Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Straw Cups

Both boys are drinking exclusively from their straw cups!!! This is HUGE. Nathan started drinking independently several months ago. We really just started to pursue this with Owen on Thursday. It took a while to get all his eating and drinking issues under control. He did so well with it that by Saturday he had it down!!
Medical Update:
From time to time I put up a medical update knowing that so many people pray for the boys progress.

Owen: Owen is doing really well right now. In August he received Botox in his hamstrings to help loosen his lets. They were so tight it was limiting his ability to move. He is also seeing an additional physical therapist, Katie, to help him learn to move. His GI issues continue to remain under control with the lactaid and prilosect. He is making progress in speech therapy and is saying a few words. He did well in his last hearing test, but still remains in the moderate hearing loss spectrum.

Nathan: Nathan loves running all around our house in his gait trainer. He is doing so well moving. He is such a hard worker. Today we saw our eye doctor. Nathan will have another surgery to fix his eyes. The eye muscle are weak and the eyes are drifting apart. He will have this one last surgery to help them lock together. Children with CP often have these issues with their eyes. This surgery will be scheduled soon. We also saw Nathan's ENT today who will be doing his cochlear implant. Nathan will receive one implant at this time. He will receive the second implant in 6 months +. For children with CP, or any other delay, they like to do one at a time to make sure the first one took well. Nathan has severe hearing loss but if for some reason the first one did not take well, he would still have some hearing in his other ear. Once this surgery is performed it destroys the cochlea and their would be nothing...if it did not work. Everything is done on our end and we are just waiting for insurance / medicaid at this time. The cost of the surgery is $50,000 per ear. Our Blue Cross does not cover the surgery. The boys medicaid runs out at the end of October and they usual have a 45 day pre-approval process and only pay for implants of kids who have a 90 dB loss or greater. Well, we are under our 45 days and Nathan's loss is 72 dB. We did not wait this long to get it done...running out of time. This is just how long the very meticulous process takes (as in we started the process in May 2010). However, the doctor is going to try and expedite Medicaid and try to file it under decreased functionality. Since Nathan only has one hand he can not learn sign language, thus the implant is his only hope of communication. So, there is a possibility he could have his implant in October....but their is a very real possibility that medicaid will not come through and if that is the case he will have them implant in January. That is just how far out the surgery is getting booked right now.

Both boys are having a great time with all their therapist. We greatly appreciate all the hard work them do for them.

Logan is doing well. He had soccer class today and had the best time. He is working hard at the piano and loves playing with his teacher, Miss Molly.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Children's Theater

Last Wednesday Logan's class went to the Children's Theater. I was able to chaperon the trip. It was spectacular. We saw Cinderella and the production quality was first class. Logan and his classmates had a wonderful time.

New Shoes

The other day we headed to the Galleria after picking Logan up from school. Logan, Owen and I enjoyed some ice cream (Nathan did not like it), rode the elevators several times and then headed to Stride Rite. All three boys needed new shoes. Nathan and Owen have matching shoes. Logan saw his shoes when he first walked in the store. He first saw them in baby size and then found them in his size.... a 12 1/2. Yes, I could not believe it! He love his new shoes and I am glad he has some new ones that fit him well.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Georgia Tech Game

Saturday morning we loaded our crew and headed to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech vs North Carolina game. To add some fun to our trip we parked a little west of town and road MARTA. It was Logan's favorite part of the day. (Logan had the class pet "frogger" for the weekend so he appears in several of our pictures).We then headed to The Varsity for lunch. We needed to give Chen and Juncheng the entire Georgia Tech football experience....including bad, greasy food.After lunch we headed to the game. It was tons of fun....a little hot but not as bad as the game we went to last year.


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Child Literacy Day

This morning the Child Literacy Council sponsored a wonderful morning of activities at Railroad Park. The weather was beautiful and we ran in to one of Nathan's and Owen's NICU nurses!! When we arrived Logan received a passport that needed to be stamped at the exhibit tents. The tents were sponsored by Children's Hospital (pretend doctor items), Books-A-Million (book signing by the illustrator and drawing your own dreams), YMCA (dance area), Zoo (mouse, hedgehog, and owl), McWane Center (making snow and weather cycle bracelets), Museum of Art (stamps and face painting), healthier Alabama (planting cucumber seeds and guessing veggies), etc. When Logan's passport was full we took it to the book station and he received 7 great books!! After those activities we went to the play area where Logan had the best time on the "spider web dome". It was a wonderful family morning.
Thanks Jane for telling me about this wonderful event.

Soccer Shots

Logan decided he wanted to start playing soccer. About the same time we got a slip from his school advertising Soccer Shots. Soccer Shots is soccer lessons with games at the end of each lesson. Logan had the best time and asks every day if it is a soccer day.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Not so little

My little guys are growing up. Owen looks so old.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Finger Painting

This evening we spent some time finger painting. Both boys really enjoyed it. Owen loved the feeling of the paint between his fingers. He worked very intently on his painting. Nathan painted as fast as he could with the goal of getting his painting on the floor and the paint all over himself.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Museum of Art

On Saturday morning we went to the Museum of Art to enjoy their free family day. There were tons of activities for families. Logan was able to decorate a paper guitar while Nathan and Owen enjoyed holding the pipe cleaners. We spent some time out in the sculpture garden enjoying the bubble machine and popcorn. By this time Owen had enough of all the bubbles. The Red Mountain Theater youth performing ensembles gave a beautiful concert. We also spent some time just looking at the art in the museum. It was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.

Zhong Qiu Jie

Today we celebrated Zhong Qiu Jie (Mid-Autumn Festival). This is a special holiday on the Chinese calendar and we thought it would be fun to celebrate it with the other Chinese exchange students at Samford and their host families. About 45 people gathered at our house. We visited, ate moon cakes (the traditional treat), played games, and ate dinner together. Both the students and host families had a great time celebrating and getting to know each other a little better.

Most of the group.
Moon Cakes
The group visiting together.



Yummy food.JunchengChen
The boys love all their attention from so many students.