Gone Fishing

A couple of photos and a video of James learning to use his new toy.

James Update

James had a couple of appointments in Houston yesterday at Texas Children's.

We saw his pulmonologist first. He was pleasantly surprised at how good James' respiratory system sounded. Since James was so sick the last time the doctor saw him, the doc didn't know how healthy James can be. The only thing he commented on is diminished capacity in the lower right lung, which is to be expected since that's where James' stomach sits. Then the doctor ordered a blood-gas so that he would have a baseline to compare to if James gets sick again, so we went to the lab before his next appointment to get that done (after 3 different draws, they finally got a sample that worked).

Next we went to see James' GI doctor. The last time we saw her, we made a plan to get James off one of his meds. The doc was happy to learn that we were able to ween him from it successfully, taking James down to 3 meds on a regular basis (prevacid in the morning and before bed, bethanacol before each meal, & pulmacort nebulizer each morning).

We will continue to see these doctors every 3 months as long as James stays healthy, more frequently if he gets sick. They want to see him healthy for 9-12 months before they try to reduce any more of his medications. We are so thankful that he has been healthy since the end of April. The docs say if he can't stay well, then we'll have to consider surgical options so we're just praying for continued good health here!

Developmentally, James has made a lot of progress in the last 8 weeks or so. He's mastered crawling and loves chasing the cat around the apartment. He can cruise along the couch and has also mastered his walker. He can even walk if you hold both his hands to help him keep his balance. Even though he doesn't talk, he is getting better at communicating with us and we are trying to teach him some simple signs. His therapists are working with him to try and develop more fine motor skills that will help with signing and feeding himself. We are just so happy he's been healthy that all of these developmental steps are just icing on the cake!

Playing

Happy Father's Day! (James is waving)

And He's Off...

Double Trouble

A typical day in the lives of James and Andrew...

James pushing Andrew out of the way to get to my lap.

Andrew trying to pull James off to get my lap for himself.

The boys playing with some toys "together."

Crawling towards the camera.

Smiling at Mommy.

"Petting" the kitty.

8 Months

Andrew celebrated his 8 month birthday yesterday. We celebrated by going to the pool :) Everyone had a good time! At 8 months Andrew...

• can scoot anywhere he wants to go.


• has his first two teeth (on the bottom).


• is still a bad napper.


• is now eating puffs after each meal and loving it.


• loves to steal his brother's sippy cup, but doesn't know what to do with it yet.


• can pull himself to standing.


• loves lounging and playing in the pool.


• is a Mama's boy.


• loves to get into things he shouldn't.

Loves his highchair because it means he gets to eat!Playing in the hallway with his brother, but then he spots his mommy with the camera...

And within a few seconds is sitting in front of me waiting for either the camera or me...it's hard to tell!

You Go Boys!

Andrew can pull himself to standing now at his activity table.
The boys standing at the couch together.

We even saw James standing independently next to the couch for about 2 or 3 seconds the other day. So proud of these two boys!

I Love May!

Dave and I are so very thankful for the past month. Although May included quite a few weather-related tragedies in the U.S. and the loss of a dear family friend, life has been as close to perfect in our little corner of the world as it has ever been for us.

The weather in Southwest Louisiana was absolutely gorgeous this month. We had sunny skies and great temps nearly everyday. It's now hit 90 down here, and we're told that it won't get any cooler until September.

James had a healthy month! No colds, no sick visits to the doctor, and no trips to the hospital. James even started crawling this month and is now cruising along the couch fairly consistently. He's even started taking steps in his walker! He's made such improvements and we are so thankful and so proud of him!

Andrew continues to grow. He is cutting his first two teeth and is scooting all over the place. His favorite thing to scoot after is his brother's sippy cup. The boys love to swim and we take them down at least once a week.

James and Andrew are starting to play together, which is adorable. It's more like they play around each other, but still cute. They steal each others toys and crawl on and over each other and neither one of them seem to mind. They both like to terrorize Oliver by "petting" him and James likes to chew on his tail (don't worry we don't let him).

Dave and I are getting out too. We were able to be in a kickball tournament (I still have a black toenail) and go on a date while my parents were here earlier in the month. Dave is playing softball a couple times a week with some guys from church. We went to a crawfish boil, 2 festivals, and a barbecue. We've started going to a growth group on Wednesdays at church (the boys are doing fairly well in the nursery now). And right now all the boys are napping :)

Like I said, as close to perfect as we've gotten in a long time. We are so, so thankful that the Lord has blessed us and given us this time to rest and enjoy being a family.

Andrew loves to climb on things...he is going to get into everything!

James reading books with his Daddy. We have a bookshelf in the hallway with all his books. He loves to crawl down the hall to them and read.

All the boys playing.

James absolutely loves slides! (we're in the middle)

James smiling after going down the "Super Slide."

Dave and James swimming at a friend's house. Andrew and I were pigging out on the grilled food!