So we’ve been a little lazy about posting.  Sorry.Last Thursday’s doctor appointment was pretty frustrating.  When we told Mason’s dentist that he can pop his feeding plate out with his tongue, he was very insistent that we don’t let him use it anymore.  He’s quite concerned that Mason will pop it out and choke on it.  Mason’s surgeon, on the other hand, was very insistent at the last appointment that Mason wear the plate as much as possible.  He also won’t eat without it (not that he had been eating much at all!).  The final consensus was that we were to keep the plate in *only* when Mason eats, and then take it out right away.  He doesn’t mind that at all….especially in the middle of the night.

 

The good news, coming out of last week’s appointment, is that we don’t need to be back until late November.  This is our longest break from the doctors since Mason was born!  A whole *month*!  Andrea and I are pretty geeked. The other exciting news is that we’ve finally gotten Mason to start eating.  For some reason (no one can figure out why), he doesn’t like breast milk.  We started giving him formula (which we had been fortifying the breast milk with for a few weeks) exclusively, and he started eating 30+ ounces a day!  It’s a miracle!  Of course, we’re somewhat bummed that he’s not getting the breast milk, but at this point the calories are more important, as we try to bulk him up for his next surgery.  Speaking of which, his palate surgery will be on February 4th, so get your prayers warmed up.

We’ve also gotten to see some of Mason’s friends at Children’s Hospital lately (it’s amazing how you develop relationships in that place).  This is Marco, whose cleft is very similar to Mason’s.  Marco’s mom has been a great resource for us.

 

 Mason was a lion for halloween, and we took every opportunity we could to get some use out of his costume.  He got to wear it in the hospital (see the dentist picture, above), and to several other events.  Last night we took him to the Sheahans’ for a baby halloween party.  He and his girlfriends were adorable, of course. 

 Mason has also discovered the joys of peek-a-boo, and he’s so much fun to play with.  I was holding him on the couch last week, and mom was ducking behind the couch and popping back up.  Mason quickly cycled between 1) fear that she had disappeared, 2) surprise when she popped back up, and 3) absolute joy to recognize her.  And then she’d pop back down and he’d start again.  I was laughing so hard, I was crying!  The pictures don’t do it justice… 

Mason’s other joy in life right now is to wake up early in the morning and play.  And by play, I mean the I’m-wide-awake-let’s-get-ready-to-rumble sort of play.  These pictures were taken on a weekend at 6:15 AM.

 

Other miscellaneous pictures from this week:

Mason and Grandpa

Worn out…

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 7:54 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.