Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here is a little update for the holidays:On Monday we returned from Detroit where we spent a week with Sada's family following the passing of her grandfather. The sorrow of our loss was tempered by the joy of being with family in Michigan for the beautiful funeral and thanksgiving for Silas being able to meet his great-grandfather the month before. We are so grateful that Great-Grandpa Percy and Silas were able to spend a week together with us and Great-Grandma in California and that our last memories of Great-Grandpa are his songs and hugs for Silas. As Silas placed a rose in grandpa's grave in the peaceful, snow-covered cemetery we were thankful for Silas's great-grandpa and all he taught us from his 86 years of wisdom and faith.
We haven't posted much in the past two months, so here is one big update on our holidays:
Silas's Second Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving we were blessed to be surrounded by family from both sides. Silas's grandparents came up from San Diego, his other grandparents came over from Porterville, Aunt Mindi and (now soon to be Uncle) Tom came up from San Diego and we all got together at Auntie Michelle's with Uncle Dave, his parents, and the cousins for the big meal and bigger football game.
Last year's hard work was rewarded with a beautiful new kitchen at Aunt Michelle's and Uncle Dave's (wow, look at that tile!).
Beatles Rock Band featured grandpa on lead guitar and Tom as Ringo Starr. (Peyton Manning made a special guest appearance.)
Silas did lots of laughing with his two grandpas.
Music time with cousins.
The big family football game got more sophisticated this year with flags and pylons, plus a year's worth of hard practice and the addition of another grandpa.
The teams were so hardcore that they played until it was too dark to see the ball (which was about 5pm).UCSF Trip (Dec. 3)
In early December we had Silas's regular clinic appointment at UCSF and had a chance to show off all of his progress to his doctors. His nutritionist verified that Silas is indeed gaining weight and progressing nicely on his growth chart. Everything looks great in Silas's bladder and kidneys, and his urologists want to repeat his urodynamic study in the spring to see whether his reflux has resolved and he can discontinue prophylactic antibiotics bringing his daily meds down to just one which would be great. His anterior fontanel has almost completely sealed up so this month's head ultrasound was probably Silas's last. There was no visible change in his ventricles through what little window the radiologist could manage, so his shunt still seems to be working well. His neurosurgeons double checked his settings and everything still looks good. Then we had the fun of letting Silas show off his scooting around, noise-making, and weight-bearing with his legs. He showed his physical therapist how he can stand up with assistance and bounce up and down. He was his usual smiley, happy self, so it was a joy to see his doctors light up when the saw his progress.
Silas is Scooting
One night in December, Aunt Michelle and the cousins were watching Silas while we were at a board meeting. When we came back we heard all about how Silas was scooting around on the floor with his cousins. "Are you sure?" we said, "He's never done that before!" Sure enough, Silas saw how his cousins were moving around on the floor and decided to give it a try. Since then he's been scooting around on his own pushing and chasing after tractors, cars and soccer balls. Here's an example:
Aunt Mindi's Surprise Engagement Party
Silas also got to visit San Diego in December for Aunt Mindi's surprise engagement party. Tom secretly arranged for his whole family and ours to come to a restaurant to surprise Mindi when they came back from a "hike" in Torrey Pines where he proposed to her. She was totally surprised, which was somewhat miraculous considering the whole family knew the plans for a month. We had a great time getting to know Tom's family and are so excited for them as they plan their wedding for this October.
Silas's Second Christmas
We celebrated Christmas morning with Great-Grandma, Aunt Jeanne, Uncle Kevin, and cousins Brittany, Allyson & Carly in Detroit before starting our trek home. When we laid over in Phoenix for a few hours en route we learned that a thunderstorm was forcing the airline to enforce weight restrictions on our flight that would mean half of the passengers would have to spend the night and fly out the next day. We quickly volunteered and managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Silas's great-grandma and grandpa at their home in Scottsdale. It was Silas's first chance to meet his great-grandparents (Matt's mom's parents) and visit Arizona. It was a wonderful surprise ending to our trip to Michigan.
When we returned we celebrated a second Christmas with Matt's family in San Luis Obispo.
Our Little Drummer Boy
One of the highlights was spending an afternoon with the family at Avila Beach. It was a beautiful day.
Silas with Aunt Mindi and Tom in Avila.
Silas learning to stand. He's beginning to weight-bear on his legs and bounce up and down with minimal assistance. It's fun to watch and even more fun to see the smile on his face.
Finally, we spent New Years Eve in San Luis Obispo. Grandma watched Silas and his cousins so the parents could go out for the evening. We went out for Shin's Sushi and a movie and ushered in the new year with hopes that 2011 will be filled with as much cheer as 2010 (with fewer surgeries, anxieties, emergencies). Happy New Year everyone, and thank you all for all of your prayer and support this year.
