Benscoter Family: Late August 2012

The last time I posted to our blog we were working on feeding Tyler through his new G tube. He did very well with the progression of his G tube feedings and he continues to tolerate receiving the majority of his nutrition through the tube. Since he did so well with his feedings and he was medically stable, we were discharged home on my 28th birthday, August 16th. We were discharged around 1PM and subsequently spent the rest of the day setting up our apartment with all of Tyler's medical supplies. Joe was very sweet and brought home Olive Garden take out and a large ice cream cake to celebrate our special day. On August 18th Joe and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary by ordering Boston Market take-out and participating in our family's fantasy football draft...talk about romantic!! On August 19th our friends Julie Baker and Eric Schortmann came to our apartment to visit with us and meet Tyler. We had so much fun hanging out with them and are excited that they will be getting married just a couple of weeks! The next day, August 20th, we went to Children's Hospital Colorado to have a follow up appointment in the cardiology clinic. Tyler did very well so we went home for a short period of time before returning the next morning, August 21st, for Tyler's swallow study. Tyler passed that test with flying colors as the speech and occupational therapists determined that he demonstrated good oral motor skills and was able to swallow without aspirating fluid. On August 22nd we had a quick follow up with the surgeon who placed Tyler's G tube. That evening we met up with Jess and Kris for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We really enjoyed getting to see them one last time before heading to the East coast. We had our last appointment with the cardiology department at Children's Hospital on August 24th. Since Tyler continued to be medically stable, we were cleared to travel to Boston. The next day Joe, Sophia, Tyler, and I got on a direct flight from Denver to Boston while my Dad began the long road trip to Boston in my car. On August 27th Joe and I took Tyler to Boston Children's Hospital where we met Tyler's new cardiologist and got a tour of the facilities. The next day we drove to Yarmouth to meet Tyler's pediatrician and our poor little man had his first immunizations. Joe, Tyler, and I are all relieved that those are over with for now! In the early hours of August 30th my Mom, Tyler, and I dropped Joe off at the airport. He flew to Denver that day to pick up his car and then drove back to Clovis to return to work. After dropping Joe off we went back to Boston Children's for an appointment with Tyler's GI doctor so they could check on his G tube and give us advice on Tyler's nutrition. That afternoon Evan, Erin, and Ava came over to tell us that Baby Lagasse #2 is a girl!! We are so excited to meet our niece early next year!

That pretty much wraps up the month of August. However, I would be amiss if I did not mention how much Sophia has been growing. While she continues to get physically bigger each day, we are so astounded by her mental growth over the last couple of months. She loves to mimic whatever we do and repeat whatever we say. She is now learning her ABC's and can sing her own sweet rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She is also quite the girly girl as she loves to play with her lip gloss, rock and sing to her baby dolls, get her toenails painted, and put bows in her hair (although they don't usually stay in too long). She also is a courageous little girl since she loves to splash in the cold pool water and run down the steep hills in Grandpa's yard! We are so blessed to have her in our lives!