First day of school 2010

Ty had his first day of preschool ( again!) today. This is year is year number three for Ty. He missed the Kindergarten cut-off by about a month. I am super glad we have one more year to try and "catch up." Since he is talking this year I am hoping that we are able to advance a lot this year.

I love having Tyler home with me. I love being his mom but I love when he goes back to school. He THRIVES on having a schedule and having other kids around. He didn't have a ton of therapy this summer so school is amazing for him.

This year we got a new bus driver and a new aide. She was great today and got all the way off the bus and up to the door both times. She seemed really nice. Ty is on a bus seat by himself but we will see how long that lasts.

He does that when I ask him if he will hold still. He says he "see" the bus. Notice his cute book about the beach. OBSESSED!! Mickey Mouse HAD to go to school with him.

The new bus driver. (I WISH I had thighs like that!) He was JUST fine with having her help him. He was OFF. He even for got his backpack which was coming with Dad behind him.

After he got on the bus I went to his school to see how he was doing. He was having so much fun. You could hear him talking to the teachers and counting and being a good kid.

He didn't have his glasses on and I had put them in his back pack. So I went into his classroom. Generally, I wouldn't go in because he has a tendency to not stay on task and then cry when I leave. I went and got his glasses and offered them to him and he said " nope!" So I left them next to him. I guess at some point they got them on because he came home wearing them.

When he got home he said he had fun and played. He was in need of a little down time. We had a picnic and watched barney. He wouldn't even kiss me or hug me.

After he destressed we went and played outside. In the afternoon we went over to play with Pey pey ( our cute little neighbor) and Tyler was in love with the bikes. I so wish he was able ot ride one! He had a great time.

We were out till just after 8 and after his bath he went into bed and during prayer covered his head up and was ready for us to go. For the past few days he has cried and cried when we put him into bed.

It was a great night. I can't wait to tackle my secret housekeeping list tomorrow.

2008

I have been trying to decide on resolutions for the new year. I have some things in mind and I really want to accomplish these goals. But first I wanted to list some things that have gone on in 2008.

• We were waiting in January 2008 for Ty's walker. By July we didn't need it as much as we did at the beginning. By September we were walker free!!
  
• Tyler had his first EEG and passed. It gave us some answers to our questions about his sleeping and since then we have had a much better time.
  
• I had surgery and have felt much better since. Continuing on a wild roller coaster ride of hormonal messes that continues to make me feel better.
  
• We were able to take a vacation where Dallas and I were able to spend a few days alone in Las Vegas and we had a wonderful time.
  
• Dallas got Tickets to see Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. It was so amazing. I loved it. I was in awe! GO SEE IT!
• Ty started swimming lessons and LOVED it. He is going to be doing them again.
• We "graduated" from the Foundation for Blind children and from the early intervention program and started preschool.
• Ty had his first shunt malfunction and we survived it without family! I was so sick wondering what I would do with a mom ( BOTH moms) to help. We did it and we missed you both.
  
• I became interested .. VERY interested in photography and have started a blog with my photos on it.
  
• Dallas has created and ran several programs on the IPhone. He has even made money from them
  
• Ty had dental surgery and recovered well.

So it was a long list but a good one. Over all we had a great year. We have paid off some debt and have not gotten FURTHER in debt. We have a happy healthy 3 year old. D and I are happy and healthy. We are both employed and are enjoying providing for our family .

So for the new year there are a few things that I personally want to work on and some things I want to work on with Tyler and as a family.

1. Get healthy. Somehow I have managed to gain and OBSCENE amount of weight since giving birth to Tyler. I can't blame it on him really but stress, depression and the works has kept me from getting it off. BUT in order to eliminate a risk factor I need to get healthy. I plan to A) eat less, b) eat better c) move more. Dallas has gotten me a bike and Wii fit so I have no excuse other than being lazy. I also personally want to work on learning photoshop to enhance my photos.
   
2. Be more attentive to my hubby. He works so hard for both me and Tyler. I need to be a better wife. My plan: spend as much time as I can with him. Go out on dates and plan more family activities.
   
3. Plan more activities with Tyler. I get to be a mom along with all the other stuff so sometimes a movie is what he gets. I want to be a better mom to him. My plan: Limit my Internet activity and plan things to do with him. I want to take him swimming more and going to the park while it is good weather.
   
4. Family is the most important thing to me. I plan to get my family to church EVERY week that I don't work. I have gotten more time off work to do this and to spend time with them. I plan to renew my recommend and take the time to get to the Temple.
   
5. Work with Tyler to potty train and to wear his glasses and when we get his braces to get them on him EVERYDAY!
6. Make dinner. Eat better and eat more often as a family. We need this. Ty needs this. I will be a better mom and wife
7. Be more organized at home. Be a better house keeper and if I can't do a better job HIRE ONE!! So that we can have that calmness that comes with a happy clean home!
   
8. Be an advocate to Tyler and for others with special needs and to help other learn about prematurity.
   
9. Call my mom more. A few people in my life have had hard relationships or no relationships and I want to strenghthen mine.
   
10. Be a family. Ultimately I want to reach my goal of getting Healthy enough to be able to finish our family. I want those risk factors gone so that we can be together as a family and be healthy and to finish what we started.
    

I LOVE feeling new and fresh. I plan to put an effort into each of these goals. It will make 2009 even better than 2008.

Happy new year!

I have no Idea how to share this one...

I have been told that I am negative towards my child. I have been told I am hindering HIM and what he can be. Although I disagree with those statements I truly feel that I have had a realistic outlook on his life as a preemie and the long term issues that we would be facing.

When we found out we were pregnant I was still determined to start at the U and finish my degree fro Child development and get my certificate for child life specialist. I had the same instructor for 3 of my classes and I was really looking forward to my classes.

The first week of school came and I was doing better at not puking during classes (of course after class and in between was a different story) but I let my teachers know that I was pregnant and that I was actually going to be able to have the baby the day of my last final. That was what we thought.

Fast forward a few weeks.. We are getting ready for our first test and we had to cover prenatal stuff. We were learning about the age of viability. We were taught that according to our text book it was 25 weeks. That was the *magical* age. We were taught of the outcomes and the hardships.

Then came *that day*. I was 25 weeks. In fact I was 25 weeks and 3 days. I was VERY sick and I was paranoid but there was something wrong and I felt it. The rest of it is history. Ty came and we started on our journey.

Some issues we faced were:

PDA
IVH
Hydrocephalus
ROP
Craniosynostosis

After the PDA was fixed it was fine. We have had no other issues with his heart. We still don't see a cardiologist.

The Brain bleed was severe. It is severe. He has a grade 3 and 4 bleed. We had no idea what our outcomes would be because of it. We were told many things. But we were told that no one could predict what he could do. That is what we held onto. We jokingly talked about pimping out his wheelchair if it came to that. AND then the relief when he was determined to crawl and now he is determined to walk.

We though the hydrocephalus was resolved but after the reservoir was taken out we had our complications. He had a emergency shunt placed and then revised. Nothing since.

The ROP was severe and was treated with laser surgery. We were warned of the chance of CVI and yet some how we escaped that diagnosis. Even with the bleeds.

His craniosynostosis was a direct result from his prematurity in which we fixed and feel like we have dealt with that the best we know how.

What long term issues?

Ty has a limited vocabulary. BUT we are working on it with speech therapy. They say his receptive language is actually above average. Meaning he will do whatever we say.. Which is true. He follows directions so well and is VERY well behaved. PLUS he says and mimics some of the absolutely cutest things. Makes your heart melt.

He has a few sensory issues. All of which are a dramatic change from who is was last year. He won't scream when we vacuum and he eats just about whatever you put in front of him ( especially chocolate) he even tries just about every thing. He has even enjoyed a few shrimp scampi!! He is getting use to noise but that one.

We will always deal with the shunt on a as needed basis. So for us it is not big deal and we deal with it when we need to.

His eyes. Well they tell us he is legally blind. But then as we go back and do his therapies his eyes improve and we can see a huge difference in him. So we will just plug along doing what we need to do.

The biggest is his mobility. Although he took his time hitting his milestones he has some spastic muscles. Although he falls in the normal range and no one can decide on what to *call it* The neurologist feels it will just all fall into place and the PT we are currently seeing is helping us a lot.


So those are the long term issues. Not such a bad list right. RIGHT!!! WE are so happy with his progress and the things he is doing. So, after all the list... I took Ty to PT today. He is doing so well with this new place. He LOVES the swing there and we were working on his walking today with his AFO's. After we got them on the PT wanted to "try" the pediatric walker. She said that it usually takes kids a while to get use to them and to use them. We raised it up to the highest setting and set Tyler in. You will never guess what happened!!!! HE CRUISED CLEAR ACROSS THE ROOM. He did amazing. His left side of his body is a little less strong so we will be working on that but we have decided that for Ty and his mobility he is getting a walker. The PT doesn't think we will use it long, but if we do we do. I was so proud to see him walk. He has now exceeded EVERY expectation of the HORRIFIC Nurse practitioner that we had and he is continuing to do more than we could ask for. We are so proud of him.