Happy Birthday Thomas!

Well its been 5 months. I never had any real expectation the morning of January 2nd and I certainly was not thinking about June 2nd back then. We've been through a lot of things that I just never could have imagined. It has brought us closer together to each other, to our families, to our friends and allowed us to meet many others who have become our friends.

Is very much a big picture/little picture thing now.

Big picture, Thomas is healthy and without any major issues (he had another neural scan yesterday and everything was normal). Based on percentages, Thomas probably shouldn't be this healthy and could easily have slipped away from us. We are lucky and blessed and wowed by Thomas every day.

Little picture, going to the hospital every day for 5 months has been tough. Leaving Thomas every day for 5 months has been much tougher. This last week has been especially hard for Rebecca. She can sense the end of this part of the story and really wants to move on to the next chapter. Me, I'm a boy, I come from a military family, I travel a bunch for my work. Being away from loved ones is ingrained in me. Tough as nails, I am. I'm also pretty good at just dealing with the moment and not getting too worked up about what I can't control (laid back laziness, its a way of life). Don't get me wrong, I am in complete agreement with Rebecca that Thomas is the cutest baby ever. I can't wait to see him each time and know its going to be awesome when he's home. Rebecca wants to be there for Thomas all of the time and 3 hours a day just isn't cutting it. I think that's a mommy thing.

Its all about doing the right thing for Thomas. Letting him develop and establish the ability to feed without it being traumatic is very important (big picture). Patience is a virtue and all that stuff and I know that if it takes 3 days or 3 weeks from now to get Thomas home, in a year, it will be little more than a memory and a small part of a much larger story. I think I've written something like this several times, but I need to keep doing it to remind me, and Rebecca, that this is and will be such a tiny part of Thomas' life.

So where is he, and what's taking so long? Its a good question. (acceptable answers would be Baylor Hospital, just laying around, sucking on a pacifier or Disney World, the happiest place on earth) Basically, when Thomas is in the zone, he can drink a bottle with the best of them. When he's sleepy, he struggles, and sometimes even when he's not sleepy (which is when it can be frustrating). Sometimes he'll get too excited and forget to breathe or try to breathe while he's taking the bottle. Sometimes he'll arch his back and push away. He may be uncomfortable or something (from acid reflux or trauma from the ventilation tube), we're just not sure. So, each feeding is a hold your breath and hope for the best kind of thing. I think really, he's been more successful than not, he just needs a little more time to get the hang of it. He's really only been at it for a couple weeks.

The other thing that we're working on is motor skill development. On that front, Thomas seems to be excelling. Today, they worked on placing Thomas on his stomach and letting him work on pushing himself up. He did fantastic. He's really good at holding his head up and supporting himself. He's exceptionally strong. Especially his legs. Sometimes when you're holding him in a sitting position, he will push up and extend his legs out, basically supporting his own weight (with some help, he's not actually standing on his own). His balance is a long ways off of course, but its really cool. He kind of gets surprised at himself and how much more he can see when he's standing.

Well this blog was long winded and mostly without purpose. Its hard to describe where we are. I think for the most part, we're both very positive and in good spirits. We just really want Thomas to come home as quickly and safely as possible. So, in summary, Happy Birthday Thomas!