Appointments Galore!!!

Today we had LOTS of appointments. This morning we had our normal OT session. That went really well. Sammy is still doing so well using his left hand in two handed activities. We hadn't seen Jolene since the cast was removed and she was AMAZED at the results. Anytime we talked about putting the bivalve cast on, Sammy threw a HUGE fit. So we just worked on two handed activities mostly.

Then this afternoon we had Sammy's appointment with the rehab doctor, we brought ALL of the kids with us. Dr. Klava was SO impressed with the results of the CIT. He asked us how the bivalve cast was working for us, we were super honest with him! I told him that the first little bit the bivalve cast was working well, but now he throws a HUGE fit whenever he even sees it. I told him that it was just really hard to get it on and KEEP it on. Instead of telling us that we needed to try harder, he said not to worry about it. That it was summer time and he couldn't be more pleased with the results that he was seeing today, and to really push two handed play right now. He said the more two handed activities and weight bearing activities the better. That we needed to just remind him when we saw him do things that would be better with two hands. Dr. Klava was also really happy to see Sammy walking and stepping up on this stool. He felt like his braces were fitting great and would fit great all summer. We had two questions for Dr. Klava. The first one is that Sammy has a ridge on his head. I know that all kids have this and it is normal but Sammy's seems to be sticking around longer then I remembered the others. He said that it was completely normal and to not worry about it. The next questions was related to Sammy's PMG (polymicrogyria). The more I read about PMG the more scared I get about seizures! It just seems like every article I read includes epilepsy and seizures. Dr. Klava said that he has some children with PMG that do have seizures, but many that don't. He said typically we would already be seeing seizures by this point if he was going to have them. I felt a ton better leaving the office today. I wish we could just see the future for a little while, so I would know what to worry about and what to not worry about.After that appointment we walked to the other end of the parking lot to see our family doctor. Samuel finally had his 2 year well check, Anna had her kindergarten check up and a couple other kids had various things that needed to be looked at. Sammy is still our short stalky fella with a large head! He was 30 pounds and 33 inches long, though all of that is not very accurate because he was SCREAMING and kicking the entire measuring portion of the exam. Of course no office visit is complete without a million shots. Our doctor doesn't see kids after their kindergarten check till age 12, I asked the nurse to make sure that ALL the girls were up to date for shots. Both big girls needed a booster shot, Anna needed FIVE and Samuel needed one. Joseph was SO happy to not need any! At the doctors office I started thinking about how each of our bodies has at least one weakness. For example Elizabeth is such a healthy little girl, but her ears since she was a tiny baby have caused her problems. She has had two sets of tubes put in, her adnoids taken out and STILL keeps getting infections. Lately, I have been struggling with finding a balance for Sammy. I want him to be a normal happy boy and today after the appointment I realized that Sammy's weakness is much like Elizabeth's weakness. I get frustrated with both weaknesses. I wish Elizabeth didn't have problems with her ears just as I wish Sammy didn't have to go to therapy and see "special" doctors to work on his weakness. But as a parent it is up to me to know what is best for each of my children and find that balance for them and for us as a family. I dont' know why today made me feel better talking to a doctor about my kids weaknesses, but for some reason it did!As a rule in our house we always do something fun to reward good shot behavior (and we had VERY good shot behavior today-getting so much easier as the kids get bigger!). Daniel had a great idea to go to a local gardening store. They have mini greenhouses and a ton of flowers and trees to look at. After our usual library run we headed over there to look around. All the kids had a great time.

Another quick update is that Sammy can now walk up stairs without any help. He of course holds the railing, but he needs no help from us and wants no help. Downstairs are trickier for him, he needs to hold onto the railing and a hand. I am sure in a few weeks he will need no help from us at all.

Here are some recent pictures of Sammy playing outside! All of the kids have been living outside