Happy 1st Birthday Lalo!!

Can you believe it?  Our little warrior is 1!!  A year ago we headed up to Baltimore, so unsure of our future, but so ready for our little man to start his fight.  And fight he has! Ventilators, life support, blood transfusions, infections, a stroke, IVs, 6 surgeries, numerous procedures, feeding pumps, reflux from hell, therapy galore...and with all that his smile is contagious and his laughter can fill a room.  We are in constant admiration of him and thank god everyday that he gave us this miracle.  I could go on and on, but this day has me too emotional already!    Here are some pictures of how remarkable Lalo's 1st year has been...

9/15/10 5:39pm - just 8 min after you were born and already lots of tubes

9/15/10 10:31pm - 5 hrs old, more tubes and we finally get to see you

9/25/10 - Day 9 on ECMO

9/29/10 - You decided you were done with ECMO

10/6/10 - Your eyes are open!

10/15/10 - 1 mo. old & moved to the NICU

11/15/10 - 2 mo. old and a smile



12/19/10 - 3 mo. old in your ducky pjs

1/16/11 - 4 mo. old & practicing in your carseat so we can take you home soon!

2/16/11 - 5 mo. old and happy being home

3/15/11 - 6 mo. old, bathtime with Caleb & showing off your button

4/15/11 - 7 mo. old & ready for Easter

5/16/11 - 8 mo. old, just got your GJ tube & we found out you were reherniated :(

6/15/11 - 9 mo. old, tummy time pro 

7/15/11 - 10 mo. old, at the beach, teething on some cantaloupe

8/20/11 - 11 mo. old, loving bedtime books with Caleb

9/9/11 - Almost 1 yr. old & loved his first swing ride

At 1, Lalo is...

- sitting unassisted for longer & longer periods of time.

- ocassionaly clapping (bringing his left hand to his right, but this is huge as it is him recognizing his right side more and more)

- trying to imitate some sounds in the words we say.

- waving hi & bye.

- rolling like crazy and occassionaly rolling to left, which is extremely hard for him and requires a lot more work of his right side. 

- giving kisses shamelessly :)

- watching every move that Caleb makes and laughing and playing when he talks to him.

- trying to pet Basco.

- putting everything in his mouth (except food!)

- kicking and splashing in the bath.

- (had) his first swing ride last week.

- crying when mom or dad walk out of the room.

- helping turn the pages in books when we read.
- working on his 3rd tooth.

We are celebrating tonight with a pumpkin pie I baked this morning in hopes that Lalito will enjoy the whipped cream.  We love you Lalito!  Keep fighting and we can't wait to see all of the wonderful things in store for you!

I promise to catch up on posts soon, as we have a few updates to share.