Sickie Update

Truman woke up today with a very wet diaper, so he's not dehydrated yet. I guess he is absorbing some between the vomits. He did drink 6 ounces this morning and then promptly threw it all up 15 minutes later. He's lost his voice, too. Poor little boy, he is just miserable. He spent most of yesterday in my lap watching The Wiggles and Sesame Street as I worked from home -- so not like my Truman.

Sick Little Boy

Truman is a very sick little boy. He has had a high fever for about 48 hours now without it breaking. It has risen as high as 103.9, but seems to be lingering around 102 everytime the meds wear off. We can't seem to get it all the way down either even with meds.

He throws up everytime it's time for a new dose of Tylenol or Motrin. As of this afternoon, he won't eat or drink at all. He's not dehydrated yet, but if complete refusal continues, we'll have to take him in for an IV. We don't think he's actually nauseous, but that the vomiting is just part of his general vomiting issues.

We took him to Tiny Tots today. His ears are clear, and a strept culture came back negative, but his throat was very inflamed. They diagnosed him with viral pharyngitis and said it's going around. It lasts a week to 10 days and is contagious the entire time there are symptoms.

Forgot to add --- He weighs 22 lbs, 14.5 ounces.

Truman Update

Truman Twenty:

1. Truman has as many as 100 signs now and is doing a lot more communicating. He's also starting to string two signs together a little more often to make sentences. We're glad he's communicating more, but when we hear his peers carrying on full conversations with their parents, we really wonder what all Truman would tell us if he could. That gets really depressing.


2. Truman has learned to say cookie, but seems to have decided to stop eating them.


3. Truman is starting to do a little more mimicking of sounds--not really turning them into words, but the sound repertoire is expanding.


4. His receptive speech continues to impress us. Ben and I will be talking to each other, and then Truman will do something in response showing us that he understands everything we're saying.


5. Truman knows a lot of his alphabet. For him, that means being able to point to specific letters when asked. He also knows a number of words that start with particular letters, like signing Fish after he points to the letter F or being asked to find a song on his alphabet call and going to the correct letter that starts the song (e.g. O for "Old McDonald" or I for "I've Been Working on the Railroad." On a few letters, he sometimes will make the letter sound -- sort of the phonics.
   
6. Truman has never made an attempt to sing, even just in babble. This makes his dad, in particular, really sad. I got choked up when the children's choir sang on Palm Sunday, knowing that Truman probably wouldn't be able to join in -- at least not as young as the other kids get to. Maybe he could sign songs while the others sing?


7. Truman is not making much progress in the eating department either with vomit reduction or texture. We had a really good month with vomit in February, but then a bad run in March and are somewhere in between for April so far. However, we implemented a protocol of various oral-motor exercises and sensory stimulation (using Chewie Ps and Ts, a nuk brush, and a Z-vibe oral vibrator) that does seem to help. Or, at least we notice he is more likely to vomit on meals when we don't do it.


8. Bedtime has gotten really easy if Ben does it. Finally, after 2.5 years, Truman can be put to bed awake like most toddlers. However, he still makes me lay down with him until he falls asleep (or we both do). If I don't, he throws up all over his bed and himself.


9. Truman has become really affectionate. He gives random hugs and kisses. His favorite time to hug is when he's naked after the bath. He practically leaps at us from his changing table and hugs with such intensity that he grits his teeth. He also likes to pat backs while hugging.
10. Truman learned to open the fridge today. This was discovered when he brought Ben a package of sliced cheese and signed "Cheese, please." Ben was sitting on the toilet at the time. Good news is--he ate the cheese.
11. Truman has to go back to physical therapy. Apparently, they are concerned about the fact that he can't jump and about his overall strength. He tends to still move more like a toddler than a preschooler as well.
12. Truman loves hot wheels. In fact, his security toys are two particular hot wheels. Other kids carry blankets. Mine carries tiny metal objects.
13. Truman loves the Wiggles -- so much so that if you give him a choice about any TV, he will always sign "W" for the Wiggles.
14. Truman is obsessed with wearing shoes. He likes to have some on at all times. He also wants everyone around him to wear shoes. If you aren't, he reaches down and touches your feet and signs "shoes" rather insistently.
15. We have no idea what Truman weighs right now, and it feels really good not to worry about it.
16. Truman loves his bath. Most nights, he lays on his back and "swims" after he's done being bathed.
17. Truman points with a "Double T." His dad loves that.
18. Truman knows where all the parks in our neighborhood are. If you tell him you are going to a park and you drive by one on the way to another, he gets quite upset. Even if you didn't tell him you were going to one, he frantically point thems out when you drive by. He is a maniac about slides.
19. It appears that Truman is learning to shop by computer ... by shoving gift cards in our computer's CD drive.
20. Truman loves other children. If one comes to our house, he spends the first few minutes squealing and running in circles.

The Joy of Being 2

March for Babies

Just a reminder to everyone that March for Babies is coming up on Saturday. If you want to support Team Truman by walking or sponsoring, please go here:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=574101

Happy Easter

Truman got to visit his West Texas grandparents over Easter and had lots of fun as usual. Easter-egg hunting was a little confusing to him. He wanted to hunt the eggs, but wasn't too interested in collecting them. He just dropped them once he found them. As was expected, between his parents, his grandparents, and his great aunts, he had far too many eggs to collect and stopped once he discovered there was a stamp inside one.

In the photos, Truman's hat and jacket belonged to his grandfather, Daddy Davis when he was boy. The cuffs had to be hemmed for him quite a bit, but we'll let them out for next year. In the one looking down, he's smiling after cracking a confetti egg on his head.