Can I have a Kiss?

"Double" Chest PT

Gantt doesn't want to be left out of anything! Sometimes Chest PT looks really fun - they had a great time during this one!

Hospitalization #9 - Day 3

Reinforcements have arrived!!! GG made it in today from Atlanta and took over for Rob at the hospital so we will be able to be at home together for a day or two. We're so grateful to her for coming to help out whenever we need it, and grateful that my dad is gracious about being without her for the week so she can be here.

Not much to report today. Brett is just getting the IV antibiotics and we're waiting out the weekend. He is not feeling much better yet. He's distressed about being here - we can tell because he wants to be held constantly and he cries when we even go out of the room for a second. Whenever the door opens he starts to cry because he is just so tired of being messed with. I can certainly understand how he must feel, and why he just wants mommy or daddy or GG to hold him. He did feel well enough to do a little playing in the bed today. We don't have any toys there right now, so he improvised a little with a wisk and a bowl. It's not a terribly exciting video, but cute nonetheless.

Go, Gantt, Go!

Gantt took his first few steps over the weekend, and now he's walking so much! He is too cute!

In other news, he hit his teeth against the bathroom tile the other night and chipped his top two front teeth. I was upset because his teeth were/are so beautiful! I was afraid he would have to lose them, but the dentist feels pretty confident that there is no nerve damage and that the teeth will be ok. Maybe we'll be able to file them down some in a few months so the edges aren't so sharp. You have to look kind of close in this photo, but if you do, you can see the damage. Poor baby!

Bubble Wrap

Despite everything he goes through physically, our Brett is full of life and joy. This 35 second video is an example of how much delight he takes in the simple things. He is already laughing at the beginning just in anticipation of what Mark is about to do! Be sure your speakers are turned on :)

A Slow Day

Today was fairly slow at the hospital. Slow is a good thing, though. I've had several visitors the past 24 hours which have made it a little nicer for me - the respite and the company is great to have once in awhile. Tomorrow Brett is scheduled for his CT scan on his chest. He will be undergoing general anesthesia for this procedure, so please pray that he tolerates it fine. He has never had a problem in the past, so we expect everything to go well.

Tonight I leave you with this video - baby laughs are always fun to watch. This is Gantt at the dinner table.

I'm taking a day off from the computer today. Ok, well, yes, I'm on it right now, but as soon as I post this I'm signing off for the day. Yesterday Rob stayed with Brett while I took care of the other kids. Once I got Mark to school, it was just me and G. It was nice because it is rare for it to be just the two of us. Usually if I'm with just one child, it's Mark or Brett. We had fun cruising the Target and Walmart aisles!

My parents came in town to help us out this weekend, and I'm home with the other people in my family, and want to give my attention to them. Also, the house is a complete wreck. We have one set of clothes still sitting here from our trip to DC. We had one day at home when we returned from DC to get packed up with a different set of clothes to go skiing. Then all this happened with Brett, so I'm trying to go through everything and wash at least what we all need for the week, get Mark ready for a new week at school, and I have to pack to be at the hospital several nights in a row. All the while trying to take care of my high-maintenance crawler, while Rob is doing a new team member orientation at work this morning and just catching up from being away.

As for Brett, not much has changed. He might be breathing a bit better, but they have not started trying to wean him off the oxygen as far as I know. We have been to playgroup every day and I'm taking more toys when I go because since he feels good, he's getting pretty bored as you can imagine. He's going to be in the hospital a bit longer than usual this time. So if you are a Wake Forest/Triangle area friend and you'd like to help out here at home or at the hospital this coming week, please contact me. We are going to need help for sure. A couple people have already volunteered, so I'm going to work on a schedule tomorrow.

So I need the day off from blogging, Facebooking, and emailing. I'll start to catch up once I get back to the hospital tomorrow morning. Thank you for keeping up with us so faithfully and for all your encouraging calls, posts, and words. Remember how we know if someone needs encouragement -- they are breathing!!

Here's the cute video for today: