Hi, From Mason...Long Time!!

Dearest Family and Friends,

     I know that it has been too long since I’ve sent out an update and let you know how things have been. For that I apologize, but in my case “No news is Good News!”

     Things here have been busy but good. Since I last wrote to you, so much has happened. For starters, I finally got the knack of walking. So much so that I even learned how to run! I love it. I have also learned how to climb! Mommy and Daddy aren’t so pleased about that one and I get told to “get down” a lot, but it sure it fun to get back up on things once I get down! One of my favorite things to climb on is the couch. Then I can get closer to the fish tank and play with the blinds on the windows! I attached a picture of me climbing up to see the fish.

Mr. Ryan, the physical therapist, was so pleased with my progress that he said I don’t have to have class with him anymore. Now I am working on Occupational Therapy with Ms. Candy. She’s working on helping me to use my hands and other fine motor skills. I’m making a lot of progress. Ms. Debbie says that I’m doing great with speech too. I can make all kinds of sounds now. Too bad Mommy and Daddy just don’t understand me yet. I’m sure they will figure it out soon though! To help them out, I have also learned some signs too. I can sign “more, music, please, eat, milk, I see you, bye-bye, and daddy.” I’m working on the sign for mommy, but it’s much more fun to just laugh at her when she says it!

      In August, the doctors did a sleep study on me to see if I was breathing enough at night. All those wires were annoying. Check out the picture to see what I mean. I didn’t think I would sleep much at all, but Mommy was there and I was able to still drink my “vanilla latte” (that's what Mommy calls my milk since the Vanilla flavored Pediasure smells like a Vanilla Latte), so that helped. The doctors told Mommy and Daddy that I do have mild sleep apnea, whatever that is, but it isn’t bad enough to worry about at this point. Because of this, the doctors decided to not do surgery on my cleft palate in October like they had originally planned. They said that it would be better to just wait and let my mouth grow more on its own before they do that.

     For Halloween, I was a cowboy and I got to go trick-or-treating with my big brother JJ. It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was walking up to the door and saying HI to everyone. They gave me candy too, but I didn’t eat any of it because I only had 1 tooth at the time, but Mommy and Daddy helped me to eat it all. I finally got my first tooth at the end of July and my second tooth in December. I had my two front teeth for Christmas! Now I am cutting to more teeth on top. One on each side. Maybe I’ll start chewing some food and will be able to move to table food soon!

     Right before Christmas, I was sick with a very bad stomach virus. After two weeks, it wasn’t getting any better and it started to hurt my hips a whole lot and I didn’t want to walk. The doctors got worried and put me in the hospital to run tests. The found out that the virus was causing inflammation in my joints and my immune system was attacking my joints thinking that it was part of the virus. The solution was that I have to take Ibuprofen and not Tylenol when I get sick from now on. Just 1 day on the Ibuprofen and I was ready to run again! The doctors could tell I was better when I tried to run down the hallway!

     After all that mess, Christmas came and went without a hitch! I really enjoyed opening my presents. I got to meet Santa Claus again. This time JJ was there and we got to have our picture taken together. For Christmas Eve, JJ and I also got matching pajamas! He is such a cool big brother! I love it when he is here because he always plays with me and lets me chew on his toy cars (at least the ones that he isn’t playing with at the time!)

     After Christmas, I was back to the doctors because the cardiologist found fluid around my heart. The tried a few medicines, but discovered that it was more inflammation from when I’d had the virus before Christmas. So more Ibuprofen! Good thing I like grape flavor. It took 3 weeks to clear up the fluid and then it was back to the hospital at the end of January for an MRI and MRV. Those were not so fun because I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything all day until it was over, but Mommy was there with my “vanilla latte” to make me feel better when it was all over!

     When Mommy and Daddy met with the doctors to discuss what happens next, they got to see the pictures of my brain from the MRI. The back of my brain looks like it is supposed to thanks to the cranial surgery from last Christmas. However, the front of my brain is being squished against the front of my skull. The doctors said that they know that they have to open up my head again and move the front of my skull forward to make more room, but they are hoping it can wait until they are ready to reconstruct my face too. Then it will be easier on my because it will only be one surgery and the pieces of my skull will recover easier if reconstructed at the same time instead of two separate times.

     To determine if it can wait or not, they are going to do a Pressure Monitoring Procedure, where they will insert a wire into my head and then monitor the pressure over several days. If the pressure is too

high, then they will do the front of my skull first and then the face separate. But if the pressure isn’t too bad, they will decide to wait and do it all at once. The procedure is scheduled for March 22nd. They will have to shave my head again to insert the wire. So much for my beautiful curls!

     To end on a happy note, at the beginning of February, I got to see snow!! It was really cool, but once I touched it and realized how cold it was, I’d had enough and was ready to go back inside and play with my toys. Besides, that big coat Mommy made me wear was hard to move in any way!

     The final picture is just a fun silly picture. If there is one thing I have learned, is that it’s no fun unless you can laugh and have a good time. Leave the worrying to the doctors! Isn’t that what they get paid for?? Well, that’s all that is going on with me! Hope things are going well with you and your family! I will try to write again later!

All my love,

Mason Higginbotham

PS. Mommy and Daddy say hello too! Hugs and kisses to all!