Thank you for the birthday wishes

I would like to publicly thank my wonderful sister for advertising my age to the world!! What are sisters for??? I'll get her back someday!! My birthday was very nice and quiet. Chloe and Benji made blueberry pancakes and put candles in mine for dinner. My friend Whitney offered to babysit the kids after they went to bed so that Benji and I could go out for a little bit (our first time since Wyatt came home...thank you Whitney!!) I hear tell... my family and husband are planning a small celebration this weekend..?? Overall, it was a very nice day. I am looking back on my 34 years and I would not change a thing. I am so blessed and lucky to have two wonderful children, a wonderful husband, and a caring and wonderful parents, sister, grandmother, and in-laws. I have a job that I really like and great friends. I am very happy:))) Wyatt and Chloe gave me a really cool spider man card too!! (I think Wyatt picked it out).

Today we went to Hopkins for an appointment with Dr. Lefton-Greif for a swallow study. She decided not to give him the swallow study since he last had a bottle when he was 5 weeks old and we would probably only traumatize him. So based on his age, the scope from the ENT, and our opinions... Wyatt is now cleared to eat solid foods!!! Well... it's not as easy as it sounds. We tried to give him a little bit of applesauce at the doctor's office (a dot on his lip) and he gagged, cried, and wanted nothing to do with eating!! So we are starting at square one. We need to make eating enjoyable for him. He is getting all the nutrition that is needed through his formula (Elacare 27 cal/ 42 ml per hour/ 23 hours), so eating for now will be for enjoyment. We are suppose to play music, put him in his favorite chair, and make a big ordeal out of it. The debut food will be applesauce!!

Also, Wyatt's feeding tube has a small tear in it, causing us to tape the connector piece to the tube which is a pain when trying to vent him. Today, during our appointment, the PA for the pediatric surgery came over to clinic to change Wyatt's tube. It's so easy and she gave us replacements for the future. Now we are mess free!! Wyatt weighs 16 lbs 8 oz and has not gained much in the past week. I think the reason for this is that he is off his feeds for more than 1 hour a day. When fussy the nurses and us will turn off his feeds until his is comfortable... I think when adding the time off it's adding up. We will have to change that in order for him to gain more weight.

By the way... my sister started a photography business and it's doing really well so far. Check out her blog for more info.

Also, Dr. Chandler (Wyatt's surgeon) just completed her two year fellowship at Hopkins and will be moving on to Florida. It's going to be weird not seeing her. She always made us feel so comfortable in such a big scary hospital. She is one of those people who not only does her job well, but has been part of our lives for the past 8 months. We will miss her and wish her the best in her next endeavor.