Friday, December 3, 2010

Time Flies!

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I've updated my blog. It's been quite a busy eventful few weeks. Here's the skinny.


FIRST BIRTHDAY! Ethan's Grandpa John and his wife Lisa came in to visit Ethan for his birthday party. They got into Eugene from Arizona, Friday afternoon. We hung out, and started getting the house decorated for Ethan's party on Saturday, with a Curious George. All day Saturday I felt like I was on the verge of tears, just in disbelief that Ethan was already a year old. The party had great turn out, and it was wonderful to see so many of the people that have supported us over the past year. Since Ethan's grandparents from Virginia and California weren't able to make it to the party, we Skyped with them for the birthday cake. I am so thankful that skype allows my family to be able to participate in Ethan's life in a bigger way than would otherwise allow.



Therapy- Ethan has had 2 appointments with his Early Interventionist (EI). His EI is really happy to see that he's independently sitting up well, has increased his trunk control, and is rolling multiple times accross the floor. Now, we're working on getting Ethan to practice getting into a crawl position. It's pretty funny, because he naturally wants to lay like a frog, but the EI said that's bad for his hips, but Ethan seems to have no interest what so ever in getting up onto his hands and knees. Therapy sessions are really tiring for Ethan, he has to work really hard at it. Because of his low muscle tone, it takes him a lot more energy and effort just in doing basic things like rolling back and forth. He's doing great, and I'm really excited to see the progress he's making. I've really struggled with being patient with Ethan's development. My struggle is that I so desperately want to help him, but frequently feel lost, and unsure of how to help. Now, that he's set up with the EI, and we're learning how to better help him, I feel much more at ease, and am able to handle the slow pace with much less anxiety.

Pediatrician- Ethan saw his pediatrician a few days after his party for his 12 month well baby visit. He weighed in at 22lb. 4oz, and 29.5'' long. It's just amazing to think the little guy grew exactly 15lbs, and almost 10 inches in a year!!! It was really nice to be at the doctor's office for a "normal" visit. Despite all of the time Ethan has spent in and out of doctor's offices, he thankfully doesn't think any less of them. All in all the appointment went well. Dr. Pelinka put in a referral for Ethan to be assessed by the Neurodevelopmental Clinic through the CDRC (Child Development and Rehab Center). This is mostly for children with motor delays. The assessment will be a 4-5 hour appointment where they have several specialists and a developmental pediatrician assess him. I'm excited to hear what they have to say, and hope it will help us learn even more about his low muscle tone and how to best help him.

Feeding Clinic- A couple of days before Thanksgiving, Ethan had an appointment at the Feeding Clinic, which is another division of the CDRC. There was an Occupational Therapist who fed Ethan several different types of food, and helped him drink through a sippy cup. They noticed that he seems to enjoy eating crunchy foods. The OT suggested distracting him with foods like crackers, while he's crunching on a cracker, stick a piece of something like a green bean, in the back of his cheeks. I've tried this several times at home, and now he's onto me, he's not so fond of my finger coming at him anymore. They also noticed that when he eats/drinks he has a tendancy to be very "gurgly". They said this is indicitive of an anatomical issue with the pockets in the back of his throat. They're going to set up an appointment for him to have a live x-ray. Here, they will feed him food with dye in it, and watch him swallow it to see what his throat does. They said that the swallowing issues account for his pickiness and trouble with sippy cups. They sent us home with a special sippy cup, and thickeners, and suggested thickening the fluids that he drinks.The thicker consistency is easier for him to swallow. I've practiced the drinking a few times with him, but drinking through the cup is even messier than eating, so it ends up being quite a big production. As frustrating as the feeding has been his growth is not an issue, and I'm extremely thankful for that. My Mom and Step Dad were able to join us for the appointment. It's always much easier having an extra set of ears at these appointments, there's so much going on that I have trouble catching everything.

Thanksgiving Week- It's crazy to think that Ethan is no longer celebrating firsts. Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Bob came up for the week from California. They got here Monday evening. It was just in time because Monday night it snowed! Ethan got to "play" in the snow.  He liked to try and eat it, but really wasn't too sure about it. While Grandma and Grandpa were here, we played lots of cards, watched loads of football, played with the baby, and all in all had a great time. Friday morning Daddy stayed home with Ethan while Grandma, Grandpa and I did some Christmas shopping. On Saturday, we bid a sad farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. Ethan got to go to a Birthday party for his friend Henry. There were lots of babies there to celebrate Henry, it's always fun watching babies play. Ethan's not quite into playing yet, he'll be there soon enough.








 Believe it or not, that's the short version of the last 3 weeks. I really enjoy blogging, it feels very theraputic. Hopefully I'll remember to do it more often so that they're not quite so long. *Muah!*

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update! It's nice to have it in written form so I can read it three times, then I can start to feel like I can wrap my mind around the details. I am so impressed at how you keep all this information in your brain, especially without a full night of sleep!! Ethan is so blessed to have such fantastic advocates for parents. =)

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  2. I couldn't do it w/o the support of my amazing friends!!!!

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  3. Glad you wrote this update and so glad blogging is helping you. Happy 1st Birthday to sweet Ethan!

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