Big Boy Carseat

I have become increasingly aware of how big Ayden has gotten in the past few months. He has outgrown his infant carseat and now has a convertible one. (Thanks, Granddad and Gran!) Though Ayden often throws up in his carseat (he gets angry about being strapped in or his reflux acts up), he seems to like his new one a whole lot more. He's not nearly so squished, and he can play with his toys more easily.

I love sleeping Ayden pictures. Some of the most precious moments as Ayden's mommy are when I go to get him out of his carseat, and he's fast asleep. He looks so perfectly peaceful, and he cradles into my arms.

"Ito eat like teeth are out of style."

I'm showing off my new top tooth!
(I'm getting another one right next to it!)

I grew up watching movies like Crosby & Kaye's White Christmas, John Wayne's Big Jake and Donovan's Reef, Shirley Temple's The Little Princess and Poor Little Rich Girl... and Elvis's Blue Hawaii. I was never a huge Elvis fan, but I always enjoyed the cheesy 1961 flick. For some reason, I envision the sand-kickin' jingle "Ito Eats" when I watch Ayden exploring the world of food. Though Ayden is no match for the rather large Hawaiian man for which the song is named, Ayden has certainly become more interested in taste testing, well, everything. (It doesn't hurt that he is teething!)

Ms. Denise says I'm gonna be a meat and potatoes man!
Let's just skip this baby stuff!

If you'll remember, we were trying to get Ayden used to being in the high chair while being fed with the feeding pump. We ran into a snag when Ayden began to get antsy in the chair, which occasionally resulted in throwing up. We wanted to increase the rate at which Ayden was being fed (so he wouldn't be in the chair so long), but the pump we had wouldn't go any faster. To make a long (aggravating) story short, we had quite the ordeal in getting a new pump. While we waited on the medical supply company to provide the appropriate one, I resumed feeding Ayden as we did before-- in my lap. To make up for the lack of high chair experience, I began giving Ayden feeding materials while sitting with me.

Apparently, sitting with me was just what Ayden wanted. He has been putting his sippy cup and cookies in his mouth ever since. Ayden has gone so far as to bite his cookies, which unfortunately resulted in throwing up. We are now working on getting Ayden used to different textures in his mouth: we are allowing him to interact with smushed bits of low sodium Ritz crackers. We are also dipping his sippy cup in water and juice to see how he tolerates liquid. He has impressed his feeding therapist, Ms. Lori, who claims that Ayden is "so close."

I can eat two at one time!

Feeding issues are one of the most lasting frustrations for families such as ours. We look forward to when we can take the feeding tube out of Ayden's nose, when his face can be relieved of the tape, when we can all sit and eat together, when no one has to get up in the middle of the night to pump feed Ayden... when feeding just isn't a difficulty for Ayden. Dr. Kavanaugh gently reminds me that if eating is all that we have to deal with after two open heart surgeries, then we can deal with that; we can allow Ayden the time necessary to eat.

I want your phone!

On a similar topic, Ayden went to the pediatrician, and we discovered that Ayden was 8.2 kilos-- a weight loss. We weren't that surprised since his formula volume had been the same for many months, even though his activity had increased significantly. As a result, we increased his volume to 185ml/5x daily, weighed him a week later, and he was back to his original weight at 8.35 kilos. The pediatrician was pleased with the gain, and we are once again on the right track. We even have a new pump to begin increasing his rate! We'll be getting him back in that high chair soon!

I'm already handsome, but tubeless... Watch out, ladies!

I don't mind playing in the crumbs, but...

I'm not a big fan of them in my mouth!

Oh, yeah, I'm cute.

(I apologize for the quality of most of the feeding pictures. My cell phone was most readily available at the time.)

SOFTIE

I discovered you after bathtime one day.

Tugging you from your box was mesmerizing play.

Ripping you to shreds was just the thing to do,

But, since I was wet, you stuck to me like glue.

You were taken from me with sadness in my heart;

My mama stopped me short of my work of art.

Much to my wonderment, Mama decided

YOU, fabulous soft paper, I would be provided.

I could resume this joyful activity

During the day as a one time festivity.

The downstairs was flooded with my laughter,

And I knew I would be given you many times herafter.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, JUDE!

WE LOVE YOU, JUDE!

I am on the move with my army crawling.

I love to point, and I am working on midline and bilateral play.

Ayden & I are competing to see who gets his teeth in first.
We're tied for number of teeth.

At Ayden's baby dedication last week, Jonathan said, "It's just not every day that we get to hold miracles in our hands." Our families actually do get to do that; we get to hold Jude and Ayden every day. We get to praise the Lord for the good works he has done in their lives and ours. We have gotten to enjoy a year of life for both boys, and we are so blessed by those lives.

Thank you, Lord, for Baby Jude's miracle life
and for the endearing friendship his family has with ours!

Milestones

milestone: a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc.

As Allison covered in her last post, the progress Ayden is making is encouraging.  Despite the handicaps he has been saddled with, he continues to play catch up.  It will still be many months before he gets all the way there, but he will.  There are milestones we are looking for with his various therapies, benchmarks that we will be trying to help him attain.  Sometimes they come quickly.  Sometimes he seems to be just treading water.

He has been talking a lot of late.  He seems to have abandoned physical progression for verbal progression.  If we had a dollar for every "buh" or "da da" he's said over the last week, we could pay for his college.  In the last week he has put a cookie and a sippy cup in his mouth.  He has started reaching for us again.  His personality continues to develop and expand.  His love of music is exhibited often by his own version of dancing, whether it's nodding his head, kicking his legs, or bobbing up and down.  He shows happiness, such as when one of us comes to get him out of his crib.  He shows frustration, like when he is trying to pull something out of his toy container and can't quite get it.

But, as the above definition suggests, not all milestones are developmental.  Some are related to Ayden's life.

It is very important to us that Ayden experiences as many "normal" things as possible.  Our hands are somewhat tied right now in this area, unfortunately.  As flu season fades and summer approaches, Ayden will have more opportunities to do the things normal babies do.  Until then, we have to be content with the few things he can do now, such as spending time with Jude.  That type of interaction with another child is important.

It takes particular motivation for me to lay on my stomach.

Jude & I had our own conversations while our moms talked about us.
(Apparently, adults can't comprehend the words that come from our mouths.)

My buddy Jude is almost crawling!

What does having "normal" experiences have to do with milestones?  Well, let me tell you.  There's been an important event in Ayden's young life that we've been working on for a little while now - having him dedicated at our church.  These dedications usually take place on stage during Sunday service.  The parents bring their child up front and hand the child over to one of the pastors, who then prays over the little one.  As with everything else, we have things we must worry about that most parents wouldn't: Has the pastor been sick? Has a family member been sick? Did he come in contact that morning with someone who's sick?  Additionally, our church is large.  There are probably 1000+ people in the sanctuary.  How many of them are sick? You get the idea. We could easily avoid some of these dangers by doing the dedication at home or by having the pastor wear a mask.

As I've said, though, normal is important, and neither one of those options would fall into that category.  Fortunately, our worship pastor - Pastor Jonathan - who prayed over Ayden before his first surgery and who was one of the first people to come to the hospital the day Ayden crashed, blessed us with his willingness to jump through all of the hoops we had set before him and dedicate Ayden.  He got a flu shot.  He made a wardrobe change between services, at our request, so the shirt he was wearing for the dedication was as clean as possible.

Below is the video of this important milestone.  Jonathan, you did a great job.  If you hadn't told everybody, no one would've guessed it was your first.  Thank you, and all of our fellow church members, for blessing our family with your love and prayer.

Yes, I'm looking at myself on the big screen behind me.