Oh My Little Squish!!!

Cora Update

Cora finished her Feeding Therapy and has been off thickener for the last 3-4 months. It has been so nice! I also quit giving her formula and the only milk substitute that her stomach will tolerate is goat's milk. Earlier this month she did have a bad sinus infection and pneumonia, I don't know if that was caused from her not being on thickener or what but she's been fine since then on the normal consistency. She does tend to get sick quite often and stays sick for a lengthy period of time so I got her tested for autoimmune deficiency disorders. All the tests came back negative which is good and I got her a flu shot so I hope that helps this year.

I've noticed for quite some time that her hearing is becoming more and more sensitive. If anything is shouted or objects get dropped or she hears a motor - anything like that - she always covers her ears and says it's too loud. Even the radio or TV being on too loud. It doesn't scare her at all but it bothers her. A few months ago I asked her therapists about it and they said it's just a quirk that she has and it's not necessarily a sign of autism or sensory processing disorder. Her new PT mentioned it to me last week and she suggested that we get her evaluated for sensory processing disorder just to be on the safe side. I also called her ENT to get his thoughts and she's going to have her hearing tested again in December.

Since her therapy schedule has slowed a little bit I enrolled her in Kindermusik to help keep her challenged and engaged and moving in the right direction. She loves it! It's a small class which has been good for all levels of development - speech, physical movement, social skills, and cognitive learning. She hasn't really picked up on the music aspect of it yet but the interaction with other kids, being able to connect singing with speech, and physical movement and dancing has been really good. 

Here are a few pictures of her last PT session.

Who's Who?

Handsome Babe

Great Job!

The kids filled up the rock jar, which took six months to do. These are the toys they earned, a barbie with a extra shoes and an over-the-door basketball hoop.

Pumpkin Fun

I can't believe how fast the summer went by. A few weekends ago we headed to the orchards on Green Bluff to pick out some pumpkins. The traffic was so packed! The three mile loop took us an hour to get through, is was insane how many people were there. We didn't want to deal with crowds so we found a farm off a side road and found some pumpkins there. It was really cold but we had a great time. For FHE a few days ago Daddy and the kids carved away and made a stinky mess in the kitchen but they're now part of the family and sitting on the side steps. Kimball asked if he could bring his pumpkin friends inside for his birthday, haha.

 

He's Growing Too Fast!

A few weeks ago I looked at Ezra's hand and it was quite red where he was sucking on it. I checked his mouth and he already has two teeth coming in! I actually cried a little because he's barely five months old and too little for teeth, the other two kids didn't get teeth until they were nine months old.

What Else Does A Girl Need?

She's got Charity's barbie dolls, lipstick, and a bowl of chocolate chips. So happy!

My Little Squish

After Ezra's gastric tests we found that he does have a gastric emptying delay at 268 minutes with severe reflux. The Erythromycin that he was on during the family reunion was awful! I mean, talk about puking EVERYTHING up with such force. So much so, that he was spitting up blood and having dry diapers. But, since he's not losing weight yet and is not at failure to thrive, they will not do surgery on his stomach. I refuse to give him Reglan because of the neurological side effects so we basically just have to deal with it. The doctor's advice was to be patient and replace all of our clothes, carpet, and couches in a few years. He spits up A LOT!

At his 4 month check up he was 14.7 lb. and 25" long, on the smaller side of things in the 36 and 48%. He's such a good baby, doesn't fuss at all unless he's hungry. He's now sleeping through the night from 10pm - 7am. He loves to talk and blow bubbles and be held. He's so loved by all of us!

A few nights ago Kimball was throwing a fit and from his bedroom yelled, "I don't like this family anymore! Except Ezra, he's the only one I like!" Even in Kimball's anger can't resist this cute face.

 First bite of baby food

He always turns over and sleeps like this in the swing.

He looks different to me depending on the angle. This one he's definitely an old man!

First Day of Kindergarten!!

Wow, what a milestone! I can't believe my baby is going to school and he couldn't wait! On the first day of school he came in my room at 6:30am and woke me up and said, "Mom, it's time to get up! I'm already dressed and brushed my teeth and have my new shoes on!" He is SO ready for school and absolutely LOOOOOOVES it!! I'm so glad too, and Cora and I have a great time together at home.

After we dropped him off Cora bawled and said, "Miss mine bes fend!" which of course made me get teary eyed. This milestone is so bittersweet, it's his first real step to independence. I mean, I drop him off at the school sidewalk and I have to trust in what he does for the next 7 hours without me knowing what he's doing at every minute. Did I teach him enough? Was I patient enough? What if he gets lost? What if he's hungry and doesn't eat all of his lunch? Will he make friends? Will he make good choices and remember to always be kind? What if he walks into the girls bathroom by accident? What if he needs help wiping his bum? What if he can't snap up his jeans?......

Now that he's been in school for almost a month, he's so much more independent. He makes his own lunch and insists that he doesn't need help snapping up his jeans. I miss that he doesn't need me as much but I'm also grateful for the time that it gives Cora and me. I thought he would be completely worn out being in Kindergarten all day and even though he's tired he's not as tired as I thought he'd be. I still miss him.

Ezra's Blessing

Ezra Kempton Cox was 4 months old when we blessed him, his outfit barely fit. Both of our parents drove to Spokane to support us and be there, it was lovely!

 

Ms. Doornink

Kimball got to meet his new teacher for the year, Ms. Doornink. I think she'll be really great and Kimball will love school. On this day they had Kimball do a series of tests and the principle gave him a brand new book. Of course Cora needed her picture taken, too.

Farewell Pokey

When Lance got home from a call on Sunday morning Kimball asked him, "Dad, why is Pokey laying like that?" Welp, Pokey was dead and poor little Kimball just cried all day and even cried himself to sleep that night because he was so heart broken. Kimball found him a shoe box to bury him in, a blanket to put on top, and his favorite treat (carrot). After they buried him in the yard they each took turns saying their favorite thing about Pokey and Daddy said a prayer. I didn't think it would affect Kimball quite so much but it did.