I just love this series.

Autumn in New England.

I think our Director of Photography is bucking for a raise. Well deserved, in my opinion.

Life goes on.

Greetings, loyal readers. To those of you who stuck around during my inexcusable 30-something day hiatus, I'm glad you're still here. To those who stopped checking in...well, they're not reading anymore. The hell with 'em!

I will admit, I took a little too long to get back at this. I suppose I rested on the laurels of the unprecedented triple-post day a tad too long. But I'm back, recharged and ready to go. Shall we?

To start with, our girl turned 14-months old today. And while that is hardly a noteworthy birthday, it's always fun to think back to where we were a year ago. Ahh, to be young and uninformed again. On second thought, let's just skip that.

Nevertheless, Ems continues to assert her independence. She's now perfectly comfortable expressing her displeasure when she doesn't get her way. She recognizes when we don't want her to do something...and does it anyway. And she's learned that food solves all problems. Between Emily and I, Mommy doesn't have a prayer of ever finishing a meal again.

This week alone has featured a number of noteworthy events. To start with, Daddy got a new gig. After completing both interviews and getting some positive feedback, Kate asked, "if you get this job, can we dress Emily like a tiger for your games?" Abso-freakin-lutely! So, for the girls basketball team at Daniel Hand High School, meet your new mascot...

Unfortunately, not all the news was good around our camp this week. Both Kate and I lost friends this week...one to cancer and the other to inoperable brain tumors. No one enjoys a funeral, but two in one week can weigh you down. Not that you need a reason to do this, but be sure to tell somebody they're important to you and give them a hug. We all need one. And if you're alone on a library computer or in some kind of internet cafe, well, just keep your damn hands to yourself. Weirdo.

The kid literally made some big strides this week. We finally touched base with the prosthetist and made the necessary adjustments to her shoe lift. Following Dr. Paley's orders, we bumped her up from a 3 cm lift to a 7 cm lift. I don't know another way to say it...this thing is huge. Like, skyscraper big. But, godbless her, Emily gets better on it everyday. Kate and I have made a conscious effort to give her some daily shoe time. And Ems wants to walk SO badly. She'll reach up to you with both arms and say "go, go, go!" If you're nearby, you better take her hands and go, go, go. She gets so excited to walk, she can barely contain herself. With or without her shoe, there's very little holding her back. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Tougher. Than. You.

It's autumn in New England. I promise to come with good pictures of Emily and leaves and stuff.

The Gray Area turns one!

Emily insisted on getting her hair perfect for the big occasion. Eventually she'll learn that the bristly side works better. 

It's true, loyal readers. By the time this is posted, it will certainly be well after midnight, which puts us at September 7th. The cannons will roar and the champagne will flow and the people will dance merrily, celebrating the fact that exactly one year ago, a blog was born. Or, I'll drink some tap water, take the dogs out one last time and sleep the sleep of a man who hopes his daughter stays in dreamland until at least late morning. Hard to believe I don't have my own reality show.

Back to this obviously monumental event and the self-congratulating portion of the program. In an effort to avoid spending hours on the phone updating loved ones on Emily's progress, I put together this page which has now spread, literally, worldwide. (I see you Brazil, England, South Africa, and Australia...thanks for stopping by!) Whenever I sit down to write, if I'm not deep in some absurdly self-absorbed funk, I am primarily thinking of those closest to me and their desire to keep up with our kid. I suppose I never considered the fact that I might be able to have an impact on other people who share these experiences. I hope you are all getting something out of it. If not, well...uh...I don't know what to tell you. This is all I got. 

Since I'm almost positive none of you are here to listen to me high-five myself, I suppose I could spend some time on our soon-to-be-13-month old. Emily continues to develop in leaps and bounds. Many of you have already seen the video below with her strolling across the family room...aided by her trusty cart. She doesn't do it a lot, as it's faster and easier for her to crawl, but she does it just enough to let us know she's got it in the arsenal. Because of the eight cm discrepancy, she tends to push the cart by "walking" with her short leg and "crawling" on the knee of her longer leg. Whatever mode she chooses, she is very, very mobile...which includes climbing stairs, pulling herself up on couches and tables...basically whereverthehell she feels like going. The only thing holding her back is a desire to avoid any trips to the ER by her parents. 

Which brings us to another development. Emily has clearly begun to assert her independence. Gone is mellow, sweet, go-with-the-flow Emily. While she is still just a handful of sunshine the majority of the time, she has no problem letting us know when she wants down, up, food, toys...just whatever her pretty, little heart desires. How does she let us know? Well, she just tells us! Her vocabulary is slowly expanding. She's got a handle on "dada," "mama," "hi," "buh-bye," "woof woof," "uh-oh" and "Piper." She's still working on "Moose." But what I'm most proud of is her progress on "please," where she will hand you a book and say "pleezsh" as in "Father, I would certainly appreciate it if we might sit on the couch together while you read this story to me. Please." I'm still a bit fuzzy on the rest of it, but she is clearly having a conversation. What's being said or who she's talking to is open to debate. I just try and keep up my end of the discussion with standard responses. "I know!" "Right?" "Is that so?" "I told you that chick's crazy!" And so on. 

While I realize a number of you are here for PFFD-related information, I find myself somewhat lacking in that area today. Trust me...that's not a bad thing. If I can avoid ever feeling like this again, I'd like to do so. But I suppose that's the beauty of being where we are. We're past the point of not-knowing. We've met The Man. He's on board. We've got a plan. A schedule. We can enjoy Emily for who she is and not focus solely on what she has. 

Before you get all giddy and think we're going to completely re-vamp the site by putting a banner that reads "Super Deluxe Happy Fun Time" superimposed over a picture of a smiling family with everyone laughing and holding hands and wearing matching outfits...slow down. I still have my dark, depressed, rage-filled moments as I watch Emily's right leg dangle just out of reach of the floor. Those moments usually feature my inner-monologue yelling questions that start with "WHY THE F-..." But that's just what they are...moments. They don't last for days or keep me company during sleepless nights. 

I suppose that's the difference a year makes. We are a year older. We are a year wiser. 

And we are a year closer to all that pain and uncertainty just being a distant memory. 

Go Ems, GO!

Daddy's girl.

The first of perhaps three posts tonight...an unprecedented level of production. Why? Cuz it's my blog, goshdarnitall.

A brief glimpse.

This Macbook photo was inspired by the following conversation...

Kate - "I love her belly!"

Tim - "She looks like a frat boy."

Now THAT was a party!

If you read my last post, and I mean really read it, you might recall somewhere in that rambling mess that we returned from Florida last Thursday night, cleaned up poop, slept, went to work, slept a little more and then hosted the first birthday party for our beloved Ems. No small task, right? Well, despite a little fatigue, I really think we pulled it off. Everybody who attended, young, old and in-between, seemed to have a pretty good time. Of course, I don't really have proof. Oh, wait...yes, I do. BAM! Cousin Sarah does it again! 

Our visit with The Man.

This past month has been a bit of a whirlwind for my little band of Tredwells. Kate and I spent July 7th to the 9th in Chicago, quickly followed by a week-long family trip to Texas. After a ten-day breather at home, we were back in the air for six days in Florida, returning home for good on August 6th at about 11 pm. For you math junkies, gnaw on this word problem for a minute...

Tim and Kate flew more than 2600 miles with their infant daughter, Emily, to two different locations in the United States where the sun is known to rest approximately seven feet off the ground during the day. One of these locations featured Tim's family whom he rarely sees and loves dearly, but includes two spirited, small children. The other location features a surgeon who may potentially have a solution to Emily's rare condition but only through dramatic and painful surgeries. Tim has a propensity for snarky comments when he gets tired, angry, stressed, frustrated or just plain bored. Using the information given, calculate how long Tim will have to wait in Purgatory before being allowed entrance to Heaven, if you think he hasn't already booked a reservation for a seat next to the broken air conditioner on the bus to Hell. 

Ok, that took a long time and probably wasn't worth it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Shut it. 

Anyway, we got back late Thursday night to find that our bulldog Moose had missed us so much, he left liquidy poo all over the first floor of our house. ALL OVER. You know those thoughts about coming home after a long trip and being so happy to just be home and see your dogs and not be living out of a suitcase? You know that feeling? Well, it lasted as long as it took me to open the door and be assaulted with canine biological weapons. Not good times. Bad times.

And the hits kept coming. Kate and I cleaned up, caught a quick sleep and split the next 24 hours between work and feverishly preparing for Emily's first birthday party which, as anybody with children can attest to, takes more than just mixing Kool-Aid, opening a fresh bag of Ruffles and making sure the front door is open. 

Nevertheless, the weather was perfect, the party was awesome, merriment was had and pictures were taken. But we'll save that for its own post. We've got other stuff to discuss.

The whole point of being in Florida was to see Dr. Paley. He had suggested we fly down for an MRI and a consultation. Naturally, we did as we were told. We tacked a few days on to the front end of the trip to at least give this trip a vacation-like feel. Emily attended her first Cubs game where she watched them lose in typically crushing fashion (get used to it, sister) to the host Marlins, checked out the Miami Seaquarium and polished up her tan on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale. 

But then it was all business. To say I was on edge about this MRI would be an understatement. The thought of drugging my only daughter so she'll lie still is not a pleasant one. The good news was that she would be given chloral hydrate to drink instead of sticking her with an IV or strapped up with a gas mask. And, typical of our little fat kid, she sucked it down like it was fruit punch. The nurse who had spent so much time telling us kids usually throw it up because of its awful taste thought it was hilarious. 

One moment I'll probably never forget came as Kate was rocking her to sleep. Ems was clearly fighting it, but the eyes got heavier and heavier. Right before she went down for the count, she looked up at me and gave me a little buh-bye wave. Afterwards, she reached into my chest, yanked out my still-beating heart and made it into a keychain. Damn kids.

In the end, she made it through both the MRI and the x-rays with minimal fuss. Kate even managed to sneak a quick picture of her enjoying a well-deserved bottle in her adorable little hospital gown. 
The rest of the day was shot as Ems was still loopy from the drugs. Of course, she recovered enough for a late night dip in the pool, plenty of food and a good night's sleep. 

The next day we arrived for our 2:00 appointment with Paley and were greeted by the friendliest team of nurses. They could not get enough of Emily and the feeling was clearly mutual. We also met with the patient coordinator who introduced herself by saying, "I'm the patient coordinator, Caroline Eaton....I love your blog!" Ms. Eaton is well-versed in Paley's ways. Besides working with him, she has appeared on his operating table multiple times. That's a pretty big vote of confidence, in my humble opinion.

We also got to talk with one of his physician's assistants who spent a good amount of time getting to know us. She spoke almost reverentially about him, talking about the amazing things he is accomplishing in surgery. Again, all evidence that we are on the right track. 

After Paley finished another small miracle in surgery, he came upstairs to see us. The visit was brief as he went through the necessary images of Emily's leg. With an eight cm discrepancy and everything else looking strong, Ems is right where he thought she'd be when he first saw her six months ago. He said we can expect that discrepancy to triple by the time she's fully grown. Of course, he just may have something to say about all that. His first statement will be August 17th, 2010. Super-hip surgery is scheduled. 

Here. We. Go.

One year ago today.

You turned one year old today, Ems. We waited nine months to meet you and your arrival instantly altered the course of our lives. Your mom and I have spent the last year falling more and more in love with your infectious giggle, your Coney-Island-hot-dog-eating-contest-like appetite, your animal noises which all seem to sound like the same jungle cat, the fact that it appears like you're imitating me, but there's a good chance you're actually poking fun at me. It's just the way your dad would do it.

What you don't yet know is how much I admire you, Emily. You have no idea what's ahead. Right now, you couldn't care less that in just over a year, you'll go through a horribly complex surgery that will put you in a lower body cast for six weeks. You couldn't possibly fathom what it's going to feel like when you have to go through three separate, painful procedures to help that right leg catch up to your left. You just keep smiling. And you keep making other people smile. You make it impossible not to. 

In one year, you have taught me more about inner strength, resiliency and courage than I could have ever imagined. But you're just getting started, aren't you? 

Thank you, Emily. Thank you for everything you have given us. Thank you for being you. 

Happy Birthday, Ems. Daddy loves you.