School

Wow, it has been 3 months since I posted, sorry.  I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'm lazy.  So let's skip to the good stuff...

Caelen had a great long vacation in Florida visiting with friends and family.  He continues to do well and is still off the oxygen.  He is pulling up and cruising on everything but not yet walking.  However, just this week he finally stood up straight without holding on to something.  He has only gotten his hands and butt off the ground so far, but this is a major step forward.  Hoping that he'll be walking by Christmas.

Caelen and I went back to Florida for a week in October to go to Disney with my sister Jen and her husband's family, the Naruts.  What an awesome time!  (Thank you all again for sharing your vacation with us, we are forever grateful.)  Caelen did great on the plane rides and had a lot of fun playing with cousin Lily and her cousin Oscar who is 3.  Oscar even shared some of his matchbox cars with Caelen and we are now the proud owners of an ever increasing collection. 

While there we went to downtown Disney and rode the carousel which C did not like, went to the Magic Kingdom and rode a river boat, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.  The last 2 did not go over well.  But at least we did them.  We walked around while the rest of the gang rode more rides.  The next day we went to Sea World and Caelen saw sea lions, penguins, dolphins, parrots and so much more.  The only thing we missed was Shamu because Caelen fell asleep.  But all in all, it was a good day.  Our last day there we spent at the hotels water park and Caelen went down a few small water slides and did great.



On plane headed for Disney



Caelen trying to get the fish swimming in the aquarium under his feet in Sea World Atlantis



Sea World

He had a great Halloween and was a monster!  Not too far from his personality so we stuck with what we know.  

He went trick or treating for a few minutes on his tricycle but it was really chilly out and his hands and face got cold very quickly.  So in he went to play with his favorite toy, the ipad.   It's hard to take away from him if he gets it but he is very proficient with it and is even teaching Martin and I shortcuts.

We registered Caelen for "school" today and he is going to start next week for 2 days in the mornings and we'll see how he does.  I took him into the classroom to meet the other kids and play and he had so much fun he didn't want to leave.  I was really worried that I was going to be there all morning next Tuesday with him, but based on today's response, I'd say I'm good to go.

This is such a big milestone for Caelen to be attending school/daycare.  A year ago we weren't even thinking about daycare possibilities because of the oxygen and feeding pump dependencies, and today we're enrolling him in school.  I am so proud of how far Caelen has come in the 15 months since he got out of the hospital.  A whole new world is opening up for him and I can't wait!

A quick update on his heart and then we'll say goodbye.  We are going back to see the cardiologist after Thanksgiving for a checkup, but back in September when he had his last EKG and echo, everything was fine.  No changes and we are status quo.  The Dr.suggested we do another catheterization in the spring to assess his heart and get a better picture of when his 3rd surgery will be.  So for now, we're just enjoying each day.



Caelen sitting in the bucket of a tractor



Donald Duck

Love, Katye, Martin & Caelen