Allan had an appointment with his cardiologist this morning. He's doing just great -- he looks good, is growing well, is needing less oxygen and his lungs sound clearer which may be because he is finally, finally growing more lung tissue. We are to keep on keeping on for the time-being -- not changing any thing, just trying to lower him on his oxygen as much as we can without taxing him. Allan is going to take whatever time Allan wants.
The big outing will be tonight -- the whole family is heading out to the pizza place. You know, give Griff a new location to hurl food in to. Keep it interesting for him. And it will be nice that we don't have to clean it up. (Don't worry, we'll tip well!) If it isn't too hot tomorrow morning, we may plunk the boys in the stroller and make a return visit to the Farmer's Market to pick up some corn. Maybe a dip in the wading pool, if it isn't too miserably hot (sounds silly to say that it is too hot to go swimming, but there you have it!). It has been so nice being able to get out, but between the humidity and the bugs, we are very grateful for air conditioning. Hope everyone has a great weekend. We'll try to come up with some good photos over the weekend.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Thursday, August 02, 2007
More snippets
Allan did great with the speech therapist on Tuesday. He loves to sit in his booster seat on the table (yes, we know it is an "off label" use but having him elevated is somehow important from a therapeutic standpoint) and watch himself in the washstand mirror. Edie didn't know what he was doing at first, but then busted out laughing at how vain Allan is. He just smiles and kicks and giggles at himself. He's the best thing he's seen, ever.
Edie got another chance to watch Griffith "eat" and has suggested we work on a referral for speech/OT for him. As anyone can tell from the pictures of the battle that is every meal, he clearly has a sensitivity issue. We haven't been able to cajole, wheedle, plead or bully him in to eating and the whole thing is turning in to a quagmire. In some ways, quite literally since he swats and rakes every bit of food on his tray off and flings it far and wide. As Michele observed, very Jackson Pollock of him.
Griff has learned how to play chase. I stomp my feet in his direction and he crawls as fast as he can away from me while squealing and laughing, then he stops, spins around and comes after me. This went on for 20 minutes. I thought he was going to puke he laughed so hard.
Allan did great with PT this morning. He is really getting to be a little bit of a pill about insisting on standing and refusing to sit (he stiffens out like a board). Miss Julie thinks that, based on his progress, he should be crawling by next month. He has also learned to cluck his tongue and make kissy faces, although he won't do either on command. And he shakes his head "no" a lot. Learned that from his brother, we are pretty sure.
Not much else to report. Just hanging out, growing and getting more ornery every day.
Edie got another chance to watch Griffith "eat" and has suggested we work on a referral for speech/OT for him. As anyone can tell from the pictures of the battle that is every meal, he clearly has a sensitivity issue. We haven't been able to cajole, wheedle, plead or bully him in to eating and the whole thing is turning in to a quagmire. In some ways, quite literally since he swats and rakes every bit of food on his tray off and flings it far and wide. As Michele observed, very Jackson Pollock of him.
Griff has learned how to play chase. I stomp my feet in his direction and he crawls as fast as he can away from me while squealing and laughing, then he stops, spins around and comes after me. This went on for 20 minutes. I thought he was going to puke he laughed so hard.
Allan did great with PT this morning. He is really getting to be a little bit of a pill about insisting on standing and refusing to sit (he stiffens out like a board). Miss Julie thinks that, based on his progress, he should be crawling by next month. He has also learned to cluck his tongue and make kissy faces, although he won't do either on command. And he shakes his head "no" a lot. Learned that from his brother, we are pretty sure.
Not much else to report. Just hanging out, growing and getting more ornery every day.
Griff -- fighting the good fight
It is so nice to sit down for a pleasant evening meal with the husband and children. Dinner time really gives us a chance to connect and discuss the events of the day. It cements the family bond.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
My father's ears....
Poor Allan -- cursed with my father's ears. Is it any wonder I don't want to cut his hair?
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The babysitter
Cousin Bailey (age 4) arrived Saturday afternoon to spend the night and help out with the boys. She did a bang up job and enjoyed herself so much that she had a complete go-to-pieces when Mom and Dad showed up to pick her up today. She had such a melt-down so immediately that Jay and I both thought that she was going to tell her parents that the whole experience was so terrible and that we had been so mean that she couldn't stand it. We missed it entirely. Girls are hard.
Miss B arrived around lunch time and the first order of business was feeding the boys their lunch. Neither boy was particularly interested in cooperating. Griff put on a particularly good show: shaking his head, spitting food, crying, squealing, knocking food and utensils off on to the floor. (Steph: "Is this every meal?" Um-hm. "You do have medication, right?" If you consider alcohol "medication." ) Miss B and I went off to have manicures and pediures (her nails are bright green with white and pink flower decals. My toenails are bright blue with a pink and white flower on each of the big toes. I did manage to convince Bailey that blue fingernails were not professional, however.) Following that, Bailey announced that she was ready to go home and babysit for "the one with the mask" (Allan) and the "other one" (Griffith). When we got home the boys were ready to swing on the front porch and Bailey wanted to read to them. Neither Jay nor I was allowed to read and, really, she would have preferred that we weren't around at all. Under sufferance, I was allowed to sit on the swing at the far end of the porch while she sat in a lawn chair immediately in front of the boys. She was very attentive. If they slowed, she jumped up to give them a push. If I got up to get something, she volunteered to get it. (She was far more considerate than Jay and I are of each other, that's for sure.)
Dinner time was a matter of horror for Bailey. She was in sympathy with Griffith on not wanting to eat peanut butter with bananas in it (it stinks, according to Bailey) but she did not understand why he wouldn't eat mashed potatoes. She seemed quite distressed and explained to him that they were good and that he needed to eat food like a big boy and not just drink milk like a baby. Or a calf. She is a farm girl, after all.
Bath time was quite a lot of fun. We just thought Bailey would help, but after she started her bath she thought it would be fun for the boys to get in with her. (She could not keep who was who straight -- kept referring to "this one" or "that one" until she decided that saying "the one with the mask" made it much clearer.)
The girls slept downstairs. The boys slept upstairs. It all was pretty peaceable. (Actually I ended up staying up until nearly 2 a.m. finishing Harry Potter. The battle of Hogwart began at 11:49 and I really, really thought I could finish more quickly than I did.) Griff decided that last night would be a good night to be up from 4 to 6. Needless to say morning came early. Miss Miranda was singing solo at church so we all got up, slicked back our hair and headed out. Flora would have been so proud - the boys were dressed identically. We all survived a nearly endless sermon (Miranda's solo was lovely -- some sort of Bach something-or-another in German). Then we all trooped home and played until it was time for Miss B to head home. Which is when the aforementioned go-to-pieces occurred.
The boys have been good guys all day long. Jay and I are working really hard to implement this routine/schedule. After bath and while we were getting every one settled, Jay made the fatal error of saying that putting Griff down was a "pleasure" and "easy" these days. Then (because he is not gallant) he elected to take Griff up upstairs. Allan and I stayed downstairs and, after we had drawn up meds, picked up toys, started the dishwasher and, generally, done a bunch of scut work, we sat down in the calm, quiet, semidarkness of the living room and had a nice glass of wine (Mommy did anyway). Now, both of my children resent and resist me reading anything that doesn't rhyme. They will kick, buck, jump and otherwise do everything within their power to keep me focussed on them. Both of my children love The Battle Hymn of the Republic. As I launched in to the 17th verse, I could hear, distantly, the howl of my youngest son upstairs. You remember him, right? The Pleasure. You would have thought Jay was poking him with a hot stick. (Do you hear the lambs, Clarice?) And, when they both came back down for bottle number two, I asked Jay how that was going for him. He doesn't have much sense of humor (Jay, not Griff, Griff thought it was pretty funny. So did Mommy and Allan.)
Miss B arrived around lunch time and the first order of business was feeding the boys their lunch. Neither boy was particularly interested in cooperating. Griff put on a particularly good show: shaking his head, spitting food, crying, squealing, knocking food and utensils off on to the floor. (Steph: "Is this every meal?" Um-hm. "You do have medication, right?" If you consider alcohol "medication." ) Miss B and I went off to have manicures and pediures (her nails are bright green with white and pink flower decals. My toenails are bright blue with a pink and white flower on each of the big toes. I did manage to convince Bailey that blue fingernails were not professional, however.) Following that, Bailey announced that she was ready to go home and babysit for "the one with the mask" (Allan) and the "other one" (Griffith). When we got home the boys were ready to swing on the front porch and Bailey wanted to read to them. Neither Jay nor I was allowed to read and, really, she would have preferred that we weren't around at all. Under sufferance, I was allowed to sit on the swing at the far end of the porch while she sat in a lawn chair immediately in front of the boys. She was very attentive. If they slowed, she jumped up to give them a push. If I got up to get something, she volunteered to get it. (She was far more considerate than Jay and I are of each other, that's for sure.)
Dinner time was a matter of horror for Bailey. She was in sympathy with Griffith on not wanting to eat peanut butter with bananas in it (it stinks, according to Bailey) but she did not understand why he wouldn't eat mashed potatoes. She seemed quite distressed and explained to him that they were good and that he needed to eat food like a big boy and not just drink milk like a baby. Or a calf. She is a farm girl, after all.
Bath time was quite a lot of fun. We just thought Bailey would help, but after she started her bath she thought it would be fun for the boys to get in with her. (She could not keep who was who straight -- kept referring to "this one" or "that one" until she decided that saying "the one with the mask" made it much clearer.)
The girls slept downstairs. The boys slept upstairs. It all was pretty peaceable. (Actually I ended up staying up until nearly 2 a.m. finishing Harry Potter. The battle of Hogwart began at 11:49 and I really, really thought I could finish more quickly than I did.) Griff decided that last night would be a good night to be up from 4 to 6. Needless to say morning came early. Miss Miranda was singing solo at church so we all got up, slicked back our hair and headed out. Flora would have been so proud - the boys were dressed identically. We all survived a nearly endless sermon (Miranda's solo was lovely -- some sort of Bach something-or-another in German). Then we all trooped home and played until it was time for Miss B to head home. Which is when the aforementioned go-to-pieces occurred.
The boys have been good guys all day long. Jay and I are working really hard to implement this routine/schedule. After bath and while we were getting every one settled, Jay made the fatal error of saying that putting Griff down was a "pleasure" and "easy" these days. Then (because he is not gallant) he elected to take Griff up upstairs. Allan and I stayed downstairs and, after we had drawn up meds, picked up toys, started the dishwasher and, generally, done a bunch of scut work, we sat down in the calm, quiet, semidarkness of the living room and had a nice glass of wine (Mommy did anyway). Now, both of my children resent and resist me reading anything that doesn't rhyme. They will kick, buck, jump and otherwise do everything within their power to keep me focussed on them. Both of my children love The Battle Hymn of the Republic. As I launched in to the 17th verse, I could hear, distantly, the howl of my youngest son upstairs. You remember him, right? The Pleasure. You would have thought Jay was poking him with a hot stick. (Do you hear the lambs, Clarice?) And, when they both came back down for bottle number two, I asked Jay how that was going for him. He doesn't have much sense of humor (Jay, not Griff, Griff thought it was pretty funny. So did Mommy and Allan.)
Just one more
Bailey, working on just one more story. Griffith is all for it. Allan, not so much. Or me.
Bath battle
So I leave Jay in charge while I go and lay out the pajamas and this is what I walk back in on.
Monkey twins
When the boys had to go in because they were tired, we kept up the babysitting with Bailey's twin Curious Georges.
Giving the boys a push.
Bailey was very attentive to her cousins and kept jumping up to give them a push.
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