Nolan is 12 months old, and he has never swallowed food.

Not because he doesn’t want to — but because his body, for reasons doctors are still working to understand, hasn’t been able to. Since birth, Nolan has faced a rare and undiagnosed neurological condition that affects his muscle tone, his movement, and most profoundly, his ability to swallow. He is fully tube fed, requires daily medical care, and has undergone more tests and specialist visits in his first year of life than most people experience in a lifetime — with no clear diagnosis yet.

But here’s what we do know about Nolan.

He lights up when you walk in the room. He studies your face like he’s memorizing it. He vocalizes with a determination that makes you forget, just for a moment, everything he’s up against. He is gaining strength slowly and steadily, and every small breakthrough — a little more head control, a new sound, a longer wake window — is a milestone we don’t take for granted.

This journey has been the hardest thing our family has ever walked through. There have been many sleepless nights at the hospital and days full of grief and fear that he wouldn’t be ok. There have been moments we didn’t know how we’d take the next step. But we have felt God’s hand in this in ways that have changed us, and we have felt the power of community carry us when we couldn’t carry ourselves. We are not the same people we were a year ago — we are being stretched and challenged in new ways that have caused us to grow.

Now we’re asking for your help.

Nolan’s mom has stepped away from her career entirely to care for Nolan full time — because his needs require it and because she wouldn’t have it any other way. The therapies driving his progress are intensive, ongoing, and largely not covered by insurance, which means they’re expensive. This year alone, between therapy intensives, travel, and related costs, we are facing $25,000 in expenses — and that is only the beginning of what will be a long road.

We are asking for help because Nolan deserves every possible opportunity to grow, and because we believe that when people hear his story, they want to be part of it.

Every dollar goes directly toward giving Nolan his best chance. Every share puts his story in front of someone who might need to hear it — or who might be the reason he takes his first bite of food someday.

We don’t know exactly what the road ahead looks like. But we know who walks it with us, and we know Nolan, our little champion, was made for it.

Thank you for being part of his story.

— Jake, Micah, Theo, and Nolan