Kai

Kai in the stroller watching the kids swim at the wading pool

Kai on his tummy and starting to push himself up

Kai likes to sleep on his tummy now; mommy's not too keen on the idea

Kai trying a popsicle


Kai has caught a little cold. I really hope that it doesn't turn into anything major. He did pretty good, almost 4 weeks without being sick. This is the longest stretch he has ever gone for being healthy. Kai is still working on oral feedings. At times he has been taking more baby food. Usually it is anywhere from 1 ounce to 2 ounces. Still can't get him to drink anything orally. One day last week, I tried pop (I know that's not the healthiest choice, but wanted to wake up his mouth). I tried this through a straw. And he did it! He sipped some pop from a straw. I was so excited. It wasn't a measurable amount, but it something. I haven't been able to get him to do it again since. Last Wednesday, we started Kai on some amino acids. It just gets mixed in with his formula. Hopefully this will help with weight gain. A lot of people have asked about how he is doing with his hearing aids. His right one, we had to send back in. The ear mold was not staying in his ear very well. He seems to be adjusting just fine though. He doesn't seem to mind having the hearing aid in. He hasn't figured out how to grab at it yet. Sometimes it does seem like the noise bothers him, so we give him a little break and take the hearing aid out. Besides Kai rolling all over the place, that is about all that is new with him.

Gavin's gymnastics

Gavin doing a straddle jump off the middle size beam
Gavin on the high beam

Hand stand and then rolling over the big red thing

Gavin on the bars

Gavin walking on the very low beam

This past week Gavin did a 4 day gymnastics class at the armory. He had a lot of fun and learned new things. We plan to enroll both Gavin and Jace in gymnastics in the fall over in Mankato.

Jace is 3 years old!

Jace in the bumper boat
Gavin jumping off the diving board

Jace, Kai and mommy

Jace pretending he was driving

Jace and daddy going off the diving board

Jace blowing out his candle

Jace's birthday cake (thanks, Tina!)



Jace turned 3 on July 17th. He weighs 30 pounds (32%) and is 36.71 inches tall (30%). On July 19th with had a small birthday party for Jace at Grandma and Grandpa Selly's. We did some swimming and ate some nummy cake. A little update on Jace. He is starting to use more words and putting 2-3 words together. He still works with his teacher Becky. In the fall he will fall he will go to Early Childhood Special Education preschool. There he will be in a small classroom setting, he will continue to get OT and he will be starting speech therapy. Overall Jace is doing pretty good right now. Although right now his favorite word is "no". We are also working with potty training with him. He definitely loves getting the treats for going potty.

Hearing Aids

Kai got his hearing aids today. He doesn't seem to mind them at all. He hasn't tried to grab them either. Having a little trouble with getting the right one to stay in, might not to have some kind of adjustment to it.

Kai is 9 months!

Kai is now 9 months old! I just can't believe it, nor does he look like a 9 month old. Today he had his well baby check up. He weighs 14 lbs 12 ozs (under 3 %) and under the curve. He is 26.5 inches long (5-10%) and his head is 17 3/4 in (50-75%).

So the part that is frustrating for me is his feedings/weight gain. I feel like we are kinda stuck in a rut. I'm very anxious for his feeding clinic appointment on the 29th. I really hope they have some ideas and suggestions for me.

Updates on Kai

Kai in his new high chair (one of those space saver ones)
Kai in the indoor swing (school brought this for us to use)

Kai is doing pretty good right now. He has been healthy for about 3 weeks now. This is the longest stretch of him being healthy. Hopefully he continues to be healthy for a long time. Where to start with his updates...? Maybe I will start with his cranio cap. Kai had a cranio cap appointment yesterday. He has had the biggest growth (head circumference) in the past 2 weeks then he has ever had in a 2 week period since he has started with the cranio cap. He has had the cranio cap now for 17 weeks. Are we done with it yet?? Kai has pretty much outgrown his cap that he has now. We have decided to move forward with a second cap. He has had improvement, but we would like to see some more improvement. So he had another scan of his head and he will get his new cranio cap in about 2 weeks. Kai will be getting some other new equipment on Friday. He will be getting his hearing aids. I'm eager to see how he is going to be once he will be hear better. Hopefully he will adjust to them fine.

Kai is now 9 months old. He doesn't look like a 9 month old. He is definitely on the small side. He has his 9 month check up on Friday, so I will blog about that appointment after the weekend. Kai, in a sense almost seems like he is like 6 months old. Last week when he was weighed, he was at 14 lbs 14 ozs. He is below the curve. His physical development or his developmental milestones are pretty much at like a 6 month level. In the past few weeks, Kai has started doing more things. He is now rolling around all over the floor. He grabs his feet and plays with his toes. He is grabbing at toys more and bringing them to his mouth. When he is on his tummy, he is lifting his head more. When he is sitting in something or sitting on your lap, he tries to sit upright instead of leaning back. He doesn't sit by himself yet. He does sit a little better with some support, but does get floppy at times. I think that there a few things that have helped just recently to accomplish what he is now doing. One is his health...he is healthy and has more strength. Two is kinesio tape. At therapy a few weeks back, we started using kinesio tape on Kai. So what is this tape? "Kinesio tape or its other name, Kinesio Tex Gold, is a specially-designed heat-sensitive tape that offers the patient or athlete extra support and stability during rehabilitation. Kinesio tape allows full range of motion during daily activities. " Kai uses this tape on his stomach to basically remind his stomach muscle to work. I really believe that this is helping him. Kai still doesn't sit up on his own. We are still working with him on that. Just recently, therapy has been working on hands and knees position with him. He doesn't always enjoy that position, it's a lot of work for him.

Last but not least...feedings. This is a day to day challenge. His feedings at times get very frustrating. I think the thing that I fear the most is that he will loose ALL interest in oral intake. We have been "playing" around with his feedings since day 1. So with the tube feeding. He usually eats every 3 hours. He gets 115 mls (just a little under 4 ozs) over 45 minutes. He cannot handle any more than that amount. He is currently on Nutramigen 24 cal. We were trying to get him up to 26, but it seemed like he wasn't tolerating it. We talk with a dietitian weekly and she sent us this Elecare formula to try with him, but after two days of him being really fussy during feedings, I switched him back to the Nutramigen. As far as oral, he still takes some baby food. He does #2 jars now. We have tried some new things with getting his mouth "woken up" before feedings. We dip a probe into either kool-aid powder or jello powder. It's a tart taste and helps get his mouth going. We also still use the Z-vibe. As far as the sippy cup, none. I cannot get him to take anything from the sippy cup. We have some vanilla flavored formula and still no interest. I cannot get him to be interested in the sippy cup. It makes me sad at times...I just hope he doesn't lose all interest in oral feedings. We have a feeding clinic appointment in a few weeks and I really hope they have some new ideas and techniques for me to help Kai. Kai has also grown out of the tumble form feeder chair, so we got him a new high chair. This has a 5 point harness with the shoulder straps. He fits so well in this chair and it makes feedings a little easier.

Well I will blog again next week. Kai has a few appointments on Friday. Jace turns 3 on Friday and we are having a birthday party for him on Sunday. So it will be an eventful weekend. Until next time!

Bath Time!

Bath time is getting to be a little bit of a challenge with Kai since he can't sit up on his own. He has outgrown a baby bath tub and bath chair. We have now decided to use a bumbo on him. We did this Jace as well when he was younger because he was such a squirmer. The bumbo worked great for Kai. He is able to be in the water more as well. You will notice in these pictures things that look like bandages on Kai's tummy...they aren't, it's kinesio tape. I will talk more about the kinesio tape in my next blog.

Just starting the bath
Kai getting his hair washed

Mommy cleaning Kai's button

Mommy holding Kai in the bath without the bumbo (very challenging)

Helping Kai splash water

North Mankato Fun Days

We went to North Mankato Fun Days this past Sunday. The boys had a lot of fun. The got to ride horses, participate in the kiddie tractor pull and ride some rides. It was a great time!

Gavin on a horse

Jace on a tiny horse; he was scared at first

Jace was very excited before the pull, but got scared

Gavin had fun, put all his muscle into it

Mommy and Gavin on the Octopus ride (mommy is getting too old for these rides)

Jace wanted to be on the ride, but then didn't when he actually got on

Daddy with Jace and Gavin

Gavin in the middle

Summer Fun!

Levi took the boys camping in our yard

Jace helping his friend Mya

Kai

Daddy helping Gavin with take off into the pool

Having fun!

Splash!

4th of July 2009

We had a nice 4th of July. Levi was actually able to enjoy it as well (he didn't have to work). We started off the day with the parade in St. Peter. This was the boys' first parade. They really enjoyed it even though it rain at the beginning of the parade. Then we came home for lunch and a nap. Later that afternoon, Levi took Gavin and Jace to the tractor pull. Jace got scared and I picked him up so that Levi and Gavin could stay. After the tractor pull we went to our friends, Angie and Eric's house. They kids did some sparklers and the "boys" (Levi and Eric) did the other fireworks. Friends, Ann, Dustin and their girls joined us as well. Then we all went to the corner of the street to watch the fireworks. So it was a great day!

Updates are coming soon

Hearing Aids

On Tuesday we met with the audiologist to discuss hearing aids. He will be getting hearing aids in about a couple of weeks. We picked out some fun colored ear molds and silver for the part that goes around the back side of his ears. This is all new to us, so again we will learn about this as we go. It will be interesting to see how he reacts once he starts hearing through the hearing aids.

Therapy

Kai goes to Pediatric Therapy Services in Mankato every week. He works with an OT and a PT there. It is a wonderful place and we are thankful that Kai receives therapy from there. Kai is rolling around on the floor all by himself. He enjoys tummy time, but does get frustrated when he gets stuck or caught on his arm. Just this past week, Kai started grabbing his toes! Yay! We are still working on sitting. It will be so wonderful when he can sit up all on his own. We have also been working on oral feedings. He is not interested in the sippy cup at all, but we keep trying. He still does some baby food as well. Today at therapy, Lori tried dipping a nuk brush in kool-aid powder. Boy that was something for Kai to think about. He seemed interested. He needs a real strong powerful taste to have interest. We will continue to work with his oral feedings. Our #1 focus (beside health and safety) is weight gain. He currently weighs 14 lbs 14 ozs.

Kai at therapy practicing being on his hands and knees

Kai at therapy; he really likes this cow

Kai watching himself in the mirror