Too Much

This photo sums "too much" up:

I think the holidays can be a bit too much for children. There are so many people and so many presents and so much going on. I know Ayden has been overstimulated, overwhelmed, and certainly exhausted. He has cried over the simplest things (usually not getting his way), and while his smile still lights up our lives, his blubbering makes me want to scream. (Wouldn't that be fun for Bryan?!?!) We learned very quickly that we need to occasionally let Ayden figure out how to play with his new toys, rather than trying to teach him how to use everything (or at least give him some time with the toys, so he can experiment), and we decided to unwrap presents very slowly with our little man. He averaged approximately two presents per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, for several days in a row. I put away many of the toys as he received them, so he could enjoy them over the coming months. Bryan and I got him a slide (to satisfy some of his desire to climb objects or people, to work on his mobility, and to do something actively fun during the winter months), a dumptruck, two DVDs, a book, and some activities that appeal to his developing occupational skills. He also received some sweet gifts from friends and family. We, of course, took way too many pictures of his second Christmas, so some are on this page, and more are after the break.

REJOICE

"In Him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in His Holy Name.
May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,

even as we put our hope in You."
Psalm 33:21-22 (NIV)

HUMOR

DELIGHT

WONDER

BELIEF

CREATION

CONFIDENCE

SUCCESS

Photographs by Jordan Elam

On the Eve

I can dance to anything!

Ayden is especially enjoying the holidays. Not only does he get to see his daddy more often, but he also has special visitors as well. Most recent were his Grancee and G-Daddy. He loved the attention they showered on him. He sat through an entire children's book with Grancee, which is is a whole book more than he will listen to with us. His grandparents walked him up and down the hallways, led by a single finger. G-Daddy tried to build things with Ayden's blocks, only for Ayden to knock them over before anything really got built. Grancee taught him how to use his new medical kit, complete with stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, and G-Daddy sang "Frosty the Snowman" and taught Ayden to drum the tomahawk chop.

I am learning to bowl;
I love to have a cheering section!

Diana Dowdle, Jude's mother, suggested that we take Ayden to Shadrack's Light Show. We all piled-- smooshed, suffocated, crammed-- into the SUV to trek across town to experience the Christmas lights as a family. We first stopped at Cracker Barrel, so Ayden could indulge in the kid's menu vegetable plate; yes, that's right: he eats mashed potatoes and applesauce ordered from a restaurant menu! After an early dinner, Ayden sat on G-Daddy's lap in the front seat, as we cruised through the light show set to Christmas music. Ayden was enthralled by the lights and clapped at the end of each song. Afterward Ayden rode the train and tried some of his daddy's fried Oreos. Speaking of our little man's sweet tooth... Ayden thinks going to Sweet CeCe's is now a real treat! We took him while his grandparents were here, so they could see his excitement over devouring at least six ounces of yogurt; he gets almost as tickled eating yogurt as he does learning to walk!

Of course, Ayden also got some fun things to play with, such as his Rockstar Mickey and Imaginarium music table. He honestly loved each present individually; he didn't seem to play favorites. And he enjoyed being part of our opening presents perhaps more than receiving his own.

Hmm.... What is this thing?

Ayden adores G-Daddy and Grancee, and I know he was sad to wake up from his nap this afternoon without his playmates. He has already had a merry holiday. We are a truly blessed family!

Some points of interest:

1. Ayden is now supposed to be eating 550 calories (of 800) by mouth. He probably eats more than that... He's gained two pounds since he started eating! (He's 26 pounds!) His favorite foods are yogurt (Greek, Yoplait... doesn't matter), pudding, sweet potatoes, chicken, carrots, butternut squash, and corn. He HATES peas! (I don't blame him. I'm not a fan either.) He is getting only one formula pump tube feed a day. He is still, however, receiving gravity tube feeds of liquid since he continues to refuse to drink anything. If he would drink enough liquid, we could probably get rid of the tube!

2. On Monday, I will be 28 weeks pregnant. I look (and feel) 35. This pregnancy has been far more difficult for me. Yes, yes, I have a toddler that contributes to things being harder, but this pregnancy is just physically more exhausting. Of course, the fact that I am older and out-of-shape might also have something to do with the hardship! My pregnancy with Ayden was fairly easy, and this one causes me to be pretty sick (even now!). A first pregnancy experience for me would be the fact that I have carpal tunnel; apparently, it goes away in nine out of ten women once the baby is born. I also am experiencing revenge of the reflux. It's a good thing we get a fabulous little one out of the deal... pregnancy is the pits!

Every pregnancy is different, and it has become apparent to me that one can even tell during pregnancy that the children are too. Ayden was a mover and a shaker when music was playing, and he also kicked and punched when his daddy was around. "Little B" (AKA "Nutter Butter") doesn't seem to be interested in music while in the womb; he is, however, very connected to my closest friends and family, especially Ayden. Whenever Ayden is sitting in front of me, Little B takes the opportunity to kick his brother in the back quite frequently. I'm not sure if this is a "hello" or "haha" or what. Ayden doesn't usually seem to notice... not yet anyway. Little B is also much more active overnight than Ayden was... We're going to need to get that turned around while in the womb, or Bryan and I are in for some long nights. Of course, we are probably in for some long nights anyway, especially since we have no prior experience with a newborn. Remember? Ayden was in the hospital as a newborn.

I received a phone call from my OB's office a couple of weeks ago. My precious OB, Dr. Growdon, is apparently not going to be working indefinitely. I am not sure of the reason, and I am lifting him up in my prayers. I am concerned for Dr. Growdon and also selfishly disappointed for myself. Bryan and I met with our new OB, Dr. Saig, last week. She is quite different from Dr. Growdon, but she seems nice and joyful. The OB appointment went smoothly, even quickly (amazing!), and the baby is growing appropriately. Little B's heartbeat continues to sound strong; we will continue checking on the mechanics of the heart with an ECHO in the new year.

3. As Bryan told you, we have been working to get our house in order to house our Little B. We decided to move Ayden to the guest room, and his room is now closer to completion. When I feel like it is "show ready," I'll post pictures. :) BLM's room, on the other hand, looks like a storage closet. My daddy and Bryan moved B's furniture in there, but it's not assembled or arranged. Then there's our study... why does it always seem like we decide to do something in the study at the same time that we are rearranging the rest of our lives?!?! I'm not a very patient person, so it's terribly frustrating to see our house in such disarray, but I know that we are all (it's been a family & friend effort!) giving our best to get things done as quickly as possible. I am enveloped by some truly amazing people!

4. Please pray for Paul and his family, as they spend the holidays in the hospital while he recovers from the Norwood procedure. You can read about his journey at http://paulsheart.doodlekit.com.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

"Walk This Way"

For several months, we have been hoping Ayden would be both walking and eating by Christmas. With Christmas Day one week away, it's clear he isn't quite going to make it in either area, but he's really close with the walking (I'll cover eating in a subsequent post).

Because of all the time he spent in the hospital, mostly on his back, Ayden's mobility development was pretty far behind. He's been going to weekly physical therapy appointments since early in the year. It took a while for them to really have an effect, but these visits to Ms. Kristin (his therapist) have helped a great deal. Additionally, once Ayden stopped fighting the process and embraced what Ms. Kristin was trying to help him do, more progress was made. With Ms. Kristin's help, Ayden pretty quickly progressed from crawling to pulling to standing to cruising. After that, the pace slowed back down. Walking has proven to be a challenge to Ayden.

He's faced the same issues that all children do at this stage: strength and balance. After working on those two for a while at therapy and at home, Ms. Kristin brought up a couple of impediments she thought were holding Ayden back. First, his feet are pronated (rolled in). Second, she believes he has calcaneal valgus, which is a fancy way of saying his heel bone is tilted when he stands up, rather than straight up and down. These problems are creating decreased stability and strength in his ankles, neither of which is conducive to walking. She suggested Ayden be fitted for some orthotics that would properly align his foot and ankle and provide the stability and support his body can't give him right now.

We didn't really know what to think about all of this, initially. Speaking for myself, I guess it took me a few days to come to grips with the idea of him potentially having additional physical things working against his development (as if his handicapped cardiovascular system isn't already enough). Eventually, we both realized we were responding emotionally, not rationally. Besides, he always had his toes pointed out when he "walked" and these issues probably explain why. So, we put our own issues aside and ordered the orthotics.

They are probably not what you think. Don't picture what Forrest Gump wore. Instead of leg braces, think of an ankle brace made entirely out of hard plastic. It looks like this, except Ayden's has only one strap. With shoes and pants on, you don't even know he's wearing them. Even without pants, you probably wouldn't notice them right away.

He's been wearing them for several weeks now. As you'll see below, they're helping. His stability and balance is much better when he has them on. He's made a lot of progress at therapy over the last few weeks. If he can figure out how to stand up (he can get halfway there right now), he won't be far away from getting up and taking off running. He'll probably wear the orthotics for 4-6 months, which will hopefully be enough time for the muscles and tendons around his ankle to strengthen so his feet can be in the correct position without assistance.

Regardless, he's continuing to catch up to where "normal" kids his age would be, which is all we can ask for. Ms. Kristin thinks he'll be there before surgery #3 arrives next summer. If so, I'll take it.

BLM

Lately, we have neglected the blog. Don't worry. Nothing has happened.  We have just been quite busy. With Baby #2 on the way, we decided to free up the nursery by moving Ayden into what had been the guest bedroom. This necessitated getting rid of the furniture in that room. Then I had to paint it (peach isn't an ideal color for a little boy's room). Then I had to take his crib apart, move the pieces into his new room, and put it back together (assembled, it wouldn't fit through the doorways). Then I needed an extra set of hands to move his dresser/hutch, which also had to be taken apart and put back together. Plus, as is seemingly always the case with these things, when you make changes to one room, it causes changes in other rooms. Thus, we made an adjustment to our bedroom and switched up the study a bit.

While I was dealing with all of that, spread out over several weekends (for those of you with kids, you know how hard it is to get projects done during the week), Allison was locating new decorations for both rooms: the nursery will shift from a storybook theme to a train theme; Ayden's new room is done in dragons.

See what I mean? Quite busy.

Nevertheless, I apologize for the lack of updates. My goal is to get something substantive (probably about Ayden's eating and walking) up over the weekend. In the interim, I offer the following nugget of information as something to tide you over...

We have finally decided on a name for Baby #2. I can't tell you the name just yet, but I can pass along his initials:  BLM. Those also happen to be my initials. And before you ask, no, he will not be a "junior."