Quick Update

I am way behind in my blogging ... I still need to blog about Andrew's swim lessons and post pictures and of course, Andrew's birthday party. However, since I want to post lots of photos and tell a good story I am going to wait to post about those things until I have time to give them their proper telling :)

For now, just a quick post to update you on the boys and share a cute story about Andrew.

We took Tyler to the doctor last week for a weight check and the doctor was happy to see that he had gained nearly a pound over the last month. He weighed in at 13 pounds 3 ounces. The doctor would like to see him to continue to follow the growth curve, even if it is at the lower end of the scale (20th or so percentile). Tyler goes back to the doctor at 6 months for more vaccinations and his weight, length and head circumference check. He is doing great overall -- he loves baby food and he has really started "talking" (making all sorts of fun noises and squeals). We brought down Andrew's exersaucer and Tyler loves it and Andrew loves to play with him while he is in it. Ahhh .... my boys!

Andrew went to the doctor today for his 3 year old check up. He had one vaccination and he told me as soon as I picked him from school that he had a boo boo and that the doctor hurt him (Doug took him to the doc). He was 50 percentile for height and 90 percentile for weight. I was surprised that he is so high on the weight chart because he is not chunky or husky at all. The doctor was happy with Andrew's development overall.

Now for the cute story - this evening at dinner Andrew would not eat his spaghetti because he wanted to eat it like Mommy and Daddy (twirling it on his fork) but I had already cut it up to make it easier for him to eat. So, I got him new spaghetti and proceeded to show him how to get the food on his fork. That is my little Italian boy!

Happy Birthday, Andrew

Dearest Andrew,

You are three years old today and I can hardly believe it! It seems like yesterday that I heard your first cry and Dr. Mac laid you on my chest and I got to hold you for the very first time. That moment was filled with such anticipation that I cried tears of pure joy when I heard you cry and they told me that you were ok. I remember just staring at you for hours on end in total awe of the beautiful baby in my arms.

I have loved every single moment since then watching you learn and grow over the last 3 years. The memories that we have made through this time are priceless to me, even though you will not remember most, if any, of them. It is a pure joy to be your mommy and I love you more than you can possibly imagine right now, but one day, when you are all grown up, perhaps with children of your own, I think that you will know.

I am also very proud of the smart, funny, polite, industrious little boy you have become. You never cease to amaze me and you always make me smile and laugh. You are growing up so fast that I want to some how freeze time so that I can forever capture every detail of these cherished memories.

A few of the things that I love about you - I love ...

• cuddling with you in the mornings when you first wake up
• the way that you always want to kiss Tyler, so much so, that when I forget to let you kiss him goodbye at school last week you made your teacher take you to his classroom so that you could give him a kiss.
• the way you to dance to music in the car
• how observant you are of your surroundings - pointing out things like airplanes, school buses (schoooool busssss!), police cars (po po), bicycles, etc.
• how you squeal with delight when you see me through the window when I pick you up from school
• how you ask us if we are ok when we are sick or hurt
• how you help daddy in the garage with whatever project he is working on
• how you give loud kisses, bear hugs and say I love you (I wish that I could bottle this!)
• how you laugh - the deep contagious belly laugh
• how you like routine, just like your mommy
• your adventurous spirit, how you will try anything
• your openness to talk about how you are feeling, like when you say "I excited Mommy" or "I no want to be scared, Mommy"
• ... all the small things that make you, you -- my wonderful, loving 3 year old boy!

Thank you for being such a gift in our lives and making me your mommy. I love you "thurdy" thousand! Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Finish Time - 5 days

I am happy to report that I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night. As usual, JK Rowling did a fantastic job taking the reader through Harry's journey and weaving in clues and bringing back items from previous books to close old story lines and to enhance the new ones.

I am constantly amazed by her vivid imagination and her ability to create logic in this made up wizarding world that leaves the reader thinking, "Well of course, that makes total sense when you put it that way! Why didn't I think of that?" Rowling also does a wonderful job describing in vivid detail the scenes that lay before you, so much so that you feel like you are watching a movie rather than reading a book. Every detail is described and your imagination fills in the blanks.

All I will say about the outcome of the book is that I am satisfied and surprised with how she chose to end the series, but I would not change it. Based on interviews, Rowling has said the she is done writing about the wizarding world, but that she has 2 other projects in the works -- one for children and one for adults. I for one will be checking out both!

If you have only seen the movies, you are truly missing out! I highly recommend reading the entire Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Some of you (mainly Doug who complains when I do not update the blog frequently enough) may have noticed that I have not blogged recently (until today). It is only because I have been completely immersed in the new Harry Potter book such that all of my "free time" (and I say that in quotes because I am usually reading while doing something else like drying my hair) has been spent reading. It has been a great read thus far, and with 120 pages to go my hiatus from blogging is almost over. Don't worry, I won't post anything too detailed once I am finished with the book as to spoil the outcome for anyone else, but I will let you all know whether I am satisifed with J K Rowling's conclusion to the great series that is Harry Potter. Stay tuned.

A Major Update

Well, I wish I had better news to report ... the vet dealt us another blow when she came back with the official diagnosis. Major has a fungal infection called Gastrointestinal Pythiosis that is pretty rare and most often fatal.

Here are a couple of links to what it is:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1554&articleid=345

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/51112.htm

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1999/spring/pythiosis.shtml

I can't say that I am not frustrated that he was not properly diagnosed sooner and that when they had the chance to remove it, they didn't. Now we are looking at more surgery or medicine, neither of which have a very high success rate of getting rid of this aggressive disease.

A couple of excerpts from the above links describe Major and his symptoms perfectly, such as: "is seen most often in the GI tract of young adult dogs, especially Labrador Retrievers"; "Clinical signs include vomiting, weight loss, and anorexia. The weight loss can be severe, but affected dogs usually do not appear systemically ill until late in the disease." ; "particularly around the Gulf Coast region"; "Dogs with gastrointestinal pythiosis often have a history of retrieving objects, such as sticks, from water and then chewing on them; young male retriever-type dogs are particularly at risk. "

I have no doubt that this is what he has now (and it has been confirmed from the fungal stain) ... so now we have to determine the proper course of treatment for Major. A friend of mine from high school, Virginia, is starting her 4th year at A&M vet school and I spoke with her about Major yesterday. She was going to check out a couple of options and report back. At a minimum it was good to have a friend confirm what I had read online and heard from our vet -- at least I trust what she says :)

I will post more as I get more information.

An Apple a Day

Speaking of picky eaters ...

Andrew's appetite is usually all over the map. He eats really well at school, but at home his appetite is hit or miss. Sometimes he eats like a bird and sometimes he eats everything in sight. I don't normally worry about it because I have heard that this behavior is typical of 3 year olds and that it averages out.

The last two days he has had a voracious appetite where he will eat anything he can get his little hands on. So yesterday while he was waiting for dinner, he got his hands on an apple and decided to try it - and he ate the entire apple! Now, he has had apples before but they were sliced for him, usually without the skin because otherwise he wouldn't eat it. Andrew actually ate the entire apple, skin and all, one bite at a time.

What a very big boy he has become!

In other news, swimming lessons are going very well. They are working on floating on their backs right now, and we have seen tons of improvement from last week alone. We spoke with this instructor this evening and he suggested twice weekly maintenance classes, so that is what we are going to do next so that Andrew has the opportunity to continue practicing. I really like this swim school and their curriculum / approach to learning.

Breaking News

*** News Flash ***

Word from the vet is that Major does not have cancer! The mushroom shaped lesion is from a chronic infection, and they are currently trying to determine whether the cause is bacterial (which should clear up with the antibiotic he is taking); fungal (which if diagnosed can be treated with medicine as well); or from something he ingested that got stuck in the lining of his stomach (which would require more surgery). We should have the results from the fungal screen in the next day or so. Right now, we are just waiting. Major is recovering well from his surgery and still being a very picky eater.

It is such a double edged sword -- he needs to gain weight and eat to regain strength, but he will only eat people food, which is bad for him in the long run. Yet, we don't want to fight him for 3 days where he doesn't eat at all before he finally gives in and eats his dog food. He is one stubborn yellow dog!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We are guardedly optimistic that he is going to be ok!

It's Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Tyler enjoyed his first taste of baby food this morning ... mashed bananas! He was not quite sure what to do with the spoon and his tongue kept pushing the food out, but I caught it all on the spoon and re-fed it to him until he had eaten the whole container. I would call our first foray into baby food a resounding success!

At one point he grabbed my right hand (which was holding the spoon) with both of his hands and pulled the spoon towards his mouth - he was clearly really excited about his mashed bananas! Hopefully, the baby food will help him gain some weight too.

Meet the Falgouts

Mandy and Paul were married on Saturday, July 14 at 2:00 p.m. The ceremony was beautiful and featured music and singing by some of their friends - it was wonderful! The reception was lovely and I thought the decorations were really unique, especially the coffee beans with the candles. The cake was my favorite part though - they were made by Mandy's friend Nicole, who I affectionately call "The Cake Lady" because she has made several cakes for us. It was white cake with chocolate mousse and strawberry filling with buttermilk frosting ... yummy!

The newlyweds are headed off to Quebec City for their honeymoon before returning to Seoul, South Korea at the end of July.

Congratulations, Mandy and Paul!

Major news

We took Major back to the vet on Monday because he was still not eating very well and he had started to vomit more frequently after eating. The vet did a full blood work up and other tests and everything came back perfect. This is the second time we had Major tested and got perfect results. Hmmm...

So, the doctor called me to discuss what else could be going on since Major has lost a lot of weight. He is down to 72 pounds from about 95 pounds. Last time we had him tested he was over 80 pounds, so the doctor was concerned but not as concerned. However, at this point she knew something was not right, but she wasn't sure what. After speaking with her further she decided she should check for an obstruction of sorts, assuming that he swallowed something he should not have since he is also chewing on things that he is not supposed to. The barium test revealed what appeared to be an obstruction, so we agreed that she should operate to remove the obstruction. Well, when she opened Major up to reveal the obstruction she found that there was not an obstruction after all, but a mushroom sized tumor. The vet is 98% sure it is malignant but we are waiting for the biopsy results to be sure. She decided not to remove it because she would have had to take too much of his stomach which would have left him very uncomfortable. I have to say that I was a tad bit annoyed that she didn't call us to let us make that decision because now if we should decide we want it removed we would have to open him back up again.

Ultimately, the vet does not recommend removing it because of its size and what the size really means ... it means that it has likely spread other places and it is beyond hope at this point. She said his life expectancy is about 6 months, if we are lucky. We have medicine that is supposed to help coat his stomach so that he can eat without feeling pain, but he is still choosing not to eat, which is incredibly frustrating. He wouldn't even eat the hamburger we made him last night, but he did eat a handful of treats that we hid his medicine in.

The whole thing is heart breaking - all we can hope for at this point is that he surprises the vet and lives longer than expected, but he has to eat! We are still searching for what we can feed him twice a day for meals besides treats.

For now, he goes everywhere with us and when we are home he is inside with us -- all we can do it spoil him and love him for the time we have left with him.