No, I would not give you false hope.

First of all, thanks so much to all of you who have volunteered to feed us in the next couple weeks. Our first donated meal was excellent. But, uh, Michelle shouldn't carry more than ten pounds, so lets try to restrain ourselves when it comes to quantity, okay?

Alicia is still doing well. She hasn't really had a bad day yet. However, the ductus arteriosis hasn't closed yet, so surgery is a possibility in the near future.

Unmentioned on this blog as of late, but far from forgotten, is our first child Toby. It has been wonderful for Michelle to be home with him again, and of course he is thrilled as well. She is frequently amazed by how much more he does, says and understands compared to just a month ago. He loves her attention and continually invents new ways to garner it. The mother and child reunion has been all we expected and more.

But the effects of missing mom for a month are noticeable. Toby is definitely a little fussier than before. He's pickier at meal times, melts down more easily when he doesn't get his way, and sometimes protests against leaving the house. Even when mom is coming with us, he might refuse to put his coat on. All of these behaviors were non-existent a month ago.

He may just be entering the legendary Terrible Twos, but separation anxiety seems a more likely culprit. When we dropped him off with a friend on Monday before going to see Alicia, he seemed more worried than usual. In other words, he seemed a little worried as opposed to not at all worried. Toby has always been an extremely secure child, able to play on his own for extended periods of time seemingly unconcerned as to the whereabouts of his parents. Happy to be left at a friend's house without a second look back at mom and dad as they wave goodbye. I expect he will return to his old self before long, as he learns that mom does always come back now, but it's a little sad that he had to go through a month of mom being away. It did affect him.

Now Mom misses Alicia instead of Toby. We see her every day, but there isn't that much we can do. She can only be held about twice a week, if we're lucky. We can touch her, but stroking isn't good. Again, it will get better as she grows. For now, we are parents to only one child at a time, always wondering if the other needs us more. Our children need your prayers more, but if you have a spare one, we'll take it ourselves.