A Welcomed Visit

We were so excited to have more visitors this month! We had a wonderful visit with my parents, who came to visit for an entire week. They were able to get in a lot of Andrew time and he was able to show off how grown-up he is with all of his smiles and coos. This was a first for my parents to see him off of oxygen. (since we lived with them before moving out here.) We had a great week and had fun showing them the area. My dad loves to stay busy and so we put him to work fixing a few things around the house...especially our wobbly dishwasher. Thanks SO much dad! They even let Stephen and I have a little date night to the temple. It's hard to leave Andrew with a babysitter, being a little medically needed with the feeding tube, so we really appreciate at them letting us get away for the night. The last day they were here, we headed into the city. This was a first for Stephen and I since we've been here. It was a beautiful fall day and we decided to spend the afternoon at Navy Pier. It was fun to see the skyline along the lake and all the boats in the pier. We even took a little boat ride ourselves   Andrew was quite the little trooper and just went with the flow. He's such a good and easy going little baby.

Andrew, Stephen and my dad looking out at Lake Michigan

My mom and I with the Chicago skyline

Going for a boat ride in the "Windy City" of Chicago

A Columbus Day Tradition

So for some reason, Columbus Day hasn't really been much of anything. Just another day, like all of the beautiful fall days in October. (I guess it's because, in Utah we don't get school or work off or anything.) Well, here in Chicagoland (yes that's what they call it out here.... Chicagoland...I tend to chuckle each time I hear that term. It reminds me of things like Candyland or Disneyland....but this is beside the point)  Anyways, the 2nd Monday in October was much more of a "Holiday" then I would have guessed.  All of the kids had a day off of school, some businesses were closed and there was a big parade downtown in the city. I also learned that, the second Monday in October, is the day that Canada celebrates Thanksgiving. We were invited by some friends here, who is from Canada, to join their family for their big feast and celebration.

The best part of the Columbus day for me was to be apart of a long family tradition in the Holden Family. Every year growing up, Stephen and his family would go with his grandparents up to a place called Rifle River. Ever since we were married, I heard about these traditions. Well this year, since we live much closer...we made the drive to Michigan for the weekend and made the trip with them. It was so beautiful. I loved all the bright colors we saw along the way. I've never seen such brilliant oranges on so many maple trees. Simply breath taking. We did the traditional picnic and saw the traditional sight of the swinging bridge and look out tower. It was a quick weekend with lots of driving. But it was great to be able to get away and see some beautiful sights with the Holden family. We had gorgeous and unusually warm weather...you couldn't ask for more!

A beautiful view of the trees from the lookout tower.

Benny's messy face from the Picnic.

The gang...takin' a break.

A Traditional picture of all the Holden Siblings

A family Picture

All the adults climbing the old tree

Write it Down...

Finding his fists...well actually his thumb for that fact. Last week he truly sucked his thumb and calmed himself down.

He smiles and coos all the time. It's so funny because after he is half way done with his bottle he'll just smile away and talk your ear off. (Maybe this is a reason why he's not interested in finishing his bottle.) He's becoming a pretty social little baby.

He loves to hold your fingers, especially when he eats. Also, when he gets flustered, he starts grabbing for anything and everything. As soon as you offer a finger or two he holds on tight and settles down. Maybe it's because that's all we could do the first few months of his life. Touch his little head and hold his little hand.

Tummy time...is not the most favorite time around our house. Andrew is still working on gaining control of that little noggin of his. He's doing so much better, but still struggles especially when he's tired. So we're doing trying to do tons of this...as much as he'll tolerate. 

 As we were going through so pictures the other day Stephen saw this one.

Sometimes we forget how small these boys really were when they were born. When people find out he's a preemie they always ask how much he weighed. Our response of 2lb 7oz is so hard to comprehend. Well, here's a comparison we took. He really has come a long way and truly fits his name. strong &  courageous

Time is flying by

Has it really been six months since this little miracle was born into our family? Where has the time gone? We certainly are keeping busy out here. I credit most of it to our dear sweet Andrew.  Not just your average...busy with a new baby in our household.  I feel like we've had a zillion of doctor visits since we moved here and looking back over the calendar...we really have!   An average week for me is 1-2 doctor appointments. Although, we did have a week of NO appointments, which was a lovely break.  Yet, I'm sure that we were just making up for the week of 5...yes FIVE doctor appointments all in the same week. They aren't all that bad. We have had some great news at these appointments.

1. Andrew finally passed his hearing screening, with our visit with the audiologist earlier last month. In the hospital, he passed the typical screening that all babies have, but being a preemie they did an Auditory Brainstem Response or ABR test which is much more in depth. The fluid in his left ear is finally gone and he passed with flying colors. We're so thankful that he can hear in both ears.
2. Also, we had to go to a few ophthalmologists to find one who sees patients with active ROP or (Retinopathy Of Prematurity) Andrew had a very mild case, but this potentially can lead to blindness. Last week, the dr. told us that everything has fully developed, it's not active any more and all is normal. Another huge relief. We just have to continue with eye appointments now every six months. They are key in finding out if his shunt is continuing to work. I know that seems weird, but the pressure from the spinal fluid not draining, will put pressure on the retina. So the long 3 hour eye appointment of getting eyes dilated and waiting will now only happen every 6 months.  
3. Nephrologist.....yeah, I had to look that one up when they told me I needed to follow-up with a nephrologist aka (kidney doctor) Because the the vast amounts of medications Andrew was on in the NICU, it was terribly hard on his kidney's. And yes...this little kiddo has kidney stones.  All the doctor seem to say that "it's no big deal for babies" and "they should take care of themselves".  Well, thankfully this doctor says we just need to continue to monitor his kidney growth and such.  In the meantime, we've been to the hospital labs to have ultrasounds, urine cultures and a urine analysis done. Yeah....that was a fun visit. 
4. NICU follow-up Team. This is a great program they have here in Illinois. We're able to go to a clinic and have a neonatalologist and a team of specialist follow Andrew.  It was nice to go to one appointment and see about 4 different specialist. They'll seen him again at 9 months, 1-year and 2 years old. By then a typical preemie should be caught up.
5. Speech therapy. Yes this is were my focus this last month has mostly been. If you've read the previous post...you'll know why. 
6. Early Intervention. They are a team of therapists that work with Andrew. Although he qualifies, he doesn't quite need any services yet. Thank goodness they come to our home. Which is a nice change and we don't have to go anywhere for this one.               
7. Oh yes...besides all of these specialist we've seen this month...we've also had his typical pediatrician well-check visits. For his 6 month appointment this week, Andrew weighs 12lbs 2oz and is 24 inches long. He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. Although, he's on a different scale they use for preemie boys and his adjusted age of 3 months. (He's way off the charts for a typical 6 month old)

As busy as he keeps us, we wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. How could you with a smile like that? He's worth everything and then more.