August 27, 2009

We have been having an absolute fun time with Blaze. He's so funny and charming. Just a delightful kid to be around. We are so blessed.

Last week we celebrated Melissa's 21st birthday and my mom's birthday...I won't say how old she is. (Grandma Cathy's note: Thank you Joy for being discreet, but it's no secret, I'm 60!) Blaze went to the Landing and walked around for the first time. He was so proud of himself. He went to the Showboat and really enjoyed the music and dancing. He saw one dog "talk" before crashing. It was really past his bedtime. We went to Springfield and had lunch with most of my family. Sunday he went to Taylor's birthday party, he had a fun time watching "Uncle Chris" Stanley do some magic. That night he went back to the church nursery and got to stay up late again! It was a fun week.

This week has been a little tougher. Blaze has a cold or allergies right now. He is feeling really cruddy. I'm hoping this will pass soon. His nose is a never ending spigot at this point. Poor little fellow!

Even in the fussiness of a cold, I am so grateful for how blessed we are. Blaze continues to grow and thrive...we have had such an easy journey in all of this. Today my heart is very heavy. When we were at Children's for Blaze's birth and first surgery, there was a little guy there named Jake Lawson. We knew about Jake before going to St. Louis because he has some family ties in Forsyth. Jake has the same condition as Blaze, but his heart wasn't as strong. Jake was there waiting for a heart transplant. Shortly after we left, he did get a new heart! They've had a wonderful year. Today is Jake's 2nd birthday. He is such a strong fighter. His whole family exhibits courage. His mom was someone who would come by and check on us to see how we were handling things. She exudes grace under pressure and is a loving, strong, caring individual. Today, on his 2nd birthday, he is having some tests done. This gets very complicated, but boiled down: Jake has a form of mono, which is from a very bad infection. This infection could be linked to a type of cancer. He is feeling really awful, he's back at Children's Hospital and they are waiting for some test results. Please pray for Jake and the entire Lawson family. In complete honesty, things do not look good for Jake. If we were just looking at this situation, we wouldn't give him much hope. Thankfully, we know there's more to this. The Lawsons are trusting God, the Great Physician, to help Jake. He is the only one who can bring Jake through this. We know God is in control. Please pray.

Thanks for your love and support!

Summer Fun August11, 2009

Blaze continues to thrive and do well! He is running now, climbing on everything, constantly getting bumps and scrapes, and just being a little boy in general. It's incredible to watch him. Last night Patricia with Parents As Teachers came over. She showed us some activities to do with Blaze to help his fine motor skill development. He dropped poker chips into a slotted canister. He LOVED the activity. She showed him a flip book, and he immediately moved the flaps up as he discovered them...we’ve been doing flap books for weeks now. On the 12-14 month checklist, only stacking is giving him frustration. He's close to getting it down. He'll have his 1 year assessment the last day of the month.

Sunday I had an animal picture book and I pointed to a picture and said "Bear"...Blaze growled back to me. I was shocked. He knew tiger and lion sounds, too. This is such a fun stage.

He's also very aware of our dog Maggie and the attention she gets. If she is on someone's lap, Blaze must be there, too. When we realized what was happening, we started holding Blaze's large Tigger to see what he would do. Sure enough, he comes over and climbs on the lap of the person holding Tigger. Then Blaze gives Tigger a huge hug before knocking him to the floor. Jealous, much?

We also started a sign language DVD program. Blaze so far, hasn’t learned any of it yet, but Tim and I have learned "Bird, Diaper, Food, More, Hurt, Cereal, Banana, Dog, Cat, Potty, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Baby, Drink" you know, the essentials. Apparently he loves the "diaper dance" song. He's such a funny kid.

Saturday we took Blaze to the Moscow Circus at Yakov's Theatre. It is a very fun show, full of crazy antics, a love story and very kid friendly. Prior to the show we took our lives in our hands and took the little golf cart shuttle to the theater from the parking lot. I was so grateful Tim was holding Blaze. I thought I was going to fall out of the bench at any moment. Next we walked toward the theater, where a ginormous replica of Yakov's head talks to visitors, Blaze was not impressed. Already edgy from the crazy ride and the ginormous talking head, a man on stilts came out of the door to talk to us. Blaze just screamed and screamed. So we get him inside. He's clinging to his daddy for safety as I go up and get the tickets. Two women with beautiful costumes made up to look like Russian dolls were putting stamps on children's faces. Tim asked Blaze if he wanted a heart on his face, the women heard Tim, one looked at Blaze and he immediately cried. She was horrified. We finally just took him away from the crowd a bit and things worked out much better. After a fun opening, the original guy on stilts came out on stage WITHOUT his stilts on and Blaze recognized him and clung to Dad again. I was amazed that Blaze recognized his face! He must really study people. He said "OOoohhh!!!" when a guy made all sorts of gorgeous bubbles on stage. He cringed when fire came out of nowhere (as my mom puts it, that just shows good sense) and he was mesmerized when they floated above the crowd. It was definitely worth going to. This was Blazey's second Branson show. He also saw Peter Pan this spring. He was so very good. Such a fun guy to take places! While his grandma was here, he went out to eat a few times, and was such a good kid every time. He wins people over.

Things are going well in the Gilzow household. Tim is feeling better, Blaze is feeling better-though 3 teeth have just broken through and are making it challenging to eat, Melissa starts her new evening job on her 21st birthday (8/18) and I'm doing well. My mom came down and spent a lot of time with us so Melissa could job search. Having her here was such a blessing.

This summer has been so fun for Blaze--he's gone swimming, celebrated his birthday twice, he attended a large gathering of Tim's friends and their kids, he's been going to church and has gotten to spend time with all of his grandparents! WOW!!! Blaze had a fantastic birthday party at the church. Thank you to all who helped make this event special! We are so blessed.

I was saddened to learn last week that one of Blaze's roommates at St. Louis Children’s Hospital had passed away. Every day is so precious, truly a gift. Please keep us in your prayers! We appreciate them. Please also remember a newborn, Haleigh Kricket Ridgeway, a granddaughter of a former co-worker, who was born with a stage 4 brain tumor. She's at St. Jude’s now receiving chemo treatments. Please also remember Skyler Sanders, Sydney Ives and Joel Seabrook. God is so good! We're trusting each of these young ones in His precious and capable hands.

Love to you from the Gilzows!