Dec 31, 2010

I skipped a Christmas letter all together this year but I do want to do a quick summary of 2010. January: had an early celebration of Abe's first birthday; we were not certain he would even make it this far. February: Glenn went left for training for 90 days, Abe hospitalized twice for respiratory infection. March: Women's retreat, Abe did great and enjoyed all the ladies. Thank you to those that helped me there. I got a break which was nice since I was still pretty sick with a cold myself. Stephanie started providing respite care. April: Grandma came to visit for Easter, Tacoma zoo and many ferry trips to Seattle. Abe finally learned to breastfeed at 14 months, 11 months adjusted age. Wow what an uphill battle that was but so worth it. May: Glenn came home for 4 weeks. He put down hard wood flooring, which we love. He did this while he was sick with a cold. We love the new flooring. June: Glenn's ship switched homeports to Diego Garcia. Abe hospitalized for respiratory infection and his surgery was canceled. July: very hot temperatures but we did enjoy the sunshine. Our favorite hang place: the mall because of the AC. We went to pick fresh raspberries in Sequim. Also went to the Lavender Festival with friends. August: Abe had surgery, did so well his admission was canceled so he got to come home that day. Abe's first airplane trip. We went to Arizona to visit my family. I selected this time of the year since I thought it was before cold and flu season. September: We got to visit with friends and family in Arizona, hospitalized for para influzena for 7 days at Phoenix Children's Hospital. San Diego trip was canceled since I also got sick. We really wanted to see all of you and get out of the Arizona heat. October: We went to our first pumpkin patch with friends. Abe was a doctor for Halloween, how fitting for a child with so many inpatient stays and medical appointments. November: Abe received his bath seat. He hated it at first but it is so much easier on the momma's back. We got snow before Thanksgiving. We added 2additional respite providers. We had Thanksgiving with friends who saw Abe his first couple of days of life. December: Abe has a respiratory infection and an ear infection but maintained his oxygen level, continued eating and drinking so he never had to be admitted. I had a few gallbladder attacks including one trip to ER before 6am. I toughed it out the first night for 6 hours but a few nights later it felt like my gallbladder was going to explode. It is super freaky when you can feel a mass in the right upper quadrant of your abdomen. I was in so much pain and I did not know why. I thought it was my gallbladder, but oh smokes, the pain is worst than kidney stones. Abe meant Santa at the EFM party, NICU party and a few other parties with friends. We spent Christmas Eve dinner with a friend and church service, Christmas morning with new friends. Glenn may get to come home for my surgery but not 100% sure. The cost of the ticket is all on us however I won't be able to lift Abe for awhile. He will be home for a short time only then back to Diego Garcia. We had planned to go to a friend’s house tonight but with the freezing temperatures and potential for icy roads we decided to stay home. So to sum it up 2010: 4 inpatient stays for Abe, Glenn was home January and May only, new flooring/ paint and a wall was knocked out, no more pumping unless Abe is sick and does not want to eat, 6 months of the deployment out of the way, started working Mary Kay again. Abe's milestones: 20 lbs 15 oz which is underweight but with 7 hospital stays in 19 months he deserves a little break, 33.3 inches tall. Army crawling, rolling, back to belly, belly to back, gets into thing he should not, he grabs stuff from the other side of the baby gate, can tolerate some regular food but not big on crackers, although he did eat some after he hang out with Logan and Nate, says momma, da, da, ding, ding, ding, hi sometimes, he claps on his on command and waves hi and bye sometimes. He is working on sitting up but is not strong enough. Unlike most 22 month, 19 month adjusted age, he does not feed, sit up or walk. He is also working on crawling with stomach off the floor but he struggles with this. He starts speech therapy in January. He loves DVD such as Veggie Tales and Baby Einstein. I really don't want him watching DVD or TV yet but it keeps him from crying while I scope the cat litter and take out the trash. He also watches a DVD of Daddy reading to him. So much for short, huh? Happy New Year 2011. We hope for no hospital admissions ever again for Abe. I will continue the blog probably month as my life is filled with many medical, dental and therapy appointments for Abraham, hopefully Glenn will put some more pictures on the blog since not everyone is on Face Book. Abe's birthday party will probably be January 30, 2011.