Fourteen Months

Ben and Ainsley are 14 months old!

Time is flying by a little too quickly right now.  I just love this interactive stage that they are in right now.

Ainsley - you are so sweet right now!  You are very much a Momma's girl at the moment and your absolute favorite place to be is sitting in my lap on the floor.  I sit cross-legged and you are pretty certain that my lap is YOUR spot.  While you sit there you LOVE to have me read books to you.  Right now you love Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Good Morning Book which is one of Mommy's books from when she was a little girl.  You like to read these books over and over.  We finish it and say "The End" and you flip it over and open it up so we can start again.

You are in the stage where you want to be held all the time which makes getting anything done a little difficult but I try to enjoy it because I know you won't want to be held forever.  Soon enough you'll be off exploring!

You are still walking on your knees and crawling to get around.  You are doing better at standing without support and will take one step sometimes.  You will also walk if we are holding both your hands.

I'm not sure why you are so tentative about walking because nothing else seems to scare you!  You climb on everything!  You like to climb up on the ottomans and then onto the chairs.  You like to climb the stairs.  And you often get in trouble at daycare for standing on chairs and things you shouldn't.

Your newest thing is giving kisses which is unbelievably adorable so we make you do it all the time.  You give kisses to Mommy, Daddy and even Ben.  You like to give your baby dolls and stuffed animals hugs and kisses too.

You are in size 12-18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, are about 21-22 pounds, and if you ever wore shoes would probably fit in size 3 because you have such tiny feet.  You have the cutest size 5 Tiny Toms but they are huge on you and just fall right off.

We love you so much and love watching you grow and learn!

Ben - you are just the cutest little guy in the world and melt our hearts every day!  You are quite the cuddler and like to rest your head on ours when we're holding you.  We call them "head hugs."  You will sometimes give kisses too.  You also like to be held right now.  If you are sitting on my lap you like to turn around and make me hold you up so you can pat me on the chest.  That's your preferred spot right now...just being held.

You are really able to make your way around now!  You aren't crawling yet but you are a pro at sitting yourself up and rolling all over the place to get wherever you want.  You are quite interested in everything now and explore all over the room.

You like to read books too but prefer anything you can bang on that makes noise.  You have a couple different piano toys and love to play with those.  You also love to dance!  Anytime there is music or even if Mommy or Daddy is singing you start dancing and smiling!

You are really doing great at standing at PT lately with support from some knee immobilizers so we are going to get a pair of those for you to practice with at home too.  I imagine you'll need some new AFOs sooner than later because your current pair is getting a little small.

You are wearing size 18 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and your size 5 Toms are almost too small.  You are about 22 pounds.

We love you so much, buddy!  You bring such joy to our hearts and we love watching you learn to do new things!

Good Report

Ben had a follow up with the neurologist in Iowa City today and it went well.  He hasn't had any seizures since September 26th. 

We learned he has around a 50% chance of developing Lenox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS).  LGS is a rare and severe form of childhood-onset epilepsy that is characterized by frequent seizures, multiple seizure types, a resistance to medication and/or therapies, behavior disturbances, and moderate to severe cognitive dysfunction.  There was also a 50% chance that his infantile spasms would return once we stopped the steroids and that didn't happen so we are hopeful we won't develop any further problems and especially not LGS. 

At this point everything is going well and we don't have to follow up in Iowa City any more unless he develops any other problems or has a new type of seizure.

Dr. Joshi is referring him to a pediatric stroke specialist in Indianapolis so we will hopefully be traveling there in the next few months.  We want to make sure we aren't missing anything and don't need to be doing anything further for Ben to prevent another stroke.  I should probably back up just a little and explain that Ben's stroke is unexplained.  It is possible it occurred before he was born and could possibly have been the result of a small piece of placenta breaking off and traveling through the umbilical cord to his brain.  But, that is just one theory and we really have no idea.  There is also the possibility that he could have some type of clotting disorder though the hematologist that saw him in the NICU didn't think that was the case.  Dr. Joshi isn't sure he shouldn't be on a daily aspirin regimen to help thin his blood and prevent further issues.  So all this uncertainty is why we are seeing someone who specializes in pediatric stroke.  Hopefully it will provide more answers.

    Ben at lunch before his appointment.  He looks pretty darn perfect to me!

Awww!

Both babies have started doing this thing where they put their head to they side and we go "awww" and they know it's cute so they do it over and over.  It is ridiculous. 

Dance Party!

The babies are both being dancing fools tonight and I caught it on video! 

There is pretty much nothing better than a baby dancing.

Thirty Days of Thankful - Day 30

Last day!  I'm just thankful today.  I'm thankful for everything I've mentioned previously and all that I have forgotten to say or take for granted on a daily basis!  There is so much God has given me and I could not be more blessed!

Thirty Days of Thankful - Day 29

I know I've mentioned I'm thankful for my family but I wanted to specifically mention my sister, Liasa. 

She is a great sister!  She is great with the babies and I also have to give mention to her boyfriend, Tobie.  He is amazing with them.  He totally spoils them and carries them around all the time and they pretty much adore him. 

Liasa is amazing.  She is smart, beautiful, kind, and funny.  Not that she always intends to be funny.  She can be good for an unexpected laugh and has given our family many fond memories we like to call "Liasa-isms."  A few examples...

• We were running a 5K together and were discussing how fast the runners in the front would go.  I mentioned how there were a lot of really fast runners from Kenya.  Her response: "Is Kenya a big city?"
•  Talking about Valentine's Day one year: "When IS Valentine's Day?" As if it's not the same day every year...
• We also frequently remind her of how she thought the words to the TLC song Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls were "Go Go Jason Waterfalls." 

Love you, sister!

I will also add my thankfulness for my other siblings - my beautiful half-sister, Misty.

My half-brother, Jace. 

And my ex-step-sister, Carley. 

I only include these labels (half, step, etc) to help define them but I love them all just the same!!!