The last 3 months!

  This summer has been crazy! I feel like even though I'm home most days with Eli, it has been a non-stop whirlwind of events. So let me trace my steps back and start from the end of May.


  Eli started having eating issues about two weeks after having his g-tube removed. He no longer wanted to take any food and was even pushing a bottle away for the most part. Things had been great for months and he took really well to baby food and some adult food. He hadn't used his feeding tube since mid January to eat so when he stopped eating I freaked out. A kid not wanting to eat one meal here or there no big deal, but he was flat out denying food entering his mouth. I felt like he was retaining water and he was looking a little puffy. We ended up taking him to the ER to make sure he wasn't in some sort of cardiac distress. The doctor said he just had some virus and to give it 10 days to pass. Ok, so we wait it out...

Eli's 1st time at the zoo! 

The day before his 1st birthday, I took Eli back to the emergency room. He went over 12 hours with no urine output, he was gagging and attempting to throw up (he can't physically do this) and he was just in some sort of funk. His cardiologist said get him to the hospital ASAP to have him checked out. His eating still hadn't improved and it was 13 days since his previous ER visit. They said he was dehydrated but his heart was functioning fine. They sent us on our way with some anti-nausea medicine in hopes it would improve Eli's desire to eat.

Five days later we went to his pediatrician because his eating was still not improving and you could tell just by looking at him he had lost weight. This was not his normal doctor so she was slightly overwhelmed with his problems and had us see his cardiologist just to make sure things were okay.

Well well well, come to find out my big boy got all 4 of his first molars within this time frame of 2-3 weeks. He also no longer wanted to eat baby food he was ready to move up to big kid food. Eli has gained all of his lost weight back and then some back. He's like a real human now.

Sitting on my own! 

He has been doing weekly physical therapy since the first week of June and has just blossomed by leaps and bounds. He went from not being able to sit up or crawl to furniture "cruising" (therapy term) and beyond. Clapping and dancing are some of his favorite movements and anything that involves using his very loud voice. He definitely fits into my side of the family.

We celebrated his 1st birthday with a nice party on June 23rd and a bunch of our loved ones came out. He had a nice time being the center of attention. I just kept thinking the whole time, a year ago we weren't sure we'd even get to the 1st birthday!

July was a very rough month for the family. I lost my Dad and Eli lost his Grandpa. Those two were crazy about each other and Eli would always get the biggest smile on his face when Grandpa would walk in the room. I know my Dad was so proud that Eli was named after him and would brag to anyone who would listen that his favorite (and only) grandson was named Eli Randall. The evening my Dad passed away, I wasn't sure if he even knew we were there but he definitely knew Eli was. He was the proudest Grandpa and I will make sure Eli knows that as he grows up.

Now as August comes to an end we hope to continue working on Eli's skills. He does such a great job furniture "cruising". My goal is walking by Halloween so we'll see how we do.