New Look

I was really disappointed in the last 2 hair cuts for Jonathon.  Since he turned 3 he hates doctors, haircuts, dentists etc.  At the last 2 hair cuts he literally cried his little heart out ~ so bad that I had to stop the hair cut and leave.

Then there was school pictures.  First set I hated! They combed his hair all forward.  That is not how Jonathon wears his hair.  We technically do not comb it at all.  It looks good without doing that.  So we had retakes taken.  AND I hated the retakes.  With his hair not cut right, his pictures just did not look good.  For $30.00 I want to be happy.  Sooooooo I sent them back also.

Now I want to get Xmas pictures taken.  But not with a bad hair day!

I have been thinking about this for awhile now!  What to do! What to do!

Before haircut

I decided to cut Jonathon's hair myself!  I cut (shave) Kenny.  Kenny has never been to a hair salon and he is quite happy so I asked Jonathon if I could cut his hair and he said yes.
And surprisingly he did a great job!

I need to trim a little around his ears ~ another day.  But overall he looks great!  And does not look like a baby anymore ..........

The new look!

 

 

Like Father Like Son

Some people may say that the result of Jonathon's eye exam has to do with him having down syndrome.  Okay, maybe ~ maybe not.


Some things in life happen because of hereditary reasons too.  Sometimes I wish people would take that into consideration before just assuming it's because he has an extra chromosome.  (yes I do get irritated at times).


When my husband was a little boy (he thinks 3) he had to get glasses.  He has a lazy eye and he is far sighted.  He has worn glasses his whole life.  


So when Dr. Eyes told me Jonathon's diagnosis I was shocked. ( farsighted and a slight lazy eye) Yes I know now and have always known with my 2 older boys that it has been a possibility of wearing glasses because their father does.  But I was not expecting Jonathon's results to be just that.  I was overwhelmed!


Dr. Eyes explained that because we are starting glasses out at such an early age, there is a good possibility that Jonathon will outgrow his eye glasses(his prescription will get better over time) and eventually not have to wear them.  Just a possibility ~ not a promise.


When we went over to Children's Eye Clinic ~ which is right across the hall~ I started getting a little nervous.  The Optician explained to me that neither of Jonathon's insurances were approved through her.  If we wanted to use her we would have to pay out of pocket.  She told me to call my insurance company and see if they will reimburse us some of the cost.
We definitely stayed at the Children's Eye Clinic ~ my sons eyes are not something I am willing to compromise.  He needs the best care.  Soooo we pay out of pocket and hope we can get reimbursed somehow/somewhere.


This was very stressful for me ~ my baby is going to wear glasses ~ there are 2 different kinds to pick from ~ my husband is not at this appointment with me ~ how are we going to pay for glasses ~  I had to step out of the room and call Gilbert to come right away ~ luckily he works about 15 minutes away from where we were ~ I then took Jonathon to the restroom and just broke down~ I cried for my little boy whom I just want to have a happy healthy life that now has to endure the pain (annoyance) of wearing glasses~ I cried because I don't want my baby to wear glasses ~ I cried for the fear of him being picked on for wearing glasses ~ I cried for the days ahead that he is going to fight me to keep glasses on his face ALL day long ~ I cried because I just don't want any of this!


I did regroup/calm down ~ I let Jonathon go potty and then we went out into the hall to wait for daddy ~ by the time Gilbert arrived I was composed enough to continue ~ I did not tell Gilbert I had a meltdown ~ he wouldn't understand anyway ~ we went back into Children's Eye Clinic ~ we picked out glasses for Jonathon ~ which I don't like ~ we put a deposit down on the glasses ~ we will receive a phone call next week when they come in. (WHOOPIE) NOT


We have a good warranty on the glasses ~ we get 3 breakage/scratch/loss for no cost per year.  That's pretty good.  I won't say the price, but its over $200 and under $400.  But it's a price I am willing to pay for my sons eyesight.


As I thought about writing this post and I as I sit here and write this post, I think/ask myself why?  Why do you have the right to be upset over your son getting glasses when there are some children out there right now that have alot worse going on than glasses.  A little boy who needs a trach ~ a little boy who has had multiple heart surgeries ~ a little girl who just had major brain surgery ~ a little boy who will never walk a day in his life and more.  I feel like I am being selfish in some ways, but my only answer to WHY? is because this "IS" my life, this is "MY" story and to "ME" this is my newest devastation!


Day 8 of 31 for 21

Potty Training Update

Over the last month Jonathon has been giving me problems with certain public restrooms. Here is a list of our issues: Echo ~ not good

Blow dryers ~Life threatning

Automatic Flushers ~ Life threatning

And when I say Life Threatning, I really mean it. He will cringe, his face will get that look"HELP ME MOMMY" and the tears and screams will begin. And he won't go!

I do not want Jonathon to be "afraid" to use the public restrooms, and I especially do not want him to get an infection from holding "all" day when we are not home.

My biggest wake up call was the Detroit Zoo visit. EVERY bathroom we visited was sooo traumatic to him. He knew as soon as I said potty and the tears began. I felt sooo bad. And there was nothing I could do because he had to go. I ended up holding my hands over his ears to help with the terrible echo and loud blow dryers.(I just wanted to cry myself).

Soooo I put on "my mommy to the rescue" thinking cap and this is what I came up with..... By the way ~ IT WORKS!!!!! We tested it out at the mall last week. He did not give me a problem AND he never heard the blow dryers go off while he was peeing!!!!! AND it only cost me $2.50.....

Once again I have a happy Jonathon!

As always Jonathon

We started potty training back in Feb. 08. Actually I started thinking about it and Jonathon let me know that "Yes" he was ready. So when we first started I actually was not "prepared" (no pull-ups, no big boy undies) but trust me, I hurried out the next day and got pull-ups for him. We call them big boy pants. During the day he wore big boy pants(pull-ups) and nap time and bed time I put him in a diaper.

Potty training started off very well~so well I was shocked. I never had to change another "poopy" diaper since Feb 21st. I just started to take him potty every hour and asked him every time if he had to go poop.Eventually through out the day of going every hour he would need and go "poop"(I never had a problem with him holding it). Another funny thing is that we never rewarded him either. Well not with candy or any type of food. Our reward was/is clapping hands and saying "What a good boy" You are such a big boy". "YEAH"!!! Sometimes we sat in the bathroom for 30 min, sometimes 3 minutes. Jonathon and I learned together.

He never liked the "big potty" (that scared him). So we started out with a potty chair and then I picked up a spongebob toilet seat that goes onto the toilet for when we went visiting. Eventually I took the potty chair away and to this day he uses the spongebob seat. I also picked up a foldable potty seat to take with us when we are out shopping or visiting(in case he ever has to poop). Spongebob stays home now.

I also taught Jonathon how to pee standing up when we were/are out in "public". I just hold him up. Works great. And alot of the times at home now we just go in there, I hold him up to pee. He likes it because it is alot quicker. And now that he is 2, I really want him to start standing to pee all the time. I have just been lazy and have to go back downstairs to get the potty chair back out;the bottom is a stool, which he needs to reach the toilet.(gotta do that). Now Jonathon is very funny(different), he will not "poop" out in public. He just doesn't~at least not yet. He waits until we get home. Ok. That works. I paid "very" close attention to his routine and things have worked out fine.

We also have some big boy undies that we wear every once in awhile around the house. We have made it up to 4 hours with no accidents. And I know that one day he will wear those big boy undies ALL the time and no more pull-ups. But for now mommy will wait.

As the months have gone by he has done excellent. He has never had a major accident;well ok he has had one, recently, but believe me it was NOT his fault at all. And I still feel bad, but I was trying to prove a point to my husband. After an outing a few weeks ago, Jonathon fell asleep on the way home;when we got home, my husband took him out of the van,(usually I do) so I told him that Jonathon needs to go potty. I continued to unload the van and he came back out quickly. I asked him what happen to taking Jonathon potty? He said "oh he is sitting on couch, I am letting him wake up first" Now I KNEW there would be a problem, but I ignored my husband, continued what I was doing and after about 15 minutes I went in the house. "To a whimpering Jonathon" I told Jonathon I was sorry and hurried him into the bathroom to pee. Too late~his pull-up was DRENCHED. AND I WAS MAD!!!!! And I let my husband have it!!!!! Needless to say he doesn't do that anymore. Not to get off subject, but there are times when I have to do little things to prove to people THAT I DO KNOW what I am doing and I am only looking out for my son.(no different than when Andrew and Kenny were little) Yes some things are approached differently, but my values ARE the same. Anyway~back to my story.

So potty training has been going great! He is such a big boy~I just can't believe it, it seems like it was just yesterday when he was born!

I have noticed over the last 2 weeks that he is changing on me again(all about growing up, I guess). His diet has changed a little;he is now eating more non soft foods(which is great in itself) so his potty routine has changed too. But its working. He is actually to the point that when we use the potty I am able to ask him if he has to go "poop" and he will tell me yes or no. AWESOME! We have just lately in the past couple of days started waiting 1 1/2 hours to almost 2 hours before using the potty. Why? Well he is still drinking the same amount of liquids during the day, but when I was taking him every hour he was barely going;telling me he can hold it longer now. So that is where we are at on that. Tonight I waited 50 minutes and still good and dry! And yes he has to GO!

Also for about 2 months now he has been waking up from his nap dry and waking up in the morning dry. And I have not been racing him off to the potty either time (nap or morning). I have let him take his time waking up(about 10 minutes) and then we go right away to the potty and he goes.(And his diaper is always dry). So we just save and reuse for next time. And sometimes he wakes me up in the middle of the night~usually 2:30a.m. to go. And he does go and then he goes right back to sleep.

The last couple of days he has been yelling at me when its naptime or bedtime when I pull out that "DIAPER". I was getting ready to let him wear big boy(pull-ups) at naptime and bedtime. We have 1/2 pack of diapers left and then I wasn't going to buy anymore. I wanted to pick up some nighttime pull-ups. Nope he is not waiting for that. He is ready. So he is telling me. Today for naptime I left him in his pull-up. He napped for 2 hours and woke up dry. Tonight for bedtime he is wearing a pull-up. Let me tell you, he was one happy little boy when he was finished in the bathroom and I told him he could wear his big boy(pull-up)to bed. He thoroughly liked being able to go to the bedroom and get his pajamas on "STANDING" up. I could just see the joy in his little eyes!!!! And that goes to tell you the meaning for my title "As always Jonathon will let me know" when he is ready.

Trust me I know I have a LONG way to go. But so far he is doing excellent. I must take him; he will not tell me. If I ask and sign potty, he will sign potty back to me. If I wait for him to tell me on his own it won't happen. He will have an accident. These are things that we will work on.

I just wanted to share with everyone how "OUR" potty experience is going so far. Thanks for reading. I am one PROUD mommy.

Helping Mommy

Jonathon helped me pick the vegetables out of the garden yesterday morning. We usually do not allow him anywhere near it, but seems how we are almost finished I figured "What the Heck" He did really well and did not step on any of the plants. He helped put items in the basket AND then took them back out.(too funny)

We shredded 11 qts of zuchinni and placed in freezer for future bread. We also processed 9 qts of freezer green beans. I also made an Almond Pound Cake for Kenny AND did 4 loads of laundry AND manage to make a nice dinner. And then by Jonathon's bedtime I was exhausted. But we had a fun day. Thanks for helping mommy Jonathon.

All is Good

Well I have missed blogging about my little boy. I THINK I finally have corrected my computer issues.

I also downloaded firefox and am using that now too. (Thanks Stephanie) It seems to be user friendly. Much more than Safari. So far I am happy. So hopefully no more problems and I will be staying off of IE.

Have lots to do when Jonathon gets up from his nap so will hopefully get back to normal blogging tomorrow.

Was sooo nice to hop over to Jaxson and see how he has been.

Hi to Barb!!!!! Will have some things for you to read soon. Thanks for coming out and celebrating our special day!!!!!!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little boy Jonathon! Mommy loves you sooooo very much and is sooooo proud of all your accomplishments. Have a great day son.

I am unable to write anymore right now. I have been having some computer issues and we need to get them resolved. When I have corrected the problem I will be back.

And I will post my Birthday Post again. I have lots to say.

Anyone I follow that is reading this(Aiden,Jax) I think about your boys everyday and I wish I could still follow. I do catch a little about Aiden on FB. Please don't think I stopped caring. Many prayers and hugs to you and your little guys. I will be back. Take care. Christine and Jonathon

Scholarships

I packed Jonathon and Andrew up on Friday and we headed off to our local YMCA. My social worker met us and gave us a tour of the facility. I also picked up the paperwork to fill out to see if we can receive a scholarship.

While we were there, we were able to swim for a few minutes. It didn't last long because Jonathon's little swimsuit was too big in the chest area. If I let go of him he would have toppled right over face first in the water.

Pictures are not very clear;social worker was too far away, but you can kinda get the idea. If you look you can see Jonathons little suit hunched up in the back. I had to keep pulling it down.

I did find some regulation lifejackets online at Dicks Sporting Goods. We will be taking a road trip sometime this week to check those out. Hopefully it will work better for him.

It's Official

We have a walker on our hands AND we are PROUD PROUD PROUD!

I have been waiting for this day to come and it actually came on Thursday May 21st. He just decided that he didn't need or want to crawl any longer.

He is still a little wobbly and stops to put his hands down to regroup, but he is doing awesome.

I wanted him to walk by July 16th and as always "My Sweet Angel Amazes Me"

Recheck

I took Jonathon in this morning for a recheck on his sinus infection. He is just not getting well enough.

Confirmed that yes he still has a sinus infection. We are stopping the amoxicillin and getting a perscription for pediazole(if I can read the dr.'s writing correctly). Jonathon has never taken this one so I hope this works better.

He is not wheezing anymore so we get to stop the breathing treatments!(HOORAY)

Jonathon is up to 22lbs 10 oz. He is doing great weight wise. I didn't think we would ever get above 21lbs and stay up there. Very happy mommy on that issue.

Explained to Dr. Pediatrician what happen at our ENT appt. He was surprised that we were treated that way. He told me that the new ENT I picked~that their office has good doctors. Lets hope!!!!

He also agrees with me that something needs to be done to help Jonathon. So lets pray that June 1st is a good appointment.

Hopefully this new medicine will help him get better. He will be on it for 10 days~which puts us up to May 25th and his appt is June 1. I soooo want him healthy when we go in to meet the new Dr. ENT!

Oh and the pediatrician nurse and Dr. got to see firsthand what Dr. ENT did to Jonathon. (Trauma). He would not let the nurse take his temp(ear temp). I had to hold him down and console him. Then Dr. Pediatrician wanted to look into his ears and I had to hold Jonathon's head AGAIN! Makes me soooo damn mad what Dr. ENT did. Jonathon used to love it when Dr. Pediatrician looked into his ears...... Hopefully over time he will come to trust again.