Anaphylaxis Sucks

Our sweet Vinnie boy had another anaphylaxis scare yesterday. 

Vinnie made himself a couple sandwiches and used Lucas’ allergic Hawaiian bread slices. He ate about one and a half of them while I was nursing Sulley. That was around 4:00.  He had vomited at 3:00, which we think is a reflux issue he has going on.  (He's been vomiting for no apparent reason for about 2 weeks now.)

I got up to check on him bc he was complaining of an upset stomach. I thought initially it was left over from him vomiting earlier, but as soon as I saw the remnants of his second lunch I grabbed the baby and got everybody in the car. 

Vinnie only had an upset stomach which is a reaction but not ANA. So, we headed to the CHKD Urgent Care. But, before we got there (1.3 mi away) he threw up in the car. I called NJH and asked if I should epi immediately or go the last 5 minutes to the UC. They said go to the UC. 

We interrupted and got straight to the back, as soon as they did the vitals, they ordered epi and Benadryl. He was feeling pretty miserable at that point.  He did *NOT* want them to use the regular epi-pen.  I was actually quite shocked that they used that instead of a needle. 

His sats were a little low so they put him on oxygen. He perked up quite a bit after that. 

We had the doctor that I do not like one bit.  She is condescending and talks down to me.  She said, "You do know we aren't a hospital right?" Um, yea, but you are a DOCTOR right? (literally what I said)  I mean my choices were to stop the car, epi, call 911, wait on an ambulance to get to me in RUSH HOUR traffic in Greenbrier *OR* drive another 4 minutes to a medical facility that specializes in pediatrics--where I could then administer the EPI or let them do it.  When I walked in, I said, "He's having an anaphylactic reaction and needs epinephrine. I can do it or I can wait for your doc to do it."    If he had vomited any further from the Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughter urgent care center I would have epi'ed on my own.  BUT, either way, they needed to either treat him or get out of the way so I could.  The doc is just a pain in the butt.  She was also fussing about Sulley being on the floor.  I'm sorry lady, my concern is with my SICK child, the one who could die from his condition if you don't administer meds soon, I could care less if the babies fingers get stepped on.  Lucas was helping me keep him out of the way, but the doc was being a witch about it. 

Because he was considered in ANA after the vomiting, they called the ambulance from CHKD to transfer us. 

Vinnie got to wear a 5 pt race car harness on the stretcher and I rode in the back seat of the cab. He got to watch Spongebob on their mounted iPad. 

After we got to CHKD ER he was triaged (immediately) and given a slushee. 

He was obviously feeling *MUCH* better by the time we got to CHKD. He'd had benadryl, Epi, and 30 minutes of oxygen by then.  

They took good care of him in the ER.  He got zantac and prednisone & an iPad to play with there too!

Tim and the boys came and brought us the "go bag" and a change of clothes for Vinnie.  So, we were able to keep them all entertained until Mandy got there with food for Vinnie & I (they had finally cleared him to eat just before that) and then Beth came and helped Tim go pick up the Corolla and park it back at the hospital for us.  

After everybody left (around 9 PM), Vinnie and I snuggled and played on the iPad until about 10:20 when the doc said he was comfortable with discharging us at 10:45 if I was.  Since Vinnie seemed okay I was fine with it.  

We got discharged and headed home.  Tim was *JUST* getting the boys into bed when we got there, so I got to nurse Sulley to sleep and Tim didn't have to try to get him down without milkies.  

Anaphylaxis remains a scary event.  Fortunately, this one didn't go beyond some minor facial swelling and hives and the vomiting.  

We have a WALKER!

Sulley is officially walking!  He's such a big boy!  Over the last two weeks he has really taken off & gotten confident in his walking! He still stumbles a bit and hasn't started RUNNING yet, but he is definitely walking all of the time now & prefers walking over crawling!  Huge gain for our little preemie.  So, we will officially say he was walking at 17 months old.

He seems to be right on track with most of his motor skills and is doing really well with hand-eye coordination activities and plays just like a little boy!  He loves to drive cars all over the house & playing catch is one of his favorite games.  Lucas even taught him how to "get ready" by placing his hands open in his lap!  He LOVES water, he enjoys playing in the bath, in the pool, and even at the beach!  The beach is another huge milestone, because sand is one of the textures that he has been really struggling with.  BUT, with shoes on he doesn't seem to mind walking on sand and even without them he enjoyed playing in the sand for at least an hour on Monday this week.  He wouldn't crawl or walk away from where he was sitting, but he did PLAY.  He didn't shut down and was actively involved in his task.

The most impressive gain that he has been making aside from walking is with his communication skills!  He is learning a new sign almost every day right now!  Today he used Thank You for the first time, yesterday he signed "More Drink Please" for Daddy. 

Spoken Words:
Mama, Dada, Bruh Bruh, Go, Up, Working on "Woof" so far he says "Fff", Uh-oh, Yea

Signs:
Diaper, More, Milk, Please, Thank You/ You're Welcome, Drink, Eat, Up, Down, Out, All Done, Yes (nodding head), No (shaking head)

Signs he recognizes:
Help, Yuck, Jump, Bubble, Play

Lucas is an amazing helper and has really been pushing Sulley to use his signs.  He even taught him a couple of the signs all on his own! 

A Month of Toddling

It's been just over a month since Sulley took his first steps.  He has been very slow and timid.  At first he would only take a few steps with a lot of coaching.  He'd walk between Tim and I or around the living room but not much further.

Then, he decided to start walking all sneaky like.  He'd toddle around the kitchen or down the hallway, as long as nobody was paying attention to him.  He braced himself on his legs or holding his belly and each step was very deliberate.

Last week during therapy, Ms. Lindsay gave us a weighted vest to try.  The difference in Sulley's confidence with walking was immediate!  He was willing to take several quick steps and just seemed much more at ease.  I was able to find a weighted compression vest just like the loaner on ebay, so we will be able to keep up with it.  Ms. Lindsay did a sensory processing survey on our boy and he scored "More Than Others" and "Much More than Others" in almost every category.  We aren't sure what exactly that is going to mean for him, if anything. 

So far, Sulley is still definitely just a beginning walker, a toddler, to the definition of the word.  He isn't going to outrun anybody just yet.

He has also had a language explosion since we started using the vest.  His words include mom, dad, brother, dog, go, help, and up. He signs more, milk, all done, and down.  He also shakes his head for no.  I love that he is able to communicate most of his needs so clearly at 17 months old. 

Homeschool Second Grade

Lucas is wrapping up his second grade year of homeschooling.  He is 8 and a half years old and has never been to public school.  The past 14 months have been full of new adventures for him & lots of new skills as well!

About a year ago (March 2017) Lucas learned how to ride his bicycle.  He was apprehensive at first, but I firmly encourage him and he eventually took off like a pro!  Within a day or two of learning to ride his 2 wheeler he began to make new friends in the neighborhood.  He also broke his finger that first week of knowing how to ride his bike.  (He took a hard fall while turning on gravel.)  Making neighborhood friends has been amazing.  Our house is the "cool" house and all the kids tend to gravitate here.  We had to set down some rules and that weeded out the kids who were here just for our trampoline. (We had 12 year olds coming to play with our 5 & 7 year olds...)   Now, we are down to a core group of 4 extra kids who like to hang here.  They are all closer in age to Lucas than Vinnie, but they include him just as well.  Lucas has learned some amazing things from having friends from the neighborhood.  He's learned that he can't always be the boss, sharing, problem solving, and we're still working on not bullying in defense of his kid brother.

Around that same time, Lucas also started expressing interest in learning to read.  We worked through about 70 of the "100 Easy Lessons" and he began to read cautiously.  He has since become much more confident and can read quite a bit.  He still struggles with sounding out some words on his own, but if you tell him to find a word in a page, he is able to do it.  We aren't pushing it and it is amazing to watch his confidence grow as he realizes that he is capable!

In the Spring the boys were taking a Mystery Science based co-op class and for the past 2 semesters they have been taking Math Games.  Lucas really enjoys the math games class and getting to play lots of fun games that teach math skills. They have also taken arts & crafts with Grandma & a movement/dance/p.e. class.  Lucas is actually getting into the dance class now too. 

Lucas is an amazing big brother and has been extremely helpful with taking care of baby Sulley.  He enjoys playing with him and taking care of him (most of the time).  Its quite tender to watch the two of them together, as Sulley truly looks up to his brother. 

We haven't done any "school" school work.  Lucas has asked about different topics and we've taught him what he wants to know.  He's very adept at math.  He is starting to get multiplication quite well and is able to do most math in his head. 

One area that Lucas has always excelled is in his Awana memorizations!  He is finishing up the third year of Sparks and will receive the Sparky Award (plaque) for completing all three handbooks. 

He will also get a Sparky review pin for completing the "Return Flight" handbook for the level 1 book.  He has worked *VERY* hard to complete all the activities and memorize the verses for his accomplishments.  We are so proud of him! 

This year the boys also participated in the Sparks A Rama and Awana Grand Prix.  Lucas chose to create a car that could compete to win for speed.  Vinnie wanted to design a car that would win the design competition. 

We learned a lot about the painting techniques this year and both boys accomplished their goals and came home with a trophy.  Lucas had the fastest car out of all the children, and only one of the 4 adult cars beat him!  Everybody loved Vinnie's car that made noise and had a Yoda on top!

Awards night for Sparks is just a couple weeks away and then we will have a break with Lucas until Truth & Training begins in September.  Vinnie will work on learning his review lessons over the summer break. 

Lucas has already completed his end of the year testing for 2nd grade.  He took the California Achievement Test (CAT) and did amazingly well!  We had to do some quick grammar lessons before he took it because I wasn't sure he'd had any grammar training at all (he did though, from coop) so I didn't want him going into it completely blind.  He rocked the math section and only missed ONE question!  Overall he scored in the third grade range for everything, so I'm satisfied that he's ready to move on! 

We are looking forward to a summer of more reading improvement, plenty of beach days, and preparing for fall co-op classes.  Lucas will be "moving up" to the new "Upper Elementary" class, which will be for our third through fifth graders.  They will do more in depth art projects, have a history class that requires reading/writing/and projects, and will do more of the advanced math games. 

Sulley is Walking!

Because Sulley was a preemie, he has had some delays in his physical skills.  He hasn't been terribly behind, but he has been in Occupational/Physical Therapy through Early Intervention since he was about 9 months old.  We've made a lot of progress with monthly, and then 2x a month visits from his awesome therapist. 

Sulley started sitting unassisted in August 2017, so he was about 7 months old.  It was right around his birthday that he learned to crawl.  He took his first steps on April 19, but wouldn't repeat the act until May 6.  Each time he only took a few steps.  On May 7, during therapy he just took off! He walked across the living room numerous times & even made full turns and continued walking! 

He officially "gets it" that he can walk & is very excited when he does it!  He is still crawling most of the time, but he will be running around behind his brothers in no time!

We are so proud of our big boy!

Trying to Resurrect the Blog

So, I clearly lost my blogging mojo a while back and kind of just let the blog drift into oblivion.  I don't even know if anybody still stumbles across it.  But, I did always enjoy using it as a journaling space and somewhere to keep a record of the fun stuff the kids and I did.  So, now that we are getting the house in order and I have a space where I can sit and type again, I figured I'd give a go at bringing it back to life!   

There's no way to quickly recap the last couple years, so I'll just have to let that be.  Obviously our family has expanded since the last time I posted.  Sulley is the sweetest baby & such a blessing.  I can't imagine our lives without him.  He's our fun and sensitive little red head, so easy going and gentle.  His big brothers adore him. 

Tim is still working as a computer geek and supporting my desire to stay home and homeschool the kids.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  We may not have the biggest house, newest car, or fanciest gadgets but we've got each other and the freedom to enjoy ourselves. 

Lucas is technically in 2nd grade according to the state, but we haven't done any formal "curriculum" with him beyond the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book, which we didn't even finish.  We got through about 70 lessons.  He is amazing at scripture memorization and is finishing up his third year of Awana Sparks.  He will have earned all 3 years worth of books & the full review for the first year book.  We couldn't be more proud of him!  He is reading a little and LOVES math. 

Vinnie is officially a first grader this year, but we technically "held him back" by opting out of kindergarten and starting him in Awanas late.  He is not yet reading.  He recognizes most letters and can count almost to 20.  He's not interested in "school" work yet and we are trying to give him space and not push him.  He's funny & entertaining.  He recently dyed his hair turquoise!  He kept his long locks until Nov. 2016 when I finally relented and let him chop them off.  He's finishing up the first year of Awana Sparks. 

His health is AMAZING.  We've got his allergies mostly under control.  Seasonal stuff is still giving us a fit but he is down to being anaphylactic to ONLY: milk, eggs, peanuts, and bananas!  He has outgrown SO MANY of his allergens.  We took a 2nd trip to National Jewish Health in February of this year.  They were amazing, just like last time!  When I have more time I'll try to write up the details of those trips!

Its been 2 years and 7 months since Dad passed.  Its definitely easier now.  We miss him.  I have a good cry every now and then.  Lucas is in counselling and we will probably put him in a group grief therapy soon.  He and Dad were close and he has some unresolved issues with the end of Dad's life.  No thanks to Vibra, who denied the kids a chance to say goodbye.  It makes me sad when I think that Sulley will never know his Pap. 

That's all I have time for now. Hopefully, I'll be back soon! I've missed my dear old blog!

Baseball 2016

Lucas is playing t-ball/coach pitch baseball with Greenbrier Athletic Association this season.