Poor Colin is letting us know that he knows that he is not the baby any more. Though he seems to have grown and matured in the last days/weeks, he's not yet used to being an older brother. When he'd tell Samuel 'bye-bye' today (like before Colin's nap time this afternoon), Sara couldn't help but hear a little 'I'm ready for you to be on your way, now. Bye-bye.' He is very sweet with his little brother, getting Samuel's little blue elephant for him without being asked to do so ... though that means tossing the little blue elephant on his brother's head. Sweetness just looks a little different in (almost) 2 year old boys!
Anna Catherine has done a great job of being the mommy (oops!), I meant, big sister. She can't hold him enough and even stretches so far across the van that it 'hurts her tummy' just to hold in Samuel's pacifier.
So much is so weird. It's weird that we feed our son through a tube. He's got a pretty cushy gig as he gets to sleep all night - even sleeping through his feeds every three hours. It's weird that his hair is almost identical to his sister's when she was a newborn. On her it drove us crazy. On him, it's one of his most endearing features to us. Spikey is in!
So much is so weird. But I guess that's just life. Things change and what was once normal is no longer. No point in longing for the old 'normal' anymore. It doesn't exist. You've got to adjust and seek to be faithful in the present, whatever that present looks like.
Enough with the philosophical stuff (sorry, that's what sometimes happens after 11pm) ...
We did have a few Drs appts yesterday in
We then met with the plastic surgeon (Dr Kline) who is a part of MUSC's Cranio-Facial Clinic. It is a little funny when the guy who is the cleft lip/palate specialist takes a look inside your son's mouth and calls his residents over to have a look-see because it's so ... 'interesting.' I'm still waiting on the journal article about our son - so many doctors have found him ... 'interesting.' The plastic surgeon suggested that we visit with a Dr Davis who does something of an appliance for cleft palate babies to help prepare them for surgery. It's called a
We then met with the ENT who did Samuel's throat surgery 12 days ago (to remove the irritated tissue caused by the intubation). While she wasn't able to get the scope back down there to check how things were coming along (Samuel wasn't, ah-hem, shall we say, cooperating) she was able to get a better feel for some of his clefting. As well, she wrote us a prescription (now #7) for Samuel that should help with his spitting up. Given the fact that he has trouble clearing his airway (either by swallowing or coughing) the less junk in his throat the better.
Sara took Samuel to the pediatrician this morning and things seemed to check out well. He has gained a little weight - is up to 8 lbs and 7 oz (ish). Ounce by ounce.
We're getting what sleep we can and trying to keep our heads above water as we figure this new life out. On our good days we are confident that God gives us what we need and when we need it. Both hard things and easy things are given to us from his good fatherly hand. We believe that ... on our good days. Pray for more of those. Thank God for us that we depend not on our faithfulness but on his.
Continuing to need his 'strength for today' (even at midnight),
grant and sara
