Yesterday our travels took us to the Birmingham Zoo. It was just fabulous. Whenever you take 4 kids some place like that, along with the fact that Dawson has I.S. and Katelin has Diabetes... Well you just never know how things like that are going to go. Yesterday couldn't have gone any better. All the kiddos did just wonderful and the only thing I would have changed was maybe the heat. It was extremely hot and humid yesterday. We took along a mister with a fan to keep Dawson cooled off because the Topamax he takes keeps him from being able to regulate his own body temp. We have learned that Kids on Topamax can overheat very quickly.. Scary stuff.
This was Madison's first trip to the zoo and as expected, she just loved it!!! The weird thing about it though..... Of all the animals at the zoo, she was most fascinated by the snakes. ??????
Yeah, not sure what that's about. " Look at the Giraffes Madison!!" " Daddy, where are the snakes??" Anyway, thanks Carol for the invite to Owen's party we had a blast.
Dawson did a great job while we were there. He never fussed, cried or anything. He just hung out in his stroller taking in all the sights. Him being so good allowed everybody else to have a wonderful time.
Things are still going great for him. He is busy this morning " playing house" with his sisters. He just includes himself with whatever they have going on. If they leave, he follows right behind them. Very content as long as he is with them. He has started this bear crawl thing where he will walk on his hands and feet and I swear it looks as though he is just fixing to stand up and take off running. He is pulling up very well now and we are having to do double duty just to make sure he's not getting into anything hes not supposed to. What a wonderful sight to see this miracle and there is not a day that goes by much less a few hours that we do not thank God for his incredible progress. We just can't wait to see what the future holds for this guy. He is such a blessing to us and those around him.
As always, thanks for taking the time to see how hes doing. We love you all
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Friday August 29th Update
Tomorrow we are heading to the Birmingham zoo for a birthday party. HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY OWEN!!!!! Well be taking all the kids with us and so that automatically promises to be a very eventful trip. This will be Madison's first trip to the zoo and we are pretty excited about taking her. Well be sure to take a bunch of pictures to post for everybody to see.
Dawson is still doing good. I know I haven't mentioned it in a while but we are now past due for getting the results from his muscle biopsy. It's supposed to take up to 12 weeks and we are now past that. Trying to be patient is not one of my forte's. Hopefully soon we will hear from the folks in Atlanta. When we get the results we will have a meeting with his Neuro in Huntsville. It's been before the biopsy since she's seen him. Now wont she be surprised when she sees him and sees how far hes come??
Pray for us as we head out of town tomorrow to the zoo. This year these type trips have not worked out well for us. Hopefully it will go great.
Thanks for looking in on Dawson and we appreciate each and every one of you!!!
Jeff and Allison
Dawson is still doing good. I know I haven't mentioned it in a while but we are now past due for getting the results from his muscle biopsy. It's supposed to take up to 12 weeks and we are now past that. Trying to be patient is not one of my forte's. Hopefully soon we will hear from the folks in Atlanta. When we get the results we will have a meeting with his Neuro in Huntsville. It's been before the biopsy since she's seen him. Now wont she be surprised when she sees him and sees how far hes come??
Pray for us as we head out of town tomorrow to the zoo. This year these type trips have not worked out well for us. Hopefully it will go great.
Thanks for looking in on Dawson and we appreciate each and every one of you!!!
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday August 26th Update
It's as though nothing has ever happened to him at all. Its just so unbelievable to us that given his diagnosis that he could be doing so well. He is crawling everywhere now and the days of setting him down and being able to walk away from him are OVER. He now follows everywhere you go is enjoying " exploring" the house.
His speech is expanding and now he has added " Ma Ma" to his vocabulary. It sounds like " Bwa Bwa" but he knows who hes calling.
During therapy we have been trying to get him to raise his arms up as high as he can. So this week he just started doing it on his own. Of course he got lots of laughter and applause from all of the family so now its a game to him. He will throw his arms above his head and then start clapping for himself. He has also learned to wave hello and bye bye.
He continues to eat us out of house and home. Dawson has a very healthy appetite and readily eats what ever is in front of him. Last night we were celebrating my 8th anniversary of my 30th birthday ( sounds better to me that way) and he ate everything that we ate and just loved it.
He had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, English peas ( mushed up), Red Velvet cake, and ice cream.
We praise God for his healing power. He gets ALL the credit for this.
Dawson's birthday is in 9 days. Hard to believe that a year has already gone by, and at the same time its hard to believe its only been a year. I know that most of the friends and family who read this are far away,but we hope that on September 4th you guys will be able to stop for a moment and celebrate not only a birthday, but a year of victories with us. Allison made a video that covers his first year and we will be posting that soon.
We love you guys and would be lost without your friendship and prayers. Thank you so much
Jeff and Allison
His speech is expanding and now he has added " Ma Ma" to his vocabulary. It sounds like " Bwa Bwa" but he knows who hes calling.
During therapy we have been trying to get him to raise his arms up as high as he can. So this week he just started doing it on his own. Of course he got lots of laughter and applause from all of the family so now its a game to him. He will throw his arms above his head and then start clapping for himself. He has also learned to wave hello and bye bye.
He continues to eat us out of house and home. Dawson has a very healthy appetite and readily eats what ever is in front of him. Last night we were celebrating my 8th anniversary of my 30th birthday ( sounds better to me that way) and he ate everything that we ate and just loved it.
He had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, English peas ( mushed up), Red Velvet cake, and ice cream.
We praise God for his healing power. He gets ALL the credit for this.
Dawson's birthday is in 9 days. Hard to believe that a year has already gone by, and at the same time its hard to believe its only been a year. I know that most of the friends and family who read this are far away,but we hope that on September 4th you guys will be able to stop for a moment and celebrate not only a birthday, but a year of victories with us. Allison made a video that covers his first year and we will be posting that soon.
We love you guys and would be lost without your friendship and prayers. Thank you so much
Jeff and Allison
Saturday, August 23, 2008
picking up speed
Over the past few days, Dawson has really been working on his crawling skills and let me tell you, this kid is a fast one. He gets a little tentative on the hardwood flooring but get him on some carpet and you better watch out. With his size and speed, there are some future Auburn quarterbacks who should be quivering in their diapers. ( ROLL TIDE ROLL) Ok yeah so its getting close to football season and we get a little rabid in these parts over Alabama/Auburn football.
He is doing great and we have been trying to focus on letting him get to sleep on his own. As these kids are always prone to having seizures as they are going to sleep and coming out of sleep we have just always kept him beside us so we could constantly monitor him. That and he was waking up 20 times a night. So now that hes in a good sleep patten, we are inching him closer and closer to sleeping on his own and getting him to do that all night.
He is still eating really well. He eats anything that is put in front of him and we have started letting him eat some of what we are eating as well. So far no food aversions and we are digging his healthy appetite. Some solid foods hes eating are: apples, bananas, roll, potatoes ( baked and mashed) chicken nuggets, ham, and green beans. Of course all of these are given in small sized portions and he enjoys putting all his teeth to work.
Katelin is still doing great. She is still in her " honeymoon phase" and at this time is not requiring as much insulin as before. When her honeymoon phase comes to an end it will be back to injections with every meal again. She has to monitor her b/s at school and she has adjusted exceptionally well to starting this school year with diabetes.
That's about it from us for today. We are fixing to start our Saturday errands and we pray that everybody has a safe weekend. Thanks for your support and prayers. We love you
Jeff and Allison
He is doing great and we have been trying to focus on letting him get to sleep on his own. As these kids are always prone to having seizures as they are going to sleep and coming out of sleep we have just always kept him beside us so we could constantly monitor him. That and he was waking up 20 times a night. So now that hes in a good sleep patten, we are inching him closer and closer to sleeping on his own and getting him to do that all night.
He is still eating really well. He eats anything that is put in front of him and we have started letting him eat some of what we are eating as well. So far no food aversions and we are digging his healthy appetite. Some solid foods hes eating are: apples, bananas, roll, potatoes ( baked and mashed) chicken nuggets, ham, and green beans. Of course all of these are given in small sized portions and he enjoys putting all his teeth to work.
Katelin is still doing great. She is still in her " honeymoon phase" and at this time is not requiring as much insulin as before. When her honeymoon phase comes to an end it will be back to injections with every meal again. She has to monitor her b/s at school and she has adjusted exceptionally well to starting this school year with diabetes.
That's about it from us for today. We are fixing to start our Saturday errands and we pray that everybody has a safe weekend. Thanks for your support and prayers. We love you
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Pictures of Dawson
Pics are from this past weekend. All the kids had a blast. Thank you Rudy for letting us come and play.
Today was Madison's first day of Preschool. She has been talking for months about going to school and today she got her wish. She was so excited this morning and certainly felt like a big girl today. She waltzed right in the class room, met her teacher, hugged me and Allison bye, and off she went. We are so proud of her!!!
Isn't it amazing what a big boy Dawson is getting to be???
Our love to all
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Sunday August 17th Update
We hope everybody had a great weekend. Ours has been busy as usual. Yesterday we took a small trip to visit with some friends and spend the afternoon swimming. It is a well known fact that Dawson absolutely Loves the water. I remember him having his first bath in the hospital. He was screaming and crying until they started rinsing him off. As soon as the water hit him he was immediately comforted. To this day he is no different. When he's in the tub the ENTIRE bathroom gets soaked from his splashing. Yesterday, while in the pool, he got so comforted he fell asleep in his little baby float. ( pic coming soon.) Ive just never seen a kid who is so mesmerized by the water. Maybe the next Michael Phelps???
This week he has really been crawling good and moving about the house. He will crawl over to where we are and just pull himself right up. His sleeping patterns the last couple of weeks have been pretty awesome as well. The day time naps can get kinda iffy at times but he is in a really good night time sleeping pattern.
Both OT and PT sessions went really really well this week and we are all still so amazed at his progress. Speaking of progress, today makes 80 Days seizure free!!!!! WOW what a blessing.
We are quickly approaching Dawson's first birthday. We are very excited about this birthday because we have much to celebrate. That and I can't wait to see what he will do to a birthday cake. It should be quite funny.
Sorry for such the long delay in posting. I've been blazy ( blogger laziness) and will try to do better. Thanks for looking in on us, we love you all
Jeff and Allison
This week he has really been crawling good and moving about the house. He will crawl over to where we are and just pull himself right up. His sleeping patterns the last couple of weeks have been pretty awesome as well. The day time naps can get kinda iffy at times but he is in a really good night time sleeping pattern.
Both OT and PT sessions went really really well this week and we are all still so amazed at his progress. Speaking of progress, today makes 80 Days seizure free!!!!! WOW what a blessing.
We are quickly approaching Dawson's first birthday. We are very excited about this birthday because we have much to celebrate. That and I can't wait to see what he will do to a birthday cake. It should be quite funny.
Sorry for such the long delay in posting. I've been blazy ( blogger laziness) and will try to do better. Thanks for looking in on us, we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tuesday August 12th Update
Things around here have been just as wonderful as ever. The kids are finally getting over illnesses ( although it seems its been passed on to Grampy and Mommy.) And Dawson is really on the move now. He is turing out to be Mr Explorer around the house and how wonderful it is to see him crawling around getting into things. His favorite thing is to throw something and then go chase it. Sounds kinda like Im talking about our dog but he really does seem to enjoy it.
Speech development seems to be going in a good direction as well. We spent all day in Nashville at another Diabetic Education class and when we got back, Granny and Grampy informed us that he learned to say " cat" and " Kit- ty" This guy is not only defying the odds of Infantile Spasms hes just plain showing off now. We love it though and we feel so blessed and so fortunate to be in the boat were in right now.
We are in constant prayer for our friends who's road has not been so easy and pray that very soon they can too find themselves in a world that does not involve seizures. Please take a look at " Dawson's friends" and say a prayer for these kiddos. We have been actively praying for these families for months and months and you would be doing us an honor by taking the time to read their stories and get prayerfully involved in their lives.
As always, thanks for the love and support you show and we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Speech development seems to be going in a good direction as well. We spent all day in Nashville at another Diabetic Education class and when we got back, Granny and Grampy informed us that he learned to say " cat" and " Kit- ty" This guy is not only defying the odds of Infantile Spasms hes just plain showing off now. We love it though and we feel so blessed and so fortunate to be in the boat were in right now.
We are in constant prayer for our friends who's road has not been so easy and pray that very soon they can too find themselves in a world that does not involve seizures. Please take a look at " Dawson's friends" and say a prayer for these kiddos. We have been actively praying for these families for months and months and you would be doing us an honor by taking the time to read their stories and get prayerfully involved in their lives.
As always, thanks for the love and support you show and we love you all
Jeff and Allison
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Saturday August 9th Update
Things are still going really well around here. Very busy with the day in and day out stuff of life.
Dawson still has this horrible head cold and it just doesn't seem to want to go away. He certainly feels better than he did a few days ago but even breathing a little through his nose seems to be a constant chore for him. I have come to realize just how physically strong Dawson is. The best way to find out is to try to pin him down, hold his arms down, then get one of those nose suction thingys, and then actually try to use it to suction his nose out. Oh yeah, you get a pretty impressive fight out of him.
We hate doing that but have found it to be necessary during different points of the day. Especially before bedtime.
Dawson continues to thrive developmentally. Yesterday he was pulling up from seated positions both at Grandmoms house and at home. He was sitting in the floor playing and crawled right over to where I was sitting and pulled himself up on the chair. AWESOME
Also he has started this thing where he will get on his hands and feet as though he is going to bear crawl or something. When he does it, it looks like he is just fixing to stand up and start walking.
He had occupational therapy yesterday and it was the first therapy session in a while that went smoothly. The past few OT/PT sessions he was really fussy and just didn't want to work. Yesterday he worked really well and we are so very thankful for the therapist he has. Both of them do a really good job with him and we are appreciative of the work they have put in on behalf of Dawson.
So we are just trucking right on along. The kids are back in school, Madison is enrolled in pre school this year and Dawson is still doing remarkably well. Life is a lot more fun with no seizures and thanks be to God for what he has done.
Thank you for checking in, we are so thankful for you all
Jeff and Allison
Dawson still has this horrible head cold and it just doesn't seem to want to go away. He certainly feels better than he did a few days ago but even breathing a little through his nose seems to be a constant chore for him. I have come to realize just how physically strong Dawson is. The best way to find out is to try to pin him down, hold his arms down, then get one of those nose suction thingys, and then actually try to use it to suction his nose out. Oh yeah, you get a pretty impressive fight out of him.
We hate doing that but have found it to be necessary during different points of the day. Especially before bedtime.
Dawson continues to thrive developmentally. Yesterday he was pulling up from seated positions both at Grandmoms house and at home. He was sitting in the floor playing and crawled right over to where I was sitting and pulled himself up on the chair. AWESOME
Also he has started this thing where he will get on his hands and feet as though he is going to bear crawl or something. When he does it, it looks like he is just fixing to stand up and start walking.
He had occupational therapy yesterday and it was the first therapy session in a while that went smoothly. The past few OT/PT sessions he was really fussy and just didn't want to work. Yesterday he worked really well and we are so very thankful for the therapist he has. Both of them do a really good job with him and we are appreciative of the work they have put in on behalf of Dawson.
So we are just trucking right on along. The kids are back in school, Madison is enrolled in pre school this year and Dawson is still doing remarkably well. Life is a lot more fun with no seizures and thanks be to God for what he has done.
Thank you for checking in, we are so thankful for you all
Jeff and Allison
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
slowly getting better
Dawson is still suffering from this terrible head cold he has. I think the worst of it is over but he has sure had a time with it. As most of you know because of the seizures, there just isn't much he can take to help relieve the symptoms. Saline and suction is just about all we can do because most of the meds can actually help trigger seizures. The eyes of a child tell the whole story and the look Dawson has had in his eyes the past days say " I just do not feel good at all"
Monday we were at Vanderbilt for a diabetic education class. It went really well and we all found it to be very informative. I think I am now qualified to be a neurological endocrinologist. If only there was such a thing !!!
Dawson turned 11 months old two days ago and we just can't believe that next month we will be celebrating his 1st birthday. Has it really been a year??? There has been a ton of things happen to this child in his first year of life and we have a lot to celebrate on his birthday next month. I can't hardly wait
We are close to 70 days with no seizures and his progress continues to be nothing short of amazing to us.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Monday we were at Vanderbilt for a diabetic education class. It went really well and we all found it to be very informative. I think I am now qualified to be a neurological endocrinologist. If only there was such a thing !!!
Dawson turned 11 months old two days ago and we just can't believe that next month we will be celebrating his 1st birthday. Has it really been a year??? There has been a ton of things happen to this child in his first year of life and we have a lot to celebrate on his birthday next month. I can't hardly wait
We are close to 70 days with no seizures and his progress continues to be nothing short of amazing to us.
We love you
Jeff and Allison
Sunday, August 3, 2008
fighting colds
We are still fighting some monster colds with Madison and Dawson both. Poor Dawson's little nose is constantly running and you can tell he can't breath good and is accompanied by a wheezing cough at times. Madison is some better although she is still having a lot of trouble with congestion and coughing. It seems as though hers has settled in her chest. This morning Dawson's eyes were almost matted shut.
I've always heard that a summer cold is the worst.
At any rate, we finds ourselves lucky that a couple of colds is all we have to complain about
Other than the gallons of snot that is being produced, Dawson is doing really well. He has been a little more irritable which is understandable. Crawling continues to go really well and I think he is quite enjoying being able to get to around a bit.
We are heading up to Nashville early tomorrow. There is a diabetic class at Vanderbilt that we are all going to take. I think the class lasts several hours and we are looking forward to learning how to better take care of Katelin's needs.
Thats about it for the Wade's right now. We are just enjoying the tranquility that the cessation of seizures has brought to our family. God bless you all and thanks for checking in
Jeff and Allison
I've always heard that a summer cold is the worst.
At any rate, we finds ourselves lucky that a couple of colds is all we have to complain about
Other than the gallons of snot that is being produced, Dawson is doing really well. He has been a little more irritable which is understandable. Crawling continues to go really well and I think he is quite enjoying being able to get to around a bit.
We are heading up to Nashville early tomorrow. There is a diabetic class at Vanderbilt that we are all going to take. I think the class lasts several hours and we are looking forward to learning how to better take care of Katelin's needs.
Thats about it for the Wade's right now. We are just enjoying the tranquility that the cessation of seizures has brought to our family. God bless you all and thanks for checking in
Jeff and Allison
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