last days of 2

I realized this morning that today is Ollie's last day of being a 2 year old, chronologically that is.  That 3 month difference is still noticeable in him.  That whole preemies catch up by the age of 2 is a bunch of bull, it might be true for babies born a couple of weeks early but mostly a huge lie for ones born earlier then that.  His size is still a bit of a struggle for some gross motor skills, stairs are still done on all fours for up and down, he has finally started jumping without holding onto things and is extremely proud of that fact.  Follow up appointments are coming up in March to see how things are progressing.

We had his birthday party over the weekend and he had a blast.  Our parents came over and so did Louis' grandmother.  We ate snacks and opened presents, he took the time to play with each of them individually before moving on to the next.  We had tacos for supper and I had baked a cake for the occasion.  Like usual we were to busy to take pictures ourselves and I forgot to take them before my mom left.....oops..... so I have no pictures to share right now, but I'll be getting them soon, I hope.

I know it's cliché but they really do grow up so fast.

Frustrated!

My recipe for dealing with anger and frustration: set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes, cry, rant, and rave, and at the sound of the bell, simmer down and go about business as usual.   -Phyllis Diller 

Read more at Brainy Quotes

I actually took Phyllis Diller’s advise this morning, it worked pretty well.

Our liaison called this morning to let us know that we won’t be starting Ollie’s treatment until the new year.  Their reasoning behind it is that they are closed for a week and a half so they can’t help if we have any issues.  I just wish they would of made up their minds at the start of all of this and not gone back and forth on their decision.  This could of all been avoided if they would of done the proper paperwork to begin with a month ago instead of waiting 3 weeks to send papers to people who don’t need them.  All it took was a quick phone call by me to the insurance company to confirm that they cover the product.  

I hate it when peoples disorganization affects others.  

We are still going this Friday to get trained how to use the device and to fill out some paperwork.  Once they decide when we will actually start, the company that makes the device will send a nurse to the house to re-train us because then we will be able to give Ollie an actual shot instead of just practicing with a skin analog.

poking and prodding

Yesterday we spent the day at CHEO.  We went in nice and early to have Ollie tested for growth hormone deficiency.  It required him to take a pill that had a side effect of making him sleepy.  For 2 hours after the pill dose he got blood work done every 30 minutes.  At the end of that test they injected him with a glucose solution to stimulate his pituitary gland to see if he is making enough growth hormone.  After that injection he gets blood work done every 30 minutes again for 3 hours.  He had to have an empty stomach for this test so he didn't get anything to eat until the test was done.

baby we're going down

Got a call from CHEO last week, more precisely from the Bone Clinic liaison.  She was calling about the results of the blood work we had done the previous Friday.  Things seem to be heading in the right direction, we are cutting his pill dose in half, we are now down to 1 pill a day instead of 2.  Ollie is great at taking his pills, he actually reminds us about them sometimes.
From what I understand it looks like his body has caught up to his previous lack of vitamin D and now we are just controlling the fact that his liver can't break down the vitamin to it's final form to be absorbed.

we have one

It's official, we have ourselves a toddlby.  Not quite a toddler but no longer a baby.  I read about this stage over on Jamie's blog.  Frustration comes easily to Olli now, he wants something but can't get to it fast enough or he wants a snack and we don't understand him quickly enough.  Trying to decipher different screams is tiring on us and I am positive he get's fed up that we don't get it.  Cuddling has gone out the window, it's all about efficiency now.  Sometimes it seems that I can't shovel food fast enough at lunch, he get's angry then it becomes next to impossible to feed him quickly because he is flailing around.  Morning is the only quiet time we have now, he will sit in his chair and drink his bottle, usually while watching Elmo.  I can eat some breakfast, tidy up and check my e-mail.  After his bottle it's fruit and cereal time, less meds mean this can be done even faster.  Play time comes next, books, toys, piano, bears, they all get abused before nap time.  I better not dare get up to go to the bathroom though, he will let me know that he doesn't approve.  Electrical cords are the coolest thing ever, must get hands on them NOW.  He pulls himself up on his play table, still has a hard time accomplishing it with the couch or coffee table.  If you hold his hands he tries to walk.  The teeth are still trying to come out, this totally adds to the crankiness.  Fits in public are stressful on me, I'm never quite sure how to handle them, at the moment we try not to give in usually we try and distract him.  A volume control would be really really handy during this stage because he still doesn't understand his feelings.  Surviving a fun and frustrating stage where fluff off the floor tastes better then real food.  How did you handle this phase without ripping all our hair out or having it turn completely gray?

Ollie Update

Yesterday we woke up bright and early, well it was for Ollie and I, Louis always get's up early for work.  We started our day with an appointment with the physiotherapist.  Ollie has progressed a lot since our first visit with her.  We spend some time on those blue gym mats, play in front of a mirror, attempt to grab and chase everything.  She is no longer worried about his physical development and we might not need to see her next month if he is advanced enough.  Our next stop of the day was at CHEO(children's hospital) we had to see two people here.  We started our visits with our hematologist, like usual we waited an hour for our appointment.  The waiting was worth it though.  We got confirmation that everything looks good now, his system is working properly and we are seeing one specialist less.  We just need to get his levels checked every 4-5 months with our pediatrician.  We had 20 minutes to have a quick lunch before heading off to our next specialist, our super sweet endocrinologist.  We concluded with them that Ollie is getting too much calcium with his diet and his supplements so we will stop the supplements and see how that goes, we will also be getting some blood work done at the end of the month to check if it really is a genetic issue that is the root cause of his rickets.

While we were waiting to see our hematologist there was a mom, dad and super cute little girl, probably not older then 4, waiting for their nurse/caseworker.  They had just found out that their little girl has renal cancer that requires treatment for the rest of her life, unless a cure is found.  They were given a book on childhood cancers and a binder with information, life changes and a specific section on explaining the disease and treatment to children. We don't know who they are or where they are from but hearing them get the news broke my heart.  It was a huge reminder to us that even with all the difficulties Ollie has had we are very lucky, what he has is manageable.

On a happier note.....

In the past month Ollie has:

-figured out how transition from laying to sitting

-started crawling and is getting fast

-started to drink from a straw cup

-is drinking a lot more formula

-grown almost 3cm

-gained 2lbs

-started standing if we help him up

He did it.

Last night Ollie was playing on his mat while Louis and I were tidying up the kitchen.  When I turned around to check on him I got a surprise.  I caught him in the act, I caught him on his tummy.  The child who despises tummy time, I saw him willingly be on his tummy, he turned himself over, we didn't force him.  He flipped over onto his stomach, lifted his head played a few minutes then flipped back over.  I'm positive he understood what he just did, when he flipped back he had a huge smile on his face and was kicking up a storm.  I am super happy that at his next peds appointment I can finally say a big huge YES when he asks what seems to be his favourite question, does he roll over onto his stomach?

On a side note, we got a call from the endocrinologist to let us know that his calcium levels are looking good with the supplements.  We have also been told to do blood tests every other week instead of every week.  Finally seem to be heading in the right direction.

Guessing Games

We have had many doctors visits recently.  All of them trying to figure out why Ollie is still so small.  Our little guy has been poked multiple times for blood tests, had his whole body x-rayed, been handled by many people feeling his thyroid glands, kidneys, spleen, liver.  He's had an echocardiogram, his body measured and countless other things.  Yesterday we had an appointment with an endocrinologist, they concluded that he probably has Rickets, a vitamin D deficiency that softens the bones.  We have been put on a prescription of Calcium supplements and super concentrated Vitamin D drops.  We will be doing this for a month, then doing some more tests to see if it made any changes.  It is relieving to have someone who actually made a guess as to what might be wrong with him.  We have seen a haematologist because it seems that his white blood cell count is low, they currently have no explanation of why, we are seeing them again next week to see what his numbers are doing.  We have appointments set up for a kidney ultrasound(to see if the calcium is being absorbed properly), with a geneticist(not sure why, pretty sure we don't have genetic issues) and also with our regular pediatrician.  I am really hoping that the supplementation will fix all the issues so we can stop going to the specialists at the hospital.  He is hitting his milestones, eating tons of solids, is super active and one heck of a flirt, just ask the ladies from the hospital and pharmacy yesterday.

Family Photos

When kiddo was born, the hospital gave me a "special delivery" box.  It is pretty much just a marketing tool for Loblaws inc. but it is full of very useful stuff.  It contained a pack of "green" diapers, a packet with 2 undershirts, a little bottle of hand cleanser, some baby wipes and some coupons for a few different things.  One of the coupons was for a free pack of diapers, like the ones given in the box.  There was also a coupon for 25 4x6 prints and one for a picture package from their in store photographers.  I had forgotten about those coupons until we organized the stuff in Ollie's room and I found them again.  Perfect timing really, Ollie smiles a lot more now, he is much more stable in an upright position and it is almost Christmas, the time of year where lots of people expect new pictures of kids.  I just have to figure out what we will all wear as I would like to get at least 1 family photo where everyone looks half decent.  We have frames that we bought when we first moved out of our parents homes that are only partially filled with our own photos.  It looks like we have lots of kids that look nothing like us.  I think that is one of the problems with digital cameras, you take a photo, put it in the computer, some go up on this blog, then it resides there for the rest of it's life.  Most of the time when we get pictures printed it is for other family members as gifts and such.  Our walls are bare, like there is absolutely nothing on them, it is very odd looking.  I must really get some big pictures printed and get them framed to fill this massive decorative void.

8 months already

Dear Ollie,

Today is your 8th month birthday.

8 months ago you were born by surprise in Toronto of all places.

I guess you just wanted to be an Ontarian like your mom.

You started laughing out loud a few weeks ago.  Usually it is when we are tickling you or making you jump on your laps.

This is a clip from about a week ago.

You had super drooled and I was wiping your neck with a napkin.

I know it is weird to say but I find you more entertaining now that you are a bit older.  You are not at the same level as other 8 months old as you are technically only 5 months, even though your size makes you seem even younger.  I have been thinking of just telling people that you are just a very advanced 3 month old.

Loving you more and more every day,

Your Mom