Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'

Where has the time gone?

January is basically over. I didn't keep my New Years resolution to post more often!
Have you kept your New Years resolution?

We've been super uber busy. Daniel is in his second week of casting. He is doing great with it. We've been to the new Ms. Dentist who he did much better with because it was a "she" and not a "he". We've gotten our VEP/ERG and it was the smoothest visit we've ever made to the hospital...EVER. I'm still in awe as to how well Daniel did with all of this months activities. He is growing up so fast!

Among all that stuff we've had the home visits from the therapists/school too! I've had my doctor appointments,test and all that fun jazz that happens when you get older! The first month of 2010 is behind us already. Here are some pictures of the month...nothing really special...

Daniel in a jogger that we got as a hand-me-down - HE LOVES IT!!

School therapist-Ms. Val

Daniel in his DMO suit

Aside from all of that we've been really busy with crown orders. Last year we made a large number of crowns for a group of runners, well they came to us again for more crowns. Its very fun to see pictures of all of the runners taking off from the start with the crowns on. We're really happy that we could be part of the run again this year! You can check them out more here.
We also appreciate all the business we've gotten from this exposure!!

This month we're had record amount of custom crowns to make, I can happily say our little fingers are sore from needle pokes! Here are a few of the new ones we've made up.
We've had many Thomas and Sponge bob crowns too! I guess when it rains it pours! Now we probably won't have any more orders for months to come! But we had a great time doing it, I love making these for kids and their birthdays....and the adults too!

Casting

Today we are starting Daniel's serial casting.
I am told its not bad at all. I am hoping that what I hear is right for Daniel too!
So this afternoon we will be getting two casts on two little legs, that hopefully aren't too heavy.
I envision some bruising on my body from carrying him, which I usually do!

This week on Wednesday we also have our VEP/ERG tests at the hospital. These are to test Daniel's eyes to make sure that the seizure medication that we are giving him ISN'T damaging his sight. One of the side effects is 1 out of 3 lose vision on this. Sucks. But when its the only medicine that can keep the infantile spasms away, you do what you have to do and just hope.

We also got a used "jogger" this weekend from Karen (from a Yahoo Support Group) whose child outgrew it. We brought it home and set Daniel in there to see if he could sit unassisted. Needless to say he loved it and didn't want to get out! Now we just have to wait for the snow to go away!
I wish we could get more cool things like this to allow Daniel to be more "typical" with activities, its just the cost of equipment that is labeled "Special Needs" is astronomical in cost! And getting insurance to do it....HA HA HA HA.


I know I'm stinking at bloggin' lately. Tons of stuff going on around here and its just been a blur!
I promise to do better in the future!

In the Swing of 2010

We are trying to get back into the swing of things again.
After being sick for what feels like forever, getting a back into the swing of things is a little bit more difficult that I wanted!

Daniel seems to be growing up some and is refusing the naps that he use to take, he is not consistent. He doesn't understand that mommy is older and needs naps! I love napping.
So while we are not doing some of the things we were before, we still have a lot on our plate. I can't figure it out but still seem equally as busy.

Lokomat therapy is over. We did 8 weeks (approximately with all the sickness) and I can certainly see that there are aspects that have gotten better in Daniel and perhaps a few things that might have gotten a little worse. But I can't say for certain that the things that got worse are because of the Lokomat or the fact that he was sick off and on for about a month and he grew taller. Unfortunately when there is a growth spurt, the bones grow faster than the muscles so the muscles in the legs get tighter. So we are stretch, stretch, stretching. Hoping to get something from the doctor for casting. We shall see.

We have scheduled appointments with the gastro guys to further discuss a feeding tube for Daniel. This is in a few months but until then we have to keep Daniel healthy, which means less time playing with friends and still doing the homeschooling routine.

Daniel also got a new "suit" to wear, and we are starting off slow. It is a DMO that fits his body snug like a girdle. It pulls his shoulders back and straightens his back (help with future possible issues with the spine), and just gives him some overall trunk support. When there is better trunk support you get better arm control. So basically we are doing an hour to 1 1/2 hours in the morning and then again at night.

There seems to be a ton of things going on that I haven't even touched on yet, but heck I'm overwhelmed with it most of the time, so I'll just give you those few things that we are working on this year so far.

Daniel and Daddy's New Years Eve

I told him if he was gonna play with the big boys and going to stay up all night playing scrabble (picture with Uncle Marty)
He had to make breakfast and do the dishes! Just kidding....just some random photos.

Can you see how tall he is??! What happened to the tiny little baby that I had?
When he was born he was smaller than a two liter of soda. He's not even 5 yet!

By the way the answer to the story problem is

14. Rod won 5 and Steve won 9 - 5 to cancel out Rod's wins and to win 4 beers.

Stimulate the Brain

Oy! My brain has been mush. Seriously. Total mush.
The other day someone asked my age and I had to do the math...THAT is how bad its getting.

I've come to the conclusion that it could be because I am getting old, but it could also be lack of sleep. So I have decided to stimulate the brain a little bit more this year by doing some brain games. I figured I'd share, so try this one out and let me know what YOUR answer is and I'll tell you if you're right!

Odds-or-Evens

Rod and Steve play odds-or-evens throughout the week to decide who buys beers after work on Friday. Winner gets a beer; loser buys. In a player's individual tally, however, 1 win and 1 loss cancel each other out (they keep a master tally on a bar napkin). When they arrive at the bar on Friday, the napkin shows that Rod has won 5 games of odds-or-evens but is getting no beers and has to buy Steve 4 of his favorite brew. How many games of odds-or-evens did they play that week?

Don't you just love story problems? Hated them in school and still do!

Now on the off chance that my brain is failing because of lack of sleep, I got a prescription for some sleeping aid (starts with an A). Anyhow, if you've never taken this stuff let me tell you the warning label that came on the container;

After taking A, you may get up out of bed while not being fully awake and do an activity that you do not know you are doing. The next morning, you may not remember that you did anything during the night. You have a higher chance for doing these activities if you drink alcohol or take other medicines that make you sleepy with A. Reported activities include:

• driving a car ("sleep-driving")
• making and eating food
• talking on the phone
• having sex
• sleep-walking

Call your doctor right away if you find out that you have done any of the above activities. Sleep medicines may cause a special type of memory loss or amnesia.

I'm not kidding this is for real what it says on the patient medication guide that comes stapled to the packaging. The reported activities kinda wanna make you take 'em huh?!?! WTH?!?!

After taking it the first couple of nights, hubby has decided that HE will hide the medicine after I've taken the dose because indeed I do get up through the night and wander around. He doesn't want me to accidentally take another dose through the night. Apparently I have texted him through the night too telling him some jibberish that he finds totally humorous, and saves in his phone for future reference to humiliate me!

But all that being said...the stuff really works and seems to help the brain a little. See I was able to figure out that little story problem above, AND I know how old I am ;)


BRAIN TRIVIA: Your brain can actually grow if you put it to use. Brain scans of cab drivers in London have shown that the hippocampus-the part of the brain that helps us navigate-is larger that that of other people.