A Little Something Extra

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

David Pearce

I confess that I haven't seen much of the Olympics this year (barring the men's skating finals and the USA vs. Canada hockey game).  For those who have known me a long time, you know how serious a departure this is from my norm.  Anyway... I was chowing some dinner after a workout last night in the lounge area of the locker room at the gym and happened to catch a great piece about snowboarder, Kevin Pearce (who has beaten Shaun White twice).  Just six weeks ago, Kevin suffered a tramatic head injury while training.  He is in a rehab hospital attempting to regain the ability to walk and talk and see.

The piece featured interviews conducted with him and his family in Vermont back in September and a few days ago.  Kevin is the youngest of four boys.  Their third son, David, has Down syndrome.  Tom Brokaw made the following statement: "We often, I think, from the outside looking in, think that the parents have to do all the work for THAT child, but that child gives back so much more.”  Kevin's mom made a few remarks about how life with David prepared her for the patience required with Kevin's recovery.  She apparently sort of lightheartedly mentioned that it took David three years to learn to buckle his seatbelt.  [side note: I hope that I'm able to have a lighthearted view of how long it takes Micah to learn things. It's a good reminder that in the grand scheme, it just doesn't matter.]

They also talked about how Kevin would certainly receive better care at that hospital now that David has been to visit him (they brought David to visit just last week).  Their mom said, "David went to every therapist and every doctor and told them, 'Take VERY good care of my brother... I love him VERY much."

Please watch the video by clicking here.  But make sure you have a box of tissues handy.

Nathanism

We were back in Wisconsin visiting last week (and we stayed at Mark's parents).  We were in the kitchen and Nathan did some sort of talking back so I sent him to timeout.
Nathan: "Why am I going to timeout?"
Me: "Because of your attitude."
Nathan: "I did NOT give you attitude."
....
....
....   "I gave GRAMMIE attitude!"

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Matthew update

ur "little" guy is thinning out, apparently.  He's no longer way up top the growth chart.  His doc thinks that's because he's a moving machine now.  I was off by one ounce.  Matthew weighed 24 pounds 15 ounces (I guessed 25 pounds) at his one-year checkup last week.  And I guessed his height exactly: 31 inches.

Edited to add... Matthew's first words last week were:
1. Baa = Ball
2. Buu = Book

Update on the prayer request for Kaitlin's pom squad... THEY WON!  First place in jazz and second place in pom at the UDA National competition in Orlando this past weekend.  Way to go, girls!

Edited to add:

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Matthew is one year old today!


I can't believe it... my "baby" is one.  He's definitely a toddler.  But he'll always be my baby.  Though we might adopt another child someday, Matthew is likely my last little bottle drinker, my last little rocking-chair snuggler, my last little one to cut his first tooth, my last little one to take his first steps, etc.  Mark and I tried to make a deal with him when he was four months old that we would let him drink from a bottle forever if he would just stay that age forever.  It didn't work.

Matthew's burn is healing nicely (I think I forgot to mention that he pulled a cup of fresh hot coffee off the table 10 days ago).  He rarely resorts to crawling anymore as he is becoming more steady on his feet.  He has eight teeth and is actively cutting his one-year molars (not a pleasant experience for any of us).  Right now he's playing with today's toy of choice: two small, thin, plastic cutting boards.  Attempts to remove those from his hands results in wailing and gnashing of teeth (well, really just high-pitched screams and cries and pounding of fists on the ground, an example of how I know that THIS child is our strong-willed child).

Matthew's one-year checkup is on Friday.  I'll post his "particulars" after that visit, but my guess is that he is roughly 31" tall and weighs over 25 pounds.  We're going to visit the NICU in a couple of weeks and I'm sure they'll be impressed by the size of this former preemie (he was born at 36 weeks and weighed 8lb 3oz, but still spent 11 days in the NICU and came home on Valentine's Day).

Happy birthday, sweet boy.  I love you dearly!

(see post below for lots more photos)

Photos - birthday and goofing around

Before the cake
A big taste
He didn't really care for the cake, but he LOVED playing with it!
Two-fisted
Score: Matthew 1, Cake 0
Mark and his cousin, Mike
Mike's daughter, Kaitlyn, and Mike's wife, Susan
(On a super-fun, separate note, pray for Kaitlyn and her pom squad as they're leaving tomorrow for Nationals in Orlando... they won one event last year and placed second in the other... here's praying for a sweep this year!  Go EP!)

Oma and Micah
Goofy Nathan
Fun with a hat

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The view


Here's the view from our back porch.  Aren't the trees pretty?

And stay tuned... tomorrow is Matthew's birthday (we already have pictures of his first cake, but I'll post them tomorrow).