Lauren's Getting Orthotics

Her therapists have been concerned about her left foot. Lauren has always had very tight achilles tendons. This is a common trait among children diagnosed with Sanfillipo. Her left side is weaker than her right. If Lauren gets overly fatigued her left foot will start collapsing in and turning out. The orthotic specialist is going to make her foot inserts to take some of the pressure off of the achilles tendons and stop the left foot from collapsing in. They made the foot impressions by casting Lauren's feet. For a few minutes she had purple casts on both feet. She did great and was in a great mood. She sang Old Macdonald, Mary Had A Little Lamb and Itsy Bitsy Spider for her. It was some of the easiest to understand singing I have heard from her in a long time.

Lauren has been doing great at wearing her hearing aids. I am praying the more she hears the easier her speech will be able to understand again. Lauren had been wearing her hearing aids all day long with out touching them. Her therapist forgot they were even in. I guess Lauren had decided they had been in long enough. She put one in her mouth and chewed up the hearing aid and the mold. Luckily we have insurance on any kind of damage the child causes to her hearing aids. So she will be getting a new hearing aide in a week or two.

Almost Home

Yesterday, we spent all day (literally) at Knotts Berry Farm. Now this is my kind of amusement park. 0 to 90 MPH in four seconds, up 10 stories in the air, constant 70 MPH speeds, etc. is my kind of rides (Dianna's too). I don't remember the last time I was at Knotts, but it had to be 20 years ago. It does not even resemble today what it was last time. There are maybe 4 thrill rides remaining and 8 added. It was a nice change from the slow pace of LegoLand and Disneyland in the earlier week. Although, Disneyland has a few rides that interest me. I just wish my stomach could still handle the G forces that these thrill rides give you.

Today, we are travelling back to our timeshare in Ramona, which is outside of San Diego in the mountains. We are currently visiting with my Uncle Richard and Aunt Dianna at their campsite in San Onofre. What an awesome set up they have. Words don't even describe the scenery and luxury that they have as retirees. But, they have certainly paid their dues and deserve everything they have. We are waiting for the sun to burn off the clouds and then we are going to walk down to the beach and play in the sand and water.

Disneyland was fun but not much to report. Nathan did go on Space Mountain this year and really enjoyed it. He wouldn't go last year. We did go back to the hotel in the afternoon so we could all catch a rest. Then we went back to the parks, caught the electrical light parade and fireworks before calling it a night.

We are actually ready to get back home to see our girl. We only saw her two days out of the entire trip.

Brian

Legoland 2 Days in a Row

Everyone knows Legoland is my favorite park of all times...NOT. So, how did we end up there 2 days in a row? We heard from our pediatrician that a new park called Sea Life Aquarium, which is a part of Legoland, openend last Monday. So, we decided to go check it out. It cost us $20.00 a piece to updgrade our ticket from a 1 day Legoland only ticket to a 2 day park hopper. WHAT A BUST! We made it through the Aquarium in 40 minutes and were done. It was a little interesting to see some of the different types of fish, but not worth the $20.00. Nathan was prophetic at the beginning when he said, "We'll go through this and be able to go to Legoland and ride roller coasters when they open at 10 (40 minutes from when we started Sea Life)."

We did get a chance to ride some of the "roller coasters" before we decided to call it a day at the park. Lauren, Mia and Papa had just arrived in town and we went and had lunch with them. The picture below is the park behind the hotel that we spent the afternoon at.

Yesterday, we went to Legoland with everyone. Lauren was bored on the kiddie rides but loved the roller coasters, so we have two thrill ride kids. Mia and Papa had a great time and we were so thankful that they were able to join us. Every time we go on these park vacations, we wish they were with us, so it was very enjoyable to have them be with us. They really enjoyed it, but they were worn out by the time we left in the late afternoon.

Today is a rest day before we are off to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm on Thursday and Friday. Lauren is going back to Arizona with Mia and Papa tomorrow.

The Plaid Boys and a Pink Princess

Nathan was always such a mommy's boy growing up. He followed me around like my little shadow. I have felt like a part of me is missing this last week with him in kindergarten. Without thinking, I would turn around and look for him. It is hard to believe my baby is old enough to be in school all day long now.

As he has grown older, over the last six months, he has started to become a Daddy's boy now. He now has started following Brian around the house instead of me. He loves being Daddy's little helper and loves for them to build things together. They have built some pretty elaborate Lego projects together lately. He was so excited that Daddy and him could wear the same outfit that I decided to take a picture of my boys.

It is scary to think in a few more years, Nathan will change again. He will no longer want to be seen in public with Brian and I. My friends have also shared with me that he will soon reach a stage where Brian and I don't know anything anymore. Fun times to look forward to! Maybe not our Nathan...we can only hope.

Carrie

Still in Helper Mode

Day four and Nathan is still loving kindergarten. Nathan spent a lot of time at the therapy center being a typical example for some of the special need children. Today, when I picked him up from school the teacher said he did “awesome.” They had to do a worksheet with a mix of addition and subtraction questions. Nathan finished early and helped a boy at his table that had added all the questions. He taught him the difference between an addition and a subtraction sign and helped him fix the questions he had gotten wrong. Nathan is now in a classroom with typical children and he still likes to help the other kids. The teacher acted like she appreciated the help because she still doesn't have an assistant in the room to help. She has 25 kids in the room all by herself. The parents were told that the classroom would be a 1 to 13 ratio. I hope they are able to hire someone soon.

I had been worried that Lauren would regress on her potty training now that she has started back at the center. Over the last nine days she has had no poopy accidents and only four pee pee accidents at the center. YEAH LAUREN!!!!

Nathan's First Day of School

That's Nathan For You!

As we prepare to send Nathan to Paragon Science Academy (see http://elementary.paragonscience.org) starting next Monday for his first day of Kindergarten, we have been working with him on his math and verbal skills by using workbooks. He does a little bit of writing, math and reading each day. He doesn't "always" enjoy the work...ok, hardly ever enjoys it.

This morning as mommy was trying to get him to write some words, he asked the following, "Mommy, why do you make me do so much work?" Mommy answered, "because I love you sooooo much." Nathan responded in his air conditioned home, "Well, could you not love me quite so much, because all this love is making me sweat."

Oh, they say the darndest things....






Hammerin' Nathan helping daddy










The Finished Product - Organizer Shelves and Drawers for Nathan's Room














Lauren's First Day of School (with Michelle, her therapist)