Happy First Birthday, Jack!

Our baby boy has turned one year old! That is call for celebration! But with respect to all of the other "excitement" that has been going on around here, we kept our One -Year -Old bash very low-key, but still full of lots of love for our youngest munchkin.

After a nice family dinner, we sang happy birthday...

and of course, no first birthday is ever complete without the official first cupcake:

And finally, he opened his presents:

Poor Jack...he is the low man on the totem pole around here, but he still has a smile that could melt any heart. He is one of the sweetest, smiliest, most joyful babies I have ever known. And he does. not. sit. still. He started walking about two months ago, and now he is into EVERYTHING!!!!! He loves to spend his days emptying out the recycling bin (leaving empty water bottles and cardboard boxes strewn throughout the house), splashing in the dog's water bowl, rearranging furniture, and emptying out kitchen cabinets and drawers:

He is so proud of himself...how can you get mad at this face?

You are exhausting, little one, but your smile and the way you snuggle in so nicely on my shoulder have kept me sane on more than one occasion. You, of course, are growing up way too fast, but it is so much fun to watch you discover the world. The simple joys of a flashlight or blowing bubbles are amazing to you, and it helps to remind me to appreciate the little things in life. Sometimes they produce the biggest smiles, the deepest belly laughs, and the best memories. So Happy 1st Birthday. May it be the first of many and may you find more and more happiness with each one.

Our Little 'Saint'

In the blur of the past few months, there have been several monumental milestones for the McAllister family. Rex's first day of Kindergarten is one of them. Yes, Rex is officially a 'Saint'- and no, I'm not referring to his angelic behavior. On August 26th, Rex joined the family of the St. Mary's Saints as he started his first day of Kindergarten. Doesn't he look adorable in his uniform?

Usually, Michael takes Rex to school in the morning, and I pick him up in the afternoon (gotta love the carpool line...). But on the first day, Michael dropped us off in front of the school, and I walked Rex into the courtyard to line up with his class. Rex was a little nervous, but very anxious to start the school year. He was a little disappointed that he doesn't get to ride a school bus, but he was so excited to find out that one of his friends from preschool is in his class.

On that first morning, when it was time to walk with the teacher into the school, the other little boy grabbed Rex's hand, and they walked off together. It was adorable. It's as though they were sure they would be okay as long as they stayed together.

Unfortunately, there was no one there to hold my hand as I cried the whole way back to meet Michael at the car. I wasn't so sure I would be okay. Rex had always been with me. From the time he was born, and even when I went back to work when he was six months old, he's been with me. Even as he went through the different preschool classrooms, it was only for a half-day, and he was still just down the hall. And his teachers were people that I knew and trusted. Now, I have to send him across town, to a completely different school, with complete strangers, for an entire day. It's a little hard to let go. But we have both survived, and he is doing really well. His teacher is strict, (which we love) and it works well for him. She keeps him in line, and he really likes her. There are also two assistants in the class that help the children rotate through their different centers (Reading, Math, Language Arts, etc). In addition to the centers that they do in the classroom, they have six different "specials" that they rotate through on a six day schedule. The specials include Media (which we always knew as library), Spanish, Phys. Ed., Computer, Music, and Art. Rex loves having a different "special" to look forward to each day. After eating lunch in the classroom for the first few weeks, the kindergarteners took a big step earlier this month, and now they eat in the cafeteria just like the older grades. They even have the option of buying their lunch (yay!), and Rex loves chicken nuggets and pizza days. He has really grown up in the past few months. It's hard to believe that he has begun a journey that will end with him leaving home. Time is going to fly by... but we're looking forward to the fun ride.

Home Sweet Home

For the past two weeks, Sean has literally been bouncing off the walls. If it weren’t for the scar on his back, you would never know what he has been through. I guess in my rush to tell everyone what was going on, I forgot to tell him that he had major surgery. He certainly doesn’t seem to realize it! He’s too young to milk it for all of the sympathy that it’s worth. The nurses said he would “self-regulate”, meaning that if physical activity hurts or puts too much strain on his incisions, he won’t do it. I’m guessing he’s not in much pain anymore. He’s back in full force!

We returned home in the evening of Wednesday, September 23. We are glad to be back, but part of me wishes we could have brought the heart monitors and a nurse home with us just for piece of mind. The other part of me is glad the doctors felt that we didn’t need them. Sean’s blood pressure was still a little high at discharge, but he was getting around so well that the doctors just could not justify keeping him in the hospital any longer. They said his blood pressure could be monitored here locally. I think they were sad to see him go- he was a stellar patient. I’m guessing most children in the hospital are a little difficult to examine, but not Sean. Any time a nurse or doctor came in to listen to his heart or take his blood pressure, he would march right over to the chair, lift up his arm and say “take a blood pressure,” or when he would see a stethoscope, he would say “listen to my heart.” It was adorable. I don’t think the doctors and nurses were very used to that.

On Monday, September 28, we went to Sean’s regular cardiologist (Dr. Cummings) for a post-op appointment. Sean’s blood pressure was lower than it had been, but still a little high. We will go back in eight weeks to check his blood pressure again. If it is in the normal range, we may start to wean him off of Enalapril, his blood pressure medication. They will also continue to monitor his mitral valve and the thickening of the walls in the left ventricle to see if, with the elimination of the coarctation, those areas improve. The cardiologist still thinks that his mitral valve will need to be addressed at some point, but there is no way to know if it will be in two months, two years, or twenty years. It just needs be to watched closely.

In November, we have an appointment with Dr. Caplan, a geneticist with the University of Maryland. Sean was evaluated in May 2008 by Dr. Greene in the same office, but has since had some major changes to his medical history (i.e. hearing loss, heart defects). There are some additional genetic tests we’d like to have run on Sean to see if there is a genetic component to his medical issues. We have always assumed there is something there, we just don’t know what it is yet. The tests they conducted last time all came back normal, but there have been advancements in genetic testing over the past two years. The results may be different this time.

Until then, I am hoping we can take a break from doctor offices for a while. We are being extra vigilant with hand washing, etc. to help ward off the flu and other fun illnesses. The flu is basically Sean’s worst enemy right now. He is especially susceptible given his age and heart condition. If only I could keep him in a bubble…

I want to thank you all once again for the wonderful support you have shown to Sean and our family. Your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes mean so much to us. Sean is doing so well…there is no doubt that God heard our prayers. I cannot thank you enough. And Sean thanks you, too: