Luke's First Mass Sunday May 25th

Today Luke attended is first Mass with us ever and the first time we've attended Mass as a whole family. A wonderful glorious and blessed time for us.

Jeremy and I decided that Luke's first time attending Mass should be at St. Sharbel's Parish in S.E. Portland. The Priest at St. Sharbel's, Abuna, visited Luke in the hospital after meeting Jeremy on a chance visit. After Abuna visited Luke is when Jeremy and I could see changes in Luke, big positive changes and there were changes for Jeremy and I. Abuna brought a certain peace within us and I must say, he is the Holiest man I have ever met.

Bringing Luke to St. Sharbel's for his first Mass was a special place for him and for Abuna and his congregation. Today also is the Feast Day for Corpus Christi and at the end of Mass before the traditional march outside the church with the Eucharist, Abuna told the story of Luke and how Abuna came into our lives. He talked of the miracles of Luke in front of the congregation, it was very sweet to see Jeremy proudly hold Luke up with tears from each of us, it was very moving.

A sweet day for us as a family that we wanted to share with you.

Melinda

Luke's Physical Development Follow-up

Today Jeremy and I took Luke to his physical development follow-up and he is doing great. He is right on track per his due date (making him around 6 months corrected age). He loved all the attention and playing with toys and rolling around with several smiling ladies watching him, he was quite a flirt. He won't need to follow-up until November (his 1 year corrected age). The first picture is from his physical therapy appt., that is the doctor in the picture (Dr. Budden).

After the appt. we visited our NICU friends. His main doctor, Dr. Cheldelin and one of his main NNP's, Kim L. were there today too, so he got to see them and see several of his favorite nurses. I've included a picture of him with nurse Nicole and one with her and nurse Kasey. They were all thrilled to hold and play with Luke, they are amazed at the progress he's made.

It's was very nice to visit the NICU and then be able to leave with Luke.

Melinda

Eating Carrots Yum Yum!!

Luke is 9 months old!

It's hard to believe that it's May already and Luke turned 9 months a few days ago.
All is well! At Luke's check-up yesterday (his last RSV vaccine for the season) he weighed in at 17lbs. 5oz.
Luke had his first cold, a light one and he did very well. I think I was more nervous than anything.
He's now doing a little reverse scooting when on his tummy. He can roll from back to front and front to back now. His doctor says to watch out, in the next few months he'll start to take off! It's exciting for us to watch him discover the world of mobility.
He's also discovering real food with vegetables. He eats pretty well and so far prefers the peas over the carrots.
We also got word that by mid-May we can take him out a little more, still not huge crowds, but at least he can meet all our families that haven't seen him.
Bryan is a good big brother and loves hugging, holding and feeding Luke, he probably would drag him around the house if we let him.
Thanks for keeping up on Luke and our family,
Melinda