2015- Month 3!

Time is flying, and I am getting no better at consistently writing here.  2015 has been crazy for us already.  Matt has had business trips and a lot of late nights, I have attended several conferences, Parker had a hospital visit- it seems like it should still be January.  So, to continue the trend of re-cap posts, here's to being done with January....

THE FLU:

Ugh. If I never have to go through this experience again, I will be a lucky girl.  It was one part traumatizing and 3 parts exhausting.  Waking up to your child struggling to breathe with a 104 fever is not enjoyable by any means-- though Parker didn't seem to mind anything except the IV at the hospital.  I learned the hard way, but will be sure to warn other moms that breathing treatments seem all innocent and helpful when they are happening, but I was unprepared for the late-night, wall-bouncing energy that comes from five breathing treatments in one day.  Parker was literally running from one end of his white metal crib to the other.  We were ultimately lucky, though-- he did not develop pneumonia, and only spent about 30 hours in the hospital.  

Therapy Updates:

Parker is working hard in all of his therapies, as always!  He is walking and exploring running, he can go up the stairs and is just now starting to realize that going DOWN is the best part (via belly slide, of course).  He is very slowly expanding his horizons with food.  He is still a broccoli/veggie lover, and has been enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  He still is not a fan of meat, but we are working on it. 

Speech remains our biggest struggle.  We have quickly realized that if we don't constantly continue to push him to use signs, he will stop using them completely.  We aren't sure if that is on purpose, or if he isn't retaining the knowledge of the sign.  We are looking into getting additional, private speech sessions.  I am looking forward to being able to hone in on this in the summer when I am home with him.  I know in my heart that he is better off in his classroom with his friends then at home alone with me, but the one-on-one support is my biggest guilt-inducer.  I'm hoping that, as he continues to become more interested in his peers, he will start mimicking them more.  

The contacts are pretty much the same.  They are stress and frustration causes for Matt and I, but we are consistently reminded of how worth it they are when Parker has them in.  As we keep saying- he is a different kid when he can see well.