was feeling so lethargic on Jan. 1, he would just sit in our arms and not move a muscle...totally not him at all.

But, we survived and even shared the fun with Aunt Chach and Uncle Jim...you're welcome.

So, the holidays are over and the house is back to normal...if you consider living in boxes and a house full of grandma's stuff normal. The yard sales start in February...and I'm looking forward to clearing some space for much needed elbow room.

The great thing about January is the shows are back. Has everyone been watching 24?...Awesome.

Well, not much else...but here is a fun picture to whet the appetite...