David Christopher: October 2006

October 2006

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10/3/06

David cracks me up. Lately he's been SO grabby - but if you offer him a toy, and he doesn't want it, he crosses his little hands on his chest and looks at you. He'll continue to do this until you offer him whichever toy he wants.

Haha.

I'll have to get a video.

Remember the good old days when he'd play with anything you handed him?

RSV season is upon us, David gets his first RSV shot of the season either tomorrow or Thursday. Our home health nurse will have to go pick it up and give it to him at home. Poor kid. Let's pray for a VERY uneventful winter this year.

Javier's parents are coming to visit David at the end of October. That should be fun, because it's David's first Halloween that he gets to dress up. Last Halloween he was still on a vent!

Carla from work made me this cute little animation - it's a must-see. HERE is the link.

David's physical therapist came again today, so I got some pictures and a couple of videos. Linda (his PT) says that she has never seen someone who was so sick recover so quickly. She's amazed by his strength - if only he'd use the strength to do what she wants instead of using it all to get out of whatever position she puts him in!! He fusses the whole time she's here, and it makes my heart hurt, but I know that he needs the physical therapy.

Here are the videos:

And the pictures - Linda was working on David's arm strength. He doesn't want to put any weight on them at all, as you can tell from the pictures haha.

Look how red his skin gets when he gets handled - I don't know why it's so sensitive.

And I love this picture - this was the other day when he was playing. Check out that neck control!

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10/7/06

The latest...

Here is David trying to clap - he doesn't actually do it here, but the video still makes me smile:

And here is our bedtime ritual as of late. He's decided that he wants NO part of going to bed, and he'll be happy as a lark until he thinks I'm leaving, then he has a fit. It's kinda funny, actually.

David has gotten REALLY good at sitting up, propped up with his arms. Here's one of the first times he did it by himself - a minute ago I was working with him, and he did it for close to thirty seconds!!!

I think this is sweet - here's how David falls asleep sometimes

We went to see Meme yesterday - and it was a little chilly outside so I put a warmer outfit on David. He looked so cute! He's really sleepy in this picture because we interrupted his nap.

David, playing with his feet:

What's up, bro?

Look at all those teeth!

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10/8/06

HE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David FINALLY figured out how to move his arm so he can roll over!!!!!!!!! In fact, he does it so quick, I had a hard time catching it on camera - I'll have to get a better video of it later, but LOOK!!

WOOHOO!!! I'm almost in tears I'm so excited for him!!!! My baby really IS getting big!

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David's oral aversion continues to get worse and worse. Even doing everything the speech therapists recccommended, he still won't let you put anything in his mouth. Watch as I try -

Any ideas??

Here are some pictures of me trying to get David to eat -

What the hell is that?!?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

VICTORY!!!

Today we went to visit Meme, where they tried feeding him everything from dried fruit, crackers, and even a sucker! He hated it haha.

Here's the sucker - you can see the look on his face -

And the cracker -

Meme and David

Sitting like a big boy in Meme's chair

And here's their cat, Max (I think - it's either their cat Max, or my cat Lucky, they're practically identical) looking at David

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10/17/06

David's First Haircut!!!

David has become quite the little electronics fiend. He wants anything that he can get his hands on - from the remote control to the camera. But his all time favorite thing is Daddy's cell phone - he goes NUTS for that thing! Must be all the pretty lights.

I just thought this picture was funny

David got his first haircut today!! His hair was terribly uneven, there were pieces that almost reached his eyes in the front, but then the back was nearly bald - so Javier cut his hair! David did really good - he stayed real still for Daddy. Here's the video of that -

Before - what's going on, Mommy?

After - all bald!!

Here's his hair, that I'm going to keep because I'm weird like that

And washing off all that extra hair!!

OH - and David can sit up now, propped up on his arms - for thirty seconds at least - on a regular basis!! He's getting so strong! We're currently working on finding his right foot, rolling from tummy to left side, and rolling from back to tummy. It won't be long - he's fighting it less and less because Mommy and Susan (our nurse) get real excited when he does it - and then he gets to clap, which he loves.

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10/19/06

Look what David can do now!!

David can sit up by himself now!! He was doing it really well, and of course by the time I got the camera, got one picture taken and started the video he fell - but here's what I got!

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Getting into the Halloween Spirit

First of all, here's the pumkin that I carved - and the reason I now have carpal tunnels.

Here is a picture of David sitting by the pumpkin - he's such a big boy!

And here is a short video of David sitting up - he's propped up a little by the boppy, but that was just because I knew that if I tried to leave him over there by himself long enough to get the video he would fall to the floor.

Before David could only roll (unassisted) from his tummy to his right side. Today, David rolled for the first time from his tummy to his left side! Now, we just have to work on rolling from his back to his tummy by himself!! He's growing up! *SOB*

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10/24/06

This is going to be a tough week for me.

Four years ago Thursday I gave birth to my first son, Enrique. He was born at 27 weeks, 2 days weighing in at 1lb, 8oz. Three days later he passed away.

I know that if he had lived his life would have been hard - perhaps harder than David's - and it would have convinced me back then to not have any more children - which of course means I wouldn't have David.

I wouldn't trade David for anything in the world, but I really do wish that his big brother was here on earth with him, instead of being his guardian angel.

I searched for a long time for the reason - the purpose - behind Ricky's short life. I wanted to give his life significance, and my heart ached for some kind of fairness to such cruelty.

Now I know that part of the reason for Ricky was so that I would NEVER take my children's life for granted. I practice this lesson daily by giving unconditional love to David - and literally thanking God for every SINGLE day that I get with him. I would not wish that kind of pain on anyone in the world - nobody should have to bury their own child.

I haven't visited Ricky's grave in a long time. I'm not sure why, but I haven't. I guess I've come to a point in my life that I realize that I don't need to go there to feel his presence. I also feel like David experiences Ricky in a way that neither you or I could ever understand. I talk to David about Ricky alot - I want him to know about his big brother - and I want him to know that I loved Ricky as much as I love David. I feel like I owe that to little Ricky.

Following are some pictures of my baby boy. If this type of thing makes you uncomfortable, then don't look.

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10/27/06

My sweet kid!

Isn't this a sweet picture?

Soooo sleepy!

Here he was last night - WIDE AWAKE - at 1am (getting a breathing treatment)

And a sweet video of David blowing kisses -

And I can't remember if I ever posted this picture - but I think it's adorable. He's my little casanova haha.

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10/28/06

New Pictures of David sitting up!

Isn't he a handsome boy?

he looks drunk here haha

And a video of David playing on the computer:

David LOVES to play on the keyboard now - but he smacks the hell out of it!! And Javier is so anal about this kinda thing hahahahah

and here is the letter he typed to all of you:

Dear Family and Friends,
vh\]ukl;/.............[]7680op8ijukloiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-/.l;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;909999999999999999999999999999999999999999999-=]]
./';]\200

]\90['];[]-p0po0l[-p;p;l
.3908900p-o;[00[[[[[[[98=-[;l=[']./;

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,/;[8908=00

8iujhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiooooooovg,kljkl,jjjjjj7yuyuy bvnbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb8 h ,./jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj8iuyui899888888888888fcc -0o-[op[pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp8888888888888

Love, David

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10/31/06

David's Halloween!!!

Whew what a day!!!

After I got off work this afternoon I went home and picked David up. We had a fun, but very busy day!! We put David into his costume and went to the hospital first. All the nurses and RTs from the NICU and PICU came over to dote on him - and David just ate up all the attention. All the nurses were amazed that he was able to sit up and roll over - they kept saying over and over again what a miracle he is! They loved him and his little surgeon's outfit! It was so good to see all of them again. After flirting with all the pretty nurses for a while we headed over to Texas Oncology to visit David's Aunt Amy. Amy is the one who sewed the costume for him. Then we went to my work - everyone loved him there too (of course), and finally we went to Meme's. All that trick-or-treating and not ONE single piece of candy for Mama!!

After we got home I attempted to take some pictures, but David was EXHAUSTED. I got a couple of cute ones, though. Also, Javier's mom had bought us a Chicken Little costume. It is SO cute!!! It's only 6-9 months so I didn't think it would fit, but it fit fine. The pictures of that crack me up, because he was nearly falling asleep by that time. Needless to say, David's been in bed since about eight.

Anyways, here are the pictures - and sorry, I couldn't narrow them down anymore than this!