Moving Forward...literally

We went to the regular Ophthalmologist yesterday to see how Caleb's eyes are doing and to check his vision. This eye doctor differs than the ROP doctor because she is not looking just the ROP but the overall health of his eye. She said that Caleb was doing just perfect for his corrected age (7 months) and sees great. She did not want to see us back until he's 3 years old. It's hard to imagine that time will go by so quickly and we will be back before you know it. Our next visit to the ROP doctor is on October 3rd, for hopefully what will be our final send off. We have our last hearing test this afternoon and that will be one more specialist that we can cross off the list of having to see. Caleb has been doing so amazing the last several weeks. He has been learning to scoot around the floor and and getting quite good at it. Therapy has been such a huge blessing for him and I wish every child could benefit from having and extra set of eyes to look out for them. It's been a great bonding time for Caleb and I too since we practice at home. I have come to realize that so many people have a negative idea of therapy, and I wish that could change. There isn't anything wrong with it it's just a way to improve what you already have. He has been trying new foods as well and I think we have discovered he loves Cantaloupe. He gets this glazed look in his eyes and is off in his own little land when he's chewing on his teething net filled with cantaloupe. He's not a huge fan of those baby puffs or Cheerios, He grunts when he feels them on his tongue and acts as though he is gagging still. I guess it will take some time before he will learn to accommodate the new texture. He is a fan of celery though. Sometimes we let him chew on the stalk during dinner and he really enjoys that. We have estimated that he is just over 20 pounds or so and is becoming a little hard to handle for this tiny mommy. I saw this carrier that would be great to have. A lady at physical therapy let me try it out and boy was it comfy. You can see the carrier I'm talking about here. We've been planning a small get together for Caleb's Birthday with will be an owl theme in honor of my favorite time of the year and our little whoo. Just cake and Ice cream by the pool and a few friends to celebrate ALL that GOD has brought us through. October 5th will come sooner that I can realize and there is still more small projects for me to do to get ready. The word on the street is that Caleb's Grandmas might make a trip out to celebrate with us.... I hope they can because we'll have a HOOT together.

Moving Forward

Hi All!

Sorry that this post has been late coming. On Tuesday we made our way to the gastroenterologist. The excitement had been building for sometime because I was hoping to hear that Caleb was doing well enough that we could start solids. All the indicators were there, but we were instructed to wait since he had such a difficult time in the beginning of his life. So On Tuesday Dr. M said that we could start with cereal and then introduce a new flavor once a week. I think that his first food will be Butternut Squash since I still have some from our co op. CAleb's first go with cereal was a little funny. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the new texture. He tried a few bites and then became very angry. So we washed it down with a little milk and then half way through the bottle tried again which seemed better. With each feeding he has much improved his intake and ability to eat cereal. I'm so excited to be making his baby food that is one thing that I knew I always wanted to do for many years now and since we have been running our Organic Co Op I am more excited.

Caleb is 16.2 pounds and 24.75 inches long.

Our visits to the eye doctor and ear doctors went very well both gave us great reports on Caleb's progress. The ear doctor no longer has any concerns about his hearing. His eye doctor said that his eyes are progressing very well and it should be just a few more times visiting to be sure that everything is completely resolved.

Oh Happy Day!

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Man I Know!

This morning started out at 5am with a bottle for the little one in preparation for his eye exam downtown at 7am. After 3 hours of being there at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute we were finally able to go home. The doc said that Caleb's eyes were slow to progress, but that they have not gotten any worse. Because he was a MicoPreemie he has an eye condition called ROP, which you can read about here. We know that his eyes can take up until he is 70 weeks gestational to correct themselves and we have decided to trust that God will heal his eyes completely in His time. NOW that the yucky exam is over we can celebrate Daddy's birthday tonight.

I am so happy that we have loved each other for the last 15 years. We were High School and College best friends and sweethearts and now we have a life time to create more memories for our family. Speaking of memories, the picture above is one of my favorites from high school. But back to tonight we will celebrate with Ryan's favorite Hot Wings from Sports Grill and then a homemade chocolate cake with Ganache topping.

So here's to Love, Laughter, Life, Family and Good Food!

Happy Birthday my BeLoved!