this and that

Lots going on in our household lately. Here's a recap.

Cody just returned from Africa after being gone three of the last four and a half months. Can you say single mother of two desperately needed some down time? Much thanks to all you who called in to check on us or offered help while Cody was gone. Coincidentally, Cody was in a different locale in Africa last summer for quite some time too.

Zoe is still not interested in crawling. She is sitting extremely well though and can keep her balance while leaning over to grab things so I'm hoping she soon starts exploring the world around her.

Rhys on the other hand has discovered that he can leave the confines of the living room rug. He quite frequently heads into the kitchen or down the hall into the bathroom or his bedroom. He's pretty quick for inching along.

Baby girl still loves to eat. Every time I give her food I have to remind myself that she isn't Rhys. I am continually amazed at how things are supposed to work.

Rhys's AFO shoes came in. I will get you a picture soon. Well, the shoes themselves look just like the picture I posted previously, but on his feet they look like cinder blocks. They fit well though and aren't terribly heavy. But, he still tends to scissor his legs when he steps and the shoes just compound that problem. I am hoping once we get the gait trainer in he will have better lucky with walking.

Which brings me to the equipment being ordered, or not being ordered as the case was. I am a very unhappy customer in regards to our "sales specialist". Perhaps she is a specialist in dragging her feet and not doing her job. I have called multiple times and left messages in the last eight days, but have received nary a call back. Unacceptable! I contacted the company myself, instead of waiting on her, to get the ball rolling. We need Rhys's equipment a.s.a.p. because (a) he just plain needs it, but (b) we need to have it processed through insurance before the end of the year. The company is working with us trying to get things moving, but it is taking several precious days to gather the information the sales rep already had but never submitted. She is going to have one serious compliant lodged when this is all said and done.

We are adding OT back to Rhys's therapy schedule. For some reason I had a brain freeze and agreed to remove OT from ECI services when the SP started. OT worked on both speech/eating and occupational therapy, so to avoid crossover of the eating/speech component she stopped coming. Duh! Anyway, she is starting up again and will be working on fine motor skills with Rhys. So this will make vision 2x a month, OT 2x a month, PT 4x a month, SP 4x a month. Oh, plus weekly swim. Rhys's little calendar is on power book these days.

We have been using calorie additives for Rhys for several weeks now. When he started moving around his weight plummeted. Well, that and he got sick so his appetite decreased as well. We've been using one powder and one liquid additive with great success. We aren't overly concerned about him packing on pounds, we just need to make sure he is getting enough calories to grow (i.e. height) properly. We are also having some success with Rhys eating some of Zoe's yummy homemade baby food. I'm trying to work towards introducing more food variety before I increase the texture as the SP wants to do. The SP is very pleased with Rhys's progress. He is starting to repeat some words and I swear he is acting like he is talking even though you can't understand him.

My entire household, save myself, is sick. Both kids and Cody are on antibiotics. Rhys's was just because he had drainage he couldn't get rid of. Poor Zoe ended up needing a breathing treatment, antibiotics and a steroid. She tested negative for RSV, which had my heart pounding just thinking of the possibility, and responded very quickly to the meds. Rhys received an Rx cough medicine right after Zoe was born, but this antibiotic was his first real prescription. Not too bad I guess considering he is nearly two and a half. Cody has been running fever for two days now. He tested negative for flu and strep. They are supposing it is viral but gave him an antibiotic for good measure. He thought he was funny today when he said "I hope I don't have malaria". Nice, babe.

Zoe is finally starting to weight shift. She just started that today. She's been standing very well for quite some time, but she stayed planted to the ground and never lifted so much as a pinky toe. Today she started picking up her feet. Hooray!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I can not believe it! I say that every month though... "I can not believe it is already (insert month here)". Thanksgiving last year marked my 20th week of pregnancy, where I started to mentally flip out.

We are trying to figure out what to get the kids for Christmas. As if they need a single thing. I believe we are going to get a play set for the backyard, probably after the first of the year. We have lots of lovely parks in our neighborhood, but it'd be nice to just open the back door. My cousin lives down the road and visits frequently, so with three kids between us this may be a nice little mommy treat to keep the kids occupied and give us a breather.

In addition to the equipment Rhys will be getting Cody and I purchased him a Special Tomato chair. This will give him another sitting option besides his seating system. It is also smaller and portable and can be attached to a regular chair. We've recognized Rhys's sitting problem for over a year and have bought many things to try to help him to no avail. But we never thought to look in medical supply. I am angry at myself for not knowing this stuff existed. I am also upset the PT didn't recommend something sooner. Rhys should have had a seating system a year ago. We love the PT, but someone let this slip.

Lastly, I am not liking how my days bleed one into the next with seemingly no purpose. Other than when the kids need things I have no schedule to speak of and it is driving me nuts! It seems to have gotten very bad lately. I am awake until all hours of night/morning and am tired of feeling like I'm running in circles. A fellow preemie friend asked if I was interested in volunteering at the NICU with her on the weekends. I am seriously thinking about it! It may be nice to have something that requires my time besides my lovely kiddos.