Monday, June 11, 2012

Jerry is 4!

Wow, it has been so long!  We have been busy here in Cleveland but are so glad to be back with family!!  We are still living at my mom's.  We had really picked up our search for a house and were just about ready to make an offer but John was laid off from T-Mobile.  He is still kind of working on call and has severance of course, but is searching desperately for a new job while we put our house hunt on hold.

We all miss Oswego to some extent, but Jerry most of all.  I guess that is where big things happened for him and he is attached!  Hardly a day goes by that he doesn't talk about being back in Oswego in his house.  He wants his ally (the back of our house was on an ally) back, his friends Madeline and Maggie back, and all the places we used to go when we lived there.  It really is so surprising how often and sincerely he talks about "our house in Oswego."

My little guy is so funny and constantly entertaining.  He has an answer for everything and is always playing tricks and trying to be like his brother Isaac.  He is being trained in Pokemon and Starwars.

Jerry's birthday at Chuck E Cheese was an amazing sight!  It was like his biggest dream (second to meeting Mickey Mouse) come true!  I guess he likes mice!  He was so enamored by the entire thing and beamed the whole time.  He did every single birthday boy thing he was supposed to do without any hesitation and was so thankful and sweet.  His joining in the crowd to dance with Chuck E was my favorite.  It was all family at his party; big cousins and aunties.  He kept telling me to invite his "friends" who included Oswego friends and kids he had met at the park but never seen since.  He said "they will want to come to my party because I was treating them very friendly!"  He has grown up so much and let go of so many anxieties.  He is really just easy going and happy just about all the time.

Unfortunately, we just found out at his 4 year old well check that his weight has not grown so much.  He was at the 4th percentile in the fall for weight which we were pretty excited about.  He has dropped and is not even on the chart!  Pretty heartbreaking to find out.  He had a rough fall and winter with viruses and ear infections and was on antibiotics maybe 9 or so times from October to March.  Between the two boys and illnesses we have really still not had many full nights of sleep.  Anyways, the illnesses make it hard for Jerry to keep his weight and he had a cold at his well check and had not really been eating as good as his normal.  He is still a pretty picky eater and gets "foo" really quick.  It is funny because he sits in his chair and says "I'm foo!"  meaning full.  He had been doing pretty well with eating so we had kind of let up on adding all the extra butter to everything he eats.  We are starting that again as well as going again to the endocrinologist like we did a year ago.  If you remember, Jerry was tested and showed positive for low growth hormone and I was panicked and could not get the doctor to call me back after I was sent the result in the mail.  The doctor decided it was probably from his heart failure and not true low hormone but we should have it rechecked as well.  He is pretty active and I know he burns tons of calories.  He rode his little 8 or 10 inch training wheel bike almost 2 miles.  Of course he was really wiped out after that.  Isaac never really rode that bike besides a few pedals here and there so I never really thought it worked good.  Jerry played "Little Kickers" soccer and was a trip!  He loved every second of it and took it so seriously.  He is so very tiny but so mighty!  The first week he made another little boy cry when he pointed at him and said "don't touch my ball!"  He is usually very sweet and nice with kids but I guess he got kind of possessive of his ball.  It is a little bit assuring to see that he has a little toughness to overcome his size.  If the only reason they give growth hormone is so that really small kids don't have self esteem issues I am not sure we will have to worry.  Our appointment is Thursday so we will meet the doctor and then I am sure have to have blood tests.  Jerry will start T-Ball soon.  He is allowed to play these little sports at this age but will not be able to when he is older at around age 8.  At this point it is a worry that he would be more competitive and coached and would not stop if he needed to.  I hope I am not doing him a disservice by letting him play now.  I figure maybe something could change by that later age and if not we will deal with it.

We saw the cardiologist here in November and he thinks Jerry is doing pretty well.  He said our next step is for Jerry to have a heart cath at age 5 to check everything more closely inside and to look at any risks he is having because of the scar tissue.  This will be so amazingly difficult for John and I.  When he was 5 weeks old he had his first heart cath.  He almost did not make it and watched him gray and pale gasping for breath while several nurses gathered around.  My heart races to think of it and even though he will be going into the procedure in much better shape, it is scary.

So I had stopped writing and saved this draft.  Since then, Jerry saw the endocrinologist and had his blood tests and bone age x-rays.  The x rays were a breeze...maybe even fun...and he did so very good with his blood test.  I couldn't believe it.  He did this blowing out thing I taught him while it was done and really held it together.  His last one over the winter was not too terrible but worse than this and then the wrap on his arm afterward had to stay on forever because he was so afraid of taking it off.  This time he remembered that it is not sticky on skin only on itself.  So easy!  I am hoping to hear from the dr tomorrow about the results.
Here are a few pics!