Day 3

Two therapists approached, introduced themselves, and lead us to the potty room. To start each day, I have to bring him in and encourage him to use the big boy potty. They will also incorporate 2 other attempts throughout the class. Davis, remembering the room from yesterday, kept asking for the 'pink soccer ball'. We said our 'goodbyes' and headed out. I was comforted to find other kids near Davis' disability level in the room. Once we were in the privacy of my car, I lost it. All of the 'firsts' seems to be so difficult for me. Justin said, "Just be thankful that Davis is doing as great as he is." That pretty much shut me up. I've never been in a room with a bunch of kids and realized that mine is the most advanced.

Next, I dropped Justin off at the airport. I felt so lonely and homesick as soon as I got back in my car. Doing all this alone is going to be so hard.

When I met Davis in the waiting room at 2:30 and asked him if he was ready to go home, he said, "NO! No go home." Ok. Sooo...you're saying you enjoyed yourself? I'm glad one of us is havin' a ball. The therapist said he did really well and had a lot of fun. And...a 3 hour nap followed.

I took Davis to the playroom at the house for a couple hours and, of course, he clung to the Thomas the Train set the entire time.

Day 2

It's our second day in Orlando and we've already fallen into a nice little routine. Life here is so easy with Justin around to help...and...that all ends tomorrow. :(

The house is set up kind of like a hotel, where each family has their own private bedroom and bath. All the other rooms - kitchen, living area, library, computer room, playroom - are shared amongst everyone. The kitchen has personal pantry and refridgerator space where you store your purchased items. But they also have 'community' food items (donated by people and restaurants) that the entire house can share. For breakfast this morning, it was bagels, danishes, and coffee. Mmm, mmm, mmm...

And restaurants come in every night and cook dinner for the entire house! We passed on it tonight and, instead, met up with one of our friends that lives nearby for some of the best ribs I've ever eaten in my life!

After breakfast, we drove around my old stomping grounds...

My old house...

Davis had his first day of private therapy (one hour every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). It went really well. They definitely have so much more to offer than I've ever been able to find at home. The therapist had him walking around the room with these canes.

These ropes were attached to the wall and Justin pulled tight on the other ends. Davis was forced to rely on his own balance to walk back and forth. He also had to step up on the circles and jump off.

And he did a little wall climbing...

We've Arrived!

Well, we made it! The drive wasn't bad at all. It took about 7 hours, plus an hour for lunch. We've already spent about $10 at the toll booths. Ridiculous. A couple of those dollars were our fault...we passed our exit (shocker) and had to make a few turns to get back on track.

...There's was lots of this going on during my driving time...

...and then the boredom set in...

The delirious giggles...

The Ronald McDonald House is incredible! I've never been around so much generosity. The people here are so friendly and helpful. I''ll take some pictures of the house and post them tomorrow.

Birthday Celebrations

Davis' birthday parties (yeah, a three-year-old deserves two parties) were so much fun! He got lots of fun toys and so many donations for his therapy services in Orlando! They'll be such a huge help and we appreciate it so much! (Check out the rest of the pics through the link on the right.)

His morning party at the park...

'Cars' Cake. And we almost made it through the whole 'Happy Birthday' song without any tears!

My girlfriend, Lindsey, made his '3' shirt. She's freakin' amazing! AND....PLUG...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23532937@N04/

Happy Birthday, Big Man!

I can't believe it's already been 3 years since our little man came into this world!

Davis,
We're so proud of you and feel so blessed have you in our lives! You amaze us everyday!


We love you more than you'll ever know! Happy Birthday!


Love,
Momma and Dadda

First Dentist Appointment

Today, was Davis' very first visit to the dentist! He did so great! No fussing or anything! I'm mean, you'd think he was about to be 3 or something!

Well, I finished To Kill A Mockingbird and just started Into The Wild. It's about a young man who, after graduating with honors from Emory University, hitchhiked to Alaska. Before doing so, he donated all of his savings to charity, burned all the money in his wallet, changed his name, and abandoned his car and most of his possessions. No one knew where he was during his 16 week journey until his decomposed body was found just north of Mount McKinley. It's really good so far.

And about Davis...I took him back in to see the doctor this morning. I explained his symptoms (fatigue, constipation, colder than usual, weakness, irritability) and he assured me that he's just taking longer to get over his Sinus Infection. "Just continue the antibiotics." was his suggestion. I expressed my concerns about his thyroid levels. He had high TSH levels (hyporthyroidism) as an infant and I remembered his Endocrinologist telling me that those were the exact symptoms to look for if the levels changed again. So, the doctor said he would draw blood to check it. Five minutes go by and in walks 3 girls ready to tag team Davis. They tried TWICE, unsuccessfully, to draw blood....which is exactly what I expected of them. "Maybe we should just send him to LapCorp." was one girl's input. I walk out in the hallway, search for the doctor, and he says, "Well I don't think there's anything wrong with his thyroid. I was just going to do blood work to ease your mind." Oh really?!?!? I storm out of there, call his Endocrinologist, and she says, "Yes, he needs his levels checked." Duh. To be continued...

To copy my girlfriend's blog, I've added the book I'm currently reading to the right. To Kill A Mockingbird is A MUST READ! I know it was literally a 'must read' in grade school, but I must have opted out of that assignment because I don't remember anything about it. And I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much at 15 years old, anyway.

Davis' sickness has been like no other, this go around. He's been sleeping and sleeping and sleeping some more. I think he's averaging about 16 or so hours a day! And he hasn't been eating much at all in over a week. I've had to restart his pump feeds at night just so he doesn't wither away. I left a message with the nurse this morning about it and I'm just waiting to hear back from the doctor.

ONLY 5 DAYS UNTIL MY BIG MAN TURNS 3!

The Things We've Resorted To

For entertainment over the past couple days, Davis has had to dig deep into his imagination...He got a roll of paper towels and spread it all over my bedroom.

Last night, he got two little cans of Grapefruit juice out of the pantry and was rolling them all over the house. He also kept himself busy with his piggy bank...Emptying out the change and putting it all back in.

We took him to the Pediatrician's office yesterday. Sinus Infection...SHOCKER OF '09. A sinus infection?!?!? Wow...he's only had, like, 37 of those in the past year. I'm starting to think that's the doc's standard diagnosis for everything. Runny nose...Sinus Infection. Fever...Sinus Infection. No appetite...Sinus Infection. Bone protruding out of your foot...Sinus Infection.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 'PA'!
WE LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU DO FOR US! HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!

I'm Losing It

...and by 'it' I mean my mind and my sanity and probably a sock or two. Davis has been running a fever since Sunday. Besides therapy on Monday morning, he hasn't left the house at all. And since the law states that a 3 year old can't be home alone, I haven't left the house either (except for tennis last night). We're both bored out of our minds. I can't get anything done because 'sickness' for Davis translates into 'I want to hold that Momma...all day long'. Someone on the Streets of Sesame must have told him that I have super powers to make him feel all better. I'm trying, but my super powers are needed elsewhere from time to time...in the laundry room, the dishwasher, Justin's company, my blog! Which, by the way, I'm typing while Davis is tugging on my arm, climbing in and out of my lap pressing his bones into my legs, and inching his little fingers closer and closer to the laptop buttons. "Don't you touch that. It'll bite you." I don't think he buys it.

Since we're on house arrest, I've been tackling the whole toilet training thing...I put him on the Big Boy Potty ever 20 minutes or so and say, "Pee, Davis. Go Pee. Can you go pee pee like a big boy for Momma?" "Nooo," he says. Alrighty, Davis. It's your world. I need tips...or someone to come over here and do this for me.

Where's Dadda in all this? WORKING! Ha-lay-loo-ya!!!

Davis did very well at Aquatics yesterday. I got to see him walk all by himself up and down the handicap ramp for, like, 20 minutes! He's steadily making strides towards becoming an independent walker!

For our playdate yesterday morning, a girlfriend and I went to Kennesaw Mountain. Two miles up hill and 2 miles down. Forty minutes up and less than 20 down. About a gallon of sweat lost going up and a nice cool breeze on the way down. Pushing about 40 pounds worth of Davis and his stroller up and easily guiding it all down. Almost losing consciousness and completely unable to talk heading to the top and turning in Chatting Cathy and lovin' life while making our way back towards earth. My legs are killing me today.

I just finished reading If I Am Missing Or Dead by Janine Latus and Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge. Both are memoirs about depressing crap...domestic abuse and our corrupt foster care system.

Fort Walton Beach Trip

We're finally home from our week long trip to Fort Walton Beach. This was definitely one of our favorite times down there. I think Davis is officially over his sand phobia! AND, with our combined forces (Captain Planet Style), Davis learned most of his numbers 1-10 and colors! This is, like 2 year old stuff, but I'm so proud of him! On a negitive note...kites are really hard to fly! My dad bought the most complicated one at the store and, after 5,000 cuss words out of Evan's mouth, Justin tripping over a group of girls' beach chairs, and me giving up after about 3 seconds, the kite got tossed.

Click on the link to the right to view the rest of our beach pictures! The 'beach chair and umbrella layer outers' approached us for some free advertising and let us take out a kayak one day!

We drove down to Pensacola and took Jay's boat out to catch some din-din. Justin caught 2 Red Fish and Evan caught a Sheephead. Justin blackened them and they were SOOOOO TASTY!

On Memorial Day, we drove over to Destin and hung out with a bunch of our friends at the beach.

Justin, Davis, and I went to the Gulfarium...Justin and I couldn't believe how close we got to the flesh-eating shark...Scary, huh?

Davis was so happy to see his big brother when we got back home!

And, as if we hadn't soaked up enough sun, we headed to the lake with some friends yesterday...Davis wasn't feeling it, though...