Up & Down

What a CRAZY week Jaime has had. He's back to sleeping horribly. The Melatonin is GREAT for getting Jaime to settle and fall asleep quickly, but he sure doesn't stay asleep. Of course, we may be fighting a losing battle, as once again, Jaime's gums are super swollen. He's getting, what looks like all of his incisors. Looks like the two top ones will be coming through first and any day now.

Other bizarre happenings are Jaime's feeds. He has thrown up more this week from gagging than he has in MONTHS. I'm not entirely sure what's going on. He's even gagged on his own baby food...what the heck? Then, a few nights ago, he ate 1/4 piece of garlic bread without incident. He is back to eating his whole puffs again...his favorite flavors are peach and cherry. (I've tasted them and they are actually very good.) He's been tolerating his Pediasure nicely, we're still mixing it with formula, but so far so good. He's had a few ounces of whole milk, sometimes he loves it, other times he gags on it. This pretty much goes for everything he puts near or in his mouth. We are working very hard with his new Speech Therapist to work on these issues. The other day we tried giving him tiny pieces of banana. He picked it up and immediately gagged (from just the texture of it), then he got back into control and put it in his mouth, he really liked it. Chewed it without gagging. He was into the banana as long as he didn't have to touch the pieces himself. Then, we tried watermelon (left over from his brunch and a completely different texture). He didn't mind touching it, but refused to swallow it. He chewed that little piece for over 10 minutes. I didn't think it was humanly possible to chew something so small for that long, but Jaime found a way. Eventually, I "saved" him and scooped it out of his mouth. By the way, this happens often. He chews his food...whatever it may be, for an endless amount of time. I offer him a drink to swallow, often times, especially lately, he ends up throwing up-today he threw up in his walker! YUCK! If he doesn't swallow, I end up scooping the food out of his mouth. What a bizarre way to live. What I find slightly humorous is that I've always said that the worst part about being a nurse would be suctioning and cleaning up puke...and what is it that I'm doing now? Hmmmm....perhaps I should go on to get my BSN after I get my HR degree?

Jaime still continues to have his sensory issues. We still continue to introduce him to new textures, sounds, tastes, etc. What a tremendously S-L-O-W process this is! What he's not "slow" in is his motor skills! We now, officially have a monkey on our hands. He's attempting to climb, he's "table" walking everywhere and getting into EVERYTHING...the more he's forbidden to have or go by something the more he does it...all with a smile! It's hard to get mad at him, but we've started firmly telling him "no" and putting him in his playpen more. Speaking of his playpen, sometimes he loves it, sometimes he doesn't. Today, not so much! He screamed, cried and carried on for about 5 minutes (while Tom was making dinner and I was doing laundry), he worked himself up so much that we actually had to put his O2 on him for a few hours. He just has no reserve. He has been breathing a bit hard in general lately, not sure what that's all about...weather? allergies? exhaustion from moving so much? Anyway, I will be calling his pediatrician on Monday to get him in to see her. His sats are fine, it's just that he's breathing hard...and it's making him gag. Kind of hard to explain, but I'd really like to get to the bottom of it!

OK, some "good" news before I go...Jaime's getting more vocal these days. He's been heard saying, "I did it!" (for real, no lie, plain as day), "ball," "Hi-eee," and "Daddy" in addition to "Mama, Dada, Dah-did (Jared)." He's funny because he'll crawl to you, climb the chair your sitting on and say, "Hi-eeee." Or he'll say, "Hi-eee Daddy, or Hi-eee Dah-did." Super CUTE! He still only says "Mama" when he wants something...go figure...HA! He repeats sounds, like "La, la, laa" or "Oooo." And he's figured out how to clap loud enough to make sound come from his hands. You will find him doing this when he hears music. Oh and he dances when he stands. Just say, "Jaime, dance, dance, dance" and he will! One final thing he does that we've been working on is "more." He doesn't say it yet nor does he do the sign language for it, though we are working on it, instead he says, "Mmmaa." Oh and I almost forgot, he's been saying, "Eee" for eat. We're trying to communicate with him, so that he doesn't just cry or whine. (The whining is the worst, it's not a whine so much as a moan, it's a very weird sound that is about as bad as nails on a chalkboard.)

That's about all for my update! We've certainly come a long way since last year, but we still have a long way to go!

We're looking forward to tomorrow, one of Tom's colleagues, Kevin Bell, has graciously spent lots of time putting together a Spaghetti Dinner to benefit our family. It will take place tomorrow afternoon at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Gates Mills, Ohio. Here's the info on the benefit if anyone is interested in attending. A big "thank you" to Kevin, all of the entertainment, including Abby Normal and the Detroit Lean (Tom's band), and to all of the people who have helped Kevin in planning and organizing this event for us. We are eternally grateful!

Trost Family Fundraiser

Date: Sunday April 25, 2010

Time: 1:00 - 4:30 PM

Menu Includes: Penne and Meatballs, Salad, Bread and Beverage

Prepaid orders strongly suggested

(Sorry, no refunds for prepaid dinners not served)

Walk-ins welcome

Take out available "TO GO"

Place: St. Francis of Assisi School

6850 Mayfield Road

Gates Mills, OH 44040

Cost: $10

Click here for an order form. Please call the Parish office 440-461-0066 for more information.

Hoping everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend, we know that we will! :) Oh and the pics on the side are ones taken on Jaime's actual birthday (4/16/10) at a professional studio. One thing to note is the socks that Jaime is wearing are the exact same pair he wore when he came out of surgery at 23 days old! I still kind of chuckle that they still fit and that my one year old is wearing all 6 month clothes in his one year photos. What a little peanut we have! :)