When You Smile...The Whole World Stops and Stares for Awhile

I know, I know, it has been some time since I last posted. I am happy to say the reason for that is a good one: I have been busy keeping up with a toddler! One would think that learning to do normal parent stuff (ie keeping Landon from those fascinating electrical outlets, making sure some food ends up in Landon's tummy instead of Huey Lewis our dog's tummy, and getting someone to sleep the whole night in their crib) would be easy after all we went through. That is soooo not the case, it is just as hard for us as any first time parent. The upside comes from the fact that we try not to take any moment for granted. Sometimes it is hard when our little crabby patty is crying at 3am due to teething to be remember this! It is in those moments when I remember the first time I heard Landon's very hoarse cry, he was almost 6 months old. We would hear other babies in the NICU cry and wonder when we would hear our baby. Now, we jokingly say that he laughs all day and cries all night.

Just me and my dad

My first vacation!

The thing is that he is actually a very happy little guy. People just gravitate to him. It is like the lyrics in that song "When you smile, the whole world stops and stares for awhile.' I used to think that just happened because of his oxygen and feeding tube, that perhaps people stared because of sadness due to his situation. However, after we lost the feeding tube and the oxygen (going on two months now!) even more people would smile and wave or comment about him. We can't go to a store or the mall without someone stopping to say hi to him. Of course I am biased as a mom, but I also feel that people can sense his charisma and strength. Some we tell the journey we have been on, others we just let them think he is a regular beautiful little boy.

I am pretty sure the kid is going to do some amazing things in the world. He has come so far and every day does something new and unexpected...sometimes something we were told he would never be able to do. He is a chatterbox and recently discovered he loves throwing things and playing catch. Unfortunately, the throwing extends to throwing all of his toys out of his car seat while mommy is driving, his food on the floor for the dog (which is usually accompanied by an 'uh-oh') and whatever utensil he can find on the table when we take him out to eat.

Mommy and Daddy on our first whole night away from baby

Me and my doggie

At Fall Fest!

I know when we last left our story he was just starting to get off of oxygen and had just gotten off the feeding tube. He has officially kicked the oxygen habit. We just had a 'I can breathe on my own party' to celebrate this. Thanks to everyone who attended! Feeding is still not our favorite part of the day, but he makes great strides every day. He still gets most of his nutrition from his bottle, though he moved up to a toddler formula at his first adjusted birthday in July. Unfortunately, he still has issues tolerating milk protein and needs a special (pricy) formula that is partially broken down. He also loves loves loves cheerios, which are great for developing fine motor skills. He eats noodles and meat and most soft veggies. He HATED baby food and refused it. Who can blame him? We are working on switching to a sippy cup, but it is definitely a struggle. Thankfully we have a lot of support in his occupational therapist!

Although feeding is a struggle, he is on track with his cognitive development, placing somewhere between his actual age of 17 months and his adjusted age of 14 months. He waves hello and good-bye, blows kisses, points to what he wants (usually a balloon or Grandma) and has several words including mommy's work Google! We think he may be an engineer like his Papas Bob and Rick as he doesn't play with toys so much as inspect them to see how they work.

We are still behind in gross motor skills like walking. The good news is that we don't think it is because of any damage to his brain or conditions like cerebral palsy. It is more than likely the result of his multiple stomach surgies cutting through and reattaching his abdominal muscles. It is really hard to see him struggle to do the things that intellectually he knows he should be able to do but physically needs to build up more stamina for. He definitely compensates for this by becoming extremely flexible to reach what he wants or uses of combination of rolling, army crawling, and yoga poses to get things. He just learned in the last few weeks how to pull himself up to stand. You can see the strain on his muscles when doing this, but this baby is determined! He can also stand on his own for a few seconds at least.

I stood up by myself!

My dinosaur

Playing with my blocks from Dr. Nancy!

Just chillin'

My best buddy Luke at the NICU reunion picnic

Uh-oh face

Swimming in my pool

Although I still worry about him taking so long to walk, one of his former NICU doctors, Shawna, pointed out that not many kids aren't walking by kindergarten. The thing is, it isn't like he is going to go to a job interview and have to write how old he was when he starting walking. It is frustrating having to watch him work so much harder to do what other babies easily accomplish, but it also makes me so much more proud when he does reach a new milestone.

In between all of these exciting updates, we also went on our first family vacation and mommy and daddy had their first whole night away from Landon. Both were really great! I promise to keep updating a little bit more regularly! I am hoping for the day when I can let everyone know he has taken his first steps!