Chase's Sock Puppet

Chase has this cute sock puppet. He will look around and find a random sock (so Mr. Sock Puppet changes everyday) and wears it on his hand. He then plays with it like a puppet. He talks to it and the puppet talks to both Milly and I for several minutes almost everyday. It is adorable what children are able to come up with just a little bit of imagination. This keeps him very entertained in the mornings!

Day Two of Recovery...41 More Days to Go

So our little trooper has made it through another long day. We had our follow up appointment with the pediatrician and they were able to give us a referral to a pediatric orthopedist. So aft another round of x-rays, they agreed that it was broken. They wanted to put him in a walking cast, however they didn't have a boot that was small enough for him. So they made a fiberglass splint and they wrapped it with an ace bandage. They also gave him a shoe to wear with the splint. So he has to wear this for 6 weeks. Fortunatly this splint is removable for baths and it will tolerate him putting some weight on it.

So when we got home, he kept putting weight on it and then he would cry because it hurt. However he kept on doing it. Poor thing. I kept trying to reason with him, but he didn't want to be stuck on the couch... He wanted to play. Hopefully it will get better soon.

Next week is spring break and we were planning on spending a few days in San Diego going to Lego Land. Hopefully he will still enjoy the park from the stroller in between rides.

First Broken Bones... Unexpected Moments

Unexpected moments... you would think that we would be prepared for trouble, rowdiness, broken bones, grass stains, and everything else that comes along with a house full of boys! I just wasn't prepared for our first broken bone and I just didn't expect that it would be Chase!

He was playing in the backyard while Cory was doing yard work and he pulled on one of the decorative cinderblocks from our retaining wall. It fell and landed on his foot. The cinderblocks fell about two feet on to his left big toe and of course he had just taken off his boots. He usually never goes in the yard without them since they are his favorite. However for some reason just before this happened he took them off.

Immediately I took him to the emergency room while Cory stayed home with the boys and after 3 x-rays the doctor said it was broken. He was a little trooper though and as we walked through the ER to radiology, he waved and said hello to everyone he passed (in between the sobs). They let us see the x-rays after they took them and right away I could see the fracture.

They put a splint on it until we can get an appointment with orthopedics. Hopefully we can get an appointment tomorrow. They said it should heal well as long as he stays off of it. Easier said than done!

So now we are home and he is finally resting... My poor baby. I wish I could make him feel better. Luckily he is brave and resillient and I am sure he will be running around again very soon!

We will keep you posted over the next few days and let you know how he is recovering.

Our Visit to the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles...

Caroline and I took Chase into Los Angeles today for his quarterly check up. I was surprised that when we arrived there weren't a lot of people in the waiting room. Usually the appointment room is packed. Chase had fun playing with Caroline and the toys.

Other than the seizure Chase had back on January 10, he has been doing really well. His lab work came back from last week and his Depakote was a little high. Depakote has a high risk for kidney failure. She said that acceptable results are between 100 and 120 and Chase is currently at 129. However, she didn't want to decrease the Depakote prescription because since he has started this medication, he has only had one seizure. So we are just going to keep an eye on things and he will go back in for blood work in a few weeks.

Dr. Mitchell also put Chase on a supplement which should help increase his appetite (both of the medications he is taking cause loss of appetite). She also wants him to start speech therapy as soon as possible. She told us at the last appointment that he should have about 100 words in his vocabulary and he is at less than 50. So we will be calling the local school district so that he can enroll in preschool this summer. Usually the public school district only offers Kindergarten (5 years old) however if you are considered that you have special medical conditions, they are required to provide additional support which includes a preschool program starting at 3 years old.

Here are a few more pictures from the waiting room.

Here are a few more pictures that Caroline took today with the boys. They are so glad that she is here. Riley ran straight up to her when we picked him up from school. Charisse arrives later on tonight and Christopher will be here tomorrow.

 Wills having an afternoon snack... love those cookies!

 Wills and Chase posing for the camera.

 Chase playing with Aunt Caroline and Mr. Potato Head... we love Toy Story!

 Knox and Aunt Caroline lounging on the couch.

I have had so much fun today with Mommy!

Riley was so happy to see Aunt Caroline after school today.

Knox playing in the kitchen. He loves to stand next to things... I think he will be walking soon!

Just when you thought it would be an ordinary day... another seizure

It started as any regular Monday morning with conference calls, catching up with emails from the weekend, laundry, and the children playing with Milly. The boys are always excited to see Milly after the weekend. Chase has a pretty regular routine. He usually walks with Milly and the boys to school in the morning. Then he has breakfast, takes his medication, and watches Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse.

Since we have returned from Oregon, he loves to play with a deck of playing cards. He passes them back and forth to Milly. Then usually it is time to play with his Woody and Buzz characters from Disney World.

Knox usually takes a nap around 10 am and then it is snack time for Chase. For lunch on Monday we had left overs from the roast the night before. I put the left overs in a casserole dish with a crust topping similar to a chicken pot pie. It was very good... Chase however only wanted to eat the carrots.

Just after lunch, Chase laid down for a nap and Knox woke up from his. Wills came home from school and started on his homework. Milly played with Knox on the floor with his new toys from Christmas.

So just when I thought the day would be just like any ordinary Monday, Chase had a seizure at 2:22 pm in the playroom. The seizure lasted four minutes. He has fully recovered and is back to his regular self. The seizures take a lot out of him and he slept for several hours afterwards. When he came out of this seizure he cried... it was so sad. He wasn't hurt but I think he is now starting to understand what is happening and it is a scary experience. The seizure wasn't as violent as ones in the past but his whole body still jerked around and he had rapid eye movement which turned into him staring to the left. I held him the rest of the day and by 7pm he was back to playing and running around.

So it has been over three months since his last seizure. This is the first one since starting depakote and I thought we had everything under control. We will have a follow up appointment in Los Angeles in February at the Children's Hospital. They may need to adjust his medication. We will keep you updated.