Long Awaited Update

Has it really been 2 months since I updated?? I am SO sorry. Things have been super busy with the Wood family. Seems like we are always on the go. One of my New Years Resolutions is to make sure I set aside some time to give everyone proper updates on Nathan. I will stay on top of this site more. That being said....where do I begin??

We had a great Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be around family. Family is SO important. I just love them all. I even got to meet my cousins new daughter Natalie. What a cutie she is. (See pictures in second year album) Nathan didn't eat like I thought he would. But then again for the week leading up to Thanksgiving it seemed he decided he didn't want to eat anymore. I couldn't understand why, because he was doing so well. Kevin and I decided Thanksgiving night we would lower his feed from 8 hours to 4 hours and see how that goes. Well it worked. Just like that overnight. He started eating so much more during the day. He likes everything. We were thrilled. We just hoped that GI and Dietary felt the same way when we took him to his appointment December 17th. We didn't consult them first.

December 17th came around, and we headed back downtown to Children's for Nathans appointment. Before heading to GI we stopped to see Andrea from PT. She was so excited to see him, and how well he is doing now. After seeing Andrea, we headed to GI, and awaited Dr. El-baba. First Sarah came in. She is his dietician. We let her know how he was doing and that we lowered his feed to 4 hours, and it has seemed to help so much. I asked her what her thoughts are about stopping his feed at night all together to see how that goes. She said she was okay with that, and we can do it on a trail run for a month and see how it goes. She also switched him from peptamen(since it taste nasty by mouth) to pedisure. That way he can drink it during the day. She also wants us to start him on vitamins. After she was done talking with us, Dr. El-baba came in. He was thrilled to see how well Nathan is doing, and agreed with Sarah's decision to stop his feeds. I asked him if he could give us an idea of when the tube could come out. He said that he has to be tube free for 6 months. Meaning, if we do not use the tube for 6 whole months, the tube can come out. That made me super excited. I told Nathan that his tube could come out June 17th, but he has to eat and gain like a good boy. Fingers crossed our target date will be reached. Since being off the tube feeds, Nathan is an eating MACHINE. He eats ALL day long. He has his 3 meals a day, and a snack in between. He loves everything, and eats anything. We definitely do not have a picky eater.

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was so fun. We celebrated with Kevin's side of the family on Christmas eve. Nathan opened a few things but lost interest quickly. He'd rather raid his grandma's Tupperware cabnet~lol But boy did he eat. Holy cow, I think Nathan ate more than us adults did. He ate from the time we got there, until we had to leave. I just love watching him eat. That means we are 1 step closer to being tube free!!!!! The following morning Nathan woke us up and made a bee line for the tree. Or should I say the presents!!! Santa brought him a lot of stuff, because he was such a good boy this year. Nathan took a nap around noon, and woke up right before my parents came over. After exchanging and opening gifts, we had dinner. Then after dinner, Nathan entertained all of us. He is such a character. The weekend we just stayed home, and played with all the new toys.

My plans now are to pack away all of his baby toys, to make room for his new toys. I got his bedroom done, but I still have the living room, and our master bedroom to go through. Well I think I have finished with all the updates. We hope you all enjoy the rest of your 2009, and hope your 2010 is the best year ever!!!! Love you all!!!

Halloween Party

We went to our second annual mommy group Halloween party tonight. Nathan had SO much fun with his friends. He was so cute dressed as a little Peanut. The costume is perfect. He has been our lil peanut since the day I found out I was pregnant with him. Everyone thought he looked adorable. He even surprised the ladies by how well he walks now. It was a great time with friends, and some great food. Even Nathan loved the food.

Really Slacking

I am really slacking on updates. I am so sorry. There just does not seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done I need to get done. Even at work, things have been steady so I haven't had time to hop on and give an update. Anyway.....

Nathan is doing VERY good. He has been released from therapy!!!!! We are extremely excited. His last day was October 9th. Andrea said he is doing amazing and eating everything she has thrown at him. She even gave him sour patch kids. She said it took awhile to eat it, but he did it with NO gagging. We are so proud of our little man. She wanted his last day to be October 14th to go over his discharge, but he got really sick. So she said we don't need to come back, she would just get the discharge papers together for us. We are really going to miss her, but did find her on facebook, so that is great. I am glad we can keep in touch.

Yup, Nathan was sick last week. He had a fever, and all he wanted to do was lay down, sleep or be held. It was a ruff week. The doctor said it's going around, and that it just has to run it's course. That is 1 plus about having that feeding tube. We just hooked him up during the day so he could get nutrition. He did not want to eat at all. He is doing better now, but now he is teething pretty bad again. A lot of his molars are coming in all at one time. He is extremely fussy, drooling a lot, and chewing everything. Plus he is not eating like he was prior to being sick. Poor baby.

Nathan is walking more and more. He has taken about 20 steps unassisted. The other day he walked from his bedroom all the way to the front room, without falling. He just needs to continue to work on his balance. I can't wait until he starts walking full time. He is getting to big to carry. Where did our lil baby go??? He is also becoming more vocal. Hasn't said anymore new words, but he talks his own language. It is so adorable. He also loves to play by himself at home. He keeps himself occupied for long periods of time. Which is nice because then I can get things done. He will go from playing in the front room, to playing in his bedroom. In is own little world. It is too adorable.

I am looking forward to the holidays coming up. For Halloween he is going to be a Peanut. I am so excited about that. I wanted him to be a peanut last year, but the costume did not come in his size. So this year, is the year of the Peanut. I will post pictures as soon as possible after the 31st. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving as well. I hope we cam get all the babies together this year. (Nathan, Adryan and my cousin's new baby Natalie) I am also super excited for Christmas. I am sad I won't see Matt, Kristal, and Adryan as this is their year to be at Kristal's parents, but we will make a day to get together to celebrate. Last year Nathan had just gotten out of the hospital (and returned the following day) and was not feeling well. This year I am hoping he doesn't get sick, and can just have a great time. We are going to spoil him again this year~lol I might as well admit it. I can't wait!!!!!

Well that's about it for now. I will update again soon.

Vocabulary ~ Said Papa for the first time

1) Momma 2) Dadda 3) Grandma 4) Hi 5) Night Night 6) Kitty 7) Bubba 8) Huh 9) Bryan and the newest # 10) Papa

His PaPa was on the phone when he said it. And he is so happy and proud. He had major tears going on!!!!

Nathan & a hot dog

Nathan had a hot dog for the first time today. He had about 15 bites of a hot dog tonight. It was amazing and he didn't even have a gag fit. It was great. Of course I was in tears.

He ate so well this weekend. Saturday he had a few bites of his oatmeal cinnamon, and a lot of milk. For lunch he had a bunch of spaghetti O's and some milk. He also ate a bunch of yogurt melts. He loves those melts. Sunday he had the same breakfast as Saturday. For lunch he had a few of his new fav: McDonald's french fries. Then for dinner he ate about 5 ounces of pears, and 15 bites of a hot dog.

Long Needed Update

Sorry it has taken me so long to update everyone on Naters. Things have been so crazy, and there is just not enough time in a day to get things done. Nathan is doing very well. Where do I start? Nathan has added another word to his vocabulary. He said Bryan. I was shocked and amazed. So was Bryan and my mom. They were there when he said it.

He had his GI appointment on August 27th, and they are VERY pleased with how far he has come. The dietitian said since he is just about at the 25th percentile we can cut out one of his feeds during the day. In hopes he will get to know the hunger feeling, and want to eat. So far it is working pretty well. We still have a hard time with feeding him, but if I can put on his favorite country songs, I can get him to eat some. He is also eating more things without gagging. OT is very impressed with how far he has come in such a short period of time. He has been working on eating mashed potatoes, & mac n' cheese. He has only gagged maybe twice. He also LOVES McDonald's french fries. He does so well with them, and barely gags at all.

His pulmonary appointment was on August 31st. They are so happy with how well he is doing. His stats were at 96% when we were there. And he hasn't needed oxygen in over a month. She did an x-ray and said it doesn't look to different than his last. She said they would LOVE to do a biopsy, because he is such a mystery and they can get a better idea of what is going on, but since he is doing better they wouldn't have a biopsy done. I agreed, they are not using our lil man as a guinea pig~Lol. I asked if we needed to send back all the oxygen supplies, and she stated to keep them for a while longer. She stated that when he gets a cold, not to be surpirsed but he may need it. She said it's not a set back or anything, but colds can be hard on the lungs. His next appointment is not until Jan.

He is still crawling all over the place, and now he is working on standing unassisted, and walking unassisted. He will stand up holding on to the couch or toys and then let go. He is trying to hard to get his balance down. He is also taking a few steps without holding onto anything. He can take about 2 or 3 unassisted. I am sure it will not be long now before he starts walking. He can also climb up the stairs. He brushes his teeth all by himself. (Well I have to go over it when he is done~Lol) He can wash his own face, and feed himself. He is not great with the spoon, but he does get some food in his mouth. He amazes us everyday. We are truly blessed to have him.

Nathan's first hair cut

Nathan had his hair cut for the first time today. He really needed it. He was fine up until she put the cover over him. He knew something was up. He cried the entire time. It was actually very funny. No matter what we did, he was not having it. Below are before and after shots.