May Update

Sorry it has been so long since we last posted. Now that the weather is nice, we have been busy going for walks and working out in our yard. The house we bought was vacant for over a year and the yard was showing some major signs of neglect! We have been trying to whip it into shape over the past couple of weeks.

Things have been going pretty well since our last post. We have been able to condense Mason's feeds down to 40 minutes. We are thinking that we may be able to condense them even more sometime next week. Mason has decided that he is done with pureed baby foods and refuses to eat them anymore. He has been working with them for 6 months now and he has decided it is time to move on to something more exciting. We are now working with puffs and wagon wheels and items with more texture. He is still in the playing and getting comfortable phase. Right now his favorite thing to do is chuck them off the highchair so that the dog eats them. We are just happy that he is getting comfortable touching them! Buster is now seeing the advantages of having a baby around :)

Our little chatterbox is starting to build a vocabulary! He can now say mama, dada, and boo-boo (our pet name for Buser). He has also added in barking and growling, proof that kiddos really do absorb everything around them! He enjoys waving bye-bye and giving high fives.

Mason's PT is also going pretty well. He can stand for brief periods now supporting himself on a toy or the couch. He is also starting to walk a little when his hands are held. We have been trying to get a video of this, but he gets so excited when he sees the camera he starts bunny hopping instead! Mason is also getting close to being able to crawl. He is able to go from sitting to all fours with just a little help and will initiate crawling to an object if we provide him with some support under his chest. He has the arm motion down and is starting to learn what to do with his legs. He has also learned how to pull up to his knees and then standing from the crawling position, all with just some support under his chest. He seems to be learning everything all at once so we are trying to make sure he gets some practice with everything each day. He is very determined to move, so we are sure it won't be long before he is completely mobile!

Last but not least, Mason will turn 1 on Sunday! We can't believe it is only a week away. I took some time to revist some of our first posts and he has come so far! I am sure Sunday will be a very emotional time for us. We would have loved to have a giant party to celebrate with everyone, however we decided to play it safe (as his lungs are still growing) and just keep the party to immediate family.

Below are some recent pictures and a short video of Mason playing with the light on our ceiling fan.

Going for a walk

Story time (about Michigan of course!)

First shopping trip in a cart!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Successful Walk!

First, we wanted to thank everyone who donated to the March for Babies walk. The initial goal was 500 dollars, but Travis was able to triple that and raise $1,500 thanks to all of you! Saturday was pretty windy and chilly, but Travis battled the elements and walked in honor of Mason. Mason and I joined him at the end and were very proud! Next year, we are hoping to create a CDH team and our goal is to have 50 people join us in the walk. If you are interested, please let us know and we will add you to an e-mail list so that you can be notified of date, time and location of the walk next year. We hope that you will be willing to join us in such a great cause! I added a picture of Mason hugging his Dad after the walk.

So far Mason has adapted well to the changes made by the Pulmonary team. He started using his new big boy inhaler tonight. It just takes two puffs, so much easier than a 20 minute nebulizer treatment! We are so happy that another piece of medical equipment can now leave our home.

Tuesday we started going to the Early On playgroup. Mason was pretty shocked to see all of the kids in a circle singing and clapping, but he held it together and had a great time. There is also an Occupation Therapist there along with his usual Physical Therapist. The kids play, sing and have snack time. We are so excited because next week Riley and his Mom will be at playgroup. Riley was born with CDH as well and had a very similar hospital stay and recovery. We are so lucky to have someone who has gone through the same experience as us living so close!

I also included a couple of pictures from Mason's OT appointment at UofM Wednesday. The first one is during therapy and the second one is after therapy and a visit with his girlfriends.