Fabulous Four

Ayden is doing well. His sleep has vastly improved, and he isn't vomiting nearly as often-- usually no more than once a day. He is, however, gagging and wretching as much as he was on the Monogen formula, but the poor kid just has terrible reflux. Supposedly, most babies experience less reflux when they turn one. We are hoping that will be the case for Ayden.

Everything goes directly to the mouth.

Our friends and family feel more comfortable interacting with Ayden. He doesn't seem as fragile, I guess, when one can pick him up under the arms or sling him to one's hips. He seems to have gotten more visitors as of late, and he handles them all well. One of the advantages of living in a hospital for so long is Ayden's strong social skills.

Daddy's Boy

We continue to work on rolling and sitting up. He rolls side-to-side and can get his lower body over but holds back on coming around completely to his tummy. He will sleep on either side now. He can sit up on his own for a few seconds before he goes tumbling backwards. I sense that Ayden doesn't like sitting up as much because his reflux seems worse then, but he also enjoys being better able to play with his toys.

We have been fairly busy over the past week. Daddy always tells me that I am Ayden's medical record; I have become his social calendar and secretary as well!

FRIDAY
On Friday evening, my mama, Elise, and I made the haul to Lebanon, TN, to take part in a fundraiser for the Jordan Hackett Foundation. The foundation was started in memory of Jordan Hackett, a baby with hypoplastic left heart sydrome that went to heaven after getting a blood infection at four months of age. Contributions made to the foundation are given to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, the Nashville Ronald McDonald House, and the American Heart Association. The foundation is responsible for providing meals for families of children in the PCCU, as well as for sponsoring PCCU sleep rooms.

Diana and me with Karen Hackett, mother of Jordan Hackett

Bryan and I have lived at the Nashville Ronald McDonald House; we have slept in the sleep rooms; we have taken advantage of meals provided at the hospital. When Jude's mommy, Diana, invited me to the event, I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to support all the good things that helped to keep us near our baby while at Vanderbilt. I also wanted to encourage others in the cardiac community.

Diana & Me

At the fundraiser, we painted abstract hearts. One of the coolest parts about the paintings was seeing how different and beautiful every person's heart was... seems fitting for an event celebrating and supporting the amazing lives of children whose hearts are different.

Elise, Mama, & Me

Information for the foundation can be found at http://www.jordanhackett.org/, or for you Facebookers, you can look up current information on Facebook.

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SATURDAY

On Saturday, Bryan and Ayden had a boy day so that I could spend time with my mama. We ate out and went shopping. Super fun!

Grancee loved holding Ayden like this.

Saturday night Elise and Phil came over to spend time with our family. It's the first time that they both have been able to come over since Ayden has been home. Ayden especially enjoyed the tango with Phil. I don't know what we would do without the friendship of Phil, Elise, and their two boys.

SUNDAY

A friend of mine named Courtney has been encouraging me to make food for Ayden. Her thought was that he might like it better than Gerber baby food. Since I am willing to try anything that might encourage Ayden to eat, my mama and I spent Sunday morning making pears and sweet potatoes per Courtney's recipe. (Okay, for those of you that know me, you know that my mama did most of the work. I hate the kitchen.) At the end of the preparations, Ayden sampled the pears. As with all feeding, he hates people forcing food to his mouth, but once it's there, he smacks happily.

We learned that you don't need nearly as many potatoes as you need pears.

MONDAY
Diana and I decided that we needed to make Jude and Ayden's playdate a regular thing. On Monday, we watched Jude reach for every toy that Ayden was playing with, and we observed Ayden's jealousy over having to share his mommy with another baby. AH! The lessons to learn!

Jude got to go sockless, so Ayden was yanking at his socks.

Typical photo of both: Jude's fingers in his mouth & Ayden's Wubbanub in his! Teething!

Jude is enamored by Ayden's tube.