Lazy Day

The boys and I had a very relaxing day today. Graysen had Pluto on his onesie, so Caleb brought out his Pluto to play. Graysen loves to play, and Caleb is a great big brother. He even helped feed Graysen today.

Playdate at McDonald's

Today we met Lisa and Emily at McDonald's. I am pretty sure that McDonald's is Caleb's favorite restaurant. It was sweet to see Emily share her juice box with Caleb. I also think that Caleb is more brave when he is around Emily. He went up to the second level of the play area for the first time ever!

Thank you Chuck E Cheese...well, maybe.

As some of you know, Caleb is afraid of the potty. The most that I could get him to do was to sit on it with all of his clothes on.

Today I received CEC's monthly email. Caleb saw it and got very excited. He started yelling, "Chuck E. Cheese, Chuck E. Cheese, ..." The email included reward calendars. The calendars have spaces for the parent to mark off an accomplishment, and then the child can bring it into CEC for 10 free tokens. There was one specially designed for potty training. So, I decided to print it and tape it next to his potty. I told him that he could go to CEC if he went pee in the potty.

He took of all his clothes, and his diaper. He sat on the potty and kept saying, "Chuck E. Cheese." I was amazed. I decided that since I actually had him on the potty, I was going to take full advantage of it. I gave him five 8 oz full cups of juice and I sat there for a hour with him.

After a hour, he started to pee (2 drops). He freaked out!!! He started crying, stopped peeing, and got really scared. I left him to see if he would calm down. (I had 5 sippy cups of pee that I had to account for. Two drops were not enough.) I came back, and he was hysterical and one sippy cup equivalent of pee was on the floor. I decide that he had enough with the potty. I went and got him a diaper, and he peed out the other four cups.)

He calmed down. I marked off the certificate and gave him lots of praise. We even called daddy, who was very proud of him.

We went to CEC and had a fun night. I also learned that Caleb is not ready for potty training, and I do not plan to try any more attempts until he is three years old.

All Clean

Graysen loves to take baths. A bath always puts him in a good mood. We are having a relaxing day today. Graysen and Caleb's EI is coming to do PT with Graysen and speech therapy with Caleb. Caleb loves doing speech therapy. I do not think that Graysen likes PT very much. I think that he would rather be left alone.

Morning Aerobics

I exercise in the mornings by watching work out videos. Caleb enjoys exercising with me. He always calls it "dance."

Sarah Grace Visits

Sarah Grace, Erik, Amanda, and Amanda's mom stopped by for breakfast this morning on their way to the beach. It was great to see them, and fun to watch Sarah Grace interact with Graysen. Caleb had fun with Uncle Erik. Caleb taunted Erik by calling him "mommy," which resulted in Erik tickling Caleb. Caleb had a blast. Caleb thinks that he is a little comedian.

Graysen's Well Visit

Graysen had his six month well visit today. He weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces and is in the 25th percentile for weight. He is doing well, but the doctor has four concerns. She is going to refer us to four different specialists, one for each concern.
1) He has kidney hydronephrosis and some scarring of the kidney. There is something causing this. Just because the VCUG did not show anything, that does not mean that there isn't something wrong. They just haven't found the cause yet. Also, the VCUG was not completed conclusively. The pediatric radiologist did not wait for Graysen to void his bladder. (Graysen was stubborn and wouldn't do so. He waited 30 minutes and called it quits.) This was even noted in the results that were faxed to the pediatrician from Greenville Memorial Hospital. She said that the "V" in VCUG stood for voiding and was very important. Her plan is to watch for the next UTI and repeat the VCUG at that time. Until then, Graysen will have renal ultrasounds every 3 months.
2) His muscle tone is very low. He is weak and is not doing very much compared to a normal baby. It is probably due to low oxygen, but she is going to refer him to Spartanburg Regional so that they can perform a PT evaluation and therapy on him.
3) Because of the kidney problem, low muscle tone, and especially the CHD, she is very suspicious that Graysen may have a genetic syndrome. She is referring us to a genetisist so that they can run tests on Graysen and see if he has a syndrome. I really hope that he does not. That would not be good news.
4) His head (especially his ears) are asymmetrical, due to flattening on the head, due to poor mobility. She is going to refer him to a craniologist for an opinion to determine if he needs a helmet. She said that the craniologist will say that he needs one. It will be up to Lee and I to decide if the downsides (may further impede motor skill development) outweigh the benefits (corrects symmetry of face and ears). We will not make our decision until we hear what the craniologist says. Personally, I am not thrilled about the possibility of a helmet.

Overall, not the best report. But, as always, it could have been worse. I am thankful that he is doing well and is a happy baby.