Cedar Point!!!

Oh my word does time go by fast with two kids! With therapy, and summer we are hardly ever home!

So we bought season passes to Ceder Point in Ohio. I knew Jon would love the shows but was a bit skeptical about Leah not sure if she would like the kiddie rides. We started by just walking around and then Leah said "go on" so I went on her first ride and it was history from there she went by herself most of the time after that.
This made me realize she is already being very independent which of course is awesome however depressing because time is flying by so fast so completely fast:-( Jon loved watching Leah get whipped around and of course she was screaming with enjoyment which made Jon laugh a bit more! I do see however him look at her as to think why is she getting to do these things and I can't. It does break my heart as I do try to get him on a few rides but with him not being able to sit up there is a very limited amount he can go on. When the attendant does let us get on a ride with him, like the antique cars, he was in heaven! He tried with all his might to "get" sissy. All I think about is if this boy could walk she would be in so much trouble, or he would be from picking on her all the time. We have a few vacations up our sleeves this year of course our one every year vacation of Michigan Adventure and I am pretty sure we are headed to WEst Virginia again for some white water rafting. I believe my family and myself and kids will be heading to Tennessee for a week to visit with my aunt and her family. And we are hoping to get some nice camping in here soon! I am going to try and post more but we shall see how that goes:-)

18 month check up!

I'm am such a proud momma!

we went in to have Leah's 18 month check up and she is doing great! Dr. M was really impressed! Her and I talked for a bit and Leah just was talking away so Dr. M said she clearly knows more than 10 words which is what the typical 18 month old knows. She then asked me if Leah understands me if I were to ask her to stick out her tongue, in which Leah stuck her tongue out at the DR. Dr. M then just starting asking her the questions! She asked her "Can you try to jump"? And Leah did! Then dr. M and I started talking about Jon and Leah preceded to sing Twinkle twinkle, dr. m said "o.k that is great"! So as we were wrapping up I asked Leah to get her coat and put it on and she did (she can't really get it on by her self but she tries) and dr. M said that is something that usually comes around 2.5 yrs old too! SO she said all in all LEah is at a 24 month vocabulary and about a 36 month fine motor skills! Not to shabby for a kiddo born 5 weeks early:-) We still said no to shots and will continue to say no. She is officially a wee bitty thing weighing in at 21 bls and in the 60th percentile for height at 32 inches! I am so proud of her and Jon I guess it just what I am good at, birthing beautiful smart kids!

Leah is 18 months!

Gosh time has been flying by! Leah turned 18 months yesterday and she is growing leaps and bounds! I am astonished by her vocabulary and the way she looks at things to figure it out! She says please (peez) to almost anything she wants. She stared about a month ago putting two words together momma peez, no down, she has said bu bye for a long time,and bubba no. Its just amazing how "typical" she is.
She also loves eating! Things like spinach and artichoke dip, grilled salmon, spinach fettuccine alfredo, zucchini, corn and carrots she is going to be/is high maintenance! She does not like hamburgers, breaded chicken, fruit unless its prunes, not to thrilled with any breakfast things either.
She is sassy, really sassy. We have definitely hit the terrible two's early! We can not go anywhere for too long and forget restaurants it's take out for us! She is so busy and such a monkey. Just the other day I turn around from putting dishes in the dishwasher and there's Leah straddling the baby gate, I stood there in totally shock not wanting her to freak out and fall! She has a very short fuse and wants it her way or else!
She is a lover though too! Still to this day every morning she kisses Jonathan and now says "wuv you"! She is always trying to help him sometimes to much. She gives the best hugs and once in awhile she gives the nicest, wettest kisses!
She sleeps like a dream! To bed at 8pm and up between 7 and 8. She also takes some great naps.
We go for her 18 month well baby check up next week and even though she is another skinny mini she is totally healthy, full of life and laughter. I wouldn't want anything any other way!!!

Family cruise 2011

So we were scared that Jonathan wasn't going to be able to make the cruise due to rsv, however with God's hand over him and a lot of prayer he did get to go! W ehad so much fun. My parents,brother, aunt, uncle and grandma went! We flew to ft. Lauderdale, fl and then headed to Miami. We stayed in a beautiful condo that overlooked the ocean, mind you we left 20 degree weather and woke up to 80's! Then we headed to the Keys, I love this place so inviting and fun! The next day we left on the cruise ship, Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas! The first day was a bit hectic trying to get everything situated but after that we settled in and it was smooth sailing, no pun intended!
The best part was getting the kids ready for bed and we would lay Jon on the bed and Leah would "attack" him with kisses, oh I love that so much and so does he!! By the second night I would honestly say about 1/4 of the boat knew Leah by name! She would say "hi" and "bye bye" to everyone including blowing kisses to every other person she met. They had a nightly band and dancing, well little miss Leah had to be center of attention and dance too. She would have crowds coming to see her dance and my little sassafrass had NO shy bone and she can definitely shake it! They also do nightly pictures and I think this might have been Leahs favorite time because after the first night the same photographer would say "Leah do you want your picture taken?" Leah then would say "down" and run over there and start posing!
I think everyone had a blast the only downfall was coming home we had a 4 hour delay and didn't end up getting home till 2am, not fun with kids! We can't wait to do it again next year but next year will be the Disney cruise, YAHOO!

Pneumonia and RSV!!

So we finally got it! RSV is no fun at all. Jon started coughing which wasn't to bad but by the third day he seemed really hot so I took his temp and it was 102, o.k so off to the e.r! I HATE going to the hospital but knew we had to do something since his cough was getting worse and the nebulizer, inhaler, and cough syrup wasn't doing a dang thing! We were up to back to back treatments every 3 hours with no end in sight! So when we go t to the hospital his temp. was 104.9 and coughing so hard. They did the breathing treatments 4 in a row and it seemed to calm the coughing, they started steroids after the x-ray showed pneumonia too. We were admitted and to tell you the truth it was the first time we didn't hear anything about his weight or nothing negative! The dr. was actually the same one we seen in 08' the last time we were in the hospital! She remembered us, not sure if that is a good thing or bad! But she said she would never forget us because of how much she seen the love I had for Jon and wasn't going to give up on try to help him. (If you go back to 08' post of hospital I did a lot of crying) She said she was happy I told her about the cp growth chart and she now uses it and if the child is not losing weight she totally understands that growth is very hard for these children! So we were there for 3 and 1/2 days! We did hbot the next day and then the following day and even though the doctors said he would have the cough for a few weeks it was gone, completely gone after his 2nd treatment! We are also very blessed that even though Leah played with her brother she never came down with it! I truly believe not exposing her to ALL those vaccines has helped her immune system so much!

HBOT video

Here is a video of a mom that did hbot with her daughter! The results are amazing. We have done 80 sessions with Jonathan and would love to do more because yes we also have seen some great results. The sad part is is that its not covered by insurance. It cost roughly $5,000 for 40 sessions! We need help. We want Jonathan to get another 40 sessions. His muscles spasticity has decreased, his speech is coming along, he is so alert and so smart. This therapists comment all the time about just how much this has helped him. As a parent you want to do everything for your child. So we are asking for donations, in any amount! This money will go to another 40 session and if we get more than the $5,000 it will help with other therapies that have helped him, like hippo-therapy (horseback riding), cranial sacral therapy and massage therapy all these things help him but all are out of pocket. So please consider donating.

Having fun

My the time is going by so fast! We are just enjoying life and having so much fun in the process. Leah is 16 months old and is very busy! She talks all. the. time. and I love it!! You can often hear her say hi and bye bye to everyone she has NO shyness to her! She likes to say all done, momma dadda, bubba a lot! Her vocabulary just goes everyday! She knows most of her animals, she knows her body parts especially her bum bum since I tell her she needs to sit on it when she is by her brother!! I love watching her interact with Jonathan. He is really into the pacifier again and when it falls out she says "uh oh" and goes running to put it back in his mouth but not before she puts it in her mouth then says "no" and puts it in his! She cracks us up she is such a crazy funny girl. She is a climber and it scares me so! She is into EVERYTHING and is always going and saying something!

Jonathan has been doing really good! We kicked up his therapy after out HBOT was finished and it seems to be helping. We started feeding and he is doing really good. He can now eat a fruit loop and doesn't gag he chews it pretty nicely! We are working on some great oral exercises that I think are really good for him! The therapist asked Jonathan the other day to put his tongue over here( toward her right then left) he did exactly what she said. He surprises me all the time!
He is doing really good with his power wheelchair we will be taking it home tuesday and using here. We have him using his head to go left and right and of course straight and he totally gets it! Since he is right side dominant with his head sometimes it gets hard for him to look to the left and then he goes in circles but he thinks that is hilarious! Our wheelchair specialist said "before I leave my job all I want to see is my buddy Jon use this wheelchair" well he didn't expect him to do it the first day!! Way to go dude, I love you Jonathan! So he isn't proficient and in no way could he go out on the street just yet but he will get there and he proves that to us with every day he practices!