June 18, 2011 - Father's Day

Going Fishing….
Feeding the horse in back of my parents house in Marion, IL

Griffin Smith with cousin Victoria Edwards
Grandpa Fred Monroe showing Caden how to fish...

Picking strawberries from my dad's massive garden
Grandma Rita Monroe loving on Griffin (5 months)

These are some recent pictures we took while visiting family in Marion, IL. My dad took the time to take us fishing (my style where he loads up the hook with worms, and then takes off the fish). More importantly, we got to show Caden what fishing was all about. Thanks to the Moore's for letting us use your pond!

Update on Caden: He had a cardiology appointment the beginning on June and Dr.Kovach said his heart sounded good, and we are still set for a tentative Fontan (3rd surgery) in about a year depending on how things go. Caden has lost some weight so we are back on two pediasure's a day to help him beef up a bit. Although he looks like a great size to us and probably everyone else it is important for him to gain more weight before his next surgery. Dietician Julie from CHW also met with us to go over things to try, do to help in this process. She also informed David and I after Caden's Fontan he will be on a strict low-fat diet for 6-8 weeks. Nothing over 3 grams of fat. Yikes….seeing we are doing everything to gain weight nuggets, ravioli, pizza, cheese, ice-cream…..this is going to be quite the change for him. Julie said another reason for his weight gain is because so many of these kiddos lose a lot of weight after the Fontan during those 2 months because they simply don't like lean chicken and fish and vegetables. We asked if we should start introducing those foods to him now but she said we could but again, it's all about weight gain so it's not in his best interest right now. Definitely not looking forward to the recovery of this surgery!!

All in all, Caden is doing well. He has battled a few summer sicknesses which once again almost landed him in the hospital but on both occasions he turned the corner last minute proving he dislikes the hospital as much as we do!

In addition to Caden's cardiology appointent he also had his Hypoplastic Clinic Appointment which compares how he is progressing compared to his peers.

Caden is 27 months
Pulse Ox - 76%

Weight = 25.8 pounds (15%)
Length = 33 1/4 length (10%)
Head = 19 inches (30%)

Bayley Test Score (age equivalent)

Cognitive (play skills) - 27 months
Fine motor - 27 months
Gross motor - 24 months
Receptive Lang (understanding) - 23 months
Expressive Lang (talking) - 21 months

We are pleased with his scores hoping with time the talking will still continue to improve. He still is going to speech once a week.

Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! Speaking of fish…to my dad….hope you are celebrating father's day catching lots of big tuna for your special day! Enjoy your trip and have safe travels back home.

Love,
Melissa