Daniel is now 6 weeks old and weighs somewhere between 11-12 lbs. He is starting to charm us with his smiles and the boys can’t wait until he can laugh and play with them. Catherine likes to play with his hands (when she’s allowed to get close enough) and tries to “pat” him on the head. The outfit that you see on Daniel in these pictures is the same outfit that his Dad wore when he was the same age. I have taken pictures of all the boys in the same outfit when they were 6 weeks old. Jim’s mom has a picture of him wearing it, I’ll have to scan it and post everybody’s picture.
Catherine is doing really well. She is now 2 years old, and I can’t believe it! Some recent doctor’s visits have given us some good news. Her urologist doesn’t think she needs to be on antibiotics for her kidney reflux, since her urine is not backing all the way up to her kidneys anymore. Her kidney stone has disappeared (again) and she doesn’t need to see him again for another year. Anytime we don’t have to see a doctor for awhile is really good news! She also saw her ophthalmologist and had the prescription increased slightly for her left eye. She will have an EUA(examination under anesthsia) of her right orbit and left eye in Cincinnati in June, along with an MRI and a visit to her oncologist there.
She had an evaluation with a Developmental Pediatrician and everyone was very pleased with her progress developmentally. She is crawling all over and pulls to her knees. Her physical therapist is looking into getting her a pony walker, which is kind of a glorified infant walker, to help her with moving those legs and eventually walking. She can stand up holding onto something, but she still needs to gain considerable upper body strength and lower body strength before she can walk. She is definitely moving in that direction though. Jim and I think she may be walking by the time Daniel begins to walk. Fun!
Some of the most exciting developments for Catherine though is with her communication. She now can sign “more” consistently and appropriately. If we take something away from her that she wants, she will sign “more” without prompting. She is doing a lot more imitating and loves playing those kind of games with us. She is even saying “dada” and “gaga”. She likes to stack rings and bounce on her ball. It’s really amazing to look back a year ago and see how much progress she has made!
Thank you for all your prayers for us. Thanks especially to my mom and dad who stayed with us for a couple of weeks and helped out and to my in-laws who are helping out with appointments and watching the boys. We appreciate it!
God Bless!
James M. Hahn, Author 
