A long overdue update

So I've neglected updating on my little rock stars lately... And I have time for a quick post tonight so I'll take the time to brag a little!

I'll start with Ty-Ty... Who is now almost 5 months, and almost 18lbs. (Daxton was just over that at a year if I remember correctly. It's so completely different raising a puny baby and a chubbo-tubbo... ) Ty is able to sit up for a while now when you plop him down, and he loves standing in the exer-saucer and smacking the toys. He enjoys sitting in the Bumbo chair, but his butt has gotten so fat he almost doesn't fit in it anymore :) We're working on adding in different fruits and veggies to his diet, and thus far he really, really likes fruits, carrots, and sweet potatoes, and dislikes sweet peas with an intense passion rivaled only by his hatred of poopy diapers and the subsequent changing of them. He's babbling and squealing and smiling... And crying and screaming and tantrumming. He's loud and precious and precocious and completely on target with everything he's doing. He's routinely referred to by my pediatrician as "boring."

Boring is good :)

Oh, except that on Christmas Eve another weird blood thing happened. His face and neck broke out in what is called a petechial hemorrhage, which is basically a bunch of tiny bunch of broken capillaries right under the skin. It's probably nothing, and he didn't have any other symptoms of anything major. It can be caused by a number of things, but is something we need to keep an eye on with the previous weird blood things Ty has shown.

So he's now being described by the pediatrician's office as boring, with just a hint of weird.

But that's how most people describe our family anyway. At least we know he's ours :)

On to The Dax-Man... He's made so many gains lately! He went from having one word ("cookie") to lots of words, although "Da-Da" is his favorite. We've also heard "Mama," "up-up," "down-down," "Ty-Ty," "Papa," and "Nana." He's now clapping his hands, and doing it well :) I was worried when we finally got him to clap his own hands (he's been clapping ours for months) because he could never really line his hands up correctly, but now he's doing much better with it... And he loves, loves, loves to do it! He's also waving bye-bye all the time....

He's making some progress with eating... He is willing to try ANYTHING now, even if he can't keep it down or if he gags on it. He still loses about half of the food that he puts in his mouth if it has chunks, but he tries... He's actually teaching himself to eat with his mouth closed so the food doesn't fall out. How many of you with older kids can brag that they chew with their mouths closed? :)

Physically, he's getting braver with taking steps but we only get 1-2 steps at a time and then he carpet-dives. He's been able to stand up in the middle of a room for a couple of months, and he's standing up further and further away from items and then trying to step to it, which means lots of scrapes and bruises from falling into or onto what he's trying to get to. He has a riding toy he can climb onto and off of, and he's figured out that pulling all the way up and standing on the seat like a stunt rider is super-fun. And he's not even two yet. His teenage years will be the death of me...

And he suddenly has a mouth full of teeth, molars and all. Not sure if I'll recognize him if he doesn't have a mouth full of drool!

The boys had a great Christmas, and much to our surprise they were actually good enough for Santa to come. Our living room, which was previously described as "Six-Flags Over the Living Room," now looks more like a "Six-Flags Over the Living Room after a tornado went through." Oh well, they're only young once.

And that's it in a nutshell.

As for the insurance drama, we're still trying to raise awareness and have a meeting scheduled tomorrow night (that would be Monday, December 28th) at 6:30 at 801 East Old Hickory Blvd in Madison, TN. The meeting is to help parents fill out their peach pages and answer specific, individualized questions about what options our disabled children qualify for. Any and all are welcome to attend, and you can bring your children if you're unable to find a sitter.

And I had a nice, long conversation with Rep. Maggart before Christmas. She's on the Tenncare committee and is supposed to be looking into some things for us this week. We'll see what happens. It was just nice to have some acknowledgement from an official that this is a problem and our children are falling through the cracks. At least that's something.

Oh, and we made the paper again today: Here's the link to the story. It highlights Daxton's issues more so than the global issue, but it's getting the story out there. Maybe it will fall on the right ears and/or eyes.

And now I must go hook up a handsome young devil to his machinery and prepare for the Monday following a holiday (which is never, ever fun.)

Hope you all had a wonderful, safe Christmas!