Some Great News (for now... :)

we just returned from The Children's Institute where Wyatt is going for feeding and speech therapy. they decided that he does NOT need to get a G-tube for now because of his AWESOME weight gain! almost 2 pounds over the last month. this should probably be credited to both his enormous appetite and my anal retentive practice of adding calories to everything he puts in his mouth. flax seed oil has been awesome for this. i add about half a tablespoon to each serving of solids and even tried it in his bottle for awhile. he's been eating everything we put in front of him too - i am just so happy and i wanted to share the news!

Breathing Eas(ier)

with the recent spike in temperatures and a healthy dose of sunshine, the Northrops (or Thropvengos, as Ben lovingly calls us) have had some very good days. we feel relieved and thankful for many things, in no particular order:

Friends:

Family:

and medicine that works. it is no coincidence that once Wyatt restarted the medication that we use to manage his movement disorder, we got our baby back! he is taking naps again (never as long as i'd like of course, but, hey) and cooing, smiling and enjoying eating solids. we were able to take him for a few nice walks in the past few weeks(in the bjorn! Ben is such a proud daddy when he wears it!), to visit with the Esser's, the Jones' and the Beanner's, and most importantly, our lovey little boy is continuing to do things that make us proud! check him out:

We also took a trip to the Laurel Mountains to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Giovengo. Wyatt loved, loved, loved the serenity of the quiet cabin in the woods. He seemed to just fall into a trance as he gazed around at the trees and listened for birds. Here are a few cute pictures:

a friendly game of Risk, that lasted 6 hours and spanned 2 days!!

gazing out the window:

loving his Valentine's giraffe:

napping in style:

and finally getting ready for some green beer!