Latest Henry Happenings

Within the last few weeks life has gotten the best if me. We've all taken turns having summer colds, Zack traveled for 5 days, work has been stressful, all leading to my recent blog absence.

I thought I'd try and give a rundown of all our latest happenings. Hopefully I remember everything!

- July 7th was our 5 year wedding anniversary! We spent the day as a family having fun. After the kids went to bed we got take out, lit candles, and had a romantic evening in. We could have got a babysitter but decided not to. it was a wonderful day.

- Dylan has entered a Terrible Threes phase. He's always had moments but now the moments are frequent. All day, everyday! He struggles to listen and follows the negative actions of his peers. We work on 'character building' on a daily basis. We have behavior charts and a reward system. He is a sweet boy who is testing the waters of life. And so it begins.....

- Emersyn has started to walk. She pushes toys around and tries to walk 10-15 steps. She stands up on her own without holding onto anything and walks until she looses her balance or scares herself. She's getting there!
She still only has 2 teeth. At some point the others will show up! That doesn't stop her. She eats everything!

At school she has moved to the next class. This has helped her stranger danger a little. She is more willing to befriend an unfamiliar face or even the familiar face. In this class they learn how to use a spoon, sleep on a mat, and take only one nap a day. We are working hard with the spoon but continue to struggle to get her to drink cold milk. She loves straws and sippy cups with water or juice but WILL not drink cold milk. She's odd. So for 3 months we've been fighting this battle. Hopefully being in the new class will help. Naps are hard on her. She is a sleeper. She's exhausted during the week with only one nap. On the weekends she struggles to stay awake. We pick our battles. If she can't handle it we give her a morning nap. Eventually it will get better.
Otherwise she is her sweet & sassy self!

- Zack went to San Francisco for 5 days to be apart of his brothers wedding. He was the best man. He had a blast. We missed him terribly!

- My job has been stressful for a multitude of reasons causing me to be exhausted. Therefore blogging wasn't on my radar. Hopefully it gets better or I'll be making some life changes. No point in being miserable! I only live once!

-Niko & Blitz are great! They are wishing for cooler weather and/ or Fall to come. We've had temps in the 100's which isn't fun for 2 hairy dogs.

I'm sitting here trying to recall the last few weeks. I'm sure there is more, but it's getting late and my brain is shutting down.
We are all doing well! I'll do my best to post more. Life just has a way of creeping up on me and limiting the free time I have.

Recent pictures......

Pop!

Pop! Pop! Two teeth have appeared!

Yes, Emersyn finally popped two teeth at 13 months. I've been trying for 2 weeks to get a picture but that's a nearly impossible task. She is faster than our camera can capture her smiling mouth, exposing those two bottom teeth.

Tonight Zack & I tried to tag team her to get one, just one picture. He was behind the camera and I was the fool doing everything in my power to make her smile. Did it work? NOPE! She actually started to cry about something, so I seized the moment and got a picture. It's a bit blurry because she's reaching for me and in motion. I wanted a happy, smiling picture to show off her pretty little teeth, but instead I got tears. Boo hoo!

Here they are! Emersyn's first pearly whites!

Walking Ladybug

Emersyn took her first steps last week. This has been a long awaited accomplishment. As I've posted before, my kids are slightly delayed in their gross motor skills. Emersyn had it all over Dylan in the crawling department. She's a little speed crawler who can scale the stairs very quickly. She's been cruising now for awhile so we were just waiting for the confidence factor to kick in. For a week she's been taking anywhere between 1 and 3 steps. Last night we made it a game. She has increased her steps significantly. I wouldn't call her fully walking but she is on her way!! We are excited! Dylan walked in the 15 month and Emersyn will be 14 months this coming week. Please excuse her crazy hair. It was close to bed time and I had just taken her hair out of the rubber band :-)

Go Ladybug!

July 4th

Happy 4th of July!!

First I'd like to wish my Grandpa George a Happy Birthday!!

Here in good ol' Holly Springs it was expected to be 99 degrees with a heat index that made it feel hotter.
The night before we threw some Pop-Its in the driveway and lit some sparklers. Emersyn & Zack enjoyed them while I spent the time reassuring Dylan that he wouldn't get hurt. (As he hid in the garage) Emersyn is my risk taker and adventurist. Dylan is my hesitant and fearful one. So after a few sparklers we called it quits.
On July 4th we went to downtown Apex for their independence day celebration. It was 10 minutes away in the next town over. We went early because the day was already so hot & sticky. We all dressed it Red, White & Blue to support the holiday. We walked around, checked out the fire truck, games (which Dylan didn't want to play), ate ice cream, explored an old train car, and called it a day. It was a great morning. At night we decided against going to see fireworks because the kids were already tired by 7, Emersyn wasn't feeling great, and the kids were afraid if the driveway fireworks. Yup, Zack blew off a mini package of fireworks at the end of the driveway. The little ones that sparked were fine. The kids liked them. The ones that popped, whistled, and made a kid noise... Well they put both kids in tears. Dylan freaked out. Emersyn had a death grip on me, shaking as she cried. Zack & I weren't sure if we should laugh or feel bad. So Dylan went inside and watched from behind a glass front door. I found this comical. He'd yell to Zack through the glass "that was a cool one!" ha!!! I stayed outside with Emersyn, who cried every time a firework went off. Towards the end we joined Dylan at the front door. I felt bad torturing her. Bummer.., that was it. My kids fear fireworks. Maybe next year!!!

It was a great day overall! I tried to capture some of the moments.

Hope everyone enjoyed the day!

Duke Visit

This post is way over due!
Emersyn had an appointment at Duke on June 7th. This was the visit where a CT scan was done and a meeting with Dr. Grant, Emersyn's neurosurgeon.
At this point, Emersyn is 10 months post-surgery, skull should be closing.

The night before the appointment Emersyn had to fast. I was worried about this! Her appointment with Radiology was at 9. Fasting for most people isn't fun, but for an infant this could be challenging! She actually turned out to be a trooper. Nothing less than amazing!! We woke her at 3:30 am for one last feeding, gave her clear liquids until 7, and nothing until 9.
I was waiting for her to get crabby but she never did.
Let me back up, the fasting for a CT scan is due to sedation. A CT scan requires the person not to move. Children obviously have difficulty with this so the doctor always suggests it. When we got into the room the radiologist offered us to try the scan without sedation first. If Emersyn didn't cooperate than we'd go ahead with it. I looked at Zack as if the woman was crazy. Emersyn was already crying because she's going through stranger danger, the chances of her staying still were slim. Zack laid Emersyn on the table and helped strap her down. Yes, this was as bad as it sounds. She was strapped in this white taco looking contraption, which only allowed her little head to stick out. Then pads were placed on either side of her head so she couldn't move. She was screaming, well... Screaming would be an understatement. I felt helpless, terrible, broken-hearted. The only thing we knew how to do was sing. Singing soothes Emersyn, so we gave it a shot!! The louder we sang, the calmer she got! She was also looking at a picture on the ceiling of the scan room. We sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle' and 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' about 50 times. I can imagine how dumb we looked but I didn't care!!! If we could get her still long enough to get the scan than she wouldn't need to be sedated.
Once the machine turned off, the radiologist gave us a THUMBS UP from behind the window. She did it!!! We did it!!! No sedation!! One of the radiologists came out and said how well she did for being 1. They also thanked us for helping, stating that most parents don't help or are to embarrassed to entertain their child. Who would want their child to be sedated if it's not necessary?!?!? We were so proud of our little lady! As always she is amazing and pulls through tough times!

Once the scan was completed we met with Dr. Grant. He said she physically looked wonderful. He felt her head and her soft spot. The CT scan had shown us her skull doing exactly what it should be doing... Closing slowly. If the skull or plates close to fast she would have problems again. Those are the rare cases of children who need a second surgery. Emersyn's skull is right on target. She has a 2x2 soft spot on top of her head, but this is what we want. With time it will close completely. Dr. Grant felt around her head and said everything looks and feels like it's supposed to. Her head as taken a major transformation in 10 months!!!
Dr. Grant was very pleased! I was happy to hear the news and relieved. Not that I thought anything was wrong. I just needed to hear the words.

From this point on we only go back yearly until Emersyn is 8 unless there is a major concern.

Our little hero remains her amazing little self. You can't even see her scar because it's hidden under all that hair! One day she'll have a story to tell.

Emersyn the Warrior Princess!