Mason's Firsts!

Mason has reached a few milestones over the last couple of weeks!

Weight

We went to see Mason's pediatrician for the first time since the placement of his G/J-Tube and, drum roll please, Mason weighed in at 20 lbs 2 oz which puts him in the 2.35 percentile for his age! He is still a little guy but he has pretty much put on one and a half pounds since his surgery. Go, Mason!

Here is my sweet little man! Look at his beautiful face without the tube taped to it!

Crawling

He is officially crawling and getting faster and faster every day. You really have to stay on top of him so that he doesn't get to the end of his tube.

Talking

Mason has learned so many new words these days. The most recent and impressive is the name of our dog, Rozwell. Rozwell has been staying with Grandma and Grandpa since Mason's birth and has come to visit a couple of times. Rozwell is here with us this weekend and Mason instantly repeated Roz's name when prompted and whenever he sees her.

Playing Games

We have a number of games that we play with Mason ranging from your typical Peek-a-boo to homemade games such as Show me. Mason can now show us where his hair, toes, mouth, "chunky monkeys" (aka chubby thighes), and tongue are. And boy does that kid have a tongue! He gets it from his sister. You will understand as you scroll down to see the pictures. Mason has also created his own game of "Look at me in Momma's sunglasses." He loves my sunglasses and takes them off my head whenever he has the chance. He has recently started putting them on and if you are not paying attention, he will call your name. I was reading the paper and hear "Momma". I look down to find him with my sunglasses on and the biggest grin! Loved it!

Mason's playing the Show Me game.

And this is where Mason gets his long tongue!

Mia's Frist Day of School

Mia is officially a Kindergartner! Her first day was a 1/2 day on Thursday. Mia was not only welcomed into her new classroom by her new teacher, Mrs. Prim, but also 5 of her friends from last year. They started chanting her name as we were putting her things away. I think we have a little social butterfly on our hands! Mia is very excited about school this year. She will be having PE and Computers for the first time and continuing in Music as well. Based on the letter from the teacher, this will be a big year for Mia. It amazes me how much these little brains can absorb so quickly. Here are a few pictures.

Soooo sweet!

Mrs. Prim sent each kid home with a balloon with a secret message inside!

Mason is also very excited that his sister is back to school. He now has Grandma all to himself!

Mason being Mason

In true Mason fashion, he has developed a complication from the new G/J-Tube. Sunday evening, stomach contents started leaking out around Mason's new tube. At one point, the front of his shirt was yellow. After trying to manage it ourselves, we placed a call to U of M Pediatric Surgery as we had not had a chance to talk our the local doctors regarding Mason new "hardware". The doctor was able to give a list of things to try but they did not work! Fortunately, we had a followup appointment with Dr Knight, Wichita surgeon. He quickly settled our frazzeled nerves and stated the obvious, "he has a leaky tube." He said that we need to try to stabilize the tube so that it does not create a bigger opening and keep the site as clean as possible. Try explaining to a one-year old that he needs to keep the tube from moving! Dr Knight's calming demeanor was very reassuring. We can manage this just like everything else that Mason has thrown our way.

As expected, Mason has figured out how to move. He is pretty much crawling every where. He is not as fast as he was with his "army" crawl but it will only be a matter of time. He is back to chasing his sister and beating on her door when she goes into her bedroom and shuts the door. He is getting back to his normal self with a few added bonuses. He has now learned how to scream for no reason other than he loves the sound of it. There was one day on our way back from Michigan that we were in our hotel room and Mia was having a "moment". She expressed herself with a scream which we quickly tried to stop only to have Mason continue the screaming for her. We could not help but laugh. Mia says, "Thank you Mason for taking the attention off of me so that I didn't get in trouble."

That's it for now. I was suppose to go back to work this morning but I didn't think it was fair to leave Grandma with Mason and his new leaky tube without training her first. She has had a lot of experience with this type of stuff so I think she will do great. So, I head back to work this afternoon. I have already been through my 500 work e-mails so I should be ready to go!

Back in Wichita

Our trip is done! Mason decided to wake us all up early on Tuesday so we hit the road at 8:30 and arrived in Wichita around 5:30. The second day of driving is always the hardest. Both kids were done being in their carseats and, to top it off, the dvd player stopped working. We made a quick stop at a Wal-mart before arriving in Kansas City and after purchasing a new charger for it (I would have bought a brand new dvd player if I had to), we were on the road again with a quiet back seat! It is amazing how a little screen can provide so much enjoyment. Mason took a little nap shortly after we started the day and did not sleep the rest of the way. He was a very grumpy little man by the time we got to Emporia. The last hour was rough for him and his parents. Mia, on the other hand, decided to take a nap during this time and was able to sleep through Mason's fussiness. Why is it when you are a kid, you can sleep any where and in any position? Her head was bobbing so much I was afraid that she would get whiplash!

Randy had to go back to work today. So, it was just Mommy and the kids. Mason is trying to figure out how to move about with this new tube. He has spent most of his time in the past "army" crawling around the house. Unfortunately, he has quickly figured out that this does not feel good to lay on his stomach. It is sad to see his just sit there when he was so mobile before the surgery. He just sits on his bottom and rocks and whines. He has made a few attempts at crawling. I think this new tube is going to force him to really crawl. My prediction is that he will be officially crawling all over the house in a week.

Mamma and Pappa came for a visit on Wednesday. Mason was so excited to see his Mamma. The visit was good and Mia even decided to go spend the night with them in Newton. Thursday, Mamma is coming back to start learning how to care for Mason's new feeding tube (along with Mommy). We are still trying to figure out the best way to secure Mason's tube to make sure that it heals properly and, most importantly, does not come out! We have a followup appointment with the Wichita surgeon on Monday and I also placed a quick call to the pediatrician's office and the feeding specialist. We should be back on track next week.

On our way HOME!

Mason was discharged from the hospital late Sunday afternoon. The doctors encouraged us to stick around Ann Arbor for another night to make sure we were comfortable with Mason's care. We were glad that we took their advice because, Mason being Mason, through us a curve ball Sunday evening. He started having a little blood in his diaper! We had seen this before so we did not panic. After Mason's surgery, we were working with a dietitian on changing his formula to a more complete one for his age. We have tried this at home with other formulas and have ran into issues so we were not surprised to see this. The pediatric surgery clinic worked us in and we all came to the same conclusion - reaction to the formula. So, back to Alimentum. We are going to let his body heal from this surgery and then try again at home. The surgeon told us that there was no concerns and that we should head home and manage it all in Wichita. We left Ann Arbor around 2pm eastern time and have made it as far as Effingham, IL which we believe is the halfway point. The kids continue to do great in the car. Mason is a little more fussy than the trip here but who could blame him. We can't wait to get back to our house and back to our "normal" lives. Hope to see you all soon!