Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Caleb is 1  !!!  What a year this precious little boy has had- 2 open heart surgeries, 1 craniotomy, 1 diaphragm surgery, 1 g-tube surgery, 1 nissen surgery, 2 cardiac catheterizations, & months and months of hospital stays- yet through all of this, which is just a mere glimpse of what he's gone through, he is super happy; always smiling with those huge cheeks, beautiful blue eyes, and light strawberry blonde hair.                   This boy is our everything.  He truly completes our family.  
 It was such answered prayer that we celebrated this tremendous milestone with a little party.  To be truthful, I was scared to plan anything, worried.   This baby turning one is a true miracle in every way.  To celebrate Caleb is to thank God and give Him all praises!  We are so grateful for all that did just that.
The kids helped decide on his theme (Sock Monkey) and we had a blast planning it.  It felt so "typical" and wonderful (almost therapeutic) to plan a birthday just like we did for each of them.  They helped make the monkey munchies and sock monkey decor.  They were all concerned about what he would eat for his "cake".  What else--  a Ritz cracker!  It was the best weekend,  long overdue and so needed.

Fast forward a week, and yesterday he was fighting an ear infection. I took him in yesterday morning because he woke up throwing up his feed (over and over) and just was so uncomfortable.  The poor pediatrician was the same one that was on call the night back in November when I brought him in for the double ear infection-- that later we ended up in the hospital with Pneumococcil Meningitis and the Subdural Hematoma.  Needless to say, he was hesitant to send us home with just a prescription for an antibiotic until he could tell the baby was going to be stable and not possibly show signs of something else.  After monitoring him for a bit, we went home, knowing that if he didn't start turning for the better quickly, we'd be heading to our second home- the hospital.  He was better after a brief nap.  The afternoon and evening were rocky, but I believe it was because he was exhausted and hungry (he basically was just getting pedialyte until we knew he would be able to keep it down.)  He woke today in much happier spirits and is currently on a feed that is his regular calorie and tolerating it.

Caleb's skills at 1 year old:
rolling front to back, rolling back to front.  He can basically roll to anything he wants to get to.
waving
clapping! (this is new on his birthday!!)  He brings his right hand to his left, of course.
passing toys from one hand to the other
tolerates tummy time for an extended period, grunts to breathe while on his tummy, but compensates by resting on his side.
getting closer to sitting, but not there yet
Says Da Da
He's still in the highest level of his crib (we haven't dropped it yet)
He enjoys his exersaucer, jumperoo, and newest toy- a Rody.
Loves his nuk pacifiers and Aiden and Anais blankets.
He's very nosey and loves to see what the kids are doing.
Spoiled rotten (well earned) in only the best of ways
laid back
SO, SO Needy in every physical way 24 + hours a day, yet the easiest temperament  (Thank you Lord.)