Greetings to everyone.

Well, not exactly Xavier's first trip to the Emergency Room. Our first visit to the hospital after learning we were pregnant was Xavier's first trip to the ER. And, he had us back there several times during the pregnancy. This was his first trip to the ER out of the womb.

It began yesterday after Xavier got up from his nap. He took a longer nap than usual, but he had a busy morning at the zoo, so it seemed natural to think he would nap longer.

When I changed his diaper, his belly was hot. I felt his head; he had a strong fever, the strongest I have ever known him to have. Rebecca and I did not think too much of it; he was in the sun more than he should have been, and he has more teeth coming in (which always has him with a low fever).

After dressing him, I let him run around the house, which he did. However, he was unusually clingy and kept checking in with either Mom or Dad, whomever he found first. He wanted held more than he wanted to run around. That is a yellow flag right there.

We took him to church. He held still in my arms the whole service. Never has he held that still for so long anywhere! His fever grew more warm; during service I estimated at about three degrees warmer than my skin, so in the neighborhood of 101°. We planned to stay after the service for a family fun night, but Xavier's lackluster demeanor counselled us otherwise.

We went home, we got Xavier into a lukewarm (emphasis on the cooler side) bath to help cool his fever, fed him a dose of Acetaminophen, then gave him a bottle. He ate some, but not much—nothing like at breakfast or lunch, which both were extraordinary by his standards. We retired to the cooler basement and turned on "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2".

Xavier sat in Rebecca's lap and watched the movie. Never did he try to gain control of the remote. Both of these were yellow flags to us. Before the movie ended, Xavier threw up much of the bottle he drank an hour prior. Both our home thermometers put his temperature between 101° and 103°. We decided to take him to the ER.

The ER registered his temperature at 101.4°. His ears were not inflamed, nor his throat. Though his nose leaked the occasional snot slug and he was a little congested, he had no cough. His lungs were clear; no inflammation in his lymphatic system. His O₂ saturation was in the mid 90s and his heart rate was within normal ranges.

The PA gave Xavier an anti-nausea pill (apparently, she did not think the saltines he had started eating would do the trick), and a dose of ibuprofen. Anna (the PA) said there is a virus making its rounds; Xavier likely had caught it.

We sat around for two and a half hours for observation. It was to be less than that, but the ER was unusually busy. Xavier's fever dropped to 99° and he felt he needed to run around the ER room or the nurse's stations and open, tug on or slam everything he could get away with. And why not? It was more than two hours past his bed time, he was feeling better and he missed out on all this running around earlier.

The ER eventually released Xavier and we headed home. He has caught some upper respiratory infection. We were told to wait it out, and given instructions on what meds to give him and when to help keep the fever down.

Xavier did not sleep well through the night, and at 2:00 AM was crying. After a bottle, he went back down. At 3:00 AM he woke again, his high fever had returned. We dosed him with more Acetaminophen, but he would not go back down. Screaming both with strong discomfort and hunger, we were able to address the hunger (Rebecca correctly heard the subtle sounds I missed; I was thinking he was not hungry since he ate about an hour prior).

It took longer to calm his physical discomfort (gas). He spent the rest of the night on Daddy's chest, who spent the rest of the night on the couch not sleeping. Finding a relatively comfortable position laying on his side (a very unusual position for Xavier), Xavier took hold of my finger and moved my hand to his back. He started moving my hand up and down, letting me know he wanted his back stroked. From the earliest days in the NICU, this is how we have comforted him. Even today, gently petting his back still calms him.

For Rebecca and me, this was an interesting and educational experience. Xavier has been so healthy, it's been a great blessing to us all. This was our first truly alarming event that was not generated by a doctor or specialist. The ER trip was unnecessary, except (as Rebecca noted on the way to the ER) for our benefit. Though we knew to do and would have done the medicine regimen as prescribed, neither of us would have gotten any sleep had we not taken Xavier in; we would have lain awake listening to him, and going in to check on him all night long. This way, at least Rebecca and Xavier got some sleep last night.

Greetings to everyone.

Our 17 pound alarm clock woke us at 06:00 this morning. He loaded his diaper, which of late has started to wake him up. Rebecca and I are encouraged by this; potty training may be sooner than we first thought.

With the expected temperatures in the low 70's and a sunny day ahead, we made an impromptu decision to make another zoo trip today. This we decided while preparing breakfast. Discussing which option would suit us best, morning or after Xavier's nap, we thought morning.

Boy, did we make the right call! We found parking up close to the gate, the ticket line had only three parties ahead of us, and the gift shop was next to empty. When we left the zoo around twelve thirty, the line to buy tickets stretched long into the parking lot; probably a thousand people in line at least. We have never seen such a line to get into the zoo! In fact, the only time I saw a line that long (or longer) was when the zoo had Klondike and Snow.

We decided to pack as light as possible. That meant snacks and drinks for the three of us, some diapers and wipes, a camera and the zoo hat we bought Xavier last July when we took him. We chose not to bring a stroller or Xavier's wagon; the zoo rents wagons and we thought to try that out. Next time we will bring the wagon; we found the quality of the zoo's rentals lacking. We ran into many people with similar wagons to Xavier's and several useful accessories; some of these folks I engaged in discussions about some of the more interesting accessories.

Last July, when we took Xavier to the zoo, he was still not eating well and too young to really engage with the experience. We thought now he would enjoy the visit more. We judged correctly. The very first thing he got excited about was a zoo golf cart parked near the first exhibit. He ran to it, climbed in and pretended to drive it.

Upon our arrival this year, we chose a divide and conquer technique to alleviate the perceived "crowd problem." As it turned out, the zoo did not have much of a crowd until later in the day.

I went to get tickets and Rebecca popped into the gift shop for a cup of Joe and a "monkey" leash and harness for Xavier. Instead of a monkey backpack, Xavier decided on one with an elephant. Even with the straps cinched as tight as possible, the harness proved too big for Xavier's size. Fortunately, the harness had a strap across his chest which made the harness workable. With its six-foot detachable leash, it's one of the best $20 we have spent on Xavier in weeks!

Shortly after staring our self-paced tour, we came to one of the zoo's interactive exhibits: the lorikeets. The lorikeets were in an outdoor exhibit; entry was gained through a double set of doors. On the way in, for $1.00 you could purchase a cup of nectar and feed the lorikeets. We arrived at a great time as the birds were hungry. Though Xavier did not feed any directly (the birds would have swiped the cup from him and flown off), he did enjoy watching these colorful birds up close (most were tame enough, you could stroke their feathers if you moved gently enough).

Xavier did enjoy the animals more this time. Standing at some exhibits, he watched, sometimes pointing at the animals or squawking happily. At Monkey Island, Xavier thought he might have fun climbing the stone wall. Not to get to the monkies, but because he wanted to climb the stone wall.

As Xavier takes his naps beginning between noon and one o'clock most days, so our time at the zoo came came to an end around 12:30. Before returning the wagon and heading back to the car, we found an "excavation dig site" sponsored by Children's Hospital. This was a large sand-filled pit framed by stamped cement "rocks". The sand pit had pails and shovels and sifters. Hidden under the sand lay plastic dinosaur bones waiting to be discovered. This proved the perfect place to let Xavier run around before strapping him back into his car seat.

When let off his leash, Xavier headed straight for the sand area, and straight for a shovel. He pushed the shovel into the sand like he knew what he was doing, then assisted a little girl about his age in filling her bucket with sand. I was unable to get Xavier to take interest in the sand sifters, but he did unearth a plastic spoon. Throwing aside his big shovel (perhaps so as not to damage any buried archaeological discoveries with it), he proceeded to fill buckets with sand, scooping the sand with the plastic spoon. It was his prize of the dig.

Once home, Xavier ate a unusually sized lunch (for him), then hit the sheets. He slept for more than three hours.

Greetings to everyone.

Yet another milestone today for Rebecca and me as parents: Xavier's first parent-teacher conference. I have looked forward to it since learning about it last week. Rebecca arranged it late in the day so I would be able to attend.

The teachers observe items across several categories: Social-Emotional/Self Help, Cognitive Skills, Fine/Gross Motor Skills, Specials (Physical Education, Music), Artistic Expression and Spiritual Development. Apart from a checklist, the class teacher writes up points which occur to her in each category.

Xavier scored high in some categories, like Social-Emotional, Artistic Expression and Spiritual Development (Glory to God!). Others he scored normal like Fine/Gross Motor Skills.

It was educational to learn how Xavier compares in the Fine/Gross Motor Skills since we have nothing to compare him against. He has problems putting together an inset puzzle; however, this is an age-appropriate difficulty. Over all, his motor skills track normally for his age. Compare that to the assessment given by the Eating Clinic last June. Xavier has caught up nicely.

One of the things we walked away with is that Xavier is social; he is not a loner. He will play with other children, and he lets other children play with him. He doesn't hit or push them away. It was nice to learn this. We don't have many opportunities to observe Xavier with other children; we were concerned he was not developing social skills like he should.

His teachers have also observed much of what we have seen in the home environment. It's nice to have others on the outside confirm your own observations.

His teachers commented on his activity level and like for physical activity. Next year, when Xavier goes two days a week, he will have a gym class. We learned about the gym teacher at the conference; Xavier will love gym class next year!

Xavier loves art time. Often, we were told, he is the first to the art station when that time comes up. He also enjoys exploring different mediums.

Also next year, he will get a music class. His teachers remarked on his like for music and song. It's great to have a place where Xavier will be able to explore the arts and give his parents a peek into who he is.

The school is doing something new this year. Each class is working on an art project. The materials and textures will differ from class to class. The projects will be put out in a common area one night for parents to come and see. A school art exhibit, but each class contributing something different. That is planned for a few weeks from now. It's all very secret; we won't know what the Bumblebees (Xavier's class) are working on until we attend the exhibit.

The most interesting thing Miss Lisa told us today concerned Xavier's play skills. The way Miss Lisa spoke of them and the intonation of her words underscored how out of the ordinary Xavier's skills are. "Most children," she said, "will happen upon a toy and start playing with it. Xavier plays with intent. He goes looking for what he wants."

Sometimes, we were told, Xavier will stand in front of a shelf of toys looking them over with purpose. He doesn't happen upon a toy, he chooses one intentionally. Xavier also notices when new toys are introduced into the room, or toys are removed. He even notices when furniture is moved, finding where the toys have moved to. His teachers find his observation skills above the curve.

Two and a half years ago, Rebecca and I had doctors telling us our baby would not make it into the world. He was defective; something was wrong. Three times doctors counselled us to terminate the pregnancy. Today, we are learning how normal Xavier is in some areas, and how extraordinary he is in others. God is good! So very, very good!