GREAT NEWS

Sorry it has been a few days since I last posted. There really haven't been any changes, but I should have let you all know so that you are not worried.

Good news to report on Mr. Dawson today. He is now off of the ventilator and on a nasal cannula and doing great! He stopped all of his antibiotics yesterday and nothing has grown yet on a culture they have done. He is not exibiting any signs of being sick. I will let all you grandparents know when they give us the go ahead.

Dawson was also having trouble with balancing his potassium. He is now stable with that and they discontinued the potassium drip and will test him today and tomorrow to see if he stays stable. If he does they will remove his Artery line. Then surgery should be up anytime to remove the staples. Then he will get dressed and get in a crib where he belongs. They also removed his Andersen tube, which is a big tube that goes through his mouth and into his belly to remove all saliva and mucus. They are going to see how he tolerates it and plan to start feeding him tomorrow.

These are all very important steps towards home and he is flying through them like they are nothing. It will take about 1 week to get him up to full feedings and if he tolerates it and is not having any A's and B's (which he had mastered before getting sick) he is as good as home! We are figuring about 2 weeks. We are praying like crazy that his little body will handle and take care of all that it needs to in the next little bit so that he can come home. We can't wait to show him that there is more to life than being poked with needles and surgery. He will love it I am sure!

Mallory continues to be totally fun and we are so glad to have her at home with us! She only wakes up once during the night and it is so nice to get some sleep. Plus when I wake up with her I am excited to see her cause I have missed her. She is so sweet. She smiled her first really intentional smile yesterday. She was sitting in a little bouncy chair and Jake leaned over by her and said "Hi Mallory" and she lit up. Her little nose even wrinkled up. She loves her big brother so much. When he gets home from school she is awake and we lay her on a blanket on the floor and Jake lays down by her and talks to her for awhile. She loves to watch him and when he moves away she looks for him. It is so cute!

Jake is a really good helper and is adjusting really well. It was hard for the first couple of days, but he is doing really well. He loves to help feed, bath, love and change her diaper. He is such a good boy! Yesterday he was outside with all of his friends telling them that he had a baby. He wanted to bring them all in and show her off, but we had to remind him about keeping her healthy. So he just told them that she was really cute. He is such a sweetheart!

We are all doing great. I feel a more normal than I have for the last 3 1/2 months. It is great to be home and doing my usual stuff! I even cooked dinner the other night and I am back to the constant battle of keeping the house clean. I LOVE IT!!!

I will keep you updated when anything new comes up. We love you all!

Love, The Lindstroms