It's 10 minutes to 12...........so I will make this quick! Landon had his chest x-ray this morning and he did such a GREAT job!! Three pictures and he was done.......not even 10 minutes!! An hour later we headed back to the pediatrician's office for the results. One rash is already going away, the other is still around....hoping it will find its way out, tomorrow!! Landon did a little better eating today, not much, but enough to say that he is moving in the right direction.
Chest x-ray........................CLEAR!!!! Yeah! His congestion is fierce and he is definitely uncomfortable:( But he is getting better! Thank you so much for all the well wishes............they worked!! I'm so amazed at how strong his tiny little body is! We feel very blessed!
It's New Year's Eve and we are spending it, together! Went to dinner, First Night and back home for more dancing..........we can't get enough of Michael Jackson!!! lol
Happy New Year, friends...........may it be a HEALTHY one!!! Can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us all!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
My Poor Baby Boy
So, after a couple of weeks of on again/off again sickness between the 3 boys, this morning found Landon & I at the pediatrician's office. Apparently, Landon's fever was down, but we discovered 2 different rashes on his body. One rash was consistent with ruptured blood vessels from straining when he coughs (upper body), and the other was bright red spots that could possibly be a viral infection. That one was scattered on his body, not specifically contained to one area. His ears looked pink, no fluid, but he has been on "omnicef" for 7 days now, due to possible conjunctivitis and to keep him from catching strep throat from his brothers. Considering he has been on this for 7 days, something else is fighting through it. His throat looked good, but his cough is "evil". Each day starts off with a coughing fit that leaves him gasping for air and eventually spitting up some phlegm.
A blood culture was done, and Landon CLEARLY was not happy, actually, he was pretty pissed off. And he was sure to let everyone in the building know! I can assure you, he is not happy "ALL" the time! Add a bunch of ruptured blood vessels to his face, after that was done:( Blood labs looked good (red down a tiny bit), nothing alarming, oxygen was perfect. There seems to be a rattle in his chest, not exactly consistent with fluid in the lungs. His little body seems to have multiple things going on which apparently is making it difficult to figure out what is going on.
The choice was: a) have all labs done at the pediatrician's office, and an antibiotic (in shot form) or b) have Landon admitted to the hospital for a battery of tests (pretty much what they did in the pedi's office, plus the antibiotic would be administered via IV). We opted for plan "a" so as not to expose Landon to anything else, besides, I am sure the whole IV thing would not have been pretty. Two hours later, no red flags, blood - ok, oxygen - ok, no labored breathing or gasping (unless he has a coughing fit). So we are off to the hospital in the morning for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and will go back to the pediatrician for a re-check. Hopefully 5 days on "azithromycin", will have our baby boy back to his bubbly self!!
Landon managed to eat a yogurt tonight......and kept it down! Still trying to keep the fluids going (he's not feeling that too much). Keeping our fingers crossed that his chest x-ray will be fluid free! Not exactly how we were anticipating starting off the new year!
Praying for a happy & healthy 2011!!
A blood culture was done, and Landon CLEARLY was not happy, actually, he was pretty pissed off. And he was sure to let everyone in the building know! I can assure you, he is not happy "ALL" the time! Add a bunch of ruptured blood vessels to his face, after that was done:( Blood labs looked good (red down a tiny bit), nothing alarming, oxygen was perfect. There seems to be a rattle in his chest, not exactly consistent with fluid in the lungs. His little body seems to have multiple things going on which apparently is making it difficult to figure out what is going on.
The choice was: a) have all labs done at the pediatrician's office, and an antibiotic (in shot form) or b) have Landon admitted to the hospital for a battery of tests (pretty much what they did in the pedi's office, plus the antibiotic would be administered via IV). We opted for plan "a" so as not to expose Landon to anything else, besides, I am sure the whole IV thing would not have been pretty. Two hours later, no red flags, blood - ok, oxygen - ok, no labored breathing or gasping (unless he has a coughing fit). So we are off to the hospital in the morning for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia and will go back to the pediatrician for a re-check. Hopefully 5 days on "azithromycin", will have our baby boy back to his bubbly self!!
Landon managed to eat a yogurt tonight......and kept it down! Still trying to keep the fluids going (he's not feeling that too much). Keeping our fingers crossed that his chest x-ray will be fluid free! Not exactly how we were anticipating starting off the new year!
Praying for a happy & healthy 2011!!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Under the Weather:(
This pretty much sums up how Landon has been feeling the past few days:( Back to the pediatrician tomorrow!! Fever and an awful cough..........fingers crossed that his lungs and ears are fluid free!! He did manage to get down a handful of Cheerios today!! It's been a rough 2 weeks...........**SIGH**
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Christmas 2010
I'm back, with pics, as promised!! We kicked off our Christmas celebration on Saturday at Mason & Elijah's school "Holiday Celebration". Short & sweet (an hour and a half) of donuts & milk, crafts and a visit from the big guy!! The highlight of this celebration was when we actually left the party, hopped in our car and were ready to exit the school parking lot...........the principal ran outside and waved us down.......apparently, Elijah won the 8ft stocking raffle!! Now is that a happy ending or what??!!
The festivities continued on Sunday with our local Down syndrome support group, 21FrienDS! A fun time was had by all, even those that were feeling under the weather! It was a great turnout! Families who have come together because of our little Christmas "angels", TRUE GIFTS!!! For entertainment, we sang & danced with our local, South Coast Music Together!! What a treat:) Thanks Kim, for giving us another wonderful memory to add to our "memory box"! And it wouldn't be a Christmas party without a special visit from the jolly guy himself, Santa Clause!
The festivities continued on Sunday with our local Down syndrome support group, 21FrienDS! A fun time was had by all, even those that were feeling under the weather! It was a great turnout! Families who have come together because of our little Christmas "angels", TRUE GIFTS!!! For entertainment, we sang & danced with our local, South Coast Music Together!! What a treat:) Thanks Kim, for giving us another wonderful memory to add to our "memory box"! And it wouldn't be a Christmas party without a special visit from the jolly guy himself, Santa Clause!
On Christmas Eve, the boys made some cookies & pumpkin bread for Santa (yes, Santa LOVES pumpkin bread)!! This year, Landon was able to help his brothers out!!
Tradition is, Christmas Eve is spent with my side of the family and Christmas dinner is spent with Scott's side of the family! Two nights of great food and even better company! This years "high low light" of Christmas Eve was Elijah running into the corner of the table and cutting his lip. Not exactly the best way to end the evening:(
Seeing we avoided stitches & the emergency room, we headed home just in time to sprinkle some reindeer food on our lawn, attempt to take a semi-family picture and set the cookies, pumpkin bread & milk out for Santa!
Keeping the kiddos up late on the eve, really paid off on Christmas morning. We all slept in, and when the kids awoke, they quietly watched TV (right beside the tree) and waited ever so patiently for Scott & I to meet them downstairs! What a wonderful present for mommy & daddy!! No wonder Santa was so good to them:)
And finally, the highlight of Christmas evening was Landon determined to join the fun (with Daddy & Mason dancing to the Michael Jackson Experience for the Wii). If you missed our last post, you can watch the video here, it was tons of fun!!
(My boy can dance........watch out ladies!!!)
All in all, we had a fabulous Christmas!! We did however have some glitches along the way.........like all 3 boys home from school Christmas week with fevers, strep throat for 2 out of 3 boys and the lost package (by UPS) that had mommy out for 3+ hours on Christmas Eve searching for the most popular toys that only Santa's elves could make!! WINK!!!
But in the end, when you are surrounded by family, friends and lots of love........NOTHING, could ruin Christmas!! Hope yours was a MERRY one too!!!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sneak Peek!
Happy Holidays, friends!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. Ours was a "merry" one. I am very short on time this evening as I am tending to my sick little love (yes, Landon's nasty fever is back). I thought I might leave you with a sneak peek of one of the many highlights of our "holiday" week. I promise to be back tomorrow to share some pics with all of you!
OK, confession, I have to post this video, quickly, before it mysteriously disappears........lol
Santa was very good to the boys...........can you guess which one was SERIOUSLY having the most fun??!!
OK, confession, I have to post this video, quickly, before it mysteriously disappears........lol
Santa was very good to the boys...........can you guess which one was SERIOUSLY having the most fun??!!
(You may, must, want to pause the music @ the bottom of the page, you don't want to miss this:)
(The Michael Jackson Experience, for the Wii)
Some may say, "Awww, what a sweet father & son moment/memory".........and some may be thinking (along with me), "Can someone please remind Scott that activities like this (at age 40 and over) are cause for SERIOUS back pain, the day after"!! lol
I guess you could say, both the young & young at heart, had an equally FUN time!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE??!!
(well, besides a messy house that looks like a tornado hit it)
YEAH!! Landon has finally figured out a way to stand up without any support........well, maybe with a little bit of Elijah's encouragement!! lol It's funny how he has every opportunity to pull up on his toy, but he chooses to stand up and "stare" at it. And, if he's lucky and, he will actually play with the toy, while standing! He's working on it=)
(you can pause the music at the bottom of the page)
Landon has been practicing standing for a while now. He started off standing against the wall or couch and once he gained some confidence, he ventured to the middle of the floor and practiced falling backwards on his tooshie!! Once he figured out that he could stand up, there was no stopping him!!
*sigh*
These moments are the GREATEST gifts!!!!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Christmas Party 2010
On Wednesday, Landon had his Christmas party at school. And of course, that meant a visit from the BIG jolly guy himself!! I was wondering how that was going to go, so I decided to stop by his school to see for myself........and to take a few pics, of course!! Landon could not take his eyes off of the jolly guy as he entered the room.
He was even OK with him walking by him ( a few inches away) and even allowed Santa to speak to him from a distance. For a moment there, I was pleasantly surprised that his first meeting was going so well.
UNTIL........he motioned closer to Landon to hand him his present.........he.was.not.having.it!! lol Landon did not shed a tear, however, he made it very clear to Santa that he did not appreciate him trying to invade his space. He sat in the same spot, turned his head, and gave him his grunt of disapproval. I have to admit, it was kind of CUTE=)
Afteropening his present playing with the tissue paper, it was craft time. Landon sat in his seat and proceeded to teach his classmates a lesson in art decorate his bag. lol Clearly, he was having a good time=)
Just seeing my little peanut fully participating in all activities at school, was hands down the BEST present this mommy could ever ask for!!
He was even OK with him walking by him ( a few inches away) and even allowed Santa to speak to him from a distance. For a moment there, I was pleasantly surprised that his first meeting was going so well.
UNTIL........he motioned closer to Landon to hand him his present.........he.was.not.having.it!! lol Landon did not shed a tear, however, he made it very clear to Santa that he did not appreciate him trying to invade his space. He sat in the same spot, turned his head, and gave him his grunt of disapproval. I have to admit, it was kind of CUTE=)
Upon realizing he was clearly vertically challenged in comparison to Santa, he turned to Lauren (his OT) for backup!! lol
(HA! What ya gonna do now, BIG GUY??!!)
After
Just seeing my little peanut fully participating in all activities at school, was hands down the BEST present this mommy could ever ask for!!
Happy Holidays friends!!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Feeding Update (1)
Wow, it's already been 4 1/2 weeks since we had our official "Feeding Intervention"!! Last time, I reported our new "game plan" and we are continuing with it........just tweaking it as we go along. Oh yeah, and remember THIS post, when Landon conquered his 1st stage 3 meal.......he hasn't done it since (SURPRISE)! LOL That's OK, the most important thing about that isolated event is the fact that Landon CAN.DO.IT!!
Originally we were suppose to add 2 pediasure's to Landon's feeding schedule, and after a week of trying to fit those in, Landon's teacher's and I have decided that that is nearly IMPOSSIBLE!! We have already battled reflux, and after 3 months of medication, I am happy to say.....Landon has been "spit up" free. However, adding this much more fluid to his diet has slowly brought back the reflux, and that just isn't working for Landon (or me). With much help from Landon's teachers we have played around with his eating schedule over the past couple of weeks to get the most into him without stirring up the reflux. Small steps are the key! Amazingly Landon has been taking his multi-vitamin, straight up!! No masking it or hiding it in any food. We have now worked our way up to 3, six ounce, bottles a day. Those bottles (yes, BOTTLES....remember, I was given strict orders NOT to STRESS Landon out, ha!) are a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of whole milk and pediasure. Landon was not very accepting of pediasure alone. I am happy to say that this seems to be Landon's "happy medium", and it is working. Just 2 weeks ago I brought Landon to the pediatrician for an ear check (which was clear) due to a bacterial infection, and he weighed in at 19 pounds, 4 ounces........that is almost 1 pound in 4 weeks!! WOOHOO!! That is Landon's BIGGEST weight gain since birth!!! 20lbs........HERE.WE.COME!!!! lol
We have been continuing to do our exercises with a palette of sweet/sour sauces (i.e. fudge, caramel, strawberry sauce, lemon juice, etc.) and we have been dipping his chew tube in the sauce and letting him explore the different tastes. The object is to introduce Landon's palette to a variety of different flavors in hopes that he will be MORE willing to try new things. By approaching it this way, we are allowing Landon to "control" the situation......stress free!! For "homework", we started off having Landon watch Mason & Elijah use the chew tubes (without giving him a turn). I know, sounds cruel!!! If he saw how much fun his brothers were having using these tubes then maybe he would willingly do it on his own. Once he showed interest in the tubes, we would then give him one and have him copy us dipping it in a sauce and putting it in his mouth. SUCCESS!!
Each session always begins with a palette of flavors! The past 2 weeks Landon's feeding specialist (Ms. Chris) would follow the palette with different types of crunchy foods (Kix cereal, graham crackers, veggie sticks, cheese curls and Ritz crackers). I am actually quite impressed with how much easier Landon will transition between the two...........and how accepting he is! Ms. Chris approaches each session very playfully (taking turns) and Landon really seems to enjoy this! Of all the crunchy foods that Landon has been experimenting with, the one that I find he does very well with is the Ritz cracker. When Landon takes a bite of the cracker it breaks immediately into a bunch of pieces. His first reaction is to push the "bigger" piece out of his mouth, but those particular crackers leave tons of crumbs on his tongue that forces him to use his tongue to move the crumbs around to form a bolus for him to swallow. Spitting it out becomes more difficult when it becomes wet (because it sticks to his tongue). The alternative is to give his tongue a good workout by moving the food back and forth until it works its way to the back of his mouth and he eventually swallow it. WOW, never in a million years would I have put that much thought into the art of eating!! LOL Crazy as it sounds, it IS actually working!!
So, I am happy to report that so far, this has been a positive experience, albeit a SLOW one!! But Landon is at least willing to TRY some new things. Landon does continue to mainly eat stage 2 purees, but his menu IS increasing on the textured side! SMALL steps.........hey, I'll take it!!
Originally we were suppose to add 2 pediasure's to Landon's feeding schedule, and after a week of trying to fit those in, Landon's teacher's and I have decided that that is nearly IMPOSSIBLE!! We have already battled reflux, and after 3 months of medication, I am happy to say.....Landon has been "spit up" free. However, adding this much more fluid to his diet has slowly brought back the reflux, and that just isn't working for Landon (or me). With much help from Landon's teachers we have played around with his eating schedule over the past couple of weeks to get the most into him without stirring up the reflux. Small steps are the key! Amazingly Landon has been taking his multi-vitamin, straight up!! No masking it or hiding it in any food. We have now worked our way up to 3, six ounce, bottles a day. Those bottles (yes, BOTTLES....remember, I was given strict orders NOT to STRESS Landon out, ha!) are a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of whole milk and pediasure. Landon was not very accepting of pediasure alone. I am happy to say that this seems to be Landon's "happy medium", and it is working. Just 2 weeks ago I brought Landon to the pediatrician for an ear check (which was clear) due to a bacterial infection, and he weighed in at 19 pounds, 4 ounces........that is almost 1 pound in 4 weeks!! WOOHOO!! That is Landon's BIGGEST weight gain since birth!!! 20lbs........HERE.WE.COME!!!! lol
We have been continuing to do our exercises with a palette of sweet/sour sauces (i.e. fudge, caramel, strawberry sauce, lemon juice, etc.) and we have been dipping his chew tube in the sauce and letting him explore the different tastes. The object is to introduce Landon's palette to a variety of different flavors in hopes that he will be MORE willing to try new things. By approaching it this way, we are allowing Landon to "control" the situation......stress free!! For "homework", we started off having Landon watch Mason & Elijah use the chew tubes (without giving him a turn). I know, sounds cruel!!! If he saw how much fun his brothers were having using these tubes then maybe he would willingly do it on his own. Once he showed interest in the tubes, we would then give him one and have him copy us dipping it in a sauce and putting it in his mouth. SUCCESS!!
Each session always begins with a palette of flavors! The past 2 weeks Landon's feeding specialist (Ms. Chris) would follow the palette with different types of crunchy foods (Kix cereal, graham crackers, veggie sticks, cheese curls and Ritz crackers). I am actually quite impressed with how much easier Landon will transition between the two...........and how accepting he is! Ms. Chris approaches each session very playfully (taking turns) and Landon really seems to enjoy this! Of all the crunchy foods that Landon has been experimenting with, the one that I find he does very well with is the Ritz cracker. When Landon takes a bite of the cracker it breaks immediately into a bunch of pieces. His first reaction is to push the "bigger" piece out of his mouth, but those particular crackers leave tons of crumbs on his tongue that forces him to use his tongue to move the crumbs around to form a bolus for him to swallow. Spitting it out becomes more difficult when it becomes wet (because it sticks to his tongue). The alternative is to give his tongue a good workout by moving the food back and forth until it works its way to the back of his mouth and he eventually swallow it. WOW, never in a million years would I have put that much thought into the art of eating!! LOL Crazy as it sounds, it IS actually working!!
So, I am happy to report that so far, this has been a positive experience, albeit a SLOW one!! But Landon is at least willing to TRY some new things. Landon does continue to mainly eat stage 2 purees, but his menu IS increasing on the textured side! SMALL steps.........hey, I'll take it!!
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