Updates

Time for a few basic updates, to help me keep track of life as it continues to move along.

Ethan - The little man is doing well.  He has learned how to jump recently, but is still working on the coordination of it all.  He's a chatty boy when it's just the two of us, but kind of blends into the background when everyone else is home.  He and Matt have been bonding recently over radio controlled trucks, playing with them downstairs, upstairs, or outside, depending on their moods and the weather.  He looks forward to "getting out the monster trucks" after dinner or on the weekends.

He finally got a haircut a week ago, after us ignoring this particular aspect of life for the last 6 months.  He was terrified of the clippers we use at first, but lots of mini M & M's did the trick.  Now if you mention his haircut to him, he'll say "And I got M & M's!"  Maybe next time he'll remember the positive parts and not be so fearful of the clippers :)  Now Ethan, Matt, and Anna will need to have a contest to see whose hair is the longest.

Kate - She's good.  She is plugging along with Kindergarten and thoroughly enjoys playing with all of her new friends.  She still loves to play at home, but has kind of resigned herself to the fact that school happens every day.  One evening recently, she decided to raid our coat closet and play dress-up with Ethan.  She informed us all that she and Ethan were a mom and daughter going out shopping together.  Ethan was simply thrilled to be included in Kate's imagination games.

Anna - She's continuing to make progress with her rehab.  She recently relearned how to sit independently for longer periods of time (up to 1/2 hour when she's really having a good time) on the floor, provided that a mat is underneath her for the inevitable slips.  When sitting, she can scoot around a bit, too, like she did when she was a baby.  Anna is also discovering how to get up on all fours again in preparation for crawling.  A few times she has made "tunnels" for Ethan to crawl through.  We recently picked up a pediatric walker at the local rehab resale store.  She uses this during her home PT therapy and sometimes with Matt and I on the weekend, too.  This is the "next step" after the parallel bars, which came after the stander, although we still make use of both when time permits.

In terms of feeding and swallowing, she is continuing to make progress.  However, the analogy I use with her now is that this is the invisible elephant she has to eat.  Everyone else can see the progress in her gross motor strength and coordination (the visible elephant), but very few people can understand and see the progress she is making with her tongue and oral motor strength.  We have a series of exercises that she does during every meal for which she is home.  We are working with her therapist to continue to find different and fun exercises that will help target those tricky parts of the tongue and mouth.

Dad and Mom - A friend offered to watch our kids for a couple of hours this past Saturday so we could get out of the house together without any of the kids tagging along.  We took her up on it and went walking on some local trails before picking up dinner on the way home.  Neither of us could really remember the last time we were able to go walking together in some woods like that; it was probably more than a year ago.  We had a very enjoyable time, especially since our conversation wasn't interrupted by anyone for two whole hours!

Here comes another week!