The Annuals

There are a few things to be praying about. But before we go there, let's talk about some fun things first!

Judah is dressing himself! Well, very nearly. When it's time to get dressed he insists on doing it all by himself - shirt, pants, socks. The socks he nailed awhile ago. As a matter of fact, any time he sees socks lying around (which, let's face it, is a common occurrence around here) he puts them on. He's usually walking around with way-too-big socks on his feet - too cute! The shirt he's got a handle on...as long as he doesn't try putting it on upside down first. Or feet first. The pants. More often than not he pulls the penguin-two-legs-on-the-same-side maneuver. With a little help and a 2nd chance, he's got it. He likes pulling his pants up while standing, which is a little challenging (read: comical), but he gets it. Eventually. It's so fun celebrating each little accomplishment that is represented in the "simple" task of getting dressed! And Judah is always so proud of himself! We've seen Judah taking small steps towards independence more regularly since starting school. They're so good at teaching him skills that allow him to be more independent, and he responds so well to them. I am extremely thankful for the team he has on his side at school. They challenge him and push him, but they cheer him on and love him well, too.

Judah had a 2nd field trip right before Halloween. All the pre-school kids went to school in their costumes and then visited a retirement home. They sang songs to the residents and had a snack with them. I would have paid money to be a fly on the wall! After their visit they went back to school to put on a costume parade for the parents/grandparents/guardians that could be there. Daddy & Gramps represented:)

I've never seen Super Mario look better!

Speaking of Halloween, we went Trick-or-Treating for the 1st time this year! After the 1st house Judah knew exactly what was going on! He had so much fun being like one of the big kids, going from house to house, picking treats from the bowls & dropping them in his bucket. It was awesome to see him doing so much walking between houses, and walking with one of us up to each door. He had a big smile for every person that gave him candy...although he still has no idea what it is! Not sad about that.

Eli was our resident mechanic (like Gramps), we had a celeb visit from Taylor Martinez, Lydia provided dessert, & of course, Mario:)

She stuck pretty close to him all night.

Judah learned "Where Is Thumbkin" last week at school. Oh my gosh, just when I thought he couldn't possibly get any cuter... He has added it to his repertoire of songs he "hums" throughout the day. I am having so much fun with him!

Judah LOVES Ollie! I'm not sure the feeling is always mutual; but Judah is oblivious and utterly devoted. When he gets off the van after school he has a smile for me, but the 1st thing out of his mouth is always "Ollie"! He's been going through a tough bedtime phase. Last night, for the 1st time, we put Ollie on his bed with him when he was upset, trying to settle down. He got quiet right away and went to sleep, in spite of Ollie's wiggling. I think it's time to train Ollie to go to bed with Judah.

Judah has a new word: "hot"! Whenever I put something hot in front of him at the table he says, "Ha, ha" and blows. We're also working on some new signs. "I'm sorry" is at the top of that list...for all the times he hits his sister to get her attention. At least he's genuine in his apology!

A few things to pray about:

1. Judah has had elevated blood pressure from the beginning. In the last 18 months his endocrinologist and I have talked about it on and off. Last week he recommended taking action, since Judah's BP is consistently in the 95th percentile. We saw the ped. yesterday, and Judah's BP was actually higher than mine. That's not really unusual for him, but it's high for a little kid. I will be monitoring his BP from home over the next 4 weeks, and then he will most likely join a BP clinic at Children's and go on a blood pressure medication. The tricky thing about Judah is that, because of his kidney disease AND his pituitary disease, there isn't an ideal med. for him. He'll need to be watched closely for quite awhile. I'm sad about adding a medication, but it's the possible side effects that concern me. The high BP is probably because of all of his kidney problems, so my hope is that once he's had some repair there, the BP will drop on its own.

2. Next week Judah has 2 huge clinic appointments. On Tuesday we spend the morning in clinic with his cranio-facial team. I think we're seeing 6 specialists, including his geneticist. I'm looking forward to seeing her! It's been over a year since she's seen Judah. I know she'll ooh and aah over him:) On Thursday we spend the day at Children's in urology. I'm already very apprehensive about this one. Judah will be uncomfortable at best for most of the day. Some of this clinic will be downright painful. It breaks my heart; and as he gets older it only gets harder for him. I've downloaded some apps for him on Jared's ipod in hopes of being able to thoroughly distract/entertain him, since he's not allowed to play with Dad's ipod at home. It's just icky. Icky.

I really appreciate your prayers for Judah as we head into next week and this particular clinic especially. I'm also praying for good reports all around from both clinics...although I'm not entirely sure what a good one would be at this point. Even neutral news, without any bad news, would be good. *sigh* I'm so glad God goes with us. I couldn't do this without His sustaining love and faithfulness.