Whirlwird Week

I can't believe that tomorrow is Thursday already. This week just flew by. Destin actually turns 20 months tomorrow as well. Crazy stuff.

Sheri and he went over the Huettl's to hang out with Dylan. It was a nice change of pace for the pea packer. He didn't really want to go to sleep last night. He took what we'll call a nap from 7 to 11:30 PM. Then, he was up and wanted a snack.

He still didn't want to go to sleep after his snack. He just laid in his crib and bounced his leg off the mattress and giggled. Around 1:30 AM he finally went to bed....for awhile. He woke up again at 3 AM. I think he must have had an Red Bull or something.

The D-man has been going crazy with his walker this week. He's getting better at steering and maneuvering around our place. As always, he gets a kick out of it.

The Cleft Palate Clinic went better then expected on Monday. We had a good visit with the speech therapy team. The best session was with the speech therapy team. We received some good pointers for the pea packer. Sheri was able to talk with Jamie, the director of the clinic, about the frustrations of our first visit.

There is definitely more to talk about, but I'm going to sign off for tonight. I'm hoping for some screen time tomorrow night.

Doctors, Clinics, Procedures...Oh My...

The weekend have been good. Destin had a appointment with Cindy at the Amaryllis Clinic on Friday. We had turned in a sensory profile for Destin on our last visit. Cindy reviewed it and recommended a brush technique to help Destin.

The procedure consistis of a brush with soft plastic brissels used to "brush" up and down the arms, legs, and back. The brushing is followed up by joint compressions. The first stage of the treatement is pretty intense. It has to be done every two hours while the pea packer is awake. The treatment is only supposed to take 2-3 minutes, but still sounds pretty intense.

I believe this helps his sense of touch get a work out. The pamphlet about the procedure says that it helps the child be "more comfortable, alert, and able to interact with the environment." We'll see how it works out.

The D-man also had an appointment with Dr. Dickerson. She checked his weight and he is a whopping 19 pounds 12 ounces. Sheri talked to her about Destin's eating habits and the Amaryllis clinic. She may recommend a GI doctor to make sure everything is "processing" :) okay. This will not happen until after he's 2.

Big day tomorrow. We have our second visit to the Cleft Palate Clinic at Children's Hospital. As most of you know, we were disappointed with the results from our first time. We are still going in with an open mind, but it's tough. I'm actually not going to take off work tomorrow because we thought it was such a waste of time. Sheri is going to try to get some time with the director of the clinic to talk about a few of our issues with it.

It's going to be a busy week. We have the Cleft Palate Clinic tomorrow and Sheri is watching Dylan on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm heading to Austin, TX on Friday for a friend's wedding. I'm hoping to get a few entries up this week to keep everyone posted on Destin.

Too Long

Wow, a week and a day without posting. I think that might be a record for me.

It's been a good week. Dylan came over Monday through today. Destin is still a little jealous to share his Mama. Tomorrow he has her all to himself. They are going to visit Dr. Dickerson and Cindy at the Amaryllis Clinic.

I taught a Junior Acheivement class yesterday at Tarver Elementary School in Thornton. I was in front of 23 4th graders talking about regions, resources, and products. It was fun. I learned as much or more as the kids did.

Sheri is glad the weather is getting nicer. She and Destin have been able to get out for a few late evening walks.

Destin continues to be the climber. He has gone up both staircases unassisted. His new favorite is the door that goes out to the deck. The door is mostly window, with a blind that covers the glass. He likes to pull it away so he can look out. We have started pulling the blind up so he can see what's going on. It's nice to know that he's on the neighborhood watch!

A Little Catch Up

It seems that I've been playing a lot of catch up lately. Photo albums are pretty much up to date, so I'll try to get everyone caught up on our lives. It appears that I left off right after Destin's trip to Children's for his MRI and hearing test.

Pressing on from there; the first visit with Cindy at the Amaryllis Therapy Network was very refreshing. She treated us very nice and was gentle with Destin. He didn't know what was going on at first, but was able to adjust after a few minutes.

What Cindy does is craniosacral therapy. I can only explain this in layman's terms. Basically, there is fluid that runs from your brain all the way down your spine to your sacrum(right around your tail bone). This fluid carries certain neurological signals that run your body's movement and senses. It's kept moving by glands that beat like your heart. If the flow of this fluid is hindered in any way, your body could see some issues with sensory or motor skills. The therapy, in a nutshell, is the practice of opening up those paths so that the fluid can flow more freely.

I probably got that about half right. Sheri and I are still researching this. I will try to post our findings soon.

Actually, the coolest thing Cindy asked us was if we would be open to seeing an Osteopathic Physician. We would of course be open to this being that Destin's late great grandfather was one of the best! We would be estatic to use the philosophies and techniques he practiced. Destin will always have a connection to Wes Larsen; it will be interesting to see how much deeper it goes.

It's been a busy few days in our household which seems to be the norm as of late. The weekend finished up well. Grandma and Grandpa came up to hang out for awhile on Saturday. They were off to Laughlin, NV on Sunday. The trip was a little delayed with the "Spring Blizzard". 8 to 20 inches of snow in April is just plain wrong. But, you get used to it in Colorado. It's just what happens here.

Sheri has been watching Kathy and Brett Huettl's son, Dylan, this week. He and Destin are becoming buds. Dylan will be coming over off and on for the next two weeks.

Destin is all over the place as usual. He's going up the stairs unassisted now. Which is a little scary for Mama and Daddy. When we see him make the move, we will go up with him just in case. He gets to the top, giggles and goes to play in his room. Hilarious to watch!

I believe that is all I can manage for now. It's getting late again, and I told myself I'd go to bed earlier tonight. HA! Fat chance. :)

More Pics, Less Words...

I spent too much time getting photo albums loaded tonight. I'm afraid that's all I have to offer tonight...again. 63 more pictures added to the holiday album. I still have about 5 to add, so it's close.

And 3 new ones:

• Destin's 18th & 19th Month


• Easter 2005


• Sain Patrick's Day 2005

Cruisin' Now...

I have a lot to tell, but not too much time to do it. So, I will just say that we are cruisin' in the new place. It's definitely home now.

Another part of cruising is that I found a new (to me) utility in Macromedia Fireworks that has made posting pictures a lot easier.

Here are three new albums:

• Pop Pop's Holiday Pics 2004


• MOST of our Holiday 2004 - Still some more to put up.


• Halloween 2004 - A little embarrassing being April '05 and all.

Enjoy!

Survey Says....

Sheri and Destin went over the results with the neurologist today at Childrens. She did not see anything wrong with Destin.

She looked at the symmetry, shape, and growth of his brain, and all the connects through his system. Everything looked fine.

So good news. Not horribly unexpected, but good news.

The next step we can take with the pea packer is genetic testing. This would dig deeper into his genes to see what his risks could be, if any. It's not anything we need or want to do now, but could in the future. Our focus is going to be on speech and physical therapy. We are really curious to see the results of Friday's clinic visit with Cindy at Amaryllis.

The Big Day

Destin came through all his medical stuff with flying colors today. He still has a heart of a lion, and always will.

The hearing test results are the only feedback we got today. They were in line with the results we received from Nashville. That was good news!

Sheri goes down to Children's again tomorrow to talk about the MRI.

Sorry for the short post today, but there will probably be a bigger one tomorrow night!

Gorgeous Weekend

After the week of "the big move" we had a gorgeous first weekend in our new place. We took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday to get a lay of the land. Today was pretty much a sloth day. We still have a couple of things on our to do list, but it was nice to be lazy.

To rewind to last weekend, Easter was good for us. Destin had a mini Easter egg hunt in the morning and opened his gifts from the bunny. We went down to Grandma and Grandpa Stackpole's that afternoon for supper. Destin had a blast down there. They got him a new walker and he was all over the place. He even tried to go up the stairs by himself. The bunny had made a visit down there as well. It was a ball...

This prior week was mostly spent getting the new place situated. Destin took a little time to get adjusted, but he's home now. He's actually been sleeping great. It's probably because he takes multiple trips up and down the stairs. (With Mama's help, of course)

This next week will be interesting. We are all pretty busy. I have a few deadlines for work; Sheri has a couple dinner's planned with friends; and Destin has an MRI on Tuesday along with another hearing test. He has a follow up appointment on Wednesday for the MRI.

We've had the MRI scheduled for awhile. It was originally planned when we went to the neurologist as a sort of last resort to see if Destin has anything different going on. I will be sure to post the results.

Then, on Friday, we have an appointment with Cindy at the Amaryllis Clinic. I will post more info on this soon. It was recommended by Becky to work with Destin and some of his issues with his mouth. (speech, eating, etc) I'm sure I'm explaining it badly, so that's why I'm stopping...:)

I am going to have plenty to write about this week so I'm going to call it a night.