Happy Father's Day

Paul...Thank you for being the BEST dad to our two girls. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Physical Therapy Consult

Today during Lauren's weekly occupational therapy session a physical therapist came out to evaluate Lauren's feet. There was a little concern about her feet turning out when she walked, like a duck. She has started to walk more even pulling up on things and taking steps away from them on into the middle of the room. The pt was very pleased with her given her extensive medical history. She really looked at her feet very good and decided that at this time she didn't see the need for any orthotic inserts. She put some shoes on her that we had bought from Stride Rite and laced them up very good and had Lauren walk in them. She thinks that for right now those shoes will help in correcting Lauren's feet. She does think that her issue is coming more because she is not very steady and has to widen her base for support. Hopefully in time that will correct itself too. We thank God for another good report.

Look at my moves!!

Doctor's Visit

So I decided to take Lauren to see her pediatrician because I noticed yesterday that her upper lip frenulum is extended and attached in between her two front teeth. The frenulum is the thin piece of skin that attaches the lip to the upper gum. I hadn't noticed it before even with all of the therapies and teeth brushing we do with her mouth. She still doesn't like for her mouth to be looked at or touched very much. She is fine with me brushing and doing therapies, but that is as far as it goes. At the feeding clinic they had me do some excercises because her upper lip was very tight, but they never caught it then either. Her ped said that since it isn't affecting her eating or talking, she didn't see a need for it to be addressed right now. She said usually an ENT doctor will snip them. We have an appointment to see Lauren's ENT doctor in August, so I am going to bring it up then. She has speech therapy today, so I will also discuss it with her speech therapist. I am not overly concerned because she is doing fine and it isn't bothering her, I just want to make sure that I stay on top of it as a mother and make sure nothing needs to be done while she is small.

Pool Fun

Over Memorial Day weekend we spent a couple days at my parents pool. On the first day Lauren liked the little pool they had put up and didn't want anything to do with the big pool. On Memorial Day we were able to get her in the big pool and she enjoyed it very much. Kristen liked all the pools, yes my parents had one little one for Lauren, one that was shaped like a whale for Kristen and the big pool. They love their grand kids. It was a really nice weekend, but we were all exhausted and I slept like a baby Monday night. Here are some pictures of the girls.

Updates

So, I did my first Mic-Key button placement all on my own yesterday afternoon. I was a bit nervous, although I had seen it done at the doctors office twice and it looked pretty easy. Doctors and nurses make things look easy when in fact they are quite hard. So, once I had someone on stand-by (my niece Jenny who is training to be a nurse), I decided to just go for it. Well, this was actually after I had read four versions of the tube placement instructions. So, in the end it was very easy and took no time at all. Lauren didn't even cry, which was good. I gave her the remote control to play with since she never gets to play with it. She was happy as could be.

We did go see her GI doctor today. In March she weighed 15 lbs 8 ozs and today she weighed 16 lbs 9 ozs. I thought for sure this wouldn't be enough of a gain, but she is still following her curve. We are increasing her night feedings by 5 mls per hour and we go back and see her when Lauren turns two. She will be switched from her Enfacare to Pediasure for her night feedings then. During the day I basically just feed her 3 meals and 3 snacks and then she gets fed via her feeding tube for 10 hours at night. It seems to be working, so we will stick with that schedule for now.

Lauren is very close to walking she just needs to build up her confidence. On June 16th a physical therapist is going to come out and evaluate her. Her OT is concerned because her feet turn out when she walks, kind of like a duck. She just wants to make sure that she doesn't need any additional walking support or inserts for her shoes. Her speech has really taken off and she is jabbering more and saying words like Duck, baby, Bye Bye, Thank You. We continue to be amazed at her progress and are so proud of her and thankful to God for all of the wonderful blessings he has given us.

Kristen is doing good too. She now is asking why for everything. It can drive you crazy at times, but I am just thankful that she can ask why because many parents aren't as lucky as us. She is going through a phase where she is scared of everything and afraid we are going to leave her places. On the way to church she says "Mommy, your not going to leave me. You'll always come back." It is really cute, but it breaks your heart. Our refrigerator had broken and we went to go pick up a part and she cried wanting to go back home.

She loves learning new things. She is now starting to recognize her letters and really enjoys the game Polar Bear A-B-C. My sister got it for and I highly recommend it for parents with toddlers. I haven't taken any pictures since returing home from our trip, but I promise to take some and get them posted soon.