All about the Larsons

It’s been over a week since I last updated, so I have a lot to write about…and I’m doing it now while Conner naps instead of doing some much needed cleaning.

We had a pretty busy week last week. We did end up going to see Barney last week. Conner did fine. It was really hot outside but nothing a little ice cream couldn’t fix! We didn’t stay for long, just long enough for the Barney part of the show, and we also saw a few characters. Conner really liked Martha (from Martha speaks – i think) and Curious George. He wasn’t afraid of them at all. He has still been a little weak since he got sick. He just doesn’t have much endurance…he will walk for a while and then just sit down. Hopefully he will be quick to regain his strength this time (considering how much he has been eating lately, I think he should be fine!). Wednesday we had a parent/toddler class. We had missed the first week because Conner was sick. It was okay. I didn’t really know what to expect. We just played for the first part, then had a snack, circle time with songs (that I didn’t know), then played outside for a few minutes. Conner seemed okay. The biggest challenge is that he takes things away from other kids (snacks, for example), right out of their hands. I’m hoping he will learn as we go. The snack was dried apricots and apple juice. Conner actually loved the dried apricots (so we have some at home now, along with dried prunes – they help with the constipation problem!). He did have a problem with the cup. They give each kid a dixie cup with apple juice. First, he took another kids’ juice and dumped it and then put a cracker in his cup. He really doesn’t now how to drink out of a cup without a straw yet. We’ll work on it. We have to work on self-feeding for nursery school so now is a good time to practice.

Last Thursday, we had therapy again…speech and OT. Conner did fine in speech. We were working on signs for ball, cookie, car, open (some of these he already knows but the therapist has different signs she would rather use). It’s kind of frustrating because we can do signs at home. We were hoping that this place would help with verbalization. The OT was supposed to work on that too, with some oral motor exercises. This just hasn’t been happening. Instead, he puts Conner on the swing and in these other contraptions. Conner actually cries for the whole 30 minutes. It is awful. He has never cried in therapy (unless he was getting stretched) like this and it is causing some bad behaviors and fears in him. He never had a problem with the swing in PT and now he cries when he gets on it. So after much debate and consideration, and emailing a bit with a friend that we met in the NICU that is an OT, we withdrew Conner from his therapy. Initially, we were going to give it a month and see how it was, but we took him out after just 2 weeks. When I called to cancel, they told me that the person in charge of OT would call me to discuss it to see if there was anything we could do differently (yes, give us a more experienced oral motor therapist), but we never heard from them. This just confirms to me that it was not the right place for us. There is no doubt in my mind that Conner needs speech and OT but that was not the right place right now. I feel like he needs a few weeks to recover, get his strength back, and not have any new things and then we will get back in to things. I’m disappointed because it is July already and I was hoping that we would have made some progress this summer so far, but we will just have to go from here. We are considering either going where we go for PT (where we went for speech and OT) or trying Children’s therapy. Hopefully, we will get back in to Conner’s regular swim class that he loved in a few weeks and we are trying to get on a waiting list for hippotherapy. Conner’s 2 year check up is in a month and we will talk to his pediatrician about our concerns and see what she thinks.

On Friday, we headed up north for the weekend for some R & R. The first day was pretty bad because Conner REFUSED to sleep. He didn’t sleep at all in the car on the way there and then would not take a nap when we got there. We were at a beautiful hotel right on Lake Michigan. The view from our room was incredible…I could have stayed right there all weekend. We did walk on the beach some and went to a few little towns. It was a nice weekend and good to get away.

Yesterday morning, we started out early with a trip to Conner’s neurosurgeon. We started seeing him a while back when a doctor mentioned that Conner might need surgery. That doctor, thankfully, was wrong, but the neurosurgeon wanted to keep checking Conner for 2 years for hydrocephalus because of his history of IVH (bleeding in the brain) when he was very little. Well, here we are…Conner is almost 2 years old and no hydrocephalus. His eyes look good and he seems to be doing well. So, no more neurosurgeon unless we have concerns about something. It’s so nice to get rid of a doctor. We may eventually end up with a neurologist, but hopefully not.

After our early start, Conner and I went to Greenfield Village. If you’ve never been there, or haven’t been in a while, you should go. It’s such a neat place. It’s hard to go with a small child though because you really can’t see much…we just keep going back and see different stuff each time! We went on the train,which Conner seemed to like, except for when it stopped at the different stations. It was almost impossible to keep him still. We also went on the carousel. He really liked it the first time he went on with David, but with me, he seemed so scared. It’s just another one of those things that he wasn’t afraid of before and now he is. Maybe David did something different so next time, he will take him. We stayed there until nap time and then came home. Without the extra therapy, our days are much less filled, which is nice for a change (even if it’s just a short break).

Well, as I’ve mentioned a few times, Conner is going to be 2 in less than a month. It is so hard to believe. The older he gets, the wider the gap seems to get between him and the other kids. I know I’m not supposed to compare, but it is hard. What is even harder is Conner is starting to look older…he doesn’t look like a baby any more, but he is very behind. Of course, we want the best for Conner so hopefully we will start figuring out how to help him, if not communicate verbally, than at least some more productive non-verbal communication. Right now, there are a lot of temper tantrums and screaming. Conner was a really easy baby (aside from being in the hospital for 107 days, having 6 surgeries, etc!) so the change in him seems really dramatic to me. I’m hoping it’s just because he wants to communicate but can’t and that once he can, he won’t be so frustrated. I’m not doing a very good job explaining.

Anyway, things overall are going fine. We are so glad that Conner is feeling better. He has been eating much better the last few days and I’m pretty sure he has gained back the weight that he lost when he was sick. He is back to his regular diet, which has included a few new things. Along with the dried apricots and prunes, Conner is also liking apples, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, cauliflower, and plain noodles. He seems to have something against tomato sauce, so he doesn’t like real saucy pizza or spaghetti with sauce. He loves the heck out of ice cream and this weekend, at the campfire at the hotel, he loved the s’mores that David made for him. We haven’t found many things that Conner won’t at least try. He won’t eat everything…he doesn’t like anything with breading (he will eat a corn dog but he has to separate the breading from the dog!) and will not go anywhere near chicken tenders, nuggets, or anything of the sort.

Today, I had the pleasure (sarcasm) of having my annual physical. Thankfully, I have a very nice doctor. But he said at my age (OY!) and with my family history, he wants me to have a mammogram. Really? Ugghh. Not exciting. I’m trying to do a few things to help me relax a bit. Next week I am supposed to go meet a few friends that I haven’t seen in years and leave David and Conner home. I am a bit nervous about it. Although I know Conner will be in great hands…we have a babysitter each day, it will be the first time I will be away from Conner since he came home from the hospital. I really need the time away though and I’m looking forward to it. We really don’t have much else going on this week. I’m not sure what we are going to do for the 4th…maybe take Conner swimming. Hopefully, I’ll have some stuff to post sooner than next week!

I’ll post pictures later…