life is full of good moments around here lately. here are the two loves of my life together at our saturday morning breakfast out on the town – a nice meal on a cafe patio right before the rain hit and brought fall with it. i love the change from summer to autumn, even when i can feel a bit of melancholy set into my spirit. our summer has been fun and full of outings, exploring, and learning new things.
alex has been soaking up knowledge and skills like a sponge. she has a number of words, with the main ones being: dog, cat, doll, paw, caw-caw (for birds), daddy, mama, hi, ball. those are just the ones we can discern. she talks constantly, when she isn’t singing. she’s definitely continuing to grow an appreciation for music, and sings, dances and plays keyboards whenever she can. she is cutting down to one nap a day, but generally is sleeping pretty well. she loves to be around people, although she likes other people the best when i’m also there. right now, she’s in a stage where she can play independently for longish periods of time, but also has longish periods of time where she wants to be as physically close to me as possible, which often entails climbing onto my lap and wrapping herself around my neck.
she does like to climb, and is pretty good at going up and down stairs. the one thing she is still hesitant to do is walk. she can do it with us holding one of her hands, but just isn’t taking steps by herself. i wish she’d just do it already, but i’m not too worried about it. she’s still within the normal range, and i know that when she decides to walk, she will, and will probably master it very quickly. she seems to be very deliberate about things that she does – not fearful, but observant and purposeful in her actions…
one big milestone that is happening next week is her first hospital stay since birth. some of you know that alex was born with a condition called vesicoureteral reflux, which was diagnosed in december/january, after she had two urinary tract infections. it essentially means that her ureters are attached to her bladder in such a way that it pushes (or refluxes) her urine back into her kidneys. normally, that would be fine, but if she has an infection in her urine, it can infect her kidneys and damage them. most children who have this reflux outgrow it by the age of 4 or 5, and it is managed with daily antibiotics to prevent UTIs. however, alex has continued to have infections, so she is having surgery next week to correct the reflux – they will be unattaching her ureters and reattaching them to her bladder in the correct position. the surgery is 99% effective in fixing the reflux, which is great news. also, her urologist at children’s hospital does the procedure multiple times in a week, so intellectually i’m fine with it, but of course there is emotional anxiety that comes and goes. i’m very thankful that we have people who are stepping up to care for us through prayer and food (always a good combo!), and my mom is coming to stay with us for a few days. alex will be in the hospital for two days and nights. if you’re a pray-er, we would really appreciate your prayers for the surgery and the recovery, and also that her kidneys have not already been damaged by her recurring infections. i’m really looking forward to the day when the reflux is a distant memory, when she doesn’t have to take antibiotics every day, and when she doesn’t have to get a catheter to check her urine whenever she has a fever. in the grand scheme of sick children, her experience has been relatively minor, and i’m so thankful for that, but it has definitely had its rough days.
so, that’s the big news around here. i’ll leave you with one last shot of my favorite people…
joyful girl 