Neurology Update on Jude: Still Good

Over the past couple months, Jude's head size has grown at a faster rate than the rest of him, and he has sometimes displayed mild symptoms of hydrocephalus (which could just as easily be normal baby things, except for the "sunsetting eyes"). Given his history, the pediatrician thought it best to have him checked again by the neurologist, even though Jude had previously "graduated" from neurology. So we went in for a cranial ultrasound last Friday and had an appointment with the neurologist yesterday. The news is still good: Jude again got the "all clear." His ventricles are still on the high side of normal, but he is otherwise still looking good. The neurologist thinks that his head growth is just him "catching up," which is consistent with his other areas of growth beginning to catch up as well. (His length recently jumped into the 10th-25th percentile for his actual age.) The wonder of Jude's recovery continues!

Medicine-Time Funny

Jude and Hazel's schedule got messed up by a doctor's appointment that ran long, so we got them up to give them their Prevacid after they had refused to nap for a long period. Jude was obviously still tired, so I shot a quick video of him because he and Hazel were cracking me up.

Our picky eater

Well, we were finally given the go ahead to try solids with the kids, but Jude has other ideas. He wants nothing to do with it. I have tried pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, and bananas. He says, "no" to all of them. He makes a horrible face and after a few bites, he looks like he wants to barf. I keep trying, but all he wants right now is rice cereal. A picky eater already? Oh no! What will I ever do? Will he not like my cooking? We will have to work on this. C'mon Jude.

Hazel's Favorite Toy

With all the toys Hazel has to choose from, which one do you think is her favorite? Watch and see.



She loves to play with the tags on all her other toys as well. Simple and fun!

Unexpected Graduation

We had an appointment at the GI yesterday and it went better than expected. Both Jude and Hazel's growth was great and Jude made a major leap on the length chart. His weight just can't seem to keep up with his length so he's still pretty skinny. Anyway, the GI said that she didn't want to make any changes to their medication or high calorie formula at this time since we're about to enter a major transition with moving. Once we're settled though, she said to start weaning them off their reflux medication and their high calorie formula. And we can start trying more solids now. Yay! She also said we shouldn't need an appointment with a GI in Seattle, which is great! One less specialist to make an appointment with. Way to go, babies!

It's Official: We're Moving to Washington!

The picture above is not a painting. It's a wobbly photo that I (Noel) took with my cell phone last Saturday in Oak Harbor, WA. I had a great weekend up there at First Reformed Church, although I wished Heidi, Jude, and Hazel could have come with me. It went so well, though, that last night they extended a call for me to become their new associate pastor, and I accepted. So next month we are moving to Washington! The position is called "Minister of Worship and Discipleship," and as the title implies my responsibilities will be primarily in the areas of worship and music and adult discipleship.

Obviously, there's going to be lots to do between now and mid-August. In addition to packing, getting the babies ready to move, and saying goodbye to friends and neighbors, there will be the "minor" matter of my examination and ordination by the presbytery. And then, of course, all of the other loose ends as far as my employment and education are concerned. Please pray for us as we embark on this next phase of our journey!

Happy Boy

Jude welcomes a new day with a half-dazed smile (he just woke up):

Hazel crawling?

Uh oh, look out! Hazel is starting to pull herself forward with her arms, which makes her much more mobile. She's going to be all over the place any day now. The physical therapist thought it would be another couple months before she crawls, but I don't know. She looks to me like she's getting close. Check it out:

More pictures

"Hi!" They are both very happy because Jude is officially done with one of his lung medications. Yay! He should be done with the other one in 2 weeks.

Our little prodigy?

The physical therapist that works with the kids brings a piano like this every week. Ever since the beginning, Hazel has loved it. We were hesitant to buy one because we want it to be special when the therapist comes, but it really helps her with her sitting/balancing and I thought it'd be good to use on a daily basis. I hope I didn't spoil it for our therapist!

Morning Fun

Orange and white stripe day

It didn't start out as an orange and white stripe day, but it ended as one as Hazel is in outfit number 5 and Jude in outfit number 3. I think we need a bigger cloth diaper size because these kids are suddenly soaking everything! Calling Dy-dee Diaper Service was on my list of things to do last week, but it didn't get done. Too bad. I didn't realize we were so close to growing out of the old ones. Anyway, they ended up looking cute! And all the laundry they dirtied was done by Aunt Hillary. Thank goodness!

So cute holding hands! Hazel was quite insistent on chewing on Jude's hand. We've got some serious teething going on here. Jude was not a fan, but he tolerated it alright. He's a pretty easy going guy.

We sure are going to miss Aunt Hillary, but we are eager for Noel to get home!

Party in the park

Aunt Hillary, Hazel, Jude, and I went to celebrate our friend, Katie's, graduation today at a park. This was one of our first "big gathering" outings. We've had a few, but not many. We're glad to be able to get out more even though we still have to be very cautious.

Jude was quite the party animal.

Congrats Katie! We're so proud of you and are glad we were able to celebrate with you!

Let me have it!

Aww, how cute! Jude and Hazel's first fight over a toy ...

Tummy Time

This one goes out to all the physical therapists in the family (Noel's parents and our brother-in-law, Jason): Jude and Hazel doing morning tummy time, with Jude showing off his improved neck strength and Hazel showing off her pivoting skills.

Oak Harbor Interview

We are happy to report that this week Noel is heading to Oak Harbor, WA, as the leading candidate for an open position, Minister of Worship and Discipleship at First Reformed Church. Pray for him, and for our family as we try to discern what God is calling us to next!

We are really excited about this opportunity and hope it goes well for him. If all does go well, this may be at the end of our drive to our next home:

Deception Pass Bridge

Photo from Yahoo! Travel

1 bedroom frustrations

It is becoming more frustrating by the day to be in a 1 bedroom apartment. Hazel and Jude have become much more susceptible to noise and are constantly waking each other up, waking up from neighbor noises, and waking up from our noises. It's especially frustrating for naps when one wakes up early, starts crying, and wakes the other up. Jude's usually the early riser, he wakes up Hazel, and she WILL NOT go back to sleep (she may, but by the time she does, it's time to get up and eat again...ugh). We are so looking forward to having more space someday. The first thing we're going to do is put them in their own bedrooms. We'd love for them to be able to share, but it's not working.

Also, Hazel is getting more mobile by the hour. We didn't plan on having to "baby proof" this apartment and I think we'll probably still be able to get by without it as long as we move soon and keep an eye on her at all times. She's rolling more, pivoting around on her tummy, and scooching a little bit (backwards). If we look away for 30 seconds, we often turn around and wonder, "how did she get over there?". I'm sure she'll be crawling sooner than we expected!

Jude

Jude says, "hello" and shows off his foot trick again.

Not much going on

There's not a whole lot going on around here other than the usual feeding and playing with babies. We did go to UCLA yesterday for Jude to see the pulmonologist. His last labs were good, so we're in the process of weaning him off of 2 of his medications. It'll take about a month to be done with both of them, but they are the last 2 meds that he takes with his milk. It will be so great to not have to think, "what meds get put in this bottle?" 6 times a day.

The kids are still testing our patience with their inconsistent eating, but we're managing. We're still praying for progress in this area, and patience for us.

Hazel is sitting quite well on her own, but not well enough to be left alone. Today she sat for over a minute for the physical therapist. Jude actually sat for quite a long time too, propping himself with his arms. It's the first time he's done it without our support! Our physical therapist can get these kids to do things better than we can. They always show off for her. We think they really like her. It's funny because they often do less than what they're capable of for the OT. Interesting.

We're looking forward to Aunt Hillary visiting next week!

Do you like our new sunglasses?