The Boswells

The Boswells

Monday, June 20, 2016

10 & 11 Months {Davis}

So often I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I am so thankful for every second, minute, hour, and day with Davis. Things are stressful at times (a lot of times), and it's hard. So hard that sometimes I think it's unbearable. But then I look at Davis, see him smile and know with all of my heart, we would go through everything again and again, just to have these moments. There were days I didn't think I'd be writing about his milestones and accomplishments every month, yet here I am. God has given us this time. Time we do not take for granted. This second chance of life is the best, most important gift other than the gift of salvation. We want to use it wisely and give God all the glory and praise for what he's done for our family.

Davis is making huge strides! We love watching him grow and learn. He's wearing 9 month clothes and weighs 18.5 pounds. That puts him in about the 20th percentile for weight. Right now he's holding his own, but we would like to see him pack on some more lbs. Feeding is going great! Davis is still taking the majority of his food by mouth. He maybe gets 1 to 2 tube feeds a day to supplement what he doesn't take during the day. He's taking more solid foods by mouth. Before he would hold the food in his mouth before swallowing. Now his swallowing is more automatic. He continues to see a speech therapist once a week to work on feeding.

Davis is about 3 months behind developmentally, which is a miracle in itself. After everything he has been through, to only be 3 months behind is terrific. I give all the credit to our Lord who has given Davis the strength and ability, and also, to our fabulous physical and occupational therapists at Children's. They worked with him everyday, and showed Tucker and I things we could be doing to help Davis reach his developmental goals. Davis also has a wonderful physical therapist who comes once a month to work with him and shows me things I can do to help him continue to make progress. He's doing so well that at our last visit, she said it was time to rewrite goals for Davis, because he has already reached the previous goals.

Davis can sit up by himself without any aide or support. He can roll from his back to his stomach and from stomach to back. He can go from a sitting position to a laying position and vice versa unaided. He is very determined and motivated to reach toys and will get himself into a crawling position to get to them. He's doing lots of scooting and wiggling around, so we don't think it will be too much longer before he begins crawling. We have also been working with Davis on putting weight on his legs. He has showed some interest in pulling up, so we are working hard to encourage that.

Davis has gone from 12 medications to just 5!!! He is completely off all of his stomach meds, and he hasn't shown any signs of reflux at all. They took him off his antibiotic and antiviral medication, because it was making his neutrophil (help fight infection) count go down. Right now, he's on aspirin, his transplant meds, steriod, and  antifungal. It's amazing the progress he has made in such a short amount of time!

During these two months, Davis went to the Montgomery Zoo with his brother and Aunt Kate, he took his first boat ride, and got his first haircut. I was trying really hard to wait till a year old to cut his hair, but his bangs were so long they would get in his eyes. You could just tell it bothered him. I wasn't ready to take him to get a "real" haircut, so I just trimmed it some around the edges.

 Wild hair, don't care!
(Except I kind of cared.)

 Trying to get a picture this month was a struggle!
I get props just for just getting it done, and I was on time,
I might add!

Much better!
This was obviously post trim.

I forgot to mention that Davis now has 4 teeth, and they are absolutely precious! Hopefully, he will be using them to chomp and munch on all kinds of delicious foods! It's hard to believe that he will be a year old next week! When we were at the hospital time seemed to drag on, but since we've been home, it's seemed to fly by. We are so thrilled to be planning a ONE YEAR celebration with this sweet boy!

Amanda



Thursday, June 16, 2016

Memorial Day 2016

What a great weekend! The boys and I headed to the lake, while Tucker and his dad went to the Farmlinks golf course near Sylacauga for the weekend. The trip was Tucker's birthday gift from the boys and me. Since everything that happened with Davis, Tucker hasn't been able to get away. He worked three days a week while we were at Children's and only took time off at the beginning and for transplant and recovery. He works so hard everyday, and we are so thankful for everything he does for our little family. This was a much deserved trip doing what he loves with one of his favorite people, his dad.

Hudson, Davis, and I enjoyed a weekend of swimming, being lazy, and doing whatever we wanted to do. Mymama and Phyllis were there to help out with the boys, and Emily, Andy, and Prudence joined us too! It was the perfect weekend! It made me realize how much I have missed weekends on the lake. I always leave well rested and clear headed. I'm a firm believer that Lake Martin is just good for your soul!

 Ready for a swim!

 Hudson loves a boat ride!

 They couldn't get enough of the doo rags!

 "Mommy, I'm a pirate! Arrrrgggg!"

 Best friends

 Swimming with Aunt Emmy and Pru!

 I love that Hudson enjoys the lake just as much as I do!

 I'm so thankful this kiddo gets to experience the lake.

 The doo rags get me every time!

 First time tubing!


 Emily's still got it!

 Even Shug took a dip!

Sweet baby love!

Tucker and Big Al enjoyed two rounds of golf on 
two different days. They stayed in a cabin on the golf
course and ate at the clubhouse.
It looks beautiful!

As much as we missed Tucker and Big Al, we were so glad they were able to get away and spend some much needed time together. We had a ton of fun at our home away from home, and we can't wait to go back for the 4th! We are so grateful to the men and women who served to make weekends like this possible for our family. It's freedoms like these we take for granted so often.

Amanda