SPF Required

The face that used to be ghost white is now red. Michael got his first sun burn this weekend as we went hiking at Chautauqua in Boulder. I haven't had him in the sun so much because one of his medications says not to. This certain medication makes him more susceptible to burning. Of course I'm the mom that didn't think twice because it was still too cold to get a burn right? Wrong! Michael beats all other odds so why not this one. Michael is also the most soggy baby you'll see right about now. He's getting a couple more teeth so the water works are on. I used to carry towels around for his excessive reflux and now I'm carrying things to mop up drool. I've never been big on bibs but recently I find myself thinking twice about how useful they may be.

Michael is hospital free now for 43 days. I think of how long it feels but when you count out the days it feels like only yesterday. Michael no longer sees either of his therapists. I miss them but am also thankful that he has no need of them. He's not delayed in any way. I spoke to his physical therapist this morning and she asked if I could call her when he starts walking. Not for a follow up but because she's become so close to him. His therapists definitely became friends that I will always be thankful for having.We recently took a trip to Englewood to get Michael his RSV Inoculation. He'll receive two shots, once a month through April. These shots are full of RSV antibodies. This means a drive to Englewood once a month. Believe me, I've done the research and there are NO closer offices that provide these shots (at least that my insurance covers).



The bathtub is one of Michaels favorite places to be (other than being held). With just a little bit of water in the bottom he crawls and splashes and climbs all over. He gets a bath a couple times a day at the least, or just after he eats. He's the messiest and, I know it's weird, he's also the angriest eater I've ever met. He yells while he eats, almost as if he's demanding the food to do what it's made for and get in his mouth! His favorites include crackers and Nilla wafers because he can use his teeth on them. He loves scraping his teeth against anything that gets in his mouth. He uses his teeth to rip away at the food as he growls and eats at the same time.

We just began trying to live a heart healthy lifestyle for the new year. We've began our weekend hikes as well as 20-30 minutes of cardio a day. If we want Michaels heart to be healthy then we need ours to be healthy as well. We're eating healthier and a lot better than we had been and just trying to stay more focused on what we're putting into our bodies. We're off to a great start and we're also feeling physically better. 

Coming up on Michaels 1st birthday we're also getting a good dose of reality checks. Financially we're still not making it. This has brought up a lot of conversations regarding Michaels condition and the possibility of leaving him in someone elses care for a few hours a day.As you can imagine, we're getting opinions thrown at us and even our own seem to be difficult to think about and our conversations seem to drop when they get to stressful to think about. Reality is, we need to find another source of income and it's not an easy thing to talk about. I don't like posting information like this because I don't like showing this side of our reality but I also don't feel like hiding our problems. I know that so many others are in similar situations and ours shouldn't be sugar coated. This is part of our daily story and even being 9 (almost 10) months down the road we're still running into road blocks. Life is full of lemons - The trick is finding use out of the ones that are bruised.