A Week From Now...

A week from now, Jojo will be six years old. That is a miracle and such a great blessing to our family, considering that Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the number 1 genetic killer of children under the age of 2. As I look back at the pictures of Jojo's past birthdays, I notice all those attributes of him that SMA took away: his head control, his ability to eat (swallow), the strength of his arms/wrists/hands, and his smile. Although the loss of these things, especially his beautiful smile, still makes me sad, I choose to focus on the one thing that matters the most: that Jojo is here with us. That I can kiss him (not on the lips) as much as I want, snuggle with him, listen to him sing or read, negotiate with him about TV shows or bedtime, etc. This year, there will be a lot of families who will be celebrating their first Christmas without their SMA angels. My husband and I will be thinking of them as we hug Jojo tight and tuck him in bed at night.

1st Birthday (Part 1)

1st Birthday (Part 2)

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday, with PICU nurses
4th Birthday

5th Birthday

6th Birthday

(To be posted)

Almost-birthdays

We are having Jojo's almost-6th birthday party this Saturday. His birthday is not until December, but that time of the year is never a good time to have people over because of illnesses, or busy schedules due to Christmas shopping or family get-together. We thought this weekend would be perfect for people to come; but my goodness, we did not realize all the church fair, weddings, babyshowers, birthdays, etc, going on this weekend! We'll see how many people can make it to Jojo's party. I personally prefer to have just the family, but Jojo insists on having many people to celebrate his birthday. Here are some pictures of past almost-birthday celebrations...

2 1/2 year birthday

3 1/2 year birthday

Two months before 4th birthday

(We had this party because one of his godmothers was visiting from out of the country.)

Jojo's Artwork and Lola

We had a very quiet weekend. Hopefully, Jojo will have more fun this coming week. After all, Tuesday is Mardi Gras and Thursday is my birthday. Jojo's Dad's birthday is next week. Our birthdays are all clustered together, except for Jojo's. Even my parents' birthdays were in February, on the same day! This year my Mom and Dad got to celebrate their birthdays together in Heaven. I miss my Mom. Jojo tells me once in a while that he also misses his Lola (grandmother) even though he only got to spend 7 weeks with her three years ago.

Anyway, I asked Jojo where he wanted to go for my birthday, and he said "to Nana's (his other grandmother)." Jojo is so ready to get out of the house even if it is just across the bayou and a few houses up the road. Well, as soon as the warm weather sticks around and all the illnesses are gone, we plan to take the boy out more.