We LOVE mail!

Remember the post announcing we won a Barney video? Well, UPS came by while Ty was at school ( He was almost home.) So I left it on the front porch and thought I would take pictures of it instead. So To The Max, this fun stuff is for you!

Ty was getting off the bus. We had to check the regular mail first.

He finally realized that HE had mail on the steps and was looking around.

If this picture had sound!

Seriously he as so excited. I loved it. Especially since I KNEW what was inside.

Every day after school we sit on the bottom steps and go through his backpack. He STILL made us but he wouldn't let go of the package.

See... not letting it go!

As soon as we were done looking at his school stuff he signed dad and took off. Honestly, he signs dad.... Frequently.

So we took off and went downstairs to dads "office" and we opened the package.

( The video is so that we can have sound. His sounds are HILARIOUS!)

So if you don't want to see Ty for 2 whole minutes don't push play. It does show how we communicate most of the time. He does a pretty good job. We love him to bits!!

( Oh and it was taken on my little camera/video so any time I zoomed the sound goes out. Hooray for not pulling out our nice video camera. Maybe I SHOULD look for it)

And for those not fluent on Tyler language.. The hitting of his head is his way of saying "Dad" and the pulling is his way of saying he wanted it off or PULLED open. He is saying wow a few times and ohhhh... And he was showing Barney his movie too!

From Warm sun to THIS!

Coming from warm and extremely HOT Arizona the cooler weather was so nice and so cool. It was great. We enjoyed going outside and playing and having Ty's birthday party outside. It has been amazing to see the fall weather and seeing the leaves change.

We have been diligent in watching the weather to see when to change from a jacket to a coat. When to put on long pants for Tyler and keep them on. When to spend the day at the park or when to bundle up in a blanket and stay in bed. But we were SHOCKED to see the drastic drop in temperatures this last week.

While Dallas and I both grew up here we have become accustom to the nice warm, and HOT weather we had there. Tyler has never been in this weather ( that he can remember) he was only one when we moved. He spent one winter here and we came and visited for a few days. This was the first time that breathe taking wind and snow has been in his world.

The snow didn't start to fall till he was getting ready for the bus but when it did fall it was a half blizzard. He would go watch and ask to go outside. He wanted to touch the snow, feel it and most of all THROW IT! He was having such a good time.

* Side note: We found Barney Christmas and he has been watching it almost non stop. They of course have SNOW and that takes him RIGHT to the window pointing and jabbering about the snow. You should SEE him dance and sing to the 12 days of Christmas~*

For the rest of the week Ty has been asking to go outside. He has been eating the snow (GROSS!) and he has been outside with no shoes and no coat and he has been out with a coat and till his cute little fingers were red.

Ty signing "cold." Look at his lips. He tries to say BRR!

His stool that he takes over all day long. Back and forth.

Telling Dad and mom that there is snow out there. All day he does this especially when he is watching his movie with snow in it.

Not sure that there is anything me and Dallas can do to prepare for the upcoming winter, but I am pretty sure a CUTE little Miracle is ready for snow, Santa and snowballs!

Orthotics For Tyler

Today was the first ALL day we have had with the new contraptions in our house. Yesterday Tyler was fitted for his orthotics. We have had a heck of a time getting into get his new braces and we have had a heck of a time fitting Tyler with orthotics. I am sad to say he hates them.

Our appointment was in Downtown Phoenix. It is weird to think that that was almost my LAST appointment to have to drive to. We got to Brets right on time and we waited pretty much no time at all. I got us set up with his DVD player just in time to get us back to our room. Bret was all ready with Bags and bags of these new and improved kiddie gait AFO/SMO's. I got them out for him to look at hoping to ward off the evil spirits of actually having to put them on. He looked at them joyfully and then put them down on the table and signed "All done."

* Technical/medical mumbo jumbo to follow*

AFO: Ankle Foot orthotic- it goes on the ankle and up the calf to support the leg.
SMO: supramalleolar orthotic- gives the medial and lateral support needed for calcaneal valgus, pronation, and supination with high or low tone. Or basically just encompasses the foot and ankle not the rest of the foot.
Kiddie Gait- Titanium AFO with no SMO. Ty has a separate SMO to wear with his AFO/kiddie gait.

I spent the day telling him about what we were doing. My tummy was in knots because I KNEW this was not going to be the most pleasant thing that he has to endure and that he would cry and be upset. I wasn't disappointed. He was upset. VERY upset.

When Bret comes in Ty starts telling him no. Ty doesn't exactly have a wide variety but No is in the limited one he does have. He waves but is still really really conscious of what is going on. I talk with Bret for a minute and we start the process.

We put on the SMO and the tears start and never stop. For the next hour Ty is subbing, gagging, temper tantruming and barfing. The bad part of him being upset is the muscle tone that he gets. He is TIGHT TIGHT and we can't barely move his feet. The stinker won't stop either.

The end of last school year ( when the ordeal to get these new braces started) I ordered some new balance shoes for him that were extra wide. They are HUGE on his poor little feet. But alas they still weren't wide enough but they were Velcro. We tried and tried but his foot and his contraptions just weren't going to fit.

Bret fitted them, and left to round down the edges and make them fit better and he came back with a pair of orthotic shoes. The new balance shoes were NOT cheap. Like 55 bucks I think. I know.. Who the heck pays that much for shoes for a 3 year old. NOT ME. I was pissed. But even better, guess how much the orthotic shoes are? Yeah... 99 bucks.. NOT KIDDING. For a KID!

Anyway, they are the only thing that is going to fit the braces so what do you do!

We get his shoes on and he is still gagging, and coughing and crying and now throwing a full on temper tantrum. We put him in a walker because these new braces literally cause him to not be able to move on his own so he needs assistance. ( I hate that the things that are suppose to help them hinder at first!) Here he starts throwing himself down on the ground. Hitting his back as he goes because he doesn't want to walk. He is FREAKING out by this point and I can't give in or he wins.

Poor Bret was so upset that he made him cry like that. I told him it wasn't his fault. He "mention" that Ty is so stubborn and so STRONG he felt bad he would only make things worse if he tried to help.

Ty and I walked down the hall to see if his foot placement was ok and he was screaming. Like full on screaming. I let him throw his temper tantrum when all of a sudden the banging started. As in HEAD BANGING against the floor. That made it so both Bret and I lost. The braces were coming off.

Braces came off and red spots were assessed and Ty was a happy camper.

Then came the good part.

Payment!

The braces cost somewhere around 3 grand. And the shoes are another 100 bucks. BUT we have been praying for a way to pay for them above just forking over the money. Bret and Barb have a hacked website so Dallas is going to be developing a website for them. In exchange we get the braces and the shoes for trade!

Today Ty wore his braces for therapy and he did an awesome job. He even got to play Wii Fit and LOVED it. He was happy to have them off though.

Watching him through this last week and going through the struggles of communication we have had tonight I am so glad we didn't rush into more children and not have the time he needs from me and Dallas. He is so sweet. But prematurity SUCKS! I hate it and it causes my sweet boy pain.

Posts to follow regarding our new milestone. It has left us all smiling for 2 days now!

A day of Tyler... In pictures

OK not the whole day because you people would NOT be able to handle Barney. He is not for the weak minded!

But this past weekend we have had a VERY naughty boy. It makes me look forward to the times his cute respite lady is here. She keeps in entertained enough that sometimes his naughty behavior is not as bad OR she tolerates his naughty behavior more than we do.

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He has been naughty enough that time out has been used FREQUENTLY. We have decided that as parents we let him do a lot of stuff that he shouldn't. And now that we have been told a million times over that he is SPOILED we have to start a crack down intervention. So as he has become a sprinkler and spit all over the place, he gets time out. The Time out in the video is his dad hosting!

Ty also loves his dads office. He tends to go in, sit in the chair and then spins. We have no idea how he doesn't get sick but he doesn't and could go forever. I think its cause his eyes move all the time he doesn't know the difference. He sat spinning asking for his blanket and then for the computer. ( Sorry the photos are kinda blurry. Not so hot at taking movement ones yet!)

So that is the day we had with Tyler. Next up is more pictures and hopefully more stuff at his last few therapies!

Dad, a book?

( Ty signing blanket)
I have written a million times about Ty and his communication. Most of it is when it is frustrating and something bad went on and I can't communicate with my son. Then sometimes it is just cute.

This morning during out sleep time Ty was with his dad. He found a Little Einsteins book and got Dallas attention and signed dad. Normally, Ty just signs dad when we ask him and not for any real purpose Today we had purpose. In fact all day we had purpose. He signed Dad when he wanted to watch a movie in Dad's office. He signed Dad at dinner when he wanted his dad's attention.

He tries so hard to say words. We tell him what everything is. I am sure if someone overheard us they would hear " Rock, Rock can you say ROCK" or " Light light can you say light." All of them he uses the same sound. But he is trying. Huge in the world of speech.

Some and old/new signs/gestures we are now seeing:
Dad
playing of the piano ( which he can also show and point to us correctly what a piano is in a book)
playing the violin ( again correctly identifying it in a book)
blanket
hurt
food
more
please
all done
little Einsteins ( they buckle their safety belt so we know what he wants when he does that)
Barney ( he does the same sound for barney)
water
swimming
drink
Hello
Listen

I know there are more but I am forgetful tonight.

He is doing a lot more pretend play and is having a blast watching and trying to understand the whole reflection idea. He knows it is himself and when we ask him to say hi to the other Tyler he does. He was chasing himself in the mirror with his dad tonight at the shoe store.





He is so well tempered. We are really lucky to have such a great kid. He makes us so happy and we are so incredibly blessed to have him. So many miracles we have seen. He is who he is.

Outdoor swimming in March

Growing up in Utah is nothing like living in Arizona. Arizona was just the place on the map that screamed to hot. Well, now that we live here I AM IN LOVE.

Today Tyler and I, on a whim, decided that we were bored and mom was sick of just looking at places to go swimming on the Internet for summer and go TODAY. Ty had just brought in a bowl asking for yet another round of strawberries and I asked him if he wanted to go swimming. He immediately dropped the bowl and signed water. I had never seen him use the sign as a response so score one for mom.

I called the YMCA in Mesa. It is about the only place I currently know of that has a open pool and got us a day pass. I packed our bags and we headed to by some swim diapers. Off we went.

The pool was a little on the cool side but a smile appeared QUICKLY. Score again for mom. We spent the next 2 hours going back and forth, up and down and jumping in and out of the pool.

Getting out was a chore. I asked a few times if he was all done but more swimming was the sign. He was responding and communicating so we kept on swimming. We got out just in time to rush home, pick up some take out and mom get back in the shower and ready for work.

Overall I would guess Ty was a pretty happy camper.

* Just for journal purposes (and grandma's smiles) signs and words we are currently using...mom, dad, fish, blanket, sleep, swimming/water, more, all done, spider, cow, dog (sometimes) duck, elephant, cow, horse, zebra( in a movie they click their hooves so he clicks his tongue) and monkey. He knows how to buckle his safety belt for little Einsteins, put on his hat for the super sleuths on Winnie the pooh and play the piano.

Most of them are signs but it is something.

Stay tuned for more Tyler tales the last week of our spring vacation.