Patrick weighs 14.8 kilograms, 15 with clothes on, and is exactly 3 feet tall. I know that because he was weighed and measured no fewer than 6 times in the last month and a half. We were in doctor's offices that often.

Patrick prefers to spend that in-office waiting time inside the cabinets under the sink.

And I have sat on this post until I had all the doctor's input to make sure that what I was posting was accurate.

So let's rewind in time a bit. Let's go back to November when the clinic that does Patrick's speech therapy finally got around to billing the services that he received at the end of summer, supposedly with new billing codes that would clear the insurance company because they met the criteria AND were supposed to have gone through the preauthorization process.

After a much needed nap, we felt good enough to dare go out. I know a couple of other families with kids in the Intestinal Rehab program at Seattle Children's through my online support group. So, we headed over to University Village to meet one of them. It was raining, but Seattle's made for rain and there's a decent little indoor playground there. It was fun to visit with the other mom over a light dinner from a coffee house and swap stories about Short Gut and adoption. (Her son was adopted, too.) And Patrick thought having daddy help him on the playground was great fun, too.

Playing in a display curtain at the EMP

We grabbed some cupcakes at Trophy Cupcakes, then headed up to a park on Queen Anne's Hill to give Bailee a good view of the city and space needle.

I was more than a little nervous about getting Patrick and myself to Seattle on my own. Especially on the heels of several days of being the only grown-up and therefore not having any time away from Patrick to pack. So, when an opportunity for help for me came, we took it. 

Help came in the form of a college student named Bailee. Bailee loved children with special needs. Was born for them. And so, she is studying special education and, at every opportunity, she provides respite care for families of special children. Bailee offered to buy a ticket to Seattle so she could have a little vacation, and we helped with her other expenses as repayment for some help with Patrick.

Still, as Bailee didn't arrive till Monday night, I relied on my awesome little sister Marcy to come and help me get the house in order that day.

I can't believe it's true! But - my little boy is a sunbeam!!! If you don't speak Latter-Day-Saint-eese, that means that now that he's 3, he has graduated from the "nursery" class at church into Primary, or the big kid sunday school. Ok, so it's only Junior Primary. But still, it's a big deal. It means that instead of spending the Sunday School hour playing with toys with a short lesson and a short singing time squeezed in... now he spends those two hours learning about Jesus and scriptures and choosing the right... sure, with some coloring and a little snacktime thrown in... But mostly Sunday School. Reports are that he will stay in his chair for about 15 minutes at a time, which I think is pretty darn good.

Sometimes Patrick's medical needs require sacrifices. For the week between Christmas and New Years', Brian's brother rented a beach house for the family in North Carolina. The idea was that the family could have a vacation together for a week, and then at the end of that week, Brian's niece Emma would be baptized.

Well, for us there were two problems with the plan. 1) North Carolina is on the other side of the country and travelling there meant putting Patrick's transplant listing on hold and make a whole heck of a lot of preparations to get through that long of a flight. 2) We'd already scheduled Patrick's transplant checkup for January 4th, meaning two back to back weeks of travel for a kid who is usually sick to his stomach after just a few days away from home.

Patrick is starting to take a real interest in dressing himself. The result is some very interesting moments in toddler fashion. Here are some favorites from the past few months.

The best part of it all is that he loves seeing watching himself. He runs to the mirror with every clothing change... and yes, dances half dressed in front of the mirror before baths, too. Because clothes are fun and, heck, he's cute and we all know it.

Because Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, our Christmas celebration was a three-day event.

First of all, Brian had Friday off of work. So this year, as Christmas Eve was scheduled to be quite busy, we went to the zoo on Friday instead.

It was a COLD day at the zoo. We were grateful for warm blankets, hats and scarves. Also, there was hardly anyone else there. (Part of the reason we love to go around Christmas.) Ironically, though, one of the only other groups there was the family of one of our favorite homecare delivery drivers. It was kind of fun to introduce Patrick to his family and explain to them how important his job was to us.

We also saw some animals and let Patrick run as long as he could before he got too cold and needed snuggled up in the wagon some more.

This Christmas season, Patrick was old enough for Christmas to be a little bit magical. The lights, the music, the parties, the trees all held a little more wonder for him than they have before, and therefore, held more wonder for us as well.

We couldn't walk in or out of the house without Patrick stopping to touch and look at the lights on the house. The Christmas tree was mostly safe, except the ornaments bought just for Patrick this year. Those toured the house throughout the season.

I can't believe it's been a whole MONTH that Patrick has been attending preschool! "Koo koo" (School) and "Aaa" (Ann - pronounced with tongue protruding) have quickly become a highlight in Patrick's week.

 I am a very, very lucky girl. I have two wonderful men in my life. They make me so incredibly happy! Tomorrow I'll celebrate 8 years of marriage to my best friend, Brian (though you may call him Howie). Two days ago we celebrated 3 years since we were able to bring Patrick home for the hospital for the first time. These are my boys and I am very happy to have them in my life.

You might think it's special when your husband takes you out for a nice dinner alone. I do, too. I love dates with my husband. We went to a Blue Man Group concert yesterday, just the two of us, and it was nice to be together just us.

But more often than not, when I go out to a nice restaurant, I am accompanied by both of my boys.