I just can't believe that my little baby is TWO years old!
I can't believe that it has been two years since James and I were given the devastating news that there was something wrong with our little peanut.
I can't believe that after all he has been through that he is thriving and developing so quickly.
I can't believe that I actually survived the last couple years with nothing more than a few grey hairs!
Today I will wish my little Joshua James a VERY Happy Second Birthday!! Then I will get down on my knees and thank the Lord for allowing me to be his mother for two VERY wonderful years! I feel very humbled to be chosen for such a duty. My selfish human nature will also ask that I can have him for many more here with me on Earth.
Joshua is doing well. He continues to struggle with the chest effusions. We spent pretty much all of November in the hospital but we spent all of December at home! He is progressively getting worse so I imagine that we will have to trek out to Seattle this month for a little inpatient tune up. Hopefully it can wait until the end of the month. His last check up in Seattle was the 29th of December. Dr Law said his liver is still large and his lung exam is still not good but other than that he is doing "perfectly beautiful"! I don't know how long it will take before he has to get another drain placed. He is satting in the mid to low 90's. I have had him tethered to the oxygen for good measure. His awake heart rate has been in the low 120's and his resting heart rate is right around 110 each night. Pretty swell numbers for him.
I wish that you could all see how fun Joshua has been lately. He is on the move now! He can crawl pretty well to get to where he wants to go. He crawled across the living room to give Grandpa "knucks". He will also crawl across the living room to play with Trinity's kitchen. He loves to open up the doors and take things out and put them in. It is so nice to see him doing what I would perceive as a "two year old" thing. He is very interested in the older kids. He likes to copy what they do and say. Pretty funny stuff. He also has a knack for scooting backwards on his bum. This usually always ends up with hollers of frustration from under the living room table.
December also brought us a wonderful delivery! James is now in Missoula and we have been able to spend time with him each weekend. It has been so nice to see him and be near him. We spend the time playing games with the kids and just enjoying having our family together. The other bonus is that we can now call him when we need a daddy fix. Joshua gets very excited to talk to him on the phone. He has his own ring and Joshua knows when that ring comes on that his daddy is on the phone. I am glad that they have a tight bond even though the two of them have spent so much of Joshua's life apart. However, I am happy to have a mommy's boy!! :)
He is adding more and more words to his vocabulary. Here are some that I can think of that he uses a lot....
mommy
da-ee (daddy)
sssiiisssee (for sissy~and ALWAYS said in a LIGHT whisper)
per (for Whopper, our dog)
grandpa
knucks
gen (again)
heyyooo (Hello)
bye
up
cheese (when he sees a camera)
bob bob (Spongebob)
Pat (Patrick)
Boo (for Boots on Dora)
ye -yow (Yellow)
geen (Green)
bu (blue)
what?
WOW
wash (Hand sanitizer)
hoooray
dance
I love ya (With hand motions. ya is like a double fisted shooter pointing at you)
light
If he wants something he will extend his arms towards it and grunt and shove his arms towards it again. I will be happy when he can tell me what he wants. :) I am sure that we will both be happier as I don't understand 'Joshua lingo' as well as I should.
Things he copied....
*Trevor got hit in the eye with something and was fitting out. Sissy told him you are fine, how many fingers am I holding up? Trevor's response...."Duh, three" We all broke out in laughter when Joshua shouted out..."Duh, three"! Trevor forgot that his eye hurt in the midst of the laughter. And I must also add, no matter what happens to Trevor if he gets hurt and cries....Joshua will cry louder, harder and more dramatically. He always steals brothers thunder!
*And I have to thank sissy for this one too. She was playing with Joshua and was irritating him. She asked him...."Am I pissing you off?" His response..... "Pissing off" UGH. Shyla slapped her hand to her mouth and so did he! It was comical and after that she used the term....making him mad! Gotta love teenagers.
*He likes to cough when anyone else in the room does.
*Trevor has a wonderful talent of 'armpit farting'. (He is such a BOY) He was entertaining himself doing it one night and I looked over and there was Joshua with his arms crossed pumping them up and down. :) Silly boy.
This is more for me than anything. I would like to be able to remember what had been happening with him when I look back at this journey. :)
*This last month he has gotten all four of his molars. One of which prompted his first ever visit to the dentist. He had a nasty thing hanging from his gums. After an emergency dental fee I found out it was totally normal. The good news is that I was prepared for the fact when it happened 3 more times! He had a lot of gum bleeding but I now think the worst is over...for teething!
* We had a wonderful Christmas. He enjoyed the lights and of course the unwrapping of gifts. He had a guitar that he was super excited about when he opened it. He was grunting and shoving it to me to take out of the package. Sadly, it did not work and we had to wait to exchange it. It is a favorite now but was a real bummer to have to loose the initial excitement. Some other faves that are getting a lot of attention: Magna Doodle, Little People Farm, Keyboard, gloworm (that he cuddles and kisses like a little baby. He also puts it up to his shoulder and pats it's bottom), Singing Elmo with a microphone (He serenades us with the mic.)
*He is a master at the Itsy Bitsy Spider. He says 'Itsy Bitsy', wash, rain, and down. He knows all the right motions and will do them all in order even if you don't sing.
*Also a master at his very own version of Pat a cake. He says roll it, pat it, oven and Sunday!
*I am pretty convinced that he is going to be a lefty.
*Joshua likes to be involved in all that we are doing. He can flip over Memory cards, roll dice (two at a time) and color. He loves to play catch and throw things. His best game is 'Watch the adult pick up everything I throw on the floor.'
*We had a nice day with family for his birthday. Pretty low key. He liked to touch and taste his cake. I tricked him by asking him to kiss it goodbye! He loves to spend time all of his grandparents to it is always fun for him to be surrounded by them.
Thank you all for checking on our Joshua. I am going to sign off with a HUGE prayer request. I screwed up at the end of December and didn't pay Joshua's insurance premium. I CAN'T believe that I did this. I have had a lot on my mind and it totally just slipped out. I remembered on the morning of the first but of course they were closed so there was nothing that I could do. When I called today they said too much time had lapsed. UGH. I sent in a letter to appeal their decision to cancel Joshua's insurance. Please pray hard that they will reinstate his insurance. I have been a total wreck as I don't know how I will care for him with the cost of his medical care being WAY more money than I see come in. I know that it is all in God's hands and nothing is too big for him to handle.....but what happens when I was the one that screwed up? *sigh*
Here are some pictures! :) Blessings to ALL of you. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope that you are all blessed and filled with joy in 2010.
Love, Leah & Joshua (& of course the rest of the Garrison clan.)
The BEST part of going inpatient at the hospital.....FRIENDS!!
This was taken a day or two before we left the hospital in November. He was playing in his crib super early in the morning when I was still resting. I didn't know that the nurse had the pillows set up for him. All of a sudden he went quiet so I jumped up to check on him and this is how I found him. Guess he was ready for a recharge! (Notice the leg....always out the crib rails!
Concentrating real hard! He was helping Trevor and I wrap sissy's gifts while she was out of the house. She had the 2 biggest boxes so it was quite a chore. Joshua was 'helping' us. As soon as we got the gifts wrapped and were feeling like we did an alright job considering the extra set of hands....we heard him ripping! He also helped open the gifts. Needless to say the packages went under the tree with lots of tape and mismatched paper. :)
What!?!?!?! I wasn't pulling the lights of the tree!!
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