FINALLY - a written update!

As you can see - Wesley is continuing to grow like a weed. Now I've always found that phrase a bit odd. As someone with a child who grows about an inch a month and weeds that grow about ten inches per month, I can now relate. Wesley has gone from being between the 1st and 2nd percentiles to the 65th percentile in height. For weight be was basically at the negative twentieth percentile (if there were such a thing) to the 65th percentile. Honestly though, Wes was between the zero and the 1st percentile for weight. The doctors were concerned about his weight, but needless to say, that's a problem of the past!! He has more than recovered physically from his surgery.

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We are struggling with eating by mouth, but that has more to do with the tube feedings. We recently went on vacation, and as soon as we got to the cottage, his tube came out. Thankfully we had a spare to put in, but it was the small mic-key button, not the long tube like he had before. The problem was that Wes couldn't be on the pump at night anymore because the button connector to the pump tubing sticks about 6 inches straight out of his stomach. Try and get a two year-old to sleep attached to that thing!! It ended up coming out of his stomach and soaking his bed with Pediasure about 3:00am after a rough half-night's sleep. So Damon and I decided to just feed him during the day to avoid the night feeding problems. Doing that though, we cannot get him to eat much during the day. He is getting five 8 oz. cans of Pediasure each day, so that doesn't allow him enough time to get hungry! And since he hasn't figured out that you can eat even when you aren't hungry, he won't eat. We go in a little more than two weeks though for a swallow test and to meet with the therapist and the surgeon, so we'll know more then.

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We went on our first family vacation to a cabin in Michigan with my family. I also realized that a vacation with a small child is not the same as a vacation without a small child. We had a great time, but it went by too quickly. I was so thankful to have so much of our family there because Wes wanted to go all the time - walking, playing, jumping. As you could see from the pictures, Wes did not like the sand between his toes! He loved playing in the water and drinking it (yuck, yuck, yuck). It wasn't easy to sleep in the same room with him though! We are used to him waking up slowly and talking to himself for a few minutes before we go in and get him up. But when we are all in the same room, he can just get out of bed and come stick his fingers in my eye sockets so I wake up!! Talk about an unpleasant awakening...

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We have stepped up the potty training efforts. Wes does great when we are at home, but things don't go so well when we are out of the house. As I came out of the bathroom earlier today, Wes was there to greet me and cheer "YAY!! Mama went potty!" Then he told me to go and get a sticker (a "goga" as he calls it that he receives when he goes on the potty). I am struggling with how hard to push him to be potty trained and when to just let him be an untrained two year-old. Any advice?

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I am sure there is more that I am forgetting, but I'll post when I remember!

FINALLY - an picture update!

I will post a written update soon, but I figure that you probably enjoy the pictures more than my words :)

first professional photograph -

Staci's parent's favorite picture

my favorite picture


Wesley blowing dandelions (yes, he did stick them in his mouth - yuck!!)

family picture -

Damon, Staci, Doda (Staci's Mom), Pawpaw (Staci's Dad), Wesley, Uncle Scott, Emily (Scott's girlfriend)

Wesley and Uncle Scott in front of a bear at Legs Inn restaurant

family picture at Legs Inn overlooking Lake Michigan

tee pee in front of the Legs Inn restaurant in Cross Village, Michigan. Damon loves this restaurant that serves Polish food!

Wesley was SOAKING WET! I would have taken off his t-shirt, but I didn't think he would go all the way into the water. I thought he would play in the sand...

Wesley showing determination to climb onto the dock from in the water

Wesley LOVED the water!

What could taste better than a little lake water?

running up and down the dock

still hating the sand between his toes

Wesley HATED the sand on the beach at the lake. Once he got used to it, he was fine.

Wesley was wide awake as we left home for vacation (it was 3:30am)

riding his new car in the garage as I packed the truck for vacation

sitting patiently (sort of) during dinner

family picture at the reception (I think the photographer's finger was in front of the flash)

waiting for the reception to start (we tried to run him around outside to burn off some energy)

the first wedding that Wesley attended (congratulations, Jessica and Colin) - Wesley did sit with us through the ceremony, and he only spoke out loud during the minister's prayer when he said his own prayer.

waiting for the ceremony to start

he put his sunglasses on all by himself

mowing the lawn just like Daddy with the hat and everything

Wesley and his buddy Duke

telling me he was "all done" at the emergency room (his stomach tube came out, so we had to go to emergency room to have it replaced. I was not happy because I had to pay $150 copay for a doctor to do what I could have done myself with a new tube in about 3 minutes - not 3 hours!!)

drinking water outside

the new "unhappy" look
because strong men just pick up their lawnmowers to move them

I will post an update soon (I promise)

Thank you to everyone who has been checking for an update! I promise to post one in the next few days. We are all doing well, and Wesley is healthier than he's ever been! Eating is an issue though, but I'll post about that later.

Thanks!!

Staci