summer...

oh, summer...where have you gone???

Seriously!  This summer has blown by -- I suppose because our family was so focused on Judah's palate repair/recovery.  We are now almost 8-weeks post Judah's palate surgery, and his healing thus far has been remarkable!  At Judah's post-op visit several weeks ago, Dr Grant told me to let him run with scissors.  Ha!  Obviously he was being facetious, but I guess it was his way of assuring me that Judah was officially post-recovery!  Judah's palate looks beautiful -- better than I could have imagined!  Thank you, God!!  You would never know that his palate had been cleft!!  And widely cleft at that!  Although, at some point his uvula did fall off--not sure when because obviously Judah swallowed it.  I know...gross!  But I've been told it's not a critical appendage so we're not sweating it.

Although Judah's palate is beautiful, his teeth, well, are a bit crazy!  The two teeth on either side of his front teeth (incisors, canines??) are growing in through his palate--kind of behind his front teeth.  Not sure how that will pan out, but we'll see his dentist in the next few weeks for some insight.  I'm expecting that the misplacement of these teeth will affect Judah's speech development to some degree, but I praying not by much.

And speech...Judah is starting to make a lot of different sounds, as well attempting many new words.  Although his words are hard to understand because he talks like a ventrilaquist.  Not much mouth movements.  I'm sure it's probably sensory due to all the changes his mouth (inside and out) has undergone, but I feel like he'll over-come all that in short order!

Judah is also on a pretty normal diet.  He technically is allowed to eat anything, but we're taking it slow with crunchier foods.  Because he was on soft foods for the first 22 months of his life, he never really had to chew -- so he tends to gag on crunchier/tougher things like crackers and meat.  Even still, he is progressing in this area too!

And, he took his first steps this week-end!!  He has totally mastered crawling, cruising and even climbing, but he's now decided he's ready to walk.  And, oh, is that his personality!  He will decide when it's time for a new milestone...period!  He will not be rushed, when other skills are not yet mastered!!  Such a funny little fella!

And our sweet Micah is doing great!  Growing so fast!  Vince is convinced that Micah's feet will be a big as his in the next few years!  We also celebrated his 3rd birthday a few weeks ago!  And he was all about his birthday this year - so it turned into a week-long celebration!!  He still is consumed with all-things-music, but we have enrolled him in soccer this fall.  We'll see how that goes!  I think he'll enjoy it!  We've been practicing making goals in the back yard, and he's very excited about the concept of playing on a team!  Oh, and how could I forget...he's about 90% potty-trained.  Whoot!!

We'll...I'm sure I'm leaving a ton out, but I plan to be a little more regular with our blog...so I hope you'll visit again soon!!