Growth Hormone

We had a follow-up appointment with Caden's endocrinologist on April 23 to see how the growth hormone therapy is working for him. It appears to be helping him grow because he is definitely taller. However, he is not putting on any weight. He is getting taller and skinnier. I am holding out hope he will fill out soon. His pediatrician said he had another patient who didn't start putting on any weight until about 6 months into his treatment. Caden has only been on the growth hormones for about 7 weeks. We will see how it continues. For now we will just keep doing the daily injections.

Where's the Beef?

Have you ever heard of someone being allergic to beef? Me neither! Until now, that is... During Caden's pulmonology appointment on April 23, his doctor did a round of allergy testing. He has been tested in the past and we knew he was allergic to milk products. This hasn't been difficult for us to avoid since we rarely have milk products in our home. But Caden's new doctor recommends having testing done every couple years to determine if any new allergies/reactions have developed.

I certainly wasn't expecting Caden to react to beef! But apparently he is highly allergic to beef. I guess that means he can't eat anything having to do with cows or things made from cow's milk. Again, the beef allergy doesn't really affect us because we are vegetarian and don't eat any meat. But I just find the whole thing very strange! The Pulmonologist said is was pretty uncommon for anyone to be allergic to beef, particularly to react this strongly. Leave it to Caden to find yet another way to be unique!

BMX Riding

We have a BMX track in our town where kids (and adults) can go ride their bikes. Greg has taken Kyler there a few times and he absolutely loves it! He really needs a bigger, better bike. But for now, he is making do with what he has. He gets braver every time he goes through the course. Just watch the video and check him out. I'm so proud of him and how well he is riding!

Spring has Sprung!

One of the things I love most about moving to Walla Walla is our house and yard. We have a nice big back yard and a wonderful covered patio. I love being able to sit outside on our patio and read while enjoying the beauty of spring. These trees are in our yard and are so beautiful to look at as I sit here and relax. I am truly blessed!

Preschool Visitation

On Wednesday, April 18, I took Caden to do a preschool visitation at the Walla Walla University Child Development Preschool. It is located on the University campus and I've heard great things about the program. They have a full-time director and the rest of the staff is made up of University students; most of them education, early childhood development, or psychology majors.

We spent some time observing the classroom and watching the kids play and do different activities. Then I talked to the director about various concerns I had. When I left, I felt so confident this was the right environment for Caden.

I feel pretty strongly about him attending preschool. He needs the social piece more than most kids. The first three years of his life were spent almost exclusively in one kind of therapy or another. That left little time for playing or socializing with other kids his age. The only other child he was around regularly was Kyler and he isn't the best influence. Besides that, he is older and plays differently than a younger child would.

Poor Caden doesn't have any friends his age. He never had the opportunity to develop any friendships because he was too busy with therapies. Now that life has finally slowed down a bit, I think it is important for him to learn how to play with his peers. This setting seems like the perfect place for him to learn to play with others and develop some independence. He will attend 3 mornings/week starting in September. I can hardly wait!

Feeding Therapy Begins Again

On April 16, Caden started receiving feeding therapy again. I mentioned in an earlier post about his evaluation with the therapist at the hospital. The first day was pretty tough for Caden. He has a hard time warming up to new people and is always convinced they are going to do something to hurt him. He's just been through so much in his short life that involves negative touch that he is wary of new people.

The other big change was location. All of his feeding therapy to date has been at home. This is the first time he has gone to a clinic for feeding. He's done every other kind of therapy in a clinic but not this. So taking all that into consideration, I think he did a pretty good job. Throughout the whole session he kept telling me he wanted to go home. When that didn't work he told me he needed to go potty. (He is newly potty trained and tends to use it as an excuse to get out of doing things, or at least delaying as long as possible.)

But we made it through the first session and I think it will get easier from here. He is supposed to go in twice/week for three months and then we'll see how he's doing and go from there. I appreciate your prayers as we try to get him to be a more independent eater, especially chewing food and feeding himself; two things he doesn't do yet.

I'll post some videos in a future post to show what he does during a session.

Cardiology Update

On Thursday, April 12, both the boys had cardiology appointments. The pediatric cardiology group from Spokane comes to Walla Walla about once/month to see kids here, instead of having to drive all the way to Spokane. So I scheduled appointments for both the kids one afternoon.

They both had EKG's and an exam by the cardiologist. Since this was the kids' first visit with the new cardiologist since we moved to Washington, she wanted to do a thorough exam. And, in order to establish a good baseline echo for them, she wanted to have it done at their office in Spokane. We already had other appointments scheduled for Caden for the end of July in Spokane, so she wanted us to have echos done at the same time. That way we didn't have to make a separate trip. She said they could do them in Walla Walla, but their mobile ultrasound machine isn't quite as nice and new as the one they have in their office. So when given the choice, she prefers the one in the office, especially for new patients.

Kyler having an EKG

Caden's turn for an EKG

Dr. Burg listening to Caden's heart and lungs

After doing an exam on each of them, she said both boys were doing really well. She said Kyler sounded great and seemed happy to hear he doesn't have any issues like getting tired out easily, etc. After going over Caden's slightly more complicated medical history, she said she was amazed at how well he was doing and how good he looked and sounded. Coming from a cardiologist, I take that as really good news! I would say it was a very positive appointment. Now we just have to get the echos done to see if there is anything else going on that we don't know about. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Easter

We had some really nice Easter celebrations this year. On Friday, April 6, I helped in Kyler's classroom as the kids colored eggs, had an egg hunt on the playground and ate fun snacks.

Coloring eggs at school.

Fun snacks to celebrate.

Egg hunt on the playground.

Showing me the eggs he found.

All lined up with his class after finding all the eggs.

These are the fun eggs Kyler colored at school.

I love that I am able to be actively involved in his classroom activities. That is one of the things I enjoy most about being a stay at home mom. :)

On Easter Sunday we gave the kids their Easter baskets to open at home. They were really excited about going through the loot!

Then we went to a potluck brunch followed by an easter-egg hunt at one of the local parks with a lot of other families in the community. For every child participating in the hunt, we brought a dozen plastic eggs filled with treats. Then, during the hunt, each child is only allowed to collect 12 eggs. If they find more, they have to give them to another child who didn't get their quota. It was very fun and the kids had a great time.

Kyler adding eggs to his basket.

Caden found another one!

Showing off their finds.

Family photo time after the egg hunt.

That evening, Kyler helped me make Resurrection Buns. We used Pillsbury biscuits and rolled them out flat.

Then we placed a marshmallow in the center of each one – this represents Jesus body wrapped in linens.

Then, we brought the edges of the dough together and pressed them tight to close it into a pocket – this represents the tomb Jesus was placed in.

Then we brushed butter on the dough and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar – this represents the spices used to prepare Jesus' body.

Then they are placed in the oven and baked. When they come out, you open the “tomb” and Jesus' body (the marshmallow) is gone. All that is left is the melted marshmallow which represents the linens left in the grave after Jesus rose from the dead.

It is a great visual for kids to better understand the real meaning of Easter. And, for the 12 days leading up to Easter, we used the Resurrection Eggs again. See my post from last year if you aren't familiar with these. They are so great for young kids!

Trailblazers Game

On Wednesday afternoon, April 4, we picked Kyler up from school a little early and headed to Portland. Greg and I had tickets to a Trailblazers basketball game that night. My parents were staying at my sister's house in Portland helping her out for a few weeks and they agreed to watch our boys so Greg and I could go to the game.

The tickets we had were through Greg's work and we were in one of the box suites at the arena. There was lots of yummy food to eat, lots of networking for Greg to do, and a basketball game to watch. To be honest, I don't even know if they won or lost. I guess that makes it obvious I don't care too much about basketball. I enjoy going to games, but I don't have a specific team I root for. But, I am always happy to have a date night with my hubby and an entertaining evening out without the kids. Thanks Mom & Dad for watching the kids for us!

Swimming Lessons

For the months of April and May, I signed both boys up for swimming lessons through the local University pool. This is the first time Caden has had swimming lessons and I was a little nervous about it. But he adjusted really quickly to the pool and listened well to his teacher.

Kyler is able to swim but he is not a very proficient swimmer. I would call him “water safe” but he doesn't have a lot of endurance and doesn't do his strokes very well. Some of that is due to attitude and some to apprehension. Kyler is a perfectionist and doesn't like to do things he can't do perfectly. This makes life challenging as most of us have to practice in order to do things well. But as long as he continues to progress I am happy.

All ready to get in the water!

Caden using the kickboard with his teacher.

Kyler using the kickboard (he's in the middle).  Sorry for the blurry picture!

I love the fact that the pool is so close to our house; only about a mile away. And it is right near Kyler's school so we go right after we pick Kyler up after school. Have I mentioned how much I love living in a small town?! :)

Gabriella's 1st birthday

April 2 is a very emotional day. It is the first birthday of Gabriella. She is the daughter of our closest friends, and she died about an hour after being born. Her short little life touched me in so many ways. The way her parents handled the situation with such poise and grace were inspiring. I know they don't feel like it. But that's the reality. They put their faith in God and he provided for them in every way they needed. They miss their daughter every day but they are facing the pain and choosing to find the joy in their lives.

In honor of Gabriella, I decided to sponsor a child through World Vision. Her name is Neylin, she lives in Guatemala and she shares the exact same birthday as Gabriella. By helping support her and providing a longer, healthier, happier life for her, it is a constant reminder for me to think about Gabriella. I don't want to every forget that sweet precious baby girl and the impact she made on my life.

If any of you know someone who has lost a child, a great way to honor and remember them is to sponsor a child through World Vision, or other similar organization. You can choose a child with the same birthday, same gender, whatever you choose. What a wonderful gift to the sponsored child and to the family of the child you want to honor. Please consider praying about this.

1st Lost Tooth

March 31 was an exciting day in our house: Kyler lost his very first tooth! It had been loose for awhile but we weren't sure if it would come out on it's own or need assistance because his permanent teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth. Luckily for Kyler, he was able to wiggle it enough to loosen it for it to come out on it's own.

He was so excited to go to bed that night so the next morning he could see what the tooth fairy left him. Of course he doesn't believe in the tooth fairy. In the morning when he found his $1, he told us he knew that we were the tooth fairy and to stop acting like we weren't! :) We have never talked to him about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc. to say they are or aren't real. But he is just too practical in his thinking to believe these characters are actually true. It's pretty funny. I haven't confirmed for him that I am the one who left him money, but he still knows.