Surgery Postponed

Ethan's surgery to close the G-Tube hole has been postponed. Ethan caught a cold. We will hopefully have a new date 2-3 weeks out from here.

- bob

The G-Tube Strikes Back

It turns out that Ethan's G-Tube hole has not healed. It seemed to heal quite nicely all the way up to when Ethan got violently ill in December. When he came down with the flu/Norwalk virus, he spent about 24 hours constantly vomiting. Apparently, the intense pressure this placed on his stomach basically reopened the hole. (Ethan did have his flu shot this year so if it was a flu, it was a different strain).

We took Ethan in to Children's to have them look at the hole just before Christmas. Their feeling was to give it another 6 weeks to see if it would re-heal.

It has not. In fact, as of now, it is leaking far more than it ever has ever since the G-Tube was first removed.

PASS clinic is scheduled for this coming Friday (early afternoon) and the surgery to close the hole is scheduled for this coming Tuesday (1/25/11, time: TBD). The surgery itself is a short 20 minute outpatient procedure, but due to past issues Ethan has had with intubation, he will most likely spend the night at Children's for observation. He should be home the next day (Wed., 1/26/11). Our M.O. for this will be the same: I will stay home with Jonathan, and Dina will stay at Children's with Ethan over night.

- bob

Jonathan's 4th Birthday

Jonathan celebrate his fourth birthday on January 10, 2011. He started off the day going to preschool. Because it was his birthday, he got to be the special person of the day, bringing a favorite snack, line leader, and getting to sit in the special chair at circle time. He got to help lead some songs, hold the flag during the flag salute, put the date up on the calendar, and be the weather man. He even got a special birthday crown.

Then we went to have lunch with daddy at his office. We picked up lunch from Red Robin and ate in daddy's office. Jonathan had the choice to eat in the office or at the restaurant. Jonathan was a nice big brother and let Ethan enjoy his chair while he sat next to daddy in a big chair.

In the evening, we went out to dinner at The California Pizza Kitchen at Northgate with the family. Jonathan enjoyed opening his presents and seeing his family.

Yummy! Jonathan got an ice cream Sunday to celebrate! Daddy ended up finishing it, but it was very good.

At the end of the night, Jonathan enjoyed all of his new toys. He was very happy because he got what he asked for. Happy Birthday big boy! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you as our son!

-Dina

Arriving Somewhere

When we first created this blog, the main purpose was simply to let people know about what was happening with regard to Ethan - what new issues may have cropped up, any new developments - good or bad - that may have occurred, and various other et cetera news. One of the things we needed to do was figure out a name for this running log of our lives. At the time, I have to admit that I was feeling pretty despondent about how things were progressing - or rather - not progressing. A particular, and very downbeat lyric came to mind:

All my designs simplified
And all of my plans compromised
All of my dreams sacrificed
Arriving somewhere - but not here

The song, 'Arriving Somewhere - But Not Here' by Porcupine Tree seemed to resonate with me. Especially the line, "Arriving somewhere - but not here".

Before Ethan was born, we were blissfully unaware of what lay ahead of us. We thought we knew how it was all going to happen, and how we would have a second perfectly healthy boy and the perfect Norman Rockwell painted life (albeit - an Asian version!) lay ahead of us. Somehow we just knew that's where we were going to be. And then life happens. And you arrive somewhere. But it's not where you expected to be. You arrive somewhere. But you never imagined it would be here.

So many problems lay ahead of us. So many unknowns. We knew about the issues that confronted us. But if that wasn't enough, we learned soon enough that there were going to be more issues that we didn't even know about yet to come - we just knew that they would be coming - whatever they might be. As someone once famously pointed out, there are the things you know you don't know, and then there are the things you don't know that you don't know. And at that point, I knew that where ever we would end up - it wouldn't be where we were expecting.

Arriving somewhere - but not here.

Such a negative connotations - those words.

But fast forward 365 days. So many obstacles overcome. So many issues resolved. Ethan has undergone many of his scheduled surgeries. He has so many problems fixed. He's healthy, he's growing, he's thriving, and he's happy. And we're happy. Twelve months ago I never would have thought that we would ever get to this point - so depressed was my point of view.

Arriving somewhere - but not here.

Such a positive connotations - those words.

So here we are - the start of another trip around Old Sol. Where will we be 365 days from here? Ethan's doctor once remarked, "Ethan is full of surprises". Indeed. So where will we be this time next year? Who knows.

All that is certain is that we will be arriving somewhere.

Happy New Year everyone. Especially to our loving families, friends, and especially to our doctors that made it possible for us to arrive here.

- bob

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

This is the first Christmas where Jonathan *really* gets it. Since even before Thanksgiving, Jonathan has been asking about presents, and Santa, and decorating the tree, etc. It's been a really fun time!

Our little tree on the dining room table - it's Ethan-proof. It will be another year or two before we can put up the big tree.

Ethan really likes plushies!

Jonathan and his new Caillou toys.

Ethan opening what Santa brought.

The boys going at it.

The boys both got - and LOVED their pillow pets!

Getting exactly what you asked for - priceless.

Captured for posterity - the cornucopia of commercialism and capitalism that is (now become) Christmas.

- bob

Jonathan's Thanksgiving and Christmas Programs

Jonathan had his first performing experience at his preschool in their Thanksgiving program. His class dressed up like pilgrims. They came on stage and gathered as a class. Then all the parents got to come up and take pictures of their kiddos. They were SO cute.

Then once they came off the stage, they paraded around the room in a boat all together.

Once all the classes got their chance to parade around the room, all the classes came back and sang some songs. Jonathan was a little upset by this time and his teacher asked us to come and be with him while he sang the songs. He was able to calm down and do a great job singing. His favorite song was "Hello Mr. Turkey, how are you? Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble." Jonathan had come home several times practicing this song and he sure did a wonderful job doing all the motions too. We were so proud of him. Not bad for his first time performing for a crowd!

This was his placemat on the table. The school, 2 years old to Kindergarten, all helped in preparing the meal. It was stone soup, butter, pumpkin bread, and a fruit salad. Jonathan's class made the pumpkin bread and butter. He also brought in some oranges for the fruit salad. The meal was very yummy. This is one of the most popular events that the City Church Preschool hosts from what we understand.

In mid December, Jonathan's school put on a Christmas program. Each class came out and sang some songs and recited a poem or scripture. Each class also prepared a slide show of the kids in their classroom doing things. There was also a school wide slideshow before the program started.

Here are the 3 classes in Jonathan's age group. Here they are singing their songs.

After each class had done their part, all the classes came back on stage to do a school wide song.

Jonathan did such a wonderful job in his Christmas program. He sang all the songs and did all the motions, mostly with a smile on his face. He really looked like he was enjoying himself. We are so proud of him! We were not sure how he would do considering he wasn't very happy during his Thanksgiving program, but he didn't have any tears and really looked like he had fun. Way to go Jonathan! We are SOOO proud of you!

-Dina

Saying Goodbye To Sylvia

Sylvia, better known as Princess to those she adopted, passed away lying down with me today late this afternoon. She was nearing 21 years old (nearing 100 in cat years).

She had been having some difficulties in the last year or two with going outside the litterbox but we more or less had it under control with putting her on Prozac. However, within the last week, she took a dramatic turn for the worse becoming extremely lethargic, not eating, and taking to actually sleeping in her litterbox. We took her to the vet and found her kidneys were shutting down. The vet tried saline/potassium infusions but it didn't help much, and in fact she had another one this morning.

We (the family) were supposed to go to the church Progressive Dinner (an annual Christmas tradition at the church) tonight but as fate would have it, I came down with either food poisoning or some variant of the Norwalk virus. I stayed at home while Dina went with the kids. Not having a good feeling about Sylvia, we put her on the bed with me. I guess I can take some comfort in the knowledge that when she went, she went in her own time (e.g. we didn't have to put her down), at home, and next to me (since 2004, she has actually become *my* cat though she was originally Dina's).

Goodbye Princess. We love you and we miss you.

Sylvia
Feb 1990 - Dec 2010

You were a true and faithful companion

- b