Our week in review

Nathan and Owen are now wearing 0-3 month clothing and are quickly outgrowing this size too. I haven't weighed them much lately but I would guess Nathan is about to tip the scales on 10 pounds and Owen at 11 pounds. The boys have outgrown their newborn diapers and are now in size 1. That is a huge progression from 1/2 cotton ball, cotton ball, preemie x-small, preemie small, newborn and now size 1!! Both little guys are smiling a lot and are talking too. They love it when we talk and read to them. They are getting better playing with their hands and not just batting at things.

Logan had a good week. Thursday morning his friends, John and Maddie came over and brought their Mom, Miss Margaret. We went on a nice walk around the neighborhood and Logan was able to see all the garage doors. Also, on Thursday he was able to go to McWane Center and see Mr. Potato Head. He had a great time playing.

Yesterday, Saturday, Preston was able to go to his cousin, Hannah's wedding in Selma. He had a great time with family.

Summer is here...

We are starting to settle in our summer routine, though every week is going to be a little different.

Logan got a sandbox and he loves playing in it. We have it on our deck so if it rains he can still play in it.

We hit the pool for the first time with Russ and plan on many more return trips, including a few at the end of the week of the weather allows. Logan is not a big fan of the water but he is starting to like it a little more. I hope after his swimming lessons, the first week of July, that he will really take off.

Our friends, Jennifer and Michael, came to visit for memorial day. We had a great cook-out and some fun times walking on the trail. Logan loves Jennifer and Michael and was really sad to see them go.

We are in the midst of several appointments. This morning our PT, Kristie, came to work with the boys. She was very pleased with their progress and gave us several more exercises to do with them. We are so glad the boys are able to see her. We can already see the difference it is making in them. Owen had a hearing test today. He has great hearing in his right ear but has a slight hearing loss in his left ear. Nathan's hearing test is next Monday. The boys will see their developmental therapist, Sally, in her office tomorrow at Brookwood. She is focusing more on Owen's hips and other leg muscle stretching.

End of the school year party

Today is Logan's last day of school. Yesterday was his end of the year party. He loved eating pizza and watermelon with his friends. He had fun showing me everything on the playground. He had a wonderful year at RDS and we are glad he will be returning next year too.
Here is a sample of Logan's end of the year artwork.

So many new friends along our journey

One of the many great blessings along our journey is the great friends we have made. Most of them we never would have met without our unique situation over the past several months. One of these new friends is Lindsey Culver. We first met Lindsey when she brought us dinner while the boys were still in the hospital. Lindsey was just one of many who provided food for us from November til April. Can you believe we had meals provided for us that long? It was incredible. Lindsey e-mailed me the other day offering to stop by and take pictures of the boys. Here are two of them. If you would like to see more please go to her website: www.lindseyculverphotography.com.

Nathan at the limb deficiency clinic

Nathan had his first appointment at the limb deficiency clinic today. We went to Children's South where he met Dr. Law, a pediatric physiatrist (rehab doctor). He is one of only two in this state, both located less than 15 miles from our house. He was very pleased with Nathan's movement and the length of his remaining arm / wrist (meaning his amputation is only his hand and not a large portion of his arm). While Nathan will be presented with the option several times during his life, he does not think Nathan will ever want prosthesis. Dr. Law thinks Nathan will have such good usage of his wrist he would be able to hold a pencil. Since he was so young he will also learn to adapt to his left hand very well. The end of his wrist has great sensation in it and a prosthesis would deaden some of his feeling. Nathan will go back to this clinic in 9 months. He will follow up with Dr. Law and Kristi his PT at the PT office in 6 months.

Newborn Follow-up Clinic

Nathan and Owen had their appointment at the Newborn Follow-up Clinic today. This clinic is for everyone born in this area under 1000 grams. Several different doctors and therapist saw the boys today. Our appointment lasted 4 hours. The nutritionist thought the boys were doing well. Owen is gaining 25 grams a day and Nathan is gaining 35 grams a day. This is the average of their weight gain since they left the NICU. At the boys corrected age of 2 1/2 months they are still measuring small, 3rd percentile, but they expect them to pick up soon. We saw the audiologist today. Owen no longer has fluid on his ears!!! He passed the hearing test on his right ear but not his left. He is returning in a week for a 2 hour hearing test that gives the doctors a very detailed analysis of his hearing. Nathan still has fluid on his ears. He will be returning in a few weeks for the same hearing analysis. Both boys are having appointments scheduled with an ENT at Children's Hospital. The boys were also able to see Sally, their OT from the Brookwood NICU at the clinic. She felt Owen was feeling a little tight in the hips so now we are going to see her once a week for a while. I am glad she wants to follow the boys so closely.

An afternoon outing

We had a great family outing this afternoon. We all went down to the trail. This was the first stroller outing for the little guys and they did great. We took Logan's little bike with us and he had the best time riding.Logan riding in the "tree tunnel". Logan loves riding on all the bridges.Our double stroller
Nathan riding
Owen riding
Logan leading the way!!My four guys!!Logan is ready to just walk by the end of our journey.