Hey Jakey,

Wow, it's been a while. I've got all sorts of excuses, though. Your nana and grandpa were here Feb. 9 to March 2, and most of the time that they were here, I was working my ass off on the magazine. Four times a year I have to work on that damn thing, and I had to fritter away my time working on it while they were here. I felt like I hardly got to see them at all.

Your nana's doing fine. I think she's got this leukemia thing beat. That whiz-bang new medicine that they have her on has put her white blood cell count back in the normal range, where its been for a while now. While she was out here, she had her days of feeling really good, and days of feeling really poorly, all side effects from the medicine, from what I can gather.

Grandpa took you out for walks two or three times a day. Thinly disguised excuses for him to get out of the house and smoke. What a strange arrangement he and mom have: he knows that she knows that he's still smoking, but she pretends that she doesn't. Hmmmm... sounds kind of familiar actually. Shhhh. Don't tell Daddy!

Three weeks of them being here sounds like a long time, but it really flew by. We all managed to get along quite well, too. I wish they lived closer. They sure do love you.

So on Friday, March 11, Daddy and I finally left you in the hands of someone other than grandparents for an evening. We left you with F and C up in Incline, while we went to see comedian Paula Poundstone at the Crystal Bay Club.

I was beside myself with nerves all day, just knowing that you would probably start to scream and carry on as soon as we dropped you off. F and C are good friends, and I had no doubts whatsoever regarding their caretaking skills, I was just scared that after a night with you, they'd never talk to us again.

But... when we stopped by and hung out for a while, you were smiling and charming and well-behaved, and when we left, you and F were having a grand ol' time, and you didn't even notice Daddy and I slip away.

As soon as Paula was finished with her show, Daddy and I bolted out the door and raced back to F and C's house. When we got there, you were fast asleep in bed, and they had nothing but great stories of what a good little boy you were.

Found out the next day that the marketing manager at the Crystal Bay Club had arranged a "meet-and-greet" with Paula for me and Daddy after the show. The reporter at the B had told him that it was my birthday, and that I would really like to meet her. Ack! I hope *somebody* went backstage to meet her and that she wasn't just sitting there waiting for me? Somehow I doubt it...

We took you for your follow-up weight check a couple of weeks ago. You gained two pounds in one month! Yay! When your nana was here, we got in the habit of feeding you really high-fat foods to fill you out: lotsa butter, lotsa double cream, lotsa cheese and yogurt.

It was this visit to Dr. Stevenson that I realized that I don't really want to see her anymore. She makes me feel really inadequate, like I'm doing something wrong because you're not talking yet. You're doing all sorts of really interesting crap, but she doesn't really listen. In fact, she's a really really bad listener. I kind of knew this in the back of my head all along, but this visit really sealed it. It took me about five times longer than it should've to tell her about your peanut reaction.

Me: So we started him on peanut butter the day after our last appointment. He really had a--

Her: Oh, he likes peanut butter, huh. Kids his age usually really like the peanut butter.

Me: No, he had a really bad reaction to it.

Her: He didn't like the peanut butter? That's okay.

Me: No, he had an allergic reaction. We called your office to try and talk with you about it.

Daddy: Yeah, we didn't get a call back for more than six hours.

Her: Well, we can't call everyone back right away.

Me: He had hives all over his body, his face, his legs. His eyes swelled up.

Her: So he had hives just around his mouth, huh? That's not too bad. That happens sometimes with new foods.

Me: No. He had hives all over his body. He was projectile vomiting.

And on and on. Anyway, the ped that we took you to when Dr. Stevenson was on maternity leave has left for another practice. We really liked her, but unfortunately, the new office that she went to is one where I owe a bit of money at the present time, so they probably won't schedule me any new appts. there until I clear that little matter up. Huh.

Speaking of allergies, we found another one for you! Egg whites. I've been feeding you egg yolks on a regular basis and you've done fine with them, I thought it was time to try out the whole egg. So I scrambled you one egg to go with your dinner last Wednesday night. Then the three of us settled down to watch "Shark Tale." You fell asleep immediately. When the movie was over, I woke you up and you were covered from head to toe in big, little and medium-sized hives. You started scratching like mad, and your eyes were swelling again, and you were pouring snot out your nose. We gave you a dose and a half of Benadryl and raced to the emergency room.

You were fine. They just had to watch you for a little while, and they gave you some Motrin, and a couple hours later, we went home.

Quit doing this to me, Jakey! You're gonna be the death of me!

Well, gotta go. It looks like you may be chewing on some styrofoam. Love you, and I'll be better about checking in with you!