Update

There's a new update on Trenton's blog about his cardiology appointment yesterday, and his upcoming heart cath surgery next week. Check it out at www.caringbridge.org/visit/trentonbeaver. :)

Tubes and Racecars

Nikki, Trenton's awesome physical therapist has been taking him to "That Fun Place," which is basically a Chuck E. Cheese without the mouse! They climb and crawl through tubes together (despite the claustrophobia we adults feel crawling through those things!), and slide down the static-filled tunnel slides. He has a blast, and it all helps him work on skills he still needs to develop.

I am not really allowed in therapy, because Trenton really fixates on being with me and won't actually let himself have any fun or do work! So when I came to pick him up last week, I was excited to hear how much he loved the tubes! I had to try myself (see claustrophobia note above!). By this time, he was so exhausted that he would lay down in the tubes and on ledges to rest! I declared our tube-time over, and was headed out the door when Trenton stopped fast at this racecar. He climbed in BY HIMSELF, and grunted his way into getting my keys before he would begin to play with the steering wheel and buttons in the car. I was shocked to see him trying to start the car with my keys! I have asked around, and I don't know that anyone taught him this! He's a genius. Okay, so I'm a little biased. :)

She's here!

Meet Marley! We picked her up last night from a nice man down near Lousiville, KY. She is an 8 week old toy poodle, and already has us completely smitten. Even Trenton! He calls her "Pu-PAAY," in a southern, Forest Gump-ish style accent. It's adorable. The whole ride home, he enjoyed reminding us that we had a Pu-PAAY in our car with us. He loves to pet her, but isn't always happy to actually hold her, and lets us know when it's time for her to get "OFF!"

Weans, caths, & perhaps a puppy!

Well, our 5 day wean is over, and we are considering it a success! He continued to experiment with different foods and actually enjoyed it! We are all so amazed at how much progress he's made. He even showed improvement while eating with his therapists this week. We are continuing to give him foods whenever we can, and today he even asked me for some of my pudding! He accepted a couple of bites from me and then stole my spoon to do it himself! That is a true and honest miracle if you ask me. :) We will be talking with his feeding specialist about future weans, so we'll keep you updated!

His next "test" will be his Cardiology appointment on December 4th. There is a chance they could schedule another heart cathaterization surgery to get a closer look at what's going on in his heart. He's had at least 5 caths already, so they don't seem so scary to us anymore--but it's still surgery. We'd rather just avoid it altogether and get a report that they are pleased with how his heart is functioning, as shown on his painless, routine ECHO testing! :) Either way, God is in control, and we trust that He will take care of Trenton's heart.

On a lighter note, Trenton just might have a new playmate very soon! No, no babies are on the way. We are thinking about adopting a puppy! Karie's yorkie, Bella, is so great to have around, and Trenton just adores her. He loves to pet her, follow her around, and he yells, "BEH-AH!" in anticipation whenever we arrive back home in the driveway. He's at the perfect age to start understanding how to treat animals and really enjoy them. Long ago, I'd given up the idea that dogs would be in our near future, but somehow Bella, along with Ryan & Steph's dog, Olivia, have also won Matt's heart over--he had the idea of buying a puppy as a Christmas present for Trenton and me. If you know Matt, you'll know this is a big deal. Either he really, REALLY loves us, or he's secretly wanting a puppy for himself, too. Or maybe it's both of those. :)

Wean: Day Three

We are more than halfway through our five day wean! Trenton's again making some great progress and is so surprisingly tough!! He's been so happy (even giddy at times), and seems so much more comfortable with the idea of putting food in his mouth. Since Friday, he has bitten into a cookie, a few pretzels, and a won ton! He isn't swallowing the bites yet, but we cannot believe that he's brave enough to try using his teeth for the first time! He's been happy to lick foods like cheese, bread, candy bracelets, crackers, etc., too! WOOHOO! Usually he'd just hand the food back to us or not even touch it.





The poor little guy got pretty cranky a couple of hours before bedtime tonight. He snapped out of it a little as he dipped his spoon into some banana pudding (much to Matt's disgust, I'm sure) and licked it off! He loves yelling "Off!" as he realizes he has some sort of dip on a spoon or cracker. I had to remind him to take the spoon out of his mouth so that he'd actually swallow the pudding (can't forget the whole goal of this weaning fun!) instead of letting it drip back out of his mouth. He even licked some crumbs off of a strawberry wafer cookie (again, to Matt's disgust) and really seemed to like it.

I am praying that he will wake up his giddy little self tomorrow rather than the obviously hungry, cranky child we saw tonight. More importantly, I am praying that he somehow begins to make that association between the hunger pangs and relief when he swallows some food. We are SO proud of his successes so far, and cannot believe how far he's come in such a short time! More to come soon!!!

Dance Party

Trenton's cousins Garrett and Gabby came to our house today along with John (our usual cousin playmate!). We had a little dance party-slash-photo shoot, which turned out to be really fun! Here are some photos!

Healing Along . . .

This pic is from the day after the nose incident (Sunday). Still swollen, definitely bruised! And there are some scratches on his face we didn't notice before!

This one is the next day (Monday)! Swelling still is going down! It's not looking crooked, so I think his nose will look normal after some more time. Aren't those the cutest p-jots ever? :)