Walk This Way

We've had a fantastic couple weeks. We had a blast celebrating Mitchell's birthday and an awesome Memorial Day weekend in Naperville. Mitchell was king for the day getting breakfast in bed, tons of new toys and his first "big boy bike", which he likes to take it for a spin almost daily. We had a fun birthday dinner at Mickey D's and topped off the night with cake. This past weekend Mike and I attended a wedding of one of my friends on Saturday in Naperville and then we lounged by the pool and grilled out on Sunday with my family. The weather was great and it was so wonderful to see so many good friends, most of who I grew up with in church. We have since all moved away from Naperville and don't get to see each other much. It was a wonderful reunion and celebration.

Just an update on how the sippy cup is going....

Happy Birthday to our bud!

Trying out his new bike

Blessed to know these girls!

Swimming is one of his favorite things!

I can't believe summer is upon us. It is so great to see the sun still shining at 9:00pm. Mitchell's last day of preschool is tomorrow as well as his art show. This weekend we're home and Mike is hoping to enjoy some golf with his buddies while I want to tackle a little more yard work. Our weekends are already filling up pretty fast, but one in particular we are looking forward to is in a few weeks. Our family will be participating in the Epilepsy Foundation's Summer Stroll for Epilepsy on June 15th.  It should be a fun morning raising money for a great cause. We feel incredibly blessed to be in such a good place right now with Dominic. We know there are so many other families that struggle daily with debilitating seizures. We are constantly reminded what a miracle our little man is.  Knowing this makes us want to do even more to help find a cure for Epilepsy and for those that aren't as lucky as Dominic.

  

If you are interested in donating, you can follow this link! 

Any amount would be appreciated!

Dominic continues to dominate at PT and OT. He is getting much more confident walking. He's gotten to the point that he can walk just holding my two fingers. He's a little wobbly, but he's getting faster. He has graduated from the gait trainer to a walker at PT. He's just starting to get the hang of holding onto the walker to support himself. This week Robin put him on the Total Gym machine and had him do 40 leg presses! I was shocked. I initially thought she was crazy and there was no way he could do leg presses, especially on the right side. But he did and he was awesome. Didn't even fight her. Hopefully doing those will continue to strengthen his legs.

Rockin' it at PT with Robin

So Much to Celebrate

Ah, we are LOVING this gorgeous weather! We are all so happy summer is on it's way. We are enjoying the sunshine and longer days. Life is busy as usual around here. I had a wonderful Mother's Day that included breakfast in bed, gift card for a pedi, a nap in the sun, and dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. I am the luckiest girl I know to have these three boys in my life. While they can all be challenging in their own ways, they are the best, and they're mine :o)

This weekend we are celebrating FOUR years of Mitchell! We can't believe how time has flown. He is the funniest, goofiest, wildest boy I know. And I can't imagine my life without him.  He has really impressed me this past year with his patience and resilience after Dominic's surgery. It was a difficult year for him too, and I'm so amazed by him. I thought for sure he would harbor resentment and jealousy. But he hasn't. He truly loves his brother and as a Mama, it melts my heart to watch them interact. He is actually super protective of Dominic and often tells me "Mom, stop yelling at Dominic. He's sorry!" I remind Mitchell I'm not yelling, just telling him "no", but how funny is he? Such a sweet soul.

He was so excited to take in his vanilla cherry chip cupcakes to school for birthday treats today and he's pumped for McDonald's birthday dinner on Sunday :o) Oh, it's the little things in life, right?

Such a good big brother!

My goofball

Mother's Day dinner

Dominic is doing well, after a bout with hand-foot-mouth last week. He handles sick pretty well. I wasn't really sure what was wrong with him except that he spiked a 103 fever. Then the he started getting blisters all over his body. But I guess after all he's been through, this is nothing for him. He's feeling much better and is back to getting into everything. We call him "The Inchworm" because that's exactly what he looks like moving across the floor. And he moves fast! He's also curious. I was surprised to find him sitting in the hallway holding the carbon monoxide monitor. I have all the outlets covered but never thought I'd have to worry about him pulling the monitor out of the wall, especially one-handed! I've had many people - doctors, therapists and friends tell me that if he had full use of his right side, I'd be in big trouble. His PT told me today I'm still in big trouble, he's just taking longer to get there. She's right, he's a strong, stubborn little thing. But I'm sure these are qualities that will help him through life.

Workin' it at OT

Met Dad for lunch downtown. Love being able to eat outside again!

Dominic's most recent progress is pulling himself to his knees. He pulls up on everything - toy bins, coffee tables, ottomans, entertainment centers - you name it. This is where his curiosity comes in. He wants to see what's going on. At this point though, he get stuck because he's not really sure how to pull to stand with a weak arm and leg. So, we're working on it and he'll get there. He's taking amazing steps (pun intended) with his walking as well. He doesn't like to sit still or be held much, he wants to walk so badly, he's just got to build up his butt muscles more. But he's got the stepping down and you can tell he really likes to walk.

Believe it or not, my almost 20-month-old STILL refuses a sippy cup and is on the bottle. He's been attending a feeding class at the Campus Early Childhood Special Ed school with his Early On OT and a feeding specialist. Not only will Dominic not drink from a sippy, he also only eats about 10-15 foods. I'm not super concerned because he's by no means malnourished, but it's annoying. He can't be 3 years old and still drinking from a bottle. Plus, it's not that he can't, he just won't. He doesn't like me, or anyone else for that matter, trying to make him do something. The only way he'll eat his veggies is pureed from a spoon, because that's how he's always had it. He'll yogurt with anything in it because he loves yogurt. But put watermelon, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, corn, green beans - heck any fruit or veggie, on his tray and he just throws it over the side, looks at me and says "uh oh". And don't get me started on meat - no kind of meat. Not even hot dogs! What kid doesn't like hot dogs? Again, here is Dominic's stubbornness coming out. The feeding class breaks for summer but I'm assuming we'll need to restart in the fall. Until then, I am most grateful we got rid of the carpet in the dining room as most of his food ends up there. Much easier to clean than the carpet :o)

Here comes trouble!!

On a final note, someone posted this on Facebook yesterday and I just loved it. It makes me look at the c-shaped scar across his scalp a little differently now...

Never be ashamed of the scars that life has left you with. 

A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed, 

you endured the pain and God has healed you.

Poster Child

Our family returned this past weekend from an amazing Florida vacation. We had wonderful weather, time with Grammy and Grandpa, time with friends and some great time as a family. We had fun playing on the beach, splashing in the ocean and swimming in the pool. Not to mention trips to Rum Bay for lunch and Coconuts to see Captain Red Beard and eat ice cream. It was wonderful to be able to take a family vacation, totally free of the stress of Dominic's illness. A year ago, such a trip was not possible. Here's a few pics from the trip!

This kiddo LOVES the beach and ocean!

Walking on the beach

Our fam

Some new friends

Mitchell is getting to be such a little man

Such a little love bug

Hanging in the hammock

First meeting with a turtle

My three boys

Sun, sand, and surf

What a way to end every day!

Now that we're back, our week started off busy with an appointment with Dr. Arndt and his ENT doc. Dr. Arndt hasn't actually seen Dominic since the week after his surgery. Our last neuro appointment was with the Physician Assistant in January. So, he was quite surprised by Dominic, to say the least. When the nurse brought us in, she was concerned he wouldn't be able to sit up by himself on the scale to be weighed. I looked at her and told her that wouldn't be the problem, he'd most likely crawl right off. She couldn't believe it! When Dr. Arndt saw him he could not stop smiling. He was shocked to see him bring his right hand up to his mouth and keep both hands mid line. He was thrilled to watch Dominic walk to him (holding my hands of course). And was very impressed, when asked what a cow says, Dominic responded "moooooo". It was really encouraging to see his neurologist so excited and impressed with his progress. I've seen him make great strides, but Dr. Arndt's reaction was priceless. He put Dominic at about 9-10 months in regards to his gross motor skills and about 10-12 based on his verbal skills. I was happy to hear that because he said it was above and beyond what he expected at this point after surgery. There is always a worry that after such a major brain surgery that some things won't come back or that there is some seizure activity in the remaining hemisphere that could hinder development. But Dominic is right on track, if not ahead of where they expected him to be. Not to say this still doesn't bother me a little. I know it shouldn't, considering how far he's come and where he could have been, but it's hard to hear that developmentally your 19 month old is around 9-12 months. But I suppose Dr. Chugani was right when he said to think about his surgery day as the day he was born and that would make sense for where he's at. But for that second it's hard to hear. Then the moment passes and I go back to praising God and being grateful he is doing so amazingly well. When Dr. Arndt got up to leave the room, he just looked at him and said "he's amazing. He's like the poster child for hemispherectomy!" I'll take that!

We head to the Nephrologist on Thursday for a kidney ultrasound and then meet with Dr. Cai. Hopefully nothing has changed and the stones haven't grown. Dominic would be thrilled to go off the Bicitra. We then end the day with PT. Back to our busy life of appointments! Ah, what I wouldn't give to be back on the island right now, laying on the beach, sipping a Corona...