October Misc.

The months keep flying by...here are some random snapshots from October.

Grant loves his Lincoln Logs

Both Jenna and Grant have mostly dropped their naps, but I do require "quiet time."  Usually they just look at books on their beds.  On this particular day I realized it was rather quiet and this was what I found when I checked on them - fast asleep.  Jenna has a book open on her lap, but the funniest part is Grant's complete surrender to his tiredness - he didn't even try to stay awake (he's conked out under the covers).  :)

A friend from high school sent us this toy for Hannah to encourage her to reach for her toys.  So sweet!  Perfect for those times we're out and about and can't really work with her. 

Jenna's sweet picture she drew of Dad and Mom.  :)

The kids enjoying some iPad time on the bed.  Funny how it looks like Hannah's actually participating too. 

Love this picture of Grant and his "Hannah Banana" (as he calls her)

Her first bite of food - sweet potatoes.  It was not very successful, mostly due to her tongue thrusting, but that's another area that we've seen improvement in over the past month.  Her feedings have been going MUCH better and we're actually able to get food in her mouth (for the most part) now.  The bigger struggle now is just keeping her head up enough to feed her.  She tends to slouch and her head slumps forward - although that's something else that is improving as well.

Grant, Hannah, and I at Target while Jenna's at preschool.  I just couldn't resist his request for popcorn.  Hannah slept the whole time, so it turned out to be a fun date for him and me.

The kids "helping" Drew pack the car for our trip to Norris Lake.

This past month we went down to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for a 2nd opinion on her diagnosis as well as her eyes.  The meeting with the CP team concerning her diagnosis was a BUST.  It wasn't what we were looking for, and we didn't care for the physician we saw.  I called multiple times before the appointment to make sure the person we met with would be able to read the MRI results AND view the scans to give us her opinion on them...however, come to find out at the appointment, she's not too familiar with reading the scans, nor did she really want to answer many of our questions.  It was disappointing and frustrating to say the least.  Thankfully the eye appointment went MUCH better.  This doctor recommended we patch her good eye (to make the crossed eye work harder!) for 4-6 hours a day for 6 weeks.  Then she'll reevaluate her eyes and see whether she'll need surgery.  She did say that she thinks Hannah will still need the surgery, but we at least liked the idea of trying to strengthen the eye muscles before permanently altering their physiology.  So we've been patching and go back to see her in a little over a week.  Also, we have made an appointment with an actual neurologist this time and will be meeting with her on December 9th - so hopefully we'll be able to get a true 2nd opinion and some answers to our questions then.

Grant was laying on the couch and Bailey jumped up next to him and laid down.  That's pretty significant for this dog who usually wants nothing to do with the kids.  :)

Couldn't resist capturing this terribly awkward sleeping position of Jenna's.  Poor thing!

Hannah loves the rattle!  We're realizing she needs thin toys to hold on to because it's still difficult for her hands to open and grasp objects.  So anything thick is out of the question for her to hold.  But this rattle is a great size and she likes banging it on the floor...or her head. 

Proof of the patching.  The eye doctor gave us some samples of the patches to use at home; however, they were just the ugly brown band-aid color, so of course I had to go online and find some cute ones for her.  I figure if she's got to wear them everyday, she might as well be stylin! 

We went to pick Grant up from childcare at the evening service at church and this is how we found him...fast asleep!!  Poor guy must have needed a nap that day and just ran out of gas early.  :)

Snapped a picture of me and my pooch at the vet's office - poor guy had an eye ulcer.

Jenna LOVES playing with Hannah and "working" with her.

While at Hobby Lobby, Grant picked up this Christmas decoration and made some comment about it being a birthday hat!

PRECIOUS!!

We watched our nephews one night and even got to give them a bath. Love them!

Tummy time!  She's doing much better with her head control, although she doesn't keep her head up for long.  So we still need to work on strengthening her neck and back muscles.

More playtime.  Love my girls!

This was supposed to be a picture of her two bottom teeth that poked through almost overnight!

During the government shutdown, we decided to tackle some BIG projects.  I don't think either of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into!  We painted the kid's beds white...and it took...FOREVER.  Not something I'm wanting to do again anytime soon.

The kids wanted to paint too, so Drew set them up with some extra pieces of wood and paint.

Not sure why he thought this was a good idea. :) Trust me, I had no part in it.  Although it was fun for the kids, it was a HUGE mess to clean up afterward.   Mental note for the future - if the kids want to paint, pull out their watercolor paints, not latex paint! ;)

One of the downsides of having a sister - future blackmail pictures!  And let me just say, this isn't the first time we've caught him playing with her My Little Ponies.  :)

Jenna was making Hannah giggle with the pogo stick that squeaks when you jump on it.  It was hilarious!

Fast asleep

A few times we've put Hannah in the bathtub with Jenna.  Jenna holds her and we try to have Hannah splash the water with her hands.  She really seems to enjoy it, as does big sister. 

They sure are buds!

A few months back, the Occupational Therapist recommended we get a thumb splint for Hannah's right hand.  She tends to keep her thumb tucked in her fist, which can actually cause muscle contractures (the shortening of muscles).  So the thumb splint helps keep the thumb out.  We typically just keep it on her at night because she's not able to grasp toys with it on, and it tends to irritate the skin between her thumb and pointer finger. 

Bedtime for my baby.  Yes, she's in Grant's "old" room, and no we haven't painted it.  I figure eventually we'll move her in with Jenna and Grant will be back in his room.  We'll see though.