In the pre-transplant world, it's good for Patrick to be building immunity. So, Brian and I have not been overprotective. Even common childhood illnesses can mean extra work with Patrick, though.

Yesterday morning, Patrick wasn't as interested in breakfast as usual. (Not that he ever eats a lot, but breakfast is the meal he eats best.) Then he opened his mouth wide and I spotted the culprit. His tonsils were bright red and covered with little bumps.

Great. So the first question is "Is this a normal childhood thing? Or is this a complication of Short Gut?" A childhood illness we might be able to keep at home under mom's care. However, a complication such as acid erosion or varices could mean something much more serious. Where to start?

First, call dad so he's not caught off guard by a frantic call later. Second, call the pediatrician.

This morning as I was laying in bed trying to convince my tired body to get out of bed to greet a happy 7 a.m. Patrick, I was contemplating on just how far my  munchkin has come. And all of a sudden I realized that I am living in the midst of miracles right now.

I am a VERY tired mother right now. By about 5 p.m. every day I just want to call it quits and go to bed because the work of taking care of a TPN-dependent, developmentally delayed toddler is exhausting! Patrick is a very active little boy right now. He's on the brink of walking. He's finally mastered the skills of carrying things from one room to another, of opening drawers and doors and emptying the contents found therein, and of putting things in places where I sometimes never find them again.

Not sure what we were thinking, but 3 days after returning from Yellowstone, we headed up to Seattle. It was time again for Patrick's quarterly checkup and we decided to keep the vacation going by taking a few extra days and going as a family.

We arrived the day before our appointment and spent the afternoon and evening with our good friends. Lindy, her husband Kelly, and their daughter Lauren live north of Seattle and are kind enough to let us crash their home for these regular checkups. Lauren's just a few months younger than Patrick and is one of his very favorite friends to play with.

I can't believe it! We actually made it to Yellowstone this year! Those of you who know where we were last year when we'd planned a trip to Yellowstone can maybe understand how monumental this is.

The trip up didn't go without incident. (See the blog entry at this link for details http://www.cotaforpatrickh.com/node/1001), but we arrived in West Yellowstone Thursday afternoon unscathed, despite an extra 2 hours sitting in traffic.

Since Patrick came into our family, we've made several attempts at a vacation... and all in vain. For a while, I superstitiously didn't even want to say the word, for fear that it would end up with another infection. It seemed that the bigger the plans, the bigger the catastrophe.

But.. several months ago, when Brian's parents suggested a trip to Yellowstone with his family, we couldn't resist the chance to make another attempt. We booked a room, cleaned our house, packed our bags. With each step closer, I just kept waiting for the hammer to drop.

On the 5th, Patrick's line sprung a pinhole sized leak. It wasn't even visible.. but the line pulled air when I tried to draw back and sprayed when we flushed it. So we ran up to the hospital to have it repaired. All went smoothly, especially for 5 p.m. on a holiday. We even made it to a family dinner, just a little late.

Last year, we watched our community fireworks from the roof of Primary Children's Hospital while Patrick was admitted for the first of a series of yeast infections. This year, we were able to take him to see them in person. Patrick isn't bothered by big fireworks. He just sits back and watches them. He does think it's kind of unfair to keep him up so late... though he really did enjoy the time to play with family.

For the 4th, my family had our tradition "Tank Wars." We build origami cities, incorporate them with fireworks, then send in firework tanks to set the whole thing ablaze. Patrick was not so happy with these. They were close and much more dangerous. However, he also couldn't keep his eyes off of them.

That's right! Patrick go to go swimming for the first time last week! Brian's company had it's summer party at Cherry Hill waterpark.

This is a super big deal! You must understand that we were told that Patrick couldn't even have a bath in a bathtub as long as he had a central line. But - after experience with baths and trading ideas with other parents, we decided that we could probably pull this off.

So - I packed an enormous duffel bag full of emergency medical supplies, just in case his central line dressing got wet.

Earlier this month we took Patrick to the annual Chalk Art Festival. This event is an awareness event/fundraiser for the Utah Foster Care Foundation and a natural place for an adoptive family to go.

We arrived just as the event opened spent the morning wandering up and down street watching the artists finish their work. It was a perfect morning for it! Patrick got balloons to play with on his stroller, which was enough to keep him happy. This was the first of many opportunities this summer to feel like just a normal family doing fun summer things.

Just a quick update, for those who want to know. We saw Patrick's physical therapist this morning. I was hoping she'd be pleased by what she saw, and she was. This is good news. It means he doesn't need a brace quite yet.

After a week of twice daily stretches, Patrick is beginning to put his right heel down when he walks. When he's going slowly and deliberately, he can do it almost every time. When he tries to go fast, it's back up onto his toe and he starts to trip and veer to the left.

The therapist says this means that it's almost certainly a matter of tone. For whatever reason, the muscles in that foot are pulled tight. When he thinks and controls it, he's able to get them to stretch into ways that allow him to walk. When he goes fast, he can't control it and the foot is pulled up and in.

I blogged yesterday about Patrick walking. Here's some video of a walk in our front yard. When we walk outside, I hang onto his harness to keep him from falling because we let him walk so much farther.