blog slacker

sorry i haven't posted in so long.  i keep thinking of things to post about then don't.  so what's been happening in our life?  not too much really...

hazel is pretty much running.  its hard to even remember her not walking.  the past couple months she is getting allllll her teeth in.  shes only had her top 4 and bottom 2 since I think like 10 months and now canines, incisors, molars, and all are coming in at once!  fun times!  last month she started putting 2 words together and this month has put 3 words together a few times.  well intelligible words... she tells long stories often but i dont understand it all.  shes a talker.  she really likes to talk about poop.  maddie poop (the dogs-she refers to both of them as maddie), daddy poop.  i always wonder if she talks about our little family pooping when shes at daycare and what they think about it.  she names all her friends at daycare.  she just picks up on things i dont even teach her.  before i left for mexico she was singing twinkle twinkle little star.  you cant understand all the words, but its pretty adorable.  when i came back from mexico she was singing abc's... again its mostly just 'A, B, A, B...' to the tune.  its cute.  theres plenty more funny things she says but i wont bore you with my mommy proudness.  she had therapy yesterday.  her therapist feels she is doing well but she really should not have any slip through under her arms and still does quite a bit.  she said long ago that crawling would help strengthen those muscles and she crawled for a long time but apparently it didn't strengthen them enough.  so we will continue working on pulling things down with resistance or apart like we have for the past year.  she also said to continue working on core exercises b/c hazel falls back and hits her head often.  her core isn't strong enough to hold her up when she falls down.  but at least most of her delays aren't noticeable by others.

we are loving that it is warmer out and we can play outside everyday.  tyson runs while i ride my back with hazel on the back.  hazel loves playing with her car, shopping cart, chalk, bubbles, water table, slide, sandbox, and picnic table outside.  and tomorrow hazel is getting her dad a bike for fathers day so we can go bike riding together!

tyson and i still do our monthly date nights.  tonight we are headed to a nice italian restaurant on the hill that we have a gift card to.  luckily hazel goes to bed at 7 every night so we get date nights most nights tysons off.  even if its just popcorn and a movie on the couch.

hopefully i will be better about updating.  i will try to upload some pictures soon!  happy summer everyone!

April

I've been slacking on the blog front.  April flew by.  We are pretty boring lately.  Just work, daycare, and sickness for us.  We went to the zoo last week but it must have been field trip day b/c it was packed with kids and chaperones (I can't wait to do that stuff :) ).  Haze liked to people watch rather than look at the animals.  She loved riding the choo choo.  It was fun seeing her so excited about it.

Hazel:  She's walking all over.  I rarely see her crawl anymore.  She seems like such a big girl lately with walking and talking.  Her favorite new word is "no".  So fun ;)  I shouldnt, but I giggle when she says it b/c its too cute.  She love going (out)'side'.  We are ready for this week of warm weather to get back out.  She got a little set of clubs and daddy is teaching her how to golf.  We will have her 18 month appt in a few weeks and I'm excited to go to a normal appt and only hear positive things :)  Her pt appt is a few weeks after that and I think we will be discharged at that point!

Tyson:  He's back to running!  He swore he was done when he found out he more torn cartilage in the 'good' bad knee.  A few injections, and now he thinks he is superman!  Hoping he doesn't hurt his knees to the point of being able to not do much working out at all.  Other than that, work training and more work.

Dana:  I've been busy with Anna's wedding stuff.  We threw her a shower a few weekends ago and the bach party is coming up soon.  Then the first week in June to Mexico for her wedding!  I'm so excited to have a few days alone to relax and celebrate with my BFF.  But I will be sad to leave my little fam for those days.  Since that is coming up I am going to wean Haze this month.  I'm nervous for this.  I know I have done a great job making it this far, but I do feel a little guilt stopping since she doesnt drink whole milk.  Thankfully she is a pretty good eater.  Work is going well.  Flexibility, less hours, more money, and LOVING what you are doing-it doesnt get much better than that.  I am running my first 5k in years in just 3 weeks.  I haven't started training yet YIKES!  I'm sick right now so its kind of hindering it.  And well I just decided to do this a few days ago.  Hazel will pushed in her stroller by her gparents while Tyce and I run.  Let hope I finish!!  

Happy almost May, blog followers!

P.S.  My sister is having a baby girl!!  Sooo excited for them :))))

toddler

we officially OFFICIALLY have a toddler on our hands.  at 15 months haze took 3 slow and controlled steps on her own and then decided not to do that again for a few weeks.  over the next month we sat further and further apart trying to get her to go back in forth between us b/c this was the only way she would do it.  she wasnt doing it on her own.  at 16 months she would make it pretty far between us.  and just the past few weeks she has started doing it without us telling her to stand up and walk.  ill turn around and see her determined to make it from the chair to the couch all on her own.  its really cute.  most of the time she still prefers to hold on to a finger when walking.  i think b/c she can go faster (and of course helps with balance)!!  i finally feel at ease more with our decisions not to do further testing.  we know she will always have low tone and have little struggles but not that anyone will be able to notice.  im hoping that is all it is and nothing else comes to surface over the next few years.  im ready to put therapy and neurologists in the past!!  buuut shes not out of therapy just yet.  we usually go once a month but since she made great progress this last month she doesnt have to go back for 2-3 months!  in the 1st year of life they have so many physical milestones and now that she is walking (well at least 50% of the time) we are just working on strengthening.  we started therapy 1 year ago and she said we would see her until hazel walked but we didn't know she had low tone at this point.  now im not sure when therapy ends?  maybe after climbing? jumping?

and she officially starts in the toddler room at daycare this week!  im so thrilled!  it will be great for her in so many ways!  its crazy how fast time is going by with my 'baby'.  she's such a sweetheart and makes life wonderful!  happy easter!

werd

people have been asking for an update but im behind as usual :)  we met with dr ben in the midst of the blizzard thursday.  i was waiting for him to bring up the issue from reading her reports.  he wanted to know where we were at with everything and we told him we never did anything after seeing the neuro. i explained my thoughts and reasons for waiting on testing and he said he was comfortable with waiting and seeing how she progresses and we will revisit the issue every time we see him.  he also said he wouldn't have noticed the low tone if he hadn't known so that was positive for me to hear.  but he did say that MD isnt diagnosed until later and then i for some reason got really worried again and was questioning myself.  he explained things well and i held back the tears.  he thinks it wont change our treatment plan right at this moment.  and he explained hydrocephalus and how her head is measuring big but the jumps up in percentile were not huge and not a concern at all.  thats all we wanted to know people!!  why couldnt someone have explained that to us before when we were asking??  he also said he would refer us to STL if we decide to go back for testing.  so overall it was a good appt.  he asked if she could say 6 words and i said probably 20 :)  and honestly in the past few days she has just started repeating everything!!  you can tell her to say any word and she usually will say it pretty close.  aaaaaand on friday she took 3 steps 2 different times!!  she took her time and did it slowly-not like falling walking into something.  everyone says watch out!  but tyson and i both said, we know our little lady and she still probably wont do that again for a few weeks!  shes not daring.  she likes to perfect her skills before using them often.  i said she will be walking by 16 months so that gives her a month to work on it!

ive been working like crazy lately!  getting so many patients.  i actually have a lot of kids im seeing right now which is neat and a few adults.  im loving so many new challenging things to research and refresh my memory on how to do different techniques.  i am loving my job!!!  the best decision i ever made (besides marrying tyson and having a baby) is taking this job!!  life is good! :)

update

its been a rough couple weeks and ive wrote a few blogs then deleted them before i could hit 'publish'.  we feel like hazel is doing really well-shes balancing so well and will even walk if you are just holding onto one of her hands.  and she has stood up in the middle of a room without holding onto anything a few times :)  but when we went to the dr for an ear check up she was really pushy about going through with the neurologist's testing recommendations.  so then i start questioning myself and reading a lot of muscular dystrophy and how most kids arent diagnosed until age 4 b/c they are so mild and then i worry myself that my little baby has a degenerative disease that i am too scared get a for sure diagnosis.  ei came and kind of left it up to us if we wanted her to have services b/c she was borderline for gross motor skills (she was above expectations on everything else :) ).  we decided against it b/c with our income we have to pay a pretty good amount for their services and talked like they might just check in once a month.  also, all 3 professionals were AT LEAST a 1/2 hr late and im just not cool with all their last minute cancelling/rescheduling/excuses.  i love our pt in springfield and its worth the drive to me to get quality care.

back to the testing.  ive tried to not talk to tyson too much about my indecisions.  hes getting frustrated with it all b/c he knows nothing is wrong with our little perfect baby!  i feel like that too but i just dont want to be wrong and regret putting off the testing.  so we switched drs to our favorite dr ben!  im excited to meet with him next week to get his opinion.  tyson said if he suggests we go forward he is willing to start with at least the blood and urine tests.  im thinking either way he will put our mind at ease b/c he is good about explaining things which we feel like hasnt happened thus far.

so today i feel good about her progress.  next week i may be confused again.  all i know is that my little lady is progressing so nicely and im sure she will be walking before the 18 month mark (i think it will be 16 months).  oh and her pt thinks she might not have to have shoe inserts!!  we have been doing toe stretches b/c shes curls her toes under so much due to poor balance and trying to grip the floor that they can become tight and permanently curled.  we are still working on core weak muscles too but we feel like shes doing amazing.

i hope everyone had a wonderful valentine's day!  we sure did :)  xoxo

hypotonic babe

ive been reading more and more about hypotonia.  wikipedia says even in the first paragraph that diagnosing the cause of hypotonia is often unsuccessful.  it goes on to say that it can be helped with early intervention.  we have the ei coordinator coming by today to fill out paper work for hazel to be evaluated but she made sure to tell me on the phone that it has to be effecting education and at least a 30% delay to qualify.  this information i already know and all my spec ed background will help me make a case that it is linked to education in so many ways.  im so glad i dont have a job like this lady's anymore.  its not her fault, but spec ed has changed so much and its so hard to get your kids help.  with a diagnosis she acted like we may be able to get the services.  but in a previous post you read that we wont be doing that anytime soon.  silly you have to have a label and wait until there is a huge gap of delays to receive treatment.

sorry im getting side tracked.... back to info about hypotonia.  down the road we may see difficulties with gross motor things like riding a bike, climbing, falling down stairs easily, running, etc.  possibly difficulties with potty training, standing for long periods, sitting in a chair for long periods like for school and such, and handwriting is difficult for hypotonic kids because it take a lot of trunk support.  who would have known.  i already notice hazel leaning forward onto her hands a lot if shes been sitting and playing awhile.  it gives her little body a rest.  but hypotonic kids can have really bad posture b/c of this too.

also, when we were at the neuro appt the dr turned to the student who was in the room and explained to her that babies with low tone have big bellies like hazel does.  didnt know this either.  i have read a lot about their doughy skin and hazel has this.  but i guess i didnt realize all her rolls and baby fat that is still there is due to this too.  i guess it makes sense.  we all talk about 'toning up'.  well hazel's tone will always be low so although she can increase muscle strength, she may be a little soft :)  if any of you have seen teen mom there is that little twin girl on there with low tone and she has the rolls like my haze.

most research says that hypotonia can be considered a type of muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy.  a lot of the tests they were going to do on hazel could have told us this, but if they came back negative i think you can still classify it into either of these categories based on symptoms.  they dont think the problem is in hazels brain, but in her muscles.  to us it doesnt really matter.  some people have such mild forms of things such as cp and never would know it.  it will still be the same treatment.  if things are hard for her in school and we feel like we need some sort of diagnosis for accommodations to be made we may do it at that time.

so theres a little more info on hypotonia for any of you curious readers!  wish me luck today!  maybe ill show her that wikipedia says we need ei :)

new year goals

i have a few goals for this new year.  even though in a month or so they will probably start fading away in my mind.

1) ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE, DANA!!!!!  I royally suck at this.  so my goals are to write monthly to do lists and weekly to do lists b/c crossing things off a list always feels so great!  Buuuut I haven't started this goal yet.  With Stamp Out Cancer, I am using all my free time running around collecting silent auction items.  I don't have time to do anything extra out of my regular cleaning duties.  But as soon as thats over, I will buy storage tubs and attack the spare (junk) room.  Hazels clothes have taken over the room and they need to be organized my size and stored away.  And all the baby stuff-swing, tub, carseat, etc.  I am hoping my brother will help me build storage above our garage door and along the walls.  Having a small house + a child = MESS!  Children come with A LOT of accessories.  I just need better organization skills.  And it feels great being organized.  I just have to get there.  I also plan to get rid of more of Tyson and I's clothes (even though I just did) and sell to Plato's closet.  We are tight on cash since I'm barely working so I could use the extra money.  I need to get creative buying shelving from yardsales and repainting it for storage of toys in our living spaces.

2) Reconnect with hubby.  Tyson and I are very much in love, but Hazel takes up a lot of our (my) brain space that we forget about each other at times.  So I made little love cards for Tyce.  12 to be exact.  1 for each month.  It has money or a gift card and a note to where we are going or what we are doing for the night.  I used Christmas money and gift cards we had so I didn't have to spend any extra money we should really be saving.  Some months might only have $1 for a redbox movie and some have $50 to a fancy restaurant out of town.  This is a way we have a commitment for time for each other at least once a month, no if, ands, or buts about it.  Its a good way for me to have time away from Hazel too since I would prefer to be with her every second of every day :)

3) Shit I forgot my 3rd goal!!  Obviously it wasn't super important then.  It could have been along the lines of no judgement of other people, working out, or saving money.  I will try to do all those things too.