9 Months

Hard to believe that Maddox is 9 months old.
He has four teeth, weighs 15.5 pounds, sits on his own, can now bear weight on his legs, claps and waves and is just one smiley and interactive little boy. He gibber-jabbers all day long and really does so many age appropriate things. It is so nice to see so many good things happening with him and feel that he is a normal baby... some of the time. He's a love.



It looks like he'll be having surgery in August. We are trying to finalize a few things and get all the doctors to coordinate with one another -a feat in itself. I'm not thrilled about Maddox having to have surgery right now, but I am definitely getting used to the idea and feeling better about it than I did a few months ago.

We are praying that things will go smoothly and this surgery will open the way for him to progress with his oral feeding, and that his asthma will be greatly helped which will allow him to advance in his therapy. I have a goal to have him walking, eating, and basically caught up before he is two. This surgery could set him back a couple of months, but should really help in the long run, and that's what we have to remember. This kid has had a rough start to life, but he is really doing so well in so many areas.

Built in toys: feeding tube and nasal aspirator.

It's funny that he likes to play with the aspirator so much.
We use it to suck his vomit out of his throat several
times a day, so it's surprising that he isn't completely averse to it.

Crazy kid!

We all love this little man, but life, very literally revolves around him- feeds, meds, breathing treatments, doctor appointments, therapy, hand sanitizer, bills, Bills, BILLS, vomit, constant phone calls concerning his care, "Don't sneeze near him," "Hurry, go grab a blanket and an aspirator, he's throwing up," "No, we can't do that..." "Can you wait? I have to go take care of Maddox,"...The three older kids are getting kind of sick of the never ending excuses for why we can't do something or go somewhere or see someone...MADDOX. They take it so well most of the time, but occasionally I wonder if at some point resentment is going to set in. I hope we can avoid that, but making sure everyone gets equal time is, in all honesty, IMPOSSIBLE. The past year has been insanely stressful, and my body is seeing the effects of not eating normally, sleeping normally, and just living in crisis mode non-stop. That probably sounds melodramatic. Maybe I just need to get a grip, but the wrinkles and gray hair(seriously) are getting me down. I keep thinking that if I can just get organized and make sure I have everything scheduled down to the minute that I'd be able to meet every one's needs. The problem is life doesn't stop or slow down long enough for me to get organized, and I'm worn out. I think I assumed that by this time things would be fairly normal, but the reality is that this is going to be how things are, and I MUST figure out a way to function successfully with what we have. This is sounding very pity-party-ish. I'll be done now.

I hope you know how much I love this little boy. I have learned so much from him. He is a FIGHTER!! He has the most loving and content little personality and his spirit is strong. He is beautiful and brings such joy and gives the BEST kisses!!

Now that's love!!!