MRI Results

Keith received 3 diagnoses from his MRI. They are as follows:

#1. Developmental delays (we knew that)
#2. Prematurity (Keith was a twin and was born at 35 weeks, again we knew that)
#3. Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy - read here and here for more information. This we didn't know. We were told that he had CP when we were preparing to adopt him, but when he didn't show any signs of spastic CP - which is the most common form of CP - we assumed that this was incorrect. Keith doesn't seem to have a very severe form of hypotonic CP, as he is very mobile and can hold his head up. I am hopeful that he will continue progressing and now that we have an actual diagnosis, we can proceed to address it and help him more.

Tonight I held Keith after he fell asleep. It was such a sweet moment as Keith hasn't ever fallen asleep in my arms before. I am so honored to be his Mama and I hope that I can give him all that he needs.

Daddy Time

Tyler is an amazing Dad. He loves playing with the kids. Here are some pictures and some video. Enjoy.

Weighing in

We took the kids in to see their pediatrician. When we adopted Keith he weighed in at 22 pounds. Now (3 months later) he weighs 25 pounds. Kristina weighed 28 pounds and now weighs 26 pounds. So Keith gained and Kristina lost weight. However, the doctor wants to see more weight gain in Keith, not only Kristina. He also said that there is a noticeable difference in Keith's appearance and an increased level in his attention and engagement, which is great.

Kristina has been spontaneously taking little cat naps during the day. This has made bedtime a bit more difficult, as she isn't as tired. This morning she woke up at 5:15am. So I decided that if I keep her awake all day long that hopefully it will knock out these catnaps and help her go to bed easier. It was hard to keep her awake as she was consistently trying to lay down and sleep off and on throughout the day - but she never got in a nap and went to bed easily, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I am amazed at her affectionate nature. She is constantly coming up to me and snuggling up and hugging and kissing me. She likes to wrap her arms around mine and put her hand up my sleeves to touch my skin and feel close to her Mama. No complaints here. She is a dear little girl.

Keith has a chore in our house now. He pushes the button to open and close the garage door. He loves it and he's quite good at it, too! Keith is also eating (gumming/tolerating) those small melt-in-your-mouth banana cracker snacks. Let's hope it's leading him to solid foods!!! (I hope, I hope!)

Breakfast Time

Every Saturday (well, at least for the past TWO weeks) I have been devoting time to teaching Anna to cook breakfast. In fact, I let her choose whatever she wants and I'll teach/help her to make it. Last week was strawberry crepes (ambitious girl!) and this week she wanted Mickey Mouse Pancakes. It was a family affair, as both Keith & Kristina were right there "helping" Tyler unload the dishes and set the table while Anna made the pancakes - complete with chocolate chips for the faces.


Anna's creation. She decided that it was really Minnie Mouse Pancakes, since she put whip cream hairbows on it. Yummy!


Here are my 3 little helpers!

I want to thank you for all of your motivational and kind words. I am feeling MUCH better now. I think I was having a hard time because I was going to bed late and getting up early. Now I am making myself get to bed earlier and I feel great! It's amazing what a little extra sleep can do! :o)

Inserts for Kristina

I took Kristina to her OT evaluation yesterday for Pre-k. The therapist noticed that when Kristina stands up that her feet are flat, but when she's sitting down you can see her arches. She said that Kristina is having problems with her feet which make it difficult for her to keep her balance - her legs shift towards each other (it's hard to explain) instead of being straight up and down. Her toes also have a "claw effect" - she curls them under - trying keep herself upright. I just thought that she was just clumsy - poor girl! At least we know what to do to help - get her some shoe inserts. Thank goodness for observant therapists!

We had a meeting with a counselor for Anna this evening. It was nice to hear comments like: "You are doing many things that are right," and "Your kids are really blessed to have you as their parents," and "You're so good looking." Well, she said the first two - who knows about that last one. ;o) Anyhow, we have some great ideas in moving forward with Anna. We're happy. And the tree was happy.

My 3 little valentines

We had a great Valentine's Day! How was yours?
Funny things to note: Kristina thinks that gown pajamas are fancy dresses. She gets out of bed and takes off her footsie pajamas to put on Anna's gown pajamas. She thinks they are just beautiful! She is so sad when it's time to put on clothes for the day.

Keith can now climb the stairs, go down the stairs, get up on the couch, get off the couch, and he is now crawling more than ever. He usually scoots on his bottom across the floor, but he crawls up the stairs and I think he has realized that crawling can be faster than scooting. Keith has been patching his eye the past few days. I'm surprised at how well he is handling it.

I think I might have Anna go to some counseling. Before we even adopted the twins, she had a low self esteem and would tend to focus on negative things instead of positive things. Since the twins joined our family - it has only increased. Any experience in this?

Show me a sign

So lately Keith has shown us that he can do sign language! Great, I know! We actually did sign language with Anna. We bought these videos - which are wonderful. I highly recommend them to anyone with a child - special needs or not. Keith is such a smart little tike. He can sign "more", "eat", and today he did the sign for "no." Since he can do the sign for "eat", I have been requiring it before each feeding. Did I mention that Keith is also a stubborn boy? Let's just say that it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to ONE HOUR before he will show me the sign for "eat." This has been going on for 3 days now. I had a meltdown yesterday because of all the "niceness" that I've had to have during his hour-long fits. The hard thing? He knows how to do the sign. Every time he does it. He just doesn't want to do it. Grrr. I am eager to communicate with my boy - so I am soldiering on...

Kristina also loves using sign language. She watches those videos every day and asks for them by name. She can do the following signs: yes, no, please, I'm sorry, don't like, like, eat, thank you, more, milk, cereal, banana, ice cream, play, mama, daddy, girl, boy, I love you, sleep, sad, cry, & happy. Invalid, indeed. I am a mama of such smart kids! :o)

Playing with Playdough

Here is Anna showing Kristina how to play with playdough! And there was much rejoicing! I was worried that Kristina would try to eat the playdough - since she is in that lovely put-everything-in-your-mouth phase, but she did great. Can I say how nice it is to have a great big sister to Keith & Kristina? Anna is so helpful. I am one lucky Mama.

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

Keith has been playing this little game for a week now.

Sit & Spin

I found this on craigslist for only $4! Score! The kids have been playing with it a lot. This morning I put it in Keith's room and he dragged it (by himself) into the living room. That boy is strong! Aren't these kids adorable??

Doctor visit summaries

We went to see the attachment therapist yesterday. It was our first official visit for Keith. We established some goals of development for him. In a nutshell: we want to establish a healthy attachment between Keith & us (Tyler & I) and we want to help him reach his potential, whatever that potential may be. That visit went well, but I must say that after every visit we have with the attachment therapist - we HAVE to stop for donuts on the way home. It's an emotional fix, I think.

Today we had appointments for the kids with the opthamalogist. Kristina - believe it or not - does NOT need glasses. I feel bad for her - she really wants glasses and doesn't need them! (would that she & I could trade places on this). Kristina does have strabismus, though. Keith has his glasses but his right eye is still very weak, so we "get" to put an eye patch over his eye for 2 hours every day. What fun that will be. In about 3 months we're supposed to come back and the doctor pretty much said for us to anticipate surgery for both of them to correct their lazy eyes. Has anyone had this surgery done before for strabismus? I'd like to know more about it. Thanks.

p.s. Kristina is feeling a little better. Thank you for your prayers! Of course, now the rest of the family is congested...so you could expand those prayers for the rest of us. :o)

When you have pneumonia

All you want to do is sleep. Poor Kristina has pneumonia. I found her like this today:

Please pray that she will feel better soon. Poor little thing, she is really pitiful right now. :o(

The Little Drummer Boy

Remember this video? Well, my friend, Sarah, does and she bought Keith a drum for Christmas! Check out these pictures - he's a natural! (Thanks Sarah!)