January 2017

So I really did intend to get caught up on everything in January - it just didn't happen. So instead, I'm adding it to my "beginning of the month" list to at least post monthly.

So January big events:

Starting school!! We had a rough first week of whining every day and crying, but starting week two you have LOVED going! I get a full report of who was there and who was absent, what songs you sang in music, what games you played in PE (even what color the ball you played with was). You have "learned my ABCs again" about five times now. You even helped the teacher teach all of the numbers to the rest of the class.

You got new AFOs (boots) and HKFOs (full leg braces) and it has made a HUGE difference in you wanting to walk. The old ones had gotten small enough that they were hurting your feet too badly to spend more than 20-30 minutes in them. NOW - you are getting to the point that you are walking without the boots on at all! Our next goal will be work on your endurance (right now you can barely make it across the living room) and building up your leg muscles.

Probably the biggest moment of January though, was getting your power chair! We finally got the call that it was ready for a final fitting; we spent about an hour one day getting it all set up and ready to go! You have done really well learning how to use it and drive straight. We got a ramp installed at our front door, a lift for the back of the car and are ready to go! When we first started the approval process for the power chair, you had not started walking yet and we were planning on this being your method of movement at school; now however, everyone agrees - YOU DON'T NEED IT! At least not at school - you are doing so well walking and we definitely want that to continue! But we now have the chair for longer excursions (like if we wanted to go to the zoo or were going out of town and would be doing a lot of walking) and are very thankful we have that option to fall back on so that you can maintain your independence.

Other fun moments this month:

"Mama I eated my sagetti...I washa hands now!!"

Everything has become a seat...

Mimi found a toy that (almost) all of the Ls got into - Lincoln Logs!!

And here are a few more songs that you've been singing lately:

Quarterly Update?? - Dec 26

I knew it had been awhile since I had posted, but I didn't realize that it had been THAT long! I kept telling myself that I would wait until the next appointment or the next big thing happened so that there would be something worth posting about...three months later: NOTHING!

But I guess that in itself is worth writing about. This fall we have been coasting. No major developments. No huge changes. No massive updates. Just living life and watching you grow. And it's been great!

So here's how we'll get caught up: this post will contain all the big things to get caught up for September, October, and November. I'll post something about your 3rd birthday party tomorrow and next week work on the Christmas post. After next week, I'll have something big to post about: You start school on Tuesday! You are pretty excited about "meeting new friends and learning As Bs Cs and mumbers" but you're also still pretty clingy when it comes time for me to leave you at Bible class so we'll see how those first few mornings go.

September: We went to a football game at Daddy's old school and you enjoyed it much more than last year. The boys kept "wunnin and wunnin and fall down". Now any time that we go past any football field we get to relive that game. "Mama and Daddy and Lainey and Lexi and Lila and Kate and Jess and yell 'Go Devyn!' at the football games!"

September also had a few more first:

You started using the big girl swings!

Got to go in the big pool for the first time!

First set of full pigtails! We tried ponytails a couple of times too, but they didn't last long!

October big moments: You went to your first wedding! You had a great time going to the hotel with Mama and Little Big; you got to sleep in the big bed with us; AND swimming in the big pool again.

Other big moments: we got a dog! You still aren't sure what to think about Patches getting to close to you, but love to play with him through the back door.

You discovered how to get into the cabinets but have surprisingly only pulled out this one bowl...

You were determined to walk around and get candy with the boys and Little Big this year, and walked quite a bit before you let us carry you...mostly because the boys were getting impatient and leaving you behind!

Most important moment of October, you got to meet my Great-Grandmother! We met up with Nanny, Grandpa, Gigi, Pops and Doe one day for lunch. Now anytime I mention Gigi and Pops, you ask about Doe too ♡

November was another semi-uneventful month for you. We started going to story time at the Library, which you absolutely loved!

We had a great time at Thanksgiving; got to spend a couple of days at the Ranch and got to see Grandmother!

We had an appointment with Shriners and they said everything was looking good! They want us to continue with what we're doing - more time in the HKFOs and walker, start taking the wheel locks off the front so you can learn how to control it better, more time standing and trying to walk without the HKFOs to build up your leg strength.

It was an overall (medically) boring three months! We haven't had any problems since your trach closure, you've continued getting stronger and we're just moving along! I've been collecting some videos of you singing so I'll add a couple on to each post :)

This is one of your favorite Bible class songs: What Time is It?

(What time is it? What time is it? Is it time to <brush your hair, take a nap, eat lunch, play with toys>? Oh no, no, no. Oh no, no, no. It's not time to <insert phrase>. What time is it? What time is it? Is it time for Bible class? Oh yes, yes, yes. Oh yes, yes, yes. It is time for Bible class!) Except in your version, it's time for bed!

And the B-I-B-L-E song:

AMC Awareness Day - Sept 14

AMC Awareness day is June 30 of each year. This year I had the unique opportunity to tell your story and share about AMC while we were at EYL Camp. In addition, the group took up a collection that we were able to take to the AMCSI Conference the very next week - what great timing!

You're probably asking, what does all of that stuff that happened in June / July have to do with a post in September? I've had several people ask me about the presentation I gave at camp and I FINALLY got it made into a video to be able to share with everyone! Building the presentation took quite a bit of mental (and emotional) effort - it was both amazing to look back at how far you've come and heart-breaking to look at how close we came to losing you a couple of times!

So here is that video:

Now for the fun part: you have made SO MUCH progress since June!!! Going back to the presentation just two short months later, it amazes me how out of date it already is!

We got your trach stoma closed in early August so we are completely through with that. Just yesterday we had a follow up with the ENT and she cleared you for aqua therapy - which is great because you LOVE the water!

She was pretty sad though because she is out of reasons to keep seeing you! She went ahead and scheduled one more check up in 6 months "just to make sure", but after that we are down one specialist! It's a bitter sweet thought because Dr. B has seen us through so much and has always been open and honest and direct with me about what's going on!

The clips in the video presentation show you slowly moving in your walker, but in the last two weeks it has finally clicked that you can go on your own and now YOU ARE GONE! You started chasing puppies at our family reunion over Labor Day and every day since then (with the exception of one or two) you have spent at least 25-30 minutes walking. We've gone from spending 30-45 minutes in your HKFOs to almost 3-4 hours straight - which the doctors at Shriners should be thrilled about. At the last visit they said they wanted us to work up to 7-8 hours a day and we almost laughed because we thought we were doing good to get the 45 minutes!!

My favorite walking experience in the last couple of weeks would have to be you walking into the NICU yesterday and getting to see your doctor, a few nurses, AND your PT, OT and ST all happened to be right there when you walked in. There might have been a few tears.

It is so hard to believe that we have only been home for two years now; but at the same time, every time we go back to visit it feels like a lifetime ago!

Most of our walking has been done outside - you've now mastered walking in grass, on sidewalks, going uphill and downhill, on asphalt and on dirt paths. Our neighbors have been pretty patient with us as we take up the entire sidewalk...and walk down the middle of the street sometimes.

Having family close by has given us a walking goal as well - the first week we were walking outside and you got it in your head to walk to Mimi and Papa's house (at the other end of the block). We made it across the cul-de-sac and past one more driveway before you gave up - but have asked a couple of times since then to walk there again! You've also really enjoyed taking your walker to Bible class and walking around the church building.

Slowly but surely making it to Mimi and Papa's house!

Took about 20 minutes, but she was determined!

EYL Camp - July 10

I've been working on this post for a few days now and trying to het things finished enough to be posted, but in between EYL Camp in Kerrville and now, we went to Tulsa for the AMCSI Conference and then I flew to Texarkana for EYL Round 2 so it took a bit longer than I thought it would.

You were so much more comfortable at camp this year - you really opened up and talked to so many more people! You had a great time with Nanny and LOVED helping her drive her chair. You got pretty good at it by the end of the week, but still haven't grasped the concept of holding the controller down to keep it going. Nanny said you had some pretty jerky rides a few times!

You actually ate really well this year at camp - which is usually not the case when we're away from home! You had a blast going to the dining hall every day and helping Mama count as the participants came in, giving high fives and waving and clapping to everyone.

The biggest part of the week for us this year was June 30 - Arthrogryposis Awareness Day. We were given the chance to share our family's story and present some information about AMC and how it has effected our lives. 

The participants were given the opportunity to donate money to AMCSI as part of the Big Give activity (in the past we've collected school supplies, sports equipment for an after school program, etc.) In less than three hours, they collected almost $500 for us to bring with us to the AMCSI Conference in Tulsa! We are so blessed that there are so many people who love and support our family, and this was an amazing out pouring of their love!

We took a big group camp picture this year and got some great shots with the students holding their blue bracelets up high in support of AMC Awareness Day!

It was a great week and you definitely have some more friends and fans after those few days!

Shriner, Surgery and Singing - August 20

Surgery went AMAZINGLY well! The ENT said it was almost a "normal" procedure...which is saying a lot for Lexi! It was a long two and half days at the hospital, but we made it. We watched Bunny (Zootopia), ElsaAnna (Frozen) and Horton (Horton Hears a Who) at least three or four times each. Read every book. Played with every toy. But overall, it was a much better stay than last time.

Smiling and Happy while we wait

Getting ready to head back - not as happy after this...

Time to head home!

This is what your incision looked like the week after surgery:

And here it is now:

Another suggestion the developmental specialist had was to start helping you learn how to type now because it will likely be a huge communication tool for you. I searched and searched for a couple of weeks but all kids toys have all of the letters in ABC order. I FINALLY found something at Walmart that looks like a little keyboard and you have been challenged to figure out where the letters are at when they aren't in order!

They made some changes to your HKFOs (hip knee foot orthotic) at Shriners so that they are much lighter and it made a HUGE difference! You've been walking really well in your reverse walker these last few weeks instead of just standing and crying!

Working on the video from AMC Awareness day didn't happen in the waiting room. Got the slides in video mode, just have to find a time when everything around me is quiet for about 30 minutes (HAHAHAHA!) to record the voice portion. I'm going to go ahead and post the EYL post because I don't know when I'll get the video finished and that post was started at the end of June and has just been sitting in drafts since then.

Singing has become one of your favorite things - lately you love singing the B-I-B-L-E, Days of Creation, Elsa Song (Let it Go), Olaf Song (Summer) Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You love singing with us during worship and usually start saying "More sing songs" after each one ends.

Two (or Three) Months of Updates - August

Trying to get caught up - in between the insanity of school getting out, being gone for different camps and conferences, getting sisters where they need to be and the few appointments we've had, I looked up and it's halfway through July!!!

So here's are all of the updates from recent appointments, accomplishments, adventures, etc:

Trach update: things have been going great with your stoma. No issues, no problems - hasn't healed up much more so we're still scheduled to go in to have it surgically closed on August 1. They said to plan for at least two nights in the hospital for observation so that will be fun...

Feeding Update: You have been consistently eating more and more (like half a teaspoon more...which in "normal" terms is not a lot, but is still huge for you!) and keep trying new things. You let us know when you don't like the new things fairly quickly... usually by handing them back to us. You had  GI appointment June 20 and he said everything looks great. They were thrilled with your weight gain (up to 22.2 pounds from 21.4 at your last weight check!) and glad to hear the blended diet was going so well. He mentioned that at the next appointment (in January) he wants to re-run the allergy testing and see if you have outgrown any of the allergies / intolerances that you previously tested for. Sometimes, after your body adjusts to real food after being on formula for so long your tolerances are much better because your body processes things differently. Crossing my fingers on the dairy issue because you STILL ask for cheese anytime you see it!!!

Developmental: We also had a developmental check up on June 22 and you were your usually cheerful, happy, cooperative self....HA! The appointment went about as well as any of your other developmental appointments: he asked you questions, you refused to answer, gave him looks like "why don't you know this?" and refused to show off most of your fun tricks. He made the comment that I should prepare myself to get a lot of calls from the principal when you start school because you will likely be bored the first year at school because you're at a 3.5 year old cognitive level.

We went back again on Monday to test out the power chair and they said it was like night and day difference in your driving! We got all of the paperwork done and submitted so now we just have to wait. You had a lot of fun sitting in the different chairs while we were there and talking up a storm while we waited. We had taken your old medical stroller to donate back so they could use it to loan out while families are waiting for their stroller and you insisted on sitting in it. It is CRAZY how much bigger you are! Your shoulders were at the top of the headrest - when we were using it, your head only went about halfway up the rest! All in all, it was a great appointment; now we just get to play the waiting game on the approval process.

We go to Shriner tomorrow so I'll post an update about that at the same time I update about the trach closure surgery.

I've had a couple of people ask about the presentation that I gave at EYL Camp this year for AMC Awareness Day - I'm working on a post about EYL Camp and in turning the presentation into a video so I will hopefully get that done in the next week or so (or while I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room...).

I also had some folks ask me how we do the blended stuff when traveling so I plan on doing a post about your blends and our process in general fairly soon too.

In the meantime, here are a couple fun things you've been working on:

You and Nanny spent the day learning Pat-A-Cake:

You love singing - this is kind of hard to catch, but it's you singing the B-I-B-L-E all by yourself. You repeat the second line a bit before you move on, but it's still awesome to hear you singing!

And just for fun:

Your first full pony tail! It only lasted about an hour...

Took the front off your crib so you're now in your Big Girl Bed!

You've been begging to go outside but it's SO hot - this was at 8:00 last night,
 and we were only out there for about 15 minutes!

AMCSI Conference - July 9

I know it has been too long since I posted an update, and there is a ton that I need to update on, but I wanted to take a moment to write a post about the AMCSI Conference that we attended over the last few days.

Wow.

That's all I have to say. From the moment we walked in, I was encouraged. Seeing people of all ages and from all walks of life, with and without AMC, gathered together in one place was... Just so encouraging. We got there right in time to walk into the newcomers reception (literally, out of the car to the meeting room) and you immediately began asking for your scooter because after being in the car for so long you wanted to move. Then people started introducing themselves and you had a tons of claps and a loud YAYYYYY for each one of them.

Within 15 minutes, we had been introduced to 6 other families from Texas - including one who lives literally 10 miles away from is. In New Braunfels. Down our street. RIGHT THERE. Apparently, there used to be quite a large grouping of Texas families who met up fairly regularly around the state but that has fallen off some. There are a handful of families in the San Antonio area who are wanting to get things going again so YAY! 

The second day, we heard from an amazing young woman from Peru who has put together a series of videos and who speaks to AMCers about finding their own way of doing things "My Way". We also got to hear from a doctor who is HUGE on going as far and as long as possible with bracing on feet before opting for surgery, 1) because there is a higher chance of relapsing issues the younger you do surgery and 2) it causes more chronic pain issues later in life the more surgeries you have. Interesting tidbit: the foot starts developing in the first 4 weeks of being pregnant and is completely developed by 8 weeks. By the time most women find out they are pregnant, the foot is as developed as it is going to get until birth. Amazing.

I got to go to a volunteer meeting and will hopefully get plugged in to the conference planning committee and helping the Texas group get a few meet-ups off the ground! After that I went to a session that gave advice on three or four practical, realistic stress relief techniques while Daddy and Grandpa went to a session about DIY Equipment for therapy and exercising. 

There were special sessions for Moms, Dads and Grandparents that were lead as peer to peer discussion groups and I was able to connect with some more AMAZING moms about what's working, what's not, ideas to try, and just talk about our kids (because what mom doesn't like to do that?!?).

By far, the best session was on advocating for your child - SO much information, so many ideas and so many things to consider!!!

I think the biggest benefit to the conference was seeing all of the other families  and AMCers - it was a great reminder of how far we have come, how blessed we are with your doctors/therapists/nurses and all of the support we have at home. It will continue to be something we try to attend as often as we can just for the support and encouragement.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone involved with AMCSI and to the conference planning team for all your hard work!

(Lexi and I with the Board of Directors for AMCSI)