Christmas Round 2

Hi Everyone,

We had a great Christmas and were blessed with Reed's sister Lisa and step-mom Lilli coming to visit. We were all very excited to see them both and enjoyed the visit and esp. the dancing in the kitchen. As a bonus, neither boy got sick during this visit--the first time that that has happened. The boys' 2nd Christmas proved to be a great one and at first the boys did not know what the brightly wrapped items were. But after the 1st or 2nd time of opening gifts (they had multiple rounds) they knew just what to do. I am posting some pictures below of the 2nd round of Christmas.

Matthew's Test Schedule

Hi everyone,

Just before Christmas I got a call from the GI specialist's office in Portland and Matthew has been scheduled for his tests on Jan 5th. Since he needs to be at the hospital at 9:30 AM, my Mom and I are going to leave Monday and stay overnight in Portland (at Sara's) Monday night and then go over to the hospital Tuesday morning. Reed is going to stay home with Thomas--that way he is not without both a parent and his sibling for three days. Matthew's first test (where he will be put to sleep) is scheduled for 10:30. 2-3 hours after he wakes up he will be moved to the children's floor and will stay there with a tube down his nose to his stomach until Wednesday morning when they release us from the hospital. It will then take 5-7 days to get the results. We will keep everyone posted.

An early Christmas

Hi everyone,
The boys had an early "round one" of Christmas this past weekend when both of my sisters were up. The boys had a great time and of course did not understand what was going on. Next year they will understand more. We are so thankful that we were able to spend some time with Sara, Sharon and Abbie (plus Memere and Pepere) last weekend. I am posting some pictures from the weekend and a few of the "garage" that Pepere built the boys to park their cars and trucks in (we had bought one at the store but it turned out to be so flimsy that Pepere decided to build the boys one and they LOVE it).

The other night, Matthew climbed out of the crib three times. We then promptly lowered the crib to the lowest setting (it was on the 2nd to the lowest) and he is now mad that the can't climb out, but I don't think it will take him long to master that. Interesting, Thomas has not tried to climb out at all.

18 Month Well Check

Hi everyone,
The boys had their 18 month well check today and both got a raving review. Even though Thomas has croup, both boy's ears were clear--no infections. We are to give them Primocort throughout the winter to help keep away the the respiratory infections they have had in the past (RSV and Croup). Both boys are very advanced on their language skills (the doctor said way past the 18 month normal) and Matthew is showing interest in using the potty so we are going to set that out for his "use". Their stats were:

Thomas:
Weight 28 pounds 4 oz
34" tall

Matthew
Weight 23 pounds 8 oz
32 " tall

They got their 2nd H1N1 shot today (and so did Mommy at her doctor appointment) so hopefully (after Reed gets his) the household can avoid the worst of that.

Otherwise both boys are doing really good and Matthew will have some more testing done for his reflux (see the post from yesterday).

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Love,
Reed, Sue, Matthew & Thomas

Matthew Reflux Update

We just wanted to give you an update on Matthew as he saw the Pediatric GI specialist this morning (we did not think that was going to happen until January but they called two days ago and said he could see him either Wednesday morning or Thursday morning otherwise it would have to wait until March). We went over Matthew's history and the doctor said that it could be reflux or it could be that he just does not want to sleep by himself and has become accustomed to sleeping with one of us. But he would like to rule out a medical issue as there are enough signs and concerns that this could be a serious reflux issue. So we need to bring Matthew to Portland to the children's hospital for some tests. They are going to do an Upper Endoscopy and an Impedence test. The Upper Endoscopy will be done while he is under anesthesia and they will put a scope down the esophagus to see if there is any inflammation and will take a tissue sample to see if there are any allergies. Then before they wake him up they will put a tube down his nose into the stomach. He will have this for about 24 hours and during that time a little computer will record everything that happens so the doctor will be able to determine if he has reflux and if so what kind and to what extent. We don't know when these tests will occur but we will keep you posted.