Lets start a thumb war...

On Monday we will be venturing to Children's Hospital to finally see the highly recommended Dr. Lightdale. She is pretty much the only orthopedic doctor around for kids that specializes in hands.
Connors left thumb is beginning to look more and more dislocated and it is even becoming stiff and hard to move.  His right thumb is not nearly as bad.
We have seen four orthopedic doctors and they all say the same thing "we have no clue whats going on but he will most likely need some form of a surgery".  We have gotten..."maybe there is no joint there",  "he is too young to tell anything from x rays", "we need to wait until he is closer to school age".  The list of excuses goes on and on.
I cant wait until Monday and truly pray we will finally get some answers as to what exactly is wrong with his thumbs.

Lets JUMP for Joy....

Connor sure is.
At age 3 years and 9 months, Connor can now jump straight up.
He became determined to learn to jump while he was on winter break.  Night and day he tried and tried and boom....by George, he got it.

another first....

FIRST DOUGHNUT THAT IS.  He didnt eat the whole thing but loved what he could eat.  

whats in a name....

EVERYTHING....
Listen very closely.  CONNOR SAYS HIS NAME.  You will hear the hard C a pause and NER.   It sounds like K   NER.  
We are squealing like girls because we are so proud and Connor is acting crazy because well....hes 3 and thats just what three year olds do.

Look what I can do now...

Someone I Love

By Lori Hickman
Someone I love relies on me in ways you will never understand. Someone I love endures pain and challenges that break my heart and renew my spirit at the same time. Someone I love is unable to advocate for themselves for things that most of us take for granted. Someone I love will never have the opportunities that every child should have. Someone I love will need unconditional love and support after I am gone - this frightens me to the core. Someone I love encounters pity, stereotyping responses, and prejudice at every turn, because they look, act, and/or learn differently than others. Someone I love has needs that require me to allow "outsiders" to have power and input in areas that should be mine alone to meet. Someone I love will continue to look to me for everything in life long after other children are able to assume a place as part of the world. Someone I love has needs that require more time and energy than I have to give. Someone I love has needs that mean I am not able to meet basic needs of my own. Someone I love has needs that have become the driving force behind major decisions my family makes. Someone I love has changed me in ways I will never be able to describe. Someone I love has taught me about love and about the really important things in life...
And still others don't understand what it is to be me.. they aren't living in my skin.

A bit sour yet oh so proud...

My little boy was just diagnosed with Spastic Cerebral Palsy and is now going to be tested for seizures.  The doctor has already pretty much made the determination that what we are seeing in Connor is seizures, we just need to do the 72 hour EEG to make sure they are not harming him.  I think she wants to make sure he is not an epileptic.
He has quite a few very spastic movements he does on a daily basis where he basically loses all control of his muscles and he just shakes.  Its usually due to being excited.  We always thought it was just him being adorable. Apparently there is a technical term for it (Which I cant for the life of me remember what it is) and it is also related to seizure like episodes.
Connor will be hooked up to an EEG machine for three full days later this week into the weekend.  We will be monitoring his behavior via video as well.
As with a lot of other 3 year olds, Connor suffers from very bad night terrors.  This is common for the age, according to the neurologist but we will be video taping his sleep sessions along with the EEG to make sure there is nothing else going on (seizures) while we are sleeping in the other room.
I am secretly hoping that the EEG comes out PERFECT.  The doctor informed me that if she gets nothing (which in most cases with kids with developmental delays we might not because they don't happen frequently enough) he will just be monitored to make sure the seizures don't progress.  If she does by chance see something, we shall go from there.
Connor doesn't seem to care much about whats happening.  This is his life and he wouldn't have it any other way.  Secretly, neither would I.  :)
Someone decided that Eric and I would be the perfect parents for this very special child.  I personally think it is a lesson.  I have amazing patience now and have more sympathy for situations then I ever realized.  You never know what life is going to bring you and you are most likely not prepared.  You will learn more then you ever thought possible and this child will make you realize that different isn't always so bad.  As he gets a little older, things are getting tougher as we start to notice more and more but that will never change who he is and I would be upset if it did.  :)