Independence Day

We had an excellent time celebrating the 4th of July this year! We spent a few hours at our neighbor's house, eating some good food and catching up with friends. Ethan tried his hand mouth at strawberries and blueberries and seemed to like them, but hasn't touched them since!

They had a kiddie pool set up, and Ethan got a kick out of watching his friend Brayden splash in the water!

After playing some corn hole...

...and posing for pictures...

(I stole those pictures from Mandy ... thanks girl!)

...we headed to the fireworks with Mandy & family! We had an awesome view and I was really proud of how well the little boys did with the loud booms.

It was an awesome night!

Jeramie had Monday off of work, so we headed to the pool with some friends. Ethan is an absolute fish in the water, and I really enjoy watching him splash and play.

We were able to stay for a couple of hours and then headed home. It was the perfect way to end a great vacation and holiday weekend!

Until today...

Today I took Ethan to see his feeding therapist, as I do every Wednesday afternoon. He ate like a champ and had no problems showing off his new let-me-drink-from-a-cup-with-a-straw skill. She was so impressed with the progress he has made since she saw him last, and suggested that we go TUBE-FREE for the next 48 hours!

Jeramie and I have actually been doing a modified version of that over the busy holiday weekend, but haven't been brave enough to just go for it. Obviously, we will use the tube for fluids if it seems Ethan is not taking enough from the cup, but we will not be giving him any food through his tube for the next two days, starting tomorrow morning!

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! (just had to let it out...)

Talk about an independence day! Ethan has been dependent on some sort of feeding tube since the first time he was allowed to eat after his first heart surgery. To think that he is on the brink of gaining his independence from that is just abso-stinkin-lutely fantastic!

We have a plan in place and our hopes are high. I am fully aware that we still have a long ways to go, and won't be pulling out the tube anytime soon, but this is HUGE, my friends! Ethan is interested and ready, so we're taking advantage of that and jumping in with both feet.

Say some prayers for us over the next couple of days! The way I see it, he either eats or he doesn't. Either way, we have the tube as our back-up... but, man. I would really, really love it if, for the first time in 16 months, we can feed our child the way we always thought we would.

Now, THAT will be a day to celebrate!

(again, stolen from Mandy!)