David Christopher

David's School Picture Fall 2011

2011-11-26T15:55:00.002-06:00

It's finally summer!

2010-05-30T15:52:00.002-05:00

What a crazy year it's been so far. I didn't think we'd ever get out of winter. Every time I thought there might be a chance, the forecast would call for snow again.
But it's finally nice outside. And David's out for summer vacation - he only has one more year of PPCD before we have to decide what comes next.

Let's see.

My parent teacher conference with David's teacher was in January. I came out with lots of new ideas to work on in the future. Some of them include working on tearing apart velcro (to build strength in his hands) cutting paper, techniques on how to hold his hand so he can hold a pencil correctly, stringing beads with yarn, introducing him to different textures like shaving cream.

One idea I really liked was freezing a small object (like a small plastic letter or something) in ice and letting him figure out how to get it out. She said alot of what they work on this year is problem solving.

The same day, David had an appointment with the eye doctor. Which came just in time because he officially BROKE his glasses a few weeks before that. As in, broke them so bad they couldn't be fixed. So we went in and tried on new glasses.

David's teachers recommended me getting David some plastic frames instead of the wire ones. They said he would probably wear them better. So that's what we got.

Those glasses worked for about three weeks before he broke them. Now we have a pair of glasses that are made out of rubber - they're called MiraFlex and they don't break. The Division of the Blind was kind enough to buy us a pair. Hopefully they'll hang in there for a while. There are some pictures of him wearing those down further.

Here's a picture of David after bathtime

Our winter was seriously crazy this year. Here's a couple of shots of *one* snow storm we had.

Every once in a while we would have a warm day thrown in there, but it was enough to be able to come outside and play, if only briefly.

Here's some pictures from David's Valentine's Day party:
The whole class

Ms Grooms

Ms Davis

Ms Hernandez

In March, I had a meeting with David's therapists. There's good news, and there's bad news.

The good news is, David's really blossoming in his speech! He's repeating more and more and is starting to use words in an appropriate manner. He's also eating really well and, just in the last 6 months, drinking really well. They were really pleased with how well he's doing in speech therapy.

More good news, David's doing really well during the physical therapy sessions they have in the pool. He's no longer in an inner-tube floating thing, he's just in a life jacket, and they don't have to hold on to him at all. They said that the pool helps him realize where his body is in space, which will help him have better balance when walking. Plus, they can work on things like jumping in there. He also gets speech in the pool once a week - which means a full hour in the pool - and they say that he talks soo much when he's in there.

The bad news is, in a twelve month period, David has only improved one month for occupational therapy. Occupational therapy involves fine motor skills, such as threading a shoelace through a bead, or putting together a puzzle. They said his attention span just isn't long enough to be able to do anything productive during the sessions.

They said that children will typically blossom in one area at a time - for instance, while a child is learning to crawl, walk, etc, they typically will not begin talking at the same time. Because of this, and the fact that he is doing sooo well in speech, they've decided to take him out of occupational therapy for right now. They also said that insurance will stop paying for the therapy if they cannot show that he is making improvement. So, instead of insurance saying "No more!" they've decided to stop it themselves, and reevaluate in 90 days or so. Once his attention span become better, they will pick him back up.

Also, because he's doing so well in physical therapy in the pool, they've cut out one session of physical therapy a week - so now, instead of doing one session on land and one in the pool, they're only going to do one in the pool.

Sooo... I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, they're the experts. If they think that giving him a break from the occupational therapy for now will help him in the long run... then who am I to argue? On the other hand, I feel like I should be doing everything possible to help him, and cutting his therapy, when he is already so far behind in that particular subject, seems counter productive. To me, it's almost like saying "You're failing math. Therefore, you don't have to take it anymore."

Anyways. I'm going to try and enroll him in music therapy too because I think he would REALLY like that. But, I'm not sure how the insurance will work with that, and I don't know what they charge. I'm waiting on a phone call back from the lady that does it.

We also had a well visit in March. David is up to 34 pounds (yay!) and is 3ft, 4.5 inches tall. The doctor was VERY pleased with how he's gained weight, even with reducing the amount of formula we give him through his button. So, she suggested we cut out an additional formula feeding, and we go back in June to make sure he hasn't lost weight. So now, we're down to 18 ounces of formula a day - down from 42, which is where he was this time last year!! Hopefully soon, we'll be able to cut those out completely. Once that is done, and we can make him take his medicines by mouth, we can take out the button!!!! EEK!!

She is also going to look into ways to get kids off of Baclofen without making them withdraw (David is on Baclofen for his cerebral palsy - it's basically a muscle relaxer, and helps him not be so tight.) She said after she evaluated him, his muscles weren't tight at all and she thinks we may be able to go down to only taking it twice a day, instead of four times a day. That would be great! Currently, we're down to Baclofen four times a day, and Clonodine once a day. She said that we can slowly wean his Clonodine also. So... yay!

Here's just some random pictures:
At the park

At the doctor's office for his hand - he got what I originally thought was a misquito bite, but after his hand got very swollen and Benadryl wouldn't help, I took him in - come to find out, he had a spider bite that turned into cellulitis. He's on antibiotics now and is fine.

I wanted to get some good shots of him before pictures in case his school pictures turned out bad:

Which, they didn't. Here are his school pictures:

This cracks me up - not one single kid is doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Busy.

Swimming in the pool at therapy - he can swim so good! He's only wearing a life jacket, and if you throw a toy to the other side of the pool, he can wiggle and move his little body and get over there and get it!

Another therapy shot

Asleep at lunch.

Just cute

At the beginning of May, David went to the dentist's office. It did not go well.

David had a big giant huge fit. He was terrified when they put on gloves and started trying to mess with his face with a big bright light shining in his eyes.

It took me and JoAnn, plus two dental assistants to hold David down so they could look in his mouth.

Poor kid. I don't blame him, really. The only time anyone has ever put on gloves to touch him is when they planned on sticking him or doing something painful. He didn't understand.

But, they said that his teeth looked good. They said that their main concern was that when children have to take alot of inhaled medicines like David does for his lung issues, that sometimes it will make their teeth weak and brittle. But they said that his teeth were really strong and there weren't any visible cavities or discoloration.

So that's good news.

Here's some Easter Egg fun:

David and Daddy playing on his new swingset

A short video

David's last day of school was Friday. On Thursday, we had his "graduation." David's teacher called me at like 845am that day and said "David's asleep in the nurses office, just so you know."

Apparently they let him sleep the whole time (about two hours) because when I got there, here's what I found:

He was still pretty sleepy during the ceremony.In this picture, from left to right: Jordan, Isaac, Julian, Reese, David, CJ, Joshua, Ever, and Diego

"Graduating" from his second year of pre-school

Ms Hernandez

Ms Davis

Ms Grooms

David and all three of his teachers

“Love is the harmony of two souls singing together.”

2010-01-22T18:11:00.001-06:00

Haircuts and 3-D glasses

2010-01-16T18:59:00.001-06:00

It had been a while since David's last haircut... and it was torture every morning having to comb through this mess! I don't know if he sleeps especially hard or what, but his hair looked like a rats nest every morning

So, Javier finally cut his hair.

So much better!!!

David found the 3-D glasses from the movie Avatar that we went to see recently... and adopted them as his own. Please tell me why he'll wear THESE but not his???

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T16:53:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was alot of fun....but at the same time, I'm really glad it's over LOL

Here's some pictures that we took of David for Christmas cards. Out of about 150 pictures we managed to get six decent ones LOL

Christmas Eve we opened presents at home. David did really good! This is the first time he's actually shown interest in what was under the paper.

I got him a Doodle Pro so that we can work on writing his name without him trying to grab the paper

Amongst other things, here's some of his presents -

JoAnn got him Leggos.

This was, by far, his favorite gift. It's some sort of ferret or something that's attached to this battery operated ball that rolls around - it's kinda cute! Unfortunately, David opened this one almost first, so I had to really work for his attention to get the rest of them opened.

He got some motorcycle racers from Grandma and Grandpa

And a laptop computer from Javier's parents

My living room was SUCH a mess when we were finished!

The on Christmas, we went to Meme's to open a few more gifts and to have Christmas dinner. Here's a picture of my nephew Jaxon.

And Jaxon with his "brudder"

Here's some pictures from one of the snow days we had:

Here's a picture of David after bathtime

...and since it's likely I won't update this again in 2009 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2009-10-24T22:17:00.004-05:00

Dear World,

My son starts school today. It's going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish you would sort of treat him gently. You see, up to now, he's been King of the Roost. He's been boss of the backyard. I have always been around to repair his wounds and to soothe his feelings.

But now, things are going to be different.

Today, he's going to walk down the front steps, wave his hand and start on his great adventure that will probably include wars and tragedy and sorrow.

To live his life in the world he has to live in will require faith, love, and courage.

So, World, I wish you would sort of take him by his young hand and teach him the things he will have to know. Teach him but teach him gently, if you can.

Teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every crooked politician there is a dedicated leader; that for every enemy there is a friend.

Teach him the wonders of books.

Give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on the green hill.

Teach him that it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.

Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone else tells him they are wrong.

Teach him to sell his brawn and brains to the hightest bidder, but never to put a price on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.

Teach him gently, World, but don't coddle him because only the test of fires make fine steel.

This is a big order, World, but see what you can do. He's such a nice little fellow.

- Author Unknown

*******************************************
So we're a couple of months into school now and it's going really well for David. He's already been on two field trips, one to the fair and one to the firehouse. I unfortunately have not been able to go on either of them because I'm in training (*GIANT eyeroll*)

Also, we're working on potty training and David now goes to school each morning in big boy underwear

Of course, that's not saying he comes home in the same pair... like... ever. But we're working on it.

Here's some pictures from the NICU reunion

Kylee's birthday party

Smile!!

I've been trying to get him more comfortable with wearing his helmet... but he hates it

Here's David, eating breakfast, on the first day of school

Some sweet David & Daddy pictures

Relaxing...

This was a sweet little kitten that showed up on our porch one day... he stuck around for about a week and then left and we haven't seen it since. I miss it though, it was soooo sweet!!!

Trying to dress/undress himself

Shopping for new clothes at Burlingtons

Sweet angel? Right...

Just playing

Couple of miscellaneous pics...

Some preview Halloween pictures...

"helping" to carve the pumpkin

***Just as a comparison, look at the difference from 2007

What a handsome fireman!!

David had the flu last week. Boy, was I scared...especially with all the swine flu panic that's been going on. He's had to be out of school and therapy since last Monday, but he seems to be all better now, and hasn't ran a fever all weekend. I'm so relieved... last time he got influenza he ran a fever of 105 for like 7 days straight and we were hospitalized for about a week. It was miserable. This time was *so* much better.

2009-08-19T21:23:00.003-05:00

So it's been an incredibly long time since I've made a post, and I apologize for that. My sweet, adorable child, who thinks that pushing buttons is incredibly fascinating, managed to destroy my video card and motherboard on my computer. Luckily, we had a small 10 inch laptop that I was able to use in the meantime, so I wasn't completely off the computer -- but it isn't the kind of computer that you can use to do things like store pictures and stuff on.
But, I'm happy to announce that my AMAZING husband got me a brand new, PINK laptop for my birthday!! YAY!!

Anyways, what have I missed?

Here's David with Javier on the 4th of July, lighting a sparkler. David didn't care anything about it.

I can't remember what happened here, but this is one of the many "owies" David got this summer

(He got into trouble for this!)

David and I went to visit his brother, Ricky, at the cemetary recently. We were having a nice time until the sprinklers came on

Here's David and Jaxon, playing at Amy's house

Stuck in a bucket!!!

Where's David?

We went to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum with JoAnn and my friend Cory and her husband.

On the ride home

David turned FOUR on August 3rd. Can you believe that? Here's some pictures from the party.

Just for the sake of reminiscing.....

Here's a look back at how far my baby has come.

August 2005

August 2006

August 2007

August 2008

August 2009

OK I think that's all the pictures for now.

As far as us, we're doing well. Javier's working on multiple projects at the moment, including an amazing website that he's built for a company called ANXO. In between web design projects, he's been hired as a photographer at several events, such as quinceaneras and softball games.

I'm also doing well. On July 9th everyone was pulled into a "Town Hall Meeting," where we were informed that Blue Cross and Blue Shield was leaving Amarillo. I think I speak for everyone who, like me, had been there since the beginning of BCBS in Amarillo, that it felt like a big giant "Screw you and all your hard work." I felt like I had been punched in the gut and kicked in the teeth. I felt incredibly betrayed, especially since we had been told over and over again how financially secure BCBS was and that, even in the recession, we had no reason to fear for our jobs.

On that day, we were told that there were two new companies that were coming into town. At that time, only one of the companies, TMG, was prepared to offer positions within their company. However, we were told that another company, DNoA (Dental Network of America) was coming in "sometime in August" and would have positions available.

Here's what we knew at that time: TMG was a call center only. They were open from 8a-8p, M-F - ALL year long (including holidays) During open enrollment (which is like six months out of the year,) there was a ton of necessary overtime.

As far as DNoA was concerned, the *only* thing we knew was that there was a claims processing unit as well as a call center. And that was it. We didn't know exactly when they were coming, or what jobs they would have to offer us.

So TMG offers me a position as a Customer Advocate. Bottom of the barrel. Which again, felt like a kick in the teeth, because I've promoted up with BCBS, but that didn't matter to TMG, they were going to put me in their company at the bottom. I was going to have to work my way back up. However, they were going to keep my pay the same, and I would keep my insurance benefits until the end of 2010. I had to make a decision.

I'm a strong believer that sometimes your unconscious can pick up on things that your conscious isn't able to recognize. And something felt funny with TMG. I couldn't place it, and nothing was logical. TMG was offering me a job. I would keep my benefits and my pay. Or, I could wait for the unknown and hope that DNoA would have something better to offer me.

My third option of course was to just severance out and go on unemployment, but that would mean losing my insurance.

My biggest fear is that I would turn down the job with TMG and then DNoA would come in and offer me minimum wage - or worse - not want me as an employee at all.

So, even though most of my peers felt pressured into taking the job at TMG, due to the recession and not wanting to risk their future, I declined the job.

Finally, at the beginning of August, DNoA came in. They interviewed us and asked us which, out of the list of jobs available we were interested in. DNoA is *so* much like BCBS (they're the dental side of the insurance, instead of the medical side) and they offered me a Senior Claims Technician position - which is what my current job title is - and the same pay. I was so relieved I nearly cried.

I start training on September 1st.

And looking back, even though I was incredibly hurt and felt so betrayed, we were very lucky. We got an email the other day telling us that they closed the Palestine, TX and the Tulsa, OK offices, and would be condensing all the mailrooms to one FSU. Last I heard, there were about 700 people without a job.

.... so there it is, the whole story! Thanks, to whoever read all this!!!

Palo Duro Canyon

2009-05-17T20:37:00.002-05:00

Today Javier and I took David out to Palo Duro Canyon. It was pretty fun. Javier's taking up photography as a hobby and so he brought his camera and took alot of pictures of the scenery. It's beautiful out there! Here's a few pictures we got that had David in them.

And here are a bunch of pictures I just uploaded from my phone:
David riding his tricycle outside

Pictures of David playing around the doctor's office

Some pictures of the snow storm we had a while ago (March I believe)

These icicles were every bit of six feet long

Here's some pictures of the party we had a few weekends ago

David was loving all the chips

Here are some more pictures from the canyon... the first couple are of David and Matthew, Kevin's little boy.

David was a little scared

Resting in a little cafe they had down there

Javier was taking pictures

Slacker!!!

2009-05-03T19:29:00.002-05:00

I admit I've been somewhat of a slacker this month with the pictures - I don't know what the deal was, but when I started to look for content to put on here I realized that I hardly have any at all!! I'll do better next month, I hope.
Maybe I'll blame it on the swine flu. Seems like that's all the rage nowdays anyways. Speaking of - find out here if you have it. Haha!

April 25th, 2009
Today was such a good day. I got to sleep in a little (till about nine) then David and I went out to the March of Dimes. We saw all kinds of people that we used to know - nurses that used to take care of David when he was a preemie, nurses that work for the various home health companies, people from my job, people from my sister's job. We took David's tricycle out there and he rode around the whole place on that thing. It was packed, yet David seemed to be the center of attention - I could hear people saying to their friends "look at that cute little boy on his bike!" And some people even stopped me to tell me that he was so cute, or that's such a cool little bike.

Anyways, so that was fun. We came home and had lunch. After lunch we laid down together and cuddled while we took a nap. It was nice to get some cuddle time in and make up for all the cuddling I can't do while I'm at work.

Then, tonight, we had a party! Javier invited a bunch of his friends, I invited some of my friends - and somehow, we ended up with at least thirty people here! We hung out in the backyard and played with the kids and Javier grilled a bunch of steaks and chicken. David had a blast with all the people - he pretty much made every person here tonight walk around the yard with him at least once

Anyways, I'm exhausted. There's still people here, but all of my people left. I've laughed alot today. I'm ready for bed.

April 29th, 2009
There was a pretty big storm east of us today so my friend Cory and I got in her truck and went storm chasing! It was so fun! We stayed to the west of the storm for the most part, but still got to see some pretty neat stuff. We got kinda scared for a little while and had to stop on the side of the road and wait We chased until the sun went down and then enjoyed the lightning show for a little while, then headed home. I can't wait to do it again! Here's the pictures - in chronological order.

This is when we had to stop because the wind was blowing REALLY hard and it looked like the storm was crossing the highway we were on:

Looking back toward town (all of that is the rain water)

Behind us

And here's a short video of the lightning - it was amazing!!

David playing with Daddy

Just looking handsome in his new shirt

And this was so cute - he was so tired he fell asleep laying on the floor by the front door

2009-04-12T16:09:00.002-05:00

March 30th, 2009
Tonight we went to Cheddars for Weston's birthday dinner.
Here's a picture of Jaxon and David

And here's a picture of the cake LOL

David's gotten mischievous lately! It's amusing to see him get into situations that are cute, or he can't get out of

Here's a couple of examples - First one, I had just got him out of bed one morning and went to use the restroom. When I came out, this is what I found... I guess he was hungry. LOL

And then the other day, we were about to go to the store, and I'm saying "come on, David! Let's go!" Normally he runs when I tell him that, but for some reason he wasn't coming. When I went to investigate, I figured out why He couldn't figure out how to get out...

And one more, for good measure.

April 9th, 2009
I decided to take today and tomorrow off of work so that I can relax a little and try to gain some perspective... work was really rough for me last week so I'm hoping that this helps. Anyways, today was a fabulous day!! I hardly ever get to do anything fun with David because it seems like I'm always working, and on the weekends I have to catch up on everything that I've neglected throughout the week. But today I got to do so much fun stuff with David.

After school this morning, we came home and ate lunch. Then, we decided to go to the zoo. It was alot of fun because we were practically the only people there (there was seriously one other family there.) The only problem was, it was super windy and we had to leave before we got to see everything. Here's the pictures from that:

David and the bears

A picture of the fence with a tiger in the background (stupid camera )

Lions!

I was not zoomed in here - they really are that close EEK!

Monkeys!

David was pooped - on the way home he fell asleep!

After the zoo, we got to go to therapy. I never get to go with him because I'm always at work, so it was fun to see him do these things. I just love how comfortable he is in this place - walking around like he owns it.

This was funny - he was pulling it really hard, trying to get the beads off.

Playing in the swimming pool!

David was so sleepy when he was in the pool - it's a heated pool so I'm sure it was relaxing. When they were almost done, the therapist turned on the jets so it was like a hot tub.

On our way out, David found a tricycle, and he wanted to play on it

After therapy, we went to Walmart and picked up eggs for coloring and a new set of pajamas and sandals to wear to the "Reading beheath the stars." David got to go to school wearing his pajamas and read stories while eating cookies and drinking milk. It was fun -- even though it wasn't really "beneath the stars" since it was 1) indoors and 2) still daylight. LOL

Anyways, we had so much fun today. Tomorrow will be fun too, David's easter egg hunt at school is tomorrow and then we will be decorating eggs when we come home. I'm excited!!

April 10th, 2009
This morning was David's easter egg hunt at school. It was chilly outside so they did it in the classroom. David found his first egg and he was satisfied with that LOL He thought it was fun because it opened and closed.

This is one of his teachers, Ms. Hernandez

For snack today, David had his favorite - and no, I'm not kidding. This is a combination of Jalapeno/Cheddar cheetos and Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Then this afternoon we colored easter eggs. David did okay, but he got pretty bored pretty quick.

This is after a "yellow dye incident" LOL If you look close you can see it on his face and in his hair.

Messy!

David played in the yard while JoAnn and I finished dying the eggs.

And here's what survived (WAY more than last year!)

... ok so what can I do with thirty eggs?

April 12th, 2009 - HAPPY EASTER!!

David playing rockstar, showing off his new haircut.

2009-03-27T15:32:00.005-05:00

March 27, 2009 - Freak snow storm
Javier and I took David out to play in the snow for the first time a little while ago. The snow has gotten really deep in some spots. David did not like it at all - especially when it got about waist deep on him and he had trouble walking.

I've never seen him so excited to go back inside before

...but as soon as we were inside, he wanted to go back out

March 3, 2009
This weekend was the first time that David started putting two independent words together.

Like, he can say "sit down!" or "Old McDonald," etc. clear as day - but those are phrases. This weekend was the first time that he put two, separate words together. Does that make sense?

His first independent word joining? "Eat. Crackers?"

And then today: "Drink. Water!"

I'm so proud of him - I'm hoping that this means that his vocabulary is about to really expand.

March 7, 2009
The other day I took David to the mall so he could play in the little play area that they have there. He wasn't too sure at first but I think he had a good time.

This is what David looked like when I got him out of bed the other day - he must of slept hard

I just thought this was cute

And here's a short video of David's dance moves from the dance party we had the other day

*** David's occupational therapy assessment ***
So I *know* that David is doing amazing compared to what the doctors thought he would be able to accomplish. However, it's never easy to read these things:

QUOTE

David is a 3 year 7 month old male referred to occupational therapy by Dr. Habersang with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, developmental delay and motor apraxia. He transitions well from therapist to therapist for occupational therapy and attends to evaluation tasks for about 30 seconds or less. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales was given to assess his fine motor skills with results as follows: grasping skills are at an age equivalent of 7 months and visual-moto integration skills are at an age equivalent of 10 months. David's chronological age is 43 months and he therefore, demonstrates a 36 month delay in grasping skills and a 33 month delay in visual motor integration skills. David was born premature with multiple medical problems. He has undergone several surgeries related to these problems and also has a history of RSV, pneumonia and cardiac problems. He is ambulatory but falls often. David has significant difficulty motor planning climbing over toys secondary to his decreased tone and ataxia, but does attempt to obtains toys. He is not yet able to maneuver a simple obstacle course without moderate to maximal assistance. David is fed by tube. Occupational therapy is recommended 1-3 times a week for 30-45 minute sessions to address above concerns and deficits.

I always feel a little discouraged after these assessments. David goes to school every day where he gets physical, occupational, and physical therapy, in addition to the things that his teachers work on him with. In addition to school, David goes to therapy twice a week where he gets all three therapies. He's had therapy at every opportunity, ever since he's been out of the hospital. And, whenever I can, I work with him and expose him to as many new things as possible.

It's just that - when I look at him - when I spend time with him every day - when I hug him and kiss him and sing to him - when I get on to him and discipline him.... I *forget* that he's not a regular kid. I don't have anything to compare him to. So he's just my kid, you know? So when I get assessments like that, it's like a slap in the face I guess.

However - on the positive side, David's final cardiologist appointment was March 25, 2009!! They said that David's pulmonary hypertension has COMPLETELY resolved itself, and they never need to see David again!!

I figured that's what they'd say, but still relieved to hear it

It's good to know that we are completely in the clear from another pulmonary hypertension crisis happening again.

2009-02-28T14:10:00.002-06:00

Feb 22 2009 - Getting nursing hours again?!?
So a woman named Stacey called me the other day. She was one of the nurses that took care of David when he was in the NICU. She was our favorite nurse, in fact. Anyways, she called me from the home health agency that we were using when we got discharged.

She was calling to see how David was, but we got to talking, and she said that she's surprised that David doesn't get nursing hours anymore (which is exactly what every other nurse has ever told me.) I told her that I had since switched pediatricians, and she said she knows my new ped very well. And, she said that she just *knows* that she could get me nursing hours again.

I told her how my sister keeps David throughout the week right now, but my sister also works two 16 hour shifts on the weekends, and she might enjoy a break every once in a while.

There are lots of positives and negatives to this.

Positives:

JoAnn could have some time off during the week.
The nurses are really good at recognizing things that David needs to work on.

Negatives

All the drama that typically follows home health nurses around.
Would they be willing/able to pick David up from school, and take him to/from therapy? If not, then I would have to come up with alternate transportation. But, they were allowed to transport before.
JoAnn may not get as much money, since she wouldn't be working as much.

I haven't really decided yet. I told my sister about it last night, and told her that I am leaving the decision up to her. On one hand, I'm sure she would enjoy having a little bit of time off every week, on the other hand, I'm not going to "take" away her hours from here. So, if she decides that she wants to do it, then great. If not, then that's fine too.

Feb 22 2009 My little white trash kid...

This picture cracks me up.

Here are some more:

Yesterday we went to an Ambucs thank you party. Ambucs is the organization that purchased David's AmTryke for us. They invited us out to be in the "parade" around the parking lot LOL I'm glad I went because there was only two other kids with AmTrykes there.

David had a great time, though - it was great for him to get to go for a long ways without me having to turn him... of course, he nearly ran over about fifteen old people

Here he is with the other two kids that had an AmTryke

And, in front of the Ambucs trailer.

Feb 26 2009 - Professional pictures of David
I went to pick up the CD of the pictures that they took for the hospital display today. I wanted to see them because I had planned on buying some prints for myself. However, I can't really say that I'm in love with any of the pictures that they took. David just wasn't very cooperative at all.

So, I'm not really in LOVE with any of these, and that kind of makes me sad. But here are the decent ones, anyways.

<-- This isn't a good picture of him, but if the lighting on all of them was like the lighting on this one, I think I would like it more.

And here is the one they will be displaying at the hospital:

Feb 28 2009 More tricycle pictures!

Yesterday I got off of work a little early so JoAnn and I took David to the school parking lot to let him ride his tricycle. This is my new favorite place to take David because he has plenty of space to ride without having to worry about running into anything. Plus, it's just up the street so it isn't a far walk. Anyways, I took my camera and got some cute pictures (and one short video of how fast he can go LOL)

Most of the pictures that I got were of his back

And, David's new favorite place to sit

2009-02-16T20:52:00.002-06:00

January 26 - We met David's new pediatrician today.
It wasn't the ped that I was expecting, it was another doctor in the practice. But he seemed nice enough. Although he seemed a little rushed, which made me kinda nervous, he took the time to answer all the questions I asked. And he didn't seem completely shocked to hear of David's medical issues, which I was relieved about since I "forgot" to tell them about David being a special needs child when I got his appointment. I didn't tell them because everyone else who I'd called said that no, they wouldn't take new special needs patients.

One thing that scared me a little was that I asked about the lymphnodes again, and he said "It's probably nothing, but I'm going to let you see the specialist just in case." I tell you what though, at least they aren't blowing me off like the other pediatrician always did. Even so, I'm going to cling to the "it's probably nothing" part of that sentence until I have any reason not to.

We also go back and see the cardiologist soon. We haven't seen him since David was about two.

David is 37 1/8 inches and weighs 32 pounds. And, he got the flu shot (remember, his old ped REFUSED to give him one )

That's it, I think

January 27 - David is sick

OK so I *know* the flu shot doesn't make you sick. But here's the facts: David was fine yesterday, got the flu shot, and now he's sick.

He's running a fever of 101.5 and his nose is like a faucet. He's also coughing so much that he's making himself puke.

JoAnn gave him a dose of tylenol before I got home, but when I got here he was still running a pretty high temp. So I gave him some motrin. Then, before bed, I gave him some benedryl to help with his running nose.

He seems to be fine now. The fever has gone down, and he's resting comfortably with no coughing or anything.

January 29 - Ear Infections
After missing school since Monday, I decided to take David into the doctor today. His cough was getting worse and his fever wasn't really going down with Motrin.

Turns out he has pretty severe ear infections in both ears.

I feel really bad because I feel like maybe I should have taken him in earlier. But the doctor had checked his ears on Monday and they were fine. And he wasn't pulling at them or anything, so I really had no idea.

Anyways, she said the fever, runny nose, and coughing were all related to the ear infections. She put him on antibiotics.

Hopefully he'll feel better soon. He's been crying on and off all night. I think he hurts

January 30 - I'm having working mom's guilt
For some reason today I feel really guilty. JoAnn watches David during the day while I'm at work, and I feel like she spends more quality time with him than I do. And, he cries every day when she leaves. He cries his sad cry, too, not the "I'm pissed because she didn't take me with her" cry. But when I leave him, at school or otherwise, he's like "see ya, mom."

I know that, especially in this economy, I'm fortunate to have a decent job, and I know that it's vital for me to go to work every day in order to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. I know that I'm not emotionally scarring him by leaving him every day. But I just really wish I got to spend more time with him.

As irrational as it sounds, sometimes I feel like - I went through so much to bring him into this world, and fought so hard to keep him here, I should spend every waking moment with him.

February 2 - David's appointment with the lymph node specialist
We had the appointment with the lymph node specialist today and he confirmed my suspicion that there was nothing to worry about.

He said that, because of him numerous sinus/respiratory/etc infections, he probably has built up scar tissue in there. He said that they will become less prominent as he gets older and I shouldn't worry unless they begin to grow.

So there, stupid school lady.

February 3 - David, what does a cow say?
BAAAA!!!! *giggle*

David! A cow doesn't say BAA!! What does a sheep say?

WOOF, WOOF!!

David! A sheep doesn't say woof!! What does a horse say?

MOO!!!!

he thinks it's the funniest thing, like, ever.

February 5 - I almost got in a wreck with a school bus who ran a stop sign!

So I drive a little bitty Honda Accord. Which, I didn't really REALIZE how little bitty my car was, until I was about two feet away from a gigantic school bus! Geez! That thing could have ran RIGHT over me!!!

So I was pulling out of my driveway yesterday morning. Right across the street from my house is a stop sign. So, I pulled out of my driveway, and began heading down the street, when a school bus didn't stop at that stop sign, and I had to swerve WAY out of the way, honking and screaming!

I was so mad that I didn't think to get a school bus number. But I'm tempted to call the transportation department anyways, just to let them know. I got a good look at the driver, and I know approximately what time it was. The problem is, I live a block away from a school, so I imagine most of the school buses come down that street and they wouldn't be able to tell who it was just with the information I have.

It was especially scary because I had David in the car. I seriously think that bus could have rolled right over my car and not even noticed!!

February 7 - Totally honored!
One of the nurses who took care of David when he was in the PICU called me today. She said that they are redoing the unit, and they have to remove all of the pictures that they have hung up. She said that they fought and fought because they love to look at all of them, so finally their bosses agreed that they could choose nine patients that have been in that unit and, once given parental consent, have their pictures professionally taken and hung in the PICU as "success stories."

Well, of ALL the patients that have EVER been in the PICU, the nurses chose David to be one of their nine!!

So, I have to set up an appointment to go to a studio and get David's picture taken - all free of charge. Hopefully, if I smile real pretty, they'll let me get some copies too.

At any rate, I'm floored that they chose us, and totally flattered.
I got a letter in the mail from the hospital:

We are currently in the process of redecorating the PICU and will be posting some large professional photographs of former patients and will include their first name, a very brief description of the reason for their hospitalization, as well as their length of stay in the unit. The staff has chosen David as a former patient that they feel would provide inspiration and hope to families who are in the unit with their child.

If you are interested:
-There is no cost to the family
-A consent for advertising will need to be signed
-The family will need to contact the studio to set up the appointment and seek additional information.
-The photo needs to be taken and consents received by February 28, 2009
-The photos will be framed and displayed in the PICU

Please return the consent, either by mail or fax to the following....

I can remember looking at the pictures and displays that they had up when we were in there, especially in the NICU when I was desperate to hold onto any sort of hope that it was possible for such a little baby to survive. I'm so proud of David, and so proud that he will be a part of giving other families that are in situations like ours hope.

My heart is beaming

February 10 - Starting to feel the rise of panic in my stomach...
I know that David's surgery is no big deal, and I know that, compared to everything else we've been through, this should be a piece of cake.

So someone tell me why it is that I feel like I'm going to puke? Screw butterflies, it feels like someone is kicking me in the stomach.

Ugh. I just want today to be over with.

February 10 - We're home! And David is fine.
So *maybe* I panicked for nothing LOL...

It all went very smoothly. No issues with being on the ventilator, no reaction to the sedation. The nurses all sang to him all day. He was a big hit in there.

Something that melts my heart - they said he asked for me when he woke up awwww....

And I knew he was okay when the first thing he said to me when I saw him was "bye bye?"

No school tomorrow, it's up to me if I want to send him Thursday or Friday. No physical therapy or riding his tricycle for two weeks. Other than that, everything is normal.

I have to go pick up his pain medication now. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes.

February 11 - David update today
David is absolutely fine after his surgery.

He acts like it is uncomfortable when he coughs (the surgeon said he might cough for a few days but that is normal after anesthesia) but other than that, he's fine.

I'm still giving him the Tylenol with codeine every six hours - I figure I'll give it through tonight and then tomorrow, only give it when he acts like he's in pain.

All day long today he wanted to go "bye bye?" - and he would get pissed off if someone left without him. My mother-in-law took him for a walk around the block a couple of times today.

JoAnn came over and visited for a few minutes tonight and David was DELIGHTED to see her. It was so sweet - he misses her!!

February 12 - We finally moved up to a booster seat
To tell you the truth, it makes me nervous. Because I can't put him in the middle of my car anymore (you have to have shoulder belts, and my middle seat doesn't have them) and instead of having it's own straps like a car seat does, it uses actual seat belts.

I didn't know all that before I bought it and assembled it.

I guess it will be easier to get him in and out when he's on the side instead of in the middle... but aren't they supposed to be in the middle?

Am I worrying about this too much?

February 15 - David is running a fever
Friday night David started running a temp of about 100.9 or so. But, we gave him some Motrin and the fever stopped and he was fine all day long on Saturday.

Well, I just woke up because David was whimpering and I felt of him. He is in fire. His temperature is 102.

I was reading through the post op paperwork and it says to call the doctor if he gets a fever over 101. But his surgery was Tuesday, and this is Saturday night... is that still applicable?

I gave him some Motrin. I'm going to wait a little while, but if his fever doesn't go down I guess we'll be heading to the emergency room in the morning.

I'm only worried since he just had that surgery.

February 15 - I called the doctor about David's fever
they want us to go to the ER to be seen.

Ugh. I know that he needs to be seen, but I hate to go to the ER - especially since he's acting fine right now and so they'll put us at the bottom of the list to be seen, and he could catch something he doesn't already have while we're there.
February 15 - We're back from the ER
We waited in there for about an hour, and not one single person was called back. There were people in there coughing and sneezing - I decided that it was too much of a risk for him to catch something he didn't already have in there so we left.

While in the ER one of the guys who was waiting to be seen asked me about David - "Is he autistic?" (*side note - when did it become OK to ask someone something like that anyways?... but I digress...)

I said "No, he was a preemie."

He says "Oh. Did you notice right away?"

Finally - some pictures of David.... I need to get better about taking more pictures! (I never thought I'd say THAT! LOL)

These are from David's Valentine's party at school - we had a good time! Everyone missed David since he hadn't been there since the Monday before his surgery.

Here he is later, sans pants, wanting to go somewhere in his new booster.

I don't remember when these were from, but I remember that he was laughing so hard he was crying

What happens when he's left alone in my bed?

He was so tired the other day - he fell asleep like this

Chillin' on the couch with Grandma

And these are from our dance party we had today

And my new all-time favorite picture

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!

2009-01-20T22:16:00.002-06:00

I know it's been forever since I've updated but I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

I can't believe that was my baby's FOURTH Christmas! It hardly seems fair, how quickly he's growing. Here's a brief synopsis
2005

2006

2007

2008

Aww he's grown up so much!!

David really made out on Christmas Eve! He got tons of toys and clothes. For the most part, we had a really nice evening spending time with the family. Here are the pictures.

Weston and Jaxon playing the PSP

Time to open presents!!

(He looks so surprised, but come to find out, that one was for me )

He loved this shirt so much he wanted to put it on right away LOL

Here's Wes with his guitar

Jaxon was trying to give David a hug... but David didn't want one

Kylie LOVED this doll! I'm not sure she even realized that she got any other presents!

Here she is feeding it:

Meme, David, and Jaxon

JoAnn, David, and Jaxon

And, this is what Jaxon does when you say "Show me your mean face"

In lieu of presents this year because of our financial situation, Javier and I decided that we would instead do everything possible to make today the best holiday together ever! It was great! I cooked a turkey for the first time, and it turned out FABULOUS! It was so juicy and so pretty! I wanted to get a picture of it, but didn't get a chance to before it was cut into. I was really proud of how it turned out.

David had a great day, despite waking up with a fever. Here's some pictures.

David is so cuddly sometimes. I love the way he fits perfectly into my arms when we cuddle, as if he is a piece of the puzzle that was missing before he was born.

awww

David has learned how to make his tricycle go all by himself already!! We decided to go for a little walk up the street one day because they were having a garage sale. Well, I put him on his tricycle and pushed him up there on it. He sat on the tricycle and played with the straps while I glanced around, and next thing I knew, he was making it go all by himself!!!

I'm so excited for him!

I got to go to therapy with David on Monday which was really exciting for me because normally I'm at work and my sister takes him. I love that place! David loves it too, as was evident from the moment he walked in - strutting around like he owned the place

Here he is in the waiting room.

Shortly after I snapped that picture, David proceeds to have a temper tantrum and throw his glasses across the room. The lens popped off and I couldn't find it anywhere!! I was in a panic, trying to find this little lens, with people walking everywhere. I was terrified of someone stepping on it. While I'm frantically searching, David find the door and tries to leave! I finally found the lens, but it was pretty stressful for a minute LOL

Anyways, here he is on a little scooter thing. She was having him go all the way down the hall to get a piece to a puzzle, come back and place it in the correct place, and then go back for another piece. It made *me* tired LOL

Here's a short video

Then it was time for the swing.

And then, right before we left, it was time for the ball pit.

And finally, a quick request. David has to have minor surgery on February 10th. He has a mild hernia in the middle of his abdomen. I noticed it one night when he was having a screaming fit. When he pushes on those muscles (like when he's trying to sit up, or when he's screaming, it causes it to poke out a little bit.

I panicked that night and was *this* close to rushing him to the emergency room *blush* - but I did end up taking him into see a surgeon who said that it was not anything emergent but he'd like to go ahead and fix it before it becomes a problem.

While the surgeon is there, he's also going to remove the granuloma that has built up around David's mickey button.

It's nothing serious, and I know we've been through a ton worse, but it's still scary when our babies have to have surgery.

In Memory of Lizzie

2008-12-20T20:20:00.003-06:00

Lizzie was my "honorary" grandma. She was my grandmother's best friend. She's in my earliest memories - she was the one driving the truck when I lost my flip flop off the back, at less than three years old.

I got closer to her these last few years. She moved in with Meme eight or so years ago when Meme wasn't feeling well. They helped eachother out and kept eachother company.

Lizzie had such a great sense of humor. She was honestly one of the funniest people I've ever met! She also loved to cook new and different meals. She always had a roast in the oven or a pot of beans on the stove.

Lizzie was the kind of woman who would give the shirt off her back. Rarely did I go visit them without leaving with something. Be it avocado, a can of soup, a cookie, or a diet coke, she always made sure I had something before I left. And right after I had David, I was not able to drive due to my c-section, but Lizzie would take me to and from the hospital when Javier had to work so that I could visit my baby.

And oh, how she loved David! She always talked about what a miracle he is.

One thing that Lizzie taught me is how to be nonjudgmental. I've never heard Lizzie say one sour thing about another person. One of her favorite things to say, it seems like, was "don't worry about it." That was the way she lived her life, and it was so inspirational to me. She honestly taught me that worrying does no good. Fix it if you can, otherwise don't worry.

Lizzie passed away on December 10th while vacationing in Washington.

Even though Lizzie was not a blood relative, she definitely had an impact on me, and I'm richer having known her. I'm really going to miss her.

Here's some pictures of her:

(Lizzie's the one on the right)

************************************************************************

Here's a few pictueres of David riding his new tricycle on the few days that it's been warm enough to go outside since he's gotten it. By the way - he loves that thing! We keep it in the living room (where do you keep something like that?) and he loves to sit on it and play with the buckles. He hasn't figured out how to make it go by himself yet (it has a handle on it so I can push) but he really enjoys it anyways.

I decided to give David's teachers cookies for Christmas, and I thought it would be fun if he helped. He pretty much just thought it was funny, and was not the least bit interested in touching the cookie dough.

We saw Santa Clause at Walmart! He was shopping! So I'm pulling out of the chips aisle when I see a group of people standing around some guy. When the people part, I see it's an old man with a white beard, wearing regular street clothes, and a santa's hat!

I told David - LOOK! It's Santa Clause! He shops at Walmart, too, who knew?

"Santa" stood behind David and let me take a picture with my cell phone. It would have been perfect, except my phone is stupid and it didn't save.

Oh well, it was the highlight of the trip

David's Christmas party was Thursday. I took some time off of work so I could go spend it with him, and I'm glad I did. The kids got to enjoy some holiday cookies and I got to talk to some of the other parents. Here's the pictures.

Oh, and by the way, this is how David's gotten in the habit of wearing his glasses - he looks over them. I'm starting to wonder if they really are helping?

This is Ms. Groome. She's one of his teachers.

Here you can see all three of his teachers. Standing in the back wearing the green shirt is Ms. Hernandez. Ms. Groome is wearing the blue shirt, and Ms. Davis is the one serving the food.

From the left, going clockwise around the table is Bella (Diego's little sister), Diego, Olivia, Katelyn, Julian, Olivia's little sister, David, and DJ.

While I was there his teachers told me that earlier, during speech therapy, David had fallen asleep.

Apparently they were boring him.

I found it amusing, because I thought sleeping during class didn't become an issue until they were teenagers.

And one more emotional post before I finish up... I've been thinking alot about Kayleigh and what they're going through. I knew from the very first time I read that blog that I was going to have a hard time emotionally, following their story. So much of what Kayleigh's father has written about her hits so close to home that it hurts.

It makes me realize how incredibly lucky I am to have David still in my life. I came *so* close to losing him. And it's so easy to forget that, when he's having a fit in the middle of the night and keeping me up, or when he's getting into things when he knows he's not supposed to. Or when he gets mad in the middle of the convenience store and lays down on the floor to have a temper tantrum.

I think I am going to start one of my new years resolutions early. I am going to take a few minutes every day, especially on difficult toddler days, to remember how ridiculously blessed I am to be able to raise such a sweet little kid.

David's new wheels!!

2008-12-08T20:56:00.002-06:00

Thursday was David's luncheon where he was presented with his new AmTryke. It was generously donated to David through an organization called Ambucs. The luncheon was at the country club, and I felt completely out of place (think Pretty Woman in the fancy restaurant) but the people were super nice and extremely generous to have chosen David for one of these tricycles. Here are the pictures.

Adjusting the bike for David

This woman was David's sponsor - she actually bought the tricycle for David, without having even met him! How generous is that? Her name is Pat Crawford.

David really seems to like it. The other day we took him around the block a couple of times in it. It's really neat because his feet strap into the petals and there's a push bar behind it. So when I push him, his feet move in the correct pedaling motion. Soon he should catch on that in order for him to move, he has to turn his feet. The tricycle also has a neat feature where he can pedal with his arms if he chooses, and I am able to turn the steering on and off until he gets the hang of it.

Now hopefully we'll have some good weather so we can use it!!

We got David's school pictures back last week. I'm really happy with the way they turned out! If you remember, the weekend before pictures were taken, David took two really hard falls to the head. And this is what he looked like:

Well, you can't even see the bruise or the scratch in the picture! And, they even got a half-smile out of him!! I'm extremely happy. (And this is a picture of a picture, so excuse the flash and the weird angle)

Well, the whole glasses thing isn't going as well as I'd hoped. The doctor had told me "If the glasses help him see, then he'll keep them on."

Not so much. He'll wear them for short periods of time, but once he remembers that they are there, he takes them off. In fact, David's teacher accidently stepped on his glasses the other day. Apparently, David took his glasses off and put them in the most logical place for a three year old - on the floor. They offered to pay for them, but they just needed to be reshaped.

Oh well... hopefully that will improve.

And, since this is somewhat of a short blog post, I'll share some of David's recent artwork.

These were from therapy:

And these are from school:

I think I may have the next Picasso on my hands

David's new look!

2008-11-22T11:04:00.003-06:00

I think I mentioned in the past that David's ophthalmologist continually told us that David did not need glasses, even though all of his therapists believed he needed glasses, his teachers believed he needed glasses, and I believed he needed glasses. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I found a optometrist that would see David. And as it turns out, I was RIGHT! He DOES need glasses. Our new eye doctor says that David has an astigmatism and is nearsighted.

I was talking to the lady, and she said that David's vision is really pretty poor. She said she was amazed that the other eye doctor didn't give him glasses. His astigmatism was so bad that medicaid doesn't cover the full price of the lenses - I had to pay forty extra dollars out of pocket - twenty five for the lenses and fifteen because I chose metal frames.

Anyways, here are the pictures of David in his new glasses! How cute is this?

My last blog post I talked about how David had fallen and busted his head pretty hard. That was on Halloween, on a Friday. Well, Monday morning I was holding David's hand as we walked from the car to the school. From where I park, there's about half a block of graveled pavement to walk before we get to the school.

David tripped over a rock or something and fell, flat on his face, hitting his head especially hard, on the same spot as he fell a few days before.

Even thinking about the sound that it made as his head hit the pavement makes me want to vomit (think cantelope on sidewalk) - and he was bleeding everywhere. I ran inside and got paper towels, and went to the nurse's office where they gave him two bandages.

I'm hoping that with David's new glasses he won't fall as much. That was two days before pictures. So, his school pictures won't really be pretty, everyone was making fun of me for paying about $30 for pictures of him with a ginormous bruise on his forehead... but they're his first school pictures!!

I can't wait until we get them

Saturday night was the scariest night I've had with David in a while. I put him in bed at about eight, like normal, and he was asleep for a little while. Then he woke up and proceeded to have one of his middle-of-the-night fits that he's notorious for. Usually there's no consoling him - we just have to wait until he's done. I went in and checked on him after a little while and noticed he had pulled out his button. As I had him laid down on the bed to reinsert the button, I noticed what appeared to be a hernia sticking out of the middle of his abdomen, about an inch above his belly button. When he screamed, it would stick out further. I began to think that he was in pain because I couldn't get him to stop crying!
So with shaky hands, I changed his shirt and laid him on the couch while I put his shoes on, and went into the office to get his medicaid card - I was about to rush him to the emergency room!! But while he was laying on the couch he fell back asleep. I called my grandma and told her about it. She said it was something I should get checked out on Monday but it wasn't anything that warranted a midnight trip to the ER. Whew!
Here's a picture of him, laying on the couch asleep, after that incident. (It's crazy how flexible he is!)

I called the doctor on Monday and they had us come in on Tuesday to get the hernia checked out. Then they set up an appointment with the surgeon who did his mickey button/nissan to see what he thought. The surgeon said that David does have a hernia and it does need to be fixed surgically. He said it's not an emergency, but he wants to get it done soon, before it turns into a problem. So, we'll have surgery in January.

That's it for now... but keep your fingers crossed that we all recover from this respiratory crap soon - I had to keep David out of school twice this week due to running a fever!

Till next time

Happy Halloween!!!!

2008-11-02T09:01:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!! We had a good time. I took half a day off of work, and JoAnn and I dyed our hair. It was supposed to be "Chocolate Velvet" but it's pretty much black. Perfect for the occasion, right? Ha! Oh well, we haven't kept the same color for more than a few weeks lately anyways. After dying our hair, we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the house. We took David over to Meme's to show him off then came back where David helped us hand out Halloween candy to the trick or treaters. I love living in this neighborhood - we have so many trick or treaters!!

Trick or Treating at Meme's house My spider Waiting for the next trick or treater

The only bad part about the day was when David wasn't paying attention and tumbled down the concrete stairs outside. He smacked his head on the cement - HARD!! Poor kid! And he wouldn't let me put ice on it, but I managed to hold a cool cloth on it for a while. It bruised immediately. I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but he has a major goose egg on his head, and lots of scratches.

Here's a couple of pictures from the next day:

And... he's showing you his spider ring - he loves those things

Oh - and naturally, he has school pictures next week

I didn't get pictures, but David and I carved a pumpkin recently. Well, I cut it, but he helped me scoop out the seeds. I got one of those great big kitchen spoons and he looked so cute, standing in front of the pumpkin, digging in it with his spoon. And, as it turns out - David LOVES pumpkin seeds! Which means, I have to share. LOL

I had to get at least one picture of David with this wig on from last year's Jack Sparrow costume before I sold it on Craig's list. I'm sure you remember that he REFUSED to wear it last year. He still didn't like it, but I could at least get him to wear it for a few minutes at a time

And, here's just a few more of him in his costume from this year (isn't he the cutest dragon you've ever seen?) - these were taken a few days before Halloween.

The tail wags when he walks - it is the CUTEST thing!

I tell you, though - I was starting to panic a little. Because a couple of weeks ago we went to SEVEN stores looking for a cotume for David. SEVEN!! And there was nothing. The only store that even had *anything* that David could wear, was charging like thirty bucks for a plastic piece of crap. Finally, I was able to find this costume on Craig's List for only ten bucks! Sweet!

But, while I was shopping for a costume, I went to a consignment shop and bought David three pairs of jeans (that might as well be brand new) and a super cute denim jacket (Ecko brand! ) ... all for twenty dollars! I'll be going back there!
October 16th was open house at David's school. We got free pizza and I (finally) got to see what he does all day long at school! Here's the pictures - eating pizza on the sidewalk outside the school:

Their schedule (they switch activities every FIFTEEN minutes! Can you imagine?!?)

David sitting at his spot (see his picture taped to the table?) working on a fine motor skill that they teach him

Oh, speaking of school - David got in his first fight! He apparently tried to steal one of the other kid's toys, and the other kid attacked him

He had a big scratch behind his ear that bled a little bit.

Poor kid
What was weird about it, though, was that the other kid (another three year old) got "suspended" for 1 day. Which I thought was a little bit strange, because, well, he's THREE. I don't know about the other kid, but I know that if David were to do something like that (which, he might - he's a kid!) then he wouldn't remember the next day what he had done. It just doesn't seem to me like you can do long term punishment with such young children - and it seems like that's more of a punishment for the mother than the child. Ah well... not my decision I guess.

Here's some other random pictures I got off the camera - we put his hat and gloves on him to see what he'd do

Fun with office chairs

Wearing his backpack

David's new thing is to say "Heya go!" when brings you something he's not supposed to have. As in "here, mom, I never had this" Haha....

And, on a more serious note, our first son, Ricky, would have been six years old on October 26th. Since I talk about this every year, I'm sure you all know that before David, I gave birth to another little boy who I named Enrique. He was born at 27 weeks 2 days and weighed 1lb, 8oz.

He lived for three short days before his lungs just couldn't hang on any longer.

I know now that part of the reason he was taken from me was so that I could appreciate every aspect of raising David. I like to believe that he's David's guardian angel and helps me watch over him. I hope I've made him proud by the way I've raised David so far.

2008-10-11T22:03:00.002-05:00

Here's some new pictures: while at Meme's, Weston was giving the kids rides on the granny-mobile

Cracker time!

Jaxon was so cute with the tennis racket that was as big as he is

The other day I got home from work and David was hanging out, in his jersey, eating pizza with his Daddy and some of Daddy's friends. I just thought it was cute:

My lil daredevil... David was playing in the office chair, and I was turning him around in it. Well, he let go and, (I swear it was like in slow motion) flew off the chair.

He didn't go far, obviously, and fell on only carpet... it scared the crap out of me, but he wanted to go again.

Some pictures from therapy:
The great big ball pit that they have for them to play in

And the swing - naturally David loves it.

Here's his occupational therapist (I didn't catch her name yet) - he seems to really like her.

David gets to go swimming at therapy. Apparently, he had a really great time. David and his therapist:

Amy and I took the kids to this place . It originally seemed like a good idea. But that's eight acres of corn that you can't get out of, until you figure your way out. And mixing that with two toddlers a hot day... never a good idea. We were super relieved to find an exit about halfway through. They also have hayrides and corn shooting... all kinds of things really. We went to the corn maze first.

There were people perched up above watching, like lifeguards

No Bad Language - our corn has tender ears

By the time we were out, the kids were sooooo tired

Enjoying a snack in the car, waiting for Weston to complete the maze

Time to pick out pumpkins!

David was NOT amused

Then we went on the hayride - Jaxon was so sleepy LOL

David helped me carve the pumpkin that we bought there a few days later. Well, not really carve it, but he helped me scoop out all the insides. He was so cute, standing over this pumpkin, digging in it with a big spoon

I was going to take pictures, but the battery died. I think I had more fun with him since I wasn't worried about the camera.

The funniest picture EVER of David...I was cracking up! I'm not really sure how he got himself into this position... but I couldn't stop laughing

So the other day, David (who is talking like crazy now - still nowhere near as much as the average three year old, but tons more than he did even a few weeks ago) told me to "Move!"

I said "YOU move!"

He goes "No!"

I couldn't stop giggling, it was so cute, listening him say things that make sense.

Anyways, Today was the reunion at the Heart Hospital. I was so upset because I had missed the NICU reunion this year, so I had to take David up there so we could see all the old nurses.

Here's David and Dawn:

Compared to 2006:

Here's David and Carrie - this is in the room that we were in for over two months back then... brought back alot of memories!

(I guess I don't have a picture of the two of them from back then?)

Anyways - the nurses have pictures of David hanging up at the nurses station from a long time ago. One of the ladies went and got the pictures of David and showed him:

This is the picture he's looking at:

It's crazy how much he's grown!!

Lots of updates!!!

2008-09-17T21:46:00.002-05:00

Gosh, I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated. Things have been crazy busy around here since David started school. But, we're in the middle of the fourth week of school now, and things are starting to calm down a little bit. I have a new-found respect for all the mother's of school aged children now! I have to get up extra early in order to get him to school by 745, and then go to work myself.

Then all the preparation the night before - setting out the clothes, making sure the meds are ready and all the stuff to get him dressed - lotion, gauze for his button, socks, shoes - so it won't take as long in the morning.

It was stressful for him at first too - the teachers told us at first that he did really good but they're gonna have to work on him sitting down I told them he's barely even three years old and had never had any sort of organized activity. I mean, we play at home, and we color and home, etc - but when he's ready to get up, I just let him get up, I've never made him sit there and do something for longer than he wanted to.

Anyways, now they say that he is minding so well! She said he does whatever they ask. Every day I get new stories of all the people he's given kisses to (I've got to get him to stop kissing strangers ) and they just really like him.

Also, the first week of school, David was so nervous when we were waiting for the teacher in the cafeteria. There was just too much going on for him to eat the breakfast that they serve, so I was having to wake up extra early and feed him before we left. But this week has been so much better! He's adjusted, and has eaten breakfast, at the table with his friends, every day this week!!

Here's some pictures of his first day - so excited!!

Sitting at the table in the cafeteria (where we wait for his teacher every morning)

David and his teacher's assistant, Ms. Hernandez

Well, August 29th was our last day for nursing.

It's hard to convey to someone who has never had nursing how much we've learned to depend on them. Of course, the obvious - if David's ever showing signs of illness, they're equipped to handle the situation. However, there's so many small things that I've learned to count on the nurses to take care of. Like setting up and remembering doctor's appointments or ordering medicines when we're almost out.

I always knew, without even having to ask, that when I got home from work, David had had all of the fluids he was supposed to have, is caught up with medicines, and is fed, bathed, and dressed. It's taken some getting used to, but JoAnn has been keeping him during the daytime and she's doing a really wonderful job - in fact, she even cleans my house sometimes! Sweet!
Here's the last couple of pictures of Maria & David (I had this one printed out and framed for her to remember us by)

Playing David's new favorite game

We still see Maria quite a bit, though - turns out her daughter is in the classroom across the hall from David! And, when Maria brings her daughter to school, sometimes we see her in the cafeteria in the morning. So, I'm hoping we're able to keep in touch.

David started going to Progressive Steps for physical, occupation, and speech therapy once a week. The combination of this and going to school every day has made a difference in David that you wouldn't believe! He's talking soooo much now. Of course, alot of the things he says only make sense to us, but he'll repeat nearly everything that you say. It's so exciting!!

Here's some random pictures from this last month:
Why yes, mom, I did take my potty chair apart and am now carrying around a toilet seat.

Playing with Mr. Potato Head's glasses

Climbing in my car while Javier was attempting to fix it

Got your nose!

Playing on the computer

Whew! Long day

David and I went to the park recently to feed the ducks. David didn't quite understand why we were throwing perfectly good food into the water, though.

The ducks were apparently not even a little bit hungry - and I had brought a crapload of bread... oh well. So David and I just walked around the park. He had so much fun with all that freedom!!

I don't know what he was doing here

I'm really sad because I missed the NICU reunion - it was last Saturday... I remembered it on Sunday. We'll have to take a trip up there to visit the staff sometime soon - they haven't seen him since last Halloween!!

Finally, Tuesday was David's first field trip! They went to the fair, where they got to see all of the animals, which corresponds to the unit they are covering in school: the farm. (I think that's so cute!) Naturally, I tagged along. Here are the pictures from that:
David didn't want to get on the school bus at first

This is about the time that I was wondering, when did my baby turn into a kid on a school bus??

At the fair!!

First we went to the petting zoo! David wouldn't touch them at first but by the time we were done he was touching all of them.

Aww a baby cow!

We learned all about milk and where it comes from and how good it is for you. David wasn't really interested in this man's speech about calcium, but once the man started milking the cow, David was fascinated!

Looking at the horses

Looking at some more animals, in their pens. This is his teacher's assistant, Ms. Hernandez.

By the end of the field trip, David was getting carried (and people say *I* spoil him! )

Till next time

PTA, here we come!!!

2008-08-24T16:46:00.003-05:00

As of 7:55am tomorrow, Monday August 25th, David will be officially enrolled in school!! I can't believe my little boy is growing up!

David is enrolled in the PPCD program at a local elementary school. His teacher's name is Ms. Davis, and she seems really great. She's been teaching special education for five years and she claims it to be her passion. Her assistant, Yvonne, and her will have five students, including David, in her morning PPCD class.

I'm so excited for him, even though my heart is breaking that he's grown up so much. But they go on field trips (ten a year!), play outside on the playground with the pre-kindergartners, learn to ride tricycles, get physical, occupational, and speech therapy, etc... and they teach them all kinds of things. I'll tell you the goal list in a minute.

I'm worried because David is a little bit demanding, seeing as though he has *always* had one-on-one time from adults, and has never had to share the attention with anyone else. When I expressed that concern with the teacher, she said that it was perfectly normal for children coming from an one-child home, who have never gone to daycare, to experience that. So that made me feel better.

You know I'll have tons of pictures from his first day - but here's a teaser - David in his big boy backpack. Hopefully this isn't a prelude to how things will go in the morning - poor kid! I have to tie the strings around his waist, otherwise he can get it off in about two seconds flat.

Anyways here's the list of the things they expect David to learn this year:
*name (or point to named) colors: red, yellow, blue, black, brown, and green
*identify and count sets of objects through five
*using a pencil draw numbers 1-9 and letters of the alphabet, including those in his first name
*perform pre-academic symbolic tasks (e.g., count aloud 1-20, recite person information, play computer games) concentrating for 15+ minutes to complete the task
*state full name, address, phone number and parents' first names
*name and point to 10 or more body parts, to answer queries: e.g., "where does it hurt?" "Here, on my elbow."
*hold paper down and still with one hand while drawing with the other hand
*draw straight and curverd lines, left to right, in shaded or maked area, using a model to imitate
*eat complete served meals using standard utensils without prompting: e.g., spoon/fork and knife, glass, napkin
*assert independence in functional physical activites: e.g., toileting, eating with spoon/fork/knife, dressing without help, bathing, helpful chores
*remain seated and quiet during 15-30 minute group storytime, music-time, etc.
*listen to picture books and one-plot stories with multiple characters read aloud: ask and answer questions
*use 3-6 word sentences, spontaneously, to relate personal facts/activites; e.g., "it's my birthday," "green is my favorite color," "I hurt myself, see?"
*respond to questions re: who, whose, where, what, do and why (not 'how'); "where are your red shoes?" ... "on the chair."
*as questions primarily regarding who, whose, where, what and why: "why are your shoes all wet?" "because...uh...I don't know!"
*demonstrate family-specific acceptable table manners daily
*recognize need and go to the bathroom alone; may still need help with wiping
*sing and perform with small group activity songs such as "Rng Around the Rosey" (Verbal leading only, no modeling)
*follow rules in gross motor games (not more than 2 rules) with verbal commands, with adult as caller/leader

That's a crazy lot, huh? He's supposed to master at least 80% in all areas - and they have 3 hours a day to do it in.

On top of all of that, August 13th was was David's first time to go to Progressive Steps, which is the therapy company we will use since ECI cannot take them after they turn three.

It is GREAT there!! I'm so excited for David! They have all kinds of really fun toys, and the therapists are so nice. Even the waiting room was fun!

The occupational therapist asked me if his shoulders had always been "winged" or something like that... apparently it's a bad thing? I don't know... I'll have to google it or something - noone's ever mentioned it to me before.

The speech therapist didn't really work with him much (that day was really mostly an evaluation) but she was really nice.

And the physical therapist said that David looked really good and that she thought we wouldn't need much more than like six more months of the therapy

Anyways - here is a couple of pictures I took.

Here's David working with Jacob (the occupational therapist)

And here's David jumping on a trampoline with Ryan, the physical therapist

I'm so excited! I have a feeling David's about to take off - and we're not going to recognize him in a few months!!!

This is a big week for other reasons as well - this next week is the last week that we will ever have nursing.

It's hard to convey to someone who has never had nursing how much we've learned to depend on them. Of course, the obvious - if David's ever showing signs of illness, they're equipped to handle the situation. However, there's so many small things that I've learned to count on the nurses to take care of. Like setting up and remembering doctor's appointments or ordering medicines when we're almost out.

I always knew, without even having to ask, that when I got home from work, David had had all of the fluids he was supposed to have, is caught up with medicines, and is fed, bathed, and dressed.

And for the first time in David's life, it is us that is responsible for doing all of these things. We are the ones who have to make sure that David's got plenty of medicine. We are the ones who have to make sure he's getting physical therapy at home. We are the ones who have to make sure that he's progressing in his abilities to drink from a cup and potty train.

I'm just wondering if I am capable of doing all these things? Luckily JoAnn will be around to help me out - she's going to be working for me under the MDCP program (we finally spent the night in the Hereford nursing home on the 15th) and she's really great with David.

... just some random thoughts on a sunday morning.

AND! On Monday, BritKare came by and picked up the oxygen machine and all of our little bottles of oxygen!!

David hasn't been on oxygen even at night since last year (except for when he got the flu in January) but I've kept it around - just in case.

And now it's gone I'm scared.
OK so time to backtrack a little - on Sunday, August 17th, we celebrated David's 3rd birthday party at home. It was his second party - he's just that special!! Haha... here are the pictures from that:

Weston and Jaxon

And my nephew Yoda, er, Jaxon

OK... gotta go finish getting things ready for tomorrow! Wish us luck!!!

Happy THIRD Birthday, David!!!

2008-08-04T22:08:00.003-05:00

So... August 3rd marked three years since I gave birth to my little miracle baby... and somehow, even though it seems like just yesterday, my little miracle baby has turned into a thriving, active three year old.

This has been an insane journey. I can vividly remember making several trips a day up to the hospital to just get a short glimpse of the most amazing, beautiful, tiny baby I had ever seen. I can remember praying everyday when I left that that wasn't the last time I would see him. I remember sleeping with my phone in my hand, out of fear that I'd receive a call from the NICU.

And, I remember bringing him home for the first time. "Showing" him around his home, even though he fell asleep as soon as we walked through the door. Learning about oxygen machines, nebulizers, medicines, etc. What seemed so incredibly overwhelming at first soon became second nature as I proudly did everything within my power to keep my baby healthy.

As you all know - despite every effort sometimes things happen. David went into pulmonary hypertension crisis on April 7th, 2006, and we nearly lost him.... but even that couldn't keep David down, because he recovered from that and after nearly three months in the hospital, we got to bring David home again.

I take pride in the fact that we made it through the entire calendar year of 2007 hospital free. David spent that time growing and changing before my eyes, learning new things every day, overcoming one obstacle after another. David learned how to crawl, then walk. All of this despite the doctor's warnings that he may never be able to accomplish these things.

His health also continued to improve. While once it was a continuous battle just to keep him out of the hospital, his immune system slowly grew stronger and stronger. His lungs began to heal from the damage the ventilator caused. Soon the medicines and breathing treatments began to decrease. David finally got off of oxygen in October 2007.

So now David is a pretty typical three year old little boy. He loves to sing songs and give kisses and play outside. He'll do anything to go "bye bye" including bringing me my purse and my keys. He has temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way and gets very excited when Mommy or Daddy come home from work.

We still have a ways to go before I'd consider the battle completely over - but isn't that how it always is? We always have to fight and fight and fight to make sure that our babies turn out to be good, successful people. Sometimes it seems unobtainable, but somehow, as parents, we figure out a way.

I can never forget the people who have helped me along this journey, either. Because without all of you, I wouldn't be the person I am today, nor would David be the person he is today. So to all of you -

And, if you have the time - I put together a slideshow for David (click on the picture)

Anyways - David's in Miami Florida with his Daddy - they left on Saturday and will return on August 11th. I miss him like crazy but I know he's having a great time. I was doing okay until I saw these pictures... then I started crying because I just want to kiss him!

But I'm so glad Javier's sending me pictures....

His first plane ride!!!

I guess this is at Javier's parent's house:

Well, after hours on the phone and alot of arguing, David finally got approved for the MDCP program. Which means, he won't have to go to daycare!! I'm so relieved. Now we have to schedule a time to take him to spend the "night" in the nursing home - I think I told you how we have to spend from 10pm until after midnight in the nursing home so that it can show that he was institutionalized for a period of time that had a date change... in order to bypass the waiting list. We'll probably do that when he gets home.

Here's some pictures from a few weeks ago. Amy and I took the kids to the discovery center. We had a great time!
Weston and Jaxon

David and Jaxon

Jaxon

David chooses the most embarassing places to have temper tantrums.

This was his favorite thing

And some random pictures:
Eating flamin' hot cheeto puffs - he LOVES them!!!

David was attempting to feed himself chocolate pudding

Mom! Some privacy please?

Eating a popcicle (he doesn't like them - at ALL - in fact, the only way he would eat it was from a spoon)

Playing on his "laptop"

Falling out of his chair LOL

You think he's trying to tell me something? LOL

Recently I signed release papers so that Maria can transport David if she wants to or needs to. David's new thing is he wants to go "bye bye" ALL the time.... so now he can

Anyways, so Maria took David to the public library for the first time (which, I'm sad that I missed) and to the discovery center!!

Here's some pictures from when we took David to Jump n' Jive. I figured he would HATE it - but it wasn't really as bad as I had anticipated. I wouldn't say that he loved it, but he seemed to have an okay time, even though you could tell he was nervous. Here are some of the pictures:

Getting used to it

Riding down the slide with JoAnn

Going by himself!

Peeking through the toy at Mama

Playing with JoAnn and Laura

He couldn't hardly stand because he'd fall

So he decided to crawl everywhere

Weeeeee

So I've recently been touched by an amazing journey that another parent is blogging about. Her name is Kayleigh and she was born on June 23rd, weighing only a little more than a pound. It's difficult for me to read this story sometimes because I can so vividly remember being in their shoes - but I can't stop because she's just amazing. If you have time, check out her blog.

And, here's an amazing poem that makes me cry:
A Premature Baby's Prayer

God bless the little child behind the plastic wall
For all he knows is the ringing of the bells and
the blurred images around him. He has been taken
from my womb without warning and I long to hold him
in my arms.

Lord, I ask in your name that my child be healed.
I am willing to accept your decision no matter what
it will be. I am willing to take on the responsibilities
for caring for this child. I am willing to give this
child love and understanding no matter the cost.

Please Lord help me to accept reality and what has
happened without explanation or warning. Help me
face the fact that this is not my fault and that
I was given a special task to complete here on Earth.

God give my child the strength to make it through another
second, minute, hour and day as each moment is
a blessing and a triumph from heaven.

God, may you give the strength and compassion
to the caregivers and nurses that take care of my child
May you keep my child protected and free from all injury
and pain.

Please take away the guilt and burden from my heart dear
Lord. It is heavy and I feel it is all my fault.
Take it away dear Lord. Sweet Jesus allow me the strength
and understanding I need to communicate with the Doctors
and Nurses.

As you see dear Lord, I am at your mercy for the life of
my child. Please leave him here on Earth and know that
I will provide all the love and understanding that
this child needs. I accept the challenge and will be
your humble servant dear Lord.

~Author unknown~

Happy Independence Day!!!

2008-07-05T23:15:00.003-05:00

Busy couple of weeks.

Javier's parents came to town. Plus their two friends. They were here from June 22nd-27th. And it was interesting.
It's always nice when they come to town because I never have to worry about anything, so it's like a mini-vacation. His mom is an amazing cook - plus she does everything for David. I got a four hour nap in one day!

Since they've left we've had to "whip" David back into shape - he totally got spoiled rotten. I can't blame them, though - they only get to see him once a year, and I know they love him every bit as much as I do. In fact, Javier's mom went in and laid down on the floor next to David's bed one night because I was a mean mommy and put him in bed (30 minutes later than his normal bedtime) and let him cry. On her last night here, she had him outside, taking a walk, in his pajamas, at ten pm. Haha.... he deserves to be spoiled every once in a while I suppose.

An example of the wonderful food she cooked while here: The best black beans in the WHOLE world, white rice, pork cooked some way I don't know how to do, and salad.

And Bailey's to drink

Yum!

Here's some pictures I acquired:
David

getting ready for a haircut

what he looks like after:

What a temper tantrum looks like. He very carefully lays himself down on the floor.

Once he knows he's not going to hit his head he'll proceed with the tantrum.

At least he's cautious.

And, in case anyone was wondering - here's what my house looked like at night - the office:

And, the laundry room:

They both had queen size blow up mattresses.... so during the day it looked normal. Haha!

Well, most of the time was fabulous - but there was one day when my MIL cooked this:

I apparently have some pretty serious hangups about fish. Because, as much as I hate to admit it, it was *really* good. But I have issues with seeing eyeballs on my food.
David didn't like it - here's a picture of David trying fish for the first time:

Javier's parents are really nice people. His mom bought Maria (our nurse)'s kids some toys. awww.

And then one night, Javier's dad told me to *always* remember that I am his ONLY "little daughter"

Siempre, siempre, siempre.

David with his grandma

David with grandpa:

This is Nancy and Juan - Family friends that visited with the inlaws. They are extremely nice people - AND - Juan speaks very good english

David with Nancy:

David with Juan:

Fun with hats:

David, getting spoiled before bedtime:

Fun with pellet guns.

Just David:

Anyways, it was a really nice week, having them here. I admit that even *I* got a *little* spoiled.

But... back to reality.

Since David got used to getting to go "byebye" all the time, his new thing is getting my keys, coming up and giving them to me, then grabbing my hand and saying "bye bye? bye bye?"

It's SO cute - and SO hard to resist.

In fact, recently, I came in from work and say "hi" to David... the first thing out of his mouth is "byebye?"

David's diagnostician for the PPCD program came earlier this week. It was basically an evaluation very similar to what ECI does - they come out with packets of charts and evaluate him on what he can or can't do - like stacking cups, or choosing the correct item out of three - or using words to say what he wants.

And of course, he didn't do ANYTHING that I was sitting there saying he could do.

But - he obviously qualifies for the PPCD program. Which means, he'll begin school in August.

David's new favorite song is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

And he sings it "Inko Inko Unko Ki" It's SO cute.

My nephew Jaxon turned ONE this week!!!! Here's some pictures from his birthday party!

First thing we see when we come in is Jaxon walking around, carrying this giant bouquet of balloons

Opening presents!! (I think this was his favorite toy)

Cake time!

Next thing we knew, his foot was in the cake.

After cake we went outside. Here's David and Meme

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Meme, David, and Lizzie

David playing center.

Kylie playing point guard.

Happy 1st Birthday, Jaxon!

David's figured out that you can put things in the toilet. Fun. Good thing it was clean.

This morning was rough. I came *really* close to calling the pediatrician. By eleven am, I had changed eight diarrhea diapers, given three baths and two breathing treatments.

David was coughing, puking, and is having massive watery diarrhea diapers.

Javier came home from work and let me take a shower (thank GOD - I was covered in everything) and finally David fell asleep.

He slept till three, and then woke up like everything was fine. Here's some pictures from tonight.

Can we go outside? Please? Please?

He was pretty excited to be outside.

Playing in the garage

Going for a ride with Daddy.

Then things started to go wrong.

Here's a picture of him doing something we've been fighting him on lately. For some reason, when he gets mad, he sticks his finger down his throat and gags himself.

And, when we tell him no.

Finally, saying goodnight.

2008-06-20T21:57:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been nearly a month since I've updated this. I guess I've been busy? I don't know... no excuse really.
Things have been crazy around here - with the nursing hours and all. Plus, I'm up for a promotion at work. I should find out early next week if I get it or not - and training starts a week from Monday. Wish me luck!

Well... what have we missed?

I left off last time in the middle of a nursing hour crisis - they were going to take away all of my nursing hours with hardly any notice. Well, finally I was able to get ahold of Dr. H. He said that although he agrees with Kim in that to continue to sign off on David's nursing hours would be fraudulent, he could see where I was coming from.

He agreed to sign off for forty hours for 2-3 more weeks, and then the wean him down to 30, etc. If I'm not mistaken, next week is our last week with forty hours. Then they'll wean us down to 30 - and we'll have some sort of nursing hours through August, which is when David starts school.

The diagnostician from the school district is coming on July 1st to see if David qualifies for the PPCD program, which I already know he will. I need to contact headstart as well to see if he could maybe do both, in order to keep him out of daycare.

There's a program called MDCP that I am trying to get David into - it will qualify him for a "personal attendant." They don't supply the personal attendants - I'll have to find one of those myself - but basically it will help me keep him out of daycare.

But here's the weird part - there's a waiting list for this program. To bypass the waiting list, we have to go to Herford, TX and spend at least two hours in a nursing home with David - starting at midnight. So, basically we have to spend from 12 midnight-2am in Herford, and then drive back. How random is that? I'm not exactly sure of the reasoning behind it - I'll have to ask - but if it means David doesn't have to go to daycare I'll do it.

Anyways. Enough of me blabbing on and on - here's some pictures.

Here's a picture of David, hanging on for dear life on the slide

A video of David, dancing to Usher. SO cute!

A sweet father-son moment:

Last week was the ECI annual picnic. It was at the park just up the street so JoAnn and I decided to take David. It was fun!

Here's David petting one of the therapist's dog:

So all of a sudden David got real brave and decided to walk away from us

And then I realized he had spotted one of his therapists! Here's David and Dana (his speech therapist)

She was REALLY surprised about the bubbles.

They had hamburgers and potato chips for us to eat!

This is Annette (David's occupational therapist) and David in the bouncy house!

Do I want to reach in there and grab a toy?

They had a little slide for the kids to play on - this is what I want for our backyard but haven't been able to find one

Finally, they had face painting. The woman asked what we wanted. A dragon? A butterfly? I told her we'd be lucky to get a smiley face This is what we managed to get:

My friend Cory and her cousin came over last Saturday, and she brought her "son," Leonitis.

He was pretty good, except for when he climbed my DVD tower

We went outside for a little while

David didn't really care too much for him

Finally, a blackmail picture:

Looks like I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I had - so I'll share some tidbits:

***Every night before bed, David and I take a walk. Maria takes him to the park several times a week, and I always try to go out and do something fun on the weekends. David spends a pretty significant amount of time outside. But he's not satisfied with that! I think he'd live outside if it were up to him!!! He's so cute though - he'll walk up next to me and grab my hand, and do this funny dance thing to let me know he wants to go out. Haha.

***We drink expresso coffee. And David LOVES LOVES LOVES it. Even without milk!

And he insists on having several drinks of it every morning.

I know alot of toddlers drink coffee... but I've let nurses try ours in the morning before, and they've come back the next day and said that they were up past midnight because of it.

So, letting him drink it isn't bad for him.... is it?

*** I'd like to know when David's cute little baby feet turned into stinky kid feet.

Seriously - his sandals make his feet stink so bad! What can I do?

He's so cute, though - when I take his sandals off at night I make this HUGE deal about how stinky his feet are, and he giggles and then sniffs them.

***David's ped put David on a new feeding schedule - where we don't give him any boluses throughout the day at all, and make up for whatever he doesn't eat/drink at night. Their theory is that David will eat and drink if he's hungry and thirsty. Well, it's not going too well - he's already lost two pounds - and I'm a little worried.

I know they say that they don't have to eat as much as we think they have to... but this is ridiculous.

One day, this is seriously all he ate:

Rice Crispies and banana for breakfast (he actually at good there)

For lunch he had one fish stick and one and a half baked french fry.

For snack he had practically nothing - but was offered peaches and cheerios.

For dinner he again ate practically nothing but was offered baked chicken and carrots.

He drank MAYBE one ounce of water all day long.

And, it was 100 degrees here on that day, and we went to the park. So I was really worried about dehydration. I caved and gave him a bolus of 10 ounces of water before bed because I KNEW he hadn't gotten enough.

Some days he does okay - other days not so much. This is going to be difficult.

***We have figured out a couple of things that David LOVES. One of them is sunflower seeds. I couldn't get them out of the shell fast enough!

I'm gonna have to go get him some that are already shelled....

We also learned that he loves hot cheetos. He's a weird kid.

**Here's a fun story - not about David, but about me - I'm a hero!!

Last week at work we were outside on break when we saw a mommy duck walking out of the field by work followed by eight or nine little baby ducklings. They were SOOOOOO cute!!! So we oohed and awwed about them for a minute, then went back to work.

Later my friend said "I just had a horrible thought. What if one of those baby ducks fell in the sewer drain?"

The sewer drains out by work are crazy steep. The hole isn't very big, but the cement outside of it goes down at like a forty five degree angle.

So on our next break, we went back out there and listened by each of the drains... and sure enough! One of the baby ducks had fallen in there!

It was like something off Animal Cops!

So I called animal control, and they gave me another number. In a little more than fifteen minutes, they had someone out there listening for the baby duck.

They had to call the city of Amarillo to get someone to come unscrew the sewer lid - and a few minutes after that a firetruck was there!

So eventually the got the baby duck and put it out in the field. The guy said that the mama duck is probably out there, looking for the baby duck.

It was neat

***And finally - David cracks me up.

He's been saying things wrong lately. Like he'll say "book" as "gook" or he says "mine" like "nine"

Earlier I was showing him to say "Mine."

Me: "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ine."

David: "nine."

Me: "mmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmmMMMMMMMMM ine."

David "mmmmmmm nine."

Till next time.

Happy Memorial Day!!!

2008-05-26T15:30:00.003-05:00

Watch this, it's funny:

And here's a video of David singing his ABCs!

David is definitely two now. His temper tantrums are increasing in both frequency and intensity. In fact, the other day, David hit me because he was mad! I was shocked because he'd never done that before!!

He was trying to get the remote controls, and I put them where he couldn't get them and told him "No."

So he reared his little bitty hand back and slapped me on the chest!!

I couldn't believe it!! I said "DAVID CHRISTOPHER. You do NOT hit Mommy. Sit down."

And he sat down and cried.

I'm at a loss for on that one. He hasn't done it since, though, thankfully.

But, I hate to only say negative things. He's also a TON of fun lately. He's learning new things all the time and is becoming increasingly interactive. An example, Javier had surgery about two weeks ago, and on the weekends, a home health nurse comes to our house to repack his wound.

Well, David thinks that any nurse that ever comes to our house is there for him.

So every time one comes over he's all flirty saying "HelllOOOO" to them over and over again. It's so cute the way he says it, I wish you could hear.

A little while ago, we tried out the new sprinkler toy. And it did NOT go over well! In fact... I think it's safe to say that David HATES the new sprinkler.

He was still mad even after he came in.

Oh. We have a HUGE problem. I got a call Friday from the woman who's in charge of our nursing agency.

She said that the nurse practitioner signed a paper that says, effective June 5th, our nursing hours will be cut. To ZERO. Like NO nursing. At ALL.

The paper apparently said that David no longer meeting the medical criteria for nursing, and that David's parents needed to look into daycare/babysitters.

David is doing fantastic. He really is. But lets take a minute to review all that still has to be done for him.

David gets the following medicines:

Baclofen - six doses a day
Clonodine - two doses a day
Zantac - two doses a day
Reglan - two doses a day
Flaxseed oil - four doses a day
Acidopholus - one dose a day
Calciferol - one dose a day
Clariton - one dose a day

He also gets one pulmicort every day, and PRN xopenex and intol.

He's eating more by mouth, which is great, but even if he eats a good meal, he still has to have eight ounces of water through his button because he still won't drink much by mouth. So add to all that, three bolus "feedings" of water a day.

After he goes to bed, he gets two more eight ounces of formula bolus fed to him, to make up for any calories he does not consume during the day.

David is still very much developmentally delayed. He still needs alot of physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

So just for kicks, I decided to call a couple of daycares in the area, just to see if they would even TAKE David. I was able to find one that would give a breathing treatment. But when I told them about David's mickey button, they were all like "what? what's that?" When I explained it to them, they told me that they were not qualified to care for someone with needs like David's.

Which is exactly the answer I expected.

I do have a call in for our pediatrician. I haven't received a call back yet, but when I do, I plan to explain to him that putting David in daycare, especially with his naturally weakened immune system is a recipe for disaster, even IF a daycare would take him.

I mean, these people have been involved in this situation since David was born. They are VERY aware of all the things that David has been through, how sick he was, etc. So for them to think that all of a sudden he's well enough to go to DAYCARE just because he's eating more by mouth is absolutely preposterous.

Whew. Thanks for listening.

Finally, here's some pictures from this GLORIOUS three day weekend!!
Sleeping in...

A little coffee to wake up

It's all gone!

Playing outside with Daddy

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day!!!

2008-05-17T21:32:00.003-05:00

I had a really nice Mother's Day - except I was sick! Of all the days to be sick on! But, we were all sick, some sort of stomach crap. Even though we were all sick, Javier was super nice to me - it was just a really nice day.

I have some pictures of David signing his mother's day cards. But first, a flashback from signing Mother's Day cards from last year - I can't believe how much he's grown!!

Anyways, here's the ones from this year:

Then, when were done with that, we drew a picture for Daddy.

I think more got on his shirt than on the paper (marker comes out... right?)

And on his hands.

And here's the mother's day gift I got from Javier's parents - they're beautiful!!

And the roses I picked from the backyard I've gotten even more now - my rosebush is really starting to bloom!!!

The other day, David really didn't want to go to bed. So, I heard a thump and he started to cry. I walked in there and saw that he had thrown his puppy dog out of the crib. So, I leaned down and picked it up and gave it to him, gave him a kiss, and told him to lay down.

I wasn't even out the door when I watched him stand up, throw the puppy back out of the crib, and give the same pitiful cry.

Can't fool me twice, kid.

Tuesday, David graduated from ECI!! I was so proud of him, I could have cried. ECI is the company who sends out therapists to our home - and they've helped David in more ways than I can count. They've provided me with skills to help David hit his developmental milestones and openly given me emotional support. The therapists have seen David's strengths from the beginning and given me hope when my own began to stagger. Unfortunately, ECI only works with kids until they turn three. They designate two nights a year to the "graduations," and tonight was David's. Here are the pictures:

David and Julie (our former coordinator)

I really wanted to get a picture of David with all of the therapists, but one of them didn't make it to the graduation. But, here's David with (from the left) Dana (Speech therapist), Julie (Coordinator), Annette (Occupational therapist) and at the bottom right, Angie (Physcial therapist Assistant) Missing from the picture is Linda, his physical therapist.

And David looks like he wants to bolt out the door.

Here's Annette, giving him a pep talk.

This is a woman who David had just met. But David can't see any reason in the whole world why someone wouldn't want to pick him up and hold him and love him. Her name is Mickey, and she was following Annette around for school.

Here's JoAnn with David, and his hat (that he refused to wear)

Anyways, we had a good time, and I was SO SO proud of him!!!

Just a couple of random pictures - his new thing is to play motor boat with his lips.

Speaking of new things, another one of his is to lick his hands, and then rub them together like he's putting on lotion.

Don't ask me why.

JoAnn and I took David to the park Friday evening. I was so proud of David because he figured out how to push himself off the top of the slide! I know there's a ton of pictures, but I really did narrow it down, I promise!!

First we started off with the little slide.

Then we went to the middle slide!

I love how his eyes are shut on the way down.

Then, we went to the really really big slide!!!

David was nervous

But, he did good!

Finally, we swung for a little while.

I think JoAnn had as much fun as David did.

Finally, off topic for a minute - but I saw the most amazing thing on television the other day. If you haven't heard about Patrick Henry Hughes then click on that link and watch a short video about him. It's an AMAZING story!!

And some bonus news about my nephew Jaxon!! He's walking!! Check out the video Amy sent!

Seems like he was just born yesterday!

2008-05-04T16:02:00.002-05:00

Let's see, what's happened since the last update?

David had an eye doctor appointment. No glasses!!

I'm surprised, though. I really think he needs glasses. The nurses and the therapists all agree with me, and we all think that many of the things that he's developmentally behind on is due to his poor eyesight.

According to Javier (he's the one who took him - I had to work), the doctor said he was a "little near sighted" but not enough for glasses.

She said to continue using the patch (we patch alternating eyes each day for an hour.)

*shrug*

We had been told that we were going to get our nursing hours cut - but it's not happening yet, thankfully. Apparently we were approved for forty hours for at least 60 days from the time we switched companies. So we have at least another month and a half until we have to worry about it.

Also - good news from the doctors office -

David's up to 29.9 pounds!!!

We're down to only the pulmicort one time a day, and only PRN on the xopenex and cromolyn - which means only one breathing treatment a day! WOOHOO!!

They've increased his baclofen again (which is the muscle relaxer he takes - because of his CP his muscles get very tight) and have suggested botox treatments... whatever that's for.

AND!

They said we can cut out his daytime bolus feedings in order to get him to eat more by mouth! She said just make sure he gets 1200ccs of fluids between formula and other fluids a day. So whatever he doesn't take during the day, we'll give him at night.

And, they want to see him again in a month to make sure the feeding schedule is working, and he's not losing weight or anything.

David's first experience with sidewalk chalk:

Last Saturday morning, David and I went out to Thompson Park for the March of Dimes. We got there late, so we missed the beginning. While we waiting for everyone to finish, we played on the playground.

David didn't like this swing nearly as much as he seemed to like the last one he was in.

In fact, it seemed as if he was bored.

Anyways, it was a beautiful day - and although I didn't officially walk in the march of dimes, I must've walked just as far - Thompson park is HUGE and we had to park a bagillion miles away, plus we wanted to see everything. Anyways, I was exhausted by the time we were done. Here's some of the things that we saw:

Someone being interviewed by the news

The starting line

There was a percussion line actually "marching" for dimes - and being a former band geek myself, I had to get a picture

We got home just in time - the weather started to change.

And, later, David was SUPPOSED to be in bed - but how mad can you be when you see this?

So David's new thing is buckles. Carseat, highchair, wherever he can get ahold of one. Today David spent thirty minutes playing with the buckle on the highchair.

Oh, and I totally win the worst mother of the month award. One day, when I was putting lotion on David, he was trying to reach for the lotion bottle, and my hand slipped and I jabbed him in his eyeball with my thumbnail. I felt as his eyelid got caught on my fingernail - it was the most horrid, stomach turning feeling in the whole entire world.

He didn't even cry.

And then, the other day, David fell down our concrete stairs. I was carrying stuff in, and trying to keep him up on the porch because I KNEW he wouldn't notice the steps and fall off - but my hands were full, so I was trying to keep him trapped between the screen door and myself, but the little booger moved faster than I could unlock the door - and before I knew it - it was like in slow motion - I watch him tumble off the porch, off the cement steps, onto the sidewalk

He managed to fall without so much as a scratch, and only cried for a minute... I think it scared us both.

When do they get GRACEFUL?!?!?!?

Yesterday David spent the afternoon at Meme's house so I could plant some flowers in our flower box outside the dining room window.
Before:

After:

I love them!

Last night I really had an issue with David throwing up. And he's NOT sick. He threw up about ten times between 6 and 8pm, including all of his evening medicines. It's behavioral - but I don't know how to make him stop.

I feel kinda guilty, but finally I pretty much lost my cool and raised my voice to him - told him to "STOP. PUKING." And he didn't puke again.

BTW I know it's behavioral, because if I distract him, make him laugh or offer him a toy he stops.
I wish I knew how to make him stop before it comes to raising my voice.

David and I had dry cinnamon toast crunch for breakfast this morning. (nutritious, huh?) but David LOVED it.

After breakfast, we walked down the street to the park. David had so much fun - he didn't want to leave.

I had to drag him out of the park again when it was time to go. I wonder how long they would play at the park, if we stayed as long as THEY wanted to. Haha...

One last thing - I'm running out of fun things to do with David. I'm looking for fun toddler activities, if anyone has any suggestions.

Oh, and I just NOW realized, David turns THREE in three months.

I'm BARELY used to him being two!

2008-04-19T14:22:00.002-05:00

The other day David's friend Matthew (Javier's friend Kevin's son) came over to play. It's amazing to see David around other kids, because he tries things that he's typically afraid to try, or things he's never tried before. He hasn't had much opportunity to be around children his age, but I think he really enjoys it. Anyways, I took Matthew and David out in the backyard to play. And, for the first time, David actually walked around in the grass without holding my hand! I know it seems silly, but I was so proud, watching him play back there!

Look at Matthew's face

David's having a fit because Matthew got away

For the most part, the weather has been beautiful lately. Recently, I decided to slather some sunscreen on David and put him in his bathing suit so he could play in the sprinklers again. He had so much fun! I kept telling him "go, go! Go, walk on the sidewalk" and he'd say "Go. Go. Go." (He's just NOW getting to where he'll repeat what you say, but that's a whole other post haha) Anyways, here's some of the pictures I took:

David's learning his ABC's. It's the cutest thing EVER.

He can say (by repeating me) up to E. F is too hard of a letter apparently.

I'll have to get it on video, though - because I just LOVE the way he says A.

David wanted to go "bye bye" SO bad last weekend. I took him outside to play for a little while and he went up to Javier's car and would NOT move from it. If I tried to walk away, he would cry, come over and grab my hand, and put my hand by the door handle of Javier's car to open it.

Anyways, so I decided to take him to the park. He's only been once (last year) and didn't really like it all that much. But this time he LOVED it!! I was really surprised! Here's the pictures:

Then I put him on the swings. At first, he was unsure about it, but then I couldn't get him out of them! He swung for seriously about 45 minutes. He swung until it was nearly putting him to sleep! But each time I stopped it & tried to get him out, he had a fit!

He was so funny, though, because he sat in it like this. No matter what I did, he wouldn't sit up straight.

Finally, I was about to die of thirst, so it was time to go. And when I did take him out, and we started to leave, he threw the biggest temper tantrum EVER. I had to carry him, kicking and screaming, to the car.

I guess he likes the park.

We took David outside last night, and I don't know what happened, but when he came back in, his nose was running, his eyes were all swollen and dripping, and his skin was blotchy:

I gave him his clariton a little early (he usually gets it at around 7pm) and later some benadryl. It eventually cleared up. I guess it was just allergies?

Today I took David out to the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) event. Blue Cross was one of the sponsors, and quite a few of my coworkers were running in the 5K race. Anyways, they had a fair type thing out there, with booths and stuff, so I took David, and invited Amy, and she brought Jaxon. Here's the pictures that I got:

Jaxon didn't want his knees to touch the sidewalk

Oh, I forgot to mention, David stayed up way past his bedtime last night (Javier took him out to dinner) and was SO tired. So he was pretty cranky pretty much the whole time LOL

They had a face painting booth, but since David was so fussy, I knew that wouldn't go over well. So, we opted for a "tattoo" instead. That didn't go over well either.

Here's the pictures from the ceremony:

They let go of 400 balloons while the woman was singing "Over the Rainbow" to represent the 400 children that CASA has represented in court in order to protect them from sexual and physical abuse. It was very touching, and I seriously had to choke back tears.

And, I just thought this picture was cool

2008-04-06T18:35:00.002-05:00

David's Easter basket (see my previous post for the rest of the easter pictures)

He didn't really care much for any of it

Here he is, playing out in the driveway. We have a pretty long driveway - it goes all the way from the street to the back of the house, where the garage is. So he has quite a bit of room to play - but he's gotten to where he can go so fast that I start to panic if he gets too far away LOL

We've discovered that David LOVES being outside - as long as he can be on the sidewalk, or on concrete. He HATES being in the grass. I'm guessing he feels unsafe because the ground is uneven, and the grass is still prickly, since winter just ended.

He's okay as long as he's holding onto this toy

And I have a secret - David's not really smiling here, he's going "SSSSSSSSSSSSS" haha... whatever works, right???

Here's David playing outside with Mabel the other day

The other day, when I got home, David and Joni were outside playing, and David was wearing his sunglassses - he looked so cute.

This picture cracks me up - look at his hands.

Here's David and Joni. I made sure to get some pictures of them together since we decided to switch nursing companies. I had these framed and gave them to her - they really have a special bond together.

David's so active now that it's hard to get a picture of him doing anything staying still. Almost all of his pictures he's walking somewhere, and with a little bit of luck, I am in front of him and not behind him

Let me begin by saying that David is usually FANTASTIC when I take him out in public.

Well, he must've been tired on Sunday or something, but we went to a baby shower and I was shocked by the way he acted.

He was crying constantly, I'd give him something and he'd throw it, I'd pick him up and he'd grab my glasses - I mean, just BAD.

What do you do in a situation like that? I didn't want to raise my voice to him in the middle of the restaurant. Normally I'd put him in time out for behaving like that, but that's the first time he's ever done it in public.

So what do you do when our angels start to act like devils?

David played in the sprinklers for the first time today! He's not dressed for it because I wasn't planning on letting him (rather, I didn't think he'd WANT to) but he came outside with me so I could move the sprinkler and enjoyed it! So, I grabbed the camera and here's what we got:

He wouldn't actually go INTO the grass to get closer to the sprinkler, but he was still getting wet

He started to get a little brave towards the end

Happy Easter everyone!!!

2008-03-22T19:53:00.002-05:00

First of all, I'd like to be a little nostalgic and look at last year's Easter pictures!

Well, you'd think that a year's difference would result in less mess, right? Haha... not so much. Here's the pictures from this year...I decided just to let him have a good time with it, because, really, who cares if a few eggs get broken, right?

So David thought the boiled egg was a ball. And, since the nurse, Lindsay, and I were laughing so hard at him, he thought it was hilarious and continued to throw it

This egg didn't make it.

Then it was time to color them! (and I know there are a ton, but I love them all and couldn't chose)

I love the progression from clean to INSANELY messy.

Here's what we ended up with (only six weren't broken )

Here's the former ball

I'm just glad I decided to do this outside. Hahah...

Well, today we had a Saturday nurse because we didn't get one on Wednesday. I was so excited. We were going to go to the discovery center with Weston, Jaxon, and Amy. David hasn't been since before he was even able to crawl - he was still on oxygen and everything! So I was really excited about going.

.... but then David started to cough and sneeze and his nose kept running... so we didn't get to go.
Hopefully next weekend.

Last week was JoAnn's birthday, so everyone came over to my house to give her birthday gifts. It was so much fun!
David and Weston

Kylie

Jaxon

Jaxon and Weston

David and Jaxon giving eachother kisses awww

David had had enough

Jaxon was such a ham! He looks like he was crying here, but he was really just making funny face LOL

The other day was a bad toddler day for David.

He acted like EVERYTHING was the absolute, end of the WORLD.

Walk out of the room? Tantrum.

Walk into the room? Tantrum.

Read this book? Tantrum.

Read a different book? Tantrum.

Start a breathing treatment? Tantrum.

End a breathing treatment? Tantrum.

Got a dirty diaper? Tantrum.

Change the diaper? Tantrum.

Sit in my lap? Tantrum.

Sit on the floor? Tantrum.

OMG I was ready to pull out my hair by bedtime.

Which brings me to my next point. Here's something I recently read.

A Toddlers Creed

If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and
Thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator,
Monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be
Ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it IS food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a carseat, it must be protested with arched back.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.
I am a toddler!

David really wanted to go bye bye the other day - he even got my keys and went the door

C'mon, Mom!

Breathing treatment time!

He didn't want it to end, I guess, because he wouldn't put it down.

... but all good things must come to an end.

I just thought he looked so cute, just standing there

Mr. David, hard at work.

What a week!

2008-03-09T13:31:00.002-05:00

David got his first bad owie.
The other day I came home from work and David had a small scratch on his nose. The nurse said she had taken him outside and he had fallen. No big deal. Well, that night, the scratch started to bruise. Before it got any better, it got much worse. It got all purple and blue, and then green and yellow. It's gone now, but here's the pictures when it was still fresh. (And of his most recent haircut.)

A close up of his owie.

He was so good for his haircut (which is unusual haha)

All done!

And, we got the picture hung up above David's play area.... excuse the mess

Then, David fell into the bathtub! Of course, there was no water in there

I was in the laundry room, and David was (I thought) playing in the living room.

Suddenly I hear him cry, and I go to find him, and he's got the upper part of his body in the bathtub, the lower part of his body outside the bathtub, his feet raised off the ground, and he's holding himself up with his hands inside the tub.

It shouldn't be funny, but it kinda was. And don't worry, the bathroom is childproof.

So now I have a baby gate to the bathroom.

My nephew, Weston's first wrestling meet was last Saturday, and David and I decided to go to lunch before going. We met Amy, Wes, and Jaxon at Leal's. I ordered David a quesadilla with beans and rice. He ate REALLY well.

Here's Jaxon

Then we went to the wrestling meet. David was excited

His mood quickly changed to bored after we had been there for a little while

And then mad

Anyways, here's the best pictures I could get of Weston - he's in yellow. We were pretty far away.

I attempted to take some St. Patrick Day pictures recently.
You'd think this kid was two or something. I can't get him to stay still or cooperate for anything in the world!

Anyways.... here's what I ended up with:
he would NOT wear the hat.

I couldn't even keep him still long enough to get a good picture of him in the bow tie

awww

This picture cracks me up... this must've been about the time that I realized he was done

And then yesterday, David learned how to open the screen door.

As I watched him, he opened the screen door, and walked right outside, wearing only his shirt and diaper, even closing the door behind him! I couldn't believe he did that! Anyways, he obviously got in trouble for that.

Anyways, after he got out of time out, I got him dressed and took him outside. I wanted to get some good pictures of him playing, but he wouldn't let go of me long enough to even look around (he sure wasn't scared earlier!) so here's what I got:

And here's some pictures I took last night while we were playing. How can you not smile when you see this picture?

Apparently, something stinks.

He loves talking on the phone.

David had his ECI yearly evaluation on Friday. Every year the therapists have to gather together and rate David on a scale that determines how developmentally delayed he still is. I'm always a little sad after these meetings because it's so easy for me to build a little bubble around us all year long, only seeing the progress that he's making, thinking everything is great. But, even though it's a little bit discouraging, I was left with some good goals to work with. Anyways, here's how he rated:

Cognitive (thinking skills) - 22 months, which is a 9 month delay
Language - 18 months, which is a 13 month delay
Gross motor - 15 months, which is a 16 month delay
Fine motor - 13 months, which is an 18 month delay
Social - 18 months, which is a 13 month delay
Self help - 18 months, which is a 13 month delay

Another thing that I noticed is, that many of the things that he was not able to do, I truly believe is because he can't see them. So, as much as I hate to admit it, I believe that David needs glasses. We have an eye doctor appointment on Monday.

I was trying to get a video of all his new tricks, so I could show all of you how smart he really is... but he didn't cooperate for very long. At any rate, this video makes me smile, maybe it will you as well.

2008-02-25T20:18:00.002-06:00

Since my last post, I received an email from a nice man named Ian. He said:

Hi,

I just came across your blog post that you made recently where you
provided a link to zumyn along with some shots of your mosaic that you
did for your son. We are still quite small, and so we tend to look up
any site that sends us any traffic to see what people are saying about
us - which I'm glad to see was positive! :)

Anyway, I got to reading about all the difficulties you and your family
have had since your son was born and I'm amazed at how much you have
been through (and I'm only up to the point where you got him home from
hospital for the first time!). Given you are apparently pleased with
your mosaic, and to say thanks for linking to us, we'd really like to
send you a copy for free if you would like one?

If you are interested, please just let me know the name and address that
we can send it to and we'll get it sent out next week.

Either way, I hope David continues his progress and things work out well
for you.

Best wishes

Ian

What a great guy, right? Well, look what I got in the mail today:

I had no idea how BIG it is! This is on our dining room table!!

The small images turned out SO clear, too - I am really amazed. It really is amazing, I wish all of you could see it up close. Javier's going to buy a frame for it tomorrow and I'm going to put it above my fireplace Anyways, that totally made my day.
If you didn't catch my post, please visit this site! It's www.zumyn.com

So here are the pictures that I've taken the last couple of weeks:
He looks like an angel

but then...

No wonder my television always has handprints

Before bed

So my nurse said she puts David on the potty several times a day and he'll typically go 2-3 times a day for her.

But, he hasn't gone for me, but it could be because I haven't been as strict about putting him on there - I just put him on it like twice a day or something.

I wasn't really trying to potty train him yet... and my nurse knows how I feel about it - it's just for "fun" right now... when he's ready, he's ready, but I don't want him to be scared of the potty or resent it in any way. I think it's fantastic that she puts him on there.

And I really don't think that his communication skills are good enough to tell us when he has to go potty yet....

But what if it's just ME that's not ready? How do you KNOW that they're ready? I don't want to push him, but I don't want to stifle him, either.

So I thought David was napping, and I was back in the laundry room folding clothes. When I finished, I came out and found this.

Here's the culprit

He was still tired LOL

And here's some pictures I just thought were cute

He's doing this here -->

This is one of my favorites, because I think he makes the cutest face when he says E-I-E-I-OOOOOOOOOO

This is what he does ALL DAY LONG when he wants you to sing itsy bitsy spider with him

David's a stinker. Sometimes he grabs my glasses, even though he's been told exactly 9878486848946848435146584798765165848484 times not to.

So I tell him "NO, David."

And I have a real serious look on my face.

And he gets this real intense look on his face, and slllloooowwwwllllyyy gets closer and closer.... until his nose is touching mine.

How do you NOT laugh at that?

David and I were playing with the camera today I thought some of them turned out pretty cute

Now those are some strong genes. haha.....

2008-02-08T21:33:00.000-06:00

We've all recovered from what seemed like an endless series of illnesses. Wow, what a rough start to a brand new year. Once we got home from the hospital, David ran pretty high fevers for several days, and was having bloody noses nearly every morning. It was nearly a week before he did anything besides lay around. I was starting to worry that we were going to be set back considerably on milestones he had accomplished (namely, walking) but sure enough, as soon as he began to feel better, he was up and going again!

Amy and I went to babies r us a week or two ago, and took David and Jaxon along for the trip. It was fun, for the most part... except for when David decided he was finished with the whole situation and went into full blown temper tantrum mode (You'd think he was two or something) and Amy had to check us out while I took David to the car.

So I found a post that I made last year about new years resolutions. I don't typically like them because I never am able to accomplish them. But check this out:

QUOTE

I hope we spend more time OUT of the hospital than IN. (I'm actually HOPING that we aren't admitted at ALL but I don't know how likely that is. )

We weren't admitted to the hospital even ONCE last year!

QUOTE

I hope David learns to walk.

He did!

QUOTE

I hope I get a new job - one that pays as good but has benefits. (Oh, and if I don't have to actually work there either, that would be nice!)

Got a new job that pays good and has benefits... unfortunately I DO have to work while I'm there. Haha...

QUOTE

I hope to move into a bigger place.

Did that!

QUOTE

I hope to spend more quality time with David - and do whatever I can to make sure that he is not only healthy - but happy too.

This is one of those things that's hard to measure... but I'd say I did a pretty good job here, too.

So David was cracking me up last week. He needed a haircut SO bad. I'm not sure if it was the clothes or the hair, or a combination of both, but he looked homeless.

I'm not sure what he was so worried about here, but his expression makes me giggle.

Maybe Elmo's telling him how to score a hot meal.

He got himself stuck back there - then he got pissed off.... he wasn't nearly as amused as I was...

Then he fell asleep like this.... awwwwwww

After his much needed haircut (still looking rough though LOL )

After his bath...

David's speech therapist said that if he can learn one new word a day she'd be impressed.

Well holy crap, I would too!

That seems like an awful lot, or am I underestimating him?

I finally finished making my mosaic, with 2592 pictures.

I think it turned out great!

You can make yours at http://www.zumyn.com

Here's a couple of videos that make me smile - I'm so proud of him! (btw ignore his dirty shirt & face..... well, you know haha...)

I swear, it'll never get old watching him walk around.

This was actually taken back when he was sick, I forgot about it. He was asleep.

Here's some from tonight before bed.
Getting into trouble

He just looks so grown up here!

I guess he thought it was breathing treatment time (it wasn't )

Walking around

And, wearing his big boy underwear to bed (there's a diaper under there )

And, for the GREAT BIG NEWS OF THE DAY!

David pooped AND peed on the potty today, then later on Joni put him back on the potty and he peed again!!

I'm so proud of him!!!

Hospital Week

2008-01-19T07:59:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday (January 12th) David woke up with a cough and a fever. He was fussy so I laid him on his spiderman couch and he laid there - not sleeping, just in a daze - all morning. Also, he normally wakes up with his diaper SOAKED, but that morning, it was nearly dry. After a couple of vomiting and diarrhea episodes I decided it was time to call the doctor.

But the doctor just said that he was having the diarrhea from the antibiotics he was on for recent ear infections, and was probably sleepy from the fever. He said to watch him.

So I did... I watched him get sicker and more lethargic. Monday morning when we got him into the doctor his temperature was 103.8, under his arm. But his legs were icicles. The ped told me that his blood was not circulating properly because he had gotten dehydrated.

The did an influenza test, which came back positive. Which makes me mad because his ped REFUSED to give him a flu shot - so all of this could have been prevented.

But anyways.

So they admitted us to the hospital Monday morning for IV fluids.

What started out as a "quick trip" to the hospital, turned into four days because his temperatures were so extreme. It was miserable, for him, and for us. I spent the nights up there, and Javier spent the days up there while I went home and slept more (I also had the flu this week, on top of bronchitis.) But, they wanted to make sure that his fevers were due to influenza, and not caused by some other underlying problem. Plus, he was still having diarrhea diapers.

They ran some stool cultures , and the rotovirus and the C Dif came back negative so I guess they're thinking that the diarrhea was just from the antibiotics.

They stopped his feedings when we arrived because of the 5-6 diarrhea diapers he was having a day.

I snuck him a cheeto and I don't think I've ever seen him so happy.

Tuesday they began feeding him one ounce of pedialyte through his button an hour to see if he'd tolerate it, which he did, so they began feeding him formula on Wednesday.
David actually was feeling a little bit more alert Wednesday morning after getting some motrin so I took a couple of pictures of him.

You can tell he's still kinda out of it

Playing with his new Diego cup

Let me out of here!

This is nothing that a little dr. suess can't fix

Anyways, we were finally discharged from the hospital on Thursday. When we got home, David was exhausted, and laid down on his spiderman couch and immediately fell asleep. We've given lots and lots of extra cuddles this week - I know that hospital trip must have been frightening for him. He's too young to understand that it's for his own good - all he knows is Mommy and Daddy are supposed to save him from any pain and discomfort, but they weren't.

Well, here's to another 18 months out of the hospital.

Here's a picture of David with his new pillow (we decided to let him have one because he slept on one in the hospital, and really liked it)

In other news, last Saturday was Meme's birthday! Some of her good friends organized a surprise birthday party for her, and it was alot of fun! We had it at a local bbq restaurant, and reserved a room in the back. Meme was so surprised that when she walked in, everyone yelled SURPRISE and she turned back around

But when she came in, she was very excited! Here's the pictures.

Meme, on the left there is Phillip with Kylie.

Meme holding Kylie, wearing her birthday hat

Kylie

And Jaxon - I can't believe how big he's getting already!

David wasn't there, of course, because he was sick.

Our Christmas pictures (and more)

2008-01-06T19:40:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve:

David loves his table and chair set - but I crack up every time he sits in it because he keeps his legs straight out like this.

Christmas Day, at Meme's

Kylie, getting her gift that I made her

David loved Kylie's purse

Jaxon's getting so big!!

Kylie got a tickle me elmo - it's so cute! David just kept pushing it over though, he's kind of a bully.

Here's some other random pictures - hanging out in the garage with Daddy

David always wants to go outside lately - so one day I put a coat on him and took him out... as soon as he realized how cold it was he wanted back in (it wasn't too bad that day, probably 35 degrees or so, not much wind)

Anyways, I snapped a few pictures while we were out that I thought I'd share.

Do I really have to wear this hood, mom?

David comes up to me several times a day and waves his little hand (still backwards ), his way of telling me that he wants to go "bye bye." After the millionth time of seeing that today I decided to take him outside, I figured it would make him happy... um no. He actually wanted to leave.

So David had to go to the doctor's Friday because he was been pulling at his ears, turns out he has an infection in each ear. Poor kid. So, they gave him two antibiotic shots and put him on oral antibiotics for ten days. They're treating it pretty agressively, which puzzles me because normally they hold off on antibiotics unless they're absolutely necessary.

Here's the pictures that Javier took after they got back from the doctor. Javier says he's crying because he was grumpy after his shots

On the upside, the last couple of days have been amazing with David - he's gained a ton of confidence walking, and although he's not by any means graceful yet, he's improving by leaps and bounds. It's so weird to see him walk by.

Being silly

I just think this picture is funny - and yes, that's actually what I put him in for bed.

Anyways, here's another couple of random nighttime pictures that I found

Well Saturday he broke out in hives all over his body, and was puking all over the place.

So we called the doctor and they said it was the antibiotic, to discontinue use immediately, give him phenergan for the nausea, pedialyte till he quits puking, and benadryl for the rash.

So I went to pick up the phenergan and the new antibiotic, and the pharmacist is like "You know we don't recommend phenergan for children under the age of four. Do you have any history of SIDS in your family?"

I'm like... uh... no...

She's like "does he sleep with a pacifier?"

Um.. no...

She goes "OK that's all you need to know!"

WHAT?!? Are you kidding me?

So anyways, I called my ped back and was like ummm I'm not sure I want to give this to him... but she reassured me that it would be okay and to give half if I wasn't comfortable giving the whole thing. So I did.

Oh... did I mention those are SUPPOSITORIES?

The things we do for our kids.

The good news is, I only had to give one of them, and the rash and nausea went away.

2007

2007-12-30T21:51:00.000-06:00

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to look back and share some of my favorite pictures from the year. 2007 was a great year - for one, it was our first full calendar year out of the hospital Looking back, this was one of the best years of my life - David was so much fun, and I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to be his mother.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

I hope everyone's year was just as great - and here's to an even better year next time around.

2007-12-23T13:59:00.000-06:00

So the day after I posted my last blog we went to another Christmas party. I gotta say, I was all Christmas partied out.

This was Dr. Habersong's christmas party. He's the pediatrician in town who takes all the special needs kids. And there are a BUNCH apparently.

Anyways, the food excellent, and I won a door prize! I got Shrek 2 on DVD. I was feeling all special when the person beside me won a 5 disc CD player.

At any rate, we had a pretty good time.

David started to get bored (imagine that - we were seriously in line to see Santa for about an hour and a half )

Here's my picture of Santa - the one I got from them was better, but I don't have a scanner. Anyways, he wasn't any more impressed with this Santa than he was with the last one.

For Christmas gifts, I attempted to do handprint calenders (found here) but after attempting, I realized that wasn't too great of an idea. This was SUCH a messy project!
mmmmmmm yummy (good thing it's non toxic haha)

Notice the sides of the highchair - this was only the beginning

And we ran out of space to put the pictures so we had to stop after only doing about six months worth.

Next year I'll try again.

BIG NEWS!!!!

David took his first unassisted steps on December 1st, 2007!!

He's gotten much better - here's a video after a few days of practice:
I just wanted to show you all how much improvement David's made in walking just since this weekend! I'm so proud of my little boy!!

(sorry it's kinda dark)

I'm so excited about this - remember, the doctors said he may never walk!

Of course, he's not graceful yet. Our record is two bruises and three scratches - all on his face - all in one weekend.

It gets better.... right?

So every night before I put David in bed we pick up toys together.

Well... I try to pick up the toys. My idea is to instill good habits in him before he's old enough to argue with me

Anyways - it cracks me up because I'll start with the ones that he's not playing with. As soon as he sees me putting toys away he goes into full blown panic mode - which entails crawling as fast as his little legs will carry him over to me and screaming, trying to grab each and every toy that I have in my hand.

I swear! It's like he thinks I'm taking them away permanently! I try to calmly explain to him that he still has many toys out, but we're going to put away the ones that he's not using... I don't know why I even waste my breath - I'm pretty sure he can't hear me.

Ugh... maybe I'll wait to put them away until he's gone to bed - at least until he's a little older.

At the beginning of December David was diagnosed with croup - which sucked, with the four am breathing treatments and whatnot... but we got him better so YAY.

David's nursing hours have been cut back to forty - he was getting sixty a week. I expected that, since he's doing so well - what I didn't expect was for them to let us know on a Thursday that we were cut, effective immediately. So Javier had to miss work again last week because we didn't have anyone to watch David. It should be fine, though - and I've been enjoying the extra time I get to spend with him.

David opened his first christmas presents the other day - we opened Joni's early because we dont see her again until after Christmas. She got David a pair of pajamas with dinosaurs on them and a nice winter jacket!

And here's one of him in his pj bottoms (I didn't think they'd fit) riding his toy.

Sometimes a picture is worth more than wiping their nose right away

For Christmas I got David a Go Diego Go table and chair set, this electronic book thing that speaks both english and spanish (it's really neat, I'll get a picture), several puzzles, a recorder (one of those musical things), one of those really gross spiny things (his therapist said it would help his texture aversion) and magnet letters to go on the fridge.
The funny thing is, the most expensive thing that I bought him today were diapers.
If I didn't need them before Christmas I'd wrap them and stick them under the tree, too.

Well today I had high hopes today for getting the perfect Christmas picture of David. Remember back in the day when he would just sit there and let me pose him and make him all cute? Well - it doesn't work that way anymore.

Anyways, these were the best of what I got - I couldn't even get him to smile!

Lots of pictures and updates

2007-11-30T21:05:00.000-06:00

I know I've been a slacker when it comes to updating this - but believe me, it's not for lack of trying. Things around here are SO busy. I'll try harder, I promise.

Y para mi suegra, lo siento por no photos de David. Y lo sienta para la espanola muy mal.

OK so here are the pictures that I haven't posted yet. First, a comparison -

Back in July:

Now:

I never realized how chunky he was!

Pictures from playtime
I guess he wanted to go outside.

Playing with his puzzles

What's this? A STRAW?!? Wow!

Think of the things I can do with this new toy!

Mom, I'm bored.

He's playing itsy bitsy spider.

So when David turned two, he weighed in at 36 pounds. At his last doctor's appointment, he was down to 27.

Anyways, they altered his diet a little bit, so hopefully he won't lose anymore. Also - we eliminated another six doses of medicine a day!! Only nineteen a day now!

All that beautiful blonde hair you saw in the pictures from earlier? Yeah - it's all gone. David needed a haircut so bad but it made me sad because his hair was SO beautiful! Anyways, here's some pictures so you can see his haircut now:

"haha I crack myself up"

"I'm reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllly bored"

"omg! like for sure!"

"yeah - we're both pretty cute"

"hey - where's the top of my head?"

"mom - wanna see my tonsils?"

"I think I'll pick up my foot"

"I wonder what happens if I grab both of my feet?"

"oh crap"

"where's my feet? I don't know!"

"you give me back my feet RIGHT NOW"

Whenever you sing the ABCs to David and he tries to sing along, he sings "EIEIO"... from Old McDonald. He must think they're the same song.
Everybody now.... "A B C D E F G.... E I E I O"

He loves this book.

Some more random pictures from this month:

He was kinda grumpy when he woke up from his nap

And, getting ready for bedtime

Tonight was the Christmas party that the nursing agency threw for all the patients. It was pretty fun, for the most part.

They had a chocolate fountain - which was DELICIOUS.

Here's a picture of David, all bundled up, on the way there. (notice he's wearing a hat? )

Playing at the table while waiting for santa claus. (the hat ruined his hair LOL)

So when Santa came in, he went around to all the kids and said hi to them. When he got to us, he said "wow, David, you've gotten so big!"

I couldn't figure out who he was or how he knew David - so finally I asked Susan, and she told me that it was Jeff, the manager of the apartments we used to live in. haha....

So we went up and sat in Santa's lap. That didn't go as well as I had hoped.

And finally, here's Susan (the nurse we used to have a long time ago) and David - she was making funny faces at him, and he was laughing LOL

Tomorrow's the next christmas party. David's been invited to THREE of them. (I was only invited to ONE. LOL)

OK on a serious note - there's a little girl tonight who fights for her life. Her name is Kayla Weber and she's only a baby. And she has cancer. Her entire life has been a miracle, but the last 24 hours have been very very rough on her. Here's an update that her mother posted on myspace earlier:

"With evidence overnight of Kayla's continued rapid tumor progression, our time and options are running out. Her tumor is eating her blood supply and leaving little for Kayla and her heart. ALTHOUGH, her stats have leveled and an echo we had earlier showed her heart is holding strong! She is the strongest baby in the universe and God knows that. We talked to the surgeons today and they confirmed in detail that it is simply not a viable option. If the surgery didn't kill her, she would be left with such pain and probable complications that it would not be worth it. The tumor is wrapped around every organ and it would be impossible to get it all anyway. One other option would be to give her very high dose chemo, but there's no guarantee that would work and it would likely kill her today with her body in turmoil. Our choice is to continue her current chemo regimen and pray that it just needed one more day to catch up with this tumor beast. She is getting chemo right now and we are about to go down for the CT. If the CT shows that fluid is pooling to where we can relieve that - we will. We will most likely be moved to the ICU at that point, but at least it will be something we can do to help her.

She is ALIVE for today and so today we focus on LIFE! She is resting her little body right now, gearing up for whatever moves this tumor may make. We are in a grave situation and Dr. Kerry spoke every word to me today with tears in her eyes. She said some would argue just to take her home at this point, but we're not giving up and niether is she! I'm really dizzy and have about passed out several times today so I hope I made sense. I will continue to rely on Stacy, but just wanted to check in and say thank you for your prayers! Her echo was good, her coagulant study came back showing she is not bleeding internally (her tumor is just pulling the blood from the vessels), and she is resting. Thank you for that!

Love,

Julie and Jason"

Anyways, if you guys could spare some thoughts for baby Kayla tonight - she could really use them.

Happy Belated Halloween!!

2007-11-10T21:08:00.000-06:00

We had a blast on Halloween. First, we took David up to the hospital where we got to visit all of the nurses who took care of David when we were in there. We even saw Dr. Chavez, who saved his life last year. They were all DELIGHTED to see David off of oxygen. He was such a ham - he gave kisses and smiled the whole time.

The plan was to let him walk into the unit while holding our hands, but the little slip on boots that went with the costume were too slippery - he was sliding all over the place. It was hard to keep him steady through fits of laughter. haha...

Then, we took David up to my job where all my new work friends got to meet him. He loved it there, too. In fact, he even ate a sucker! It was one of those suckers that have a skeleton hand as the stick. Actually, he was more interested in chewing on that then he was the sucker.

Finally, we took David over to Meme's to show them his costume. Once we got home, I ran to the store to get pumpkins to carve - then we took pictures:

Getting ready for the big day

For weeks we tried and tried and tried to get him to wear this wig. I even had the nurses try to put it on him throughout the day to get him used to it - but, he was TERRIFIED of it, and that never got any better. But, I paid good money for this wig, and by god, I'm getting at least ONE picture of him in it.

And here's James, our nurse, and David.

After David was in bed and sound asleep, JoAnn came over and we handed out candy to all the trick or treaters. I was a little disappointed in the number of trick or treaters we had - we didn't get ANY till almost seven, then it was all over by eight.

I didn't even run out of candy!

Of course, it's all gone NOW.

---

So the Friday after Halloween we ended up taking David to the doctor because he had ear infections - in both ears. Poor kid. He would just hold his ears and cry. It broke my heart! But, we finished his antibiotics yesterday and he seems to be all better now. While we were at the doctor's though, he got weighed again. David's down to 29 pounds. He was up to 36 at one point - but he's lost SEVEN pounds!

And to add to that, he's gained a few inches (I don't know how many - but he's MUCH taller than he was) - so he's gotten SO skinny!!

I'm sad though - because one of my favorite parts on him was his wrists - because he looked like he had rubberbands around them (the little fat roll) and it's gone!

---

David's button keeps coming out - I don't know what to do! The funny thing is, he doesn't cry or anything... earlier we were putting away the toys so I was just grabbing stuff off the floor and there it was! EEK! I don't even know how long it was out!

---

Javier took David to WalMart the other night. This is kind of a big deal because, believe it or not, this is the first time David has EVER been to a store. I've just never had to take him - there's always been someone else to watch him, and I've always been too worried about germs and stuff to tote him along.
Anyways - Javier said it was SO much fun. Javier said that David just laughed and giggled the whole time - and I beamed with pride thinking of my husband taking our kid to the store all by himself - and not having any problems.
I'm also a little jealous that Javier got to do it and not me.

Of course, I realize this is no big deal to the average person - but I'm a big sap, remember?

So here are the pictures (Javier takes just as many as me LOL)

Five years ago today

2007-10-29T14:38:00.000-05:00

My first son passed away. He would have been five years old on Friday.

I'm sure most of you know, but like David, Ricky was born very prematurely. He was born at 27 weeks and 2 days, and weighed 1 pound, 8 ounces. He was born at about 10:45pm on a Friday night, and fought for his life until God decided it was his time, and took him a little bit after midnight on Sunday, October 29, 2002.

I went to the cemetery yesterday for the first time in a long time. I also mourned his loss again for the first time in a long time. It's hard for me to understand God's reasoning for taking away my son, but I know part of the reason is so that I can cherish every single moment with David. I can only hope that one day we'll be together again. In the meantime, I'm making it my personal mission to make Ricky proud by how I raise David, and make sure that David always knows about his big brother - Ricky deserves that.

Anyways, I thought I would share a couple of neat things I saw when I went to the cemetery.

Ricky is in good company - he's buried in the section of the cemetery called "Garden of Angels," and this place always looks very festive. There's wind chimes ringing all the time, and always lots of flowers and dolls.

I also thought I'd share one of the very few pictures that I have of Ricky when he was alive:

****

Anyways, here's some new pictures of David!

Kylee, Meme, and David

Something I saw outside my house this weekend:

This thing was HUGE! I couldn't believe how close it was to my house! EEK!

David has FINALLY overcome his phobia of being outside!

He's playing with grass and sticks. haha...

Taking a walk with our nurse, James

And here's a blackmail picture, for sure.

David tried peanut butter and jelly this weekend for the first time!

And a bonus picture of Jaxon, my nephew.

That's it for now!

Big news on the David front!!!

2007-10-20T20:00:00.000-05:00

Notice anything different about David?

If you're not sure, check out this picture

That's right! David's been without oxygen during daylight hours since 1030am on October 20, 2007!

And here's David with his brand new toy that Michele was kind enough to give us! He's a little scared of it, but I'm trying to let him get used to it - I really think it will help him walk!

Thank you so much, Michele!!

Last Monday Javier took David to the doctor, and they put in a different size mickey button. Hopefully this one won't leak as much.

Also - they were ELATED when David showed up without oxygen!

She said to discontinue the oxygen during the day as long as he's satting above 93 but keep him on it at night through the winter, that we'd wean him next spring.

Sounds good to me!

We got the ECI newsletter:

Javier's friend brought his little boy over a couple of weeks ago to play with David. His name is Matthew and he was also a preemie, in the same NICU as David.

They played okay for a little while.

Then David started to get greedy - he wanted ALL the toys. David's not too keen on the whole sharing thing.

But mean old mommy told him no.

And here's what was left after David went to bed. Luckily, Kevin and Matthew were nice enough to help me clean up!

David's first official word - I consider this his first real word because even though he babbles alot and imitates us when we say various things, this is the ONLY word that he uses EVERYTIME - at the RIGHT time.

Anyways - Anytime I say "really?" - whether I'm talking to him, or to someone else, he responds with:

"yeah."

Bonus pictures of my adorable nephew!

Terrible twos? Already?

Here's the deal. David CONSTANTLY pulls off my glasses. I'm very consistent with him - I warn him first. I tell him that if it happens again, he has to sit in time out. Then I try to distract him with toys, etc.

Not thirty seconds later, he'll grab my glasses again! So, I'll say "no!" in a firm voice and make him sit down for at least a minute.

He gets the saddest look on his face and makes my heart ache and makes me start thinking all kinds of awful things like "what if he thinks I don't love him anymore?" or "what if I'm scarring him for life?" ... but I make him sit there for the full minute anyways.

Then I get him up, and look him straight in the eye and tell him not to pull my glasses off again. Then, I give him a hug.

As soon as I let go - his tiny little toddler hand is reaching for my glasses AGAIN!!

What do I do? Seriously! I tried giving him my undivided attention, thinking that maybe he was just trying to get my attention - I turned off the TV and everything. Then, when that didn't work I got him a bunch of toys, thinking he was just bored. But THAT didn't work!

I'm starting to think that my only option is to get laser eye surgery.

***

So I'm sitting down on the floor, playing with David a week or so ago when suddenly it sounds like someone is walking through the house - I hear something coming from the back and am really starting to wonder if Javier had come home through the back door.

Then it gets REALLY loud - and I realize it's hail! Suddenly, my electricity goes out - and it's so loud and scary that I grab David and my cell phone and head toward the bathroom, grabbing a tank of oxygen on my way.

Once I got him hooked up in the bathroom and settled in with a toy, I ran to grab my camera

Crazy! It was SO loud!!

Anyways, I was without power for almost an hour!

***

So I'm leaving work Thursday at five pm when it suddenly occurs to me that it was the 18th!

I had completely forgotten about the ECI Halloween carnival! I really wanted to take David to this thing, but I only had an hour and a half to find a costume!

So I run home and grab David, and we head over to my grandma's house so we can search through her shed for one of Weston's old costumes. Luckily, we were able to find his old ninja costume and clean it up and iron it so that looked okay.

And off we went. My little sister JoAnn went with us.

So let me just say, that it was simply marvelous. The carnival was fun - but the best part about the whole ordeal was that it felt like David was a regular kid!

I realize that sounds funny to most people - but I know that you guys will know what I'm talking about. This was the first trip out of the house that we had gotten to take without oxygen! And it was SO easy! AND - David was holding my hand and walking throughout most of it! He's so amazing.

Anyways, I didn't take any pictures, but they had a picture place there where they took the picture (Polaroid) and let you design the frame. So here's that.

I know I said David was going to be popeye - and I really wanted him to be that, but I couldn't find a stupid sailors hat ANYWHERE. So, we opted for something different.

OK first of all, you should know that I bought the wig and hat that go with this costume but David is TERRIFIED of it. I mean, scared to death. Even when I wear it!

So, I have eleven days to figure out how to make him wear the hat.

Oh, and the costume comes with boots, but we didn't put those on - I was just making sure it fit in case I needed to exchange it.

So, without further ado, I now present to you Jack Sparrow.

David's very first dental appointment!

2007-10-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

The only times doctors have ever come near David's mouth was to shove a ventilator down his throat. Obviously he at least subconsciously remembers that since he refuses to let ANYONE (or anything) touch his mouth.

So I didn't figure this would be fun at ALL.

But the pediatric dentist we chose specializes in special needs kids, and it went better than I expected.

The dentist reminded me of Willie Nelson - ponytail and all - but he talked and played with David for a few minutes, until David was comfortable with him before attempting to look in his mouth. They also asked our nurse, Joni, to sit with him and hold him so David would feel even more comfortable.

Once he began working, David had a fit - but the dentist worked quickly and within a few minutes he was finished. He said that David's teeth look great. He has a couple of molars in the back that haven't completely come in yet, but to keep brushing with a soft toothbrush and it would help them finish breaking through the skin.

They finished by giving David two new toothbrushes and a couple of stickers, and we were out of there within an hour.

Anyways, here's the pictures.

His sticker says "I made my first trip to the dentist today!"

They want us to come back in 6-7 months.

*******

ECI asked me to fill out a questionnaire because they wanted David's story to be in their next newsletter as the feature!

Anyways, here's what I wrote.

Name: David Christopher
Parents: Javier and Samantha
Referred to ECI by: Northwest Texas Hospital
When: January 2006
Story: David was born on August 3rd, 2005 at 26 weeks gestation, weighing in at 1lb, 4oz. He spent the first six months of his life in the hospital. On January 23rd, we were finally released from the hospital and soon learned the challenges we were going to face in order to get David all the help he needed. The doctors had diagnosed David with cerebral palsy and periventricular leukomalacia, which is a type of brain injury due to lack of oxygen when he was very small. At six months old, David was not even able to hold his head up. We had what seemed like a million miles to go to catch him developmentally. And the almost constant trips to the hospital for weekend stays weren't helping - we couldn't seem to keep him home for more than a week without him getting sick - even though we were doing everything we knew how. The therapists were doing all they could to help him developmentally, but when he could hardly breathe, it was impossible to teach him to do much else.
On April 7th, 2006, our world changed. David was admitted to the hospital for dehydration - by the time he got there he had to be put on a ventilator to help him breath. That night, David went into pulmonary hypertension crisis. His heart stopped for two full minutes while the doctors tried desperately to bring him back to life. He was placed on a high frequency ventilator, which he stayed on for three days before being transferred back to a conventional ventilator. David was also put in a medically induced coma in order to keep him calm and prevent him from fighting the ventilator while his weak body was healing. He was finally taken off the ventilator on June 3rd. It was then that we were able to begin working with his muscles again. He stayed in the hospital until June 22nd, when we were finally allowed to take him home.
The doctors told us that even though David miraculously did not sustain any additional brain damage, the chances of him ever walking or leading a "normal" life were slim. Our family was not phased - we had faith in our little boy. ECI sent out their therapists - we qualified for physical, occupational, and speech therapy. David endured therapy nearly three times every week. It was a long, long road to get him to where he is today, but I'm happy to report that it has been 15 months since we've been in the hospital. David is 25 months old and he is cruising along the furniture! It won't be long until he's proving all the doctor's wrong by taking his first steps and learning to walk - even run! We still have a ways to go in order to catch him up developmentally, but our little miracle is growing and learning in leaps and bounds.
I like most about ECI: The best thing about the therapists is that they have as much faith in David as I do. They have extensive knowledge in their fields and always know different tricks to teach David how to do things that most kids learn on their own. All of our therapists, Linda, Angie, Annette, and Dana, plus our coordinator Julie - have always been there with me to praise David and help him to move forward. Whenever I feel discouraged about David's progress, one of the therapists will step in to remind me of how far he's come, and show me that he really is capable of doing so much now.

**********

I've decided on David's Halloween costume:

I can't WAIT!!!

******

Well, I did something stupid. Oops.

In case anyone is wondering - if you think a two year old will sit still long enough for an unexperienced person to wave scissors around their face, you're wrong.

That's right, I tried to cut David's hair.

Oh well, it'll grow back.

*****

This is the doll that is the exact size and weight of David when he was born:

And I took this picture to show you his new "look"... if looks could kill...

******

BritKare came the other day and picked up the feeding pump because David is FINALLY tolerating bolus feeds. We haven't used the feeding pump in over a week now.

******

Last but not least, here's a couple of random pictures that were on my camera.

This is what David looks like when he's fake crying

And a couple more of him in his spiderman pajamas - I just thought he looked cute.

Gross. hahaha....

Come see the cutest pictures in the world!

2007-09-22T20:20:00.000-05:00

First of all, thank you so much for all the suggestions for the night terrors. They seemed to have died down, at least for now. Hopefully they'll stay that way.

-----

Amy brought Weston and Jaxon over today. She brought them matching shirts so we could take some pictures of the two of them together. We then noticed that the shirt David happened to be wearing today went with their outfits, so we decided to take pictures of all three of them! They turned out great! So good, in fact, that when Amy took the prints over to Meme's, they were promptly taken away from us and distributed amongst Meme & her friends.

I can't blame her, though - they turned out fantastic.

Here's Weston and Jaxon

All three!

My favorite picture!!

-----

So I have GOT to get some baby gates - I can't seem to keep David out of the kitchen!

Looking forward to Halloween!!!

2007-09-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

It's coming soon!

I bet I even have TRICK OR TREATERS!!! I've NEVER had my very own trick or treaters!! PLUS I actually have a YARD I can decorate!!
So I'm open to suggestions for costumes for David. Some ideas I currently have:

bumblebee

OK so that's pretty much it. But when I find the PERFECT costume, I'll just know it.

----

So the NICU reunion was on the 8th. We had a good time - saw some of the nurses that we used to know. Here's David and Stacy, one of our favorite NICU nurses.

Trying to get his face painted - he wouldn't stay still long enough so he ended up with a couple of streaks and that was it.

This is David and Katie. Katie was the receptionist in the NICU and PICU. She kept me company on many long nights.

Getting tired.

-----

Can you imagine if I had TWO Davids?

-----

Here's a picture of David eating his new favorite snack - Toast dipped in Ranch dressing.

(hey - if he'll eat it, I don't even care. )

-----

Speaking of eating, I find it strange that David pukes when I try to feed him brisket. But then five minutes later he has a piece of paper torn off of a flyer and swallows it before I can dig it out of his mouth.

-----

So I just want to brag on David for a minute - I am so proud of him! He's learning more every day and it's so much fun to watch him and what he picks up on.

Lately he's really learning to follow directions. It's so cute! He'll wave bye bye, blow kisses, smile, point to his hair, nose, and ear, give himself CPT (which is when we pound on his chest to break up mucous in his lungs haha ), play itsy bitsy spider, clap, play patty cake... and I'm sure there's more. It's so much fun.

Anyways, I just wanted to brag on him for a minute. Watch this video to see him do a few of the things I mentioned (some of them he doesn't do... but he IS a two year old... what do you expect? LOL) OH... and ignore my singing please. haha...

OH and btw... I'm trying to teach him to "sing" by going "ahhhhhhhhhh"... he copies me by going "ah" real short.

-----

David's been having night terrors lately. They're getting really really bad. Any suggestions on this?

At first it wasn't that big of a deal - I would talk to him outloud, as if he was awake, in attempts to wake him up. Then, when that didn't work, I'd sing to him. That always worked.

Well last week was our worst yet - lasted at least thirty minutes... I couldn't get him to stop screaming. I was starting to wonder if he had hurt himself or had gotten bit by something.

I don't know what to do.... ugh. Hopefully they won't continue. I've noticed that the more rest he gets the fewer of the episodes we have.

-----

ECI (the company who provides our therapists) had a float in the Tri State Fair Parade on Saturday, and our family was asked to be on it!! I was so proud of David!!

We had SO much fun! I'm so glad they invited us to go! David did great for the most part... we were waiting in line to go for almost forty five minutes, and he started to get a little bit impatient... but he IS two, afterall. Anyways, here's the pictures!
This is Julie, she's our ECI coordinator.

I love this pictures - this is Annette, our occupational therapist.

Here's David and Joni, our nurse.

It was really pretty chilly outside this morning. I figured it'd warm up! But, we brought a blanket just in case - good thing!

And here's David, tired of it all, after the parade was over:

Here's the few parade exhibits I actually got to see:

I love this little donkey/horse/whatever it was!

This girl was making me SOOOO nervous!

-----

Just some random, cute pictures of David
JoAnn was playing with David yesterday when he just fell asleep in her lap. It was SO sweet.

Check out David's wild hair.

I left him to his own devices for a few minutes today while I was cleaning. Soon he got real quiet, so I went to check on him. This is what he was doing. What a smart boy!

Think he has too many toys?

This is when he got mad at me for not letting him grab the bubble thing out of my hand while we were playing with bubbles. He already had one in his hand, and I had the other one. Well, he wanted both.

And, I think maybe David wants a pillow.

Cruising!!!

2007-09-01T18:57:00.000-05:00

Check out David's new trick:

WOOHOO!!! David's first "cruising" steps - August 30th, 2007.

-----

David's new word is is "pee pee"

He doesn't even know what that MEANS!

I prefer to think he's trying to say "please please"

-----

This morning I took David to the farmers market. I'd never been, and it was really alot of fun. A nice lady gave David a flower!

After the farmer's market, we stopped by the park where David got to swing on the swings for the first time. He didn't like it at first, but after a few minutes he seemed to enjoy it a little bit more.

Also at the park was the see-saw thing. David didn't like this at first, either - but he liked it once he realized that it bounced.

Then later this afternoon, Amy came over with her boys and we got into the pool. It's the last time we'll use that pool (I'll explain in a minute) but here's the picture of my nephew, Jaxon, swimming for the first time.

So, in case you're wondering why there's no pictures of David in the pool...

I put David in, and he immediately started to cry (like he always does) and he flung back and went under water.

I'll never forget the way that felt - like it was in slow motion.

I of course grabbed him up immediately and got him out. I didn't put him back in.

And now his eyes are swollen and he has a runny nose.

Meme said it's probably because the pollen count is so high, but I can't help but feel like it had something to do with me letting him fall under the water.

I've been crying since it happened.

-----

I've been presented an award!!! WOOHOO!! haha...

Thanks, Angel!!
And I know this lady doesn't read my blog - but if she did, I would present Dawn with this blog award- she's the funniest "mommy" blogger I've ever read!!! Check out her site!

Pictures of my TWO year old...

2007-08-15T22:27:00.000-05:00

Oh my god I think I'm gonna cry.

Anyways - Javier's parents came into town on Saturday. They'll be here until next Monday. It's always so nice to have them in town - mostly because I don't have to cook or clean or anything. I was actually BORED on Sunday... do you know how long it's been since I've been BORED? Haha...

David is LOVING them. And who wouldn't? It's constant entertainment and spoiling!

So anyways, let me see what we've missed here.

Javier took this picture the other day when David was getting his oxygen tubing changed. It's funny, though because when Javier showed me the pictures - I was commenting on how cute he was and how he had been crying and how cute his little fat rolls were... Javier's like "notice anything else?" He doesn't have his oxygen on!

Here's David playing with the card that Amber sent us!

I took this picture because I was thinking how much I'm going to miss these little toes and fingers when they turn into big hands and feet... I wish I could just keep them.

And, fun with breathing treatments!

David is so much fun sometimes. I never thought having a kid would be so much fun.... seriously. He cracks me up.

The other day Maria was giving him some medicine, so she had him laying down on his back so she could access his button. He was having a fit. She looked up and was talking to me when he flipped over, and started to crawl away. Then he goes "byebye!"

And then my MIL was playing with him when David let a big one rip. He proceeded to look at my MIL and give her the sweetest smile you'll ever see. I was rolling.

Here's David combing his hair - his new favorite past time.

Here he is asleep after a long day of playing with Abuela.

And throwing a fit for some reason only known to him.

I love these pictures - David was playing with my mother in law today - he was sitting and standing on the rocker chair stool - he thought it was SO much fun!

My nurse called me at work the other day to tell me that the air conditioner had stopped running and the thermometer was showing ninety degrees in the house.

Anyways, so I come home and here's what I see - they're hanging out on the porch (it rained today so it was cooler outside than it was inside)

Back inside after it cooled off - What a big boy!

BTW we did get the air conditioner fixed... the motor was out. Ugh.
And here's David, being a nosy neighbor.

He says "what is all that racket out there?!?"

By the way, David hits himself in the head. Hard. With anything - his hand - his WOODEN PUZZLE PIECES - cell phones... whatever he has in his hand. He hits himself with it. My nurse seems to think it's because he likes the way it sounds... which I guess is possible... but he's leaving big old red marks on his head.

I've told him firmly to stop it... but I'm wondering if the best approach here wouldn't just be to ignore the behavior? I don't know.

Thoughts?

We had to go to the hospital Saturday to get routine chest xrays and blood tests. I was DREADING it. Normally it is an absolute NIGHTMARE getting blood drawn with David. He kicks and screams and fights - and they normally have to stick him several times before they get enough blood for there tests.

Anyways - so I was not looking forward to this at all, but David was an absolute ANGEL. Before they stuck him I started singing the ABCs and he cried for about two seconds while they poked him - but for the remainder of the time, even when they were holding him down to get enough blood - he just listened to me sing.

It was great. He didn't cry for his chest xrays, either. I was so proud of him!

So, we decided to get him some ice cream. Which is ironic because he still has the whole oral aversion thing going on and hates to eat. So basically we were forcing him to eat ice cream.

Anyways, here are the pictures of that.

He says "are we freaking done yet?"

David's chest xrays looked good this last week so the NP said we could wean him off of the Lasix.

Also, we're trying again to get him off the Viagra (and for those of you who don't know and are wondering - he's on viagra because it helps loosen the blood vessels around his heart. Not for any OTHER reason... pervs. )

Anyways, we're cutting out two of the doses of Potassium, and two of the doses of Clonidine.

Basically, we're cutting out 10 doses of medicines a day!

OK... 10 down, 28 to go. Haha...

We took David outside to play the other day after it cooled off. He had fun watching the neighbor kids perform death defying tricks on their bicycles and ramps. EEK!

Also, here's a picture of the shirt that my inlaws bought him - it's the cuban flag.

OK... I *think* that's all... until next time.

Happy Birthday David!!!

2007-08-06T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well, my little man turned two on Friday. I can't believe it. We threw his party on Sunday, August 5th. The guests included Meme, Lizzie, Weston, Mom, JoAnn, Susan, Yvonne, Alex, Aty, and Christian. We had a great time. He got lots of clothes - he's in size 4T now! He also got lots of cool toys including many puzzles, dinosaurs, a set of golf clubs, a piano/xylophone in the shape of a cow, some books, and much much more! We really had a good time.

Here are the pictures from the party:

The house (big thanks to Mom and JoAnn for helping with - ok doing all of - the decorations) :

The cake:

David and Mom

David, wearing Weston's hat

Presents!!!

This was his FAVORITE present. Yes, it's an envelope.

I tied this balloon to his wrist - but it kept getting in his way. Here he is, trying to push it away. LOL

Back to the best present ever.

Cake time!!!

Daddy helping

My nephew, Weston

Then it got even messier

And - so the rest of the pictures he looks like he's been in a fight.

David playing with my friend Aty and her son, Christian.

Giving Aty kisses

Golf clubs!!

The aftermath

All in all, a great party. Mom and JoAnn stayed after and we grilled some steaks... oh, and my mom made her world famous (well, it should be anyways) potato salad.

OK... so we've been so busy lately it's crazy. My job is great. A little overwhelming right now but still great. It would be even better if I could get more sleep at night and didn't have to worry about staying awake during training. haha.

The house is finally put together and in working order. Well, not so much RIGHT NOW since we just had a party - but it WAS. I love it here - this is such a nice home, and I really feel relaxed when I walk through the door. Not like at the apartment when I was mad the whole time I was there - constantly tripping over everything. Ugh.

Here's what you saw when you looked out my window the other day, in fact:

A beautiful rainbow!

And, a bird, strutting his stuff.

David went to the doctor today for his two year check up. He now weighs 36 pounds... even though last friday he only weighed 35. Holy moly! He's getting so big! So, they've put him on half strength formula. Also, they're going to try to wean him off of one of his medicines - which will be great.

He's got a little bit of a cold right now. Well, we all do. It's not strep, thankfully - so hopefully he'll get over it soon.

David is crawling all over the place. It's amazing -and sometimes I get a little teary eyed when I watch this little boy crawl. I know it sounds cheesy - but they told me that David would likely never do many of these things due to his neurological damages. But he's proving everybody wrong everytime he crawls across the room for a toy!

Finally, here are the rest of the pictures that I haven't shared here yet.

His new look:

Anyways, here's a couple of pictures of his new tricks - this is what he does when you tell him "byebye" - he waves to himself

And when you say "where is your hair?"

I was trying to tell him to take off his "earring" - and I would say "where's your ear?" well, he thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world.

He finally got it!

OK I *think* I got everything for now. I'll try to be better about updating - I promise!!

Pools, haircuts, and more!

2007-07-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a phone. (look how straight his little fingers are! )

OH! Bubbles!

David went swimming for the first time yesterday. I filled up the pool in the morning and put the tarp over it until the afternoon, so that the sun would warm up the water.

And boy did it! It was like bath water

Anyways, David wasn't too sure when we put him in there at first.

But then Mama got in there - and she brought toys!

So then he was a little happier.

That is, until the sun started to get into his eyes.

So we decided to put the hat on him. He wasn't having it.

So, we got out. Here's Maria, carrying David in while I picked up and covered the pool back.

Then today we went out there again. It was a little bit better - the pictures are surprisingly deceitful, though - he pretty much just sat there except for when I told him to smile for the camera.

David finally got a haircut today. We decided to get rid of the mullet he had going on.

Anyways - Javier did it, and he did a FANTASTIC job. It's really short on the sides and a little longer on the top. I think it looks adorable!

This is his mean, mohawk rocker look.

Don't worry - it looks good combed down too

Here's Daddy and David - bonding over hair

David - showing off his new haircut!

And, just for fun - I thought this was cute - he was looking at the pulse ox like he's never seen it before.