Westfall Web

Well today was the big birthday party for Greyson with my side of the family.  We had some friends from church join us and it was quite the day.  Then tonight while Greyson was playing with his aunts and cousins he really got worked up.  He actually flipped himself from his back to stomach twice as well as did a bunch of talking, giggling, sitting, playing, and yes….learning!

It was so fun to watch him open up and talk and interact with my family.  Up until lately he has always been pretty reserved around groups of people he doesn’t know really well.  This is starting to change and boy was he letting loose tonight.  Of course that meant that by the time we got him home he was TIRED!!  We fed him, gave him a bath, did his trach care, and he was asleep in Stacy’s arms before she even got him back into bed!  Lord willing he will sleep very soundly tonight!

Today Greyson’s aunts, uncle Ron, and cousins arrived.  While at first Greyson was a little overwhelmed (my family does that from time to time) he soon settled in and before the night was over he was giggling and talking up a storm.  When they left Greyson was still full of it and was very playful and talkative until he finally got so tired he just fell straight to sleep.  I’m taking the day off tomorrow so Greyson and I will get to spend all day with them.  It should be a riot!

Actually Greyson can sit on his own (with a touch of support like the futon) but decided to lay down.  He would have went to sleep but it was time for his trach care.  It was really funny because as I was replacing his trach ties, I had my hand holding the trach leaving my palm right by his mouth, he started licking my palm!  Stacy said he has done this to her before as well.  It’s hard to focus on your job when you have a little child licking your hand! 

Monday we went to the Dr. and basically all is well.  They did restart one of the meds he was on as a precaution to make sure his kidney stone doesn’t get any larger.  This should also help with his blood pressure which is just a touch high.

The pulmonologist gave us the OK to reduce his time on the vent.  So unless his sats dip down during a nap he only has to be on the vent at night.  Pretty cool!  Everyone is amazed at how good he looks.  Tomorrow my family comes to town and we start the        P A R T Y!!!!

Well  our little boy is all grown up now.  A whopping one year old!  Boy you can sure tell the difference in the way he behaves!  OK maybe that’s overkill but he does act more grown up each day.  Today was a bit of a let down for Greyson as it is the first day since his birthday that he didn’t have cards and presents to open.  We are thankful to the US postal service for helping us teach him that once you have a birthday it doesn’t mean you get presents and cards everyday for the rest of your life (although I’ve been working on a plan for that with me as the test subject, feel free to contact me if you’d like to participate by buying me something outlandishly expensive!). 

Tomorrow Greyson and I will head back off to Tacoma for a couple Dr’s visits.  It will be test day once again to see how he is doing with all his time off the ventilator.  We are praying for end tital c02’s in the mid 30’s but we’ll let you know how it goes.  That’s it for tonight as I need to finish feeding Greyson so I can get ready for Stacy to take over (he’s a bit off schedule today, but we’ll be back on track tomorrow!)

Greyson seemed to enjoy his first birthday experience this evening.  The cake was a little sticky but ok.  Opening a present was funny because of the sound the ripping paper made.  And it was fun to watch the grown-ups play with those toys, Greyson even got in on the action a bit with his new animal train that Susan and Ron got him.  Probably best of all was the Mickey Mouse balloon that Grandma Terry thought he should have for celebrating. 

As for mom and dad,  what a day full of poigniant moments, to see our child enjoying his life and to thank God for giving it to him.  We’ve cherished every small pat of his chubby paw, every giggle and coo, and tonight when we lay our sleepy eyed baby into bed, we know that it is purely by an act of God’s grace that we have these moments.  We are filled with gratitude and undescribable hope.

Greyson is pretty tired right now from all the playing he has been doing.  It has been a very good birthday for him.  We got some giggles out of him when we tied his balloon to his hand, but it wasn’t long before he was ready for a nap.  Right now he’s sleeping so he can be ready to play and hopefully smash his birthday cake a little later!

What’s a birthday without some tummy time spinning?  Today Greyson was having fun playing with pooh (the bear not the other kind) while on his tummy time spinner.  He’s having a fun time counting down till tonight when he gets to try birthday cake!  (Well we are hoping he will smash his hands in it, he won’t be eating any as he still has to work on his eating abilities!)

One of our favorite games,  it is called Baby in a Basket!  Here our prince is with his four favorite friends, lamby, puppy, monkey, and bear.  One should always be surrounded by friends on your birthday!