7 steps and an anniversary.

It's now December 7th as I type this update. It's Morgan and I's 5th wedding anniversary and I'm currently in Denver for a few days to see Hadley and ensure our house is still standing... Hadley and house couldn't be better (thanks Sam!) This is not how I expected us to be spending this anniversary five years ago, but Jaxon continues to impress us, every day!

Morgan and I have felt this whole journey with Jaxon has been in a time warp. We don't know what day it is, how long we've been admitted to Children's Philadelphia, and how long we have until we can go home. What we do know is Jaxon continues to make improvements to his gross motor and cognitive abilities. Jaxon continues to do well with all therapies and is getting used to the intensive schedule.

We've been able to leave the hospital one day a week with Jaxon to explore Philly. Last weekend his uncle Casey was in town and we took a field trip to the Aquarium, where Jaxon took a picture with Scuba Santa, saw Rhinos and a hammerhead shark for the first time, and fell in love with a massive grouper fish (pics below.)

One of our previous posts had a title of two steps forward, one step back. That seemed to be the theme of our stay in the first few weeks. As of late, Jaxon continues to take steps forward, without looking back. His physical therapist came back to the room yesterday saying Jaxon took 7 independent steps!! To us, it may seem like a slow process, but Jaxon is making incredible strides every day. We still have a long road ahead, but things continue to look up for Jaxon in getting back to his baseline from a gross motor perspective.

His cognitive ability continues to impress us. Looking into his eyes, there is more intent than we ever imagined. He wants to understand what you're saying and is motivated beyond belief to build his relationship with you as a person. This was something Morgan and I hadn't experienced as parents before. His right hemisphere abnormality and disorganization were interrupting his left side and ability to learn and interpret our world in a typical manner. Seizure Freedom was simply a phrase to us before surgery. As parents, Jaxon's intent and his ability to listen, communicate, and interact with us more every day is an unreal experience that we simply didn't know we were missing out on. It's like we're meeting a new person every day. All the challenges we face with a shared room, sleepless nights, and a long hospital stay don't hold a candle to the benefits we're seeing out of our son, truly remarkable.

At the end of the day, and what I'm most impressed by is my wife. Morgan has been an unbelievable advocate for Jaxon since the beginning. She's the reason he's getting the best care possible. She's the reason this whole family sticks together. She's the reason I'm able to make it through all of this, period.

Happy Anniversary Morgan! I am unbelievably lucky to have you as my rock.