The Walenga Family

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Merry Christmas!

Time always seems to fly and all of a sudden it's been 2+ months since we posted!

Our last post was right after Landon got tubes and we are happy to report that he has not had an ear infection since he got them! He's a much happier kid and it's so nice not having to get him to take antibiotics constantly. We had a good follow up appointment for his tubes and everything looks good so they should stay in place for 9 months or so and work themselves out eventually..

He is learning so much and is constantly observing what is going on around him. It's fun to watch him be in awe of so many things. He especially likes lights and ceiling fans and says "Wow!" that he thinks are interesting. He's almost walking on his own- he's been in physical therapy for several months now and made good progress - he cruises around everything and has recently gotten really good at walking while holding on to our hands but he hasn't ventured out by himself yet. We know it's coming soon, maybe even as a Christmas present. He's also babbling a lot and just started pointing to identify things. He says "all done", "cheese", "uh-oh" "dada" and "baba" (bottle) and is starting to experiment with other words and sounds too. He mostly refers to both Gary and I as "dada". He likes to be loud and is recently obsessed with emptying every toy bin and basket he finds! He's not so great at putting them back yet :-)

His last cardiology check up was a few weeks ago and everything looks great! His heart flow and function are good and there aren't any major concerns right now. He will have his 3rd surgery sometime in the next year or two but we'll plan it several months in advance so it won't be a surprise.

We spent Thanksgiving in Raleigh and had a great time seeing my (Allison's)! Family visits are always too short but we cherish them! For Christmas we are heading to Michigan to see Gary's family and hoping for a White Christmas (but not a blizzard)!

Gary and I are doing well too (I forgot to give updates about us sometimes). Life is busy with us both working but we are grateful for our jobs and I am grateful for the flexibility to be at home with Landon on Fridays. Gary continues to serve with the high school ministry at our church and we both love the church small group we are part of with 5 other couples (and 3 other kids!). We are also part of "Mended Little Hearts of Colorado Springs" a support group for families of kids with congenital heart defects and I have had the privilege of recently joining their leadership team. It has been great to meet other families who share similar stories to what we've experienced with Landon and to learn more about how to parent him. This is a group of life, encouragement, support and education and we have been so blessed by it.

Christmas is always a time when we are reminded to be thankful for the blessings God has given us, including sending His son Jesus to the world for us. This year we are also especially grateful for Landon's health, laughter and love of life!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Heading home!

We went in early this morning since Landon was one of the first surgeries of the day and we are already on our way home!

The surgery went well. luckily they can still do it even with an ear infection because one of his ears was infected but everything else went off without a hitch. He had a cardiac anesthesiologist so we were grateful for that.

He did great except getting a little cranky beforehand because he was hungry. He was very happy to be able to get his bottle afterwards. Now we just wait and hope the tubes help! Thanks for your prayers!

Monday, October 8, 2012

The End of Ear Infections (we hope)

I forgot to post about our appontments in Denver a few weeks ago.

Landon saw ENT and confirmed that he needs to get tubes. He is actually having that done tomorrow - it is a surgery, but only a 7 minute one. It will be strange to go to the hospital and have surgery done probably by the time we sit down! They are supposed to have a cardiac anesthesiologist to keep an extra eye on him but we're pretty sure he'll be discharged the same day.

Please pray that the tubes are successful and that they help reduce the number of ear infections. He had 5 over 2 months and we've just kept him on the antibiotic for the last week so keep him from getting another one.

He was also seen at the cardiac clinic in Denver for developmental testing and he did great! As expected, he tested low in his gross motor but as you probably read from Gary's post today, he's making steady improvement in that area. Hopefully with fewer ear infections, his balance will improve and give him even more of a boost!

Landon seems more like a little boy everyday...

Landon is changing so fast. His ability to pick things up is increasing at a rapid pace. It is very exciting to witness. Just this past week the following things started to happen: He stands up on his own with the assistance of furniture. He started cruising too. He knows who Elmo is and will go find him if asked (and quite excitedly). Plus, anything that excites him will be uttered with an excited "Ohhhhhhhhhhh!". He is basically running when he crawls. He is beginning to roll the ball back and forth (varying degrees of success). His favorite thing to do right now is knock the cardboard blocks down that Mommy and Daddy stack up for him. We're lucky if we get them setup before he knocks them down again.

I was telling Allison last night that Landon might be catching up because God gave him a "very high motor". Football fans, you know what I am talking about when I say that. But for the others, when Landon wants to do something or wants something, he gives 100% to experience it or get it. I love it so much. His will power is quite strong. I wonder why that is? Praise God to see him progressing so quickly. What a miracle he is.

Gary

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Birthday Party!

The barn cake with pigs, sheep and chicks

Landon's cake

Gracie's Cake

Landon and Gracie hanging out while Liz and I worked on party stuff.

Landon at his cardiology appointment

1 year old!

Today is Landon's birthday! It is so cliche but true to say that we cannot believe how quickly it has gone by! He has grown so much and is learning new things constantly. He is finally crawling for real pretty consistently (instead of army crawling) and just started pull himself to standing. He smiles and laughs all the time and loves waving and interacting with other people, especially kids.

We had a party for him this past weekend- we shared the party throwing duties with our friends whose daughter was born the day after Landon so it was double the fun! We did a farm theme and had a petting zoo (with stuffed animals), duck pond and a barn cake with animal cupcakes! It turned out great and everyone had a great time (especially the two guests of honor). Landon made an absolute mess of his cake even though he only ate a few bites of it, while Gracie was much more methodical and careful with hers. I'll post some pictures in a separate post.

We had a cardiology appointment last Thursday and everything heart wise looks great. There are some collateral (extra) veins that we'll have to keep an eye on over the next several months but nothing to be concerned about right now. We'll go back in 2 months for another checkup.

As far as what we've been up to since the last post, we were in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend for Brittany's wedding and enjoyed seeing the whole family and celebrating with Brittany and Josh. We have also been fortunate to be able to do some fun activites with Mended Little Hearts - we went to the Denver aquarium one weekend and the zoo the next! We thought for a few weeks that Landon's ears had cleared up for good but he's had 2 more ear infection in the last few weeks which makes 5 ear infections in 2 months. We have an appointment with ENT in Denver on Friday so they'll do an evaluation and will hopefully be able to give us an idea of whether or not tubes will be effective. We are all ready to be done with ear infections, especially Landon! We feel blessed every day to have such a happy, growing, active boy! It has been a crazy year and we are grateful for where he is today and SO appreciative of all of you who have supported us over the last year (and more)! We have received so many prayers, encouraging words and offers of help and we are starting to understand the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child". YOU are our village and we thank you!