James' First Zoo Trip

While Julie, Chad, Madison, Olivia & Cole were here last week, we made a trip to the zoo. James' favorite part was the aquarium. He loved watching the fish swim all around him. Below are a couple zoo pics and a few other pics from their visit.

Posing by the Sea Lions

An elephant family
Don't ask...

Liv reading to James.A close-up taken by Liv!

Re-Scheduled

James' surgery has been rescheduled for April 12th, just a week later. Some of the surgeon's team is on vacation on the 5th and some of the OR equipment he wants to use is already booked for that day by another surgeon. So, we're waiting a week for optimal people and equipment.

James' visit to the neurologist went well. His ultrasound is completely normal. The cyst that was resolving when he was 2 months old is now completely gone. Yay!

We're having a fun time with Julie and her family this week. We went for a walk into town on Monday. Yesterday we went to Ikea and Buffalo Wild Wings. Today we went to the outlet mall. Tomorrow we might go to the zoo if is doesn't rain. We shall see!

Surgery Scheduled

We saw the surgeon today. He was very pleased with James' growth. The surgeon was so glad that he didn't operate in January because he would have interrupted James' recent growth spurt, which has landed him in the 80th percentile! We scheduled surgery for April 5th, the day after Easter (and little Miriam's 1st birthday). 3 weeks from yesterday! The surgeon probably could have worked him in earlier, but then he's going on a short vacation and we don't want James in the hospital with the surgeon not there. The surgeon is confident that since James is such a good size that he will be able to do the surgery without making any new incisions...everything can be done through the holes that are already in his neck and tummy! We are excited for the big day! We are sorry we aren't going to be able to make any Easter trips, but James will be healed soon so we can come and visit late April/early May, hopefully. (I can't believe I haven't been to Indiana in over 9 months!) Please pray that James stays healthy for surgery!

James is officially 7 months old! He weighed in at 19 pounds 13 ounces the day before the 7-month mark. We bought a new car seat for him over the weekend because he is getting too big for his infant seat now. Plus he's way too heavy for me to carry him around in his carrier. We are working on sitting with him these days. He's getting good at sitting on the couch, but he's not ready to sit on the floor without lots of pillows yet. James loves to chew on his fingers and put other toys in his mouth. He has started making lots of new noises and he loves to spit too! Basically he's doing great. He has caught up growth wise for being a preemie and is working on catching up development wise...that's what the therapists are for.

We see the surgeon tomorrow to find out if James can have surgery soon. I will keep you posted on that!

Dave calls this James' muscle t-shirt. Check out those arms!

I'm a slacker...

I've been slacking on my posts. I apologize. It's nearly a week into March and this is my first post. Oops!

The weather here is really improving. It's going to be in the 40's all weekend! The weathermen are worried about all the snow melting too quickly, but it's hard to complain when the sun is out!

James is doing great! His 7 month birthday is Thursday. He's growing like a weed. Last week he weighed in at 19 pounds 7 ounces. It's hard to believe that he was born under 4 pounds just 7 months ago. We started him on rice cereal last week. He'd maxed out the number of ounces the pediatrician said he should get per day, so now we mix the cereal with his formula and it goes through the tube too. We're looking forward to seeing his surgeon in a week and a half. James love to play on his mat. He grabs his animals and shakes rattles like it's the best thing in life!

Kevin and Patty, Dave's friends from Chicago, are in town this weekend. They're actually at a Pens hockey game right now. James is feeling a little left out, but since he doesn't do loud places well, we stayed home :)

Please pray for Tate McKinnis, 2 months old. His parents are friends of ours in Lafayette and he has RSV and is in the hospital. Please also pray for the newly arrived Evan Bennett, Megan and Wally's boy. He arrived early and is working on growing big and strong so that he can go home to his family.

I leave you with a picture of James and myself relaxing on the couch.
(The camera isn't fixed exactly, but it seems to be working fairly well. The colors are off, but the fuzziness is gone so we're using it!)