Busy, Busy, Busy

What an exciting time it is in our lives, we are FINALLY able to get the kids out and about more! However, that does mean that we are a lot busier which means less time to update the blog. Mother’s Day was a busy day but it was a good one. We went to church with my parents in the morning, then to my cousins graduation party, and finally to my nieces b-day party. I was worried with how the trio would do with the change in schedule but they were great!

Last Wednesday we had our neonatal follow-up and for once there were positive comments made for all three kids! The doctor even said that she thinks Mady is ahead in speech for her actual age! Yes, I said AHEAD, my kids have never been ahead in anything, that was SO great to hear!! On Thursday all three went for an audiology follow-up test. Annabel did very well with testing this time, responding appropriately at all ranges. The audiologist said that she has a consistent slight delay (1-2 seconds in her response) but as long as it’s consistent it’s ok. Due to Annabel’s developmental delays she will continue to be seen every 6 months for now. Johnathan was the most impatient for testing this time but did great. He has grown a lot recently and needed new molds something terrible, with a slight adjustment due to his growth. He will continue to be seen every 3 months. Madelyn did so well with testing, as long as nothing comes back from the geneticist results she will be released from the audiology clinic, otherwise she will be pushed out to yearly follow-ups.

Saturday we took Annabel to see the stable and meet the horses and therapist for her hippotherapy. I LOVE this place, it is such a nice stable, Annabel wasn’t at all afraid of the horses, and the therapist seems great! I think it will be well worth it for her to go there. Her first session will be May 30. Overall this weekend was pretty productive with getting stuff done around the house. Saturday we planted our new flowers and got the beds spruced up and yesterday B.J. got the gate built for the deck so we can start eating and playing out there. Yesterday afternoon we took the kids for their 1st real wagon ride around the sub, they all loved itand Annabel sat up great in it with a boppy propped behind her.

We are so proud of Annabel. She is now consistently free-sitting to play for a good 20 minutes, she’s been playing on her tummy and rolling a lot throughout the day, she’s been weight-bearing for quite a few minutes, and has even started taking a step or two while we’re holding her hips. Our little girl is amazing! I truly believe she will get there someday, it’s just going to take her longer and will be on her own time. She has been so happy overall lately, it has been so great to see! She is still crossing her eyes from time-to-time, usually if she's tired or doesn't have her glasses on, we got to the orthoptist again early June so we'll see if they decide to do anything different like patching. She recently really discovered chewing and how to do it, the other day she was chewing away making every chew very deliberate, I was so proud of her! It is amazing how having micropreemies, let alone one with special needs really makes you appreciate the simplest achievements!

Mady is now not only walking across the room in her orthotics, she’s also cruising across the room without them! She can now walk a good 40 feet. It’s amazing the stability those orthotics provided to give her just a little more strength to get her going. I would definitely recommend them for any child that has a bit of weakness in the legs. Mady has now started dancing a lot, it’s so funny because she gets going bopping around and then Johnathan gets laughing at her hysterically, they are a riot together!
She is starting to follow commands better and is very good at imitating. We are so proud of her but boy is she going to be our one to throw tantrums and test, test, test!

Johnathan is moving around great, even starting to run a little steadier. His latest “issue” is bedtime. It started on Mother’s Day when he first got sick with this cold and has only gotten worse. As soon as you put him in bed he starts screaming and crying and vomits everywhere, with it running out his nose. This has happened almost every night this week. We tried staying in the chair in their room, pretending we’re asleep and while that works, it means we’re up for 45 minutes or so sitting there which is very unrealistic. We were bringing him downstairs which was fine for him but then he was up another hour or so until he finally fell asleep and obviously he can’t get used to that scenario either. I’m not sure what to do, I worry about it causing negative side effects, including causing him to not want to eat for fear of the vomiting. In addition, with worrying about weight gain/loss between this and the cold already causing them to not eat as well, of course I am super stressed out!

All three kids have been fighting a cold/allergies (not sure which) lately. The congestion has caused Annabel to snore at night (we are getting her checked by ENT early June to make sure it’s nothing else) and yesterday Johnathan had the worst runny nose and was SO clingy, not wanting to play at all. You know he’s not feeling right when that happens!