A pleasantly uneventful visit

In June we made the trip to Texas Children's for an annual check up with Dr. Whitehead, Hudson's neurosurgeon.  We think a lot of Dr W - he is world renowned and is the one who performed H's lengthy spinal surgery on day two of life.  It was Dr Whitehead who told me very early on to "just treat Hudson like a typical kiddo because that's exactly what he is!" and he was absolutely right :) 

We actually hadn't seen Dr W in a year and a half - which is a good and bad thing.  Good because it meant Hudson was doing great but bad because we had to visit with residents at our last couple of appointments who were totally lame (haha). 

Upon arrival we grabbed lunch in the food court.  Soooo many emotions ran through my mind since that is where we ate lunch every single day during Hudson's NICU stay.  It was almost surreal to have him there with us sitting in a high chair happily stuffing Chick fil A nuggets in his mouth ;)  After lunch we loaded the elevator and headed upward to the sixteenth floor of the clinical care building and checked in. 

We waited...and waited...and waited some more.  Hudson enjoyed army crawling around, flirting with fellow patients and admiring the tall buildings out the window.  Over an hour had passed and I finally touched base the receptionist.  She called his nurse who came out and informed us that Dr W had been called into emergency surgery and would be awhile. 

We decided to walk the halls of the hospital and asked them to call us when he was ready.  This is the sky bridge which connects TCH to the Women's center.  If I had a dollar for the number of times we walked this route back and forth during March 2015.....well, you know the rest!  :)

We went back down to the third floor and enjoyed Starbucks and visited the fish.  Hudson is REALLY into fish/aquariums these days {and calls them "nosh"}! 

Little man enjoyed a few sips of frappe before it was time to return to the sixteenth floor.

The visit with Dr W went well.  We were a little surprised that an MRI and imaging was not ordered this time and learned that it won't be unless there is as specific concern down the road.  Dr W is always kind and patient enough to answer my list of questions {oh yes, I take a long list!}  He is incredibly brilliant yet is always good at explaining things to us.  He said that Hudson looks terrific!  His head circumference is growing perfectly and there are zero signs of hydrocephalus.  Cheers for a pleasantly uneventful visit - those are the ones we really like!! 

On our way out we made a few more familiar stops.  We walked by both NICU levels, the Ronald McDonald house and the main hospital cafeteria.  Hudson enjoyed visiting the Choo Choo Hut on the first floor.  He loved pushing the button and watching the train move around the tracks. 

And here is a photo of proud big brother and sister at the same place the week Hudson was born :)