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Joshua's first photo in the NICU at
McMaster Medical Centre
Born at 9 lbs 4 oz.-The biggest baby in the NICU
Recovering from surgery on a twisted bowel
Getting to know daddy
Finally moved to paediatrics unit
Patent Uricus
Joshua's navel was the size of a two dollar coin until he started urinating through his umbilicus at 2 weeks of age. Surgery was done to remove some bladder tissue and give him a cute little inny belly button.
A bit sunburned from the heat lamps that were meant to keep him warm and well
His first mohawk hairdo.Joshua got his first haircut by the nurses for the need of a blood transfusion which was done in his head.
Daddy's Little Man
In daddy's arms after cleft palatte repair surgery
Recovering from cleft soft palatte repair surgery
More tubes in the ears
Tubes , tubes and more tubes
After surgery to insert myringtomy tubes in his ears
Christmas 2005
Yet another set of tubes in his ears
A happy snuggle with little sister Madison
Recovering from dental procedure in hospital May 8,2007
I'm so happy that I have to dance!!!
This is Joshua's first drawing of a face that is recognizable. It is supposed to be Elmo. I cherish this drawing as it is the first and only time Joshua has shown the ability to have this much control when creating a picture. He usually just scribbles.This was drawn in April 2007
Joshua's Beautiful Ears before Otoplasty surgery.
Joshua's bandages after his surgery.He wore these for just over a week.
Joshua's ears the day his bandages were removed. Swelling may last up to 6 weeks.
Joshua has a rash on his forehead from the bandages unfortunately.He also has to wear a sweat band on his ears at night for a week so he does not pull his stitches while he sleeps while they heal furthur
Clay Balls
A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, He would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone! Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewel in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!
It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy or in the case of my son and others like him, someone without a physical or developemental disability...but we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.
There is a treasure in each and every one of us...especially those with disabilities .If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them. I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have in my son's life. Thank you for looking beyond Joshua's clay vessel.
