Pre-K...gulp

This has been a big week full of big steps and milestones. 

Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a meeting for incoming kindergarten parents. Yep…kindergarten. We got some of the scoop on dates and other things that are coming up and to consider. Holy. Smokes. (Thanks Honor for watching them!)

 Wednesday was a day for appointments. In the morning we hit the ENT for a check for Parker. His t-tubes in his ears have been in now for over 2 years. The ENT is ready for them to come out since there is no appearance of fluid and there is no concern over any type of speech delay. It is out-patient surgery to remove them and put a small patch inside his ears to make sure everything heals correctly.

 After a quick park break after the first appointment…

We headed to the pediatrician for our pre-K checkups. Here’s the latest, including everyone’s favorite – their numbers.

Parker is doing good. He passed his eye exam, and they confirmed that he has some super-sensitive hearing. Good that he can hear great, not so great when you’re a kid that deals with sensory issues. While he does have a list of diagnoses that are included on his note to school, he is cleared and there’s no reason that any of them will cause him any concern as he gets started. His g-tube site has healed wonderfully and there won’t be any need for medical intervention at this time – he’s sealed up and great. He did get his finger poked for blood and 2 shots. He is not nearly quite the stud his sister is at getting poked so it was slightly dramatic. He is a whopping 34 pounds, fully clothed and with shoes on which puts him on the at 3% on the growth chart (and gives him a BMI of 0.2%). 

Payton is doing well. She passed her eye and hearing exam with flying colors. She also has a list of growing diagnoses that will accompany her to school. She will continue to be followed by the Hematology doctors for a while. If school starts and she is still receiving drug therapy for her aplastic anemia, we will then go on exploring additional factors to take care of with the school nurses, but right now we need to wait and see what happens. She again instructed her nurses on how to poke her finger for blood. Because the vaccinations they were to get this time are live virus vaccines, and she’s still immune-suppressed, she can’t have any vaccines until she’s finished drug treatment at least 6 months. She spent her time with Dr. Woodford telling him everything he needed to know and correcting him about everything happening with her. She is 46 pounds and right in the middle of the pack for height and weight.

So they’re ready. Kindergarten Ahead and registration are in a few weeks. We’ll keep you updated!

P.S. We stopped at mom's new work so they could meet my new work friends. They were very happy. This would be the college graduating class of 2033. 

A little bit of normal

After the whirlwind Payton's new medical stuff has caused, this past weekend we had a little bit of normal. Since it's an outside event, we hit up Touch A Truck ( or Touch A Tow Truck, as Payton says).

On Sunday, we went to Mighty Mavericks at University of Nebraska-Omaha with our friends from Respite Care. So much playing with all the athletes, so fun. Parker had a blast. Payton was a little whiny but was getting into it after a little while.

For those of you waiting....a Payton update coming later this week. Stay tuned!

Go Mavs!

This past weekend we had the chance to hang out with some school friends and go see the UNO Mavericks take on Michigan in hockey. It made for a super fun evening and Parker has a new love. A little root beer, popcorn and cotton candy, along with seeing their friends, one of their favorite nurses and teachers was super fun for them. They also love my friend from work who stopped by to see us and brought them the cotton candy  (that now makes her one of their new favorite people...ha!)

What a weekend!

This weekend was packed with things going on. Seriously packed full. We headed out early Saturday morning to drive for a while for a big surprise for the twins. You know it's going to be a good day when as your heading out of town, you get to see this on one side of the car...

and this on the other...

They had no idea where we were going or what was going on. We arrived at the Boone & Scenic Valley RR & Museum. A train pulled in and I told Parker to look at the engine to see what it was. It took about 5 seconds as the train pulled in..."IT'S THOMAS!!!!" and he let go of my finger and took off running. Payton and I had to catch up!

 We even got to ride on the Thomas! I was a little nervous that Parker wouldn't like the noise of the train, but he did great. Payton was the one that was nervous and sat on my lap for our little ride. Parker wanted the window seat and pointed out everything as we rode by.

Today we had plans of a whole different type. We met our friends from respite care for Mighty Mavs. Two hours of playing in the UNO Field house on campus, complete with swag bags for the kids of school gear and TCBY with all the toppings anyone could ask for. We played soccer, basketball, t-ball, bowling.
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Relay races with a UNO athlete escort. 

 Some of the basketball players lowered this hoop as far as it would go so all the little ones, and anyone in a chair could shoot easier. These two were in heaven. 

Perfectly happy rolling the ball back and forth. As she says "mom, I'm not so good at some of this stuff". 

Yep, on the move and a little blurry...

We got our shot in with Durango! It took some work, special maneuvering and the photographer had to move some of her stuff to make it work, but it worked! Yay!!!

They were in LOVE with playing soccer. They had the soccer players that were there pretty won over. 

One of the players asked if it was ok if they took a group picture with the duo. I said that was fine. Pretty soon I was holding 3 phones for pictures and the ones in the group who didn't have their phones were asking the others to send it to them. I love this picture. The players were great, relaxed, the kids went off and played without me having to be directly involved (which is beyond huge!) without any fear. So many reasons I will be forever grateful for this picture. And despite Payton's wrinkled nose, she was having a great time. 

Parker really wanted to dunk the basketball. One of the basketball players asked if it was ok to pick him up. When I said yes, I warned him about Parker's button, just so it didn't catch him off guard. Parker's such a runt and I knew the players giant hands would go all the way around his waist and I didn't want him caught off guard. After Parker's dunk, he pulled up his shirt and showed off his g-button. Parker told him "I have 2 buttons, see. It makes me special. Lots of my friends have things that make them special. What makes you special?" One of our friends from respite care was near by, and had to walk away so she didn't start crying. 

Thank you UNO, CRCC and everyone else that  made this event happen, giving all these kids a chance to play, and making sure they know what really makes someone special.