Enjoying the summer

As you can see from the pictures we are busy enjoying the summer despite some very crazy hot humid days. From swimming in our 'tacky pool', Harrison enjoying his mini hot tub (Elizabeth's old water table), horseback riding, soccer, playdates and enjoying all the fruits that summer has to offer we have been busy. Harrison is enjoying having his sister home and loves swimming in our pool too. Soccer was a new endeavor this year and Elizabeth is doing better each week; she can now get to the other side of the field without tiring and is getting better with her kicking. She thought it was really cool that her soccer socks hid her AFO's so no one would notice. She is really hoping to score a goal and I hope that with some extra help she will be able to do it as well. After drinking a large portion of the pool she has now also mastered snorkeling.

Enjoying the 'norm'

Watching Harrison grow and thrive is quite an eye opener for me on how different things were for us with Elizabeth. All ready I see Harrison learning skills that Elizabeth was not able to master and I think how did I or others not notice these deficits earlier? The most notable is Harrison playing with his feet, at 6mths he could play for prolonged periods with his feet above his head and he chews on his toes all day. I love watching him do this but it saddens me as Elizabeth still cannot hold her feet up without falling over as her trunk is still so weak. Something as simple as picking up Harrison is a delight as with Elizabeth every part of our day was regimented; how to pick her up, how to play with her, how to talk to her, eliminating background noise to ensure she could hear and the endless lists of homework from her therapists. I would ensure every waking minute she had was planned to meet all her goals. The germaphobia that was instilled in the NICU is a distant memory, I don't methodically and routinely clean/disinfect his toys/stroller ect. and if someone happens to touch his chubby hand I will seldom wipe him down unlike Elizabeth who I would scrub if a stranger happened to get past the mommy block. The fear of my premature infant succumbing to RSV is gone a cold is now a cold and not a dreaded trip to the ER or worse. Thank goodness traveling is easier I can plop Harrison's car seat in the car(mind you I am close to dragging him as he is so heavy) and we are off, no extra person needed to sit with him and watch his color and no flammable oxygen tank or heart monitor to accompany him. Finally no barf. We cleaned buckets of barf up with Elizabeth for a multitude of reasons, we had aiming and clean up down to an art. When Harrison gags at a meal he just gags no upchucking of a days worth of feeds. I still have to remind myself I don't need to grab a bowl if he starts to gag. We are really enjoying this new norm and how much weight has been lifted off our shoulders. We can take a walk, run errands, sit in the stroller/car seat too long, visit friends, have the radio on or watch tv with ease; the constant mommy guilt no longer plays in my head we are enjoying our chubby little man with ease.

6mths

The little fella is now 6mths old and is 17lbs of squishyness. He is rolling, sitting up, pulling his sisters hair and even is starting to get to a 4 point crawling position. He loves his bath and going for a walk in the baby carrier as soon as he sees me wearing it he giggles with glee. This past week he has been so sweet, he has not yelled at me once and has been a pretty happy little man. I still am following a strict no dairy diet and that seems to keep him happy.

Eating solids is a bit of a struggle and is bringing back glimpses of those dark days of feeding Elizabeth. I was so excited to feed him solids as I just wanted a baby who will happily eat and by the size of him I thought for sure he would love to eat. I am sure with Harrison it is just a maturity thing and over time he will find eating not so repulsive. He still adamantly refuses a bottle and his soother. I have given up even trying them now in hopes that him eating solids can give me more than 2hrs away from him. For now he continues to be his mama's boy the 'boob man'.

Dance

Elizabeth had her year end dance recital with her Adapted Dance Class. When she got on stage she began to cry but with her helpers through her tears she kept on dancing the steps she had practiced. It was a really sweet routine and the songs were perfect for her group, I don't think there were many dry eyes once the class was done. She really made us proud.

Cookies Anyone???

Things on the feeding/tummy front have settled for Harrison. As long as I stay away from dairy and some other offending foods the little man is fairly content (note fairly, he still can have quite a fiery temper). A dairy free diet is one way to lose copious amounts of weight and can really leave one feeling very unfulfilled but in the end we have a happy little man. His frequent meals have him topping the scales at over 16lbs at 5 1/2 months now which is a hoot as Elizabeth was 17lbs at a year. His voracious appetite has him eating at some very unconventional places at the drop of a dime. I hope he will outgrow these tummy issues/allergies in time as one Epi-Pen in the house is enough for me handle with Elizabeth.
I am thankful that Harrison does not have a full set of razor sharp teeth like Elizabeth's dinosaurs, she frequently yelps when she is 'nursing' her dino as they have bit her. 

Winter

A couple of months ago Elizabeth saw the movie Dolphin Tale. It is a true story about a dolphin who was injured and lost her tail. With some dedicated people they were able to make her a prosthetic tale to allow her to swim and survive. Elizabeth loved the movie and talked incessantly about it and Winter the dolphin. What really drew Elizabeth to Winter was the fact that Winter needed help just like her and that Winter had to see an Orthotist and have phsyiotherapy too. It was endearing to hear her talk about Winter being just like her as she lately has been having difficulties noting her differences from her peers.
On our vacation to Florida we were able to go to the Clearwater Marine Hospital where Winter now lives. This trip to visit Winter was looked forward to more than going to Disney. Elizabeth had fun seeing Winter, holding her prosthesis and seeing all the other marine animals that lived there. Her love for marine life now is greatly appreciated as it has almost replaced her loved for dinosaurs.

Following Grams and Gramps

My parents decided to have a well deserved month away in Florida and we decided to tag along for a week. The weather was perfect for the beach and swimming. Elizabeth harassed my sister Katy and had her on the move the entire time we were there (Auntie Katy really enjoys her tv routine, sleeping in and her afternoon nap). Grams, Auntie Katy, Daddy and Elizabeth spent a day at UniversalStudios where Grams and Auntie Katy accidentally experienced an upside down roller coaster and lived to recant it. Elizabeth is now a pro boogie boarder and loved riding the waves. She also lived in the pools and can now swim in the deep end with no floaties at all (we stay very close). Of course we had to have lunch at t-Rex cafe again and visit build a Dino for a girlfriend for her beloved Rexy. Harrison fared well through all the adventures he had a couple of dips in the pool and had his feet in the sand, I think he would have enjoyed it more if his poor tummy would stop ailing him so much.

Grams and Gramps were great hosts and I am sure are now enjoying the quiet now and Auntie Katy may need to sleep for a week from all the excitement she had.

Hang Out

Elizabeth and Harrison's favorite past time is playing in the hangout. Harrison fusses in the morning until I put him down so he can play with Elizabeth. Most often he just gazes at her and rubs his slobbery fists' on her while she sings and occasionally there will be a yelp from Elizabeth as he has a handful of her hair.

Elizabeth who is learning how to spell has labelled their 'hainowt' and places the 'occupid' sign when they are at play.

This time also gives me a couple minutes to get dressed which I really appreciate.

Independent = Keeping out of Trouble

I have had some phone calls home from Elizabeth's school and Elizabeth herself will admit to some 'antics' she is doing at school. Her 'antics' have included meltdowns/tantrums, interrupting others, purposely yawning and saying how bored she is when her teacher is teaching a lesson. I am so horrified to hear what she has been doing and dread when I see her school's number on the phone. She knows these little 'antics' would not be okay at home yet she was doing these puzzling things at school.

As I have said we are so blessed to have such a great teacher and she knew this was not the typical Elizabeth and with her, the SERT and myself we problem solved why she was getting into trouble. I had thoughts that she was getting a bit smothered by her helpers and was telling them in her way to back off. So now as Elizabeth says is newly 'independent'; she is given more freedom at recess and is joining kids at tag (with her aid close by but not holding her hand), she can now have a bathroom buddy instead of her aide and her teacher has paired her with some of the advanced students for enriched work. The 1:1 time with her SERT to work on her fine motor skills now happens in the classroom with her peers as well.

With all these changes Elizabeth has had 3 weeks of great days. She has been happily earning stickers to trade in for Skylander creatures for her favourite videogame which may start to get expensive but is worth it.