Sick baby

It appears we're in for a long haul. Micah had a terrible night last night (thanks, Mark, for taking one for the team while I rested at the RMH). GI decided to try a new formula today, LOL. Okay, I'll play along, but I'm pretty sure that's not his issue. Sure enough, after less than an ounce he was writhing in pain again and that has lasted all day. He's hardly had any food since Saturday at 2pm. And he's just on IV fluids tonight. This afternoon he spiked a temp of 102, but it's been down ever since.

I'll try to update more tomorrow, but I need to sleep since Micah is sort of quiet right now.

Micah's GJ-tube

Micah got a new tube 3 weeks ago. Apparently that tube was not positioned correctly to start with, or it has somehow dislodged since then. This is likely the cause of his significant pain over the weekend. Funny... he had an abdominal x-ray on Sunday in the ER and the ER docs said the tube was in the right spot. But this morning in radiology, they looked at the same film and said it didn't look right. Of course, the specialty radiology dept looks at these things all day so they can tell pretty much right away by looking at a film. It's not a huge surprise that an ER doc wouldn't know if it was in the right spot or not. But they shouldn't have said it was good without knowing for sure. They actually considered sending us home last night!

Poor baby was so dehydrated they couldn't get an IV line into him. After tries by two phlebotomists, they had to call in the expert from anesthesiology. He finally got a line at 12:45am and got a large push of fluids which he's still getting on continuous drip. By 7:30am he still hadn't urinated (they needed to test it), so they put in a catheter and STILL couldn't get anything. All was better a few hours later, but he was incredibly dehydrated.

He didn't cry at all overnight. It was as if he was thinking, "Finally... no belly pain."

We're here for a couple more days, I think. Micah is getting some milk via his J-tube, as well as IV fluids. The rate of milk will go up consistently until he's at his recommended volume (which he'll hit around 11pm tomorrow night). If he tolerates that overnight tomorrow, then we go home and all is well. But the prevailing thought of his GI doc is that there are other issues going on in there. So we'll see if he hits a wall before hitting his full volume.

Mark is kindly swapping with me tonight and he'll sleep in Micah's room. We were again fortunate to get a room at the Ronald McDonald House (they called last night at about 7:30 saying someone had just checked out and we could get the room if we could get there in 15 minutes... Mark slept there last night). So tonight I get a night of sleep tonight away from baby noises and pump beeps. G'nite!

Back in Milwaukee

Yes, it's another fun night at Children's Hospital. Micah's belly pain has been getting consistently worse. Now he can't even tolerate feedings or even pedialite (after his pump runs for 1/2 hour or so, he starts screaming), so we're here for at least one night. He's about to start getting IV fluids. I'm staying in his room with him and Mark is at the Ronald McDonald House (we don't know how long we'll be here, so we thought it prudent to take the room that opened tonight). Micah's next door neighbor's family is REALLY loud and I hope it doesn't affect my ability to get some rest (too late, as you can see by the time of my post... I had tried to go to sleep at 9:00 when I finally got Micah to sleep).

Please pray for wisdom for the doctors to figure out why Micah is having so much discomfort. I'll share more info tomorrow.

Too ambitious? 31 for 21

As you can see, it has taken me 11 days to post something new, so I'm definitely not one for daily blog updates. But, I think this is a good motivation for me to do so for the month of October. There are 31 days in October. The 21 stands for the extra 21st chromosome possessed by those with Down syndrome.


October is Down syndrome awareness month. We also found out last year in October that Micah has Down syndrome. So it seems appropriate for me to spend this month helping to raise awareness about Down syndrome on my blog. I don't think I'll focus on Down syndrome every day. But I'll update the blog more often.

Anyone is welcome to participate, even if you don't know someone with Down syndrome (though if you read my blog, you "know" Micah). :-) So feel free to visit Tricia's blog to get the button and join the October blogging adventure.

(BTW, new photos will follow soon)
And just a reminder... you can "subscribe" to my blog by entering your email in the box on the left column (under all the family photos). Follow the instructions and you can get an email each night that I actually do update the blog (thus eliminating the need for random guessing on when I'll be responsible enough to post an update). The full blog posting, including pictures, comes to your inbox so you can read it at your leisure.

9/11

Where were you? Most of you probably remember that day well. I won’t go into my story of that particular day. It was the rest of the week and the following week that had the biggest impact on me.

Some co-workers and I loaded a van with supplies and drove up to NYC a couple of days after 9/11. As we left Florida, we drove through a tropical storm. We stayed overnight at a co-worker’s parents’ house in Richmond, VA, the first night. Then we drove past the Pentagon on our way to NYC. D.C. was eerie. But not as eerie as NYC. Driving through New Jersey and looking East to see a big gap in the skyline just made my stomach sick. Other prominent memories: driving into Manhattan without traffic, seeing people walk around the streets with photographs of their loved ones, making more eye contact with New Yorkers than all previous trips combined (compared to the task-oriented, stare at your feet sort of walking), daily prayer with about 100 Campus Crusade staff members before heading out for the day, staying at a hotel where lots of firemen from around the country were staying, getting off the subway at Wall St. the first day the subway was open and smelling the “air,” flying home from JFK with all the security increases and still getting my keychain through with a pocket knife on it. Mostly, though, I remember the heaviness of just being there. The world would never be the same. Or would it?

One of the things I did while in NYC was phone interviews for a website we put up for spiritual support for people affected by the tragedy (who wasn’t?). I spoke with a partner at a major financial services company who just wasn’t sure if he wanted to EVER go back to work because he was questioning the validity of what he had been striving for. He had lost friends who were at work on 9/11. A good friend of his would have been in the wrong place and the wrong time if it weren’t for being late for work due to attending the football game the night before. I spoke with someone who would have been in the wrong place at the wrong time if it weren’t for him being at a Bible study that morning that “just happened” to run long because it was the first meeting of the new season. I spoke with someone whose friend left her office to get a cup of coffee and chose to actually leave the building instead of get a cup of coffee in one of the many coffee shops inside the Trade Center.

I’ve frequently wondered what has happened to all these people whose lives were spared or significantly impacted that day. I was very fortunate to not lose any friends that day, but they were not so fortunate. Did the shock and horror of it all diminish in importance? Did they eventually go back to the 80-hour weeks they were working before? Does it still impact me? It definitely does on 9/11. I do think that 9/11 impacted the way I viewed the importance of my corporate career compared to the importance of my family. Has it affected you?

8 months!

Micah is 8 months old today. If you haven't met him, I hope you're able to soon. He's a sweet little boy who breaks into a huge smile if you get close to him. I'll try to post some pictures after tomorrow's BUDDY WALK. If you'd like to support Micah's team tomorrow, either let us know that you'd like to help out (to ARC Fox Cities), or contribute with a credit card by clicking the link in the upper left of this blog page (yes, FirstGiving takes a portion of what you contribute by using this medium).

Micah health update

As I mentioned in the last post, Micah has graduated from home health. No longer will a nurse come to the house to check him over. I know it’s a good thing. It means Micah is considered healthy. But I’ll miss that safety net. Oh, and his weight during his last visit from Melissa was 15 pounds, 3 ounces.

Micah pulled out his feeding tube on Friday evening, resulting in a trip to the ER. It seems the balloon (which keeps the tube in the correct place in his stomach) has a slow leak so we’ll have to get a new one. That likely means a trip to Milwaukee sometime this week. We’ll know more after we talk to someone in GI on Tuesday.

Micah saw an ophthalmologist for the first time recently. He has strabismus (crossed eyes) and it will likely require surgery in the next year. The dr. told us that if Micah needs another surgery before then for something else, they could likely do his eye surgery during the same trip to the OR. We might get our two-for-one after all, because Micah will need at least one more surgery this year for an undescended testicle.

Many of you have asked about his eating. The answer is that he doesn’t. He takes nothing by mouth. We’re putting about 2 ounces of formula a day into his G-tube now (as compared to everything else going into his J-tube). We will try to increase that by an ounce a week. He gets a little puky when he gets those two ounces in succession, so I don’t know how long we’ll be able to continue to push him before we reach his threshold. It would be wonderful if we didn’t hit a threshold. If he could take the whole volume into his G-tube (stomach) instead of his J-tube (jejunum… small bowel), that would mean that his duodenum is functioning “normally” and he wouldn’t need any additional surgery. So if you feel led, that’s a great thing for which to pray.

Micah has physical therapy and speech therapy every week, and he has occupational therapy every other week. Of those areas, he seems to be functioning closest to his age in occupational therapy. We’re focusing on him using his left hand (with the short fingers) as much as his right hand. He holds onto toys for a while and flings his arms to hear the rattle sounds. From a speech perspective, he vocalizes a decent amount, but there’s still no consonants coming out. He does still allow me to mess around with his mouth and cheeks. That’s a good thing, especially considering his oral aversion. We’re now introducing tastes… just a bit of something on a fingertip into his mouth. He likes pear juice and banana. Physical therapy is getting better. He tolerates a decent amount of tummy time now and will roll to his right onto his tummy. He’s doing much better in his Bumbo seat too. His arms are still quite weak.

As I mentioned earlier, Micah has broken 15 pounds. His weight gain has slowed down. For a few weeks he was growing at a pace of an ounce a day. He’s now down to about ½ ounce, which is just fine for his age. But his feet are especially tiny. They’re about the same size as Nathan’s were when he was born! He’s not yet in a size 1 shoe. So, it looks like the 0-6month Robeez we received from some friends will actually be put to good use this fall.

Thank you for continuing to pray for our sweet little guy.
(If you haven't checked the blog for a while, see below for some new photos, as well as an announcement)

Photo time

We went on vacation earlier this month with Mark’s parents and we had a great time. Both boys had a difficult time learning to sleep in a new location. But they both slept straight through the last night we were there. :-)

Nothing makes Nathan happier than playing in the sand

Daddy and MicahMark was able to go waterskiing a few times and did great!

Me 'n my baby

Hangin' with Pop

Nathan's first fish

Nathan had never seen so much ice cream in front of him

The fam

Sunset from the resort


Last weekend we had the privilege of attending an annual picnic of a local Down syndrome support group. We met a lot of new people and saw some other friends there. Nathan had a blast. There was a DJ who played fun songs for the kids.

Nathan hopping on one foot. This is unedited. Check out his calf muscle! Can you tell he jumps A LOT?!

First time doing the chicken dance
He had so much fun. Could it be because the group was comprised of primarily cute little girls?

Micah’s buddy, Logan, and his mommy, Michelle (Logan is going to be a big brother in about a month)

Group photo

Here are some other photos taken since vacation

Nathan, Gracie, and Nathan

Micah has graduated from home health. It’s a good thing… he’s getting healthy enough to not need his weight, BP, O2 sats, etc., checked every week. But we’ll miss our sweet nurse, Melissa.
Great Uncle Kim came to visit from Georgia
Check me out! I rolled over and pushed up like this all by myself! Oh, and make sure you check out my chunky monkey legs.

Nathan didn’t like Mommy taking so many photos of Micah, so he actually ASKED to have his picture taken (very unusual). Cheeseball!

Umm… maybe it’s time you yahoo’s actually buckle me into this swing

VP candidate

Wow. Quite frankly, I'm surprised she accepted the call, but how amazing that Sarah Palin is running with John McCain. She is (obviously) a woman, a Republican, and incredibly, a mother of five children, including a baby boy with Down syndrome. Here's a video from Glenn Beck's show on CNN Headline News following the birth of Trig.


On a separate political note, I really don't like living in a swing state. I miss the South where we were basically ignored during campaign time, compared to the onslaught of commercials we have experienced and will continue to experience for the next two months.

The big brother

This is sort of a Nathan story. Nathan's best girls in Atlanta, B and T, are now big sisters. Their mom sent me a photo of the girls kissing baby A. I was showing the photo to Nathan, and told him, "Look, buddy, B and T are kissing their new baby sister." Nathan's reply was, "I want a baby sister too." You're going to eat those words someday, pal, hopefully in February (or late January at the earliest). We'll find out in another 7 weeks whether he's getting another brother or whether he's getting a sister. Yes, it's true... almost two months ago I had to look at my then-12-pound Micah and say, "How do you feel about being a big brother?" I'm 13 weeks and all looks good so far, but I'll deliver by c-section at 36 weeks due to a complication I had during delivery of Micah.

So for those of you who are doing the math, Micah will turn one year old on 1/5/09 and this baby will arrive before he hits 13 months old. Some of you know what we've gone through from an infertility perspective, and this should bring a smile to your face (if not full-blown laughter!) just to be reminded that God truly does have a sense of humor: our family has a surprise pregnancy!

The movie and the "r" word

I’ve been attempting to organize my thoughts about this subject and it’s not working. So maybe if I just start writing I’ll figure out what I want to say.

There’s been some heated discussion about the movie, Tropic Thunder, with Ben Stiller portraying a character who is an actor who was playing the role of an intellectually challenged man. I, like most of you, appreciate satire/parody/whatever you want to call it. This movie was made, supposedly, to mock the film industry, not the mentally disabled. But here’s the problem with the movie: the word “retard” or “retarded” is used often.

Okay, so it’s all about the satire, right? Stiller isn’t REALLY mocking the disabled, is he? He’s really mocking the film industry. But is that all he’s mocking? The incessant use of the “r” word perpetuates our society’s inappropriate use of the word. How often have you heard someone say, “Don’t be such a retard,” or “Oh, my gosh, I’m so retarded.” The problem is that mental retardation is a true medical diagnosis, and many individuals with that diagnosis are unable to defend themselves from the mocking they receive.

This hurts a bit more these days, given Micah’s diagnosis of Down syndrome. It’s about a 95% certainty that he will have mild to moderate mental retardation. I just cried and cried when I read Patricia Bauer’s story at the beginning of an article she wrote for the Washington Post:

“Margaret and I were lingering in front of the multiplex one evening last summer, a mom and her adult daughter laughing about the movie we'd just seen, when a gaggle of cute pre-teen girls sauntered past.

The one in the lead jerked a thumb in our direction and made a goofy face to her friend. "Look. Retard," we heard her say, and Margaret wilted. Her chin trembled. One by one, the other girls turned to look, nudging one another and whispering. The last girl spun all the way around as she slowly walked by, eyes fixed on my daughter.

In her size 6 jeans and Old Navy shirt, Margaret hadn't done anything to attract that unwanted attention. But then, my blond, blue-eyed daughter lives every day behind a face that can be a lightning rod for such talk. The beautiful face I've loved for 24 years displays some of the characteristic signs of Down syndrome, a chromosomal anomaly associated with varying degrees of cognitive impairment.”

That scenario could happen to my son someday. It probably will. And though I can’t protect my children from ridicule their entire lives, the perpetuation of acceptability of inappropriate use of the word, like being disabled is something one can control, is something I’d like to nip in the bud at all costs (as if I could control it).

So the next time you consider using the “r” word out of context, please think of my sweet little boy and his peers, and realize that they will understand what you’re saying and it will hurt their feelings. And by all means, please don’t buy the unfortunately popular t-shirt from the film which states, “Never go full retard.” Sickening. I won’t be seeing this movie. I think I’d cry listening to others laugh.

Micah at 7 months

Chunky monkey baby is getting close to 15 pounds! He weighed in on Wednesday at 14lbs 12oz. Micah now blows raspberries with the best of them. This is a great milestone for him, especially since he doesn't use his mouth to eat. The more work he does with his mouth, the better.

Here are some new photos. The next time I update the blog, I hope to have some pictures of Nathan fishing for the first time!

A doe and her two fawn (as viewed from our front door). They started out eating leaves on our maple tree in the back. Grrrr.



I took the boys to the county fair on Friday. Nathan liked the animals fine. He really liked playing with Hudson. But ultimately, he preferred the tractors above all else that morning.
We went to the zoo today for Herma Heart Center Family Day. It was fun to see some of the people who cared for Micah. Nathan loved the zoo (especially the fact that he got to spend time with Uncle Jim and Aunt Jen).


This is what Micah thought of the monkeys.


Check out the lion right behind the glass.


Floating polar bear

Family photo

Buddy Walk

We're planning to go to Green Bay on September 6th to walk in the annual Buddy Walk for Down syndrome awareness. We're really looking forward to meeting Erin and seeing Micah's friends, Logan and Ruby.

We've chosen to dedicate funds raised to DSFN (Down Syndrome Family Network, through the ARC - Fox Cities), our local networking group. It's been a great way for us to meet other local families who have children with Down syndrome. And they provide information to local hospitals to give to families whose babies receive a pre-natal or neonatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. The information I received when we heard about Micah's diagnosis was very helpful. I'd love to add a book called Gifts to all the packets. Micah is most definitely a gift and we hope that other families will understand that more clearly through his life.

If you'd like to donate to the cause, please click the link in the top left of this page. If you live locally and would like to walk with us, drop me an email. Thanks for your support!

Ruby & Braden

We had visitors today! The last time we saw the Zoromski family was while Micah was in the NICU in Milwaukee (back in January). Ruby is a friend who also has designer genes. She has a brother, Braden, who is a year older than Nathan. The kids all had fun. But Nathan was none too pleased when Ruby destroyed one of his "towers" of mega bloks. He will have quite a rude awakening when Micah gets mobile. Look out!

I just realized I never posted photos of our last visit (a couple of weeks ago) with Micah's buddy, Brandon. It had been a while since we had seen them. We met Brandon in Milwaukee the last week of February when Micah went back to that NICU to get his g-tube.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Mark officially feels older this year. It's hilarious being married to a marketing guy. He's bummed because he has to move up a segment on the age categories. You know when you fill out a survey that asks for your age? He's now in the 35-44 category. My response? "Get over it, pup!" Seriously, though, I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate his birthdays with him for the rest of his life.

(if the "cake" looks a bit odd, that's because it's a cobbler, not a cake)

Nathan to Milwaukee

My friend, Betsy, watched Micah today while I took Nathan to Milwaukee for laser treatment for a birthmark (every other month for 7 treatments, we think... this was his 4th). Betsy's son said something like, "Can we have a baby who looks just like Micah? He's so cute." Isn't that the sweetest thing? I so appreciate this family taking care of Micah today. He enjoyed the attention and laughed at sweet James and Audrey.

Nathan has figured out what's going on with these trips to Milwaukee. He was fairly naive for a while, but on the way this morning he said, "I don't need to go doctor. I fine. I just fine." He was fine in the waiting room (toys, you know), but as soon as the nurse called his name he dropped to the floor on his tummy and cried. He recovered quickly, though, and was a really good boy. He did a bit better this time after he woke up with an IV line in his hand (compared to last time when he kept yanking on it). But he cried out A LOT on the way home. It's tough because he's completely exhausted because I have to wake him up so early in the morning to drive down there. But he's napping now, so all is peaceful here.

Micah's trip to Milwaukee yesterday was good. We need to get his bloodwork done to check his thyroid level again but I didn't feel like doing that yesterday. The nurse practitioner asked me a bunch of questions about Micah's development. She said that he's at 6 months for social development. He's way behind on gross motor skills (yep, knew that one). She kept saying how wonderful it is that he communicates back and forth with eye contact. Yes, that's our social little boy.

We also met with a speech pathologist. He had some new ideas for exercises. He also explained a bit about why Micah has an oral aversion. He thinks that because the tongue is the first part of the digestive system, he doesn't like anything touching his tongue because it initiates the process that is painful for him. He was pleased that Micah tolerates me messing with his cheeks (what, I HAVE to pinch his cheeks? oh, that's too much work for a mommy! :-) ) and that I can put my finger in his mouth as long as I don't touch his tongue (if I do, he gags, and we don't want that to happen often because then he might not let anything into his mouth).

Micah's last weight check put him at 14lbs 4 oz. He's gaining more than an ounce a day. He's chunking out big time. Oh, and the pediatrician doesn't seem concerned about the hyperinflated lung, so we're just supposed to watch for symptoms like wheezing or difficulty breathing. Whew. One less thing to worry about.

Happy weekend!

Perfect hearing and hyper-inflated lungs

Micah passed his 6-month hearing tests today, praise God! His ear canals are quite small, making it difficult for doctors to see his inner ears. But all looks good at this point. We'll just need to be on top of any sort of illnesses because it's quite easy for little ones with tiny canals to get infections.

After the ENT appt, I decided to stop by the cardiology clinic to ask about a cough that Micah has had lately. I figured it would just be a nurse listening to make sure there's no fluid building up (he's only been off his diuretics for 2 weeks). The cardiologist was in and she listened as well. She opted to put Micah back on one of his diuretics for a bit and she ordered a chest x-ray. Now that Micah is 6 months old, he has to be upright for the chest x-rays. Next time he gets one I'll bring my camera. It's like a baby torture chamber. He had to sit sort of on a bicycle seat with his hands in the air and two semi-circular cones around his body and a strap behind his head. Needless to say, Micah didn't enjoy that very much.

Anyway... the cardiologist just called me (yes, at 9pm) because she just looked at the x-rays. It appears Micah's lungs are hyper-inflated, primarily the right one, which is probably why his liver is low (that was one of the reasons that she ordered the chest x-ray in the first place). She said his heart looks good, so something else must be causing the lung issue. He might be having some sort of aspiration (likely when he's refluxing) or he could have asthma, though she said he didn't sound asthmatic.

So tomorrow I get to call the pediatrician and ask what she'd like to do about the lung thing.

Tomorrow (Thursday) Micah sees the endocrinologist in Milwaukee for follow-up for his hypothyroidism. Since we're going anyway, we have an opportunity to see a speech therapist who is part of the feeding team at Children's. It makes sense to take advantage of this opportunity since we can't get Micah into the feeding clinic until November. Then on Friday, I take Nathan to Milwaukee for another laser treatment for his monster birthmark. That's never fun. He doesn't recover well from the anesthesia. Please pray he doesn't get sick on the way home.

Pray for Ethan

Please pray for baby Ethan. His daddy works with Mark. Ethan was born with a serious heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia. Amazingly, Ethan was big enough and strong enough to have a one-repair situation. Many babies with this defect require multiple surgeries. And he was eating like a champ before his heart surgery so he flew through recovery and was released from the hospital one week after his surgery. But he's back in the hospital with a staph infection in his bloodstream. He's going into surgery today to see if the infection is around his heart. They expect he'll be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks. Please keep Ethan and his family in your prayers.

At long last… Micah’s health update

6month check-up – Micah weighs 13lbs 3oz and is 24” long. This puts him on the “normal” weight chart for the first time in the 1st percentile and bumps him up to the 26th percentile on the Down syndrome chart. He’s a couple of check-ups behind on his shots, but we’ll get him caught up by one year.

Heart stuff – Micah saw his cardiologist last week. She doesn’t want to see him for FOUR MONTHS. Wow. And he’s now off all of his heart meds except one. His blood pressure is good, his oxygenation is 100%, and his respiratory rate is good. He’s still retracting with his breathing, but that should tone down a bit over time as his body realizes it doesn’t have to use so many muscles to breathe. At his next appt he will have an echocardiogram to assess how well his new valves are working (in a nutshell, his surgery was to patch two holes and create two valves from one big hole).

Eating – Micah doesn’t eat anything by mouth. Yes, that’s really hard. It’s hard enough for a woman who wants to nurse her baby to find out that she can’t (for whatever reason). But tack onto that the inability to feed your baby with a bottle, and it just, well, stinks.

Gastrointestinal – This appears to be Micah’s biggest hurdle at this point. We’ve been told to “reset” our expectations regarding Micah’s feeding tube (per his GI doctor: “I’m fairly confident that Micah will be able to get rid of his feeding tube someday… I just don’t know whether than will be when he’s 1 ½, 2, 3 or 4 years old.”). Ouch. That really hurt. And that’s basically why I haven’t updated the blog on Micah’s health lately. We have to draw gas out of his stomach (through the g-port) because it gets distended and causes him to urp. He still has reflux, but he’s on a high dose of Prilosec to limit the level of acid so that it doesn’t harm his esophagus.

Duodenum – Still not sure if it’s working. His j-tube feeds him into his jejunum, which means that the majority of his digestion is done after the duodenum. The GI doctor told us to start trying an ounce a day into his g-tube to see if he’s able to cope with food going through there, then we up to two ounces, and then three ounces. If he tolerates that, then we might be able to start solids soon. There might be an issue with a high volume going through his g-tube because of the j-tube sort of blocking the path downward. I guess we’ll find out. But he’s been able to digest all of his saliva and stomach juices, so he thinks this should work.

Feeding tube – I have a love/hate relationship with this thing. Logically, it needs to be skewed more toward “love,” because without it, I’m not sure whether our little guy would be growing or even living. But he has to be connected to a feeding pump for about 21 hours/day and he has a multi-port tube sticking out from his clothing. A friend of mine’s daughter asked about it at church a few weeks ago, and I told her that, “He needs it because he doesn’t know how to eat.” This little girl’s sweet brother, Will, chimed in and said, “Yet.” I almost cried.

Prayer requests:
* That Micah would tolerate the feedings through his g-tube so that he can start solids
* That Micah would not develop an oral aversion to solids like he has with liquids
* That Micah would get more comfortable and able to deal with the pressure in his belly
* That Micah’s neck strength would increase and he would use his arms more

* But most importantly, that we would truly rest on God’s strength: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Holding up his head

Micah's neck is getting much stronger. He pulls off your shoulder more often these days and he's looking around. Here's his best tummy time:

His PT (physical therapist), Missy, who comes to the house once a week and is in the photo above, said that Micah is probably ready for a Bumbo seat. So we brought the Bumbo seat up from the basement and gave it a try. He leaned more than he should have on the front, but at least he held up his head.

Way to go, Micah!

The following photos are evidence contradicting the "they're always such happy children" comments. Micah wasn't too excited about his bouncy seat for some reason.

No, I don't make a habit of letting him get too worked up. He was just in one of those moods one afternoon where nothing was making him happy. Believe it or not, it happens to Micah. I'm not complaining, though, because he is a generally content baby.