Twenty-One

(I decided to keep it real in this pic.  Shaggy hair, teething baby; it's what made up the last month.) 

Caysen, you are 21 months old; you are getting way too close to being a two year old!  I love that you have stayed a "baby" for so long, but you are definitely making strides and you'll be acting like a toddler before we know it!  Here is what you have been up to:

You can crawl, yay!  You still rely on the caterpillar when you really want to get somewhere, but you are crawling on hands and knees more and more!

You weigh 15.2 lbs.  Yep, you lost weight over the last few months; but we're trying not to worry about it too much, especially since you were pretty sick last week and didn't have much of an appetite.

You are 27 3/4 inches long.

You can say Mama, Dada, Ball, Wow, Whoa, Yeah, Ga (for Grandma&Grandpa), Guh (for dog) and Hi...when you feel like it of course. ;)

You have 7 teeth, 4 on the bottom and 3 on the top and several more that are very close.  You have already figured out how to grind your teeth; hopefully you'll grow out of it quickly!

You love to snuggle, especially with Mama.  Mama loves to snuggle with you too.  :)

You sleep through the night and take one nap a day (usually).

You absolutely love your Gramps' red "race car" and demand to see it on a regular basis.  Sometimes, gramps lets you sit in the front seat with the music on (while parked in the garage) and you really love that!

You used to gladly receive kisses by opening your mouth nice and wide whenever someone would come in for a smooch.  Now you give unsolicited slobbery kisses and it turns me into a puddle on the floor! 

If you want to be picked up, you give a really pathetic, alligator tear filled cry.  But oddly, the second Mama picks you up, a giant grin appears across your face.  Might you have someone wrapped around your finger?  ;)

An apple a day...

 ...doesn't always keep the dr. away.

We've had several dr. appointments over the last week or so.  We have one more check-up with the pediatrician tomorrow and then we get a little break.

Last week, we met with a neurologist who did a quick exam and then explained Caysen's MRI.  Going over everything with the neurologist was so helpful because we've never been able to talk to an expert.  Now, we have a clear understanding of what happened in the first few days and weeks of Caysen's life.  It was mostly good news and the neurologist said he doesn't need to see Caysen for a year because he is doing so well :) 

The neurologist also said that Caysen's sensitive gag-reflex and frequent vomiting could be a result of his rough beginning.  It doesn't give us a magical cure, but at least we have an explanation.  Speech therapy (which we just started in April) is the best thing we can be doing to strengthen the muscles that control oral-function, so hopefully that will help.

Yesterday, we headed over a few mountain passes...

And I looked over the edge of the road to the ground far below...

And got a serious case of the willies!!

We drove through a few mountain towns...

And finally, we made it to Caysen's appointment with the pediatric opthamoligist.

We learned that Caysen will need to have surgery on his eyes to correct the strabismus (eye crossing).  We were really hoping there would be another, less invasive, option we could try, but the best thing is to go ahead with the surgery.  We will make the same trek to see the opthamologist a few times over the next two months to prepare for the surgery which will be in July.

They gave Caysen these really sweet sunglasses to wear home since they had dilated his eyes...which he wore for approximately 36 seconds ;) 

I will update again after his appointment with the pediatrician.  Please keep our sweet boy in your prayers.  Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day...

To the one who gave a gift beyond anything I could ever imagine.  Yu-Wun, thank you so much for choosing life for our precious boy.  What a brave young woman you are!  I think of you often and pray that some day you will know the amazing love of Jesus.

And to the ones who loved our sweet boy like one of their own, knowing the pain they would feel when it was time to say goodbye.

You made me the happiest Mama in the world!

So Sleepy.

Caysen had never fallen asleep in his chair...until last week.  Poor guy wore himelf out.  But it was sooooo cute! :)



Happy Cinco de Mayo :)

He Crawls!

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you - Jesus