Good Pictures of AJ

It only took me two months, but I finally sat down to figure out how to upload pictures onto my computer from my new camera! Here are some good pictures of AJ that I took--enjoy!

Updates

I have been so busy these last few weeks--I feel like I can't breathe (let alone sleep). Anyway, I do have a lot of BIG NEWS to share:

-Our good friends Kevin and Suzanne got ENGAGED! This is the engagement we all have been waiting for. It was expected, but surprising. Kevin, didn't tell anyone but his mom what he was going to do. Suzanne, as mentioned in an earlier post, is currently in Georgia in training for her job. She returns in December. Kevin went down there for Halloween weekend and proposed. I can't wait to see Suzanne this weekend when she comes back for a short visit!

-Our good friends Lindsey and Jon had their baby girl, Lily Anne Davis on November 4th at 11:38 am via a C-section. The little munchkin weighed in at 7.02 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. We had yesterday off for Veterans Day and traveled the two hours down to Harrisonburg to meet Lily. The doting parents are doing SO well. I am so glad--they seem to be dealing with the stress extremely well!

-Our good friends Clare and Josh are having a boy!

And what is a post without my little monkey, AJ. His My Gym class ended this week and his Babygarten class started. He starts school the first week in December. He is talking so much and is popping some more teeth. We are working on #14, 15, and 16--all eye teeth.

Here is a great picture of him falling asleep in his chair, mostly because he hasn't been sleeping well at night! You can't see from the picture, but he is holding food tight in his hand :).

I am so proud of my little monkey, so mature and everything!

Progress?

Yesterday AJ and I went to CH again in DC. GOOD NEWS: AJ IS FINALLY OVER 20 POUNDS! The medicine we put him on to increase his appetite must be working!

First the lab tests: tons of blood taken (and I mean a lot!), which AJ hated of course. Then the sweat test. I can't even explain how horrible both of these were. I don't want to relive it right now, as I was a mess during and after this whole thing. Hopefully we will have results soon.

After the labwork we went for our nutritionist visit. Basically she said that as parents we are doing everything right (finally someone saying that!). We feed him healthy, good fats, good calories. We don't give him juice (a big no no apparently). We structure his meals all day the right way. He eats then drinks and repeats it again three hours later. The one thing she said we can try is to offer milk only at the end of meals and only water in between. We offer milk throughout the entire day since he doesn't drink enough. She isn't concerned with him not drinking enough milk--especially since he loves cheese and yogurt.

In the end, she thought that AJ has a high metabolism and requires more calories then kids his age. She agrees with me that she thinks he was eating/drinking fine, then we gave him the iron (which tests showed he DID NOT NEED), which probably upset his stomach. His stomach probably shrank and then now we have to just jumpstart it with that medicine he is on.

She was still concerned, however, that he may have a malabsorbion problem, so she told us to give her a call in a week to get the results from the test yesterday.

All in all, a terrible day at the hospital, but the outcome looks promising. I feel better now, hopefully things are starting to turn around. Just that extra pound is making me happy!

Next step: Dr. Bader follow up on the 23rd and then his 18 MONTH (wow how time flies!) appointment on the 30th.

Oh, and I feel much better, my little one has his swine flu vaccine!

AJ updates

We went to Children's today to see Dr. Badar in the GI unit. They called us late last night to get us in as they had a cancellation. Even though we were set to go on Monday, I figured I would go in early.

The usual questions, slightly different outcome. Remember, he eats around 950 calories a day, which is supposed to be normal for his size. Even though the following is diet related and we have been through some things with his diet, we are still going to go with the flow anyway.

Here is our "To Do" list before November 23rd, our next appointment:

-He is on an antihistimine that increases appitites. Two weeks on, one week off until we see the doctor again.
-Set up an appointment at Children's in DC for a Urine, Blood, Stool, and Sweat test, get the results from an RN or send an email to the doctor to request that he call us with the results
-Set up an appointment with Children's in DC's nutritionist, Jessica, to discuss his diet.
-Set up an appointment with Children's in DC's "Feeding Team". A team of 5 doctors that evaluate how to get children to eat more. There is a 6 month waiting list for this team, but we are going to get on it anyway and cancel if we don't need them anymore.
-Do yet again another food log.

So..if there is something obvious from the tests, we will address those issues. If there isn't, but he is gaining weight due to the other things we are doing, we will just leave him alone, continue what we were doing and monitor him closely.

But, if he isn't gaining weight still, we have to do an endoscopy. If nothing comes from that, we are going to have to do a feeding tube until he is 'beefed up' in the doctor's words. I hope it doesn't come to that, so I'm more determined then EVER to get this kid to eat more and PRAY that it doesn't come to that. Regardless, God has a plan and we will get through anything thrown our way.

On a more positive note--AJ started combining two words together the other day. He said "Big Ball" and "It's Good". So smart!

We are off to the funeral tomorrow. I promise, though, when I get back I will update with some pictures! My new camera has taken some really great photos of AJ, but I have to figure out how to get them from my camera to my computer.

Thoughts

I try to stay busy so my thoughts don't get the best of me. Although so incredible busy today and yesterday (with work of course), I still have had plenty of time to think about my grandfather's passing.

I thought about how at my high school graduation he pulled me aside and said "promise me in 4 years I will be attending your college graduation". He wanted me to graduate so badly from college--and it brought him so much pride to see me walk across that stage to receive my diploma. While in school I often had many moments where I just wanted to give up. But I always thought about what he said and it would motivate me to get through it.

He would never forget a birthday or a holiday (Ok, I admit it--it was probably Grandma Marie, but I know it was him too!). Every holiday I looked forward to Valentines Day, Easter, Christmas, any holiday to opening up my grandparents confetti filled cards. I would let the confetti fall to the ground because it was so pretty! One year my mom had us all collect the confetti they had sent us all and we sent my Grandma a card filled with all of the collected confetti. I'm sure it put a smile on both of their faces.

I thought about how I was CONVINCED my grandfather was Santa Clause. Think of it--your grandfather being THE Santa Clause. I admit there is a part of me that still thought of him as Santa Clause in recent years. Until he lost weight, he had the big belly, the round face, the rosy cheeks and the long beard! His house was always decorated so beautiful for Christmas and his gifts were always SO AWESOME. When my mom told me that Santa must have forgotten the Easy Bake Oven I wanted, later that afternoon when we went to visit "Pop Pop Gloses", he had the Easy Bake Oven I SO WANTED! This happened every year until I found out that "Santa wasn't real". Yeah right. Santa was real, he was my grandfather! Maybe that is why I was the last to find out in my 6th grade class that Santa wasn't real (this is after my teacher told me it was made up!).

I thought about how he was ALWAYS there for me. Grandma Marie and Grandpa would never miss a beat--there for all of the important events, despite having to travel. Dance recitals, graduation, you name it and they were there. They loved us so much and we could never do wrong in their eyes.

I thought about my grandmother--still alive and alone in that house they built together. When they first moved in to the 55 and over community, John and I went to visit the very beautiful home and my grandparents took us on a tour. I'm still impressed with the spice rack he installed (so organized and easy!) and the electronic blinds in the bathroom. My grandfather did so much to that house--he even installed the Chandalier in the foyer! He was proud of accomplishments. Anyway, my grandmother.....it seems to be a common theme with the woman in my life. Coming from divorced parents, one of whom has divorced parents, I have a lot of grandparents. My grandmothers have vastly outlived my grandfathers. Alone and missing their loved ones. I hope for my grandmother that she goes on to find something that will make her happy. It's terrible to lose your best friend, lover and husband.

I thought about the house my grandfather had (until the most recent house)--the house my father grew up in. A few years ago, before my grandfather sold the house, my father and I visited his house. He showed me the room he grew up in and the paintings in his closet--still there after all those years. How amazing to have memories like that. I remember the pool they had in their backyard and how AMAZING of a griller my grandfather is. I still think about how particular he was with grilling and how I break those rules every time I fire up our electric grill. Oh how amazing those pork chops were that he would grill in the summer time! I can still smell the grill while I would be running around in my bathing suit.

I could go on and on about the great and wonderful memories I have had with him. I hope that I have the courage to speak at his funeral and share these thoughts with the rest of those that loved him. Grandpa--you will be missed. Truely, truely missed. I cry because I am happy for you--to be in a better place. I cry because I will miss you so very much. I cry because I didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye and I wish I had. But know that I will cherish these memories for the rest of my life. You have inspired me and have always been there for me, and for that, I am so thankful. So I raise my glass and cheers to you--always in my heart. I love you.

Grandpa Glose

This morning my grandfather, AJ's great-grandfather, Grandpa Glose, passed away. We are still in utter shock. He was a wonderful grandfather. Here is a picture of AJ and Grandpa last November, during a visit for AJ's baptism:

I had this nagging feeling to stop by and visit him on our two one day trips this summer to Philly, but since we were on limited time, I couldn't. I'm upset I didn't listen to myself and make time :(.

Celiac

In talking with someone who is gluten intolerant, it appears you CAN test negative for the antibodies they are testing for in the blood and still be gluten intolerant. There is a whole year long test they do for negative test results. It includes a biopsy. I guess we will see. Our plan was to go gluten free starting now to test AJ's intolerance, but apparently that will cause results to be skewed.

Anyway, in light of this, I'm more hopeful that my initial maternal diagnosis was correct. The fix is a simple diet change--no more wheat, oat, barley. There are gluten free products popping up more and more these days that it makes it easy for a gluten intolerant person to live a normal life. Maybe closure will come soon.