Eating Camp Day 9

This post will be mostly pictures (as requested by a lonely Daddy at home), but I have a few small updates, then we'll get to the pics.

They have changed the drinking thing again! They have no decided to try to slowly do a sippy cup with no stopper and just let it drip into his mouth as long as he tolerates it and work our way up to sucking, etc. He seems to at least accept the cup without jumping back and trying to get away from it. We'll see. That will be the main WORK of this week and then we'll see how we go from there.

His eating volume is great. We'd be ready to drop another bottle from the calorie perspective, but we still need it for the fluids until he gets better at drinking.

Possibly the best news of the day is that we will NOT be here 6 weeks. It will probably be more like 4. I'll know more about it after this week of working on the sippy cup and we'll meet again early next week and make a plan for going home sometime in that 4th week probably. YESSSSSSS!!!

A bit of info I forgot to include in my Dr. appointment info is that when they did the ultrasound the measurements showed it to be approx. 2 lb. 10 oz!!!!!! Without even thinking I said, "thats huge!" when he told me that weight. I am excited about that. Keep growing little one!!

Ok...thats it for boring words.

klp wanted to type daddy an email. He ended up freezing the computer.

When we play on the bed I'll say, "Let's go night night" and he lays down and laughs! He thinks its so funny.

He wanted a taste of my Gushers. Can you tell he's a little gun shy but HAD to take a lick. Note:he will lick ANYTHING he just won't eat it.

Reluctantly sharing with mommy

yummy gushers!

Of course its fun when my mom is here. She brought this fun bath toy from her house and it was lots of fun.

One thing that has NOT been hard since we've been here is getting this boy to sleep. I usually have to keep him awake to finish his bottle before his nap and before bed. He's SOOO worn out.

Speaking of worn out, he's sleeping peacefully in his bed. He's slept pretty good the last few nights. Made it til 5 am in his bed then sleeps with me the last couple of hours. I can handle that!

Eating Camp Day 8

Today was a better day. They have made another change in his drinking. He wasn't taking to the cup like they'd hoped he would so they decided to do something different. For right now, they're giving him milk or some "drink" with a spoon during his meals. In the mean time, they are going to go BACK to the Honey Bear but not have anything in it and work just on getting him to open his mouth and let the straw go in. Then we'll work our way up from there. I think this is a good move because now he can get more food. His volume was way up today because he wasn't wasting his time with the drinking trouble. They just want to be careful not to add any more aversion to drinking than he already has so they are backing up and going slow. I will meet with the team tomorrow to hopefully get an overall update on goals/plans/progress. 2 kids left today and both of them were only here 4 weeks. What if we only have to stay 4 weeks???!!!!! I'm not going to get my hopes up, but that would be so great.

I saw my Dr. today and everything went really good. He did a detailed ultrasound and the baby looked great and my cervix looked GREAT. Sorry I talk so much about my cervix on here. Its kind of a big deal right now. In fact, everything looked so good that he said he didn't think he needed to see me again for a month. I said, "ummm that makes me really nervous!" So he laughed and said that i can come back in 2 weeks. I am going to bed tonight feeling very good about things. We hit 28 weeks today, the baby is currently kicking like a crazy monster, and I got the all clear from the doc!! Thank you for your prayers...keep em comin!

Eating Camp Day 7

I guess today you could say may have been Kanyon's first "off" day since we've been here. He was fussy for PT and didn't eat good at several of his meals. I think the main problem is that he doesn't like the drinking part and since they alternate bites and drinks, if he has a stand off with the drink then he's not eating as much......if that makes any sense. Not sure why he is not into drinking, but we really need him to pick that up. Its going to be hard to get much further with his food volume if he is spending so much time with the drinking. They do 3 bites, then a round of drinks (5 sips), 3 bites, a round of drinks, etc. for 25 min. I think he's spending a lot of time with the drinking so he's not getting as much food as he could. He's actually doing well with the bites as far as not refusing and stuff.

His runny nose stuff is gone and he isn't coughing anymore. He's taken a good nap and other than banging around on the bed rails every time he rolls over in his bed he's sleeping pretty good. That didn't even wake him up til about 6am. The rest of the night he would sleep right through it.

My mom is here and that has been nice. Not only do I have the much needed and appreciated help, but I have company too!

I'm headed to my Dr. here in Dallas tomorrow. Hopefully all will be well.

Eating Camp Weekend Update

We had nice weekend with Kory here and were sad for him to leave this evening. He helped me get the room all regrouped and klp ready for bed and then hit the road. Kory stayed the night here at the hopsital with Kanyon Friday night and I went to Paul and Katie's house. It was a marvelous night of sleep for me and I think pretty much the opposite for Kory. klp was coughing some and I think that kept them both up. He's pretty much over that now and last night he slept cough free. Saturday we had and extra bit of fun when Kanyon's buddy from church Parker and his parents Steven and Amanda (and even his aunt that we didn't even know) came by to visit us. The brought Kanyon a tow truck that he is LOVING!! We are blessed with great friends who even though its only been a week will take the time to come visit us!
Thanks for coming by! We also got to see Cliff and Maggie this evening and LOVED that. She came all the way from California to see kanyon.....well, maybe not JUST to see Kanyon, but we loved seeing them.
Here is klp with Parker just before Parker left to go to his first Ranger game!


klp got to show KLP how cool his window was. KLP got to share some new songs on the ipod with klp!

As for therapy and such, they still stayed on the feeding schedule over the weekend, but we had no PT or OT. We will crank that back up tomorrow.

In other news, we did have a little bit of drama this weekend. I started having some back pain Saturday afternoon and was a little worried about it. When I was pregnant with the twins, I had back pain the night before I ended up in the hospital and that could've been the beginnings of labor, so I was a little nervous. We decided I should go get checked out, so we called in the troops. PAUL AND KATIE!! Paul came and stayed here with Kory so that if Kory needed to leave he could. It was getting close to Kanyon's bed time and I just wanted Kory there with him. Katie went with me to the hospital. We are literally one block away so it was a quick trip. If something was wrong, Kory was close and could get there fast. They monitored contractions and I didn't have any and was ready to go home and then a few started showing up on the computer (I felt nothing) so they gave me a shot of some medication to relax my uterus. I never had any more contractions and they even think the ones that I did have could've been irritation from other things they were doing to me. They did an FFN test (predicts if labor will start within 2 weeks) and it was negative, so that is good. I feel like I don't trust that, but they say its 99.9% accurate. They checked my cervix and it was good, so that was all good. They said I was having some tightening which was irritability probably from over doing it/not enough water, etc. By the time I left I felt pretty good about everything being OK. I just question myself and hope I will be able to know if something is wrong if something does go wrong. After all of that, Katie and I got to her house at 3am!! She was the best to be there with me for so long. I was glad I went and feel good that everything got checked out and OF COURSE SO thankful that I didn't have a baby last night. I'm nervous of course and probably will be but am praying for peace through the next few weeks. As far as bed rest, that isn't necessary yet. They said I can do "normal" activity just to put my feet up and take it easy when I can. They felt like it was OK for me to stay here at Eating camp especially if I had someone here to help me. So, my mom is going to come and spend most of the week and we'll just take it from there. I have an appointment with the high risk Dr. Tues. morning (or earlier if he wants to see me sooner) so I will be anxious to talk with him. In a lot of ways, being here may be better than being at home because there are times of the day that Kanyon isn't with me and I can just lay down and put my feet up. So, I feel good with my mom coming to help play with him and entertain him when he's not in therapy and I can make SURE I'm not over doing it. So, there we go. I am praying for peace of mind as well as the wisdom to know my body and know when/if I do need to go see a Dr. All things point to everything being fine, so I have to go with that and do everything I can to be healthy for this baby. Your prayers mean the world to us.

We're geared up and ready for Week 2!

Eating Camp Day 4

I know day 4 isn't done yet, but I had a minute so I thought I'd better update:

*I got to talk to his nutritionist today and she went over all of his calorie counts and intake/fluids. She is very pleased. He has even gained a few kilos since we've been here. He is getting more than enough calories with the 3 bottles and the meals. She thinks we are close to dropping down to 2 bottles. If/when we do that, we'll have to figure out ways during the day to get water, juice, etc. in him to make sure he gets enough fluid. The thought of only 2 bottles a day makes me giddy. I mean seriously. That means I will be washing fewer bottles and I'm not complaining here, but I've (I meaning me, kory, and our moms) have been washing bottles for 2 1/2 years!!! And those crazy bottles we have to use have 5 parts each!!!! Plus the bottle we use to mix up the pedia sure and thickner!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

*Speaking of fluids, they have made a change with his drinking during meals. They were trying the honey bear cup, but today decided to switch to a little tiny cup. Like a medicine cup. They said he did much better with it when they tested it out so she wants to switch to it all the time. They said he was more willing to GO to the cup and accept it whereas he was still really aversive to taking the straw honey bear thing. Fine with me. Whatever works. Hopefully he'll start taking more and more fluids during his meals and will depend less on getting them outside of meals.

*He for sure is congested. He has is coughing right now as he naps and I feel bad for him. He acts totally fine and I really think it started out as allergies and the congestion stuck around long enough to settle into a cough. The attending physician started him on some allergy meds last night so hopefully they will stop any more congestion and we can get rid of it soon. Poor coughing baby. I hate it for him. And I haven't told him yet, but he's supposed to get his flu shot today!

*He slept ALL night in his bed!!! That means I only dealt with the normal waking up of myself trying to stay comfy (and looking at the clock to see how late it was to see how long he'd stayed in his bed!) YEAH!! Hopefully he'll sleep good tonight too, but we gotta get rid of this cough!

*The highlight of today will be when Kory gets here. We are excited to see him and I'm looking forward to having a little back up around here! :)

Eating Camp Day 2

Its been another good day here. We had a little better night last night as he made it in his own bed until 3 am. (as opposed to 11:30 the night before) and we both slept better. Hopefully he'll get adjusted to the new place and sleep better.

They have made a couple of changes but nothing major. We're trying Pediasure with fiber to help with his.........**system** so we'll see how that goes. One of his therapists today said that he was drinking from his cup better. That is the newest thing and the thing he needs the most work on. Maybe I'll get a picture of the cup they're teaching him to use. Its a honey bear cup. Literally, its a honey bear like you eat honey out of with a straw coming out the spout. We can squeeze the drink up the straw until he learns to suck. We'll see.

Here are a few pics

His bed is cage-like. Especially when I raise the bar all the way up. He actually doesn't mind it. He's playing in it right now. In this pic he's enjoying his dump truck in his bead....

then CHUNKING it over the rail...his REAL favorite thing to do. He's really in to throwing.

If we're not in therapy, you can probably guess that we're here. On my bed by the window. He LOVES it and has so much fun.

klp continues to have lots of drainage. He has for a few weeks and its just clear snot (nice info, right?) But of course we don't want it to get worse. He's started coughing some today and I'm just hoping this whole thing stays harmless. We need a HEALTHY KANYON!

Eating Camp Day 1

We had a really good first full day today. I'll tell you a little about our schedule so you can know what our day is like. We start our day with a feeding at 8am. I got him up about 7:40 and if you know klp you know that is E-A-R-L-Y for him. He did great though. They (therapists) come get him for his feedings and then bring him back and tell me how he did. They do this 5 times a day and each meal lasts 30 min. As of now our schedule is something like meals at 8, 10, 11:30/12, 3, and 5:30. I give him a bottle after his noon feeding and then he takes a nap. We do the other bottle after his 5:30 and then his last one at night before bed. He is READY for bed by about 8-8:30 (usually he's going hard until at least 10 pm. but the early morning and early nap seems to run out) but I have to keep him up to feed him his last bottle at 9. Both nights he's been asleep by 9:30 so I feel like thats pretty good compared to his usual bed time. Along with his feeding, he has a regular speech therapy session every day for 30 min. as well as 30 min. OT and PT. Those 2 may not be every day, but they will be at least 2 times a week. The more the merrier. As you can see, the day is pretty full. That helps me a lot as I try to keep this baby in my belly. The late afernoons and evenings are going to by the longest stretches of time where I have to entertain him. That can get tricky, but we'll be just fine. The nurses and therapits are really helpful and aware of my situation and helping me lift him and stuff when I need it.

I am very thankful for one thing in particular. As a general rule, kids who are over 15 months seperate from their parents. That means the parents have to leave the hospital by 8am and can't come back until 5. They do this for the first 1-2 weeks because they say usually the child does better when the parent is gone. I was worried about doing that because Kanyon is at such an in between age that he is mobile but NOT at all independent and can't be left alone for 1 second. Not to mention the fact that if you aren't watching him, he'll lick the floor and put whatever in his mouth (unless its food of course). That with the fact that he's still taking a bottle and needs to be put down for a nap, I was just really uncomfortable leaving him. Developmentally we are still a long ways from toddlerhood where he could just play in the play room with general supervision. I just didn't feel like that was the safest thing for him. So, after telling them about my concerns they said they'd let me try it with me here and if it was a problem then we would have to seperate. I was sure he'd do fine because he's never had ANY trouble leaving me. Sure enough, someone walks through the door to our room and he turns on the charm and wins the hearts of them all. He could care less that they are taking him away from me. I'm so thankful and I hope this continues.

He ate good today and things should go pretty much the same tomorrow. No major changes.

My parents were on their way home from Abilene today so they stopped in this evening and visited us. Last night was a bad night as far as sleep goes. He didn't sleep in his bed. I think it had something to do with the fact that its as hard as a rock. That is very un like him. He never sleeps with me, but he did last night. Yeah, me and Kanyon crammed in my little hospital bed. And don't forget my belly!! Its hard enough to get comfy with just me and baby, but with klp joining us it was a rough night. For me.....kanyon slept great! I was up all night. His nap was pretty much the same. Which was actually a good thing because then I got to sleep too because he needed to be out of his bed and in mine! :) Its sweet to cuddle with my boy, but I'm hoping tonight goes better. While my parents were here, me and my mom went and bought an egg crate and got his bed all soft. HOPEFULLY it will do the trick. We'll see.

Seriously I have a typing problem. Its like I just can't stop. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. We are thankful for a good first day.

Pics from Day 0

Paul and Katie came to visit last night and bring me dinner and it was SOOOO good to see them! It also worked out that me and Katie have the same camera so she let me borrow her USB til mine gets here this weekend. So, I will share a few pics from yesterday and before.

We stopped by Daddy's office on the way out of town. Of course klp insisted on sitting in the big chair all by himself!


Adam and Doodle and Caden came to church with us Sunday and Caden and Kanyon had lots of fun playing at the window. I'm so MAD I didn't get a picture of them together during Sunday School. They love each other.

We got in some fun times with the Corbitts Saturday night. The Corbitt kids loved Kory and as you can see, Kanyon just loves smiling for the camera!

Here is the Eating Camp Man himself on Day 0. He had just gotten his ID bracelet on his ankle and was loving the window by my bed. He LOVES it still! He also loves this toy that a friend from church gave him. I have the best friends in the world. They sent me off with bags full of snacks, books, etc. and toys for Kanyon. He loves this key! Thanks guys!

Well, Dog night was a bust. He could've cared less. He just wanted to scoot around out of the room. He did find it a bit interesting that this dog looked just like Ollie. He took a good look at him and told him he was an IMPOSTOR!!

Day 1 update coming later.

Eating Camp: Day 0

Eating camp Day 0. I learned in the NICU that the first day is Day zero, not 1! We got here today around 1 p.m. and have been busy ever since. We are in the exact same room as last time. Which just so happens to be the teeny tiny one, but that is really OK. I like cozy. klp has eaten once today. I fed him while they watched (I HATE doing that) and he did good. He'll eat one more time tonight.



Tomorrow we will start the regular feeding schedule. He'll be fed (purees with the spoon) 5 times a day and we are going to try to just do 3 bottles instead of 4. There will be lots of adjusting with fluids and intake as the nutritionist sees fit, but that is what we're going to start with. Tomorrow he will start his PT and OT evaluations so we'll get to meet those therapists.



I've already seen on of our fav nurses from last time and she agreed to give me my shots on the Thursdays that she is working. So that is taken care of for now.



I feel good and looking forward to getting this thing really started. The things I'm not looking forward to aren't going to go away, so we will embrace this whole thing. I've already washed klp's hands a million times. I HAVE to let him scoot on the ground, I mean i have no choice, but SHEESH i don't like it. Our rooms are all together in a pod like thing for the feeding kids ( I think there are 4 or 5) and we have a big playroom in the middle. Of course that makes me nervous because I'm not really used to community toys. They do clean them daily (or more) but I will be wiping them down every time we play. I'm just paranoid a little. The last thing I want to do while we're here is get sick. So, we'll also be praying for health for both of us as we are living amongst others!! Speaking of, I am reminded again of a trait I have discovered in myself. I consider myself a social person. I enjoy people, I thrive on being with people, I talk too much, and I enjoy meeting new people. BUT in situations like this, I'm totally anti-social. I'd rather just hang in my own room and do my own thing. I feel kinda bad. But oh well. I'm nice to the other parents, but I just don't mingle a whole lot. Hope they don't think I'm rude. The Child Life people here do lots of fun things most of which klp could care less about, but tonight they are bringing DOGS so we will for sure do that!!!

Not sure why this is so long. I won't do this every day!

Eating Camp Eve

We are FOR SURE leaving for eating camp first thing Monday morning. We got word that everything with insurance went through, so we are good to go. I'm packing and trying to get the house cleaned and ready for me to be gone. I'm not sure why I want it clean when I leave, its about to turn into a bachelor pad and I have a feeling its not going to stay clean. :) It is a weird feeling packing for such a long stay. Last year when I left, I was in a total stress fog so I wasn't even really conscious. This year I have a little more stability and so its just different. 6 weeks is a long time. Last year we were there almost 9. I'm not expecting that at all this time. We are trying to soak up lots of time with Ollie and LOTS of time with Daddy as our weekends just won't be long enough. I am gearing up for MAJOR Mommy Kanyon bonding time. These kinds of things are hard (and I'm sure my "take it easy" pregnancy will make it a little harder) but they are a time that me and Kanyon are in this thing together and, without trying to sound cheesy, they do kind of bond us . Or at least I think that. I'm not sure that klp spends much time thinking about bonding.

I have every reason to believe that Kanyon will be resilient and respond great to the intensity of this whole thing, but I can't help but worry just a little that he will crash under the pressure. He's NEVER done that....when the going gets tough, the Grand Kanyon shows up takes it, so I'm hoping he will do that this time. Please pray for him. This is going to be a lot for him to take in and process. Not only will the feeding be intense, but he will be getting PT and OT every day (as opposed to 2 times a week) which will be great, but that is lots of work. Our schedule will for sure change feeding and sleeping. He's used to staying up late and sleeping late, not sure that will work there. AND we'll be sleeping and playing and spending our days in a new place that is very different from home without our rocking chair, toys, and our DADDY! Just pray that the little man handles it well. These are the times that I really depend on that personality of his that just goes with the flow and rolls with the punches.

I am going to have a lap top with me so hopefully I can update often and let klp fans know how he's doing. Thanks for your prayers for the Phillips Phamily. Again.

Last Post for Now--Fun Videos!

Ok...just got a call from the clinic...we're not headed there tomorrow either! UGHHH! I am ready to get this thing started so we can get back home! I'll post when we get there and let you know to officially begin praying for EATING CAMP!!!

These are just a couple of funny videos of Kanyon enjoying life. This first one shows his "puppy" side. Because he needs his good hand to scoot, he often carries things in his mouth while he's scooting around. I think he looks like a little puppy. This booster seat is his FAV thing to drag around. ALL OVER THE HOUSE!




This last one is long and maybe pretty boring after a while. A couple of weeks ago when the weather was nice and cool, Kory wanted to give Kanyon his last bottle out on the porch. klp LOVES to sit on the swing on the porch so that was great. So, I sent them out to eat around 9-9:30. I showered, cleaned up the kitchen, did lots of other things assuming KLP was feeding klp and then settling in to go to sleep. FINALLY at like 10:30 I thought, "Oh, they must've fallen asleep out there on the porch. How cute!" So I opened the back door and was slammed with the sounds of laughter and squealing. The neighbors' dogs were yelping and barking and klp was LOVIN' it!! So being the fun (non bedtime minded) daddy that he his, KLP joined in the fun and yelled and laughed along with him. Contributing greatly to the explosion of FUN Kanyon was having. I ran and got my camera and since it was dark, there is only sound, but that was the best part. You'll notice klp has the hiccups. He had been laughing really hard for a long time. Hopefully you can tell the difference between the dogs barking, Kory's laughing, and Kanyon's squeals and laughs. Enjoy!

Picture Post

First of all, we were set to leave for Eating Camp today, but we are not leaving today. They are still ironing out some insurance things so hopefully we will leave tomorrow. OK....here we go.

Kanyon is obsessed with the dishwasher and he can hear me open it all the way across the house and he comes running.......scooting I mean. The kind of speed scooting where his rear end barely touches the ground, it just glides across the floor so fast that he's almost flying! Kory called me to the entry way a few nights ago and this is what we found in our front door. He must've grabbed a spatula while I was unloading the dishwasher. And apparently, he was trying to pry his way outside.

Several weeks ago 4 of Kory's best friends came in to town for his 30th bday. Kory had no idea they were coming, so it was fun to surprise him. It was so fun to let those boys be together and laugh. They are so much fun and we had a great weekend! Thanks for coming guys!

Frank with Kanyon, Scott, Paul, Kory, and Myles

BUT an even better part was that their wives got to come too! It is so hard to get us all together I couldn't believe that it worked out. It was so fun! And in case you're wondering, Kanyon was NOT starving for attention!

Frank and Jen with Kanyon, Scott and Paula, Paul and Katie, Me (baby) and Kory, Myles and Lisa

I'm telling on myself here. I just had to take a picture of Kanyon's booty. I mean seriously!! This is what his clothes look like at the end of the day.....or half way through the day. I PROMISE I mop! I really do, its just a losing battle with this little boy. If I ever have another boy all of their hand-me-down clothes will be stained on the right cheek!

klp has recently taken an interest in the TV. We got an entertainment center so the TV is lower now, so I think he can just finally see it. This particular day it was Jeopardy, but Wheel of Fortune is another favorite. He sits in the same spot, usually chewing on something and takes in a little TV.....goes and plays....then comes back for more. I'm thinking watching Jeopardy is probably going to make him a genius.

He hears the camera and this is what I get. Its almost impossible to get a picture of him DOING something like watching TV because he hears the beep and flashes this cheesy grin!

Kory and I are Popsicle lovers and now, so is klp. I was eating one the other night and he would NOT let me eat in peace. He was licking the thing like crazy. So I decided to just share it with him. He wasn't very patient when we "took turns" so I just shared it with him at the same time.

Again, he hears the camera and does this. It took forever to get a picture of him licking because he kept doing this!

At Kory's softball game klp was kept busy by Addison's sand bucket. He played with it much like the bowl and spoon in the video. That lead to mud all over the face.

This picture is for the Tutts. Some of our sweet friends from church have 2 little boys that have been very LOYAL prayer buddies and friends to Baby Kanyon. They wanted him to have this Tshirt so they gave it to us back when Kanyon was still in the hospital. Well, he can finally wear it!! I took this picture just for them. As you can see, he LOVES it! Thanks boys!!

Now for BABY stuff. Here is the only belly shot I've taken this whole time. I look terrible, but I'm not too worried about it. I was around 23 weeks when this was taken.

Here is our latest sono of baby. Its one of the cool/freaky 4D pics. Its kind of a profile shot.

Here is the old fashion picture that is a little easier to see. This is the profile.

What does it look like to you??? Boy or Girl??

Therapy Videos

***As you can see, my awsesome sis in law and favorite computer nerd Rachel got my computer cleaned up so I'm back to blogging. I'll be catching up so there may be several posts in one day...so DON'T MISS ONE!!! ******

Until a few months ago, it never occurred to me to video Kanyon's therapy sessions. I'm so mad I haven't been doing it all along! It would be fun to go back and watch them and see progress. Here are a couple from the last few months.

This first one is of him practicing crawling. As I've mentioned before, he has been SO CLOSE to crawling for a while, but can't quite totally do it. Its hard to get a good video because sometimes he's REALLY good and other times he can't quite get the rhythm. This one is pretty good and I'm pleased to say that since this video, he's doing EVEN better. He can actually take a few "steps" forward without us helping him balance or supporting him or anything. His main problem continues to be that he gets too excited and tries to go to fast. His knees get too far under him and he rolls over. SOOOO its a fine line "motivating" him with the toys to crawl to us. They have to be cool enough to want to crawl to, but not too cool to get him all wound up. We have learned that we CAN NOT crawl to Daddy. That is just WAY too exciting and he wobbles and falls all over the place trying to get to him. I'm not sure that he'll decide to use crawling as a mode of transportation but we will continue to encourage him to do it more and more and hope that he will get good at it. We are so very proud of him. He works so hard.

This was exciting because its not really often that he shocks me with how good he does at something the very first time. I don't mean to sound negative and I'm not being negative about it, I just mean that usually we have to do lots of hand over hand/doing it for him/showing him what to do before he catches on. This video is of him in his gait trainer. We've had it for quite a while and he would just kinda sit on the seat and chew the velcro or maybe scoot it backwards. This day Celia (his PT) took the seat out for the first time so that he had to support himself and take the steps. She knows how to support him and keep this safe as far as his shoulders, etc. so I don't do this with him by myself. Its a professional only job at this point. I am just the idiot talking trying to get him to take steps. I had no idea what he would do when she put him in it, but Celia and I were both pleasantly surprised with his steps and his ability to provide a lot of the support on his own. He was moving it forward with his own steps! GOOOOOO Kanyon!!

In this therapy world we live in, its sometimes hard to watch EVERYTHING be so hard for him to learn, but you won't find prouder parents than those that have to watch their little one work for EVERY SINGLE move and development.

Kanyon feeds himself!

Here is a little video I took a few weeks ago. Part of his eating protocol and routine is that the plays while he eats....I'll leave it at that, I won't go into long detail to explain the rest. For a while now, his favorite toy has been a bowl and a spoon. By the looks of this, you'd think that this child is feeding himself like a champ. The problem is, once food is on that spoon, its not so fun. But its cute when he pretends! Its kinda long, but here it is. Enjoy!

Still Pregnant!

As of 12:15 a.m. I am more pregnant than I've ever been!! I had a day full of Dr. appointments today, but all went well. I survived my glucose test. That stuff really wasn't THAT nasty. I mean it wasn't my first choice of breakfast, but it wasn't that bad. I kinda like my method of DREADING something really bad so that when it actually comes it is not as bad as I thought! I passed the test, so that is good. I can keep eating donuts!

We had our big ultrasound where they measure everything and we are so very thankful that everything looked good. We got some cute pictures, but I'll have to post them when I finally finish cleaning off my computer. I am going to hopefully do that this weekend. This sono girl was VERY good keeping the secret. She told me to look away a few times, but I didn't mind. She never said, he/she or even it the whole time! I still think it looked like a boy! :) My Dr. checked me and the sonogram girl measured my cervix and it continues to be on excellent behavior! YEAH!

I feel much better heading off to Dallas knowing that things are good. I will see the Dr. in Dallas next week. That's all I have to update for now! Happy weekend!

Nervous

I am a big ball of nerves right now. I feel like I have a lot to worry about. Like the fact that I'm 24 weeks and 4 days pregnant and last time I was pregnant I only had 4 days left at this point. I REALLY want more than 4 days. I feel good and everything still looks good. We will have another ultrasound/cervical measurement/DON'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS OR SAY HE OR SHE!! so that will be nice. It is weird because I know what this baby looks like. When I get my weekly emails that describe what the baby looks like, I REALLY know. I know what its fingers look like and its feet, its clear skin, and still closed eye lids. I am hoping to not see this baby until its fingers are chubby, it has booty cheeks (preemies don't get those...they're fat and they don't have any of that), its skin is soft and complete, and it can open its eyes and say HI to me! Well, it doesn't have to say hi, but I need it to at least be able to scream at me. We continue to be thankful for each day and look forward to making it one more day, one more week, one more month.....until December.

On a lighter note, I have to take my glucose test next week too. YIKES! I am dreading drinking that nasty stuff. Never did it last time. It was in my fridge waiting for my next appointment. In that case, I look forward to taking my glucose test!

THEN I HAVE THIS KID KANYON. We leave for "Feeding Camp" Monday the 14th. Things are different the second time around and I for sure feel different. Last time I was desperate and at the pits of panic and frustration with his feeding. I was borderline....no, scratch that...I had LOST my mind and just wanted HELP and I didn't care that that meant moving into a hospital for 9 weeks, leaving my husband, shoving a tube down my sons nose and throat. I just wanted help!!! And help came and we were so thankful. This time I'm not quite as desperate so I am dreading it more (see....ball of nerves). Kanyon is more mobile, active, etc. and in all honesty, i don't know how I'm going to let him scoot all over the place and on the floor of a hospital (even though its a fun/kid/rehab/not your normal hospital kind of place). I hope he sleeps. And don't even get me started on how I hope he EATS. They want to try to work him off the bottle but I'm just hoping the intense eating doesn't make him quit taking his bottle, because that would mean an NG tube and I CAN'T IMAGINE keeping one of those in him at this point. I just don't know how its going to work this time around and I'm......well.....nervous. I really do feel like he's going to do good eating. He has done well at home and I would be really surprised if he got down there and shut down. I know that is a possibility because its so intense that sometimes they just shut down, but I really think he can do it. I'm mostly worried about him getting enough fluids too. I hesitate to be optimistic about how he'll do because I don't want to be disappointed. Not to mention I will leave my house and not see it for probably 6 weeks and I'm not looking forward to being away from my home or my husband for that long (he can come on the weekends, but STILL). And Oh yeah, I'll be 26 weeks pregnant. The most crucial weeks of my pregnancy. I won't be enjoying the sights and sounds of the big city, I'll be trying to lay low and take it easy. I"m looking forward to meeting the Dr. I will see while I'm there. He's not right at Baylor, I'll have to drive a few miles up to Medical City (nervous) but I think it will be OK. I"ve heard great things about him. He's a high risk specialist so I think we'll get along. So...those are a few. But don't think that's all.

I'm also nervous about HALLOWEEN!!! I will either still be there or just be getting home. What will Kanyon be???? How will I have time to put it together?????!!!! I DO NOT want to spend Halloween in that place. My man has places to go! I mean, I kinda feel like I have a lot to live up to:

Our favorite Fighter

And Michael Phelps

Maybe this year he should be something lame that way I don't always think I have to think of something good. Yeah, maybe that will work.

Well, there you have a few strands of my nerves. Hopefully I can get my computer cleaned up soon and update. I have some good videos and fun pictures. I'd better go, its time for an hour with the eye patch/right arm tied up. Don't tell Kanyon, he'll run from me. Poor guy.