A Day of Culture
Greetings to everyone.
Xavier's Great Aunt Mary Jo likes to visit places in the cities she travels to. She had heard there were Mrs. James Ward Thorne miniatures on display. So, we all went down to the Denver Art Museum. We found no such display, but still we had a good time. Xavier came away feeling more cultured, especially after surviving a foam building block battle which raged around him in a children's interactive room.
A bridge connects the two museums. At one end of the bridge is an interactive room for children. This one had a large area with a number of foam blocks. The challenge was to build a replica of the museum from these blocks. Few kids did that. Most built forts, or as is the case when we sat there, broke out into a giant pillow fight. Xavier let Dad build a few towers while he practiced knocking them over.
There was an exhibit lit with red lighting. It was set up like a restaurant or cafe. The tables had red table linen, and red chairs and all the table settings were red. Foxes leapt or sat or slunk about. What is shown above is a very small slice of the exhibit. The camera's flash reflects in Mom's and son's eyes, something of an appropriate image for the display behind them.
While Aunt Mary Jo and Chellie looked over the offerings at the museum's kitsch shop, Rebecca took Xavier over to play in the fountains. He really did not like when the fountain shot up high, but he enjoyed the fountain when it was more his size. We also learned the amazing fact of just how much water a diaper can hold!
Xavier Meets a Great Aunt
Greetings to all; Happy Fourth of July!
This time last year, Xavier was still in the NICU. Rebecca and I visited him early in the morning because we knew we would not see him for one or two days. It was the first time he went without seeing his parents for more than a day. (We had to pack up the Northern Outpost is the reason we were away).
This Fourth of July Xavier got to meet with his great aunt, Mary Jo. Though a whirlwind visit of only two days, still it was a wonderful time. In keeping with the tradition we set into motion last year at this time, Rebecca and I left Xavier in the care of Mary Jo and Chellie, and we snuck off to have a morning to ourselves. We enjoyed breakfast together and a long walk in the mountains along Bear Creek. We were back before lunch, however.
Xavier's Great Aunt Mary Jo, poses with Xavier, who was too fast with his happy smile to be caught on camera.
Feeding Update
Greetings to everyone.
A quick update on Xavier's eating issues. The doctors scheduled a liver biopsy, a Nissan Procedure and the nasal feeding tube (all at the same time), then called us to let us know about it. We said no to all three, which did not set well with the surgeons. About a week later, we called and cancelled the GI tube surgery as well. None of this was the right path; it would have caused more harm and bigger problems, while solving none of the current problems.
In the last month and a half, Xavier has gained somewhere between one and a quarter and one and a half pounds! (Yes, shout Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus!).
It has not been an easy road; Xavier has had his first chest cold during this time, cut two more teeth, and is just getting over another respiratory infection. (This last infection has been a serious snot producer. Several times while using the blue booger sucker Rebecca has almost lost her stomach content, and I have gagged at what I saw at least once). We have also had to keep to a tighter feeding schedule. As Xavier took in more daily volume, his hunger to eat more increased. He started waking up two or three times a night wanting to be fed (again, shout Hallelujah!). When his nose and sinuses are unplugged, he sucks down 3.5 to 4 ounces at a time with extreme prejudice, especially in the afternoons! That, by the way, is up from his 1 to 1.5 and sometimes 2 ounces before, and that required vast effort to accomplish. We rarely need to swaddle him any more.
In this same six weeks, Xavier has gone from averaging 13 ounces (on a good day) to the high twenties. He even did a day recently where he took in (and kept down!) 35.5 ounces. It is still hard to baseline where he is at because the teething and two bouts of illness throw the numbers off, but we think when the last of the snot clears, he will be back to 30+ ounces a day (we can't say Hallelujah enough!)
He is a much happier baby, if you can believe that (he's always been happy, but now he is super-charged happy). We are much happier parents (even when we are up with him two or three times a night again). With his new surplus of energy, we are also having to relearn how to get him to go down for the evening.
What a difference a month makes! Thank you all for your prayers, they have a large part in bringing Xavier to this point. Dr. Abbey wants to bring Xavier in for a weight check next week. I'm hoping Xavier will clock in around 14.75 pounds. That's so doable from where we sit today.
We still are having problems getting Xavier to eat from a spoon and to accept a tooth brush. He is getting less guarded about his mouth, but there is still much work there, it seems. We are hoping the OT and the speech therapist will be able to make great strides in this area.