Surprise Visitor

Lexi was given the thrill of meeting another good friend for the very first time this week. Some of you might remember a blog about a year ago where a very close friend of ours passed away, so Brian pulled a 24hr round-tripper to the funeral in NW Iowa, while Laura stayed back to help Lexi fight her mysterious illness in the NICU. Nick, an incredible writer and talented blogger right up until the end of his battle with ALS, was a big part of the inspiration for this blog. It is hard to believe that it almost has been a year since he passed away last July. This week, we were blessed to reconnect with his wife Ann, who was kind enough to include St Louis as a major detour on an impromptu weekend trip to Chicago to honor Nick by seeing a game at Wrigley Field and checking out the brick that lies there in his honor.

Ann and another Luther College friend Tim arrived in St Louis in time for dinner on Thursday, and then hung out with us and talked and reminisced into the early morning hours on Friday. After a few hours sleep, they saw the sights in St Louis on Friday afternoon, included a brewery tour on the agenda to hang out with Brian for another hour Friday afternoon. They then headed to Chicago Friday evening. Laura and I got the thrill of spending time with a close friend for the first time in about a year, and Lexi got the thrill of meeting a great friend and blog follower for the first time.

Not Until Two

Ever since Lexi was born, we have been nervous about her future. I mean, the kid wasn't exactly given a fair shot in life to start with. You want the best for your kid, and you want them to be as pain free and happy as possible. So, as we are going to all these one year appointments this week, it makes us a little nervous that maybe we aren't quite in the clear like we think we might be. Sometimes you can enter into a false sense of relief. However, today, we had it reconfirmed that things are going great when we met with Lexi's gastrointestinal surgeon. He checked her over and declared that she looked like she was doing great. Then, he said just to be on the safe side, he would like to follow her until she was potty trained. However, he didn't want to see her until she was 2. What glorious words!! A whole year without having to check in with one of her specialists. I always hoped we would get here, but part of me feared that we never would. I almost started crying when I left the office I was so excited!

She also had her normal PT appointment this week. They were very excited about her continued progress and development. She is turning circles while both sitting and lying on her belly, which apparently is huge. She has great abs developing (I wish I could say the same!), so they think she is doing great and definitely headed in the right direction physically.

As is par for the course with Lexi's life, though, with every two steps forward, there is always a little set back. We also had her hearing tested again this week, and they determined there is still fluid in her ears. So, they are wanting to do surgery to put tubes in her ears. Although we don't want her to go through another surgery, we know that this is nothing compared to what she has been through and is something that is fairly common these days. However, we do wish that just one time, Lexi could catch a break when it comes to surgeries. Today, though, we'll focus, instead, on the fact that she does not need to see her major surgeon again, at least not until age two.

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Alisa and her kids stayed an extra day after Lexi's party, so we went to the zoo. The kids had fun on the train, carousel, and playing on the kiddie play ground. Mallory and Lexi got their picture taken in the hippo mouth. Laini spent her day concerned that Lexi wasn't getting enough kisses (she clearly misses all the kisses Brian gives or she would know that Lexi is not lacking in that department!). It is so nice to be able to spend quality time with cousins.

4th of July Birthday Bash

Our little one-year-old had her first big birthday bash yesterday. Given she's done quite a bit of monkeying around medically and otherwise during her first year, we thought it was appropriate to have a jungle theme for the event. So our nieces, nephews, cousins, and other friends piled into town to spend the 4th of July in the jungle and help Lexi celebrate turning one-year-old this week.

Alexis handled her personal encounter with a gorilla admirably well, while Dad appreciated the fact the temp was only in the 80's in St Louis inside that suit. We thought Lexi might fear being picked up by a big hairy beast, but she was more curious than fearful of the experience. Other party goers were hit and miss with whether the gorilla was a fun or scary experience at first. However, in the end, most of the kids worked up the courage to have their picture taken with the gorilla and enjoyed the opportunity.

When cake time arrived, Lexi really enjoyed the special monkey cake her Mom baked for her, and she wasted little time diving in with both hands. Because she strongly prefers her veggies to her fruits, we thought she might not have a big sweet tooth and not get too excited about eating cake for the first time. We definitely were wrong, as she loved her cake and scarfed it down despite the big audience.

There were no shortage of family and friends in attendance to make her first birthday a very special one. In addition to all three grandparents, one great grandma, and Laura's two siblings and their families, Lexi also got to share her birthday with her great aunt and uncle from Washington, IA, her cousin Sandra's family from Des Moines, and one of her favorite NICU nurses Jen and her daughter Delaney. It was quite the 4th of July party, complete with Lexi's cousins putting on a play in her honor, and a fireworks show on the driveway to end the night with a bang.