Caden's First Thanksgiving

Since we have room in our house, we are going to have Thanksgiving at home this year. Holly is going to cook.

Don't laugh.

Now I said not to laugh.

Okay, you can laugh a little. Debbie is helping, so don't worry...too much.

We've invited several people, but as expected, a lot of people have prior plans, are making their own dinner, or can't make it for other reasons. We are just glad that we can have Thanksgiving in our new home.

We have a lot to be thankful for this past year, and for many years to come. We're thankful for every day that God gives us, our beautiful son, our wonderful new home, Holly's thriving home daycare, our families, my career, the love that we recieve, and so much more. I'm sure you don't want to read everything that we are thankful for, but those are some highlights.




Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

I'm so proud...

I took Caden to the doctor yesterday. Both Holly and myself had butterflies in our stomachs because we were so curious as to see his new weight.

As you know, Caden had a feeding tube in and decided to pull it out about 4 weeks ago, and this appointment was not only his 6 month appointment and flu shot appointment, but it was to determine if he was gaining enough weight on just what he was taking out of the bottle.

Well, he weighed in at 16 lbs. 7 oz.!!! He is also now 27 inches long. For weight, he is holding steady at about the 30th percentile. But for his height, he jumped up to the 75th percentile!!! If he keeps this up, he is going to be a tall boy.

The doctor was so happy with the progress that he is making. He is sitting up with minimal support, he is taking at an average of 5 oz. a day by bottle, he is talking to us, playing "games" with us, playing with toys now more than ever.

Going back to the "games," he has this new thing. He shakes his head "no" and waits for us to do it. And then when we do it, he laughs and does it again. It is so cute, I hope to get it on video and upload it soon so that those not local can see it.

I also have a bunch of pictures to upload. I am going to upload some photos today that we got taken professionally.

From the move into the new house, I have yet to set up the computer. Even when I do, I have to find a power source. The corner that is "perfect" for the computer and desk has no outlet. So, for now, I have to find a way to run an extension cord so that it does not pose as a hazard to the kids.



Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

6 month pictures

The crib

We finally broke down and put Caden to sleep in his crib last night. When we decided to do it, Holly almost cried, but she did fine. Even I thought that she would be the one checking in on him.

Nope.

• 1:30AM - I thought I heard him, so I checked on him. And he was fine.


• 2:00AM - He was kicking a little, so I looked in. This time I think he was trying to kick off his covers; as both he and his mother love to do.


• 2:30AM or 3:00AM - I thought I heard something outside, so I looked around, but didn't find anything, so I decided to check on him again.

Am I horrible or what?

Except for me getting up, he did great. He slept there all night and seemed comfortable. He was so comfortable that he didn't want to wake up this morning.



Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

Caden is suprising us yet again.

Last week he took a full six-ounce bottle in ten minutes on two seperate feedings!!! Holly and I were shocked. As you may imagine. He has been taking about 4-6 ounces in 30-50 minutes on the norm. I am just so proud of my beautiful son.

But, the good news doesn't end there.

Yesterday, while I was at work, Caden wanted to sit up. Which as we know he really isn't supposed to do because of his age and syndrome. When I got home, I let him sit in the corner of the couch; I let him do this to get used to the feeling of sitting up and to try to help him strengthen his neck and back; and he didn't want to sit back.

He leaned forward a bit and sat up, sort of. He was wobbly, and he leaned to the side and forward a little more than he should, but he was doing it. And he sat there for a short while.

Today, I went home for lunch, and I was holding him some. Part of the time, I was holding him facing away from me with my arm around his belly and waist so that he could hold his head up, and we was doing a great job. He has been able to do that for a few days now.

I laid him down on his back in his gym so he could play and watch TV. He started to cry. I think part of it was that he didn't want me to put him down, but the rest was that he wanted to sit up. He'll get to that point soon enough.

I know that he doesn't understand that he can't sit up all of the time yet. But, he obviously wants to.


Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.

Caden's first pumpkin patch.

Caden looking around

I almost didn't get to go. I was scheduled to work from 1 to close at Nobbies, but someone changed hours with me so that I could work from 11 to 5. Then I tried to pawn that schedule off so that we could go during the day more, but it didn't work out for me. I still worked.

Caden slept about half of the time, but he seemed to enjoy or was at least inquisitive about what he saw.

I have more pictures posted at his picture site.

Sorry...

Sorry that it's been a while since the last posting. It's been kind of hectic lately. I've been working a few extra hours at Carlson, and I got a temporary part-time job at Nobbies (Nobbies is a party store).

I took Caden to the doctor last Thursday. The doctor wasn't happy, but she wasn't sad. He only gained 1/2 an ounce. So, he now weighs 14 lbs. 12 1/2 ounces. She said that the feeding tube has to stay in until his 6 month appointment at the beginning of November. She also said that we need to go back to tube feeding the rest of the morning bottle. Lately, we have only been tube feeding the rest of the before bed bottle.

Well, that night, Caden decided to pull his tube out again. The tube was ready to be replaced any way, so we figured that if he took enough of his bottle before bed, we wouldn't try to put a new one in. We'd let him sleep a night without a tube stuck in his nose.

HE TOOK THE WHOLE BOTTLE!

We were ecstatic. It was a good thing too because we checked and we had no more tubes. Holly called and said that we needed one since we were out and she told them that we thought we had one left. They said they would put us on the list to get a delivery on Friday since our normal deliveries happen on Wednesday.

Well, the tube didn't come by 5. So, Holly called and they said that something had happened and we weren't put on the list. So, the receptionist said that he would drive over hisself and deliver on to us. We were very happy that he was willing to go out of the way for us.

It turns out though, that we didn't need the tube quite yet.

Caden took around 4 ounces from his morning feeding, normally 3-4 ounces. Then he took the next three full 6 ounce bottles, normally 2-3 ounces. We couldn't believe it. We then figured if he could take at least 5 ounces before bed, we could leave the tube out another night. And he did! And Saturday was a repeat of Friday; and so was Sunday!

He did good on his bottles yesterday as well. There was just one where he took 3 ounces instead of the now normal of 5 ounces.

Holly called Dr. Krenzer and she didn't disagree with keeping the tube out, but at the same time she didn't agree. She said as long as he consistantly does 5 ounces a feeding, he should be fine without the tube in and we'll find out how he does with a weight gain on his next visit. Of course, if he doesn't do good, we'll have to put the tube back in, but we're all praying for that to not happen.



Until Next time, I continue to ask for and thank you for your prayers.