We made it up to Spokane today.
We had originally planned to drive, but at the last minute (after a couple of recent weekends driving for a few hours) we decided flying was worth it. The flights went well and we had no issues with them, the kids, or lost luggage. Our first impressions were how green the place is, how tall the trees are, but also that certain areas of town are pretty run down. It's only natural to notice these things first when you're coming from a newer, cookie cutter environment in the high desert.
The kids loved the plane ride. Although they've been on flights before, this was the first time they've been old enough to enjoy it. It's been a few years since we've flown with them...pretty much since Jonathan was born. Take off and landing were the best parts. Grandma had made them some fun activity bags that kept them busy.
After getting our rental car and lunch we stopped by John's new office. We met the staff, including Brooke, the kids favorite. She had them laughing and playing from the very start while we talked with Stacey's dad. I haven't seen Jonathan light up the way he did for Brooke before. He definitely liked her. The kids scored a few suckers from Brooke too, which turned into a show and tell of tongue colors. Jonathan loved being the center of attention and seeing the pictures of his blue tongue.
Later on that night we had dinner at the Johnson's. The kids had a ball playing on the little trampoline that was in the back yard. I'll get pictures and video of it soon. They bounced and played with the beach ball that I would periodically throw into the netted trampoline area. The game was who could get the beach ball and then throw it back out. Jonathan tackled Julia and jumped right in there to wrestle for it even though his older sister is stronger. It was hilarious to watch, and also listen, because when he wrestles anyone he says the karate sound, "kiai" (hi-ya), over and over again when mixing it up.
We got the test results back on Jonathan's growth hormone levels. They were normal. In a weird way we were kind of hoping it was an issue because it would've given us some answers. It really was the last test that we had to run. For now he just seems to be a normal, strong-willed, particular kid with a slow stomach.
The endocrinologist scheduled a followup appointment in six months. If in a year's time he's still very small, something like two standard deviations below a certain percentile, than we can start the discussion about giving him growth hormone for social, athletic, and esteem issues.
I guess one positive of being small is that he's super cute and very hug-able.
Julia finished pre-k at PPCS today. We're thankful that she had a good teacher at PPCS this year. Julia felt more comfortable around Mrs. Peckham than her previous teacher. This was also her second year, but I think Mrs. Peckham had more to do with Julia's learning and enjoyment of school rather than the familiar surroundings.
Julia will have the summer off and then she'll start school in the fall full time. Well, it's every day but only half-days. Starting this fall she'll be in school every day for probably the next 17 years of her life. We're glad we started her early for social and educational reasons. She pretty much has already learned what she'll need to know to pass kindergarten, and has become a little less shy as a result.
I know teachers aren't supposed to have favorites, but I'm sure they secretly do. Julia would speak highly of her too, saying that only I was more silly than Mrs. Peckham...
While we were in Denver for Jonathan's medical testing I received an email from Josh that he had two free tickets to Saturday night's Rockies Giants game. Although the thought of driving up to Denver the next day wasn't on the top of my list, I decided it would be a fun thing to do with Julia.
We all piled in Josh's minivan and made it to the stadium right on time. The game started at 6 p.m., so Julia and I made sure we took naps before leaving. She ended up going to sleep at about 11 p.m. that night...one of many firsts for her. Here are a few firsts for Julia: first baseball game, first Rockies game at Coors Field, first hot dog at a baseball game, first time doing the wave at a sporting event.
There were probably other firsts that I can't remember. She really like doing the wave. I had trouble explaining to her what it was and why we do it. All I could come up with is that we're silly human beings and it's fun to do. Julia got a lot of smiles and compliments on her outfit - striped shirt, rainbow striped tights, and a bright yellow with rainbow polka dot rain jacket. Although there weren't a ton of highlights from the night, I know she had a lot of fun getting out of the house, seeing a little bit of the big city, eating junk, and hanging with her Pops.
The Rockies won 10-2, and so did I.
This was a pretty big week for Buddy. He had his button replaced on Monday, had feeding clinic on Thursday, and drove up to Denver for a four hour long test with the Endocrinologist on Friday.
Several days ago we had taken him in to see the surgeon that had originally placed his button for an infection around the tube area. While there, the doctor recommended that we replace his button because he had grown out of the other one. The plug was starting to come apart and we had already gone longer than recommended anyway. We were a little nervous about the removal since sometimes the only way to get it out is to pull it back out through the stomach. We were relieved when the nurse had no problem cutting it in half and pushing the inside part into his stomach to late nature take care of it.
The procedure was quick and easy, and as you can tell in the first two pictures, painless. The first two pictures crack me up because before the appointment we had to give him a pretty strong pain reliever. You can tell that Jonathan is in his happy place. This button can be taken out and put back in by us, as needed.
Friday was the long awaited test with the Endocrinologist to see if Jonathan has a growth hormone deficiency. At the recommendation of the doctor we've been putting this off for awhile. Since this was the last topic we hadn't yet addressed, we decided to have it done so we could rule it out. I took the day off from work to help out since the appointment was in Denver and it was scheduled for four hours in an exam room. They had movies and toys and we brought things to keep him entertained, so the appointment wasn't really that bad. We basically had him sit in our lap and watch Monsters, Inc. or play in the room most of the time. We'll find out in 10 days or so the result of the tests.
There was a doctor in the office but the nurse administered the test. Because of Jonathan's size she decided to take a reading on his blood sugar levels just to be safe. He wasn't exhibiting any signs but his blood sugar levels came back dangerously low. We had to give him some fruit juice to get his levels back to normal. We weren't allowed to feed him after midnight the night prior, and since he has little to no reserves, he crashed pretty hard. The nurse thought that he may just be used to having low blood sugar levels and that's why he was acting normal.
The nurse said that she would be "shocked" if his growth hormone levels came back normal. His eating issues, size, low blood sugar levels, and his lack of good veins for the IV were all signs he might be low in certain growth hormones or cortisol. We did tests on both of those. Essentially the test involved giving Jonathan certain drugs that stimulate the glands responsible for producing them and then drawing blood every 30 minutes or so afterwards. The blood work will show whether or not his body responded appropriately and produced enough.
We have to wait for the results to come back, but if he does need to go on hormones it's usually a six day a week injection under the skin that will go on for years...and we will have to give him. We'll find out more information about the side effects, specifics, etc., if and when it comes to that. Since he's already genetically predisposed to be a little guy, there will also be social and self-esteem side effects to consider as well. One thing's for sure, he's a massive handful one minute and then adorable the next minute. We're very thankful that he's so tolerant and easy going about all of the medical things we've put him through.
We decided to celebrate Mother's Day this year out of the house. The lingering snow this spring coupled with kids that want to do stuff now made us get out.
I left work pretty early on Friday morning. We're entering my slow time of year at work, so I was able to get out and do a few things on Friday that I would normally do over the weekend. On Friday night we stayed up at the cabin. Although the kids want to get out and play we are still limited to what we can do in a resort town. Translation: the cabin is just as fun (if not, more) than pretty much anywhere else we could go.
At the cabin on Saturday morning we took a walk around the pond and rode the ATV. The kids really liked riding on the ATV. This was the first time Julia was able to sit on the back by herself while Jonathan rode in front of me. Jonathan kept asking to go faster, but when I repeated his question to go faster I would get a "yes" from him and a "not too fast" from Julia. A few times I gave them a short taste of speed (while still being safe), and they loved it.
After we had played with the ATV and had gotten ready for the day, we hopped in the car and drove up to Breckenridge. We walked around town, ate some chocolate gelato, and threw pebbles into the river. The kids needed to nap after playing, so we hopped in the car and drove around town for an hour. That was the only way we were going to get them to fall asleep.
That afternoon we checked in to our hotel. Our room had a great view of the valley and mountain. Although Jonathan vomited in the hotel bed and fell off of it onto the pillows we placed on the floor, things went better than the last time we attempted to stay in a hotel with them. The worst part about sleeping in the same room as them came from Julia. Multiple times throughout the night she screamed something out while asleep. It was very dramatic and sad, as if she was having a bad dream. It didn't make for a restful night.
The kids and Stacey had a good time though. Julia thanked me for "doing something fun outside of the house". I asked Stacey if she had put Julia up to saying that. Apparently, she hadn't. I guess that means we really need to get out more.
