Presenting...

Landon Michael Baker
5 lbs 15 oz
18"

These 2

very special people are having a baby tonight!!! Can't wait to meet my first nephew. I can't believe my little brother is going to be a daddy! It just blows my mind, and makes me happy, tearful, and mostly thankful. Amazing when a new life makes such a big impact in your life, and surprising the unconditional love you can have for a child that is not your own...So exciting!

I will of course post a photo when I can!

Swallow study results

Two fridays ago we headed up to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital for Madelyn's swallow study. It was a whole different experience this time around, because of Madelyn's age, and her awareness of her surroundings. The last time she had a swallow study was around this same time last year...so big difference! She was not at all o.k. with being strapped into a chair and having the equipment all around her. Once she settled in though she was o.k. and we were able to get some good results. And it turns out that Mady is still having some pretty serious aspirations while drinking thin liquids. Just about every swallow is penetrating her lungs! I couldn't believe it, and was so disappointed with myself for thinking everything was o.k. these past few months. I feel awful for flooding her lungs every time I gave her something to drink! So she is back to thickened liquids and will remain on them for at least another year.

After the study, Steve (her speech pathologist) said he is pretty sure by the looks of things that Madelyn will most likely have this as a long term issue. He believes the damage to her vocal cord and surrounding area is too severe and that she will need surgery to correct the problem. We were hoping that with time that her right side would compensate and the issue would correct itself...but Mady's is just too badly damaged. This is what is causing her swallowing disability, and this is what will most likely cause some serious speech issues. We believe that Mady will have a difficult time communicating when she reaches school age because of the weakness of her voice. Which is just one reason why sign language will become even more important for her and for us.

Surgery can be done to correct the issue of aspirating of thin liquids...but of course with surgery there comes more risk. We will eventually have to make the decision of leaving it alone, thus having her deal with this disability for long term...or having a surgery that will correct the flap that does not close when she drinks, and dealing with the risk involved with that. It will not however, correct the vocal weakness. This is something we are considering for a few years down the road. For now we will just continue thickening everything, and working on speech with her therapists.

I am thankful that we caught this before the big cold and flu season, as thickening her fluids will greatly decrease her risk for pneumonia. Her adjustment to having the thickener added again has been a little difficult for her. It's more work for her to drink, and she doesn't care much for the consistency. Now that it's been over a week, she's getting used to it, and is drinking much better.

Here's an obscene amount of pumpkin patch photos

We had such a lovely time at the pumpkin patch this year! The rain was away long enough for us to have a beautiful sunny fall day...couldn't have been more perfect :]
The boys shooting paintballs at some targets

We got sooooo lost in the corn maze...we ended up having to take a crazed with the maze shortcuts out! I think we would've been in there for hours if we hadn't.
Flying high on the horsey tire swings
Aaron doesn't like swings, but had fun sitting on the horse
Katy and Daddy
Found the perfect pumpkin!

Mady trying to find just the right one
Katelyn loved finding all the littlest squashes and pumpkinswating for the hayride
yummy!!! Katy is teething
Fun on the hay bails
Carving jack-o-lanterns

a fun day at the albany fire stations

This past saturday was the annual treasure hunt put on by the Albany fire stations. This was the first year the boys have gone, and they had such a good time. Ian took them to all 5 stations, where they had demonstrations, tours, and got to go on rides in one of the big engines! I sent the camera along with Ian hoping that he'd get a few photos for me, and to my surprise he did a great job!

getting all strapped in for their big ride!


This was a smoke demonstration they did with the kids...teaching them how to crawl under the smoke and to get out safely.
Escaping through a windowThe rescue helicopter was a huge hit!
And touring another large engine!

Remember

Aaron is only 3 (for another month anyways)

He might look big, but he's still a little guy, so try to remember to expect little guy things from him.

That though a sharpie might be permanent you can always touch up the walls he colored on with it.
And the couch cushion can be flipped over.

And that tantrums are a result of him not being able to express his feelings in a "proper" way.

That he genuinely wants to be like his big brother...even by mimicking the almost 8 yr old attitude.

That he's just my little Aarony-do-da

therapy

Mady had her annual evaluation today for Early Intervention. She has a big eval once a year, with a few smaller ones for setting more goals and seeing which have been met in between. Lots of questions asked about her abilities/inabilities, lots of watching her play and interact in her surroundings. They scored her around 10-12 months on her speech abilities...so her OT will be working a lot with her speech and oral issues. She also scored on the low side for cognitive abilities...not showing that she understands what's going on around her, self help skills, and those kinds of things...so that will be another focus over the next year. She did however do remarkable on her motor skills eval. which is amazing considering when she began the program last year she couldn't sit up, barely could roll over, and had moderate left sided weakness. Her therapists are amazed by all that she can do in that area!!! And her OT is extremely pleased with her eating...She watched Madelyn eat her breakfast and was shocked at how much that little teeny girl can eat! She ate an entire banana one whole eggo waffle and a handfull of craisins!!! Why she won't gain weight I just don't know. We also decided to have another barium swallow study done to check to see if she is aspirating her liquids. I am of course hoping that she's not and we can continue off the thickener for her liquids. Our appt. for that is next friday.

So it was a good evaluation and I am happy that things are moving in the right direction. She's made lots of great progress over the past year, and we have some really great goals to strive for over the next year...including making plans for special education preschool...which we will begin planning in 6 months!!! She will be able to start the program when she turns 3, but they start making plans 6 months prior to make sure she is placed in the right kind of class for her needs. Most likely she will go to a "regular" curriculum preschool, with special education teachers that work with the children on issues on a more individualized basis. We may decide to have Katelyn evaluated at that time to see if there's a chance for her to get into the program with her sis.

It was fun to get a chance to compare her eval from today with the one they did this time last year...so many great changes, and so many goals met. Incredible!

2 sleepy girls

woke up early in the morning hungry...wanting a baba and breakfast and fell back to sleep as soon as their trays were clean :] They've never both fallen asleep in their highchairs before...once in a while I will find one asleep but here they both are...2 little peas in a pod aren't they?

Mady doesn't like wearing clothes

This is the way I've been finding her in the mornings and when I go in to get her after naptime. A lot of times she can't get all her clothes off...but quite often she does. Even throughout the day she will take off her little pants and try taking off her shirt too! Since the weather has been cooler here lately, she is especially unhappy about wearing longsleeved shirts. Just another one of her funny little quirks!