Happenings lately

We had a follow up visit with Micah's pediatric neurologist at ACH in Little Rock last week.  Most of the appointment we discussed seizure medications and it was decided that Micah would start on a medicine that he took as an infant which was pretty successful in stopping seizures then.  He has been on 3 anti-seizure meds and has continued to have one or two seizures per day and they have gotten stronger in recent months, so strong that if he is standing he almost always falls to the ground.  The most negative potential side effect of this med is loss of peripheral vision.  But, the percentage of cases in which that has happened is so small, the Dr. and we decided it's worth trying again.  When he was a baby and started this particular med, it was almost as if a fog had been lifted from his brain and within a few days his seizures stopped.  So, we are praying it will be effective again.  When he was on this as a baby, his sleep was disturbed.  He would be awake anywhere from an hour to 3 hours in the middle of the night.  It happened so much that Wayne and I rotated nights.  We are praying that doesn't happen this time!

Gabriel is doing well over all but is a little sick right now.  He started complaining about his ear hurting yesterday so I gave him some ibuprofen.  An hour and a half later he started crying off and on and was saying "I want some medicine!"  I told him I couldn't give anymore right then so he said "I want someone to help me feel better!" crying as he was saying it.  So I took him to the urgent clinic last night and the doctor said his ear was very infected.  He has had fever and some vomiting too, but with a strong antibiotic he is already feeling better.

I have slacked in posting photos from Christmas.  I can't believe it's already been a month!  I have pics from my new phone that I have to figure out how to get on here and some from the camera. 

Hide and Seek

Last night I played hide and seek with Gabriel.  He doesn't quite understand exactly how it works because he wanted to tell me where to hide and also where he would hide.  So, I had to briefly give him the rules.  Micah wanted in on the action too, he followed me around everywhere, thus giving away my hiding spot.  But that made it so fun because he would laugh hysterically at my hiding places and then I would laugh at him laughing.  I would also say to him "Help me find Gabriel!  Is he in here?!"  And he would sometimes say "Ah!"  almost like he was trying to help or maybe he was just excited.

That's one of my favorite things about Micah.  He finds amusement in the simplest things.  One day last week he was lying on his bed and pulled his comforter over him and I said "It's not night-night time, silly!" and would pull it off of him.  He thought that was so funny and would do it over and over.  I probably did that 15 times or so before his enthusiasm wore off. 

Adventures, or is it hilarity?

I almost hesitated to share these stories about Gabriel, but they are just too funny.  One day, he will laugh too.  We have been working on potty training for months and it is just going so slowly.  However, he is doing well with going to pee, even on his own.  We have been putting underwear on him (as opposed to a pull up) for a few hours in the mornings.  While we were in OK, we even got a little brave and left them on to go out to his grandparents' farm.   As soon as we got there he was acting like he needed to pee and so his Aunt Nel told him that he could pee outside, that he didn't have to have a bathroom.  He said he did not need to go but in five minutes he did, in his pants, soaking his jeans, and shoe.  Then he looked at us and said, "You're right, I can pee outside!"  Not exactly what we had in mind.

We have had this purple car sitting on top of the pantry for months now as incentive for him to go number 2 in the potty.  He knows about it, knows what he needs to do to get it, etc.
One morning last week he had been doing great going to the bathroom and so I told him to just let me know if he needed to go poop and that I would come and help him.  Less than ten minutes later, he waddles in the living room telling me he had gone in his underwear.  With a sigh, I took him into the bathroom and starting cleaning him up.  Then, I starting praying out loud.  "Lord Jesus, would you please put it in this child's head to want to go to the potty, understand what he needs to do, not be scared, or whatever."  Not even thinking about him listening to me, he says "Momma, will Jesus help me get the purple car?"