Auntie Shelley, Gary, and Samson!

They drove up today and the plan was to stay with us this weekend. Samson is a puppy Boxer. Livvy was very scared of him and Samson wouldn't eat his dog food or drink water the entire day they were here! They decided to get a hotel room and hang out with us tomorrow during the day. As of earlier, he was eating and drinking...can we say social anxiety disorder?! ;) He's a super sweet dog and ADORABLE. He just doesn't know about our kids since he's never been around small people before. I'll take pics tomorrow and share his cuteness!

Update to Livvy's GI appt

I took little Livvy back yesterday because she's had nothing but small watery poopies since Saturday. She felt the area where the mass was prior and it's not there, but there is a small area closer to the colon that is blocked. She suggested a suppository (thankfully!) and said to switch her to Miralax powder (stool softener) that we already have here and see if those help. She shouldn't go more than 2 days without a poop.

Today, we didn't give her any softener or any meds and she went 3 times on her own! Nice consistency (ew) which is good. We'll need to do the Miralax to keep her colon in good "shape" though.

Just thought I'd update!

Our not-so-good sleeper

That would be Alex. WOW - first time that we've had a restless sleeper - no kid of ours! hee hee

This boy takes two 1-2 hr naps a day - normal I think. Bed by 8pm and he starts out on his side with his pacifier. Anywhere from 2-6 times he's crying, turning over, rolling back, until I put the pacifier back in. GRRRRR! He eats around 4am and goes back in his bassinet. He wakes up like clockwork at 6am when Kenny is gone for work and lays in our bed with me, sleeping until 7am or so. I hope he's going through a growth spurt or something fishy because this is ridiculous!

Liv's GI appt

Poor baby Livvy has had some loose stools for about a month consistently and tries to go poop 15 times a day. She had her stool tested for parasites and Ecoli and that came back clear. The ped referred us to a pediatric GI.

From the moment we walked in the exam room she freaked - crying and wanting to leave. I think she remembered from her 2 yr well-check up that she got a shot. :( We discussed her timeline with milk introduction around a year, her eating habits now, etc. The doctor did a quick abdominal exam while Livvy was crying on my lap and when the doc pushed on the large intestinal area she squirmed. She said she felt a ball or something. She did a quick rectal probe and felt a clay-like poop mass right above her colon. She estimated it to be about the size of a golf ball! The runny poop is water that goes around the lump and gives her chronic diaper rash.

Livvy recovered after she got dressed and was happy to get her sticker and girlie bracelet!

First thing is she'll need an enema (liquid in a bottle) that we'll give her starting tomorrow (Saturday morning) along with Milk of Magnesia to break up this mass. Once it's cleared out, she'll be an a prescription stool softener 3 times a day for a few months to allow her colon to repair itself since it's been stretched out for so long.

The "cleanout" should take a few hrs to a day - we're hoping! I bet she'll feel like a million bucks when that thing is gone. She wants her dairy cut down to one cup of soy milk and one cup of yogurt a day or PediaSure for extra calories and nutrients since she's a picky eater. So far she enjoys the samples we were given!

I'll update soon as to the results!

Comment from Drew's teacher

I picked him up the other day from school and I asked his teacher how he was doing in class, if he listens, cooperates, etc...she said he does well and they were studying the letter "U" that day and a picture of a little boy holding an umbrella in the rain was the subject. Teacher asked the kids what color the clouds should be overhead and some said pink, blue, purple, white and Drew piped in with "black, because the clouds are full of water...they are always dark when it's raining." WOW she was impressed!! Hey, that's our smart son!

Therapy update

Livvy's speech therapist, Joan (private therapy) informed us Livvy doesn't need her services at this time -- that she is doing very well cognitively, has good social skills, and has picked up a few new words or sounds since. That working with Early Start (Christina and Lisa) is sufficient for the time being and we can incorporate Joan if Liv needs a supplement. What fantastic news!! They estimate her to be able to keep up with her peers speech/language-wise within 2 yrs. GO LIV!

Alex's 4 month appt

Our little man had his 4 month appointment Friday. He showed how he could roll over and grasp an object - I tried to show Dr. Rose how he laughs and laughs, but he'd have nothing to do with it! Figures...

He had 4 shots and screamed bloody murder. :( Here are his stats:

Weight: 15 lbs, 8 oz (50%)
Height: 25 inches (55%)
Head: 16 cm (25%)

He dropped in % from the 90's and his little noggin makes him look bigger than he is!
She said he looks great and can start rice cereal right before he comes in for his 6 month check up. woohoo!

Drew and his imagination

He cracks us up! Never a dull moment around here...

He crossed one leg over the other that was straight and looks at me and says, "T"!
Later that day, he got the little kid shopping cart, filled it with his play cones, and lifted it up high in the air. We asked him what he was doing and he said, "It's a garbage can..." Then he empties the cones and lets the "can" down roughly like the garbage man does! HA HA his imagination is fantastic!!

ALEX ROLLED OVER!!

WOOHOO! Our big boy...he rolled from back to front 3 times!! He is truly the happiest baby ever! You talk to him and he laughs and giggles from his toes. He chomps on his hands and sucks randomly on his first finger and ADORES Drew. Anytime Drew is near Alex lights up! He'll be 4 months in a few days.

Drew's scooter

He got a scooter for his birthday from Auntie Shelley and has been practicing every day diligently to push with one foot and bring the other on the board and steer at the same time. He can go a few feet before losing it, but he's proud. He always wants us to watch him "go" and smiles big when we clap for him! I need to update with pictures soon.

The outdoorsman

Alex! He loooooves to be outside looking at trees and birds any chance he can get! If we ever went camping he'd be entertained by nature, that's for sure. He still hasn't rolled over, but gets to his side. His favorite position while awake is completely sitting up with no recline - can't miss anything! His hands are his prized posessions lately...he slobbers all over those things like they're candy! When just talking to him, he laughs and laughs - such a sweet and happy boy!

Livvy's new words!

I've been trying to keep track of her new words (or at least attempt since they're not very clear, but words nonetheless!) so here goes!
* pig
* cat
* meow
* frog
* help (used frantically over and over when she wants something Drew has!!)
* dance
* toes
* mouth
* eyes
* she also tries to use a sentence: "where is the ......" - "there's the ....."

And the finale tonight while looking in the mirror as we do nightly to get her to name body parts, when asked to say "Livvy" she said, "Wivvy"!!!!!! woohoooo our little girl said her name!! We were ecstatic and very proud of her.

13th Annual FSP Awards/BBQ

This past Saturday (16th) was the event held at the Oakland Colliseum! We all gathered on a patio at the Colliseum and had great catered food, held the awards ceremony and watched the A's play the White Sox. Kenny, Dustin, Drew, and I went with all of the brothers from Dick's Automotive. Kenny won Contractor's Choice award, got his 5-year FSP service award, and Dick's won the Contractor of the Year for the second time....woohoo!

Drew seemed to enjoy the baseball game and we stayed for 2 hrs of the game. Grammy watched Livvy and Alex at home and they were good, too! It was a fun time had by all. I'll update with pictures when I get them.

*sniff* Drew and strep throat

Poor Drewbie...last Sunday he complained of a headache and within a few hours he had a fever. He was down for the count the entire week with fevers ranging from 101-104.3 at the highest (and usually at night). Finally on Wednesday he said his throat hurt and I took him in and he had strep. He was given amoxicillan for 10 days and Motrin for the fever. Now he's doing pretty well...no fever just sore throat. He will be going to school tomorrow.

Alex...

Phew - time is flying by! He turned 3 months on August 31 ~ how can that be?? He really is cute! The way he giggles while throwing his little head back is infectious! He hasn't rolled over yet and LOVES chewing on his fists...teething? He enjoys laying on his playmat in the playroom looking around at the trees and listening to the birds. He can hold his head up with great control and prefers to be sitting upright and not reclined. He smiles wide and mighty whenever he sees Drew. :) awwww I'll be making his 4 month checkup appointment soon.

Liv's latest speech update

Since she sees 3 therapists almost weekly, I thought it would be good to keep track of them here.

Her latest was Friday...Lisa....she is GREAT! Such a wealth of information. She is fun and Livvy loves her. She still building trust (2nd meeting) then the "work" sets in. ;)

She gave her some feathers to teach her how to blow and since with feathers it doesn't take much effort to blow, it would be a successful tool. Livvy didn't want to blow the feathers so Lisa did and she laughed and laughed. We'll work on that here as well.

Lisa also described her diagnosis of apraxia/dyspraxia in greater detail. It seems Livvy only has a mild version of it (speech/language vs. entire body) which is great! The basic version is she hears the correct word spoken (DOG), wants to say it, but her mouth can't produce it since the signal from the brain to the mouth gets interrupted. Researchers don't know why or how yet. She explained it's better to just repeat a word you want her to say rather than ask her to say it. It puts a huge amount of pressure on her and since she knows she can't say it correctly, she gets very frustrated.

The other observation (which the Occupational Therapist witnessed as well) is she jumps up and down often, spins around in one direction sometimes, and crashes into the couch. These activities imply a sensory need; her brain is telling her body to do these things to gain sensory input that is necessary to concentrate on a given task. Lisa recommended 3-4 times a day to rough her up by jumping high and hard, spinning in BOTH directions to turn the brain "off" instead of getting dizzy by spinning in one direction, and squeezing her arms, trunk, and legs somewhat hard. She LOVES it! The more the better. It was interesting to see how after those are done for about 10 minutes or so, she is able to sit and do a puzzle or blocks without interruption.

This is all so facinating to Kenny and I - the more we know, the better. Lisa said her speech would be normal (didn't give a time frame yet) and worse-case scenario she might be asked where she's from because of a slight "accent" with certain words. She also mentioned that since this program we're in ends when she's 3 yrs old, the school district would pick her up and further her treatment while in school starting with her preschool years. We meet with the District in January for an eval.

She is babbling up a STORM and ending her "sentences" with a question mark at the appropriate times with a word she knows...example..."(babbling, babbling, babbling, toes?" Which means "where are your toes?" :)

She also just started a MyGym class once a week for 1 hr. She loved it - except sitting in the circle for a few minutes to sing a song and do introductions! It's still good for her to sit there even when she doesn't want to and the main point is socialization and physical activity since she's so active. So far so good! When the MyGym class ends (8 sessions) we'll enroll her in our local community center tumbling class.

"What's that thing?"

Ah, Drew...he's so funny!
I had asked him to go potty before nap and he was taking a long time so I went in to check on him. He was looking down and asked me what this thing was called and I said scrotum. Just then, Daddy walks in and Drew asks him, "Daddy...what's in my basket??" We were laughing so hard and even Drew knew that wasn't the right word and was laughing too! Such a cute mind!

OUCH!

We just got back from the grocery store....picture this.....
A car cart (AKA Mommy needs a special license and mirrors to go along side of it) with Drew and Liv in their seats "driving" and Mr. Alex in the bjorn (me carrying him) while pushing the cart that is overflowing with items! I was doing record snail speed ;)

So we're loading up the car with groceries and kiddos and I asked Drew to throw something away in the nearby garbage can and as he's approaching it he trips and skins his knees pretty badly on the can that was rocked. Poor Sonny!

As we're driving home he says, "I have to tell Blankie (his fave blanket) that I hurt my knees." I said okay you can. He asked when it would get better and I was explaining that new skin would grow in a matter of days. He says, "I have to tell Blankie that the new skin will grow over my knees like a piece of paper (demonstrating with his hands the new skin) and that my knees are broken." And then more tears fell. He's so sweeeeeeet!

Drew's new year at school!

Drew will be starting Wednesday, Sept. 6th at the same school he went to last year - Cathedral of Faith's My School - in pre-k! We went on Friday to sign papers and caught up with his teachers last year, Miss Rose and Miss Terri who hugged him and loathed on how much they missed him over the summer! He was teary-eyed and touched they remembered him. It was sweet.

His new teachers are Miss Juana and Miss Lan who we also were able to meet in his new classroom. They seem very nice and organized, gave him a hug, and went over the basics of his curriculum. He will be going Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am-noon and since most kids in his class go M-F, he'll have "homework" to make up for those 2 days he is gone. I told them I was prepared for that and to make sure we're all on the same page so he'll succeed.
They do a lot of academics in this class to prepare for Kindergarten so a lot of how to hold a pencil, writing his name, and learning phonics is the majority of the work.
He got to sit in his assigned chair, knows where to put his jacket and pick up papers from his cubby. He seems excited to go - we'll see on that first day! :)

Livvy Lou

She had her first speech lesson with Lisa (Early Start program with CA) and she took to her really well. They got to know each other and we went over our concerns and goals. Lisa seems very knowledgeable and energetic. We will see her on a weekly basis. She recommended making a PECS board (basically any form of background like a manilla folder and taking pictures of things she likes to do/eat.) For example, her cup, an apple, playdoh, backyard, etc would be laminated and stuck with velcro to the background. When she wants/needs something, she will go to the board and take it off and hand it to one of us. If our answer is no because we're eating dinner and she can to playdoh after dinner, then it would go to the side reminding her that it will still be honored but at the right time.

This is just a communication tool for now - not a way to teach her how to say it right....at this time at least. It will minimize the frustration levels dramatically which we're all for! This weekend I'll be taking pics of her favorite things.