The Fincher Adventure

Urology and other stuff

2009-12-24T10:34:00.003-06:00

Tuesday we made the trip to Children's for the most dreaded tests Gage has to deal with- the urology workup. Basically we have 3 things to do- VCUG, urodynamics, and a kidney ultrasound. This is all to check on how Gage's urinary system is working- the pressures in his bladder, the volume it will hold, and most importantly, how it all is affecting his kidneys. These tests usually involve lots of screaming on Gage's part, and lots of shushing and attempts at soothing for me and Tony. We start out in urodynamics where he has to lay on a table and have liquid pumped into his bladder until it starts leaking out. They measure the pressure and volume. It probably takes 15 minutes start to finish. The ladies that work the urodynamics clinic are amazing, but it's still usually quite a chore to keep Gage calm for the test. He fussed a little, but we were surprised at how he played and talked for the whole test! Ok, so that was a fluke, right? The VCUG is the really bad one. So we head to radiology. They do the kidney ultrasound first, which we do more often than the others. It's quick and easy. Then the VCUG. I wasn't allowed in for the actual test due to Miss Evie, but got to stay in with him until they started the test. He has to lay on a table and they pump a contrast dye into his bladder. They x-ray intermittently to see how full it is and what it's doing, and check to see if any of the dye is going the wrong way up into his kidneys. Every other time they've done this test, they've strapped him to the table, which was absolutely awful. This time, they didn't! He played and talked to his Daddy for the whole test. At the end of the test, they want him to pee the stuff out and see if he empties his bladder. For some reason THIS is when he decided to cry! He never will go while laying down, but ends up going everywhere when they remove the catheter and let him sit up. They tried and tried to get him to go. They finally listened to Tony and let him sit up, and sit on the potty that was about 6 feet away. He went EVERYWHERE. I'm sure they had to scrub the whole room down after we left.

So the good news is that there was NO reflux into Gage's kidneys. That's all we know right now. He's scheduled to see the urologist Jan 8 (the day after my due date!!) so we'll know more then. The kidney thing is the biggest deal, though, so we were very happy to hear that part.

Nothing really happening on the pregnancy front. I'm going to my doc weekly and there's no progress yet, although she is head down. Today I am officially more pregnant than I ever have been before- 38 weeks. I was induced with Gage at 37 weeks 6 days and he got here at 11:22pm. I'm feeling okay- reflux is about to kill me, but otherwise I feel good.

We had Christmas with the Finchers last Friday. I will have to post pics later. Gage and his cousin Silas had a blast together! My mom and John are coming tomorrow, and Dad and Alice will be here for New Years Day if Evie doesn't mess up their plans.

More pics

2009-12-09T10:25:00.005-06:00

Our gracious host and hostess:

LOVING to swing!

Grumpy and Gage are big buds:

Nate playing Gage's recorder

The necessary Gage on Uncle Dusty's shoulder pic:
Playing with Addie:

Zoo Lights
MawMaw and Gage having a discussion
Nate, Sam, Dusty, Rachel, Tony, Jess, and Gage
Wasn't so sure about the Husky...
Riding with PawPaw

Procrastination update

2009-12-07T14:17:00.004-06:00

I've been using a lack of pics as an excuse not to update lately. Guess I'll quit that and get to writing!

So LOTS of traveling has happened since my last post. We have been to Tony's parents' house 3 times in 3 weeks, and to the Memphis area for Thanksgiving. Tony left after work on Friday night and Gage and I shopped with Sarah and Parker Saturday, then joined him and planned to return home Monday. Sometime Sunday night I got up out of bed for the 3rd or 4th bathroom trip and I somehow hurt myself. I'm still not sure exactly what I did, but it hurt so bad I could barely move. That delayed my coming home by a day, and I did a lot of laying around for a few days. Tony came home Friday night and worked all weekend. Gage and I picked him up from work Monday and then we went BACK down until Wednesday for him to hunt again.

Dan McJunkins, our friends John and Matthew's grandpa, and a very well-respected man from Saratoga passed away Sunday night and the funeral was Wednesday, so we stayed and went to that. On the way out the door Wednesday morning, to go to the funeral, Pops took Gage outside to speak to Katie and a skunk came running around the house and jumped on Katie, who was tied up in the back yard!!! It was crazy! We have since found out that the skunk was indeed rabid and Katie was about 8 months overdue for her shot (even though she technically got a 3-year shot, there's no such thing in Arkansas). All of that has lead to a 6 month quarantine for her :( even though the law changes Jan 1, the state health department insists that the shot is licensed for 1 year and she was exposed BEFORE the law change, so we're stuck.

Anyway, we came back home Wednesday afternoon without Katie, repacked, and Gage and I left for Memphis Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Gage woke up feeling bad, so we were late leaving and were a little late to Steve and Kathy's for dinner.

I LOVE Ford Thanksgivings. I really do. Nathan came with us again this year. He claims to really like the Fords, but there are suspicions that he comes to observe for some social experiment or something :). We always have such a good time just visiting and of course, eating. Gage loved all of the attention from the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. My sweet family gave me a surprise shower for Evie. Oh WOW at the clothes!!! She is going to be the best-dressed baby EVER! Here are just a few pics. Aunt Rachel is the photographer and she hasn't had an internet connection at home, so I'll post more when I get her pics.

Gage walking to Aunt Judy with a hat over his face.

Dusty, Rachel, Nate, Gage and I went back to Mom's Thursday evening to find that Tony had just arrived after work. Friday we lounged for a while, then Rachel and I met Alice and Janie to sop for a while. Then we headed back to get ready for Zoo Lights at the Memphis Zoo. That was so cool!! Gage saw Santa there, but Rachel and Pawpaw have those pics.

The front Gage. The white spots are "snow" being blown from roofs on either side. It was really neat.
Not really loving the merry-go-round for some reason...

Saturday, we headed to Aberdeen for the Armstrong Thanksgiving. It was so good to see everyone and visit and eat. No pics from there, either.

Sunday we were all feeling pretty crummy so we packed up and came on home early. Since then, we've all continued to cough and feel bad off and on. I hope we're on the mend, though.

I think that's about it for now!! Long enough for you?

2009-11-10T21:11:00.003-06:00

Today was a busy day. We went to therapy this morning and Gage did really well. Last week, he was not allowed to sit and play with Derek, at the front desk, and type on his computer because he acted SO bad for his therapist. Today was a totally different story. He was good for the whole session and was sitting in Derek's lap when I came to pick him up. His PT said he was good the whole time and even had something to show me. She put him against the wall, and he walked to Derek, taking 15 steps by himself in between!! That's a new record for him! I am so encouraged by his progress!!

We came home for a nap, then had to go for a well-child visit at his pediatrician's office...What I wouldn't have given for a bubble to sit in! It's nice and clean and all, but just knowing the germs flying around that place made my nose itch and my throat tickle. He weighed in at 32lbs 12oz (90th %ile) fully dressed) and 34" long (25th %ile), which I think was off because he was screaming for that part and she did it really quick. We got to see a NP student and then the NP (who I love!). They agreed that he was doing really well. Then he got 2 shots- Hib and the regular flu shot. We were checking out and I asked about H1N1. I had been told that they probably wouldn't get it, which the girl at the desk said, but that if they did, it would go to high-risk kids first, which Gage is. I told her that, and she went to check on something. A shipment had JUST come in, so we went back to the room to get that, too. Now I'm the only unvacinnated member of my family.

I came home to a box on the front porch. It turned out to be flowers from my awesome hubby! They're currently in a vase, drinking some water and trying to spruce back up, per the directions, so maybe I'll take a pic tomorrow. I needed that, though.

And here is Gage's new sleeping style. EVERY night, no matter what I do.

Actually, he usually just gets under his pillows, which you can see that I moved to the end of the bed to try to keep him from getting under them. No problem, he just got under the covers instead. Last night I set them up against the headboard after he was asleep. Sometime in the night he pulled one down and this morning he was sideways in the bed and the pillow covered him so all you could see is legs poking out the bottom.

I took some pics of him in the leaves the other day. I need to play with them some...and I'm not the best at picture editing, but here's one.

Halloween

2009-11-02T08:50:00.003-06:00

We had a great time trick-or-treating! Gage did great, but was so confused. He couldn't figure out why we kept going up to the front door of all of these houses and then having to turn around and leave. He wanted to go in! We went with some good friends, but I don't have permission to post their kids' pics to my oh-so-public blog, so....sorry! We had a flying monkey, Optimus Prime, and Snow White with us, though.

Halloween Sneak Peak

2009-10-31T12:52:00.003-05:00

Just can't keep up

2009-10-22T16:46:00.003-05:00

We've been a busy family. The visit with Dusty, Rachel and Nate was a lot of fun but too short. Dad and Alice came last week and we enjoyed them too, but again, too short. They helped me get Evie's room all put together and I love it! We didn't stick to "the plan" but wow, I'm happy with how it turned out. I will upload 1 of the pics to blogger for you people who are reading from a place that blocks Photobucket, but it's just too easy to copy and paste the code, and takes too long to upload it all, so if you want to see the rest, you'll have to check from another computer or something ;).

And here is her already-full closet!! VERY little of this is brand new stuff. The grandparents have bought a few things, but most of it is hand-me-downs or consignment finds!

And the dresser drawers are full, too!!
Anyway, while Dad and Alice were here, they kept Gage while I went to my OB to have the 1 hour glucose tolerance test, which I failed. I had to go back Tuesday to do the 3 hour (got stuck FOUR times!!) and I passed it, so that's good. I'll be watching my sugar intake a little more closely, I guess. I'm on 2 week appointments now, so I'll go back again next week. The drive to Little Rock for such short appointments gets old, but I love my doctor and my hospital, so I don't mind.

Friday and Saturday was the yearly ladies trip. We stayed at a lodge in Branson (that I found :) ) and shopped and ate and laughed. It was a great trip. I let Tony take the camera with him to his parents (he didn't even use it!) so I have no pics to post.

Wednesday, Gage and I went to UCA again to the PT lab. He didn't make any big milestones while we were there, but he did well and the students seemed to enjoy him. He was good most of the time, except when his PT wanted him to do something that looked like work...stinker. He's still doing well. We didn't take the walker in to church last night, and just held his hand to walk. He would rather have his walker, but it's gotten too easy. We'll probably keep using it for longer walks, but he's gotten good enough at the hand holding thing to ditch it most of the time. He just decided while at his Nana and Pops' house that he knew how to stand up in the middle of the floor by himself! His PT tries to get him to do it in therapy with her help and, in her words, "you would think I was twisting his leg off at the hip". Well, he can do it. He just chooses not to. I have yet to see him get all the way up himself, but Tony claims he did it several times last weekend.

Finally, I took some 2 year pics of Gage with the tiger last week. I didn't think to keep taking one a year after his 1st birthday, DUH!

2009-10-02T09:04:00.003-05:00

I don't have anything very specific to blog about- I just haven't updated in a while. I wanted to leave that ACH voting thing up for a while (you can still vote! ACH is currently in 1st!).

Tony got to go to the Cowboy's game Monday night and had a good time. He said their seats were really high up, but they could see everything thanks to the 60 yard long big screen. I was glad he got to go and got to be there for the 1st Cowboys win in the new stadium.

My mom came over while he was gone and we moved the queen sized bed into Gage's room. He looks so tiny in that big thing! He's done well in it, though. He did meet me in the living room at 1:30am the other night, but I've put pool noodles under his sheets, so maybe that will discourage him from getting out of bed anymore.

Dusty, Rachel, and Nate are headed this way today. Dusty is going to meet some folks in the Natural Resources office in Conway, and Rachel is going to visit UCA's OT department. We would LOVE it if they could move over here, but we're not holding our breath yet. Nate's just coming along for the ride.

Gage is doing great in PT. He is taking up to 7 steps in a row now! He's been singing a lot lately- usually Signing Time songs, and occasionally his version of the ABCs, which goes about A-F now. He still thinks counting to 10 is fun...guess we ought to introduce him to 11-20 soon.

He has started doing one thing that I do not like. He is definitely a mama's boy. He is fine being with people he knows well by himself, but if he is with someone new or someone he doesn't know well, he is okay for a while and then realizes that I'm not there and starts crying. I thought we had dodged this phase, but apparently not. He did this in Bible class Wednesday night- which is really weird, because he loves Bible class. I think it's just because his regular teacher wasn't there and that I handed him over to her before we were actually in the classroom.

Since blogs without pictures are boring, here are a few recent ones.

Vote For ACH!!

2009-09-18T14:00:00.002-05:00

Go to this link: http://xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.org
Register (for free)
Go to Arkansas, and vote for Arkansas Children's Hospital in the Game Room Giveaway from the Children's Miracle Network!

This is from the info page on ACH:

Arkansas Children’s Hospital is the only pediatric hospital in Arkansas and one of the largest in the United States. The non-profit health care facility boasts an internationally renowned reputation for medical breakthroughs and intensive treatments, unique surgical procedures and forward thinking medical research—all dedicated to fulfilling their mission of enhancing, sustaining and restoring children’s health and development.

This is the hospital where Gage was taken when he was only a few hours old, and where he has now spent a total of 5 weeks and had 6 surgeries. They are FABULOUS. They serve many teens as well, and a hospital gets boring after a while. They could really use this game room!!! Vote up to 10 times a day!

A Wicked Fun Weekend

2009-09-10T17:46:00.008-05:00

Thursday morning, Gage and I got in the car and headed East to Nashville, TN. I dropped him off with his great Uncle Mitch and Uncle Steve, and the Ford girls + some headed to eat and then to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. We got there just in time. It was AWESOME!!! I am a big Wizard of Oz fan and didn't know very much about Wicked, but it's about the witches of Oz- their back story. I will never watch The Wizard of Oz the same way again.

Gage and I spent the night with the Mitchells and then headed down to Pulaski, to Dad and Alice's house. He had a birthday present when we got there- a purple and gray wagon (GO BEARS!) that will soon be rigged to be pulled by Dad and Alice's new family member, Chance, a husky. For the weekend it was pulled by one of us or the lawn mower :).

Dusty, Rachel, and Tater got there Saturday and we all went shopping in Decatur/Huntsville, although not together. The girls and Gage were on a mission to decorate Evie's room. We were wildly successful. The guys...well, they did guy stuff- guns and Gander Mountain...stuff like that. We met up to eat ribs at Dreamland.

Here's my haul from Saturday:

The stock photo of the bedding set. I got the 4 piece set- comforter, sheet, bed skirt, and bumper. I have found it listed for $130 all over the internet. I bought it for $25!!!

The butterflies- there are 2 big ones and 10 small ones:
The flowers. 5 big flowers, 1 hanger, 2 ceramic tiles.

All of the Ford family, minus Richard, Kathy, Tony, and Parker came over Monday for food, games, and just enjoying being together. As always, it was fun, but too short. We played a game called Corn Hole- so fun, but not as easy as it looks. I understand Reid is making these boards to sell if anyone wants a set.
Some pics from Monday. Thanks to Erin for posting some of these on FB so I could save them! I didn't take nearly enough!

Gage and Grumpy:

Aunt Cherry and Uncle Gary

Cousin Whitney and Paul- to be married next May

Cousin Erin and Steve 3- to be married Sept 2010

Cousin Reid and Erin

Whitney and Reid playing Corn Hole

My form

MMmmm Cup cakes!

Chance "protecting" Gage

Gage, Paul, and Boudain

Me, Gage, and Lola

Dusty getting ready for potato cannon carnage- I think the styrofoam airplane was shot down

Alice and Chance

Gage and Cousin Brock reading a book

He WALKS!

2009-09-01T16:22:00.002-05:00

Gage took 3 steps by himself today in PT!!! I am so proud! I did miss it, though, and he wouldn't do it again. Reesha was walking with him in the hallway- he was holding the wall and walking. I was looking through the door and he saw me. He started waving and yelling "hi" so I decided to get back so he would work. Then I hear Reesha yell "AHH! MOM WASN'T EVEN LOOKING!!!" and I ran to see what was up. Apparently he let go of the wall and she thought he would just stand for a second, then he took 3 steps toward her!

Happy Birthday Gage!!!

2009-08-28T15:49:00.003-05:00

Two years ago today, Tony and I were blessed with the best gift we've ever gotten! Gage is 2 today and has surpassed my expectations in so many ways. I love being his mom. He makes me proud to call him my son. He's easy going and happy and outgoing and lovable just a joy to be around.

In his 2 years, he has seen more doctors than most people see in a lifetime, and had 6 surgeries that he has come through with flying colors. In fact, he had to go see a doctor this morning...on his BIRTHDAY! It was a good report, though, and the doc and nurses sang Happy Birthday to him and gave him presents, so it wasn't so bad.

These are from this morning at ACH.

Checking out all the pretty things in the lobby of ACH:

Playing in the waiting room in Radiology:

It's a GIRL!!!

2009-08-20T09:37:00.005-05:00

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We found out yesterday that we will be welcoming Evelyn (Evie) Ruth in January! We are very excited! Everything on the ultrasound looked good and she is measuring right on track! We tried to get Gage to say Evie, but he wouldn't say anything but Baby. I think he's going to be a good big brother.

On Gage- he just got a new set of braces. His old ones were 3 sizes too small and not doing much for him anymore. These are taller and give him more support. We skipped a whole shoe size and only have 2 brown pair of shoes that fit now, so he needs some new tennis shoes. The goal is to get him walking without the walker ASAP. He's still doing great with therapy and is using his walker well now. We swiveled the front wheels this week and he is able to keep the walker pretty much going where he wants it to instead of walking in circles like he did before. He has turned his walker over 3 times in the last 3 days- once backwards on the road in front of our house. He was headed up hill and leaned back too far. He ended up with road rash and a goose egg on the back of his head.After that I raised the back of it a notch to try to keep him from doing that.

Last night after church, he was walking in the grass outside. The first fall happened when he tried to get back on the sidewalk and his front wheels caught and he went over forward. Then he was walking in the thick grass and just pushed too hard and went over forward again. Thankfully, he was fine both times and he got right back up to try again after a little cuddling. I'm really so happy with how he has been progressing since surgery.

Edited to add pics of the new braces:

Compared to the old ones that were shorter, and 3 sizes too small!!

Baby names

2009-08-14T18:21:00.003-05:00

I guess I'm jumping the gun a little. I *hope* baby Fincher cooperates and we can find out if we have a boy or a girl Wed. Aug 19- that's just 5 days from now. Anyway, if this is a girl, we don't need name help. She will be Evelyn Ruth, Evie or Eve for short. If this is a boy, though, we're in trouble. We can't agree on ANYTHING. We like names that aren't too common, but aren't made up. A Fincher boy's name needs to be masculine (i.e. not a unisex name). I would love to incorporate a family name in there somewhere, but the men in our family tend to have either terrible or boring names, or they've already been used. Just FYI- Durley, Clyde, and Pearl are all male names in my family. So, anyway, here is a fun blog I found. http://nameberry.com/blog/. I'm going to put it on the right for future reference.

Therapy woes

2009-08-10T16:07:00.002-05:00

I have one of the most easy-going kid around. Really, he never went through that stranger anxiety phase and he yells "HEY" at everyone we pass in the grocery store. I really do love it. He's a fun, friendly kid. He doesn't get left with someone often, but when he does, he's so eager to say "BYE" and go play that it almost hurts my feelings :).

The one notable exception came about when he had his surgery, about a month and 1/2 ago. Medical people now scare him and he cries and says "done". It was so bad in the hospital that Tony had to start taking his vitals because he would scream if the techs or nurses tried to, which in turn made his heart rate and blood pressure crazy high. When we all went to my OB appointment last month, Tony and Gage went into the exam room while the nurse took my blood pressure in her little area. As soon as they walked in I heard Gage lose it. He saw the table with the paper on it and knew it was time to cry. My sweet doctor tried to make friends with him, but he wasn't having it.

Then, last week his PT let us know that she would be out for 2 weeks unexpectedly. We're flexible and while I would prefer that she see Gage, I'm totally cool with him seeing another therapist. We went in the first day and he cried. The next day we went again, and he started crying before we even got inside. I even had to walk to the back with him- I have NEVER had to do that. He was acting like he couldn't walk and kept saying/signing "done". Today he threw an all-out fit. Screaming, refusing to walk...I think if he hadn't been strapped into his walker he would have thrown himself on the floor to kick and scream. I decided to let the therapist handle it and I left. When he was done his eyes still looked funny. She said he could make him smile and he was fine as long as he was doing what he wanted to do, but fussed every time she tried to get him to do something he wasn't particularly crazy about.

Now, it's not that he doesn't know these "replacement" therapists. He sees them every time he is with his regular therapist and he is usually very sweet to them. They don't do anything painful to him. He's just mad that his regular buddy isn't there to play with him. I guess in the grand scheme of things, this isn't so bad, but it really makes me mad that he acts so terrible for them!! It's so unlike him in general. Terribles 2s, here we come, I guess.

Gageisms

2009-08-01T19:25:00.003-05:00

I don't have anything exciting to write, so I'll just record these Gageisms:

"One...Two...Fwee...Four...Fie...Sebin...Eight...........six...nie....tiiii....YAY!!!!" Usually he skips 6 altogether, but since he's been watching me count on my fingers, he knows it goes in there somewhere.

"oh, oh"(uh oh)
Under your mouth is your "chim".
When you go to bed, you need a "naket" and a "piwwow."
Nothing is a single syllable- "no-ah"(no), "mow-er"(more), Tow-eez (toys)

C...c... d...e....f..ggggg. (the abc's)

"See me"= pick me up
"I hab it" (I have it- usually meaning something he shouldn't have like the phone or remote
"sic okay"(It's okay- usually when he gets hurt)
Bew-wie- (belly). He is obsessed with bellies.
"Ewww, gwoss"- heard whenever he gets something on his hands. He did it yesterday as he let Katie lick him.
"sign time"- Baby Signing Time. He LOVES Signing Time and sings along with the host now.

This morning I hear "I get up" from his bed.
He says "cheese" when he gets a camera or something that he thinks looks like one.
He now calls Katie "Cowie". I don't know why. He used to say Katie very clearly.

Pregnancy Ticker

2009-07-24T14:09:00.001-05:00

I used to check these often when I was pregnant with Gage. I think I have felt movement already- starting about a week ago.

New blog

2009-07-16T20:40:00.001-05:00

I just moved my Nuzzle Baby sling site to www.nuzzlebaby.blogspot.com. I'd like to have a "real" website with a cart and all, but I'll have to do a little more business before that will make sense.

Post surgery update

2009-07-14T16:54:00.003-05:00

Gage went to PT today for the first time since surgery. I was anxious to hear what she had to say about him. I thought I had seen some improvement since surgery, but I'm mom and I'm looking for it. When she came out with him, they didn't have his walker, but she had a rolling stool and he was holding her knees lightly and walking in front of her. She was helping him at his hips. I asked her how he did and, and she said "Oh, awesome! We could not do this before surgery." I was so thrilled. My expectation for the surgery was that he wouldn't get any worse. My hope was that he would regain some of the function that he had lost, and it looks like that has happened. We talked some more and apparently to her, the change is very obvious. She wants me to work with him some without the walker and encourage him to stand and reach up over his head. I am just so happy!!

And now for a general development update:
Gage has a pretty big vocabulary, both spoken and signed. He can repeat just about anything you say to him and has about 70 signs (WOW, I just counted. I had no idea he had that many). We just got the 4th Baby Signing Time DVD and on the first run through he was already trying the new signs. His newest hard word to say is Rachel (my brother's g/f). He says it pretty clearly "Rah-choo". He's putting 2 words together consistently as well.

He loves talking about airplanes ("pay-pane") and since the C-130s from Little Rock fly over our house all the time, we get lots of opportunities to see them. Anything with a big engine noise that he can't see is a pay-pane. He loves to drive and asks to in Daddy's truck or boat every time we walk by them. He talks on our phones all the time, and thinks that Tony's dad (Pops) is always on his phone.

He and Katie are big buds. If she lays in the floor he will spend a long time just climbing back and forth over her. She usually lets him, but she'll eventually get tired of it and roll over. She accidentally scratches him with her big feet sometimes, but he gets over it. She tries to be nice, but she's just so big. She does get rambunctious sometimes and bowls him over when she first comes in the house. We're working on that.

Gage asks "what's that" constantly, so he is learning a lot of new words. He can name body parts: hair, eyes, ears, nose, face, mouth, teeth, chin, neck, elbow, hands, arm, belly (he is obsessed with everyone's belly), knee, feet, toes and working on leg, and fingers. He is a funny boy. He knows what a dog, cat, and bird say, but if you ask him, he will always say "meow". If you say "what's a cricket say?" he will answer "meow, NOOOOO!"

He is counting to 10 (with the exception of 6) quite often now. He sings "his" ABCs, but so far he only has E and F. He sings all the time- usually Signing Time songs, since that's what we watch all the time.

His Bible class teachers tell me that he is answering questions correctly in class and participating well there. There is a big rainbow cutout in his class and he informed me Sunday that it was an elbow hanging on the wall. He is really good in church services. He sits with Tony or me, and sometimes sits on the pew between us. He "sings" when we do and does his hands as if he is leading. He "prays" when we do as well. He folds his hands, mumbles quietly for a few seconds, then loudly says "MEN!" I think it's a little funny when he cuts off particular long-winded prayers during the service.

Physically he kind of stalled due to the surgery, but with the latest in PT, I expect him to pick up and take off now. He is back to using his walker after surgery and doing pretty well. He pulls up on everything, including the doors at home, and reaches for the handles. I can see that we are going to have to make sure deadbolts are locked around here very shortly. He needs new braces desperately, but I had to hassle the doc's office to send the Rx and after that took so long, his PT wanted to wait until after surgery to see if his bracing needs would change. They are WAY too little now.

His 24 month stuff is getting too little. He's solidly in 2T stuff now, and some 3T t-shirts and stuff. He still has tiny feet, and even with braces, only wears a 6. It's probably more like 4 or 5 without.

He is quite the picky eater these days, and I know it's my fault. I am not good at making nice square meals. Since Tony doesn't eat veggies for the most part, I usually don't bother, so Gage hasn't been exposed very much. I need to fix that. He won't eat anything green, and doesn't really like many fruits, although I do keep fruit around. I can sneak things in somtimes, like putting squash in spaghetti sauce. He'll tolerate apples a little, but won't touch a grape, orange, or anything else. I think he'd eat banana, but I'm a little scared to give him too much since it's a latex-related food. He would eat PB&J for every meal if I let him. I do have some healthy blueberry preserves that he likes for that, so I guess he gets a little fruit in. He loves chicken, spaghetti, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here is a pic of Gage and Daddy:

Specialist

2009-07-06T09:46:00.002-05:00

I have had some questions about my appointment with the perinatologist. I guess in all of the craziness with Gage's surgery I just kind of forgot to post about it. It went very well. We saw a full intact spine and my tests for Down's came back good as well. It was neat to watch the little one wiggle and move on the screen with the higher-powered ultrasound. We very clearly saw his or her little mouth move and hand up by the face. To get one of the measurements, baby had to be on his/her back and of course was on the tummy. The doc kept poking and jiggling with the u/s wand to try to get him/her to turn over, but it didn't work. I had to walk the hall in the office 3 times before we could get it done. Tony was a nervous wreck, but I just thought it was funny. We had already seen the spine and knew that was good and I wasn't that worried about Down's. We obviously still don't know if this bean is a boy or a girl. It was too early, even for the Level II ultrasound. We'll just have to wait for 20 weeks like everyone else, I guess. Everybody seems to be feeling "girl" this time. For the poor child's sake, I kind of hope so. If it's a boy his name will be Baby Boy Fincher. Why are boy names so hard???

Rested up

2009-06-26T09:44:00.002-05:00

We had a good night last night. We gave Gage some of his drugs around 9:30 and he was out by 10. We got to sleep all night in our own beds- and soundly, too. Apparently I talked in my sleep. Gage started stirring at around 7:30 this morning so I went to get him....and found a stinky, unwelcome surprise all over him and his bed. It was awful. Tony had to clean most of it up because I was afraid I would hurl. Gage had to get a quick bath, which didn't make him happy when he wasn't really awake and I'm sure sore. His dressing had to come off (it was supposed to today anyway) because it was dirty, too. That wasn't fun. Poor baby. I'm glad he wasn't in bed with us last night!!!

He sat with me for a while this morning and had some breakfast, and now at 9:45 he is asleep again. His drugs really knock him out.

We really, really, really appreciate everyone- your prayers, calls, messages, goodies, etc. We really feel so blessed!

We're home

2009-06-25T21:48:00.001-05:00

and so glad to be. We're tired so I'll post more later. Just wanted to let everyone know!

Still here

2009-06-25T15:35:00.001-05:00

The nurse says that there are like 5 patients waiting to be discharged and that they haven't heard anything. Something must have come up. Oh well. We were planning on staying until at least tomorrow anyway, so getting out late today will still be a bonus.

Cross your fingers

2009-06-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

2 people (a nurse practitioner and a surgery resident) have mentioned the possibility of us coming home this afternoon!! We need Gage's neurosurgeon to confirm, but it's possible! I'll up date when we know something!

Good Day

2009-06-24T21:52:00.003-05:00

I sit here now in our private room, with our queen sized Aero bed blown up and ready to go (you're a life-saver Matt!!), and Gage happily watching Signing Time for the 4th time today. He's about to go to sleep, I think, and we are too. It was a really good day today. Gage made progress by leaps and bounds. PT came in this morning to work with him. He moved his head around some and Gage was NOT happy about that...but after the PT left, I guess he decided that it wasn't so bad after all and began moving it back and forth on his own. We even went to the play room where he sat on my lap and held his head up by himself and jammed to the music he was making on the little keyboard he was playing with. He took a LONG nap after lunch and then PT and OT came to see him again. He wasn't happy about that either- he had been asleep for so long in the same position that his neck was stiff. He cried and the PT set him up on a bench while the OT played in front of him. I was proud when she said "he has EXCELLENT fine motor skills" (yes, I know, thank you, thank you :) ).

Later, Matt and Owen brought us supper and Gage and Owen rode in the wagon together. It was sweet and Gage really enjoyed getting out of the room and riding around.

Here is a pic I got of him yesterday with his "pone" and fire hat. He was a little doped up...

And today when he decided throwing his legs down on the bed was great fun