Bumps, Bruises, and Ballgames

It's been a hopping week. This could be long!

Last Saturday we finally turned the kids around in their car seats. That's right, they have been backwards until now. About the time I thought about turning them in the spring I started seeing articles about the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending kids ride backwards until they are two, not one. Knowing this and that we were going to be doing a lot of traveling this summer, we left them turned around. But now we are home and they are two so we turned them around. We took the inaugural ride to the car wash and to get milkshakes. They seem to enjoy facing forward. It's strange to turn around and see them looking at us!

As far as appointments go, Lindy had PT on Tuesday morning. She got to walk on the treadmill again. She walked 4 minutes and was not happy at the end! I think it wore her out for the rest of her session. The kids had a big appointment on Wednesday morning - a swallow study to see if either were able to come off thickened liquids. The quick answer is NO but the long answer is that both did improve. Right now we put thickener in all their liquids and we mix it up so it is a nectar consistency. Both kids did great on this consistency. Neither of them aspirated (let liquid go into their airways and past their vocal cords instead of down their esophagus). When we tried them on plain water Will had trace silent aspiration and Lindy had mild to moderate silent aspiration. It is considered silent aspiration because they never cough or give us any signs that they are actually aspirating. This is improvement over their last swallow study 6 months ago though. Last time Will was actually penetrating (letting a little bit go into his airway but not down far enough for it to be considered aspiration) on the nectar consistency and had mild to moderation aspiration on the thin liquids. Lindy had moderate to severe aspiration on thin liquids last time. So although they still need their liquids thickened, they did recommend that we can make them thinner than nectar. We have been adding 1 tbsp of thickener to 4oz of liquid and now we can we add 1 tbsp of thickener to 6oz of liquid. Slowly but surely we are getting there. We are happy with a little bit of forward progress! The last appointment for the week was Lindy having hearing therapy on Friday morning. We got to play with play-doh and a cool play-doh toy. So what if I liked it more than the kids? Lindy is doing great with her play audiometry we've taught her. She holds a shape up to her ear and when she hears us make one of her 6 sounds she puts it in the bucket. She smiles so big when she hears the sound and slams the shape in the bucket!

Now for the excitement of the week. Lou Lou had a ROUGH week! Last Sunday evening we had a family fun night at the local elementary school with our church and the kids got to play on the playground. It was all fun and games until someone (Lindy) got hurt. I was holding Lindy and saw Will about to fall off this ledge (about 3 feet high). I reached to catch him and basically flung Lindy into a metal bar - accidentally. She got the biggest goose egg I've ever seen on her forehead. I was a wreck. She was fine in a few minutes but I felt HORRIBLE. We got ice and it went down pretty quick but it looked SO bad. She was so cute holding the ice on her forehead. Multiple people told us it was a good thing that it popped out so I guess that was good. We watched her close the rest of the night and I kept nudging her all night to make sure she would stir and wake up and she was fine. Her bad week continued on Tuesday when she fell out of her bed at nap time. Yep, she fell out. Again, she was fine in about 2 minutes but it definitely scared Drew and me. Her bed was on the middle setting and one end was elevated for her reflux and she walked up to that end. Not sure about what exactly happened because we just heard a thud and found her on her back on the ground. Needless to say her bed got lowered that evening! She ended that bad day by busting her lip that evening on her car toy. The worry wart in me had visions of all this head trauma somehow knocking something loose in her shunt but so far we've seen no evidence of that. We've watched her close and she acts completely normal. Thankfully no other mishaps have happened the end of the week.

Other news for the week: We took away the pacifier. The kids had been using them only at nap and nighttime. I have been talking about getting rid of it but they basically forced our hands this week. A week or so ago they started playing the 'throwing my paci out of the bed and screaming for you to come pick it up' game. For the first half hour each night we'd go in and pick it up a few times and then they would go to sleep. Finally we got tired of this game and one night we decided not to go in and pick it up. The first night and nap the next day were pretty traumatic for both. That was all it took for Will. The third time he went to sleep without it. He pretty much went to bed normally. Not so much for Lindy. She is still struggling without it. That girl has stamina. I thought she'd be getting a little worn out by now but she's hanging in there for a good 1-1.5 hours every nap and bedtime of playing/crying. Tonight she actually didn't cry much at all, just played for awhile. It's S L O W L Y getting a little better each time she goes to sleep!

And the final news of the week is that we had our first Wake Forest football game today and the kids went. They went to a couple last year but they weren't mobile yet. We were a little anxious to see how it would go. Besides it being pretty hot and sticky, and Wake losing, it was a good day. The kids did as good as they could for being 2 and confined in pretty tight quarters. We were thankful for Grandbob, Suzette, Ed, and Jamie and their willingness to hold them for awhile. We were also thankful to the guy in front of us that was way more interested in playing with Lindy than watching the game! He let her play with his plastic bracelets, glasses, hat. And he hand sanitized his hands without me even asking him to!

So I warned you I had a lot to write about! And get ready for a lot of pictures!

First time facing forward!

Church outfits last week.

The Will we see quite often these days - the temper tantrum Will!

The banged up forehead. This was after we got home. The bump was almost gone. The bruise never got much worse, thankfully. Also thankful for bangs, to cover up her forehead!

It was pretty cool in the mornings this week so we had to bust out some pants for some early morning appointments.

The kiddos reading some old college textbooks one morning.

Stinking cute when he's not pitching a duck fit! Check out his first pair of Converse shoes!

Will loves his chair!

Will after the first traumatic nap without the pacifier!

The kids got a neat toy for their birthday. It has a tepee, tunnel, and tent.

We spent lots of time outside this week enjoying the great cool temperatures!

I found Lindy crying at the backdoor one day after Drew had gone out to his office.

Tailgating before the Wake game!

At the ballgame!

Lindy and her new friend.

Stretching during halftime.

March of Dimes Awards

Today I went by the March of Dimes office to pick up some awards from the March for Babies walk last April. I was so excited to learn what awards we received.

Our entire March for Babies team (which included Bob, Ed, Jamie, Katie, Micah, Claire, Mary Allen, Mark, Conner, Tyler, Lauren, Isabelle, Janice, Louise, Drew, Lindy, Will, and I) got the Top Family Team Award. When you register, you register as a business or as a family team. We raised more money than any other family team! Thank you to our team members!!!!


I also received an award, the Top Walker Award. I raised more money than anyone else in our March for Babies walk! Thank you to everyone who donated to us! We obviously wouldn't have gotten any of these awards without the generous support of our friends and family!

Missouri, Haircuts and Hiking

We got home from the beach last Sunday night and I flew out to Missouri on Tuesday morning at 9am. Well my flight was supposed to be at 9am. It didn't actually leave until 10am which made me miss my connection in Atlanta. But I did make it to Missouri. Tuesday evening was my grandmother's visitation at the funeral home and the funeral was Wednesday morning. Both were hard but both were very nice too. She had a really nice funeral honoring her life. It's almost impossible to believe that my grandparents are all gone. A sad week for sure.

Drew and the kids stayed at home when I flew out to MO. We thought about all going and we thought about leaving the kids and Drew going but none of them worked out. Drew and his Dad stayed with the kids while I was gone. Drew is a 100% hands-on dad so I was not worried one bit. We appreciate the help of Janice, Jamie, and Esther stepping in to help out while Drew carried Lindy to physical therapy and had meetings.

Drew was busy while I was gone. Lindy had physical therapy on Tuesday morning and from what I hear all went well. Tuesday afternoon the kids finally had their two year check-up with the pediatrician (even though it is almost a month late). Drew said it was one of the shortest appointments he had ever been to. I guess I wasn't there to run my mouth so it was short! The kids seem to be doing well so we had few questions for our doctor this time! One thing to note: According to the medical professionals, preemies have to stop adjusting for their prematurity at the age of 2. Apparently at the age of 2 they are magically caught up with their normal 2 year old peers. Therefore the kids are now on the same percentile charts as every other 2 year old. Up until now we've always used their adjusted age.

The stats and highlights of the appointment: Lindy weighed 22lbs and 3.6oz and was 30 1/4 inches long. This puts Lindy in the 1% for both weight and height. Will weighed 23 lbs and 5oz and was 32 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 4% for both weight and height. So they are a bit small compared to other 2 year olds. But hey, they are on the chart! That has to count for something. The doctor said that she was more interested with their weight to height ratio. Lindy was in the 50% for weight/height and Will was in the 20% for weight/height. Lindy is very porportional and Will is a little tall and skinny. She wants us to keep the kids on whole milk instead of switching.

Lindy had to get one vaccine to get caught up and to our surprise, both kids got their flu shots! Yeah! One less trip and one less copay!

One thing they talked about was Will's speech. We wanted to know how concerned we should be that he isn't talking a ton by now. We both feel that he is trying to say more so she was fine with giving him a few more months (till around November - when he would really be 2) to see if he has progressed. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he'll have made progress by then or he'll eventually get referred for speech services.

Lindy also had hearing therapy on Wednesday afternoon while I was gone. Drew couldn't be there either so our teacher met with Lindy and Jamie (Drew's brother's girlfriend!). I think everything went fine while we were gone.

I flew home on Thursday afternoon and almost missed my connection again. I had to book it to get on the plane in time. I was glad to get home last night.

Today we have had a good day! Both kids got haircuts today. It was Lindy's second haircut and Will's FIRST! He made it to over two years but it was finally time to cut off the wings and rat-tail. He really doesn't look that incredibly different, but he definitely looks cleaned up! I think Lindy looks more different than Will does. She basically just got her bangs cut and the back cleaned up too.

This afternoon we headed out for a little hiking fun. We hiked to the Upper Cascades at Hanging Rock State Park. Afterwards we had a little picnic dinner. It turned out to be a great little trip that we all enjoyed very much. Will got to walk a lot of it and Lindy got to ride. The path was flat enough that we could take the stroller. It might have been a little bumpy at points but it was better than carrying her!

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

He was a little apprehensive at first.

But the cootie toy made everything a-okay!
Cutting off the wings.

Will and Anita.

Our handsome boy with his new hairdo.

Sweet girl with her haircut.

Taking a break from hiking today.

Sweet father-daugher moment.

Checking out the water.

Sitting on a rock at the Rock Garden.

Checking out the rocks.

Our picnic dinner.

Has anyone ever noticed that when we are out and about Lindy doesn't often wear her hearing aids and glasses? We have had too many instances of her taking them off and throwing them and us having to go find them that we now just take them off if we are going to be somewhere that it would be hard to find them. The girl is sneaky and sly and can chuck them without anyone noticing! We definitely take them off if any water is involved. We try to have her wear them as much as possible but we also don't want to lose them!

Week of Fun and Sun and Sadness

We were busy last week and then went to the beach for the weekend. We've barely been home this month!

The whole week was a fun week though. I got to see two of my good friends from high school on Monday. We met at Wendy's house for a little play date. The kids got more birthday presents that they have loved. We loved seeing Jamie, Mia, Wendy, Riley, and Berkley!

Tuesday was our appointment day. Lindy had PT bright and early at 8am in the morning. It's a 30 minute trip so we were up earlier than normal. We also didn't get to meet with our regular therapist as she was on vacation. The PT we saw was very nice but I think Lindy was a little tired and that made her a little clingy. She wasn't her normal happy go lucky self but she still did well. This PT did say that she still isn't completely stable while standing so that even if she does take steps that she will have trouble stopping and staying standing. Which is exactly what happens. She takes steps and then falls down. She has to figure out how to stop!

We also had Lindy's hearing therapy on Tuesday morning. Chris has been extra sweet lately and bringing extra things for Will. I've been including him in all our sessions lately because it's basically a speech therapy session for him.

Milestone of the week - Lindy finally had one of her 2 year molars break through. She got her 17th tooth last week. Normally teething is not something that bothers Lindy but these molars are a different story. I don't have a clue the last time she actually got Tylenol because of her teeth. But she definitely started getting it last week. She was a fussy girl!

And if Lindy was fussy from teething - well Will was a whole other story. Teething has always bothered him pretty badly and these molars are no exception. If she was fussy last week, he was SUPER fussy last week. He was happy to get his sweet Tylenol again! He has really been showing his two year old self lately. It's hard to say if it's the terrible two's or just teething. He gets mad and stomps his feet. He has been a terror on the changing table. He gets mad when we change his diaper now. It's not much fun.

On the other hand, we think Will is starting to say a lot more things. His new favorite word is "Hi." The last couple weeks whenever he sees you he throws his hand up in the air and says "Hi!" But it's no regular "Hi." It's the most southern sounding "Hi" you have ever heard. It's long and drawn out and so cute! He also says "Right there" when we are looking in books and ask where something is. We think he's asking, "What's that?" a lot of times. He seems to be trying to say some new words when I prompt him. He gets kind of shy and a lot of times he won't even try them around me. He definitely won't show off in front of other people though!

On to our beach trip. We left Thursday afternoon and headed down to Oak Island to Drew's mom's beach house. The four of us hit the beach Friday morning and had a great time. We did get run off by a storm that blew up but it was gone in 10 minutes and we were back down there for a gorgeous morning. Friday afternoon Drew's dad and stepmom got there and a little later his mom and sister got there. We all went out to eat at our favorite seafood restaurant and got ice cream. We didn't have the best beach day on Saturday. We headed down there early but the tide was so high that we couldn't set out our blankets and towels. It wouldn't go away either because of Hurricane Bill making the waters rough. We finally headed home for the morning and went back out after the kids' naps. Then we got run off the beach again because of another storm that blew up! We finally called it a day! I did get to hang out with one of my old college roommates on Saturday which was a ton of fun. We did have one more great beach morning on Sunday and we headed home that afternoon. We stopped in Durham on the way home for dinner with some good friends and didn't get home till 9pm.

The sad news of the week is that my grandmother passed away early Sunday morning. She had been in the hospital for a week. She was my last living grandparent. Because she lived in Missouri I didn't get to see my grandparents as often as I would have liked. I am glad that I was in Missouri in May and we did get to see her then. I did get to talk to her on the phone last week as well. She was 88 years old and had lived a good life. My grandparents' wedding anniversary was on August 22 and she passed away at 3:55am on the 23rd. Although she was four hours late, I hope my grandparents had an amazing anniversary celebration and reunion. I will be flying out to Missouri tomorrow for the funeral on Wednesday. Because of many different factors it didn't work out for Drew and kids to come with me. I wish they could be there but they can't.

And finally, pictures.

Another cute church dress.

Leaning on Daddy.
Playing with Mia on Monday. What a cutie!

All five kids in the Steelers/Theatre room. Lindy was making herself comfortable!

A cute picture of Lindy and Riley.

A decent picture of all five of them together! They were gone 3 seconds after I took this!

Berkley, Mia, Riley, Will and Lindy.

She was basically stuck in the bean bags!

I've started letting the kids watch a little TV while I get dinner ready. Will has loved sitting in his new chair and Lindy sometimes acts like she actually sees what is on the TV. Until last week she has never paid attention to the TV. I'm not sure why that excites me, but it does. Just more validation that she sees!

Our little Energizer Bunnies. They seriously keep going and going and going.

Lindy actually enjoyed herself at the beach this time. The water was warm, just how the little princess likes it.

Once again, Will LOVED the beach. He loves every aspect of the beach.

A girl after my own heart. She thought my bottle was a good toy.

Grandbob, Suzette, and the kids on the porch swing.

Mimo and Will.

Aunt Anna and Mimo at the Provision Company.

Me and my baby girl!

We found this huge horseshoe crab on the beach. Thankfully it wasn't alive.

My crazy friend Cathy picked it up!

Lindy enjoying the water. Drew and Will playing in the waves.

Suzette enjoying the tide pool.

Grandbob and Will in the tide pool.

Grandbob, Drew, and the kids.

Trying out the sunglasses.

Silly girl!