Perfect vision. That's what she said. "Meeting all vision milestones."
What more can I say? All glory be to God!
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Today we're taking Mighty Joe to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford to see a pediatric ophthalmologist. His neurologist has been concerned about his eyesight since his first post-ICU neurology appointment, but his words didn't sink in until I saw them in writing in Joe's report:
"I am surprised he has any vision at all. I fully anticipate vision impairment."
That's hard for a mommy to read.
God is still God, no? He has big plans for Mighty Joe, whether or not his eyes see what ours see. God's already made a way for us to see an excellent pediatric eye doctor as the result of a long-time friendship with a friend who is an ophthalmologist himself.
Please pray for us, Mighty Joe, and his physician if you think of it today. Thanks.
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Here's our boy!
If you don't know about our Mighty Joe, you can read about how God spared his little life last summer.
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"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and my soul knows very well."
Psalm 139:14
I always love it when I can see that someone has done a search for Mighty Joe and has ended up here. It's amazing to think that nine months after his hospitilization and near death, people we don't even know are thinking of us and wondering how he is doing.
Well, folks, he's doing beautifully! The little brain that is missing sections is compensating and firing connections that are allowing him to progress just as any ten-month-old with a healthy brain should. He immitates blowing raspberries, clicking his tongue, and saying "da da" (I'm working on "ma ma", but he just smiles as if he has my number and repeats, "da da"). He is figuring out how to crawl, but currently scoots his way around our house faster than a speeding bullet. He is, after all, mighty :)
My husband recently posted a video of Mighty Joe doing one of his favorite things. Seriously, he'd do this 24/7 if we allowed him to.
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Mighty Joe and big brother enjoying jammie time
It has been quite a year for our family.
In June I found our then seven-week-old baby unresponsive in his Moses basket. We spent the next 11 days in the PICU of our regional Children's Hospital where he fought for his life against a nasty Enterovirus.
In December, our five-year-old jumped out of our 12-passenger van as I was parking around our very long driveway. The van rolled completely over her, but amazingly she only fractured her pelvis.
We've contemplated God's faithfulness a lot. Babies routinely die from the Enterovirus. Our "Mighty Joe" suffered liver failure, kidney failure, and brain damage, but today he is a healthy (chubby!) nine-month-old who is meeting every milestone. Little girls die from being run over by cars much smaller than ours.
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We read Practical Happiness last year and were encouraged to have a place in our home to remember God's faithfulness. I cleared a shelf from the cabinet in the dining room and there now sit mementos of how God has watched over and cared for us. Our wedding invitation, a celebretory note from friends when we bought our first home, a note written for Mighty Joe's crib in the PICU, a necklace with Joe's photo that I wore when he was in the hospital, our daughter's hospital band, and a thank you note from our local ambulence company after we took cookies to them at Christmastime. Even the author of that note praised God for His goodness! How has God been faithful to your family? We've challenged our older children to think back over their lives and see if there is something they can contribute to our faithfulness shelf.
We've just returned from nine restful, enjoyable, beautiful days at the beach. We were in Santa Cruz, land of hippies, drop-outs, and really great clam chowder in sourdough bowls. I'll get into meatier, helpful posts this week regarding school and life, but indulge me just a tad as I share the lovely photos my husband took.
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There was beach combing...
Laughter...
Brotherly/sisterly love...
Family photos...
And Mighty Joe...
