I don't know if I've said it clearly here, but we are grateful for the gift Shriners' Children's Hospital of Boston has given our family. Before Jack ever landed on American soil he was welcomed into the Shriners family.
To date, he's received two surgeries to close his palate from Dr. Michael Lewis and his team. Here are some pictures from the most recent surgical visit.
Here's the old pro working the moving sidewalks at Logan's Delta terminal. The good news here is that the shirt we bought in China for him is finally getting small on our little guy.
This is a shot from the night before the surgery in Jack's room. Ironically, we stayed in the same room as his first surgery here. We were so impressed that Jack showed no fear about being back in the hospital or even in the same room.
I have debated about whether to post this picture. Finally, I decided that I wish I had know this was a possibility with the cleft palate surgery. Jack has a thick thread through his tongue to allow the doctors the ability to pull his tongue in the event he has trouble breathing. We didn't know this would happen until late the night before the surgery. Jack hated having this thread there. He tried his best to swallow it on several occasions. When it finally came out, he seems much more at peace. (It was in for 24 hours).
In typical Jack fashion, recovery was quick. We'd booked flights leaving on Sunday, but Jack was ready to go only 48 short hours after surgery. Delta helped us reorganized and we headed out on Thursday afternoon.
Jack has become the prince of the Delta Crown room. Its unusual to see other children in the Crown room, but he settles in and relaxes better than most adults. Of course, with Ariel the Little Mermaid seranading you, its hard not to relax. The milk cup in the foreground was the beginning of the two week liquid diet, during which I can happily report that our little guy lost no weight!
Jack has more than earned his wings, so he posed with the pilots.
Madison snuggled up with Hunter on Christmas morning, showing him the tricks of cell phone use. We decided to get him a cell phone this year to use for emergencies. He said it was his favorite gift.
As always Jack loved playing with his twin cousins Axel and Conrad. I think he has missed being around babies. He always shows us baby in sign language when we head over to Craig's parent's house. It precious to see how careful he is with the boys.
