21 months

I'm a couple of weeks behind, but this little guy is now 21 months. I thought I would write a brief update since I haven't for a while. Overall Jackson is doing very, very well. He doesn't usually walk from room to room--he runs. :) He continues to be seen by a physical therapist once a month in our home. He seems to enjoy her visits, and she gives us lots of ideas of ways we can work with him throughout the month. A few weeks ago he was evaluated by a speech therapist and scored several months behind on his speech. She will begin seeing him next week on a biweekly schedule. He seems to us to occasionally be frustrated by his inability to communicate, so we're hoping and praying his speech will develop and "catch up". (I'll probably be eating my words on that last sentence before I know it!) He continues to take only two medications a day--aspirin and antibiotics. Jackson has had increased pressure in his pulmonary artery since his corrective heart surgery. This is considered normal after this procedure, because by nature of the surgery the artery must be stretched (we're talking really small vessel and really small stretch :)). The stretch leads to a narrowed vessel...which leads to increased pressure required to pass blood through. However, his pressures have always been higher than the new "high" following surgery. They were staying the same for about year following the surgery, but at our last visit had risen slightly. Our cardiologist said they are not at a critical level (as of February), but that he suggested cardiac catheterization (viewing the vessel from the inside) when Jackson is two to see what's causing this increased narrowing and how best to correct it. We will return to see him in August, and plan for this procedure to be scheduled shortly after at St. Louis Children's. I will update closer to the time, but we would sure appreciate your prayers for this. And really just your prayers that God would preserve and strengthen his body in every way. We continue to do monthly pacemaker checks on him at home and he tolerates these very well. His pacemaker continues to work wonderfully. He is 20 something pounds of concentrated personality and vivaciousness. Always on the move, always exploring, always in trouble, and just as cute as the day is long. Maybe cuter! Also, the funniest thing he's ever seen is me going down his baby slide as a joke. He laughed so hard he fell over. Haha!
 Thank you for praying for us! Aunt Lauren and cousin Madi took several of the pictures below...and I love them! I put the last picture in to show his sweet, fluffy growing hair. Another miracle! ;)