Big Kid Time

Jordan is finally done with the apnea monitor! Yesterday was the last day for the monitor after seven and a half months. I think in the last 2 months it has only gone off for loose leads. Even before that it was almost entirely false alarms. Either way, we are done with it now. We are finally done with all of his NICU equipment!

Jordan is starting to become a big boy, so we gave him something that big boys have. Jordan now has an 8pm bedtime. It has been very easy. He really doesn’t nap much during the day if you keep him busy so he is always tired at night. At night we just make sure he is fed and changed, give him a pacifier, and read him a story. After we put him in the crib he’s asleep in 5 minutes. I am going to miss this in 12 months when he’s a toddler.

Finally, we learned what the grandparents want to be called. This is weird for me. My parents are now grandparents with grandparents nicknames. Parents aren’t supposed to be grandparents. I’m 30 years old and my grandma is still Nana. Anyway, my parents are now NA-mah, and Granddad. My in-laws are MEE-mah and Pop Pop. They’ll always be ‘mom’ and ‘creepy old dude’ to me.

Fancy Footwork

I wonder if this camera tastes like the last one???

I know this blog is about Jordan, but furry dogs sleeping on their backs are automatically funny.

Now I am free to smoke next to the baby's crib. One of the true joys of parenting.

I just realized that when he takes his first steps, they'll be walking away from me.

He just realized that too. About another 6 months till freedom!

This one is really special to me. When we met with the therapists last month, they said that because Jordan was born so early he didn't spend as much time curled up in the womb as he should. Normally this leads to weaker abdominals. That means the babies won't be as willing or able to play with their feet. That means a delay in walking of another month or two. I don't know if he is at the normal time for feet play, but the therapist didn't bother to tell Jordan what he can't do.

Happy Mother's Day!

The mother's in Jordan's life. He is being held by my mother, my mother in law is in the pink shirt, and a very special mother is standing behind them.

My father in law is in the striped shirt, and that other guy is dressed like a tourist.

Yum! That camera looks tasty.

He ate too much camera.

Doctor No More

Went to see the pulmonolgist yesterday. Naturally, my boy kicked butt! The doctor said that once the baby is over the cold we can get rid of all of the oxygen in the house. I think since we already paid for the oxygen (OK, the insurance paid for it), that I might just close all of the doors to the bedroom and open up the valve all the way. We can make our own oxygen tent for one night. Sleep like we were Michael Jackson. Before you leave a comment calling me crazy, ask yourself if you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in an oxygen tent with your pet monkey. You’re just jealous because I have the opportunity – or at least I will once I get a pet monkey.

The doctor also said that two weeks after we lose (or use) the oxygen, we can get rid of the damn monitor. We celebrated last night by doing something we always wanted to do, but we never could. We let the baby sleep in a onesie with a zipper. In the past we always had to keep him hooked up to the monitor with the leads. We couldn’t have him wear a zipper onesie because the wires are not long enough to come out of the neck and he’d just pull them loose anyway. Last night, no leads so we got him to wear a zipper. He didn’t care, but we loved it.

The doctor also gave us more good news. We don’t have to see him again for four months! Yesterday was the first time I did that long drive to Jax in several months and I don’t know how we could do it everyday last summer. Anyway, we have to see the eye doctor at the end of this month and then we don’t have to drive to Jax to see a doctor until football season!

Guest Post

I got tired of doing all ofthe posts for this blog, so Jordan asked if he could take over for a day. Here's Jordan:


I Can't Imagine Why Anybody Would Want To Stop Crying

Life has so many wonderful experiences to offer. Like sleep. Or ingestion and evacuation. But I find life offers few opportunities more rewarding than screaming like a maniac until your voice cracks with the strain, so that the entire universe can share in your distress. That's what life is all about, right? The sheer exhilarating thrill of nonstop crying at the top of your lungs. It's such an important part of why we are here—why would anybody ever want to do anything else?
Don't get me wrong—I like squirming, drooling, and sporadically attempting to focus on colors and shapes as much as the next guy. But of all the various activities one can choose to pursue in life, crying is tops as far as I'm concerned. In my opinion, I find nothing is more fulfilling than a good steady holler. It takes no experience to begin, and within moments, all one's needs are instantly met! It's my favorite part of the day.
Heck, I'm crying right now!
I suppose some people might enjoy wasting their days with sleep or gentle cooing, but not me. No, sir. Not when there's all that fantastically loud crying to do. In fact, I love crying so much, sometimes I wish I could be awake 24 hours a day, just to hear the crying I miss out on hearing when I am asleep. I mean, I assume I cry in my sleep, too. Whoa. There's a strange thought: What if I stop crying for a moment when I'm asleep? That would be tragic.
Yes, there's nothing like a good, healthy, air-raid-siren-style bellow to renew one's red-faced passion for living. What you want, I've found, is to pitch your voice at about the decibel level of your standard jet engine and then hold it as long as possible before taking in air. That's the sweet spot right there. That's the ideal volume for a good cry—the kind of crying that isn't so much melancholy or sorrowful as it is a full-throttle roar of earsplitting shrillness.
It's so easy. Getting started can be as simple as being startled by your own hand.
In my opinion, anyone who isn't screaming his lungs out is just letting life pass him by. You'd think, after seeing how happy crying makes me, people would follow my example. But all around me there are tall, shadowy figures who seem to actively avoid the most pleasurable part of existence. Everywhere I look I see them: standing behind my stroller as they walk around town, or leaning in over me in my crib and making faces. Whole loads of people, not crying. Don't they realize what they're missing?
Look, I'm not a purist. I understand there are times when it might be perfectly acceptable to stop crying. Like when something is placed in your mouth for you to suck on. Or when somebody jiggles you for 40 seconds. Both are perfectly understandable and justifiable reasons to stop crying momentarily. But to be completely silent for more than, say, a minute? That's just crazy.
Take my parents, for example. If it wasn't for my tireless efforts, they'd sleep through the night! Can you believe it? I don't think it's because they're too old—I suppose I don't know how old they are exactly, but I can't imagine it's any more than, say, one. They've still got plenty of life in them. Yet they hardly ever cry, and when they do, it's usually softly, in the middle of the night, and exhausted-sounding. What happened to their lust for life? Don't they realize that every moment they waste sleeping, fiddling with the car seat, or holding picture books in front of my face is precious time they could be screaming their heads off?
How can I get them to embrace life and really make the most of wailing like a mythical banshee for hours on end?
I just don't understand these people—and not only because I have yet to grasp the concept of others as separate selves outside of me. Don't they know that all they'd have to do is take a good deep breath, let her rip, and the air would be filled with glorious noise? They can't be having a good time just sitting there, grinning slightly, and communicating through facial expressions and this bizarre series of coded grunts I have yet to decipher.
What do they spend their time doing? Comprehending spatial relations? I'd die of boredom in a minute. They must've been young once. Surely they can still remember the good times they had, splitting the very air with sonic knives of nigh-unendurable intensity. I would hate to think that someday I might be so jaded and cynical as to turn my back on wriggling and panting for breath, using every ounce of my being to emit a general, undifferentiated distress signal to all within earshot.
Spending entire days without crying? Why, it goes against the very thing that makes us human.
God, I hope I never become like them.

If it isn't one thing, it's something else

The vomiting has become much worse. When it’s time to eat he takes about 7 or 8 ounces. We try feeding less, but he raises a ruckus. He is old enough to recognize his bottle, and old enough to recognize that hollering will get him what he wants. When we feed him 8 ounces, if we don’t lay him down for about an hour then he’ll give the food back. He doesn’t just spit up either. I’m talking about changing his bib, changing his clothes, and changing my clothes. Then he’s hungry again. Of course we will ask the doctor about this, but we don’t expect any answers.

Speaking of doctors, we heard from the pulmonolgist yesterday. After 10 months and many many thousands of dollars of oxygen, and thousands more in equipment, we can take Jordan off of the oxygen full time….just as soon as he recovers from the cold I gave him. In my defense I didn’t give it to him, he took it. When you carry him he tends to taste you. If he can’t taste you, he’ll touch you and then taste his hand. When you think about it, it’s amazing that he hasn’t gotten sick before now. Considering everything he’s been through in the past, his mother is handling it well. Neither of us is freaking out over this, but he doesn’t seem to mind having a runny nose, it just gives him something new to taste. I do have a hunch that the mama Ali won’t admit he’s over this cold for another 10 months.

Photo Update

We went to the park. Do you think he enjoyed it?

I took a quick business trip to San Francisco. I got him a souvenir from Alcatraz.

This is one of my friends from work. He arrived here from China in December. His english name is Andy (I don't know his Chinese name). He has never seen a black infant in person other than Jordan. Jordan has never seen a Chinese person before he met Andy. Andy was pretty happy to meet Jordan and Jordan wanted to taste Andy's shirt.

Jordan still doesn't know what to make of the dogs. He knows that dogs aren't people, but he still doesn't understand the concept of dogs.

Running Low on Oxygen

My boy has made me so proud, but I’ll get to that later. Last Thursday he had another development review with a physical therapist to evaluate him as a 5 month old. He did very well. He can’t sit on his own yet, but he sits well for his age. He puts everything he can into his mouth – usually with two hands. He dealt well with the therapist and didn’t fuss. He has good muscle tone too. Due to the prematurity, they will probably still monitor his development, but he is doing well for his adjusted age.

Jordan did something yesterday that he has never done before. He willingly drank water! Usually we give him a bottle of water and he sucks too hard. Imagine you suck on a straw hard enough to get a milkshake and all you get is a mouth full of water. When that happened in the past he choked a little. However, yesterday he did it right and was able to tolerate the water. He has also started to try and put in his own pacifier. There is nothing cuter than handing him his pacifier and watch what he does with it. He can’t get it in his mouth oriented properly, but he tries so hard. I’ll post a video of it really soon.

Anyway, we need to do a little review. Your blood can hold a certain amount of oxygen. For most of us we have about 95% or more of the maximum amount. Jordan was born so early that his lungs were damaged and when he came home from the hospital he couldn’t stay that high unless we gave him extra oxygen. On Thursday night we let him sleep for the first time (intentionally) without oxygen and he never got below 95% as far as we could see. The results of this test should be getting to the doctor this week. If we are lucky, the doctor will say we no longer need to use any oxygen at all! Worst case scenario, we will have to wait until the May 7th appointment to be released from the gas. We are almost done with the oxygen, but we are still using it at night now until we get clearance from the doctor. Then pretty soon after that we can get rid of the damn monitor. I couldn’t be prouder of how far he has come.

Cow Duty

Jordan is now out of the house. He will be back soon, but he has graduated to the next stage. Before, because he was hooked up to the oxygen tank, he stayed at home while the grandparents came over to watch him. Now, he doesn’t need the oxygen during the day so he can go to their house. Both sets of grandparents have been so helpful watching him for the last 5 ½ months – we don’t know what we would have done without them. They will probably watch Jordan for at least the rest of this year if we asked. After that he will be a toddler and no one can enjoy their retirement chasing after a toddler for 50 hours a week.

My boy has gotten into the habit of cow duty. Cows will eat the grass and store it in the stomach until later when they can chew their cud. Jordan will drink the milk and decide that it was so tasty he will bring it up again. Of course he has a little mouth so it just ends up on his legs, and his clothes, and our clothes, and sometimes the couch. Just about everything except the bibs. After he’s done, he then likes to complain that he is hungry. You know you are a parent when you get used to the smell of fermenting milk combined with bile.

Rump Kicker

The Easter outfit. He's got bunnies on his feet and funnies on his face.

Now he just has lunch on his face. This is the result when he tries to help with the solid foods.

I didn't get a picture on my camera, but Aunt Traci came to visit this weekend. She hasn't seen him since Xmas and had a couple of days off. I think he might actually be double the weight. He is up to 16 pounds now. I know a lot of people hae asked, and yes - Jordan is over his fever. We never really found out what caused it, but we are thinking it has something to do with teething. I knew something was wrong because he had a fever, but I didn't realize that he was acting differently until he got back to normal. He stopped laughing for a couple of days and had no interest in playing with toys. I didn't notice that until he started laughing and playing again. He kicked that fever's butt!

Wednesday was a visit to the pulmonologist. Naturally my boy kicked butt! He is now supposed to be on the oxygen only at night. In practice, he is only on the oxygen for about 2 or 3 hours. We put the cannula in at bedtime and he usually has it out by midnight. We tried taping the cannula to his face, but he still pulls it off - and that really irritates his face. The next step is to schedule a sleep study. That will be in a few weeks. We will hook him up to a machine that measures the amount of O2 in his blood while he sleeps. If he desats (remember that?) then he fails the test. If he doesn't desat then they will start making plans to get the 50 gallon container of rocket fuel out of my bedroom.

Thursday was the day for developmental assessment. When you are a premature as Jordan, it's a good idea to have professionals check the development. He is 4 and a half months since his due date so they checked his development for a 4 month old. He kicked butt! He was not perfect, but he did well. He stands well, always deals with other people great, and is a representation of physical perfection. Well, not perfection, but he's pretty good. There are a few things that we will need to work on. He is close to sitting up, but not there yet and we have excerises for that. He stands well for his age, but he doesn't stand as straight as he should. He can turn to his side, but not all the way from front to back. Overall his ratings were good, but they did recommend him for some follow up visits. The main thing is that he needsto be followed for some time still because of the prematurity, but the therapists thought he was doing really well.

Nursing Trouble

Last night after work, Jordan was a little hot. He was over 99 degrees and not wearing a lot of clothes. He wasn’t complaining or anything, but he just kept getting hotter. By 10pm he was 102 degrees. He started hollering in a way he rarely does. He usually cries only when he’s hungry or really wet, but this time he was inconsolable. He was crying so hard that he vomited the meal from 2 hours earlier, and immediately fell asleep.

Anyway, the 102 degrees alone was enough to call the doctor, and he told us to go to the emergency room. We left home at 10:30 pm. When Jordan was first examined by the nurse it was really weird. He asked us some of the medical history (where to begin?), and not being a NICU nurse he didn’t understand terms like BPD, CLD, or PDA. It made me feel really smart to explain this stuff to a trained medical professional. Then he gave Jordan some Tylenol and a pill. He also took Jordan’s temperature. There’s only one way to give a 16 pound baby a pill – they don’t swallow too well. Also, in the NICU they took the temperature by sticking the probe in the armpit. As I said, this guy wasn’t a NICU nurse. Let’s just say that he got the pill first and then had a body temp of 103.

When you come into the ER with a baby on oxygen and apnea monitor, and a 103 degree fever, you don’t have to wait too long to see a doctor – we saw ours at midnight. He was already coming down from the fever, but he was very tired and couldn’t sleep with all of these strangers and strange things.

The doctor prescribed some medicine and would have let us go home – except Jordan is a special little boy. We had to stay for chest X-rays and blood work. He didn’t like the chest x-ray. For the blood work, the nurse said that she was going to insert an IV just in case the blood work came back and he needed fluids or other stuff. Jordan has not had an IV in many months. In fact, Jordan had an IV put in for his birthday and had one in him somewhere for almost 3 months. I convinced myself then that because he never knew life without an IV or needles (or pain), that was why he never cried. Just like he loves baby food because he’s never tasted fried chicken. Anyway, that was then. Last night I held his left hand while the nurse placed an IV in his right. I held his head facing toward me so he wouldn’t see the needle. When the needle went in, he looked me in the eyes and my heart broke. I know that that is part of being a parent, but I felt almost as if I betrayed him. Next time he gets an IV he’s going to have to look at the nurse – they are used to it. The worst part of it was that this wasn’t a NICU nurse, so she couldn’t really find such a small vein and she never placed the IV, she just got a blood sample.

The results finally came back and everything was normal. The baby was 16 pounds 2 ounces (7314 grams to those who are still counting) and exhausted. His body temp was down to 99 degrees. The mama Ali and I bickered about something unimportant on the way out of the hospital, but that was just blowing off steam when you have your baby in the ER after 2am. We got home at 2:30. The baby had already forgotten the IV and his parents quickly fell asleep.

Special Treat

Sitting up

And Stepping out.

First of all, this is a special treat. It took over 45 minutes to download these videos so don't expect 2 in 1 post a lot. I included these two videos because they were so cute. Especially the 2nd one. He stands up all the time now - as long as we hold him. He even has started to play with his toys. It's still cute because he only plays with what we give him and stands up only when we hold him. We only have a couple of months left for all of that.

Play and Hate

The baby has started to throw up more. He will vomit at least daily and more than once if we aren’t careful. We can’t play with him too much for about an hour after eating and putting him on the shoulder is pretty much a bad idea when he’s awake. Due to the drooling, he is always wearing a bib anyway, but between the drool and vomit he goes through at least 6 or 7 bibs per day. He only goes through 4 or 5 bottles. Things would probably be worse if he wasn’t sleeping through the night. The good news is that he is sleeping through the night almost all the time. The main thing that wakes him up overnight is pretty much him. He hates wearing the cannula, and leaving it taped on irritates the skin, so he spends all of his time trying to pull it off. At night he will shake his head back and forth until it comes off. Sometimes it will move down until it’s around his neck. Other times it will move up until it’s around his eyes. That’s when he has to call the parents.

Jordan and I have started playing together. It is so cool that I can do something and have him react. Before, I couldn’t get him to do anything, but now. Our favorite game is play and hate. I sit Jordan on my lap facing me. Then I start making funny noises and laughing. He thinks that is pretty fun so he laughs too. Then I laugh. Then he laughs. We keep going back and forth for a few minutes until he’s nice and happy. Then I hand him to his mother. He is still looking at me because of all the interaction. That means he either still focuses on me and laughing while sitting on her lap, or he starts looking at her and stops laughing. She hates that.

Finally, I learned something about babies this past week. I thought that the next developmental stages for him would be starting to reach for his toys. Babies are supposed to reach for things that they want and we’ve been looking forward to that. No one told me that before babies can reach, they first must swing. I was trying to get him to grab my nose this past weekend. He swung his arm and punched me. Hard! He thought it was funny.

4 months since his due date.

When I took ths picture, I realized he was no longer a newborn. He doesn't let us hold him like this when he is awake, and this usually wakes him up. Cuddles and kangaroo care are striclty past tense for him.

Does this kid look like he is even a little interested in cuddling? He is mostly interested in his feet because he wants to get up and walk around.

This kid loves to laugh. He just won't do it here because he is distracted by the camera. The easiest way to get him to laugh now is to give him handful of applesauce and let him feed himself. He smears it over his face and then licks his fingers later. Seriously though, he smiles really easy when he's playing.

Jordan is on less oxygen now. He was already on the lowest flow, but after Friday's doctor appointment, he now is off the oxygen for 8 consecutive hours per day! He is also off the damn montior during the day as well. That means we get to take him out more and we can carry less. He is ready to totally come off now of course. At xmas, he would shake his head to get the cannula out of his nose. At groundhogs day he would pull it out if we didn't tape it to his face. Now, he will pull the whole cannula of his face even if it's taped down. And of course he doesn't pull up, he pulls down until it is wrapped nice and neat around his neck. There is nothing quite like the experience of waking up at 6 am to find your baby snuggled up with his face buried in the side of the crib and a plastic noose around his neck.

We have a rather unique situtation with the baby that we never planned for. Preemies tend to try and catch up physically to kids born on their birthday. That means that he is already bigger than most kids born on his due date - 4 months ago today. In fact he is on the lower edge of the growth curve for his actual birthday. The problem is that mentally he is developing the same as kids born on his due date. That means physically he is over 6 months, but mentally is at 4. He weighs 15 pounds 2 ounces. He can't sit up yet. He has the muscle control of a 4 month old, but his head is much bigger. In fact, he gave his mother a busted lip last week. At 15 pounds most kids try to crawl. We have to carry him. At 15 pounds, some kids try to hold their bottles. I actually think Jordan could hold his bottle if he wanted to, but he knows he has a good deal going right now. I am not and will not complain about his size for several years yet, but his clothes are 6-9 month size for crying out loud. He weighs more than double what he was when he came home.

Higher Dayz

We have still been working on feeding Jordan the rice cereal and he is doing better. We now give him two servings a day. Not sure how this will work next week when we are at work but maybe the grandparents will take on the challenge. He is getting bigger and we have finally cleaned up the high chair that was given to us. He looked so cute in it. Big Ali even gave him some of his toys to play with on the table top. He can actually reach out a few inches on the table top and grab a toy and then bring it to his mouth. He loves chewing on things. He is just adorable.

He is doing new stuff every day. We caught him looking at his hands the other day as if to say Wow, what are these. He isn't really sure about what they are or who put them there, but he can't be sure that they are OK until he can taste them and fit them in his mouth. He holds his head better when on his belly. He is probably only a couple of weeks away from turning from his back to his belly. He can already turn from his back to the side when he sleeps.

-The Mama Ali

Chow Time

3 generations of the family. Jordan, his grandfather, and he meets his great grandpa for the first time!

In case anyone needs a new desktop on their computer.

That's right! We tried him on some baby food this weekend. He actually did as well as can be expected. He made a terrible mess, but did eat some. We were able to give him several spoonfuls, but he hasn't made a connection yet. He doesn't connect eating with hunger. When he gets hungry he wants the bottle. He doesn't eat because he's hungry, he eats because there is nothing that we can't put in his mouth right now. Everything else goes in, and drool comes out. He will start teething any time now.

Yesterday, Jordan met with a social worker that wanted to check on his development. She just asked some questions, not an actual checkup. Things like can he do X? Does he like to do Y? He did very well. He could do most of the things she asked including a couple of things i never paid attention to before. He loves to follow his parents as they walk across his vision. I never thought of that as any special development - it's just what he does. We are going to take him in to see an actual physical therapist at the end of March just to make sure he's developing well.

One good turn deserves another.

This is the problem.

This was the solution.

He enjoyed the solution.

There was another problem in this one. Jordan has reached the drooling stage. He isn't doing it all of the time yet, but if he sits upright for too long, he will have the stuff running down his chin. So we just leave a bib on him all of the time when he's awake. Those 2 pictures of him at the top? He would push off the side of the bassinet and end up like you see him. We put him in the crib, and he did the cutest thing last night. We put him on his back facing north south in the crib. When we woke up, he was still on his back, but facing east west. He was able to turn around without turning over. That means it won't be too long before he turns over.

Jordan has become a very happy baby. A couple of weeks ago we were trying to get him to smile. Now he can laugh if you tickle him on his belly. He has gone of putting his hand in his mouth to putting whatever is in his hand into his mounth. He loves playing with his cannula tube by chewing on it. Same for the apnea monitor cord. If you put the rattle in his hand he'll eat that too. Teething rings, stuffed animals, his clothes. Whatever he has in his hand, he'll taste. The funny thing is that he doesn't intentionally grab anything. He just flexes his hands and if something ends up in there, he'll taste it. It is too cute.

Grading on a Curve

Jordan has hit a special milestone at today’s doctor’s appointment. He is 14 pounds 5 ounces. That places him on the growth curve for kids born on his birth date. He is larger than 1% of kids born July 9th. Well, actually less than 1%, but he is on the curve. He is also officially heavier than my bowling ball and my biggest dog. All of the books say that kids born early tend to catch up, but golly! We buy diapers by the case. By the time he’s done with the case, we have to get a bigger size. He didn’t even finish the size 1 case. We have already started saving clothes and diapers for the next baby. Don’t get excited, we are no where near ready to have another one – maybe in a couple of years. Jordan gets to go several months without seeing the doctor again. He still has monthly shots for RSV, but the doctor says he’s doing well enough that they don’t need to do a checkup until April.

Jordan is starting to sleep through the night! About half the time he can go from 10pm to 6am. The rest of the time he either needs a diaper or a bottle. Last week, he went 3 consecutive days of sleeping the entire night! I tell you, we have entered one of the best parts of parenting. He sleeps better now, and he doesn’t cry that much. He cries when something is wrong, otherwise he’s pretty calm. He is always down for some playtime when he’s awake, but he isn’t ready for toys yet. We have to play with him, and if you do well, he smiles. When you get tired of playing with him, put him in his chair and he’s fine. He can easily sit in his chair for 30 minutes looking at me and eating his fist. He’s too old to stay up all night, and too young to make a mess or talk back to us.

The Naked Truth

No one from the blog has seen him smile before.

This is his favorite toy.

This is a good sample of some of the stuff he can do. He can get his hands to his mouth, but never sucks his thumb. He can make noises, he can kick off the blanket, and he can tear up his face while trying to get rid of the cannula.

On Saturday, Jordan made a mess in his diaper. In fact, the diaper couldn't hold it all. Anyone who has spent enough time around babies has been there. I had to change everything that he got to. As a result, for the first time since July 9th, he was totally naked. Ever since his birthday he's never gone a few seconds without xtra oxygen, or sensors on his chest or usually both. Even his baths were with a cannula. Saturday, he was totally nekkid. As you can see above, he looks completely different without it on his face.

It is getting so much easier having a cordless baby. About 5 pounds ago he would spend an entire week in our bedroom and wouldn't leave except to take a bath in the adjoining bathroom. Now, when we get home, we unhook him from the tank and spend several hours out of the bedroom. He watches us cook dinner, or read, or watch TV. We don't let him watch yet, but he REALLY wants to watch. We even spent Sunday putting the finishing touches on the nursery. We never 100% finished because we would never consider him sleeping in there before he was off the oxygen. Now, we let him nap in there. As soon as the doctors get rid of the damn monitor, he's moving to his own place. His parents could use some alone time.

Weaning Weekend

Jordan sits on grandma's lap.

This is the closest he came to smiling today.

He looks so serious.

Getting ready to eat.

This was a great weekend! Friday we went to visit the pulmonolgist. The first time we visited, was the first time and I didn’t expect much. The 2nd visit, Jordan was hungry during the visit and wanted nothing to do with anyone. This visit, I knew Jordan would do better because I could definitely hear his cry getting louder over the last month. Well, Jordan passed his test! We get to start weaning him. The doctor said we don’t have to keep him hooked up to the damn monitor during the day – just the night. Also, we are to start taking him off of the monitor for up to 3 hours per day this week while he is awake. Next week, up to 6 hours while he is awake. By the next doctor visit, it will be at night time only. Within a couple of months he’ll be totally off the gas. We were so happy about that, that we took Jordan out to watch us eat dinner. He had some milk to drink.

We also took him back to the NICU to visit some old friends. I remember when I never thought we would get to do that walk with him. This time we did. I remember the sights, the fights we would have in the hallway, even the sounds. The thing that struck me most was the smell. I don’t think I could ever forget the smell – not bad, but distinctive. The nurses that were there remembered us, and couldn’t stop talking about how big he was. That was the first time we let someone pick him up without washing their hands first – because they constantly wash their hands. I think my favorite part was leaving with the baby. It’s nice to visit the NICU, but it’s even nicer when you get to leave with your baby.

Jordan got to visit both sets of his grandparents houses for the first time on Sunday. He sees his grandparents all of the time, but they usually have to visit him. This time, he visited them. He’s been awake a lot lately, so they were very happy to see him. That’s when we took the above pictures. Make sure you look at the video.