Orange County

Today we made a trip to Children's Hospital Orange County, otherwise known as CHOC. We met with their GI doctor who heads up a very good feeding clinic. Mia has been doing well eating recently, but she's still not gaining weight...she's at almost 28 pounds which is where she was in August when I stopped the pediasure and cream. So, we just were hoping for some new insight and suggestions. We felt like it was worthwhile to have a fresh pair of eyes look at her and her history.

First off, he told us that we've done an amazing job getting her to where she is now...we know that is completely because of God and we are grateful that He has healed her to where she is now.

Second, he told us that for her height, she is on the skinny end of the scale, but not malnourished in any way and that yes, she is skinny, and could stand to gain a few more pounds, but she's actually within the realm of ok. That was encouraging for us to here.

Then he told us how sometimes the anti seizure medicine you are on, like keppra, can decrease appetite. Obviously the benefits of the medicine far outweigh the potential side effect of a decreased appetite, but that was interesting to know and realize might potentially be contributing to her lack of appetite.

He indicated that her bowel issues and slower emptying stomach might also be contributing along with a possibility that neurologically, she doesn't recognize the need to eat, etc.

His thought was to put her on some medicine to increase her appetite, try it out for 4-6 weeks and see if it makes any difference. There are two possibilities for this and so we'll be trying one out here over the next couple of weeks and if that doesn't work we'll try the other one.

He did feel like we should try to find a feeding therapist locally...ha. That it could be beneficial for her to see one just to rule out anything major that we might be missing, so we are going to look into that and see what we can find for her.

Needless to say, it was a long trip, but an encouraging trip. And we do praise God for how far our little one has come, she is our miracle.

Calvin

Calvin has grown up so much in the past month, he will often tell me "I do, I do" when I ask him if he wants to do a particular activity that he enjoys, like puzzles or coloring or going outside. Here's what we did today.

Damage Control

That's sometimes what I feel like my job description should be. I'm always calculating in my head whether or not what I'm allowing the kids to destroy is worth more or less time and energy than what I'm currently doing. Like this morning, I have a time that we need to leave the house so we can make it to school...we have a routine and for the most part it goes fairly smoothly. I also have goals, if I can get a load of laundry in before we leave the house, then it's almost done by the time I get back and I'm just that much further ahead. So, while I'm running around trying to do the things I would like to get done I'm constantly assessing what the kids are doing and whether or not it's helping or hurting my objectives...like Calvin taking the swiffer, I think, great...that will keep him preoccupied without much damage for a little while. But then I look up and Mia is taking off her gloves that we just put on so she can read a book...that's not going to help. Then I look over and Calvin is now taking off his socks that I just put on...oh no, that's not going to help either. Of course these are minor...thankfully we haven't had anything major, like me walking in on Mia with every single one of the books off the bookshelf and on the floor. Ok, you're probably thinking, that's not major, but for me...an overly anal neat freak, well, that is major.

I've also learned that tasks take longer when you have toddlers. And that's ok too because they always want to help and it's a learning experience for them. So, laundry that I could normally fold quickly, I might have to refold a couple of times while they are "helping" me. But they are such sweet helpers, that I do really enjoy those times...for the most part.

Just some quirky thoughts I was thinking about this morning. Not much else is new so that's good news for us.

Piano Lessons

So, we've decided to try Mia on some piano lessons because she loves music and is such a learner...she had her first one today and it went great. I think it will be really good for her on multiple levels...right now she's just learning about the different keys and she's using both hands to make them work, which is perfect. We'll see how it goes.

Calvin is quite a hands on guy these days. He can manipulate legos pretty well, we have some of the bigger ones and he can put them together and take them apart. Today, I realized that he can also buckle the safety restraints on the booster chairs for him and Mia. And it is a favorite pastime...go figure, he buckles, I unbuckle...he then excitedly buckles again. We could do this for hours. :) I'm just glad he doesn't know how to unbuckle yet.

Spring???

We've been having this amazing weather and it's only January...it makes me think that spring has arrived, but I know it's going to cool down here real soon and that this is just a little pocket of goodness. So, we've been making the most of it and trying to do more outside activities. We took the kids to the park and yesterday we were outside blowing bubbles. Calvin thought that was great fun.

Mia also had a second round of rollerskating yesterday and did great with it. This time just Mia and Daddy went, we'll take Calvin when he gets a bit bigger. And of course we are enjoying the extra long weekend, as Monday is a holiday...yay!!

Back in the swing of things...

School started this week, yay! It makes Mia very happy because she loves school and has a great time there. This also makes Calvin happy because he gets more Mommy time.

We've been making some contact with different surgeons for Mia's redo on her blocked nostril. We have some good leads and Brad was so smart in telling me to contact these places before we drive all the way there! We've spoken with a doctor in San Diego and another in San Francisco, right now the one in San Francisco is very promising, we are just going to look at a few more options before we make our final decision.

Calvin is slowly learning his letters (his sister makes sure he gets plenty of practice...). We have an S hanging near the changing table in his room and every time he sees it, he says, "ssssssss". I love it, I love watching him grow and develop and Mia does too, she especially loves hearing him try to say words. I love to watch her interact with him, she'll say, "Calvin, can you say blue...blue..." and then she'll get really excited when he says, "boo". It's fun. The simple things in life.

Rollerskating!

We took Mia and Calvin rollerskating today. There is a class at Skateland for kids under 7. Mia loved it. Of course she really wasn't skating yet because the back wheels were locked, but she had a blast. And it was really good for her to work on her balance and it requires a huge amount of strength, so I think we will be going back. Calvin had fun too, but we agreed that he might be a little too small, maybe when he is 2 it will be a better fit for him...besides, their smallest skates were way too big on him. Anyway, here are a couple photos.

Some San Diego Pics

Some pictures from our time in San Diego...the zoo, the Birch Aquarium, those were just a couple of outings we did.

Hello 2012!

I am so excited for 2012 since I have been sick since Thanksgiving of 2011...that's a long time to not be feeling well. I finally started feeling better today, Praise God!

We spent Christmas in San Diego with my family and had a great time (in spite of the sicknesses). We got to take in a few sights, but mostly, we just enjoyed relaxing around the house we were staying with family. It was a little bit strange not to open any gifts on Christmas Day, but I loved it. It was nice to focus on what was important and what Christmas is really all about...if you ever have the chance, I encourage you to try it.

So, what did we do? We saw the science museum in Balboa Park, that was a lot of fun for the kids because it was hands on and on the second floor there was a special play area for kids 5 and under, Calvin loved it. They had pipes that sucked up balls and shot them everywhere...he was in ball heaven. Mia saw her first IMAX movie with Daddy, they watched a movie about animals in Africa that are rescued and set free, and she did pretty good with the theater experience.

A few days later we went to the Birch Aquarium, and Mia really loved that. They had some hands on water tables for the adults...um, I mean kids...yeah, Daddy really liked that too. We saw quite a few fish and were there just in time for the feeding of the fish, so that was neat also.

And of course, our favorite...although that was the day that Daddy, myself, and Calvin were all sick, yet it was still our favorite...the San Diego Zoo. That place is amazing! We could have stayed there a week and not seen all of it. Needless to say, Mia and Calvin really enjoyed all the animals.

After all of that, we are back home and settling in to a routine again, I'm thankful that there is one more week before we really get back to the school routine. I'll try to post some pictures here in the next day or so.