The Monkey Report

He is now 5 1/2 months and doing really great. He is a happy baby and really only gets upset when he has to go in the carseat (which, unfortunately is a lot since he has to be in it on multiple carpools a day). He is now close to 14 lbs. and is considered our "big" baby since he has higher percentages than the older two in weight and height. He is a pretty good eater. He has now had green beans, peas, and sweet potatoes and in true monkey fashion, LOVED bananas. He can sit on his own for about 30 seconds at a time and has discovered his feet and hands as great chew toys. He can almost hold his own bottle and he loves to grab at the spoon when being fed solids.

He is still adored by his siblings. They love to make him smile and often get distracted in the morning while trying to get ready because they just want to sit and talk to him during his feeding. And he is absolutely amazed by them. He just stares at them with the biggest smiles and looks of interest when they are anywhere around.

We spoke to his craniofacial surgeon today and have scheduled his cleft palate repair for Friday, June 24th. It will be done at Children's at Medical City of Dallas by Dr. Jeffrey Fearon, one of the nation's leading craniofacial surgeons. It should be only one overnight stay after the surgery and he is very optimistic that he will be back to eating normally hours after surgery. What they will be doing is forming his soft palate in the roof of his mouth by stretching tissue from the palate surrounding the gumline. From what we hear, it isn't a complicated procedure so we hope that everything will run smoothly that day. I am sure we will have a few more consultations prior to surgery day.

Please continue to keep our little guy in your prayers especially on that day!

Just wanted to give everyone an update since I have had so many inquiries on when the surgery will take place.