So Big!

Relief! Today Kaeden had his cat scan. The Neurosurgeon said that the scan looks good and he isn’t inclined to do surgery at this time. He wants to keep a close eye on him for now and go from there. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Huge sigh of Relief!

During his cat scan Kaeden was AMAZING! They saw how active Kaeden is and called in an anesthesiologist to sedate him. We starved him (poor guy) and came in early. I stressed over which one of us would have to stand there and comfort him while they put him under (last time I BAWLED!) BUT, our big boy held still. He layed on the table in a velcro burrito and focused on the stickers for 30 whole seconds…3 seperate times! Each time he continued wiggling his feet, but that was all. And as soon as they said he could, he squirmed as much as the bindings would let him. But, he held still when he had to!

The cat scan machine literally looks like a giant donut, Homer worthy. Although the below picture is not the one at Seattle Children’s, this is pretty much what it looked like

 Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. We were so nervous and it turned out to be a piece of cake donut.

Ps. Kaeden has not had both his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations. And his Nephrology (Kidney) appointment is rescheduled for December 1.

PooPoo Potty Party!

I will keep the poopoo talk to a minimum, but since we are dealing with a 3-year-old that is still in diapers, poopoo is what we talk about!

Last night Kaeden was in his big boy pants, watching Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers and eating popcorn. Neil and I were picking up the house and getting everything ready for bed. When I hear from the other room “Mama! I poopoo Potty!!!” So I ran out telling him “OK! Lets go! Go to the bathroom!” But he says “NO! I PooPoo Potty! It looks like L”  Sure enough….there was already poopoo in his potty!!!

We dropped everything (After I added it to my FB status, of course!) and had a PooPoo Potty Party, which includes a special chocolate treat and a lot of dancing!!! How exciting! We are trying not to pressure him with this, and now it seems like he is starting to get the concept all by himself! YAY FOR KAEDEN!!

BOWLING!!

Poor Kaeden has been under the weather for the last week or so and was getting a case of Cabin Fever! Saturday I took advantage of the Perfect fall day and took the kids for an hour and half long walk to my parents house. It was so nice to enjoy the day with the kids! Bristol spent most of the walk sleeping, which was best Kaeden alternated walking and riding in the stroller. We found WORMS (that we left with papa!) and got some much needed fresh air!

Sunday, Kaeden didn’t go to church, we didnt want to risk getting any of his friends at church sick. But, because he insisted that he was feeling better, we decided to do something fun. We had thought of going to a movie, but he said he wanted to go “Boing”. HUH? OH….Bowling! Now, where did that come from? He has NEVER gone bowling before lol! We decided to give it a try anyway! And it was SO fun! Kaeden did so good!! He is a bowling super star! Although the first ball didn’t make it to the pins, and the nice man who worked there had to retrieve it for him. After that, though, WATCH OUT! He would grab his ball and RUN as fast as he could to about a foot from the line and let go! (We chased him every time so we were there incase he launched himself down the lane!) He would then look up at me (or daddy) and say “it’s never going to make it!” I figure he caught that after the first ball didn’t make it down. So, we would go back and stand next to the ball return and wait for his ball to finally hit the pins. Kaeden scored a 57!!! Honestly, there are times when I don’t score a 57!!! What a Bowling ALL-STAR!

The little boy next to us was VERY impressed with him and was so surprised that it was his first time bowling! definitely something we will try again!

Top row is Kaeden

Kaeden

I forgot to post an update after Kaeden’s last appointment, so here is a 2 for 1 :)

September 28 he saw the Geneticist and Orthopedist at the same time. They both were very impressed with him (isn’t everyone LOL) They said that he is growing along the chart (although he is below the chart) and although they still want to follow him, they dont want to see him again for 2 years!!! That is AMAZING NEWS! We need more check ups like that! I was encouraged!

Then…we went to see the Neurosurgeon. Does it sound like the boost wore out? Well, it did. This is a new doctor that Kaeden has never seen before because his last Neurosurgeon moved onward to bigger pastures (literally, head of something big at Harborview!). Being a teaching hospital we usually see a resident (or student or whatever) before the doctor. This young guy (seriously, probably younger than me), came in the room with really nothing. Said that we probably had all our questions answered by Orthopedics and seemed like he wasn’t sure why we were there. I was shocked, we have never gotten that kind of reception from any department at Children’s hospital. I was ready to meet the dr and hear “see you next year” (or the year after!) Then, we met Dr Browd. He is very nice, but very to the point. He assumed correctly that the last neurosurgeon we saw didn’t really talk that much about Kaeden’s neck, mostly about the cyst (and bone) that we had removed two weeks prior to the last appointment.

Dr Browd said he wants to get an updated CT, the last one was a couple years ago. He said that his biggest concern is the possibility of the vertebrae moving and damaging the spinal cord. I think I probably looked like a deer in the headlights when he mentioned this next part…there is a possibility of him wanting to fuse all of the cervical vertebrae together…huh? No one has EVER mentioned anything remotely close to that before. Everyone has just said that we will keep up with the yearly checks. I guess I never thought beyond that…what are we checking for??? Uninformed parents, apparently. I was blown over. Major surgery, on my baby boy? WHAT? For the first time, I left Children’s hospital discouraged, and completely afraid of the possibilities. November 5th is the day that we have the CT and see Dr Browd again…please pray for God’s will in all of this! Kaeden’s mommy is a little freaked out, I dont know how I am supposed to feel about it, besides freaked out and discouraged.

He finally did it!

Kaeden and Bristol had their well checks today. They were absolutely wonderful and are perfectly healthy! YAY!

So, what did he do, you ask? Kaeden is finally 30 pounds…exactly! He is almost in the 30th percentile now! He is getting so big! I am sure that soon, the fact that he has been gaining weight will turn into gaining inches. He isn’t growing very fast, but he is growing. He is currently 34.25 inches…almost 3 feet. Only the, ummm, well 0.64 percentile there. Says this doctor. She is only one doctor that pays attention to these #’s. Next week we go to the Orthopedest & Geneticist (together), they pay very close attention to how much he has grown. Stay tuned for more on the goings on at the doctor for Kaeden.

At the other end of the scale…Baby girl is growing fast! She is going to catch up with brother very soon, I think. She is 25.5 inches and weighs 16 pounds 7 ounces. That puts her in about the 85th percentile for height and 92nd for weight. She is also over performing, for her age. She scoots around on the floor and has decided that being on her feet is the only way to be. She will be moving on her own in no time, I am sure.

Each day flies by, in the life of a parent. My babies are growing every day, soon they will be all grown up. Some day they wont need me to help them dress or hold their hand in the parking lot. Soon they will be hanging out with friends and ignoring their mom. Until that day, I will take every breakdown with a grain of salt and realize that every midnight wake up is a blessing and a chance to spend time with my babies.

Heavy Weight

She came into our lives 4 months ago and changed our world! She is almost 17 weeks old, amazing! This is just a small update, because she hit the scale this week and weighs 15 POUNDS!!! can you believe it? My arms sure do

one…two…THREE!

Today is the big day, Kaeden is THREE…3, can he really be 3?? Amazing how time flies. Although we now have 2, it still seems like yesterday that he graced us with his presence (Presents!)

 On Tuesday we had his yearly check up with Dr. Stamm @ Seattle Children’s Hospital. He said that his heart is looking good, doesn’t seem worn out by all his energy. The small hole is still there, not getting smaller, but also not bigger. We will not be intervening unless it starts to, or they think it may, affect his quality of life.  Stay tuned for more, he still has several appointments left this year. We started with HEARING…I was (NOT) surprised when they told us he can hear fine…he seems to have a hard time listening

After Kaeden’s appointment we stopped by Funtasia before dropping mom off at work. He got to ride the Go-Carts with Daddy (with shoes on he was exactly tall enough to ride shot-gun) We didn’t have our camera, so we had to take a picture with our phone. You can’t see his face, but he was smiling a very big nervous smile (this was BEFORE they started. After he was the happiest boy in the world!)

Go Carts!

 

Some of Kaeden’s Fun accomplishments @ 3:

*RUNS fast…Faster than most adults!

*Counts to 20 by himself (further if you count with him)

*Knows his ABC’s and can recognize several letters (notices that M and W are the same, only upside down!)

*Knows his colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Brown, Purple, Black, White.

*Sing several songs, including: Jingle Bells, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes and The Itsy Bitsey Spider

*Getting the hang of several types of games – Kicking a ball, hitting a ball w/ a bat off a tee, throwing a ball, RUNNING the bases.

*Went to his first Mariners game (lasted 3 innings!)

*Is a WONDERFUL big brother and has his sister convinced he Hung The Moon!

Toddlerisms

Being “twohalf” almost 3 Kaeden has taken to copying everything we say and randomly using it in conversation. However, it doesn’t always fit.  For example, he had started telling us he “misses” us whenever he feels it will get him sympathy (like bedtime or when he is in time out) He has started saying, “get me out of here” when he wants out of his crib in the morning. The big one is that whenever we hit the top of the stairs to leave our apartment he pauses and says “holy crap!” Although it is REALLY cute, we worry that he is saying something that could possibly offend someone. So, as not to encourage, we try to stifle our giggling and gently discourage the language.

Kids really do say the darndest things What have you heard out of your toddler (or someone elses toddler) that makes you laugh (or cringe)?

It’s Official

Thursday, Kaeden made his yearly trip to the audiology department at Children’s Hospital. I did not get to go to this one (sadly) but was so happy to hear that he was such a grown up big boy while he was there. In previous years he has sat in the room with distractions, like toys and books, and they set off sounds throughout the room. They determine he can “hear” them if he looks in the direction of the sound. This time, he got to wear headphones and was directed to hit a button every time he heard a sound. When Neil told me this I was thinking, “oh man, I bet that was a DISASTER”. Trying to get a very active two year old to sit and listen to sounds and actually respond by hitting a button, instead of just looking at you, YEA, RIGHT! However…our big boy did just that and passed with flying colors!

Although, I was a little ’surprised’, since he often appears to not “hear” me   so told him “it’s official, you can hear me.” Now, to figure out how to make him listen!

Baby Boom!

All around us we have new babies and pregnant bellies. What a blessing to be surrounded by new life like we are right now! Bristol joined the party in the middle of the action. There were already 2 new babies at our church, 1 new baby in our friend circle and 1 new baby at my work (which frustrated me, because I wanted to be done with my pregnancy and people kept having their babies!) After Bristol we have already welcomed one other little boy and are waiting for 2 girls and 1 boy to be born to our friends this year! I can’t wait for our children to grow up as friends! I will post pictures soon, I want to make sure I have the blessings of their parents before I make them famous on my blog