A shot at normalcy

In the picture above the average person would see nothing out of the ordinary. It appears to be a happy 5 month old baby that is in need of a bath. He is of course sitting in his bumbo seat looking as if he is working on his head control. I'm not even sure what came over me to embark on this endeavor today instead of yesterday, or tomorrow, or next month? But here we are and Josh was in agreement, so it was to be. This beautiful baby ATE CEREAL FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY AND LOVED IT. There are not words for the relief I feel right now. I was so anxious and scared to even try it, and Graham immediately put me at ease. As he picked up on what was supposed to happen after a few attempts, I felt the burn behind my eyeballs. The type where you don't want to look like a fool in front of someone that you hold in high esteem. The type where you are straining every muscle in your body to hold back tears. Then a rational (a VERY rare rational) thought entered my head....let it flow....and I did. Tears of joy spilled down my face and I immediately knew, this was going to be a completely different journey for our family. And although I would NEVER trade ANYTHING about the journey with Henri, we sure are looking forward to watching Graham take off with food.



What a week...Henri graduated therapy and we feed Graham cereal for the first time. Viva la cereal!!!!

GRADUATION

August 2010.....Henri turned one and we thought we were on auto pilot. Well...we at least thought that we had dodged any of the big preemie bullets. Boy we couldn't have been more wrong. That was our first visit to Sensory Solutions. Henri was diagnosed then with Sensory Processing Disorder.

Enter this amazing woman....Miss Laura!


(Small side note here. Note how little hair Henri has here....hair growth is a direct reflection of how good a person is nourished)

We started seeing her three times a week so that she could teach Henri, his Dad, and I how to eat and feed him solid food. Fast forward to April 26th...some 70 visits, 8 months, 720 meals, a new sibling, and a lifetime later....HENRI HAS GRADUATED FROM THERAPY!!!!! Josh and I could not be more proud of all the work Henri has put in with us and his therapists. Henri is no longer struggling with different textures, or multiple textures in one sitting. He is exploring with more raw foods and eating better and better with utensils. I thought I would never say this, but we (Josh and I) are just so thrilled to be encountering a normal "picky" toddler at each meal. He is acting like a normal boy who is picky in terms of which meals he wants to eat at, but will eat what he is offered when he is hungry. When we eat dinner there is no more stress about whether he WILL eat, but how much food will end up on the floor and in his hair. I have learned the power of perseverance and advocacy. Josh and I both had to go to bat to get Henri seen at Sensory Solutions and had to fight the insurance company to continue to get coverage, and for that I am thankful. This lesson has taught me that there is not battle to big when it comes to getting your baby what they need to succeed at the little things in life....like having a meal and not being overwhelmed by food.

Enter this other amazing woman....Miss Sheree.




Sheree is the owner of Sensory Solutions and the therapist that took over when Laura went out on leave to have her little boy! The entire time we were in therapy Sheree empowered me to do whatever I needed to do to care for Henri. She encouraged me to stick with it and just overall was so inspiring to me during this journey. How do you possibly thank people like this? How do you possibly show your gratitude? I sincerely hope that for them, just seeing the progress Henri has made comes close to an appropriate thank you.

This last picture really sums up all the progress Henri has made in the past 8 months. Thanks doesn't seem nearly enough for these two women who have given Henri the chance for a normal toddlerhood.




Henri is "feeding" his Scout in the bumbo seat! It was so subtle when this happened, but soooo profound.

Easter

This post is going to be a bit out of order. We recently had a big trip home and I have much to post about that...however, I am having new camera difficulties while the hubby is out of town. So Easter around here was a lot like most of the holidays have been since Henri was born...momma noticeably absent :( However, I do know that Josh made the best of it. Henri got his Easter basket (which Dad totally dropped the ball on getting any pictures of) and they went to a dear friends house for Easter lunch. Really it is our Saint Louis Family. From what I was told the food was great and my friends daughter was totally trying to pick Henri up. And I certainly don't mean hold lift him off the ground! I was able to get a photo shoot in with Graham for Easter, but Henri was definitely not in the mood for eggs nor bunny ears. I will include a picture or two of him from that day...but he was so not interested. My goal for next Easter, get myself and the boys to church and attend that Easter lunch myself. I do hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday.




Baby tootsis are some of the most delicious delicacies this world has to offer!



Just going to take a quick moment here and point out those big old fat roles!!!!









Henri cooperated in the shoot in his own way. Little does he know, in this photo he is honing his hunting skills for next year! Although I think he was really hunting dandelions.

I know, I know it's late.....

Things have been incredibly hectic around here recently so we ask for your forgiveness with the tardy nature of the next several posts. Graham turned five months old this past week....already. So I know you are asking where the four month old pictures are. Fear not, the pictures were taken on time...and they were the last pictures taken with our old camera. We just invested in the best camera we have ever had and I will be posting plenty of pictures from that camera very soon. As you can see we are doing Graham's monthly pictures with his frog. He is just growing to fast. I weighed him the other day at almost 15 pounds...just three shy of his big brother. He is a happy little guy who has a giggle that could make the whole wide world smile. His five month picture will be right behind this post, so keep your eyes open...he will look bigger than you expect.