Leaping and bounding

Ok i wrote this post last week but never got around to adding pictures so im going to go ahead and post it and post pictures later.

Being a sign language interpreter at a high school can be challenging, but it has it's perks. One of these perks is that while my students are taking a 2 hour exam, I get to sit here and do whatever I want. Well, cartwheels might be distracting but you know what I mean. So, I FINALLY have a change to catch up on catching you up!
That's exactly what we have been doing in the Chu house. Both Penny and Lydia are catching up very quickly to their actual age. Lydia has started to take more steps. She's still tentative at first but once she gets going she is just so proud of herself she squeals! Penny is not far behind her and in fact she got her first skinned knee while walking with Mrs Kim up the neighbors driveway. We are go go going these days with very little stopping in the middle. It's hectic but it's so joyful! They are both growing so quickly too! It's fun to see pajamas on them that we used to have to roll up look like high waters now. Penny is also making leaps and bounds in her eating. She still isnt actually eating food on purpose but she will lick the heck out of a Dorito! I know I know, it's like the least healthy thing she could eat, but we think that it's finally something that she can taste! With her nose being bypassed, so is her olfactory system and therefore her sense of taste is off. She always shows interest in our food and reaches for it, but she just mimics eating by putting it up her to mouth and "fake chewing." Not so with Doritos. Maybe it's the MSG or maybe it's her genetics, but that girl gets so excited when you pull out the red crinkly bag. I love her so.
About Penny's sensory issues, they seem to be almost completely gone since we started a low dose of melatonin at night to help her sleep. We found some studies that show that babies with medical complications have a naturally low level of melatonin and tend to develop stress related issues when they don't sleep fully and restoratively. I would say that's the case with her for sure! She's still a little leery of loud noises but not much more than Lydia is. We spend a good bit of time in the kiddie pool and she absolutely LOVES the water. So much so that im not sure how we are going to keep her from swimming before her stoma is closed.
Speaking of stomas (because normal people speak of stomas so often) the plan for getting off the vent and back to "normal" is always a question people ask. It's a complicated answer but I've developed a simple version. The plan as of now is to continue giving her breaks off of the ventilator (trach trials) at increasing amounts of time as tolerated until she is able to be completely off the ventilator. Because the winter brings more of a chance of respiratory illness that would require being on a ventilator, she will keep her trach in for a year after she's off the vent. Then, when the trach comes out (decannulation) there is about a 30% chance that she would have to have it put back in. So, we will have a year with just the stoma. THEN she will have surgery to have it closed and we will be done! It's a bit of a longer process than I had originally thought, but there is no doubt in my mind that her trach and vent have allowed her to live so much more of a normal life. She is such a happy thriving little girl, I can't imagine how much less of that we would see if she was using all of her energy just to breath!
Jonathan and I are finally getting into the swing of things with him being home. He has about 10 shows between now and the end of summer so we will get to have a lot of time together. That is a blessing and a challenge. We just had our 5th anniversary which means we have been together for 8 years! Because of his traveling, during that 8 years we have probably been in each others presence for about 3 years. Then you factor in the addition of children, his becoming "mr. Mom" for a few months while he's home, having 24 hour nurses(who we love...but still)...it can be a bit to figure out. Its a good thing we have the rest of our lives to figure it out! It has really made me do grateful for the commitment that we have to eachother and to God to honor our covenant that we made. I'm grateful for family and friends who come along side us and pray for us. I'm grateful for Gods love as an example of how we are supposed to love eachother. I'm especially grateful to have an opportunity to get to know my husband again and to get to know him as the father of my children. I can't imagine going through life, and a life like ours, without him.