2 Year Anniversary! How Time Flies

I nearly fell out of my chair a couple weeks ago when my 17-year-old posted on Facebook that it was Jacob's 2-year anniversary for his heart surgery.

Had it already been 2 years?  Really?  I feels like it was just a few months ago. But then I began watching my little boy and all he can do, and realize that yes, indeed, our little boy is growing up!

Jacob is now 2 years, 4 months and 3 days old, but whose counting?

Aside from his heart surgery 2 years ago, he has only had two surgeries - twice putting tubes in his ears, one of those included removing his adenoids.  We've been pretty doggoned lucky with our little boy considering all the things that CAN go wrong, but haven't. 

After 2 solid months of crying, he finally took to his on-site therapies and is now pushing me out the door so he can play with his 'girlfriend'.  I'm told they spend much of their time giving each other hugs and playing with one another whenever the opportunity arises.

After months of agonizing about whether or not Jacob was going to communicate with us in ANY way, he has finally found the need to communicate via sign language about a month ago.  He now knows 12 signs and is FINALLY beginning to babble a little bit. 

Our physical therapist claims that he is lagging physically in things like throwing a ball, playing catch and walking backward.  Jake just looks at me and smiles because we both know he's an expert at basketball, soccer, and throwing tennis balls at his big brother's eye.  Likewise, if he finds my cellphone laying around, he's able to grab the phone, run backwards at break-neck speed to make sure I'm not following, then turn mid-stride to sprint forward to safety with phone in hand, giggling all the way in his mischievous little voice.  Yeah.  We're not too concerned about this one.

Don't let those big brown eyes fool you!  He's a crafty little one!!!  Stay tuned for new Jacob stories.  The little rugrat is on the loose - and giggling every step of the way!!

Love,

The Allreds

Our 1 - Year Anniversary!!!

NOTE:  FINALLY found myself back on my blog and saw that I'd never finished and/or posted my latest entry.  It's from MARCH!  Ouch....I must do better.  There will be another one with much more upbeat news shortly.

On Friday, I called our heart doctor and scheduled an appointment for his 1-year echo cardiogram. That one single phone call set off an entire weekend filled with retrospect and reminiscing over what our lives have become in the last year.

With Jacob now 16 months-old, and 13 months after his heart surgery, time has flown and our little Jacob has grown by leaps and bounds!

It's hard to believe that just one year ago we were, in essence, watching our baby slowly die before our eyes, and what a tremendous feat it was just to get him to reach 10 lbs in weight.  The physical therapist wouldn't even touch him because he looked so sickly, and I just looked at him in awe at his calm, patient demeanor as he endured his own personal trials at such a young and tender age.

(Jacob immediately after heart surgery)

As we look at photos, it is easy to discern which photos were pre-surgery and post-surgery by the sadness and lethargy in his face.

(weigh in just before surgery)

But as soon as he had his heart repaired a light literally switched on.  He was taken off ALL of his medications before he left home.  He was taken off his feeding tube within a couple of days of his surgery.  No longer did he just lay limp and lifeless watching the world go on around him.  He began to engage, smile, move, and LIVE. 

At his 1-year review with the cardiologist, we were told that not only does his heart sound nearly perfect, but they won't even do much more than listen to it with a stethoscope next year.  Our little boy has gone from missing the center of his heart, to a complete recovery physically.

Now he runs around after his sister, giggling as she runs screaming from him terrified of his assault on her personal space.  He walks, runs, climbs, crawls, squats in a catcher's stance, and spends every waking minute making up for lost time, exploring the world around him and all that it holds for our sweet little boy.

For us, the future is bright, and our hopes for Jacob are high.  Rather than standing at idle, we are moving full speed ahead trying to keep up with our dynamic, happy, lively little boy.  Wish us luck!

3 months after heart surgery - Jacob's progress

Holy Cow! Has it been almost 2 months since my last post?! Goodness!  I guess no news is good news?  Well. Sort of.  It does mean that Jacob is doing FABULOUSLY!  Surgery has now officially been deemed a complete success by all of his doctors, he is now weighing in at a hefty 15 lbs 11 oz. and is attacking all of his milestones with an unsurpassed vigor!



At 6 months, he is still in the 10% range in size/weight of a normal child, but is about 50% for a child with Downs Syndrome.  Which is fine with us.  All I care about is that he's healthy and happy.  And happy he IS.  Our sweet little munchkin never seems to do anything but smile. 

Jacob is now part of the zipper club!

(We've discovered he LOVES bath time!  He loves to kick and float!!)



Unlike his big sister, Courtney, who is more like a freight train around the house, demolishing everything in her path, Jacob is our quiet little angel who plays by himself, smiles, giggles, and just takes in everything life has to offer.



He's now rolling over, scooting (on his face - his arms aren't quite strong enough to handle the weight of his body), grabbing things and shaking them, and sitting with some help.  But his all-time favorite thing to do is to stand up while holding someone's fingers.  He's just so proud of himself!!  You can see the joy and jubilation in his eyes at the accomplishment alongside the thirst for more Independence.  It may take Jacob a little bit longer to sit, crawl and stand on his own, by I have this feeling that once he has them mastered, there will be NO holding him BACK!