Healthy - Sick - Healthy

So Molly was doing well after kicking that nasty cold she had just after the new year. Last week when we went for shots she was fine. Then Thursday when we went to the GI she had a fever. As the days went by the fever went up rather than down and we returned to the pediatrician to find she most likely had a stomach bug.

The stomach bug caused her to dislike eating a bit, so we had to get back to the GI to find out how to alter her feeds appropriately - you see how these things spiral?

Well now she is back to healthy. At least she appears to be. She is happy and vocal and really that's how we measure her health these days.

The Bear has some big days coming up in the next couple weeks so, as always, please keep her in your thoughts and we'll keep you in the loop.

On Feb 12 she is having tubes put in her ears: this should be a fairly straightforward procedure, and hopefully we will not need to spend more than a day in the hospital. One never knows, however, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed. We're hoping this helps Molly's hearing and it will certainly help the doctors' ability to see into her ear canals to check for infections, etc.

On Feb 22 she is having a swallowing study done to ensure that she is swallowing safely. She had a feeding evaluation last week where the facilitator was very positive about her capability to progress toward solid food. We have some work to do to get her to that point, but if all goes well with the study we can start moving that way.

And in case you haven't been paying attention, the Giants are in the Super Bowl. Patriots fans need not visit this space until further notice.

I Was Minding My Own Business, I Swear - Part 2

Last November, during one of our CHoP visits, I was accosted by an Eagles fan in the cafeteria. I was minding my own business, I swear. I was in Philadelphia. I was wearing a Giants hat. It was the middle of the season and both teams were very much "in it". I tried ignoring the guy, but there comes a point where you just have to say something. It was all in good fun.

A few Sundays ago, in the bagel place near our house, I truly am minding my own business. I am standing at the front of the line waiting for my bagels; I am rocking that same flex-fit sideline cap from a year ago; I am anxious for the 4 pm kickoff in Dallas even though it's hours away. In a strange dialect I hear someone behind me mumbling about "choking" and "Manning" and some other such things. It reminds me how annoying the Cowboys really are. They're like the Yankees: basically someone in every corner of every town in the entire world claims their loyalty. It's bad enough I have to live right on the border separating Eagles fans from Giants fans, but now I have to be reminded of "America's Team" spanning all corners of the universe.

I glance behind me casually to see the store has filled up, as it does on Sunday mornings. One customer has an odd grin on his unshaven face hidden slightly behind knockoff Dolce's. He seems to be looking in my direction. But I turn back around without a word.

I can still hear him talking that nonsense. And now he has gotten another person involved who seems to speak the native language more clearly. They're absolutely discussing the very game I am anxiously anticipating. But I don't care. In a few minutes I will be back in my house, surrounded by Giants fans, enjoying a warm bagel.

For some reason it is taking a long time to get me my order. The rest of the line is moving quickly. Now I feel two eyeballs peering at me just over the top of those fake Italian shades. I am ignoring him. I refuse to even look that way.

"Well we'll see you in the offseason tomorrow," he says. The words come out slowly, but relatively clearly. It seems his brain does not process these words as quickly as those in his own dialect. It was then I realized I had heard this accent before and all rationality escaped me.

"What are you an Eagles fan?!" I said.

His foolish grin widened; his head nodded.

This is my neighborhood! This is not Philadelphia! Granted we live right on the border, but we're on the north side. Eagles fans should be going to bagel places in Hamilton. They don't deserve the high-quality, perfectly crusted, round dough of Hot Bagels. I simply must be imagining things. Not to mention we're talking about the Divisional round of the playoffs...a game taking place roughly six weeks after the Eagles season unoffically ended, and two weeks after it literally ended.

"Sorry about that." I say as I finally collect my order and walk toward the exit.

"Yeah we figured it was about time you guys won one."

This is now the second thing he has said clearly enough for me to understand, but also the second thing that has made virtually no sense.

And then I notice he is following me out the door.

The rest of the conversation was quick and painful, each of his comments sending me further and further into a pit of hatred for all those pledging allegiance to the dirty bird of south Philadelphia. And for that matter the Flyers, Phillies, Soul, Ben Franklin, Vince Papale [Ed. note: even I can't root against Rocky], Dave and Busters, Robbins 8th and Walnut, whatever...and it basically just consisted of me pointing out reasons - rooted in fact - why the Giants were superior, and him mumbling things that were barely complete sentences in response.

Me: "Right since those two Super Bowl wins don't measure up to your two appearances."
Him: "Your QB stinks."
Me: "Your QB has been overrated for eight years, and can't complete a season."
Him: "He wins when they count."
Me: "Like those three straight NFC Championship games he lost or the Super Bowl where he threw up in the huddle?"
Him: "He owns the Giants."
Me: "1-1 in his career against the Giants in the playoffs and Garcia actually played in the win."

The moral of the story is that I would never talk trash to a total stranger simply because they are wearing clothing supporting a team I hate. And I am certainly smart enough to know I have no leg to stand on when my team is no longer playing. My preference is to say nothing. But there comes a point where it's just too daggone hard to be quiet.

And the important thing to really take from this whole experience is it's now been a solid two months since the Eagles played a game that mattered, and the Giants have won two since this little exchange. With one more to go.

And please get your bagels somewhere south of my town.

Big Shots

I was off Monday so we took a family trip to the doctor's office. I figured since Erin always has to take Molly by herself it would be nice to give her a break. Of course, since I had to drop my car off for some work and I needed her to give me a ride, she didn't actually get to stay home. So the least I could do was give her a break from having to go back into the room. So while Molly and I hung out waiting for the doctor, Erin and Gavin played in the waiting room.

Molly weighed just over 16 pounds, which is about what she weighed last time. She was in great spirits, and actually was giggling and smiling for the doctor while he was checking her out. And then came the fun part.

He gave her three shots. And they hurt.

Let me tell you, Molly has some lungs on her. I'd be surprised if anyone within a mile of that office didn't hear her scream. It was loud and she made it clear she was not a fan.

But aside from that all is well. Molly has been sneezing less and sleeping well. She has been happy and energetic.

In a couple minutes I am actually meeting Erin and Molly at the doctor over near the hospital. She needs to have a follow up on her belly after the incident from last month. Everything has been working normally, and she has slowly been increasing the volume of her food. So this appointment should be nice and easy.

Molly and Erin had a feeding evaluation done yesterday and it seems all went well there. I am sure Erin will write more since she was there. So keep an eye out.

And if you haven't been paying attention, the Giants are the NFC Champs and will be headed to Arizona to play the thus-far-perfect Patriots. We played them tough back in December so I have to hope we can do the same this time around. A good game would be nice; a blowout victory our way would be even better.

Toronto Isn't as Cold as You'd Expect (Jan 6, 2008)

I was home from Toronto this morning before 9:45 am. Getting up to go to the airport at 4:30 is tough, but when it gets you home with a full day ahead of you it makes it all worthwhile.

As anticipated, Erin had to cancel. This is unfortunate because I would have liked for her to be there with me but more so because now we have to find a way to reissue a ticket that is one way on Air Canada and the other on US Air. Not a whole lot of options there, I guess? Seems like we'll be taking a long weekend to Canada at some point soon.

The weekend was a huge success. 8,000 Knights fans made the trip north of the border to participate in numerous University/Foundation sanctioned events, and watch the football team completely dismantle an over matched Cardinals team.

I managed to have a lot of fun while working the majority of the time, and I still also managed to get some sleep. Of course, being on the road did not get me back to good health.

Big Giants playoff win this afternoon. Next up is Dallas down their way. Keep your fingers crossed. Nothing would make me happier.

Well, obviously, I'd also like Molly to get better. She seems to be doing just that. Hopefully she is on the back side if her cold and will be her normal self again soon.

Happy New Year (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm back at work for the first time since Dec 22 and it feels like I have only been out a couple days. I'm still really sick and not looking forward to getting on a plane tomorrow (luckily it's only an hour flight) with sinus congestion.

Molly is still very congested as well and she has not been sleeping well at all. We've started to give her supplemental oxygen at various points during the day and all night. She is still on antibiotics, and she is still getting regular nebulizer treatments. Hopefully the combination of all these things is going to help move things along, although at this point it seems unlikely.

For New Year's eve this year we decided to make it even less eventful than we usually do. We grilled a couple steaks, drank a few glasses of wine, and all went to sleep well before midnight. Gavin and I had a sleepover on the couch downstairs. He has been asking if he could do that for months and since I have been sleeping on the couch for what seems like two weeks no it made sense to go ahead and do that. He and I both woke up around 4 am and he wanted to know when the ball would drop. I told him we missed it by a few hours and we'd have to wait until next year - when we'll record it just to be on the safe side.

At any rate, despite Molly's current displeasure, we have a lot to be thankful for as we say goodbye to 2007. Overall it was quite a successful year and we couldn't be happier. We're looking forward to another great year in 2008 and, of course, wish you and yours a healthy and happy '08 as well.

A Giant Disappointment (Dec 30, 2007)

I started to feel a little sick on Tuesday evening. I knew something was wrong when I was sitting in the living room at the Logan's house, in front of a huge, roaring fire, freezing. Then I woke up Wednesday and there was no doubt. I spent the majority of the day Wednesday on the couch, and I even slept there Wednesday night. By Thursday afternoon I was feeling a little better and then Friday I thought I was pretty well healed.

Of course, then Friday night Molly woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well. And when I say she woke up I basically mean she was jarred awake by some pain and/or discomfort just after midnight, and she didn't close her eyes again for a number of hours.

Saturday I went to the Giants vs. Pats game with Rob. While the overall takeaway is that we almost ruined a perfect season and we played really well, the day as a whole was wrought with disappointment. I'll spare you the long details, but share the list: the western spur of the NJTPKE was closed forcing us to take a bizarre route through Seacaucus that we had to figure out on our own; said route put us on the wrong side of the stadium and thus in a parking lot we're not used to parking in; we bought into a tailgate rather than bringing our own stuff like we always do thus leaving us with nothing but beer upon arrival; when we finally got in touch with the folks from the tailgate we bought into we learned they were in the absolute furthest lot from where we were, and actually quite close to the lot we usually park in; tons of people sold their tickets to Patriots fans all of whom walked into our house like it was theirs (same goes for the players); two of those Patriots fans were seated to our immediate right; and finally, if Randy Moss beats you deep and drops the ball there is no excuse for letting him do it again on the very next play since it's unlikely he is going to drop two in a day, much less in a row.

And I woke up Sunday to find myself sick once again.

And of course, Molly was getting worse. So Erin took Molly to the doctor today where they gave her a prescription for an antibiotic and some meds to put in the nebulizer. She is really junky and according to the doctor her lungs sound a bit crackly. Since she can't cough up the phlegm like we can, a lot of it ends up backing up. Needless to say this makes her quite uncomfortable and keeps her from progressing toward good health.

I am leaving for Toronto on Thursday and Erin is supposed to meet me there Friday night. Rutgers plays Ball State in the International Bowl on Saturday. Right now it's not looking like Erin is going to be able to make the trip.

Merry Christmas (Dec 26, 2007)

Mom and Greg left today after a nice five day visit. We spent a lot of time doing nothing in particular, but it was nice to have them here and I am certain they enjoyed seeing Gavin play soccer over the weekend and open his presents yesterday morning. Santa was good to everyone as he suggested he would be when we saw him a few days ago.

Yes, that's correct, Santa came to our house Sunday. He arrived on a big fire truck and brought with him an early present for Gavin: a big fire truck. He also brought Molly a soft Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, which goes nicely with the decor of her room. It was nice of him to make the early trip to see us and to spend some time with us around the tree. We sent Santa and his helpers (Mrs. Claus and some firefighter friends of mine) back to the North Pole (the firehouse) with some pumpkin bread and a bunch of cookies. Those are some good people: Santa and his helpers.

Christmas Eve we went to the evening children's mass and then to dinner and a nice, little Italian place near our house with Erin's parents and Monica. Molly and Gavin were very well behaved in both places, which is more than I can say for myself. I spent the entire mass counting the minutes until it was over (just too crowded and pretty long). I am not sure how they can call it a children's mass and make it last 90 minutes? Oh well.

Goodbye 2007....

...hello annoying and tedious illnesses.

Again I find myself appalled by the amount of time that has passed since my last post. And again I realize that so much has happened since that post I can either plow forward and drag this on and on until everyone is all caught up, or I can post a series of short blurbs outlining specific events. I am not sure which one I am going to do but I can assure you that by the time you read this the answer will be clear.

Actually you know what? I am going to do it a little different still. I am going to catapult myself back in time as if I am writing these in a more timely fashion. Rather than backdating the posts and confusing all of you I will simply put the date that the post should have been written in the title of each post. That should make me feel like I actually accomplished something in the last three weeks.

And yes, we're sick. Me and the Bear enough so to be miserable. Erin and Gavin enough to notice. And like that bad tattoo you got when you were 17, it just won't go away. Although, actually, as of last night Molly seemed to be doing much better. She was laughing and playing before bed and slept a good portion of the night without oxygen (although I may be delirious).

Back to Normal

Well things are back to normal in the Brown house. And, as tends to happen when things are normal, another weekend has flown by without a whole lot of rest. But hey when the choices are laying around all day watching movies in a hospital room or staying busy doing holiday things, I'll take busy every time. If you're curious, neither make it particularly easy to get up on Monday morning...especially when it's freezing cold.

As you can guess from the photo, we've acquired and adorned the Brown Family Christmas Tree 2007. We found a new farm, closer to home, with a better selection. Saturday morning we all went down there and within minutes everyone had agreed on winner. As is typical, Gavin wanted to bring home some others that were either too wide or too small [he tends to lean toward the "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" more so than the "Sean Brown Christmas Tree"]. It then took the remainder of the day Saturday to get the tree and the rest of the inside of the house decorated. We have decided that, as well as having an overcrowded garage, we have too much Christmas stuff.

That reminds me: I told Gavin he had to go through his toys so that we could pick out a bunch to give to the kids who weren't as fortunate as he is and don't have as many toys. He wasn't happy, but he'll go along with it. Anyway at one point during decorating he came out to the garage with me where I told him I was going to have to go through my mess out there and he says, "you mean you have to give it to people who don't have as much junk as you?" Sometimes I swear he is 14.

Then yesterday we did some grocery shopping and some baking (Pumpkin Bread: I'd share the recipe but it's not mine and there may be some copyright infringements). We also went to a birthday/holiday party with some friends, which was nice. The roads were pretty bad north of where we live, but as a result most people stayed off the road. Amazing thing is that the only people who went out, however, were the idiots. This, I've noticed, is no different than any normal day, except when the roads are bad there just aren't as many idiots.

Then I wound up the weekend watching the Giants stink up all of East Rutherford and its surrounding areas. If anyone hasn't been paying attention they're 9-5, third in the NFC, and could have clinched a playoff spot with a win last night. But they stink.

And I know, all you care about is how Molly is doing. Well she is great. She's got a bit of a cold and she has been sneezing and coughing a little more than normal, but her insides seem to be working the way they're supposed to (we go back for a follow-up with the GI this week) and she has been smiling and happy. More like Molly than she was the last few weeks.

Home Again

We left the hospital last night around 7 pm. Molly recovered fine from her procedure and tolerated her feeds all day.

We'll have the biopsy results some time next week, and have to schedule a follow up visit with the GI. Hopefully we can get this all figured out very soon.

For the time being, Molly is quite content. She is back to her happy, smiley self. And as of this morning when I left the house she was sound asleep in her crib. Gavin and Mom were also sound asleep in their beds. And Dublin was sound asleep on his. What I wouldn't have given to be doing the same.

Back at RWJ

On the one hand, it's easier to do this when I am posting regularly, so I just have to throw in an update. On the other, in that case I would have to find time to post regularly. Since I haven't had time to post with any consistency, I'll have to figure out a good place to start.

I mentioned Molly's Thanksgiving virus in my last post. She was miserable that day, and a few days before and after. On Thanksgiving evening, while I was holding her, I noticed a big lump in her belly. It was pretty large, and hard as a rock, and nurse Cara confirmed it could in no way be something that actually belonged there. We mentioned it to the pediatrician, but considering Molly's other symptoms, he didn't think it could be a bowel obstruction. He said if it was she wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom at all, and she would be throwing up a lot. Neither was the case, and in the days following she went back to her normal, happy self.

Then last week we realized that she a) still had the lump, b) was throwing up a little, and c) still hadn't really gone to the bathroom in a while. This coincided with Molly's fifteen month check-up. When she went in for that check-up her doctor agreed there was definitely something amiss and suggested we call Molly's GI. All day Thursday both Erin and Dr. Paul called the GI, without a response. A fellow at CHoP suggested it was simply constipation. After 24 hours of this, Erin decided to take Molly to the ER.

Oh but wait, let me back up. I totally forgot that while most of this was happening I was in Chicago.

So Tuesday night I went to the airport to fly to Chicago. Minutes before boarding, both my flight and the flight following were cancelled due to weather in Chicago. I booked a seat on the first flight Wednesday morning and went home. I was going out for a two day conference and if my morning flight was on time I would only miss about 90 minutes of the first day. Nothing is ever on time flying to O'Hare, so I figured maybe I'd miss three hours tops.

Wednesday morning we board and pull back from the gate on time. As soon as we've backed away the captain shuts down the engines and comes on to tell us that due to weather in Chicago we're going to have to hold for an hour.

40 minutes later we're taking off.

All goes well and we're still scheduled to arrive just a few minutes late. As we begin our descent into O'Hare, something happens I have never experienced before: the pilot aborts the landing and pulls back up into a holding pattern. He told us the runway was icing up and we needed to hold while they set up landing on an alternate runway. Hold time estimated to be 30-40 minutes.

After half an hour I notice we are no longer circling, but now climbing and heading straight in some direction I can't figure out. Captain comes on to tell us we had been put in another holding pattern, 30-40 more minutes, and we haven't got enough fuel for that so we're being diverted to Indianapolis.

We land in Indy, they refuel us right there on the tarmac, and then we're told there is a two hour wait before we can take off again.

15 minutes later we're taking off.

We arrive in Chicago about four hours late where it is now sunny. After a quick cab ride (during which it again began to dump snow) I arrive at the conference roughly five hours after it started.

Day two of the conference I am planning on making the most of it. My flight is scheduled to leave that evening around 9 pm. The facilitator is aware that people are trying to catch flights that night and intends to condense the second half of day two to ensure everyone gets where they're going on time. Unfortunately there is rumor of another dumping of snow that night and people are starting to work on even earlier flights. I am confident I'll be spending one more night in Chicago because of the snow. That's just how it goes with me and that city (some of you may recall in July I flew out to play golf and was supposed to go out and back the same day; I spent three days trying to get home because of thunderstorms and overbooked flights).

Then about three hours into the morning session of day two I get the call from Erin that she has just come from the pediatrician and she and Dr. Paul are unsuccessfully trying to reach the GI. She mentions taking Molly to the ER and/or her being admitted. I decide to get on an early flight home so I beat the snow for sure. I walk out of day two of the conference after a two-day total of six hours of a scheduled eighteen.

Now back to Friday morning and Molly in the ER at RWJ.

X-ray confirmed there was a giant mass in her stomach and the doctor was pretty sure she wasn't passing it on her own. They began some aggressive treatment to try to break up the mass, which continued all day. She finally was admitted and brought up to a room at around 9 pm. Their aggressive treatment continued through the night on Friday, all day Saturday, and all night Saturday night. By Sunday she had passed most of it, and was clearly feeling better.

With that being said, we were pretty sure she would be heading home yesterday. However, the doctor is still concerned there may be a more serious issue than just a build-up. They're concerned there may be some malfunction in her system that could cause this to be a recurring issue. So after talking with us, and then consulting with Molly's doctor's at CHoP, it was decided Molly would have a minor surgical procedure this morning to test for Hirschsprung disease.

If all goes well with Molly's recovery after the procedure she should be able to go home tonight. We're really hoping that is the case.

The only really good thing about this hospital stay is that RWJ is literally two blocks from my office. So I am heading over there now. I'll post another update later.

Thanksgiving Prep

That's sort of a misleading title. It may make one think I actually have to prepare in some way for this holiday. Like I am cleaning the house before all the guests arrive; or cooking the turkey. I am really not doing anything to prepare. Maybe I should have made the title simply: The Day Before Thanksgiving?

Things are busy as ever in the Brown house. Gavin is going to school; Erin is working from home and tutoring a couple nights a week; Molly is hanging out with Mom and visiting her regularly scheduled specialists; and I am just trying to keep up with all of them.

A couple weeks ago Molly had a nasty stomach virus, and the last couple nights she has been waking up with some new, unrelated stomach issues. But aside from that all is well. She was slightly miserable for the week or so she had the aforementioned virus [not that I blame her]. It's always so obvious to us when she is not feeling well because typically she really might be the happiest baby ever.

Most kids cry for a reason: hungry, diaper, tired, uncomfortable. Molly is no different, except she hardly cries for anything. She lets us know when any of the above scenarios needs to be addressed, but to actually cry - I mean to let out a whimper or a scream - something has to be really wrong. This explains why even I - the soundest of sleepers [I am not really sleeping through I am choosing to ignore most issues] - bolt out of bed when Molly awakes with a scream in the middle of the night.

So as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, we're gearing up for turkey day. The Wilberts clan came up from Houston and Cara is coming out from the city (even though she has to be back for work at 7pm). I am psyched for some relaxation time with the whole crew. Maybe this year I'll even try not to eat myself ill.

Then again maybe I will.

Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving and take a few minutes to consider the things you have to be thankful for. I know I will. Not that I even need a holiday for that these days.

It's the Holiday Season; Unpaid Advertisement Follows

A couple quick administrative things:

1. If you haven't registered at www.trisomy18.org, or you registered but chose not to accept email from the organization, then you're not aware of the new collectible holiday ornaments. This ornament is the first in an annual series and it comes enclosed with a special awareness card. I think you'll agree these ornaments are attractive and reasonably priced, and would make a nice holiday gift.

1a. Also, if you haven't chosen to accept emails from the Foundation, you'll miss out on the highly anticipated debut of "From the Desk of the VP of Development" (a working title). Hopefully this catches on and serves as an effective means of communicating progress and goals with the members of the community, while simultaneously helping to coach and empower them to broaden the reach of the Foundation through fundraising and awareness efforts with their own networks - much in the way all of you helped us through the Triathletes for Trisomy 18 efforts last summer.

So, anyway, if you don't get emails from the Foundation make sure you have an active email address listed in your profile. If you're not sure one way or the other, shoot me an email letting me know you want to receive correspondence from the Foundation (using the email address you want the correspondence sent to) and I will make sure your status is updated appropriately.

[Also feel free to email ideas on what I should write about. For some reason I don't think I'll get away with mass communicating Giants updates to the community. FYI: if you didn't receive an email "From the Desk of the Executive Director" on Nov 20, you're not set up to receive email from the Foundation.]

2. The Foundation also has Keepsake bracelets like the one in the picture above. You can get one with or without a birthstone, and they also are reasonably priced, make nice gifts, and come with a special awareness card.

Both the ornaments and the bracelets require some lead time, so the holiday deadline is fast approaching.

Most importantly, proceeds from these items immediately benefit the Trisomy 18 Foundation and its mission of support, advocacy, and research. Items can be purchased by clicking here.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Ain't that the truth.

One year ago, at this exact point in time, Erin and I (and many of you) were waiting for Molly to come out of heart surgery. Perhaps you recall that a few days prior to the surgery we were weighing the pros and cons - first of whether or not to have surgery, and then of which of two procedures to choose from? Perhaps you even recall the day of the catheterization, when Molly's surgeon said he wanted us to make a decision that, "one year from now we'll all look back on and be happy with." Well, I haven't talked to him in several months, but I can tell you the Browns are pretty darn happy with the decision we made and I'd have to assume he'd agree.

As I say over and over, I don't post much when Molly is healthy. One could deduce from my blatant lack of attention to this space that Molly has been very healthy. This is, for the most part, quite accurate.

Molly has been feeling well for a while now. If you read the CaringBridge site, Erin gives you a bit more detail on the day-to-day activities.

I have to say though, it’s not all little rays of sunshine. Again, thinking back to the surgery a year ago, we knew the band on her heart would only temporarily fix the way her heart functions. The next step is to close the hole, which is quite large. Apparently the material they use as a patch is not typically used for a hole as large as that in Molly’s heart. And, there was also the secondary concern of a potentially smaller, muscular VSD being present. We’ll have to face all of these issues in the very near future.

Earlier this week Molly went to see the cardiologist and she gave her the go-ahead to have the tubes put in her ears. However, she also reminded us of all the information I outlined above. When Molly goes back in March for her evaluation, we’re going to need to start thinking about follow-up surgeries for her heart. For now, though, she continues to do quite well; she feels good; she looks good; she’s happy.

And yes, obviously, so are we.

And That is a Rutgers....First Down

Gavin loves football. This is a good thing because, as some of you may know, I do too. On the surface my new job appears to have nothing to do with football. But when you work for a public university amidst a surge in popularity resulting somewhat from the success of its football program, it takes on a more significant role in everyone's day-to-day activities. Particularly if your job function involves interacting with alumni as often as possible, and tens of thousands of them come to you for a home game.

I get to go to all the games. We have season tickets so I get to go anyway. But now it's actually part of my job. I took Gavin to the first game of the season and he had a blast. Ironically, his favorite part is the cannon. It gets fired after every RU score. For some reason he doesn't like it when the crowd cheers really loud, but he loves the cannon. His other favorite part is when there is an RU first down and the PA announcer shouts the title of this post. He gets pretty into it and says it along with the announcer. We also record the games on the TV at home. For the entire week all Gavin wants to watch on TV is the Rutgers game. He pretends to be Ray Rice and runs plays along with the team right in our living room. He also spends at least 30 minutes every evening playing football in the yard with whomever agrees to "be the yellow team". I can only hope this all works out well for us in the long run.

Separate from football the job also goes well. I am still getting my bearings and learning the ropes, but all in all I have avoided doing anything silly. The group I work with is only five people, so I am pretty comfortable with who they are and what they do And there are another handful of people whose names and functions I have figured out, but there is a long way to go. We have over 150 people in the three buildings on this campus and on two other campuses across the state. In some ways it's been easier for me to meet alumni than it has to meet my colleagues. But none of that was meant to sound negative so if it does chalk it up to bad writing.

I do miss some things about my old gig, but all in all I am thrilled with the decision to move. And I am looking forward to going back to some L'ville events as an alum, rather than an employee.

OBX

Our vacation to the Outer Banks was awesome.

Seriously, I am not sure there is any other way to describe it. Basically, it was precisely what the doctor ordered. The one down side, if there has to be one, is that The Boy almost needed that doctor. Gavin contracted some variety of stomach bug that effected him most severely at night, although it made him fairly irritable during the day as well. But it didn't have too negative an impact on things. Like I said, it was awesome.

My goal was to read, relax, and spend a lot of time in the sun. I was very fortunate to get to do all of those things.

Since I was technically between jobs I was actually able to leave my Blackberry in the bed side table for most of the week. Those of you who know me probably realize how difficult that was. That piece of equipment is practically attached to my hand under normal circumstances [since then the Blackberry has actually been retired as my new employers have forced me to adapt to a Treo; I miss my Blackberry].

I was also able to fly through the first three plus installments in the Harry Potter series. The first three went really fast: no more than a day and a half each. Then the fourth one (this is the one where they jump from 3-400 pages to 7-800 pages) became something of a road block [I have since finished the fourth and am now fighting through the fifth...there are seven. Don't even think about telling me how it ends].

The weather was incredible; the beach was 300 yards away; and the house had a pool. Every day was pretty similar in schedule: early morning run, beach, lunch, pool, beach, pool/happy hour, dinner, hot tub, sleep. If you think that sounds monotonous you're sorely mistaken. That schedule was precisely how I wanted the vacation to go down.

I came back relaxed, tan, and obsessed with a skinny, little wizard. I'm really hoping to pull off a similar vacation next summer.

Television Debut

Many of you probably remember the triathlon fundraiser for the T18 Foundation, and the article that appeared in our local paper the day before the race? Well one of the local news stations must have picked up the article and decided we might make an interesting story for their show.

On August 15 Erin, Molly, me, and Victoria Miller from the T18 Foundation, filmed an 11 minute segment for Perspectives: New Jersey, which aired on August 18 at 5:30 am. I understand it has replayed a few times since then, which is great because I'd bet Erin and I were two of only about a dozen people who caught the opening show [we actually prolonged the start of our vacation one hour to see it].

The host did a great job of asking the right questions. We talked mostly about Molly and the challenges she faces, as well as about the challenges facing all T18 diagnoses. The fundraiser was only the very last thing we discussed, which was nice because all the previous topics should be more useful to the general public. We're hoping we can get a video of the show to put on the T18 web site, and of course, on here as well.

I should not go without saying how impressed I was by my wife. She gets extremely anxious when she has to speak in public or do anything where she is the focus of attention. Well she totally nailed it. She was unbelieveable. On top of looking incredible on screen she managed to speak eloquently about the condition and our experiences. She was simultaneously honest and knowledgeable. And she totally stole the show.

Of course Molly did quite well herself.

You Mean He's Still Around?

Yes folks, I am still around. And I have to apologize for being such a slacker. I've actually had the nerve to fill my free time with things like -- well, actually, I don't really know.

So I promise to make this the first in a series of posts over the next several days relating to me, the new job, our family, television, vacation, politics, religion [hopefully some of you were paying attention? it can't possibly have been so long you'd forget the rules: no religion, no politics]. But I'll post on those other things soon.

First things first, Molly is doing great. She had a bit of a bug a couple weeks ago that lingered longer than we'd have liked, but she kicked it on her own (well with Erin taking super-good care of her, actually) and has now fully recovered. She's been quite happy since then. In fact, she might be the happiest baby on the planet. More on that later.

I know you guys have been checking in and I am sorry for the lapse. Thanks for staying on me to update. It's good motivation.

Big Weekend

Last weekend was a big one.

On Friday Molly turned one year old. I've heard from a lot of people that this year has just flown by. I get it, obviously, but at the same time I assure you it has not. I agree, of course, that it seems like August 10, 2006 just happened, but when taking into consideration all the things that have gone on in those last twelve months there has been nothing quick about it. This year has been terrific; and stressful; and promising; and exhausting. But it's been 365 days. And Molly continues to defy odds.

My mom and Greg came up to celebrate for the weekend. They arrived Friday morning for Molly's actual birthday. We had pizza night at our house with Erin's parents and all the excitement was just too much for the Bear because, as you'll see from the photo, she was asleep by the time the cake was cut.

Saturday was the joint birthday party. We had a beautiful day and a great showing of the extended family. Gavin's only complaint was that there were, "not too many kids as grownups," which seems to me to mean that next year we'll have to have a kid party [it was bound to happen eventually]. There were 6 kids there, but I guess he wants the kids to outnumber the grownups? My biggest complaint was that I didn't consider the size of the Blizzard cake and that there isn't a freezer I know of that could have accommodated its width. So we packed it in ice and cut it just before it turned into Blizzard soup. You know when you are a triathlete in training Blizzards are a staple of your diet.

Sunday we spent the afternoon celebrating Rob's birthday [which was the day before during our party that my wife intentionally scheduled on his birthday to get back at him for having our fantasy football draft on Gavin's birthday] at the Garland's. Another great time and another day of wonderful weather. I'd say with the exception of going two and out in horseshoes that day was just about perfect too.

So it was a great weekend all around.

Today we're scheduled for our first Brown family television appearance. I'll keep everyone posted on where and when you can view it. All I know is we have to go to the studio this afternoon, they're going to put makeup on me, and we'll have to answer some questions on camera. Aside from that, you'll all have to wait in suspense.

Team Molly Bear - NJ Tri

We're now about two and a half weeks beyond the big NJ State Triathlon. I should have posted sooner, I know, but for some odd reason things seem to be quite busy these days. I am not complaining...just making excuses.

So race day could not have been any better. The weather was terrific; the turnout was incredible; the race was well organized; and the Team members all did well (reports from Massachusetts indicate the weather and race were equally impressive up that way).

As many of you probably know by now, the Team raised over $21,000 for the Trisomy 18 Foundation. We can't thank you all enough for your support and generosity.

Pictures are up on the Shutterfly site so you can see what the set up looked like. We did our best to get some group photos but it was pretty chaotic; there were people everywhere!

We will be doing this again next year, so anyone who gave a second thought to joining the team has plenty of time to train. Sprint distance race is a 500 yard swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run; and the course is great for a first timer.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the Team and/or the event in all the different ways you did.