The Caelin Invasion

Ready for football season!

First taste of Mum Mums... not sure about them.

He's an early reader.

Auntie Sammy, Mommy & baby!

Holy smokes batman!

Big smile in his jumper!

Lovin' the Mum mum & getting ready for the game... that we could not watch because we live in FL.

Daddy, Uncle Eddie & Baby out for a walk!

In our household, we love football.

Infectious smile, as so many call it! =)

Our little Caelin Fonzarelli.

Apparently they had long days.

If only we knew what he was pondering. LOVE LOVE LOVE this towel! Thanks Chris!

Practicing clapping. We are in need of some Ms. Bonnie's professional clapping! 

He kept getting frustrated because the whole toy would not fit in his mouth. 

Cael & Momma. This one is on the favorites list.

It’s official- Caelin has taken over the entire condo and we love it. His belongings have made their way throughout every square inch of our home- the Bumbo is stored on our loveseat, bouncer in front of our couch, play pen often blocking the TV, high chair at the dining room table, books on our coffee table, medications and foodstuffs in our kitchen cupboards and on our counters, carseat by the door, blankets and toys in our bedroom along with the monitor, and of course other random toys, teething rings, and things scattered throughout. He has invaded everywhere except Sean’s place of sanctity- our bathroom. That’s because Caelin has his own bathroom. Fancy. =)

The past week and a half has been full of excitement and continued firsts! At the end of last week Caelin had his first round of visitors! We had two Florida friends stop over and they got to soak up Caelin’s smiles and love. The next day Auntie Sammy and her friend Ali drove up from Miami to visit. This same evening, Uncle Eddie flew in from Michigan for the weekend. We all had a great time together and wish we could have enjoyed the company for longer! Uncle Eddie and Auntie Sammy got lots of smiles and good cuddles. Plus Uncle Eddie witnessed the side of Caelin most people don’t- his after bath eccentricity. Caelin LOVES his bath and once you wrap him up snug in his towel and place him on his changing table, his babbling runs wild, as do his arms and legs. He is such a silly boy. Also, Uncle Eddie brought Caelin a bag of gifts from him and his family, which we all love! Thank you, again!

In addition to having his first visitors, he also attended his first outpatient speech appointment and his first outpatient GI appointment. These both went really well! At speech Mommy and Cael got to show the therapist what they normally do for oral feeding. The therapist said Mommy and Daddy are approaching oral feeding with Cael perfectly and continue to do what we are doing. We wanted to set some sort of goal to work toward so the therapist said to try to give Caelin some oral taste four times a day- twice with food and twice with formula. She approved the Mum Mums and said she is impressed with how well he is doing with them. Although we have the goal of four times a day, she said right now we are focused on quality experiences and not so much quantity. So however much he takes at each session does not matter as much as the experience being positive for him. Mommy asked if we should still be working with the bottle or if we should just try the sippy cup since he is six months old and only growing older plus he does not take any significant amount from it. She said to keep trying the bottle because he does great with his binky and it should, theoretically, be an easier transition for him than going straight to the sippy cup. We do agree, we just were not sure if it was a good idea to start him on the bottle and then go to the cup in a couple months, and so we feel better about it now. His GI appointment was also great! He got weighed and measured and hot dog (Yes, he has been watching an episode or two of Mickey Mouse) has he grown! He weighed in at about 6.4 kg, nearly 14 pounds, and is approximately 65 cm, about 25.5 in, long! He is still below average in both areas but quickly catching up. To put his growth into perspective, when he was 5 months old he was off the length and weight percentile curve (boy’s growth chart)… in the negatives… at about -20% weight and -2% length. He is now ON the curve in both areas! He is around 3% for weight and just over 10% for length! This really is unbelievable! From where he has come and the things he has been through, his little body finally appears to be healing. Looking at him, no stranger would ever be able to guess his history- he looks like a “normal healthy” baby boy now. We are just so amazed; he is a miracle. The GI nurse practitioner examined him and said he looks and sounds great, his G-tube site looks nice, and he is gaining weight. She asked us if we had any questions and told us she really didn’t have much to tell us except to keep doing what we are doing as we are doing a great job. The reassurance and encouragement by medical professionals is especially nice and appreciated.

And since we were on campus for Caelin's speech and GI appointments, we stopped by the CVICU to see some of our favorite faces. Before we knew it, we were having a party in the hallway! Caelin got to see his favorite nurses, nurse practitioner, echo techs, chaplain, social workers, and other staff members. It is so great to visit the people who impacted our lives so positively and so greatly. You will forever be in our hearts and we will always appreciate your dedication to our son's health more than you know. Thank you all a thousand times over!

Since Caelin has been born, with the exception of a few weeks where he still had a Common Atrial line, his chest and body has been sore and healing from open-heart surgeries and procedures. He now appears to be growing out of this stage as he is starting to reach for his feet and lift up his head and shoulders from the ground while he is laying. We have been working on these stretches with him for a couple weeks and he is now beginning to do them on his own. He is making this physical progress along with sitting unassisted in his Bumbo and starting a little tummy time on his Boppy. He got to try out his jumper for the first time last weekend but he is too small… some suggested putting books or other sturdy items beneath his feet so it helps to compensate for his size a bit; we have discussed trying that this weekend with him, as we really want to help him strengthen his legs and core. We could not be more proud of him and we are enjoying watching him grow, as we know that rocking on all fours and crawling are just around the corner!

On Saturday Caelin turns 6 months old. We struggle with the fact that Caelin is halfway to his first birthday… time passes so quickly and before you know it, the present becomes the past. Just the other day I was listening to a CD from 2003 and I wondered, “Where did the last 9 years go?” I know 9 years from now when Caelin’s blue eyes are begging me to play sports with his friends and I think back on just how fragile he is, this same thought will cross my mind. We appreciate and cherish every moment we have with Caelin, because as I have said before, there were days where we thought this time was never going to come.

With that said, I leave you with a quote from one of my favorite movies: “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

We love you all and God bless you for loving our son!

PS- This weekend Caelin's second cousin, Rachell, is marrying her prince charming, Blaine! So a big CONGRATULATIONS to them!!! We wish we could be there to share your special day but we look forward to seeing the beautiful photos! We also wish you all the happiness in the world as husband and wife! We love you guys & can't wait for Caelin to meet you!

Also, Caelin's grandma flies in on Sunday for a week! woo hoo! We are excited about her visit, also! xoxo