"Add to the Beauty"

Uncle James came to see us for a couple of hours yesterday. He came bearing a special gift for Ayden, a Sara Groves signed CD that he acquired at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Conference in Louisville, KY. James mentioned that Ayden wasn't so scary anymore, that he wasn't afraid to touch him. He also kept commenting on how smiley Ayden was. Indeed, Ayden has been a happy baby these days.

Yesterday was the kind of day that doesn't win you any awards as a mom. We went to Target to get something to help kill ants (don't get me started), and I was strolling Ayden around. At one point I decided to peer around the edge of the stroller hood, only to find that our son had pulled his tube out, tape and all. He never cried, never made a sound at all. The tube was barely hanging out of his nose, and there is no telling how many people we passed in Target that never said anything about it!

Since Ayden pulled the tube, we went with it. We gave him his afternoon Lasix by mouth and then joined the Glassers at O'Charley's. There Ayden ate pear yogurt, cookies, BBQ sauce, sweet tea, potato soup, and water. (Yeah, I'm not winning any accolades for giving my kid appropriate baby food either!) When I say that Ayden "ate" these things, I mean that he allowed me to put them to his mouth with my finger (he wouldn't let me come near him with a spoon); he then licked them and swallowed them. Unfortunately, this method doesn't allow for eating food in any sort of quantity, though he ate more in that sitting than I have seen him eat in a very long time.

When we returned home, we wanted so badly for Ayden to take enough formula to constitute keeping the tube out. Alas, he wouldn't take more than a few milliliters, and we had to put the tube back in... breaking all of our hearts! Please continue to pray for Ayden's feeding!