Here is a super fast recap. The day after Polar Express Owen got sick. Fever's, wheezing, horrible cough. It resolved, then came right back, then resolved and unfortunately by Christmas Eve Konnor, Owen and Mama were all down for the count. On Christmas morning I literally sat on the couch with a boy on each side, snacks around us and did nothing but watch the Disney parade. If my Mother hadn't come over to celebrate Christmas my family would have been eating PB&J for our first Christmas together. Other than sickness we had a beautiful day.
December also brought a rash of Early Intervention screenings and by the end of December they were getting approval for Owen to start Occupational Therapy, see a Dietician regularly (b/c he still was nowhere near the growth charts and not even gaining regularly) and weekly speech therapy. Upon the Dietician's recommendation we got in ASAP to St. John's for Owen to get a Swallow Evaluation. This took place the second week of January and unfortunately we found out that Owen does aspirate on thin liquids. This led to a few weeks of figuring out how to thicken liquids so he will drink them, finding out our insurance won't pay for any thickener or supplements and just settling into a new routine.
In January Owen also got his first hair cut. He sat so still and looks like such a big boy! Ahhh! Slow down time!!
In February we celebrated Chinese New Year in Waverly at a fundraiser for a family adopting a little boy from China. It was great to be around so many other adoptive families celebrating our children's heritage. Owen also experienced his first Monster Jam as we took the boys to St. Louis for a Monster Jam show. They are totally truck loving boys.
The beginning of February also brought another round of sickness for our family. I was spared this time but Mark was down for the count. A Prompt Care visit and chest X-ray lead to a 6 week nightmare for our family where it was thought Mark probably had Lymphoma. The final biopsy came back completely different and he has an inflammatory issue that really just requires monitoring, but no treatment. He will continue to follow up on this, but at this point it is thought that it will resolve on it's own. Praise God!!!
Just before Mark got sick he had accepted a new job in St. Louis that will provide a lot more stability for our family. It also means we will be moving to Southern Illinois in June. Ahhhh! We are hoping to have the house on the market this week and will frantically be house shopping as the market in that area is booming. Needless to say with commuting, packing, end of school, job hunts for me and everything else that goes along with relocating, we have been a little crazy around here lately.
Overall Owen is doing amazingly well. He has really opened up in the last few months and we are seeing a lot more of his personality come out. He is a total goofball!! He follows Konnor everywhere and does exactly what Konnor is doing. Most of the time this is fine, but Konnor has taken to asking to play alone upstairs sometimes so he can play with legos or special toys without having little brother mimic every detail. Truthfully Konnor doesn't usually mind and tries to think of funny new things to do so Owen will look silly to. There is a lot of jumping, tickle monster and tooting in our house right now : )
Owen has finally had a growth spurt. He is almost squeaking onto the growth chart for height at 32 3/4", but we still have a long way to go with weight at only 23 lbs 8 ounce. He is pretty solidly in 18 month clothes, but I have hopes we will hit 24 month clothes this summer. As we have figured out his aspirating more, found ideal thickness for fluids, tried any/every combination of every food on the planet, we have started to find more foods that he likes. Now that he is not aspirating as much he also feels safer trying new foods which is helping. He is really doing much better in this department so meals are not nearly as stressful. On a HUGE note, about a month ago he started actively asking for food and drink on a regular basis (like a hundred times a day). Yahoo!!!! This is awesome as it means he finally is starting to trust us to provide those things for him if he asks. Needless to say we don't have much of an eating schedule right now b/c if he asks we feed him. The Dietician is fine with this since he is eating a pretty balanced diet and is overall trying new things.
In February we finally got all of his therapists figured out. He is currently doing Speech and Occupational Therapy once a week in our home, seeing a Feeding therapist twice a month and a Dietician once a month. There is a revolving door of people in my home right now, but whatever he needs we will provide so an open door policy it is right now. He is doing really well with Speech and OT. He so desperately wants to talk. You can see in his eyes that those wheels are spinning so I think once we get started talking he will be much like his big brother and there will never be quiet in this house again : )
Owen is super clingy with me which is a good sign of attachment. It is still a process, but now that he has been home almost 12 months he has officially been a part of our family longer than he was ever in the orphanage or with his Foster Family. I can't believe it has been almost a year, but that is a post for later this week : )
Overall Owen is doing great. He is a running, jumping, loving, snotty, back talking (No is his favorite word) little boy and we wouldn't have it any other way. (pictures coming I promise : )
