Fat Suit

Lively's appearance continues to change dramatically.

My mother just emailed me the first photo, which is Lively and my grandmother. It was taken the last weekend of January, just 6 weeks ago. The second photo was taken last night. You can see why we feel that he is changing before our eyes. I look at him now, and I can barely make out the features of the top guy on the bottom guy. I think he's not recognizable as himself. The photos illustrate his disposition change as well. Six weeks ago, he was such a happy guy, all the time. Now, we work really hard to get him to smile. All of these effects are due to one of his medications -- ACTH. We have at least another month for this drug, and I can't imagine how four more weeks might change him. He is developing stretch marks on his cheeks right now. Will those go away? I'm using every moisturizer I can think of on his face, but I can't tell that it's helping.

Here's Lively after his bath last night, clean and beautiful!

There's one more Lively photo I have to share! Jack, my cat, has always been a bit skittish. He hogs attention from Pete and me, but he has always stayed away from Annie. It seemed like her crying bothered him when she was newborn, and as she grew and became interested in him and wanted to pet him (and pull his ears and tail), he just stayed away. He has never been aggressive, so we don't worry too much about him scratching or biting -- he's a big chicken. But he has always been interested in Lively. When Lively was tiny, we had to be very careful to keep Jack out of our bedroom when Lively was sleeping, because Jack would curl up next to him, and I was afraid he would lay on top of him. Now that Lively is bigger than Jack, I don't worry so much. And Jack clearly loves Lively. If given the chance, he sneaks into our room, and curls up with him. The feeling is mutual -- Lively coos and laughs at Jack, and even reaches out to pet him. Lively grabs handfuls of Jack's fur and pulls hard, and Jack just purrs. It's very sweet. Here's some photo documentation of Jack in Lively's co-sleeper (which is not allowed, but I let him stay long enough to take this picture).

(For my pregnant friends or those of you with infants, the boys are in an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper, which I cannot praise enough. It attaches to the bed, and keeps the baby next to you, but not actually in your bed. Ours was handed down to us by our wonderful former neighbors after their baby was finished with it.)

I also want to include some recent photos of Annie, who continues to do really well. She loves her brother, and although I'm sure she can sense there's something happening with him, she remains well-adjusted. The first photo is also courtesy of my mother, taken during her recent visit. The second is Annie in her Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly outfit.

Annie is a big fan of the Fancy Nancy books, and despite the pink and gaudy girliness of this outfit, I really like them as well. The books are well-written and funny, and teach new words. For example, Nancy's favorite color is fuchsia -- that's a fancy way of saying purple!

We have another long day of doctor appointments tomorrow. Lively has an EEG and a neurology appointment. Annie, who is hobbling around on a sore foot (no idea how that happened) may get to go to her doctor today. Wish us luck.