Saw the doctor on Tuesday and everything still looks great.  I told Dr. Goldman how much Cutler had been drinking and we agreed to stop all pushes via the feeding tube and give it about three weeks and see where he is before making any final decisions on removing the tube for good.  So far, Cutler does not show any difference in missing those extra feedings he was getting, so I am assuming all is going well.  Last week we had cut back to three feedings from four via the tube and he had still gained over a pound, so I think he will be just fine.  He weighed in at a whopping 24.3 lbs.  He’s definitely mine.

Other than that, he continues to walk more and more every day and is no longer happy to just sit in your lap.  He’s also really enjoying being a mobile baby brother to Mason.  I know I have said it before (several times) but he let’s out a shriek of joy when Mason gets home from school and then just watches him nonstop.  He can’t get enough of his big brother and fortunately Mason feels the same way.

Since we have always posted pictures of Cutler smiling, I thought I would show a few of his spoiled side.  This was from Tuesday night.  He had been sitting in Mason’s little chair and was very content and then when he slid out to the floor is was no longer enough to just sit around.  And no, I am not cruel, the tears came immediately and finished almost as quickly (picture included).  Also, his shirt is not soaked from tears, but from slobber.  He slobbers like no kid I have seen before and has become dangerous to hold over my head.

One final note, Cutler’s cancer twin is having surgery tomorrow morning to reverse his colostamy, so please keep him in your prayers.  It’s great news that he is getting the reversal, meaning everything is going great for him, but please pray for a speedy and full recovery.

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We’ve been run over by pirates!

I don’t know what happened, but I pulled into the garage and was overrun before I could defend myself.

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In my last post I mentioned how much Cutler enjoyed walking around exploring, with the help of someone’s hand.  Today he decided not to use anyone’s hand and now Kobi’s work day is going to change dramatically.  Below are a couple videos from this afternoon, including where he enjoys tackling his big brother.

Ok, now that I am done being sappy, just wanted to provide some updates.

Cutler continues to improve on a rapid pace.  He is really starting to eat a lot more as well as continues to drink more and more.  I am really looking forward to the appointment on Tuesday when I can break the good news to the doctors and hopefully begin the discussion on when we can remove the feeding tube.  Cutler is really enjoying walking around, still with the help of one of our hands, but now he insists on using only one hand and when working with him he can sometimes stand on his own for a few seconds before taking a run at me.  Today we took him to our neighbor’s birthday party and Cutler was so excited to just walk around this huge bounce house area for what was probably close to an hour.  When holding both mine and Melanie’s hands he was practically running.  He loves to walk around and explore everything.  Also today Melanie took him to some baby tumbling class, which he enjoyed quite a bit and will start going to once a week to help him interact with other kids.  Unfortunately this is an area for him to improve as Melanie reported back that he bit another kid.  I hate to say that it doesn’t surprise me, but he is in love with biting any and everything.  One other thing that we have been working with him on is identifying things, such as hair, eyes, nose, etc.  Below is a video of him tonight showing what he has learned…near the end of it so be patient.

And here is a video of him playing with Melanie…

While today is pretty much another holiday brought to us by our friends at Hallmark, I for one am grateful for a chance to reflect on how lucky I am to be a father.  A lot of celebrations on this day are to honor father’s, but I was sitting here tonight playing with the boys and realized how lucky I am to be a father.  I realized how lucky I am to have such a fighter in Cutler that despite all he has been through is perhaps the happiest baby that I have had the joy to experience…and that’s saying a lot because Mason was a complete joy to have as well.  I realized how lucky I am to have such a sweet, patient, and understanding son in Mason.  Through all of this he has really never acted up once, but has always been very understanding and patiently waiting for his opportunity to prove himself as a great big brother.  I realized how lucky I am to have such wonderful children due largely in part to my beautiful and sweet wife as I am sure the majority of their outgoing and happy personality comes from her.  I realized what an inspiration my children are for me.  They inspire me to be a better father, to be a better husband, and to be a better person.  I see their tremendous qualities and spirit and just hope that someday, when they are old enough to know, they will say that they are proud to be my sons.

Now, to my dad, I’m proud to be your son.  Happy Father’s Day!

I know that my boys will both kill me someday knowing that I published these on the internet…when they’re old enough to worry about something like this.  🙂

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Mason has been considering many career options lately and here are just a few…

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First things first, Cutler is still doing great.  We had our biweekly appointment this past Tuesday and everything continues to look great.  We are now down to just one medicine, which is given only on Mondays and Tuesdays so for the rest of the week things are getting pretty normal.  Still having to give pediasure via the feeding tube, but we are down to only three times a day to see if his eating can sustain his weight.  Speaking of, he is now up to a whopping 23 lbs, which is more than some 2 year olds that I know.  I guess that is just further proof that he is my son. 

As for his eating, he is still eating a lot of baby food but occasionally will surprise us by eating some new things.  Today he decided that he wanted a bite of my turkey and salami sandwich and after the first bite decided that he wanted more.  Mason was more than happy to share his sandwich with him as well and by the end of lunch he probably ate close to a quarter of a sandwich.  Tonight, at dinner, he decided that he likes blueberries, grapes, and cherries.  Still isn’t too interested in Strawberries, which is a bit shocking since he likes sweet things.  And the biggest news from our dinner, is that he actually drank 6 oz of a yogurt drink through a straw.  He has started to drink a bit from a water bottle with a pop top, but tonight was so exciting to see how much he drank.  I would imagine that if he keeps doing this with more frequency we can get the tube taken out.

While having the tube taken out is a big thing for us, I think it is just more of a mental victory than anything else, as having it isn’t really hampering anything for us.  He is still able to take a bath and is even starting to swim in the pool now with us.  He really enjoys splashing around, sticking his face in the water, and loves being splashed by his big brother when he performs his high flying canon balls.  Just a week ago Mason wasn’t showing much interest in actually swimming, although he can, instead he just wanted to kick around on his boogie board.  After challenging his ego a bit while at a friend’s house, he has quickly ditched the boogie board and is determined to become a world class swimmer before Cutler does.  Finally, I may have found a good use for sibling rivalry. 

Finally in one of my last updates I sent out a good luck to Ginger on running the San Diego marathon.  If you remember, she was running in honor of Cutler and successfully raised $6000 to help fight Leukemia.  I mentioned that we weren’t able to make it, but that was just to help throw Ginger off our tracks.  Melanie and Cutler flew to San Diego last Saturday and surprised Ginger and then Ginger was able to carry Cutler across the finish line with her!  I still can’t thank Ginger enough for what she has done in helping the fight against Leukemia and doing it in honor of Cutler.  As a bonus, Cutler got to have dinner with his Aunt Emily who happens to live out there so it was a fun filled two day trip for Melanie and Cutler.  By the way, he did great on the plane both ways, aside from giving Melanie a black eye.  Below are a few pictures from the trip and be on the lookout for a few more random posts that will be more pictures than anything else.

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Soo…when Aaron told you I’d be giving you a “weekly” update, I apparently forgot that a week consisted of 7 days.  I would really love to tell you that I’m not this great a procrastinator in other areas of life, but that would just be untrue.  People can change habits at some point, right??

 Anyways, Cutler continues to amaze me with progress all the time.  He had been trying to sit up on his own for awhile, but decided to leave the main event for after Melanie had put him down for the night…she wanted him to go to sleep, he wanted to sit up and play in bed.  With this strengthening of his core muscles, his balance is improving greatly.  There are moments when he can stand on his own (one time I would guess was about 20 seconds), and has even taken a couple of steps without any assistance.  He’s still wobbly, but this will greatly help his confidence.  Taking development psychology classes in college, you read about the stages and the instincts that come with being a child.  As a single girl with no kids, I read my textbooks and thought to myself, “I can totally picture that.”  But it’s quite another thing to watch it firsthand.  It is crazy to see the recognition in a child’s eyes when he realizes that, if he doesn’t want to be laying down anymore, he can rectify the situation on his own by sitting up.  Seeing is believing; I might have done well in class, but it takes actually seeing these developmental accomplishments to believe that we are all programmed to learn and progress without really trying.

 On the eating front, we are sticking mainly to baby foods.  These Cutler takes and swallows without problems, so we’ll alternate between solid foods and purees so that the chipmunk cheeks are empty.  After his swallow study told us that he can swallow just fine (as we all knew, but it was nice not to have a problem appear out of the blue), we’ll visit the speech therapist next week.  He has also taken a slight interest in drinking his Pediasure, so that’s a step in the right direction!  He’s also eating more in quantity-whereas a 4 ounce container of yogurt used to be pushing the limit, he can now polish off the Yo Baby, and continue to eat another couple of ounces.

 Cutler also is quite the conversationalist.  He is saying “Dada” on command, so I don’t have to worry about losing my job if “Kobi” is now uttered.  He is quick to point out the things he thinks are interesting, but it takes some interpretation and finger following to figure out what exactly those things are.

 On a closing note, since the anti-rejection medication has been cut out all together, the dark peach fuzz is disappearing.  The forehead swirl and muttonchops are starting to become a mere memory.  Hopefully the back hair will soon follow…

Tomorrow morning the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon kicks off and our friend Ginger will be running in honor of Cutler.  We really wish we could be there to help support her as she has done so much raising money to help fight leukemia. 

Good luck Ginger!