5 months old!

Austin has a new nickname...Gooser.  (Silly Goose has migrated to "Gooser")  He loves it, haha.   If you know me, you are not surprised, as I have nicknames for everyone!   So, the lil Gooser turned 5 months old yesterday.  I can't even believe it.  I came across an email today that I sent out to my family and friends a few months after we received Austin's diagnosis.  Just reading that email again made me upset.  If I had known on that day as I wrote that email, what kind of post I would write today, 8 months later, I would have been so grateful...and most importantly, I would have enjoyed the remainder of my pregnancy. 

Austin is doing great.  PERFECT actually.  We are never "out of the woods" so to speak, but I really couldn't have asked and prayed for him to be any more perfect than he is.  Several people have asked me to call up those doctors who were so negative during my pregnancy and let them know how perfect Austin is.  Several people want me to scream at those doctors, to tell them how horrible they are to have put our family through what they put us through.  But, thats not the type of person I am.  And I really, truly, 100% believe, that Austin is a miracle.  I really believe that those doctors were telling us the truth about how much fluid there was, and what they have experienced seeing ultrasounds like Austin.  I do feel that they could have "educated" us better and maybe went about it all differently, but all in all, I'm not mad.  This experience has strengthened my faith so much more.  I put my faith and trust in the Lord, and I received a little angel. 

And an angel he is.  He is such a happy boy.  Smiling and laughing all the time.  He now weighs over 16 pounds.  We started rice cereal a few weeks ago.  He is still trying to get the hang of it, but he is doing well with it.  He still gets physical therapy once a week and he is doing very well with it.   He is putting lots of pressure on that shunt side of his head now.  He rolls over onto both of his sides from laying on his back.  He does well with tummy time.  We are working on getting him to put more pressure onto his hands on tummy time.  He reaches and grabs for toys and tries to sit himself up when reclined in his bouncy chair.  He also puts nice pressure on his legs.  The only thing he doesn't do (that he should at this age) is reach and grab for his feet.  We are encouraging that though and I'm sure he'll pick it up quickly. 

Here are some recent pics and a cute video.  (He is laughing at his brother saying "Wipey, Wipey" as he was swinging a wipe around)