Jack Micah is turning 3

It is crazy to think that a year ago today we had no idea that Jack was facing a major health issue. We had noticed that he had a lot of bruises, but we thought it was because he was a clumsy toddler boy, and our pediatrician agreed. Only three days after his 2nd birthday, though, Jack ended up in the ER with extremely low platelets and our lives have never been the same. Jack has had periods of stability with his platelets, but they have only been in the normal range a couple of times. Thankfully he has mostly been able to lead a normal life as his platelets have only dipped to a dangerously low level a few times, but we have lived most of the last year not knowing when his platelets will drop. During the first 9 months after his diagnosis he was given platelet transfusions when his number dropped, but his platelet count never remained high for very long after a platelet transfusion. Three months ago Jack received his first IVIG treatment, and this has seemed to have a more long lasting effect on his count. Tomorrow Jack will be hospitalized overnight to receive his fourth IVIG treatment, and we pray that this continues to help his body fight his platelet antibody so that his platelet count can normalize.

Throughout the last year Jack has shown tremendous strength, courage, and resilience. Although he does not like getting his blood drawn or having an IV put in, and he cries really hard as soon as the needle appears, he recovers very quickly and he does an amazing job of coping with the situation through his play. He knows all of the steps for a blood draw and often spends time playing "nurse" with his sisters, stuffed animals, one of us, or a grandparent. He gets the most satisfaction when we pretend to cry when we get poked by him as I think this makes him feel like we understand how much it hurts when he gets poked. Although I hate being the one to hold him down for a blood draw or an IV, I feel better knowing that he has found his own way to deal with the trauma of the situation. It is also fun to hear him say that someday he is going to be a nurse, not a doctor. I don't think many 2-year-olds have their future career in mind, but Jack is always thinking about being a grown up.

Jack's love of guitars, violins, and all things music has also become apparent in the last year. I remember that right around his 2nd birthday we noticed that he would "strum" the toy tambourine, and soon it became obvious that he was obsessed with guitars. We now have three toy guitars, three ukuleles, and countless other instruments in our house. Although I took piano lessons for four years in elementary school and I played the french horn in middle school, I have never been that musical, and Micah has never played any instruments in his life. I think Jack's love of music is extra special because he hasn't had any influence from us and it's just something he saw and fell in love with at a very young age. He loved the music class we attended over the last year, and we hope to find another music class or enroll him in lessons of some sort in the future.

Like Alexis, many of the traits I described in his 2-year-old blog post remain true today. He continues to be a picky eater, and his staples are now PB&J and fig bars, which is a source of frustration for us as it's hard to make a child eat. He is still the smallest and when I last measured he was 1-2 lbs. lighter than the girls and 3-4 inches shorter. Recently we have been telling him that he needs to eat more so that he grows bigger as he often asks us if he can do grown-up things, such as drive our car. He has taken this to heart and he likes to talk about how he is growing bigger like us because he's eating his food. Hopefully he doesn't get disappointed when this growth takes years, but at least he has some motivation for eating his food right now.

Last year I wrote that Jack loves cars, bikes, motorcycles, and other things that go. This fascination has only grown more intense. Unfortunately we haven't spent much time using the balance bikes that the kids got for their birthday last year since we were worried about Jack getting hurt while his platelets were low, but more recently we have been using the bikes and Jack has taken to it really well. He loves to talk about driving cars and he gets a kick out of sitting in a parked car and pretending to drive.

Jack is really observant we are always surprised by what he knows or remembers. I think he would spend more time studying things and how they work if he wasn't so busy playing with his sisters (they rarely play separately, which has its pluses and minuses). 

Unfortunately, Jack is still sucking his thumb. He was really close to quitting around his birthday last year, but as soon as he was hospitalized I knew it would be comforting to him so I let it slide and it seems that the habit is getting a little worse. He literally cannot remember to keep it out of his mouth for more than a few seconds if he is watching TV or riding in the car. I know firsthand that this will be a hard habit to break as I sucked my thumb until 1st grade, but hopefully we can find a method that works for Jack sooner than later.

Jack is a very caring and loving boy. He randomly gives the girls hugs, and at almost every meal he gets up a few times and gives me a big hug. 

He has also become more of a little boy over the last year. He is super busy and never wants to sit down long for a meal or to read books. It seems that he turns every stick, including his triangle stick from music class, into a sword. He is constantly pretending to be a monster and he loves to come up to us, grab us with both hands, and say "rooaarrr!" Jack also loves to just run around the house making a huge racket for no apparent reason. The boy / girl differences have become very obvious to us over the last year as our kids are at the same developmental stage and they have access to the same toys, but Jack plays very differently than the girls a lot of the time even if they are playing the same game.

Jack continues to be a mommy's boy, but he also loves his grandparents. Although he is more reserved than his sisters in general, he is not reserved with his grandparents which makes it easier for us to leave the kids with them.

Here are Jack's responses to the questions that I asked each of the kids:

•What is your name?

Jack

•How old are you?

3

•When is your birthday?

June

•How old is Daddy?

5

•How old is mommy?

4 to June

•What is your favorite color?

Paint

•What is your favorite food?

Peanut butter jelly

•Who is your best friend?

My Faithy friend and my Lexi friend

•What is your favorite song?

A guitar with a microphone

•What is your favorite animal?

A zebra

•What are you scared of?

A cave

•What makes you happy?

An animal to sing

•Where is your favorite place to go?

To go to grandma and grandpa's house

•What do you want to be when you grow up?

Eat food so I grow up

•What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?

Drive daddy's car

•What is daddy's favorite thing to do?

Daddy's going to ride in the back

Here are photos of Jack throughout the past year:

24 months

25 months

26 months

27 months

28 months

29 months

30 months

31 months

32 months

33 months

34 months

35 months

Our hope and prayer is that Jack is able to go into remission in the near future so that he no longer has to receive monthly treatments for his low platelets. We love Jack and all of his interests and boy stuff, and we feel honored to be the parents of such a strong little boy.