Weekend Update

Saturday morning is a big day for us. We are having a big family get together since it is the only weekend day I will be in Florida. Holly and I are still adjusting to the new time zone and while she wakes up around 8:00am we go to sleep and take a nap until around noon. We wake up just a few minutes before our first guests arrive and I jump into the shower, but they get here before I am done. My Aunt Janice a chiropractor from Saint Augustine, My Grandmother Pat, and Jeff Janice’s new boyfriend and “great grandma Pat’s” Jack Russell Daisy arrive.


While I was sleeping my dad went to the supermarket to get last minute supplies and my mom made stuffed shells. Just as Janice and Pat arrive she begins to make Chicken Cutlets, but breaks to prepare a quick lunch of Turkey on yummy Onion Rolls. It is the first rainless day since I arrived and Holly and I snuck outside with Opa to try out the swing which was a lot of fun. We got a little reprieve before the house would be crowded and full of people.



Holly loved swinging back and forth, but one thing I really liked when I was a kid was to twist myself round and round so the swing chain was tight and then let go and I would spin in a circle fast as the ropes unwound. Well we did this with Holly and she loved it, she went around and around and when she stopped her eyes kept going back and forth as she laughed and settled back into stillness.



Around 2:00 Joel’s Dad Jeff, his wife Cynde and their two other Grandchildren from Cynde’s Daughter Emily, 8 and Emory 5 arrived. The last time we saw the kids Emory was a little baby, so it was amazing to see how big they had grown.

As they were coming into the house Pyro ran out to meet them and he slobbered all over Emily.. She jumped back and out of the way and said Ewwww yuk and had to run inside and clean off her dress. It is funny, because by the end of the night she was grooming Pyro, cleaning off his drool and could not be separated from him. She followed him everywhere around the house and had found truly her new best friend.


Shorty after their arrival, my Uncle Joey (Janice’s Brother) his wife Tammy and their two girls Jolie 5, and Briana 7 arrived. The girls were adorable and it was the first time I had met Joey’s wife or the girls. Holly was surrounded by all her cousins, and they were all amazed with her. Briana looks like her Daddy and had long Dark hair and was a little shy and quiet. Jolie had super curly long blondish hair, and was super outgoing and very enthusiastic.

Holly had a chance to sit on the couch and visit with her “Papa” (That’s what Joel calls his grandfather) and her Grandma Cynde, but before we knew it, my Uncle Bobby (my mom’s brother) his wife Janelle and her two kids JV (Jenevieve) 14 and VJ (Vic) 12.

Now the house is pretty crowded and Holly can no longer be contained on someone’s lap, so I let her down onto her play mat and she is the center of attention. Emory comes over and wants to play. She has a big ladybug shaped bin filled with toys a little to “old” for her, but perfect for Emory.. A little shy at first I tell him to go ahead and take out whatever he wants and soon enough he warms up and digs in. Holly is intrigued and enjoys watching him play as she chews on various other toys.


My dad has this cool toy that is shaped like a log and has 4 containers sitting on top of it, a glass bottle, a can, on two others. It is for “Sharp Shooting” and one takes a toy pistol aims, and when they hit the target the container jumps off the log and breaks in two. This was hilarious and lots of fun to try and aim and hit the targets. So he set this up out back and the men go out and have a try, everyone takes a turn and has some fun, which also thins the room out a little and lets some of the kids run around outside.

My Dad also has a”Hockey” game. It’s one of the ones in a big dome where there are the levers on either side that you extend and turn to move your men around and try and shoot the puck into your opponents net. So after the Shooting Gallery he turns this on and of course everyone wants to take a turn at that.

It was great to have so many games and activities for people to do, as most of the various groups had only met 10 years previously at my Wedding and didn’t know each other. Also, Holly could only have so many play mates at once, so it was nice for people to have something to do when they weren’t hanging out on the floor with me and Holly.

Finally it was time to turn on the trains, and that is when the room really cleared out. I could not believe that so many people fit into that little room, but suddenly it seemed quiet and there felt like there were less people left in the living room then there were visiting the train room. I think people rotated in and out and that took about an hour. The kids really enjoyed that. I took Holly in to visit for a moment towards the end and Emily was sitting on the floor watching the subway go round and round, so there was something to look at and see in every corner of the room.

Just after this holly was ready for a nap, it had been a few hours and she had been up since noon and had a chance to visit with pat and Janice when they first arrived, so about 4 hours, since she last had a break, so I took her into the other room and laid down in bed with her. She fell asleep after about 15 minutes and was content.

The food was Buffet Style so people could grab whatever they wanted and find a seat, the counter, table, porch, couch everywhere people sat and chatted like old friends and enjoyed an early dinner. In addition to the Shells and Chicken my mom had finger food for the kids, Cheese sticks, meatballs, pizza rolls, and some Salad with banana’s and apples. Janelle made chicken and veggie spring rolls also. I grabbed some food and mingled and found Jeff, Cynde and the kids who were on the porch. They had brought some gifts for Holly so I decided this was a good time to open them.

One was a beautiful Hummingbird feeder. It was shaped like a long red crystal with a copper base where the food goes. We had been talking about how we are trying to make the patio nicer and Cynde thought it would be great to be able to sit outside and watch the Hummingbirds. I know we have them in the yard because one nested in my plumb tree and had a baby, so I hope this will entice them back.

They also got Holly an adorable little outfit, it was a white and yellow onzie and an Orange Corduroy dress with lamb buttons, it had a yellow and white sweater with a sunflower and a matching hat and little shoes. It was an adorable little outfit, and I loved the little dress and sweater.

About then it was time for the Magic Show. My Dad’s old friend Pat had come over a few hours earlier had some food and then began to set up. As he was setting up the crowd was abuzz, surprised that there would be even more entertainment. He set up some curtains in from of my parent’s office door, and had music and everything. While he was preparing I was reminiscing with my dad, who remembered where my mom had purchased the material to make those curtains when I was eight and he was doing magic.

He started with the linking rings and JV was his assistant. She was very shy but did a great job. While he was linking all 6 rings he would ask the crowed (the kids up front specifically) questions about counting and math, and little Briana would shout out the correct answers so excitedly, it was so very cute. Pat’s banter was very amusing and I had a laugh. During the next trick he asked Emily to be his assistant. Well she was “EIGHT” and had a Magic Kit at home, so she knew it all. She was so Snarky it was hilarious, watching Pat sweat and try to keep it together, keep her in line, keep it funny, and keep the other kids entertained.

The first step in winning her over was turning a little egg into a mouse. She actually liked it and through it was adorable. He did a trick where he drew a face and then the mouth sang and the eyes moved. He did a pistol and card finding trick with VJ and he appeared grandma pat’s ring in a box with Jolie’s help. He was able to include all of the kids, manage Emily’s snarky comments, and keep the crowd rolling with laughter. It was hilarious.

After the show everyone mingled and talked and it was just past 6:00, so I decided that 2 hour was a long enough nap and decided to wake Holly. I went in and tried to wake her, yet still she slept. Then I put the light on and left the door open but still she slept, then I let the kids each one by one come in and watch her sleep, but still she did not stir. I lay down beside her uncovered her and rubber her back and slowly she opened her eyes smiling at me rested and happy. She likes to wake up slowly, so I had a bottle ready and fed her in the quiet of our room, giving her a chance to welcome the world before the avalanche of guests.

We hadn’t had much quality time with Joey and Tammy so I let them each hold her and took many pictures, and then brought their kids over for more pictures and then holly went down to play and we took some more pictures of each of the little girls holding her in their lap and hugging her. Their Grandma Pat asked if they wanted another baby and they said yes, can we bring her home with us.

Then Jolie told me, Holly is my Cousin and I love her so much, she is so beautiful. It was so touching. The girls simply adored her and wanted to kiss and hug her. The Jolie asks, can we be the last ones to leave I want to stay here with Holly as long as I can.

While the kids were playing on the floor Jeff came back over and watched us play, then Holly wanted to crawl and explore and went over to him and stood herself up, so he picked her up and I got some pictures of him with Holly and then Emily came over to visit, leaving Pyro for just a moment to visit with Holly, and she got a turn to hold Holly as well.

Emory wasn’t very interested in playing with her, but that was ok, I got a ton of pictures of him playing and entertaining himself. Then I took some of the whole family. We had called Joel earlier while we were eating and I promised him I would get a lot of pictures of holly with his dad. I meant to take some Video also, but forgot.

By then things were beginning to wind down, Bob and Janelle left first, but they live in town and can see us during the week, next Joey, Tammy and the kids left to drive back to Orlando and about an hour later Cynde and Jeff pulled themselves away from Holly and left for Gainesville, of course getting kids out of the house is never fast and Emily had to run back inside 3 times to give Pyro one more kiss goodbye.

It was an exhausting day, but so much fun was had by all.

Janice and Jeff were staying in a hotel a few blocks away, as they came all the way from Saint Augustine and Grandma Pat stayed the night with us. So it was still another hour or so before Janice left. After a short break she came to “play” with Holly and check out her back, neck, and shoulders. She thinks that she may have had some compression in her cord while in the womb / delivery, as the spacing between her lower back is good and a little tight when she gets to the middle back, but so tight in the upper back and the space “left” to count vertebrae up is so short that she feels they are compressed.

This could mean a lot of things and present itself in any number of ways, including a pinched nerve, or simply a need for some minor adjustments. Her rotator cuffs were tight and she could easily see how she was simply not extending her neck at all. She said her right side was significantly tighter. She had treated another baby with torticollis and her presentation left her with her head turned to one side and she couldn’t turn it to the other. She felt this could be the same thing but a different presentation forcing her neck forward. She noted hypertonicity, hypertonic flexion, and though perhaps her c5 was in need of help and that it could have been an issue with her brachial plexus.

When feeling her a few of her lower back areas had a release but it was slight and not intentional, just a relaxation or natural release, but she didn’t really want to try anything in her upper back, as she was agitated, fussy, and angry that she was feeling on her back, which could be a sign of extreme discomfort or pain, which should not be present if it was simply a tonal issue.

She also observed that her right frontal lobe was slightly more protruded and recommended that we might want to do some cranial sacral therapy. She recommended an x-ray so that one could see absolutely that there is no fusion or pinched nerve or other possible damage, and see exactly what was going on before doing any type of adjustment. She recommended a specialist in California who does work on babies almost exclusively, but she is in Fresno, which is over 200 miles away so she said she would ask both this specialist and another Chiropractor friend if they have other recommendations in the bay area or Sacramento.

The last thing she recommended was the work of John Strong who does something called brain entrainment. This is a type of Music Therapy I gathered from her description and he has done a lot of work with autistic children where he can find specific rhythms that will change mood and stabilize and relax an agitated or tight child. He has several generic CD’s but can also create customized CD’s specifically for your issues. Somehow the music, and the drumming, and the rhythm match with the various brain waves to help calm and change mood.

After all of this Holly was extremely cranky, but didn’t want to sleep. Janice and Jeff left for the Hotel and I rocked Holly and put her in the swing as we sat up and chatted and visited with Pat. Holly stayed up late and we were all tired but eventually I was able to lay down in bed with her and get her to fall asleep.

Holly wakes up early Sunday morning, around 7:30 and we hang out with Pat. My dad went to Einstein Bagels for breakfast, which was yummy. We called Janice to come over, but it took then till almost 9:30 to check out of the hotel, and holly was pretty sleepy by then. Janice wanted to look at her again in the morning, to see if everything was the same, if she was still as tight and still on the right side. She felt she was a bit looser, but still Right side dominate issues and not much difference. She had a little more extension, but not a lot. I put her down for a nap and we looked through her birth pictures. We saw how the Doctor was pulling on one arm holding tight pulling her out of my belly and how her neck was pretty squashed even the first day.

It was very difficult to find any pictures of her in the first 2 months where she was doing any real good neck extension, and at that age she would typically be floppy and need her head held, but at just a few weeks old she was fighting to get off her back trying to do crunches, which could indicate a discomfort, which made sense to the presentation Janice was seeing, and laying on her side.

I found a few pictures of her neck extended while asleep, which told her she doesn’t think any damage is severe like a fusion, but the extension was far and few between and by 6-8 weeks she was sitting supported and didn’t need to have her head held, she was holding it up herself already. Which in retrospect was a bad thing, because it was an indication of just how tight she was.

Holly woke around noon and this time she visited with Janice without her trying to feel her back, but it took a second for her to trust that she wouldn’t “mess” with her. And we took some more family pictures and then they took off.

I was exhausted and slept all afternoon with Holly during her afternoon nap. We woke up 6:45 and Bob called to see if I wanted to go to a movie with him and the kids at 7:10. Well I was famished so I talked him into a 8:00 PM Movie and had a quick dinner just finishing in time for him to pick me up. Kissing Holly goodbye and making sure my mom had all she needed to take care of her while I was gone.

We saw “Day the Earth Stood Still” which I did enjoy. It did seem incomplete, and the “earth standing still” doesn’t happen in the middle of the movie like the original with an explanation, but rather as a finale, so there are a lot of unanswered questions. But I enjoyed being at the movies, I saw like 6 really cool previews... OHHHH and I just remembered I saw a preview of a new Disney movie called “Race to Which Mountain” which is a remake of one of my favorite movies from when I was like 8 called “Escape to Witch Mountain” So I was very excited about that.

In retrospect, I didn’t see a wolverine preview, which I should have, maybe I missed it getting popcorn, but I don’t think so. While I love getting to see free movies when I go to the academy screenings, I do miss the fact that they don’t play previews, which is a trade off.

Holly had fallen asleep around 9:45 in the swing but when I got home she woke up and was ready to play, she didn’t want to go back to sleep, even after laying in bed, so I let her stay up, it was just after midnight before she would go to bed.