Best birthday ever!

My birthday was Sunday. I'm not much for big celebrations at all. I don't need tons of gifts either. At this point I consider it a great bday if I don't have to change diapers or cook! And I don't think I did either on Sunday! Moma fixed a yummy bday lunch of my favs. I got tons of Facebook wishes. My partner in crime with the kids at church, Yvette, got me a cookie cake and the kids all sang and gave me a card. Anna sent me a sweet bday text. Cade and Gracie said they would have but I won't give them a phone! And I took a 30 minute nap! That's what I call a rocking bday!

But Asa gave my a wonderful gift too! While we were at Moma's for lunch, Daddy got out a walker my grandmother has used. I looked up and here comes Asa just walking away with it! Daddy was just supporting the walker so it wouldn't roll away since Asa had poor control! When he uses a child's walker he will barely hold the handles without us holding on too. He will do it with us but he is usually very MAD about it. And with the gait trainer he wants the chest prompt to lean against. He usually demands all the support we will give him! Well, just check out the video:




I can't believe how strong he has gotten! One night he was sitting and playing at the bottom of the stairs. Once I glanced his way and didn't see him. Then I saw him on the first step! I started yell and calling everyone around. I could hardly believe that a kid who can't stand or crawl on his own could climb a step. As I shouted and celebrated Gracie came to see what the fuss was about. When she saw me losing my mind she said "oh, yeah, I put him up there earlier"!! Hahaha, they really got me!


And lastly I just have to share a blog post from my friend, Clara-Leigh, with you! I just loved it so much! I hope you do too!

http://mitolifewindow.blogspot.com/2011/11/priceless.html

It's been a while!

I can't believe how long its been since I updated! I've thought about it and wrote updates in my head but never got farther than that! Since it'd take too long to go back that far I'll try to hit the highlights and then update regularly again!

Asa got his foot braces. SMOs. They go just above his ankles. I'll have to get a pic sometime. He is doing fine with them. He doesn't seem mind wearing them.

He also started aqua therapy. The first week I had the time wrong. In fact, I had planned out the whole day for another week! I had planned for several appts that didn't even exist until the next week! For our second appt the therapist cancelled. It was good too because Asa had a stomach bug that was going around his class. They were already scared of his regular puke I'm sure they wouldn't like diarrhea added to the mix! The third time was a charm though and Asa did great! He was so tired afterwards though! So was I! I had to get in and be on puke patrol. I also got to do some of the exercises with them.

And speaking of puke.... no one told Asa's GI system that it was normal so it continues to gag, reflux, puke and constipate him daily. He has all but stopped eating food and only wants his Elecare to drink. I guess this isn't so bad all things considered but it sure isn't "normal". I don't even know what to say about it but it isn't fun at all.

So that's pretty much a quick catch up. Hopefully I won't get so far behind again! :-)

A little update....

First of all, I got an email from the GI NP that the Gastric Empty Scan was normal. I know when you hear "normal" you celebrate but in this case it isn't completely good news. If the test had been bad we would have options to help stop the gagging and puking. But just because it was normal doesn't mean everything is OK. It just means it was OK from 8:30-10:30am last Friday. Makes sense, right? Even as I opened the email Monday, Asa was gagging and couldn't eat until 10:30am. And he has refused some of his favorite foods and only wants his cup of Elecare. But the test was normal!

On the plus side.... Asa had an eval for aqua therapy today. I think he'll really like the aqua part and hopefully tolerate the therapy part! We have to be watchful for several thing though. First, the pool may not be cool enough and just the warmth can tire him out, think of your muscles after a hot tub. Second, it is an open area. There are 3 pools, a regular, a hot tub and the cool. There are many classes and therapies happening at once and it can get loud. Hopefully he won't be bothered too badly. And third, there's a no puking policy! Can you believe?! I'm being sarcastic, of course, but guess what Asa was doing during the eval....gagging and spitting up! Nice huh. So I'll get in the pool with his trusty puke cup and watch for signs of trouble and catch puke if I need to. He starts next Thursday because he has an eye appt this week.

And now some shout worthy videos....

When I picked Asa up from school he was in the gait trainer standing at the door. When we opened the door he took off outside! Now he can do pretty well in big open smooth floored places but I've never seen him go like he did today! I backed him up some so i could video and this is what I got....




Now the school gait trainer is an older model than ours and it is light so i thought he wouldn't be able to do his at home. Boy, was I wrong!! Our backyard has a back slope so that helps but he was really going! And I might add, this so the same hill that Cade and Gracie learned to ride bikes down when they were 4. Asa is 4 and learning to go down it differently but I'll take it! :-)



And if you aren't drop down impressed just go watch the video from early September where I'm trying g to coax him to walk on the smooth ground and was all tears. We've come a LONG way, baby!