Spring has sprung! The weather here in CA has been warm and mild and we have been enjoying our time outdoors since the last update.Of course, we have also had plenty of time indoors at appointments and in the hospital. As most of you know, Nathan spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia in February. Each pneumonia episode is scary for us and we thank all of you for your warm thoughts, prayers, and emails of inspiration. And of course for those of you that live nearby, we are so appreciative of the babysitting, meals, and helpful errands. After one week in the hospital, Nathan was sent home to finish recovering. It was a difficult road and we still can’t say he has fully recovered. Although I’m sure the pneumonia is gone, he has since had strep throat and other upper respiratory infections. He has “up” days and “down” days which we will never be able to put rhyme or reason with, but overall I would say he is reasonably healthy for him right now.
Madison celebrated her 6th birthday while Nathan was in the hospital. Somehow, we pulled off the girly princess party with no sleep, little planning, and single parent coverage (okay, we could
not have done it without Karen preparing crafts the night before, Pam picking up balloons and cake that morning, and the other mom’s / Aunt Kelley’s help during the party). All in all the party was a success.
March brought an open house celebration for Nathan’s 2nd birthday. It seems incredible that two years have passed since Nathan came into our world. It’s been a long and interesting journey so far… Friends and family joined us to enjoy good company, good food, and good entertainment provided by Nathan’s music therapist, Anne. 
Although Nathan was suffering from strep throat at the time, he really rose to the occasion when Anne arrived to sing. He smiled, cooed, and sang along in all the right places. Nathan’s big birthday present this year was his wheelchair. We are a couple weeks away from getting the contraption to lock the wheelchair down in our van for transportation and a manual (~30lb) ramp to get him in and out of the van. It sounds challenging, but will be easier than what we have to do today to transport him.Lately, Nathan’s seizures have increased (despite all the meds) and his good night’s sleep has been interrupted and shortened by his loud moaning (which sometimes stirs his roommate, Zachary). Not knowing what is going on and how it might be affecting Nathan is worrisome and may become more challenging. Nathan’s current neurologist at the UC Davis MIND institute will be leaving his practice, leaving Nathan and us on our own to find a new neurologist (from the shallow pool of local pediatric neurologists). He is set to see a neurologist who is relatively new to the Sacramento area and who also specializes in epilepsy, so we will keep our fingers crossed that the doctor’s fresh perspective might bring some new ideas and treatments.
Madison and Zachary continue to enjoy their school/day care arrangements, while Jim and Tricia try to get in a few hours of work here and there. We both have avoided big business trips so far in 2007, but Tricia has been carrying a full schedule of meetings with colleagues around the world that keeps her at work or on the phone during evening hours while Jim juggles the three kids at home (Zachary loves the TV remote, so the next step will be teaching him how to flip between multiple sporting events).
We hope everyone has an enjoyable Spring and we look forward to seeing and/or hearing from everyone in the coming months. Tricia is planning a trip to the Midwest in early August with Zachary and Madison, so keep your calendars open!
