Thank you!

Tim and I wanted to take the time to thank those that donated to Project Santa this year! We had another successful year and it couldn't have been done without your help.

We had a great time once again delivering the toys to our contact ladies, Maggie and Cathy.  We were also able to deliver our annual cookies to Max's nurses and doctors, which is always so much fun. 

Max had a clinic appointment with Dr. Ben that afternoon.  Max's labs are stable enough for him to get a little bit of a break.  He has been pushed to every other week instead of weekly for labs and he won't be seen in clinic again until the first week in January.  In a nutshell, this means that Max is doing fantastic. 

We got to see one of the fellows that started when Max was only a couple months old.  She hasn't seen Max since shortly after the transplant so when she saw that he was walking and talking she got emotional.  It just proves that even though their job can be very difficult, if you can make it through those hard times the end result is so rewarding.  Max is a perfect example of this because 2 years ago, not many people thought he was going to survive and now here he is walking down the hallway of the nephrology office talking to anyone and everyone that would listen to him- whether he knew them or not.

Dr. Ben is leaving us this spring, so when I saw him walking down the hall right next to the little boy that he had a hand in saving, was one of the coolest experience of my life because I know those moments are limited. I have to say that it brought a tear to my eye to see all of those people lining the hall to watch my son walk.  A simple task that may seem like no big deal to some, but to us is a huge accomplishment for the little boy that wasn't suppose to survive.

So again, we thank you for standing by us throughout this journey.  It has been a long and very difficult road, but the end result has been absolutely fantastic.

Big Milestones

Hello All:

Max is doing fantastic! He continues to amazes us on a daily basis with how much he has accomplished over the past 5 months.

For example:

Before the transplant, Max had a vocabulary of only 2 words. "Ah" and "Dada". Today Max's vocabulary includes about 200 words. He is also starting to put 3-5 word sentences together. He is doing so well that his speech therapist said that she doesn't need to come on a weekly basis to work on language anymore.

Max has also started eating again. His therapist and I put him through a "Eating Boot Camp" that involved him sitting down three times a day and taking three bites at each sitting. After those three bites he could get up. He mastered that very quickly so we moved him up to 5-7 bites. Again, he mastered it. He is now sitting down and eating an entire 3.5 oz jar of food 2-3 times a day! We have also discovered that he likes chocolate milk, so we are giving him that when he asks for a drink now. When he is finished he says "yum." It's unbelievable.

The last accomplishment that we have for this post is that Max is... Well I will just let the pictures tell you:

Yup. He's walking...
...and he is so very proud of himself for doing so.
We are so very, very proud of this little man as well.

So he is not a pro at it just yet, considering shortly after these pictures were taken he fell, but dude the kid is walking when only a few short months ago he wasn't even bearing weight on his feet. He has a walker, but I don't let him use it too much because he relies on it instead of trying to figure it out on his own. He is mastering it very quickly and we couldn't be any prouder of him.



Needless to say, the kiddo is on fire. We have all of you and your fantastic love, support and prayers for getting us through the past 3 years. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Reminder

Hello:

I am just reminding those that want to take part in Project Santa this year that all donotions need to be turned in to me by Monday, December 13th.

Please keep in mind that we are gathering gifts for kids of all ages and that all items must be brand new with minimal fabric. I will also need an estimate of how much you spent so that I can fill in the value portion of the donation form for the hospital.

If you have any further questions or are ready to set up a delivery you can email me at mommy2max08@yahoo.com

Thank you everyone :)