Four long and too short years ago you were born into this world. Our firstborn, our much beloved daughter, and our favorite girl in the whole world.

This past year seems a blur, filled with so much activity. You’ve spent your time this past year learning to ride horses and having fun learning gymnastics. So much energy! Naps have become a thing of the past this past year. It wasn’t too long ago when we were worried if you’d ever learn to run and jump, and now it seems that running and jumping are all you ever want to do. Which makes us as proud as we are tired.

You’ve done a great job in preschool this past year, and we’re amazed you’re already learning to read. Soon you’ll be reading to us and your little brother whom you alternately adore and despise, in roughly proper measure.

Two casting camps and a trip to Alabama were highlights of the year as we continue to work to make your left side stronger. Thank you for putting up with all that, and with the constant reminders and exercises we make you go through each day.

Four going on fourteen, your parents frequently say. Precocious and demanding and joyous and laughing and screaming and kicking and beautiful and snuggling and saying such grown-up things.

Thank you, Anna, for being part of our family, for letting us love you, and for giving us so much love in return. Happy birthday, little one! We love you!

You arrived a little early, eager to meet your momma and daddy and your big sister and your beloved Max, and to start to get to know the world. Like your sister you were strong and vital from your very first moments, and you remain so to this day — such an active, curious, rambunctious little boy.

What an amazing person you are. There is such a sense of peace and presence about you. And joy! A basic, fundamental happiness.  Your smile is a weapon you wield quickly and eagerly, and to devastating effect alongside your beautiful blue eyes. Together, they melt hearts and seem to solve any hurt.

In your constant learning, you teach us new things every day. Your enthusiasm and optimism and curiosity bring us all such joy. More than anything you constantly remind us to relax and see the world through your new eyes and enjoy these first learnings once again. It is such a joy to embrace you and your sister and each other and appreciate each new moment together.

Thank you, Noah, for joining our family and for and teaching us so much. Happy birthday, dearest boy. We love you, and are so very proud.

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

- John Lennon

It is my favorite Christmas tradition, and the only one that really matters to me. To stop and take a moment and remember how blessed and fortunate and thankful we are for all the many good things in our lives: Good heath, amazing children, wonderfully loving families, supportive friends, jobs we enjoy, our comparative wealth, and the ability to share this time of peace in peace with those we love.

And to you, too, we wish health, peace, joy, and much love this holiday season!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/enssle

We’re just catching up, and we’ve got some more recent photos and videos coming soon, so watch this space!

Anna’s Casting Part II: Our last post ended with Anna having her leg casted to help stretch her tight Achilles tendon. Almost 2 weeks post casting and we can say that it was a real success! When Anna had her first cast removed the following Monday, we already saw improvements in her flexibility. They measure flexibility in terms of degrees past neutral (think of neutral as your toes pointing up to the ceiling if you are sitting with your legs out in front of you) with both a straight leg and a bent knee. When we started Anna was minus 10 degrees with a straight leg and neutral with her knee bent. After the first cast she was almost neutral with a straight leg and 10 degrees past neutral (good!) with her knee bent. After the second cast, Anna was 10 degrees past neutral with a straight leg and 20 degrees past neutral with her knee bent. “Normal” flexibility is defined as 20 degrees past neutral, so we were very excited with the outcome. We’re getting a new brace within the next week or so that will hopefully help to maintain this new flexibility.

I re-read my post from the night before the initial casting; it turns out I was worried about nothing. The process was actually not bad at all (of course, I’m not the one who had a cast on her leg). Anna did everything she would normally do without a cast (some stuff she even did better with the cast than without) – climbing, running, jumping, etc. On the first couple of nights after she received a new cast she complained a little about leg pain. We were told by her PT that this was normal, and that we should give her Tylenol/Motrin to help the pain. After that she didn’t complain at all. Anna was completely freaked out by the cast saw the first time the cast was removed, but didn’t shed a tear during the removal of the second. I’d have to say the one drawback to the entire process was the inability to bathe. Three year olds are stinky beings, and I swear Anna played in the dirt more during those 2 weeks than normal. She left a definite ring around the tub when we were finally able to take a full-fledged bath after 2 weeks of sponge baths!

This past week Anna has been attending a “Helping Hands” camp at the Mapleton Center in Boulder. This is basically a constraint therapy camp where all the campers wear casts on their unaffected hands in an attempt to encourage increased use of the affected hands/arms. This is the first year that the Mapleton Center has offered this camp, and the turnout was a bit lower than they expected. I hope that they continue to offer it in the coming years because Anna is LOVING it! The low turnout has been great for us. There are 3 kids at the camp – 3 little girls ages 3-5 – and 4 adults (2 OTs and 2 volunteers) to manage them. We get the best of both worlds – the benefits of a group setting while still getting the one on one attention from the therapists! Anyway, they practice dressing in the mornings, do all sorts of crafts, spend time outdoors, bake, and play with one another. All the activities are designed to work on particular fine motor skills with the affected hand. She’s had such a great time, and I know she’s working hard by the simple fact that she falls asleep on the way home (it is a rare day when Anna falls asleep in the car). For Mom, it is nice to meet other parents whose children have hemiparesis. We’re planning on getting together after the last day of camp to compare notes!

Noah is now 6 months old! I cannot believe that so much time has passed. It seems like such a short time ago since he was born, but at the same time it seems like forever. The little man is really progressing! We believe it won’t be long before he’s mobile. He’s holding himself up with his arms and tucking his knees under him. We should probably get busy with the childproofing now! YIKES!

Noah had his 6-month check up last week. He weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. (75th percentile) and is 27 1/2″ long (90th percentile). I was rather surprised that his weight earned him a ranking in only the 75th percentile. He’s a heavy guy!! He’s apparently fallen off his growth curve a little, but the doctor didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about. Anna did exactly the same thing at 6 months. Noah is teething like a madman; he chews on everything in sight and drools all over. For the last couple of weeks hee also seems to have had some sort of GI infection that, when mixed with the teething, has made us go through diapers, wipes and A&D ointment like they are going out of style.

Oh, I almost forgot! Noah has been sleeping in his own room since June 29th. Although we’ve had some ups and downs since he moved from our room, he’s been sleeping much better (and longer)! Last night he slept from 7pm to 6am, and then went back to sleep until 6:45 (when I had to wake him). Sleep does amazing things for his disposition too. He’s a much happier little guy when he gets enough rest! Naps remain a challenge for us, but he’s been doing much better at home in his own bed. If only we could get him to sleep at daycare.

T minus 30…our trip to Alabama is rapidly approaching! I’m a little more relaxed about the trip this time around, but I’m sure I’ll turn into a complete basket case soon. We find out about housing at the end of this month, which makes me a little nervous. I’d much rather know earlier that we have a confirmed place to stay. We’ve been prepping Anna for our trip to AL. We have the same therapist we had when we were there last year. Anna keeps telling us that she just really misses Reggie. I hope she still feels that way when we cast her for a month and make her do difficult things with her left hand. Anna was a very different little girl the last time we were there. She’s definitely come into her own over the past year, and I hope her independent streak doesn’t affect the therapy program (and ultimately, the outcome).

At first Anna had a little trouble walking around, but she seems to be fine now. We posted a picture of her cast and boot on Flickr. The cast made it very clear that Anna has developed some very bad walking patterns. When she first started walking around in her cast she continued to put her toe down first which caused her to bend her knee. It is exactly the pattern we are trying to change! We’ve had to start cuing her to walk heel-toe. With a little luck and a lot of prompting we hope to break her of the toe-first habit so that when she no longer has the cast on her leg she will continue the preferred heel-toe pattern.

Immediately after getting her cast, Anna had horseback riding. I stole one of Neal’s old tube socks, grabbed a plastic baggy and some athletic tape, and fashioned a plastic cover for her cast. I didn’t want her to get tons of sand from the riding arena in her cast on the very first day! Anna became quite upset as I taped the baggy over her toes and the bottom of the cast. Her remark was, “No Momma, that bag is for snacks – not my toes.” This afternoon we decorated her cast with markers. She now has pink, purple and green polka dots, flowers, a train, and various Anna-creations all over her cast. It was a success! Tomorrow she returns to daycare. I hope she has a good day and all her friends think her cast is pretty cool. Neal and I were remembering how cool casts were when we were kids. I still remember a girl in my kindergarten class who broke her leg and had a full leg cast. I thought that was the greatest thing ever! Let’s hope the cool-factor still exists among this generation!

As I sit here thinking of why this month was crazy-busy I really can’t come up with any reason. The first part of the month was spent in a complete haze, as Noah was waking about every 2 hours at night and we weren’t getting a whole lot of quality sleep. We were also sick with colds. Anna started the summer session of her therapeutic horseback riding. This session she is riding Sassy. Anna’s not quite sure about this horse. When asked whether she liked Sassy or not, Anna replied, “She’s really bumpy.” I guess the other horses she’s ridden have had very smooth gaits. Sassy is a faster horse – which makes Anna a little nervous, I think. She’s also entered a phase as of late where she seems afraid of everything. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally knocked her down in the last couple of weeks because she was standing so close behind me. “Clingy” is probably the appropriate description.

Much has been happening on the Noah-front! About 2 weeks ago we started him on some rice cereal in the evenings. He seemed quite interested in the grown-up food, so we thought he was ready to start some solids. For the first 3 nights he was completely unsure of this new substance, and made terrible faces each time the spoon entered his mouth. He seems to like it now and wants to help hold the bowl and/or spoon, which makes for a messy meal. I think we’re going to try some oatmeal next. Yum.

It may be the cereal or it may be coincidence, but about 2 weeks ago Noah started sleeping through the night a bit better. It could also be that I was completely exhausted and ready to try anything to get some sleep, so I let him cry it out to get him to sleep. I think he was just so exhausted after all the crying he slept through some of his “normal” feeding times. I also think I finally came to the realization that he wasn’t waking because he was hungry every time, so I decided not to pick him up every time he cried. Anyway, long story short, he’s sleeping from about 7:30 to 4:30 now. This means I not only get a solid block of sleep, I also have a few hours before I head to bed to catch up on all the things that I wasn’t able to do during the day. We’re going to start working on naps next. He’s still pretty resistant to being in his crib for naps, and will scream and cry until one of us gives up. We also plan to move him into his own room in the next week or so.

In the last few days Noah has hit quite a few milestones – it is almost like a floodgate opened. Although I had witnessed him rolling from his tummy to back a few times (accidentally), I had yet to see him roll from back to stomach. On Thursday he started rolling over in both directions intentionally! He’s also started saying “Da da da da da” on a regular basis. And in the last two days or so, he’s been sitting up without falling over! This was a real surprise because it seemed like it happened over night. We hope to post some pictures of him soon. He’s still as smiley as ever.

This last weekend my Dad came out to visit us, meet his newest grandkid, and buy some beer. I think the kids enjoyed having him here, and Anna finally stopped calling him Grandma Sam on his last day! He’s leaving in the morning with a truck bed full of beer, and hopefully good memories of time with his grandkids. I’m actually quite proud of him! He survived the chaos that is our home/life. I’m sure his fingers were itching to straighten the place, but he refrained!

Tomorrow at her normal physical therapy appointment Anna will be fitted with a cast for her left leg. This last growth spurt has left Anna with an extremely tight Achilles tendon, which has completely screwed up her gait. She’s having difficulty achieving a heel-strike on her left side due to the tightness, and is beginning to adopt a classic CP walk. The casting is part of a process called “serial casting.” The PT will stretch Anna just past her current “natural” state and maintain that stretch by casting in that position. Anna will wear this cast for one week – all the while stretching her tight muscles. Next Monday, the PT will remove the first cast. Again, she will stretch her leg just past her new “natural” state (which should be further than the previous week) and cast her again in that position. Her PT and physiatrist believe that Anna will respond well to this therapy and should need only two rounds of casting. Here’s hoping that’s the case. This is not a waterproof cast, so she won’t be able to take a full-fledged bath for awhile. Yuck.

I’m a little sad about this casting business. I’ve been very much in favor of doing it because the stretching regimen we’ve been doing since she was itty-bitty is just not cutting it. But as the day approaches I’m less and less enthusiastic about it. I’ve been trying to prep Anna by telling her that this cast on her left leg will help reduce the tightness in her leg. I was asking her today if she understood why we were going to be getting a new cast tomorrow, she answered very seriously, “So that I can walk better.” I don’t know why that struck a chord with me, but I just felt so sad for her. It’s just not fair. Some would counter – life’s not fair. But I would argue that a 3 year old shouldn’t have to learn that lesson so soon. I can already see the tears that will flow when I tell Anna that she’s not going to be able to participate in “splash day” at her daycare on Fridays. Yes, it is only for 2 weeks, but you try telling a 3 year old that she’s *only* going to miss 2 “splash days.” I’m going to be praying for rain on those Fridays. Today we bought some colored Sharpie markers, so that we can decorate her white cast. We made sure to get the pack with pink and purple markers. I want to try to make this experience a little less traumatic for her. I honestly don’t know how Anna feels about this. I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill.

For any trial your child has to go through I know that you can find many who are having a worse time of it. I know this is true, but it doesn’t diminish the sadness I feel for my child. I just love her so very much and wish that she didn’t have to deal with all this. ‘Nough said.

Noah is growing like a weed! We had his 4 month appointment in mid-April. He has dropped a little in his growth percentiles. He is no longer in the 95th+ percentile for height and weight! At his appointment he weighed 15 lbs. 9 oz. and was 25 1/2 inches long. This put him in about the 85th percentile for each. Noah has hit all his other milestones – he surprised me and the doctor by rolling over from his tummy to back on the exam table. I’d never seen him do that before! Unfortunately, he had a lingering ear infection – a remnant of his viral upper respiratory infection. We’re taking him back to the doctor this week to see if the ear infection has cleared up on its own. I hope he gets a clean bill of health because I really do not want to give him yet another round of antibiotics. In other news, we think that little man is teething. He is a drool- monster. He goes through multiple bibs in a day and everything goes in his mouth for a good chomp! I still don’t feel anything poking through his gums though. Last bit of news…Noah sat in tripod all by himself on Monday! He couldn’t sustain it for long, but he definitely held himself up for a few seconds.

Neal and I are doing okay. We’re both exhausted! Noah’s been acting like a newborn at night lately – wanting to eat every 2 hours. This makes for a very fragmented night without any quality sleep. I’m hoping this will change soon!

Enjoy D.C., bro!