That's my mama!

Did I mention that Noah is linebacker huge? And (this is a big deal to the Murphys) his head is just normal size when compared to his body. When he was a newborn in the nursery with all the other special needs babies, Jen says he looked grossly out-of-proportion to the other delicates babies. She also indicated with just a hint of maternal pride that he received a lot of attention from the nurses because of this robustness.

I use little bits of dialogue in these posts because I am absolutely charmed by him. He talks like a storybook baby. When he only had 4 or 5 words, one of them was "stuck" with huge emphasis on the "uh" sound in the middle. And he generally used it appropriately: when he crawled between the couch and the end table or when he couldn't get his truck from under the TV. However, she was distracted when she was buckling him into his carseat and when he protested, "Stuck!" she hushed him and said, "You're not stuck." Then she stopped, reconsidered and admitted, "OK, yes, you're stuck. But you're supposed to be so deal with it." I love watching her smile at him. It's not all Brad Pitt sappy about this sacred bond that they share as creator and created of life. She just enjoys him and that makes her smile. Like ice cream makes those of us that aren't lactose intolerant smile.

Noah has almost all of his tubes out and has been moved out of the special unit and into the general unit, which is a great sign. They have to stay through the weekend, though, which is the longest hospital stay they've had. This paragraph in her email made me laugh, though: "The bad news is that while Noah is definitely more mobile, he isn't allowed to walk yet because of the line in his groin area. It can apparently come loose if he walks much. The problem is, he really wants to walk! I asked Dr. Ilbawi about this all yesterday during rounds and he sat still for a moment and then said, in his Syrian accent, "He wants to walk? Really? I have never encountered this before. I will have to think about this...I will let you know tomorrow." I'm not sure how he's never encountered this before, having done so many surgeries on 2 year olds, but the question did seem to throw him for a loop! We are also confined (trapped...stuck...crawling out of our skin) to the room because the playroom is full of too many germs (he's immuno-suppressed after having been on the heart/lung bypass machine during surgery). So, we have taken lots of wagon rides around the unit, and we've done our best to entertain him in the bed with his cars, videos, books, etc. But, it is really difficult to keep a 2 year old entertained in a bed in a small room, no matter what toys we have!" Did I mention he is huge, charming and robust? Oh, to have their problems. :-) Please keep praying for them if the image of a happy baby who can't play touches your heart at all.