Titanic Exhibit, New Mattress and Cute Little Boys

We've had a busy week. Too busy to blog even, though I've been trying to keep up with it. The boys have been busy and managed to avoid my cold somehow. I think a lot of why it hit me so hard was my lack of sleep. I've been getting between 30 minutes to 3 hours every night. It really drags a person down and makes them susceptible to colds.

I've been exercising on the Wii every night. I took a night off last night though. It has a journal to do everyday and it told me I'm not getting enough sleep and I don't have enough energy to exercise! So we watched a movie (Seven Pounds) and ate ice cream instead. :)

Dawson is being his energetic, troublesome self. He's been drinking out of a cup really good. His latest thing is sharing my chocolate milk in the evening. Except it went from sharing, to running off with my glass and finishing it for me. He returned the cup to me when he was done though, grinning ear to ear. I've been having him put his dishes in the sink when he's done with them. If I'm not right there to get them, he throws them on the floor. So I'm hoping to avoid that as much as possible. Well he picked up on it well. The other morning I came into the kitchen to find part of my silverware drawer in the sink. All the twist ties we had in there, baby spoons and some regular stuff too. Getting the twist ties out of the garbage disposal was fun. Not that I'd know, Dan did that part, thankfully!

Tyler is doing good. His counts are still too low for chemo, so it's nice having a normal baby again, but also nerve-wracking to not have him on chemo. He's been very interested in food lately. His new favorite is cheese. He wasn't so fond of spaghetti noodles, way too much work and they felt weird. Bananas were rejected completely. He spent so much time trying to pick them up, then once the piece got to his lips he'd throw it down. This went on for a good 10 minutes. I can't feed him, he has to do it himself. He won't accept a spoon either, even though I tried to teach Mr. Independent how to use the spoon. It just wasn't happening! I also gave him a little water in a small bottle and he drank some by himself. So I guess that answers the question if he can hold a cup/bottle by himself! He was quite upset with me last night because I wouldn't let him dive into my chocolate ice cream. I offered him some with a spoon, but he made a face, pushed it away and dove for the bowl again. He doesn't take rejection very well! I got that face that babies give their mommies to make them feel horrible, so he ended up nursing while I ate my ice cream. Which of course didn't go too smoothly, because he just knows it's there!

Tyler has been crawling faster lately and trying to overcome more obstacles. Today he proudly crawled over Dawson's bag of Mega Blocks. He used to not like crawling over anything, but now he's starting to think it's fun. He's also standing up next to toys even more. He's discovered some new fun activities. Like closing the kitchen gate and the bedroom door. He opens and closes the door a bit, playing peek-a-boo with me. He will also raise a blanket over his head to play peek-a-boo, it's so cute!

Thursday night was stressful. I was trying to get ready for Friday, separating the boy's diaper bag stuff, gathering extra things we'll need, giving baths, etc. After going grocery shopping, no less! So I was already tired when I got home. I did a lot of cleaning, did the big stack of dishes I hadn't done because I was sick. Then I cleaned the living room, which Dawson promptly messed up again. Not only that, he was on a roll with throwing things behind the couch. So I decided to put him in the bath a bit early. He has these bath crayons that someone gave us, he loves drawing in the tub. He decided to chew apart the entire red crayon! It was completely gone, just had small chunks laying in the tub and red crayon stuck to his teeth. Gross!

I'd about had enough for the day, but Tyler looked SO interested in the bath, so I decided to give him one. This was his 2nd real bath since he was diagnosed. He can't get his tubes wet, so it's hard to do real baths. He just gets sponge baths instead. It took about 15 minutes (2 attempts) to get his tubes securely up and plastic wrap over them. It's hard dealing with plastic wrap and a squirmy baby trying to play with it! So he was pretty mad by the time I finished. I got him into the bath seat and he started crying and screaming. I figured he'd settle down after I played with him for a bit, but no luck. I took him out of the seat and he didn't want anything to do with the water. So I gave up, rather frustrated and tired.

On Friday we went to the Titanic Exhibit with our friend Jessie and her 14 year old neighbor, who also happens to be a Leukemia survivor. It was fun, we weren't allowed to take pictures because of the preservation of artifacts they've brought up from the wreck, but it was nice walking around and reading all the stories of people and seeing things they used back then. Afterward we walked around the rest of the Science Museum, where the Exhibit was held. It was fun seeing everything. On our way home we stopped by Heidi's house, (a friend me met online) and dropped off 2 full diaper boxes of baby food that we'd stocked up. He's skipping that faze apparently, so I wanted to give it to someone who could really use it. After that we picked up Dawson from my parent's house and went home.

Saturday was a quiet day. I put quite a few things on Craigslist, hopefully they'll sell. I also answered some ads, so I'm hoping to get a couple things too. One of the things I found this week was a Tempurpedic mattress set. We've always wanted one, but when we looked they wanted 2-3 thousand for them! So we were quite happy to get it for much cheaper! It hasn't been used long either, the lady has arthritis and it was too stiff for her. It even came with a mattress pad and pillows, which are very comfy! We picked it up today (Sunday).

Heidi took a pic of all the baby food I gave her, after she sorted it all

Tyler not liking his bath (had to take a pic anyway, he's rarely in the bath!)

Daddy and Tyler at the Science Museum. I love this carrier, it sure saves the arms, he's getting heavy!

 

Dawson, after he stole my chocolate milk. He's got it pretty good, chocolate and Blue's Clues on the big TV!

He was pretty hyper afterward, he drank half the glass! Luckily it was short lived. Love the goatee thing!

Tyler saw Dawson playing with his jumperoo, so I put him in there and they both played together for a while.

I think Dawson has come quite a ways in accepting his little brother being around lately. He will share my lap now and he'll play with the same toy more often too. If he sees me changing Tyler, he'll stand there and wait, where he used to throw a tantrum. So I'm happy that things are settling down and he's enjoying his brother more now. He still doesn't like it when Tyler takes his things, knocks over his mega block towers or is eating food that Dawson likes, even if Dawson has the same thing. It's a new concept (Tyler eating real food) that he'll just have to get used to! He doesn't mind if it's stuff like cheese, that he doesn't like. Hopefully it'll be short lived. If anything, I can move Tyler's highchair up to the top level, but he really enjoys being at the same level as we are, so I'm hoping to just work through things.

Tyler's Evaluation Results and a New Toy

Dawson had his final evaluation today. She couldn't come before because she was sick but they technically had to do this part, even though he already qualified. He matched shapes, stacked blocks, put pegs in holes and really enjoyed that. He wouldn't point to a picture in a book or put blocks on a string though. Blocks are for stacking! So he was stubborn for that part of it.

Tyler's evaluation was reviewed and the school district was thrilled about how good he's doing and said he doesn't need anything right now. They'll be keeping track of him by sending me a paper each month or 2 saying what he should be doing. If he's not doing any of those, then they'll review it and see if he could use some help.

Saturday night we went out and bought a Nintendo Wii system. It came with the sports and we bought the Wii Active too. Since I'm stuck in the house all the time and can't go to the mall to walk during the winter, or my other usual places, I thought it'd be a good alternative. It's a lot more fun than those workout tapes too!

Right now I have a bad head cold and feel like crap. Tyler's immunity is low so I'm watching him for signs of getting sick. With little immunity, those signs are totally different than normal people, so I really have to be on my toes! It's very stressful.

The boys playing and watching their new Blue's Clues movie, winding down before bedtime

Dawson getting in trouble (crawling onto my computer desk)

Tyler playing with his new discovery, the doorstop

Tyler's Evaluation and a Playdate

Tyler's Early Intervention evaluation was today. They didn't look at him though, they asked me a huge list of questions about what he can do while Tyler slept. Good thing, he needed his sleep.

She determined that he's doing great physically and socially. He's interacting, moving around and meeting all his milestones. She said he could use some work on fine motor. Just because I said no to "drinking from a cup" and "using the pincher grasp". Well I've never tried a cup, he's 10 months old and nursing. So I'm not worried about him at all at this time.

She said that they can monitor him through sending me a form to fill out every couple months, to monitor his progress. We also talked about maybe getting some help with feeding, since he doesn't want to eat baby food. He'll try the occasional food I'm snacking on, but it's not enough to consider it "eating". So she's gonna present her findings to the school district and see what they say. She said they may just ask Home Care to work on his feeding also. I guess we'll see what they think. I really don't like how OT worked with him in the hospital, they were too pushy I think and he acted like he was being tortured.

We went to a small playdate today in Coon Rapids, it was so good to get out of the house! There were 3 other people there (Heidi, Miranda and Irina) with their 3 babies (Caden, Alicia, Liam) who are Tyler's age. It was fun to watch the babies figure eachother out and it was nice to talk to some adults for a change. Ones who aren't just talking to me for healthcare or development reasons! I'm really hoping to be able to go roller skating on tuesdays, if I can find a sitter. Doesn't look very promising yet though.

Dawson was really busy today, he discovered that throwing toys over the railing in a split level house was really fun. He did a lot of running back and forth too. He wasn't so sure of all those babies though! 

Tyler has found that the doorstop makes a really cool noise when you make it flop up and down. He played with it for several minutes, giggling. He's been so happy and playful. Full of smiles and energy, it's been great. I did get the Christmas tree and stuff put away last night. Gave us a lot more room for things. I'm debating what to do with the space now. I have a few ideas. I might play around with it tomorrow if I have time.

A Peaceful Day

We haven't had many days where we've had no nurses or evaluation people come to the home. No appointments to go to and I didn't spend half the day on the phone arranging appointments either. Though I did get 2 quick calls, from the Children's nurse and the medical supplier, but that's very minimum for us!

The boys have enjoyed this day by playing and getting into all sorts of trouble. Dawson has been throwing everything behind the couch, feeding Tyler things, like grapes. He's been throwing things at our new TV, which doesn't go over well at all! This results in the TV being turned off and Dawson having a big tantrum about it. Hopefully he'll learn soon! He helped me unload the dishwasher the other day. He stacked all the plastic bowls together for me. He also helps with laundry by putting the wet clothes from the basket into the dryer. It's slow going, but he loves being helpful. He's really good at making more work for people too! The other day he put a screw in the CD drive of Dan's computer. Now the drawer won't shut, so Dan needs to take things apart and fix it. We were counting grapes today. He had one in each hand. I pointed and said "one, two", then he said "two two". He really likes people counting things for him. He's never tried to say any numbers before though.

Tyler is all over the place. He found the patio blinds now and thinks it's cool to pull at them. He disappeared on me today, I found him in the entryway by the kitchen, trying to get over the rugs. He can make it over the bump on the walk-through baby gates and he seems to treat rugs the same way. He seems to think he needs to get up on his feet and walk/crawl over the edges like he does the bar on the gate! It's cute, but he gets pretty frustrated and "stuck" there. He doesn't usually make any noise though, so I usually walk around the corner to find him on his hands and feet with his butt up in the air! He's been so happy today, the steroids have worn off, he got blood and he's got all sorts of energy now. He giggles at everything. Things Dawson is doing, stuff on TV, toys....it's so cute!

My laptop got a virus last night. It somehow closed my Antivirus program and made the system restore not work. I'm so frustrated! I deleted one of the files, but it's still on the blue screen in "safe mode". I gave up on it for now, my patience ran out last night and I wanted a peaceful, no hassle day today.

I got some more cleaning done today. I made a good gap in our room last night. It's become the catch-all for stuff we bring home from the hospital, suitcases, bags, you name it! So I got a bunch of it put away, including the suitcases that were still partially packed. I also went through Tyler's clothes, got the rest of the 18 month stuff out and even some 24 month shirts. I'm hoping to tackle the Christmas tree next. We'll see if I have time tonight. The space in the living room would be nice.

Tyler getting into the blinds. He was also messing with the shoes.

Tyler crawling around

Playing with his toys. He likes to be up these days.

Tyler loves the slide

I can't seem to get many good pics of Dawson. He runs away or tries to grab the camera! But I finally got a couple cute ones of him today. Mostly because I caught him before he grabbed the camera!

Fluids at the Plaza and a Stubborn Toddler

It was a longer day than expected today. Tyler got blood and platelets at the CentraCare Plaza, which took 4 1/2 hours. Dawson loves pushing all the buttons to open the doors for the stroller. Nurses played with him while Tyler and I sat and did his transfusions. Dawson even took a nap in the bed in the room next to us! They were pretty empty there, wasn't anyone there but us! It was nice, all the attention.

Dawson is being so stubborn. I know he can do things but he just won't. Like for his snack, he wanted more yogurt. He did his usual whining noise and I asked him if he wanted more, and signed it too. He did say "mmm",  but I kept at it. He's said it before and he's signed it before too. After a good 5 minutes I just stood against the kitchen counter, not asking him anymore but watching until he said it. After maybe 10 seconds, he looked about ready to roll his eyes, and signed "more". Yay! In the past when I was persistent, he just acted frustrated and would get upset.  He'd look at me like "you know what I want mom, just get it!"

Dawson has been so good about bedtime now! I change him, put him down and tell him to go to bed. He promptly runs to bed and lays down, grinning and waiting for his kisses. I leave, close the door and I don't usually hear a peep out of him. Tyler on the other hand, has been up really late. Around 6-7am, fighting sleep. I'll put him in his crib, knowing he's tired since he usually is rubbing his eyes and falling asleep on me. He wakes up and cries for a while, then usually falls asleep. Sometimes he just keeps at it until I go get him again. I do wait a while, depending on how upset he's getting. Some nights I'll just think "5 more minutes", and he'll be asleep in the next couple minutes! So it's hard to know when to go get him.

Tyler is getting more mobile by the day it seems. Right now he's playing the little piano keyboard my parent's got Dawson for Christmas. I had sat him down by it, but he moved to his knees, with his hands on the toy. Then stood up on his feet, leaning over and pushing the buttons. He'll occasionally squat by toys too. He really wants to be up though! The other day he almost looked like he was gonna stand right up by himself! He will take a couple steps while standing by toys too. He's so close! I'm wondering if he'll be walking by his birthday, I guess we'll see.

Early Intervention is going to get Tyler into their program now that Dawson is done with his evaluations. I don't think Tyler will need as many evaluations, since babies don't have quite as many things to cover. I guess we'll see what they plan on doing. The lady said his Leukemia diagnosis alone would probably get him qualified. They come on Thursday morning to see Tyler, and Friday afternoon to finish a part of Dawson's evaluation. The lady was sick and missed that part, but they had enough info to approve him anyway. I'm not sure what she plans on doing on Friday. After that, we'll get together and make out his IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) for the year, which will be his goals that they'll work on. They will review things again when he turns 3 and probably do another one, since he will be moving into the preschool setting then.

The boys, being held by Grandpa and Auntie. Could they get any cuter?!

Here's some more cute Tyler pics, since I couldn't get them to upload the other night

You can see his 2 teeth!

He sure has some big cheeks!

He loved this paper towel

He was waiving it up and down, with his tongue out!

Dawson's Early Intervention Evaluation Results

I got Dawson's Early Intervention evaluation results today. I'm not too surprised but it's still hard to see on paper. Evaluation done at 29 months, 10 days. For this first part, they asked me tons of questions.

Receptive Communication (what he understands), he's at a 12 month level

Expressive Communication (what he says), he's at an 8 month level

His hearing is just fine

Social Emotional Behavior score was 65, which puts him at 1 percentile compared to others his age. They said he has a "borderline level of Social-Emotional functioning"

His Adaptive Behavior (functional skills, which include communication, safety, following rules, self-care and many other things) was at an "extremely low" percentile of .3

Naturalistic Observation Results (they watched him play and interacted with him a bit):

Cognitive (figuring out toys, stacking blocks, using tools, etc) was at an 18-24 month level

Language was at a 12-15 month level

Gross motor (running, walking, balance, stairs, etc) was at a 24-30 month level. He's perfectly on track with this section.

Fine motor (using silverware, holding crayons well, stacking blocks neatly, putting pegs in the hole, etc) was at an 18-24 month level

Social behavior was at a 12-18 month level

Self Help (feeding, dressing, sleeping, toileting) was in the 18-24 month level

He definitely qualifies for services at home, they'll be coming out to the home once a week for an hour to work with him. Once he turns 3 (July), he'll be in Special Ed preschool about 3 days a week.

Starting to get into Trouble already

Tyler is all over the place now! He's discovered that he can crawl places and discover new things. He made it to the patio yesterday, then cried when he hit a dead end. Today he figured out how to turn completely around to get out of places. Before he could make turns, but not really all the way around. He crawls down the hallway to come find me if I leave the room for too long, or if he wants me. He crawls really slow, sometimes with a little wobbly limp. I think his bones ache, it's common with chemo. If he crawls for several minutes at a time, he'll start crying and just stop where he is until I come pick him up. Poor baby.

Dawson is getting into even more trouble now, if that's possible. He's been up on my computer desk, getting into Dan's computer corner, behind the TV and even climbing over the baby gates. He thinks it's funny when I'm nursing and can't get up to get him out of trouble, or when Dan is busy doing something. We're not finding it very funny! I'll tell him to stop and he just looks at me and grins with this mischievous look because he knows I can't do a thing about it at the moment. He sure runs the second I get up though! Then he comes back and says "Hi" and starts being all cute so I can't be upset with him. This is probably a good thing and it works most of the time!

Dawson's Early Intervention lady is coming on Monday to let us know if he qualifies and to talk about services and get us started. After that we'll be getting Tyler set up for an evaluation and to start the process so he can get some extra attention too. Tyler also gets labs on Monday to see if we go back to the clinic on Tuesday.

Dan and I got out on Friday with our friends Brian and Jessie. We went to a bar (which is funny because none of us drink at all) and listened to a band that Brian is friends with. It was fun and nice to catch up. We haven't seen them in about 3 years!

We're excited for Sunday (tomorrow) because we're going to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas since they were sick before.

Tyler's new thing is clapping his hands, sticking his tongue out and blowing raspberries. I have lots of new adorable pics, but the rest won't upload right now, so more to come. :)