Minnesota: The Headwaters of the Mississippi

I grew up less than an hour away from Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi River originates.  It's a fun place to visit, so we brought the boys.

Caleb crossed the Mississippi with Nate's help:

And he went across the log bridge all by himself:

Russell got to go wading:

Caleb went wading, too:

More bridge crossing:

That bridge makes for a nice little photo op.  We have a matching picture of Nate and me with Caleb when he was 8 months old:

The beautiful Mississippi, where it's small and quiet, before it gets big and mighty:

My sweet boys taking a leisurely stroll, hand in hand.  I love them:

"Here, 1479 ft above the ocean, the Mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.":

Minnesota: Granddad's House

We had lots of fun adventures at Granddad's house (my dad's house).  

When we first got to the farm, Russell made a mad dash for the horses, shouting, "'sie! 'sie!" (that's how he says "horsie."):

Then we went fishing.  My nephew put a shovel into the ground and dug up a few worms, put them on a hook, and dropped the line into the water right next to the dock.  Within five seconds he pulled out a little fish.  Caleb was excited about it, but wouldn't get too close.  Russell wanted to poke it in the eye over and over:

Caleb sure felt important holding onto that pole:

Russell was happy to poke the worms:

No shortage of tractors at this farm, which the boys loved:

Of course they each had to go on a short tractor ride:

This boy was in heaven:

A view of the house.  I grew up there!:

A view from the house, looking down the driveway to the barns.  Caleb thinks that big red barn=farm.  So even if you have 1000 cattle, it's not a farm unless there's a big red barn!:

The view of the lake just behind the house.  Minnesota has the best sunsets:

Some loons (or were they ducks? I can't remember) flying over the quiet lake:

Taking a dip in the water:

My boys weren't big fans of swimming, unless you were twisting them around in the water:

This skinny minnie got cold fast and wanted Granddad to snuggle him:

Belle is getting old, but she's still so cute!:

A family of rocks found under a tree on the walk back from the lake:

The lovely view:

Russell was a huge fan of visiting the pigs.  He had fun giving them snacks:

Caleb enjoyed them, too:

A beautiful view of the horses grazing:

Russell loves animals of all kinds, but especially cats.  He tried to give Pumpkin a stick to play with...yeah, he's too used to Auntie JB's puppy, Sadie.  He insisted that Pumpkin take that stick from him, and was confused when she wouldn't:

We all had a great time at Granddad's house.

I have concluded that my boys need a farm, ASAP.

Minnesota: Nana's House

We spent a glorious 11 days in Minnesota, visiting family and friends and seeing the sights.

First stop: Nana's house.

We stayed with my mom, on her little farm, and the boys just loved it!

Nana had tons of little chicks for the boys to admire:

Some beautiful horses, who are smart and like to help each other get the horse flies off.  There is no shortage of bugs in Minnesota!:

A beautiful horse who can outshine the sun:

A cousin who is only three months older than Caleb and shares his love for all things with wheels:

A sweet little newborn cousin who Russell absolutely fell in love with (me too!):

Ahh.  Nothing better than holding a sleeping newborn:

Nana is brave to let three little boys eat watermelon on her couch!:

Russell is working on his not-so-flattering-photo-skills while playing the piano:

He also must select the right piece to play:

And play it perfectly:

Nana got this rooster while we were visiting (since the neighborhood fox got her other ones!).  Russell was absolutely crazy about the chickens, so Nana let him name him:  Bok.  Because, naturally, Russell would enthusiastically shout "bok, bok, bok!" every time he saw a chicken.  So we lengthened it to Bok Choy, because that's what we had in our stir fry for dinner that night.  ;)  But Mr. Bok Choy the Rooster won't be going in Nana's dinner.  He's much too pretty:

And much too friendly:

2-Year Tubiversary!

Two years ago today Caleb had surgery to place his gastrostomy tube.  Did you know that's what "g-tube" stands for?  It's true.  Sometimes I forget that.  ;)

It's weird to think that he has spent more than two thirds of his life with a feeding tube of some sort.

From birth to about one month, he had an OG tube (oral gastric, meaning it went through his mouth and into his stomach).

Birth

1 month

From one to almost six months, he had an NG tube (nasogastric tube--meaning, it goes from the nose to the stomach).

1 month

1.5 months

 2 months

 2.5 months

3 months

5 months

From six months to 19 months he ate 100 percent orally.  There was a short time in there where he even ate well enough to not need feeding therapy!  For a few months we had no worries.  But right around his first birthday things went downhill fast.

6 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

Happy birthday!  So far, this is the only birthday where he could have cake.

14 months

15 months

16 months

Around 18 months he got his EGID diagnosis and at 19 months he started the elimination diet and got an NG tube again.

19 months

19 months

20 months

Almost a month later, exactly two years ago today, he had surgery for his g-tube.

21 months

24 months

3 years 8 months--Today!

What an evolution!  And what a roller coaster!  Thanks to the tube, Caleb is able to enjoy food for the first time in his life because we don't have to pressure him to take just one more bite.  He still doesn't eat enough to grow so we still depend on the tube quite a bit, but what he does eat, he enjoys.  And that counts for a lot!  Most days he eats enough orally during the day that we don't have to tube feed him until bed time.  He gets 13oz of half formula (EO28 Splash) and half rice milk using the feeding pump at 65ml/hour while he sleeps at night.  We're hoping the days of projectile vomiting are over--he doesn't throw up any more unless he's sick or really scared (like when I put him to bed in an unfamiliar place...that invoked vomit).  His (and our) quality of life is on the upswing, and we're hoping it stays that way!