More cute

I had to throw in some of 5 month old Jack (the giant) and Lucy at her 2nd Birthday. And yes that is Isaac reading to Scooby Doo. He also likes to read to a group of Mickey Mouse stuffed animals and a Barney. :)

Some new cute kid pictures :)

Stressed

Surgery is next week and I'd be pretending if I were actually not freaking out about it this time around. I guess he is probably going to have the top part of the device switched during this lengthening and it could go from a 2 hour procedure to much longer - the surgeon won't know until the time of surgery and even then we are out in the waiting room left to wait until its all done with. Oh wait, did I mention that I'm horrible at waiting. Yeah patience is not my forte.

Isaac is doing great right now too and I just hope that the surgery doesn't set him back any. Yeah I know it will be ok. I guess I like to worry to keep myself busy. :)

We also have his PWS Clinic appointment on Friday and I'm actually excited for it so I can show him off. He's doing well, his weight is good and he's talking much more. I might get him to sing his ABC's or Happy Birthday or his new one, Rain Rain Go Away. :)

VEPTR lengthening scheduled/FOOD stuff

Isaac had his annual sleep study done Friday night after his ortho appointment in Columbus. We found out his next VEPTR lengthening will be March 15th - and it may or may not involve a replacement of the top device - he'll only find out once he's in there. His curve has increased around 10 degrees higher than it was after the lengthening last year. The orthopedic surgeon was more positive about VEPTR this time - he still crossed his fingers once while talking - but reiterated that its better than growth rods for Isaac.

We should have another endocrinology visit soon - and should find out the sleep study results. His weight is staying pretty steady around 39 lbs. His VEPTR device is kind of pulling against him height wise right now so we might not see any increase there until he's lengthened. :)

Things are going pretty well - he hasn't had any change in food related behavior in awhile. We have some basics established (no food in reach or in sight, we eat at the table, we limit his calories). He hasn't really woke up and said or signed eat like he did last year. He'll wake up and usually play for awhile and then I'll offer him his breakfast. He usually doesn't want or ask for food unless he sees it. If you bring out some food he'll come over and ask for some, but if we don't have anything out, he's not really asking. So that's been nice. Because we just try not to eat anything when we aren't at the table unless its ok for him to have some. I guess we always just think we are in the calm before the storm, waiting for all that to start. At least we feel prepared for it if that makes sense. Well enough rambling, off to play with the two other wild ones while Isaac is at preschool!

PWS Clinic Appt

Isaac's weight has stayed about the same since spring - so that is wonderful. It is very hard work - and I stress over his diet constantly, so its good to hear from the doctors that even they think things are going well. He has grown 3/4 of an inch since June. I was really happy and pleased with the appointment. We met with a psychologist during the appointment to talk about certain behaviors and how to address them.

Overall it was a great trip - we stayed an extra night and went to see the Christmas lights at the zoo, which the kids loved. We are really looking forward to Christmas this week! Isaac wants a pirate ship and Lucy wants anything princess. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a kid is absolutely the best! I love how excited they get at the littlest things - we all need to live like that. Just be more excited about the little things.

Speech is really coming right along! Scoliosis Update

I wanted to share this moment from a few weeks ago because it was so cute:
Isaac got a Batman sticker at therapy and on the drive home Lucy kept saying she that she was Batman. Isaac listens to her for most of the ride and then says, "No Ki Ki (what he calls his sissy), I Batman" It was so stinking cute.

He now has so many words and is really coming along with intelligible few word sentences. He still gets insanely excited everytime you can understand just what he is saying. I think that between preschool, increased therapy, and Lucy's nonstop talking - he's coming along in leaps and bounds!

We had an orthopedics appointment early this month and his curve had progressed 2 degrees in a couple of months - which isn't so bad - but we can expect our next lengthening in Spring of 2012. The goal is to stay closer to 6 months than a year between lengthenings - apparently better for the spine. Not so great when you think that a spine only tolerates a finite number of lengthenings (we've heard around 6) before it doesn't help anymore. Eek. So yeah we have the potential to outgrow the usefulness of the VEPTR earlier than expected but we knew this thing was a work in progress when we got it. Its just hard in dealing with the unknown - but I guess that speaks to more than just the VEPTR :)

Jack and Lucy are doing great. Its a wild bunch but everyone seems to have adjusted to the new one pretty well so far. Isaac does try to carry him anytime we look away but we watch for that. :)

Bring on the holidays!

Baby Jack is here!

Jack Fisher Cantrell was born October 4th, weighing 7lbs 15 oz and 20 1/4 inches long. Isaac and Lucy like him a lot, maybe a little too much at times. Things are wild but going well.