Where has the time gone, yet again? I can’t believe it is now mid-August and the summer is almost over! We celebrated the trios 3rd b-day in NY. We drove out late Thursday night, had a party for them on Friday, and on Saturday B.J. and I went to his cousins wedding, minus the kids. It was fun to have a night out, just us! Between the b-day party and the wedding we were able to see a good majority of family and friends! Overall the kids did fairly well traveling, however, Friday was not a great day. It started with Johnathan not wanting to nap and throwing a fit (resulting in puking) which then caused Annabel to get upset (which resulted in puking her chocolate pudding ALL over she had had for lunch). All day Johnathan had been a bit off, very clingy and whiney so the party progressed and we were almost done with cake and ice cream when all of a sudden he just starts puking all over. I was almost in tears (I really am so sick of how often my kids puke and cleaning/smelling it) when Mady says to her cousin “Eww! Look Austin, Johnny puked!” So of course we’re all laughing then and after Johnathan finally stops (I swear it was at least 6 huge hurls), Johnathan turns to me and says “Uh-oh Mommy”. Those 2 definitely helped lighten the mood but boy was I mortified! After that Johnathan was a completely different kid, couldn’t be happier so he must have had an upset tummy. Poor dude!
On Monday the 19th I took Annabel to her first Behavioral Health appointment. The day did not start well in that for some reason she puked up her whole breakfast on the way down (getting the picture of why I am SO sick of puking kids!). So, we get to the appointment and she decides to have a complete meltdown the whole time the resident was talking to me. I told her that this is very rare, the last thing I wanted was for them to think this was Annabel’s norm. Thankfully (for once) it took a long time in between the resident and doctor coming in so Annabel finally fell asleep in my arms and was in a much better mood when the doctor came in. I took her back on Friday the 23rd for testing to determine next steps. The end result was no further appointments needed unless we determine that we want a referral at some point. Basically, the doctor and I had an in-depth discussion about Annabel’s behaviors and it was addressed that Annabel is in a unique and difficult stage right now being that she is all over the map as far as where she is developmentally (some areas she’s like a typical 3 year old, some like a 1 ½ to 2 year old, and others as low as 7-9 months) which is greatly affecting her behaviors as well as how we can address them. It was a bit hard to swallow but is reality and was good to be reminded of. I think we’re all less stressed about it, knowing now that she shouldn’t be expected to respond differently than she does in many situations. The good news is that this doctor also felt strongly that it is just a phase she is in and that she will continue to develop in all areas and things will not remain this way forever. I just keep holding on to those words!!
That weekend we went to the LAPOM (Livingston Area Parents of Multiples) summer picnic and although it was rainy, it was at least warm so it worked out. Thankfully Annabel wants to walk a lot now so most of her time was spent walking with us under the umbrella, it worked! Madelyn and Johnathan had a ball playing on the slide structure, swinging, and playing in the water buckets! That afternoon we went to a b-day party and Mady and Johnathan had a ton of fun playing with all the other kids!
That evening we went to Brandon’s 1st b-day party. The kids had fun playing with the other kids and we were able to socialize with some good friends.
The last week in July we had some landscaping done at our house. We live on a corner lot so our whole backyard is easily seen from the street. Because of this, I have always hated that everyone could see the kids toys and other stuff that we stored under the deck so easily. In addition, the way our house faces, we get major sun throughout the day, worst at night when we’d like to be out on the deck so to provide some shade we had wanted some trees for awhile. So, we decided to finally do something about it. I am very happy with the results! Before the landscapers began B.J. wanted to move a few of the sprinklers so he worked on this with Mady and Johnathan “helping”. They had a ball playing in the dirt and discovering worms for the 1st time! The squeals they let out when they realized they move were hilarious!
That week we also began music therapy with Annabel (we have since added Madelyn and are hoping to do it with Johnathan too but so far his hearing aids are providing too much feedback and I can’t figure out how to get around it). The benefits of music therapy include a lot of sensory input, specifically with your vestibular needs so re-organizing yourself, allowing for better focus and attention, etc. So far the girls are tolerating the therapy well, they are still on the 1st cd of 6 (it’s a 12 week program).
On August 3rd the trio had their 3 year well child. Overall the kids are doing very well, Dr. Madison was amazed at how well they’re all doing! I have 3 skinny but tall kiddos! They are all officially on the actual growth charts now (except Mady for weight)!! Annabel – 25lbs 6 ozs (5%), 35 ¾ inches (18%), Madelyn – 23 lbs 8ozs, 37 inches (48%), and Johnathan – 24lbs 9ozs (1%), 36 ¼ inches (21%). The trio were very good during the visit and took their pneumonia vaccine very well. Annabel had to have her blood drawn too to check her stored iron level, and although it went up from a 6 to an 18, it’s supposed to be 30 so her daily iron was increased from 3mls per day to 5mls. Guess what this mean – higher likelihood of constipation therefore also had to mess with her miralax dose. It is an art!!
The weekend of August 6-8 I had a mini-vacation to go to see my cousin and her fiancée in Chicago. I took the megabus there and back (what a great deal!). We went to Navy Pier on Friday afternoon, out for an awesome Italian dinner that night, went to the Cubs game on Saturday and after the game we met up with my AGD lil sis, Becky and spent the afternoon with her. It was so much fun seeing everyone and catching up! B.J.’s parents and our nephew came to MI to help him with the trio and they went to the Thunder Over Michigan airshow. All in all everyone had a fun weekend!
On August 12th Johnathan had his audiology appointment. His FM Transmitter came in so we now have that. The FM transmitter is a device that hooks to his hearing aids and then I have a microphone and can talk to him directly when needed, eliminating other sounds. This is great for situations where theres a lot of background noise/distraction (zoo, parks, any crowded area, during sports for the coach to where at some point, etc.). The funding for this was provided by the Emily Griffin Foundation – what a blessing!!
This past Friday my parents and I took the trio to Bishop Lake for swimming. It was so hot and the water was great! My sister and nephew met up with us and we all had fun!! The rest of the weekend we did a lot of work around the house (finally home for once!) and on Saturday we went to a summer picnic at some of our good friends’ house.
Thru the past few weeks the kids have been doing awesome in their respective therapies, I am so proud of them! Annabel is getting stronger and stronger with her walking, hardly needing any assistance and has walked up to 5 steps in a row, stabilizing and then taking a few more steps! She has also stood unsupported for upwards of 2 minutes! Her speech recognition and expression is getting better as well. Madelyn has been working so hard at OT, especially with her upper body. Looking at her you wouldn’t think that she has the weaknesses she does but she definitely still has areas that need attention. Johnathan has been doing awesome at speech! Consistently giving 2-3 word phrases without prompting. He’s also been doing so well with OT, moving food from right to left and chewing on both sides. He still pockets his food sometimes but he’s doing much better at eventually clearing it, rarely requiring him to spit anything out anymore! Madelyn and Johnathan had their final swim classes for awhile – it is amazing how far they have come. That is one of the best things I did for them (and for us). We are going to re-enroll them in gymnastics this fall, which will begin September 11th.
Other things the kids have been doing – opening b-day presents from Nana Chris & Dennis and from mommy & daddy, eating corn on the cob for the 1st time, last SMILE group, random playing, meeting baby Cai, and MI skyline.
This Friday we’re taking the kids to ride Thomas the Train, and Bob the Builder will also be there. I can’t wait to see their expressions, Thomas and Bob are their all-time favorites right now! We are also debating about going to the zoo on Sunday, we’ll see how it goes. I can’t believe the kids are starting school in two weeks!?! I am so excited for them, I think it will be really good for them but I am nervous too. Things will never be the same again, they’re growing up SO fast!!
6 comments:
WOW that was alot!! Sounds like things are moving alone. Good JOB momma & dad:) It is crazy how much time flies.....
Opps I cannot type.....I meant moving ALONG not alone!? Enjoy the rest of the summer:)
They all look great love the pic of Annabel in the swing!
Hey,
I just happened upon your blog today. I teach deaf and hard of hearing kids and was so happy to see that you have an FM for Jonathan! I have a solution to your music therapy feedback dilemma. Your FM transmitter should have come with a double ended headphone cable. If not, they sell them at radio shack. You can plug that into the head phone jack of your CD player, and the other end into the audio input on his FM, and he'll hear music therapy right through his hearing aids without the need for headphones.
Hi Rachel. Thanks for the input about the FM system. Unfortunately that set-up still won't work for music therapy because the headphones also provide some of the input, frequency-wise for how the cds work to provide therapy. But, I'm so glad you pointed out that set-up because it will work for him for ipods, etc. which I'm sure he'll want to use some day and I hadn't thought of that before. So thanks!!
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
I had no idea the music therapy was so complex! Do you need to use specific headphones that come with it? I'll run the problem by the educational audiologists that I work with and see if there's a way to fix the feedback issue and allow him to hear all of the sounds.
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