Word from the Front Lines;

Lil' Bear has had a busy, busy week. He's had an appointment with one specialist or another everyday this week but Tuesday. His pediatrician at St. Vincent's, his nutritionists at Dornbechers, his gastroenterologist at OHSU, his surgeon at Emanuel and tonight is his physical therapist appointment back at Dornbechers. He doesn't mind it at all though. It's just more attention for him. And everywhere he goes, doctors, nurses, patients, visitors, receptionists, custodians and every one else has a comment and a smile to share. I really don't mind all the appointments either, it gets us both out of the house. This ugly weather is killing us with boredom. Good thing he got tons of shwag on his b-day. And, I had joked a bit before about how he likes the ladies and all that, but it's really true. If someone were to say it too me I would just dismiss the comment as blind parental love or something, but he really does, he loves hot blondes. He smiles for everybody and usually gets excited when he knows he's around somebody who has a fun, child-like nature, but when he sees a hot blonde he gets LOUD. It's hillarious and a little embarrassing, especially when I'm trying to talk business with the receptionist who can tell that he's freaking out about the hot blonde. I just flash a sheepish grin and propose that he gets that behavior from his mom.

So, after so many medical visits we have new updates on Baron's stats; He's about eighteen and one quarter pounds, he's healthy as a horse, his development is right on track with the exception of language he's all up on his shots (and he only cries for a couple of seconds now when he gets poked with a needle), his surgery should be soon and after last weeks ultrasound they can't find his left testicle. I've looked everywhere, I have no idea where he could have possibly put it.


Nana usually wakes up a few minutes before we do and she's been turning on the Christmas lights downstairs for us. When Baron and I leave our bedroom we can see the soft glow coming from the stairs and when we go down the stairs he strains to burst from my arms more and more with every step until we hit the landing and his eyes get huge and he slowly looks around the incredibly festive room that is so much different now from the one he has gotten to know so well. Sometimes Nana or Mommy will try to get his attention with calls and coos and high pitched exclamations, but always in vain. He has to soak it in. Soak it in.

I think I'm getting a cold. Lame-O, baby. What am I supposed to do? I knew this day would eventually come and now it's here and I can't call in sick. I have to smear a clorox wipe over anything I touch, I can't breathe around Baron for fear of getting him sick and all I really want to do is lay down and take a nap but there is no chance of that happening. It was so hard to feed him at midnight, I almost could have laid there and slept through his cries. Almost.

Damn, he's a good lookin little brat, ain't he?

Spoiled like last months milk.

. Lil' Bear's birthday was a smashing success and Nana and Papa's living room is now flooded with a menagerie of loud, blinking, rolling, singing, ringing, plastic things and at least four new Elmos' to add to his growing army of red, squeaky voiced giggle monsters. I am so tickled that so many people showed up to celebrate his first year. From the wonderful banquet room and the great pizza (a shout out to one of the best taco pizzas in the Portland area!!!), to the love and generosity of so many friends and family, it was a fantastic birthday. And one that will be well documented too; I took a half hour of video, a couple dozen pictures, a bunch of signatures and well-wishings in his baby book that we had put out on one of the tables, and this blog. I think all the bases are covered!

. And he loooooves his toys. He really loves the guitar Nana got for him, but he gets so excited about it when he sees it that he gets a wee bit violent and I'm afraid he's just gonna smash the hell out of it if left unsupervised with it for even a fraction of a second!! He loves all of his Elmos, ALL of his Elmos, and I can now hear that evil falsetto giggle like a hatchet attack every night in my dreams.
. Mommy and Daddy scored a touch down with the inflatable ball crawl playland we got for him. I don't know where we are going to put it though.....
. And a huge, HUGE thank you too the person who wrote down what gifts he received from whom in his baby book. I can never, ever, ever remember that stuff and it always makes me feel like such a jerk! But now we know who to thank and who take take hits out on with a written document of his plunder. Those who gave loud Elmos (I'm lookin at you, Sis), will be remembered when we can afford retribution.

. Again, thanx so very, very much to everybody for their love and support. It makes me so happy and proud that our boy has so many incredible people in his life. I can't wait to see what the future holds and how he's going to grow and what kind of character he'll be and all that jazz.... ugh, I love that spoiled little monster!!!!

These are the good times.

December 11th 2008

Today marks one year. It is barons one year birthday today and boy does it bring back so many memories and thoughts. This time last year we were in the hospital wondering if our little boy was going to make it and watching him fight for his life. Being on life support, being told that they don't for see him surviving and that we should take him off life support. Watching him go Thur his second, third and fourth surgeries. Waiting for everything to end.

Then finally one day we got to take him home and never let him out of our site. To watch him grow and figure things out is totally amazing. Just the other day, I watched him pull him self up the foot of the recliner into my lap. To be able to wake up and see his smiling face and happy laughs make me be more at ease.

My son is my hero. He is strong, he is a fighter. He has been Thur more things in his one year of life, that most people have been Thur there entire life. He can do anything he set his mind to. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARON LOGAN MENTZER! Keep on fighting. We love you very much

DECEMBER 11th 2009

Baron's first giant Christmas bazaar

Nana Debbie was awesome enough to take the Mentzer Unit to the Nations Largest Christmas Bazaar at the expo center yesterday. I believe it's been a bit of a tradition with Christina and her mom and aunt Sue that they go to this every year and it was after my first time at the bazaar with Christina that I kissed her for the first time (story for another time), so it's our tradition now too, and we wanted His Baronishness to dive into the sensory overload experience with us!
The four of us met up with Aunt Sue, Angel, Tyler and mighty Josie Jo Jo-Jo and we stormed the front with the enthusiasm of blood thirsty Walmart shoppers on Black Friday! Ohh, too soon? Anyway, as soon as we passed the threshold and I saw the blinding light of mindless , decadent, holiday consumerism reflect off of his innocent, angelic face I new there was no going back. Do I really need to say that he enjoyed the hell out of it? Well, he did. In spades. And his enjoyment radiated out to us and a majority of the general public around us. He was nicely contained for a while in mommies fantastic front baby carrier as we slowly made our way through the maddeningly disorientating labyrinth of vendor cubicles. Trying to navigate through the crowds was like stop and go morning traffic, but when we found a break it was more like a downhill ski race through heavy forest with the motivation of an avalanche bearing down from behind. I would like take this moment to say thank you to my wife and to tell her she was right in not bringing the stroller. There, happy?
We did get to see some really beautiful artwork and craft dispersed throughout the rows. I was particularly drawn to the amazing wood work I saw at a few different vendors. Baron loved it all. From the various glasswork artists that looked familiar to me to the Super Soaking Chamois that we later dubbed the 'Scam-wow', he didn't see anything that he didn't want to put in his mouth. And he got pretty close a couple of times, too. But the best part of the whole experience was the public interacting with him and he with the public. He is a magnet for good people with stories to tell and love to share. It's absolutely amazing. I really love it when a gruff biker type sees him and does the baby talk thing. It's happened more than twice, I kid you not. And he smiles and smiles and smiles at all of them. The little girls who're just learning to walk and talk at the same time exclaim "Mama! Baby, Mama! Baby!", and the octogenarians who have seen it all more than a few times and yet still seem surprised when they share a look with him. That's really amazing to me, to see the spark that appears in old eyes when the fall on a fresh life. There's a deep remembrance and a hope in that glow, and I find it very reaffirming and humbling. And I used to be scared of old people!!! And then the recognition in the faces of other Mothers and especially fathers when they see me with my boy in my arms, like we're all part of the same club now, some sub order of the Freemasons or something.
I had no interest in time while we were there, I was having that much fun. And before I knew it FOUR hours had passed!! He did spend a bit of the third hour asleep on mommies chest while in the front carrier, and that is the most heart meltingly beautiful thing ever!!! GAH!! But, he stayed in a good mood the whole time. Which shouldn't be surprising to me because his most favorite thing in the world is to be picked up and carried around and shown new things. I dare say it was his Disney Land. For now.
The bait worked, we fell victim to the trap and bought some stuff. We did get some stuff for Baron!! Nana got him a little guitar! He's going to love it!! Whenever he get's a glimpse of one of my many guitars he makes a bee line to it and attacks it with manic fervor, which was okay until he puked in the sound hole of my $500 Ibanez acoustic/electric. Now I'd like for him to have his own to puke into, maybe I can heave something in there for him sometime as a payback. Just sayin'.
We also got a jar of pickled, smoked garlic cloves (today I stink!), a small container of peppermint schnapps fudge and a few little freebies, some the result of it being the last day of the bazaar, others because Baron looks like a kid who could use some more stuff, apparently.
I did get to hold some amazing Tibetan singing bowls that were just gorgeous. The vendor showed me one tha was huge, over $700 bucks and it's tone was breathtaking. It was a deep, soul rubbing pitch and I could feel the intense vibrations from over a half a foot away. I was in love. Some would ask 'what would you do with a $700 dollar Tibetan singing bowl?'. I ask 'what wouldn't you do with a $700 dollar Tibetan singing bowl?'.
Most vendors were in high spirits, if not completely spent from the six day event, but we did pass one little old lady whose disappointed visage was framed by a full stock of chocolate roses. Ya really gotta have a feel for the market based on variables such as, oh, I don't know, a tanked economy. Poor thing.
All in all, we had a great time and look forward to attending from here on. Maybe someday I'll have a job and have the means to purchase something. Who knows. Always in motion is the future.
And that first kiss? Well, after courting her for three months, I went to this thing with her and her family and when I dropped her off at home, I walked her to the front steps, said thank you, and walked away. Then I turned around, walked up to her with determination, purpose and conviction and planted a kiss on her that made the goddess Aphrodite weep with jealousy. That's how I remember it, anyway.

It's something in the milk.

Ya know how you don't notice something growing or changing if you see it everyday? One day you just look at that thing and go 'whoah, when did that get so different?'. Well, I swear, and my dear wife will back me up on this, that Baron has grown noticeably the last three days. Everyday for the last few I've looked at him and thought that he looks bigger than he did the day before. It's crazy. He's growing out of clothes, but he prefers to be in just his diaper anyway so I guess that's a win-win. He pukes a lot less now, too. Which is really, totally friggin cool. Puke is gross.

Gross.

Want some more?

Oh! You should hear him laugh!! It's unlike anything Ican explain. It's so perfect. And he knows when to use it, too. He doesn't just throw it around, he waits for just the right moment. He uses it sparingly, despite our best efforts. He'll smile for nuthin'. He'll giggle if you give him reason. But a good ol' laugh, he'll gettcha when you're unprepared.

I love taking pictures of him in sunlight. His eyes are so blue, even pictures can't do them justice but sometimes he'll catch a beam in the corner of his eye and it bounces out and fills the room with joy. (That was so good! I get gooshy points!!)

And then, a picture from almost a year ago, when his future was so uncertain, when every three days we thought we were going to lose him, when no doctors could ease our minds with optimism because he wasn't expected to make it. Seems so long ago now, but it's still real hard to think about. I remember his time in the NICU and I try to focus on the incredible work that so many people put into his survival, on a daily basis, for four months. I focus on the first cry he made when the surgeon pulled him out and how, at that moment, I knew that our son wasn't ever going to stop. And he hasn't. Today, I'm very, very thankful for our son and all of the love and support that so many people have given us over the last year. Very, very thankful.

The Cuteness

This is our little streaker striking his sexy pose for his upcoming swimsuitless calender. We are so going to blackmail him with photos like this when he's a teen. I can't wait!!!

Doesn't he look really sad? I just wish I knew what to do to make him smile once in a while.

I'm sure that he was woken up by my snoring shortly after this picure was taken. But I do make a good pillow, if I do say so myself. Like a big, furry marshmallow. (ewww)

This is what the horror of a feeding frenzy looks like. Once in the alpha predator's death lock, the helpless prey is rendered to mush and smeared from here to eternity. Oh, the humanity.

More! More! More!

Here's a good one of Papa holding Baron and Baron obviously not liking it very much. He loves to be tossed into the air, but what baby doesn't? He loves to fly around the room, sound effects at full volume, just skimming the tips of the house plants with his smiling maw open wide in hopes of catching something should daddy's focus wane while piloting the Baron Bomber.

Terror in the skies!! .

Too cute?

Well, let's try a few pictures now... This first one is The Little Barbarian Bear in the box that we use as a barricade between the living room and the kitchen. He has learned to crawl through. In his mouth is the Nerf dart that he loves so much. It remains one of his most favorite toys. It soaks up all his spit and drool. So nice. And I bet the flavor he experiences is unfathomable.
I love the lighting in this picture. Not to mention him, his expression, that tongue, everything about him. He is so damn amazing. Gah, that tongue!

And here he is in completely different natural light. The light helps bring out the mischief in his eyes. I think this picture is cute, but cute in a dark way. Evil baby picture!!

The Worst Ever!!

. Oh! My! God! It had exploded out the side and went down his legs and was all over his feet and everything and ACK!! I clipped him to the back fence and hosed him down before taking the steel wool to him. Geh. Yuck.

I'm a stay at home zombie...

He's finally asleep. We stayed up late at Doug and Amanda's last night (well, eight thirty is late for us) and Baron would not fall asleep there, no matter what. But he still woke up with a big ol' smile on his face just after four a.m.. I heard him making his 'it's time for everybody to wake up now' cooing and yelps and I rolled my dead weight mass over and saw his beautiful blue eyes peeking over the edge of his crib, piercing through the soft light in our room, right into my barely open, red and tired eyes. His mouth was just below the edge but I could still tell he was grinnin from nibble-able ear to nibble-able ear. (Say that five times fast!)
OOOH!! speaking of tongue twister's, one came to me a couple of days ago while my mind was wallowing in sleep deprivation; The lost astronaut lost his last lasso. Try it! Well, what'd ya think?
Baron likes to try and tackle the staircase once a day now. He can climb up about eight steps without any help. He's a freak. And a couple of days ago, with mommy sitting at the top of the stairs as bait and me right behind him providing support and damage control, he made it all the way to the top. I think that's about twenty, maybe twenty one stairs. He is so friggin buff. I saw him lift an old pickup truck off a man in a corn field once.
So, you were probably wondering about his poop and I just happen to have the scoop (?) on that. It's really, really gross, and it smells really, really bad and there's always really, really a bunch of the stuff.
Oh, he's awake and cryin'. Prolly fulla poop. Here we go again..........

sleeping like a baby

Last week I was getting worried that he wasn't getting enough sleep. He wasn't taking enough naps, he wasn't sleeping well at night and I was becoming concerned even though I have read in a few different books that most babies go through that faze, and it seems to be one of the bigger questions and concerns out there. As a universal rule, parents like to get sleep. I can admit to being president of THAT club. I gotta say that I'm still doing a lot better than I thought I would be, trudging forward with the little sleep I do get.
So, this week he did a fantastic 180 and now he's sleeping more at night and taking three one hour naps during the day. SWEET!!! Now I can do laundry, eat something, check out this blog and pick up a little in preperation for Calvin and his fam who're coming down this weekend for an early Thanksgiving. It's going to be fun, Baron is much more mobile now and I think he'll be much more interested is his cousins than he has been.
We're going to try to get the invitations for his upcoming birthday going tonight. I'm excited, more than I ever have been before for a birthday!!! It's going to be a BLAST!!!

The maiden voyage.

Wow, a blog all about our little Barbarian Baron Bear. Can one blog handle the awesomeness of Baron's daily exploits and adventures? We'll just have to wait and see.....
He got his first H1N1 swine flu injection yesterday and handled it just fine. That's right, he's even starting to shrug off needle pokes. He's a tank, I'm telling ya, a friggin tank. Now that he's all up on his shots we are a little more open to the idea of letting him play on public play equipment. We were soooooo scared of the possibility of him getting the flu that we were sizing up plastic bubbles for him online. An infant sized hamster ball that we could cram him in and roll down hills and things of that sort. Only the best!!!
His one year birthday is just over a month away. We reserved the banquet room at Stark Street Pizza for the occasion. really isn't much in the way of party places for infants around here, they're all geared towards older kids. Unless you're willing to pay a couple of hundred bucks. Granted, a pizza party at the Portland Children's Museum would be rad, but it ain't cheap. Maybe when he gets older, we can save up a few tax returns or cash in his college fund or something.
He's pulling him self up to a stand everywhere he goes.
He still hasn't given up on catching the cat.
The cat is still aware of this.
He loves to put his mouth on anything metal.
He couldn't care less about the television (thank God!). Unless Elmo's on.
He loves Elmo.
He doesn't like to be made comfortable, he wants to go, go, go.
The only thing he really hates is falling asleep.
He loves to have his picture taken.
He doesn't care for avocados.
That's cause he hasn't tried guacamole yet!