I've mentioned how Kamryn is very shy, quiet, and such a great girl. She has a close group of close friends that are loyal and they all get along well. She was having a hard time breaking out of her "shell" and opening up to other girls at dance and school. It extends beyond her peers and she would never raise her hand and ask a question of the teacher in front of class. Gasp. That would never happen.
Yesterday, I picked her up from school and she was in an exceptionally great mood. She cracked a joke in home room and everyone laughed. That must have really made her feel great because she signed up for the talent show! I am so proud of her!! If that weren't enough for one day, when I picked her up from dance, she was chatting with all the girls and having a great time. I must have told her how proud I was a million times yesterday. She was so excited that she took a leap of faith and stepped out of her comfort zone.
At violin lessons, she talked to her teacher about the talent show and just like that she learned an entirely new song and after just a few hours of practice has it completely memorized. AMAZING!!
While we were leaving the office, Owen pointed to the restroom and said he had to go potty. Weird. He has never even sat on the potty before. I decided it couldn't hurt so we went to the restroom and he totally just did this thing! Then we flushed, washed our hands and we were both so excited!! He continued this trend all night and into today. He just says "I need to go potty" and he goes! I don't think it gets any easier than that! :) There have been times that he says "I have to go" and he doesn't make it and goes in his diaper. We still finish up like he were going and he is so proud of himself. It's so great!!!
One week. No scooping.
He has totally been swallowing his food!! I can't even begin to explain how huge this is!! It's so hard to explain how difficult it is to have a child that is not an oral eater. It is just a skill that we all take for granite and we all do it. Too much of it in my case. Now that Owen is swallowing, with more practice, he'll be able to eat much more larger boluses of food! Way to go Owen!!!
Now for a story that cracked me up this morning...
We had just dropped Kamryn off at school and Owen starts the following conversation.
Owen: "I want to go to my echo"
Me: Right now? Silly guy.
Owen: "The echo where they put the mask on my face"
Me: Oh.. you want to be under anesthesia with the mask and have a cath?
Owen: "Yes.. right now.. let's go!"
Me: Oh Owen.. you are so great!!
I love that despite everything, he just loves his doctors and the procedures obviously don't leave him feeling negative.
Our kids are so great!! We are such lucky parents!!
13 comments:
Seriously...you have terrific kids!! :) Love the cath story; so cute!
I think it's great that Owen is now using the potty and swallowing his foods. Maybe you should baby him a bit less, and allow him to be a "big boy" more. He seems rather confident when you give him enough room to do his thing. Go Owen!
Awesome about Owen eating now!!
Do you think he always knew how and just was stubbornly holding back ?
I had a question about your make a wish trip. I read on your last post that you have been spending hours planning the Disney trip. When we went to Disney ( with MAW), they took care of all the details, and I mean ALL!! It was an amazing trip!
Also, we didn't get 10 days, only 1 week, but maybe they changed rules since then. It was two years ago.
Anyway, you will have a wonderful time there. GKTW villas was fantastic!
Yeah! What an awesome update! Love it! You are so right- your kids are amazing. :)
Been keeping up with your blog for awhile now, but I don't think I've ever commented =) That is such great news about the swallowing! And too funny about him wanting an echo! Yes, your kids are amazing!!
Kristen.. MAW trips are one week still at GKTW! We are extending out of pocket for an additional 4 days.
Owen can't overdo it, so we have to schedule lots of downtime in between park days. That way he can enjoy playing at GKTW as well.
The hours planning are for the extended portion of our trip. I have never been to DW and had no idea how big it was!! I don't know where to stay or eat, ect. So I have been trying to educate myself and figure it all out!
MAW will do most of the planning for our one week, but as far as oxygen delivery while we are there, formula delivery and medical scripts... that's all me.
We are looking forward to the trip and Owen especially cannot wait to see all his character friends!!
I recommend staying in the park for your extended stay portion. Not only is it easier to get to the park(free shuttles or monorail), but you can take advantage of "magic hours" only available to those staying IN the park hotels. Also if you purchase any souvenirs in the park, they will deliver for free to your hotel so you don't have to carry around with you.
Stroller rentals are expensive so bring your own or buy a cheap one at walmart when you get there.
Another hint: the Walmart in Kissimee (the one near park) has almost the same exact Disney souvenirs they sell in the park for at least half the price! The kids would see what they liked and then swing by walmart in the evening and get it for much cheaper! Big savings with four kids! Another mom gave me that tip so I'm happy to pass it on. Also you are allowed to bring food/drinks/snacks into the park. We would pack our own snacks and freeze some water and juice bottles the night before and toss in a knapsack. Sometimes even made some p&b sandwiches ( bought stuff at walmart when we got there) Saved a ton
of money and then we splurged on nice dinners each night
with the savings! We also are not huge sit in restaurant type breakfast eaters so we just got quick stuff like poptarts, muffins and instant oatmeal packets, individual boxes of assorted cold cereals, small shelf stable milk boxes, fruit such as; bananas, oranges and apples, hot chocolate packets, and fixed our own continental type breakfast in the hotel room. We had a microwave and
coffee maker in the hotel room. We would pack fruit and snacks and water bottles to take to park.
Well I hope some of those tips help. If I think of any more, I'll post another comment! I know you will have a blast there!
Oops I meant PB & J sandwiches. :)
Also I remembered another thing. Buy some of those plastic rain parkas ,that fold into tiny pouches, at the dollar store and store in your knapsack or stroller. It usually rains at least once a day ( only for a short time though) and the parks charge big bucks for those cheap rain parkas.
Bring comfy walking shoes!! I cannot stress this enough. Blisters on vacation are no fun. Also bring your own bandaids, tylenol, Benadryl, etc. just in case.
YAYY OWen! I agree. After chaotic frustration trying to potty train early with my first, and then with Evie, just letting her tell ME when she was ready, Im a big fan of the latter!
And thanks for the advise on the whole fundraiser substitution thing. GREAT IDeA! A date it is!!
I was just like Kamryn when I was her age too. SO proud that she's coming out of her shell and gaining confidence.
As for Mister Owen... WOW. Two major milestones in the same week! You go kiddo!
I absolutely LOVE reading about other kids who are ahead of us in the whole learning to eat process. We've finally made it past the stage of puking whenever food is near her to the stage of swallowing some pureed food and pocketing/stuffing the rest. It makes me feel good to see other kids get past those milestones that we're working towards. :) Amazing kids come from amazing parents!
Mr. O is a champion! And I would never guess Kam is so shy, maybe cause I feel like I know her so well from the blog. She is pretty much as darling as they come! You will love your wish there is sooooooo much to do! I think adding those days is a brilliant idea. Since we just got home I can try and answer a few questions you might have. I agree with the other person about the rain gear it poured buckets on us, the one day we forgot our gear we ended up paying thirty bucks at the park for two ponchos and an umbrella.
That last part cracks me up... It must feel sooo nice to know that all of this hasn't negatively impacted him in the slightest! He actually enjoys it! What a sweetheart. I am SO excited for you that he is swallowing!!!! I KNOW how huge that is!! Hopefully more and more will go down by mouth and less and less by tube! Oh I'm so excited for you! Any movement in the right direction is soooo great. And the toilet training! Look at him go!
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