2 much!

Joshua recently turned 2 & I never gave him a proper birthday post. I've been a little busy I guess, but he deserves a post...and I want to look back and remember what he was doing at this age so here we go:
At age 2 Josh continues to impress us. He speaks in sentences, he tells jokes, he loves to push Callie's buttons (he good at it too), he is obsessed with holding hands (usually mine are his favorite, but he'll take Abby's if I'm busy), he is very close with Abby, he has a big appetite, he loves to play outside and he climbs up everything!  I could go on, but you get the idea!
He had his 2 year check up with the pediatrician & he was pretty nervous the whole time.  He asked his doctor about 50 times "Doctor, you gonna hurt me?" The doctor replied (every time Josh asked), "No, but I am going to examine you." 
He did such a good job sitting there & allowing the doctor to do his thing, even though he was clearly skeptical. We are officially past the age where he just screams & points to the door wanting to leave. He's growing up fast.   
All in all, Josh is doing much better than I ever anticipated at age 2. I am so proud of my boy. He has exceeded all of our expectations & I love watching him progress each day!
I am often asked if his heart is "better" now. Unfortunately the answer to that is no. His heart is functioning as well as it can currently, however, his heart will never be a normal heart. He needs one more surgery to complete the staged palliation. We don't know when that surgery will be, although I can feel it on the horizon. It is typically done when a child weighs about 30lbs. Josh weighs about 26lbs. I imagine it'll take him about a year to put on those last few pounds (I've considered with-holding food so he doesn't reach that mark for a l-o-n-g time).  After he has that surgery his heart will function more efficiently.  Even post surgery he won't be "better"...but ideally his heart will function well for him. Eventually he will need a heart transplant, but we are hopeful that it will be in the very distant future. 
So there you have it. I often assume that the only people who follow this blog are fellow heart moms, but there may be a few others who aren't familiar with HLHS. Consider youself lucky!
Anyway, back to the point of this post....my boy is 2!

Happy Birthday! I love, love, love you!

a little confused

This morning I was giving Joshua a hair cut and he was only wearing a diaper. I noticed him looking at his scar & then he said in his best tattle-tale tone "Momma, Abby pinched me heart."
I played along and asked him, "Really? Is that what happened?"

He told me, "Yeah, and she poked me too!" pointing to his chest tube scars.

He's already using his scars to his advantage...silly little boy! I've got to hand it to him, that was pretty clever!

(the pictures have nothing to do with the story, although they illustrate what a crazy he is!)

yep, he's 2 alright!

Happy Birthday, you dickens!
(more on his big day to follow)

2 months & 2 years

Sam just turned 2 months old & Josh will be 2 years on Thursday...I love my boys!

finally!

check this out if you haven't yet!

who's who?

The top left is a freebie.
How about the rest - Josh or Sam?
Pictures of Josh without all of the tubes are hard to come by at an early age, but hopefully I've thrown you off!

little mr.

Not a lot new with my little guy. He is doing really well & is such a chatter box. I thought my girls were chatty (okay, they are definitely chatty) but he is non-stop! His favorite things to say lately are:
"Awwwwww, baby's cuuuuuuute!"
"That's cool."
"Oh me gosh!"
The other day my mom was babysitting Josh while I took his big sister to the dentist. My dad said he heard my mom having a conversation with someone in the other room, and was surprised to realize it was little Josh. You can totally hold a conversation with him, he's speaking that well!
In about two weeks he'll turn 2! I can't believe it. Part of me can't remember life before Josh, it seems like he's been with us forever. Then there's a part of me who remembers our first ultrasound like it was yesterday. So many emotions.
No plans yet for his Birthday, but it's sure to be a special day!