a short post this afternoon (well, i thought it would be. why do i write so much?!)

happy weekend, everyone! :)

i thought i would fill you in on some details of life with asher today. nothing elaborate, and nothing gory or disturbing. just fun.

asher was very tired yesterday; he didn't nap much, so he went to bed early (around 5:30 or so) and slept till about 7 this morning. i know when i checked on him and gave him his soother at about 1:30am, he was still bundled and lying on his side, exactly as i'd put him down so many hours earlier. (his usual "bedtime routine" involves unwrapping himself withing seconds of being laid down in his crib, and ending up sleeping on his stomach - which makes it difficult to flush his line and give him his meds in the night, but i digress...) anyway, he was tired.

this morning, he was much pinker and doing much better. his breathing is really improving. usually he's quite short of breath within minutes of waking, but today at lunch, you'd never guess anything's wrong with this boy! it was lovely! he wasn't panting, he was nice and pink, just the usual hint o' blue on his nose, and that's it! it's so wonderful to see him like this. and all morning, he was playing with blithe and bram. he just got right in there and stood at the coffee table playing with the tank engines, dancing in the kitchen with blithe, and complaining when we tried to put him in his playpen for a rest. such a delightfully normal toddler morning.

well, for lunch we had peameal bacon and eggs today (a treat, given the horrid week that we have coming up). asher decided that he didn't want his usual peanut butter and mum-mums. no, that wasn't good enough. he wants to really fit in with the rest of us. so, we gave him some scrambled eggs, which he loved. the first couple handfuls went in, and once he had sucked all the flavour out of them, he spat them back out. it was like he knew he couldn't swallow them. i'll admit, it's nice to see him adapting and learning like this. but then, a few minutes later, after playing with my mom's coffee cup, he grabbed some more eggs, and.... are you ready?..... sit down before you read this..... HE SWALLOWED THEM!!!!!!! no gagging, no chocking, no turning blue, no wet breathing! he ate his eggs! we heard him swallow, it was wonderful!

and on a related topic, he's getting quite verbal. he still says the words i listed the other day, but now he has added a couple more: "peez" and "dakyoo" (can you guess? for those unfamiliar with toddler-speak, that would be "please" and "thank-you"). he even uses them correctly! he'll look at something, wave his hands at it, and say "peez! peez!" (not always pleasantly, but that's ok... for now).

ok, so that's asher. now on to yale... still no word, so please keep praying for him. he's never been through failure, last i heard they weren't sure what's causing it, so hold him up in the Spirit. and his mom, too. everything for yale thus far has been scheduled, including his ASD balloon and stent, he was diagnosed prenatally. this is a terrifying time for the whole family. please keep praying for them. i'll post when i learn anything. thank-you.


UPDATE ON YALE: doesn't sound like he's had surgery. there's still no definite cause for the failure. he's in CCCU at SickKids, and sedated so his heart can rest and recover. they've put him on Captopril (helps heart function, lowers blood pressure) and he'll be on that for the rest of his life. but he's improving, vitals are better. they'll wait and see how he does over the weekend. if he's strong enough, he'll be going in for an exploratory cath to see what the problem is. keep praying. he's not out of the woods (or critical care) just yet. thanks.