Sleepy Kid

Junior is one sleepy boy today. The medication increase is affecting him more today than it did yesterday. He will probably be drowsy for a few more days as he adjusts to it. The good news is that his focal seizures continue to decrease and he should soon be off of the Lamictal and just on two seizure medications.

He slept in this morning and then got his hair cut. What a little goof, he was trying so hard to see what was going on and had hair everywhere. He was laughing and laughing as I tried to give him a decent hair cut. Yikes, I am surprised he has any hair left with the way he was squirming.

This afternoon he has been sleeping for a couple hours. I took a picture of him snoozing and he then opened his eyes and grinned before going back to sleep.

Smoke Continues

The smoke is still awful but we are staying indoors and doing fine. I am still so surprised at the difference the air purifier has made. From what I have heard there are still about 800 fires burning in the state.

Junior and Abigail were busy with their crafts again yesterday and also spent quite awhile reading and then watched some movies. They both can't wait for the smoke to clear so we can go to the library. We usually go once a week during the summer.
They are both coloring squares from an underwater mosaic. Once they are finished with all the squares they can glued them together to make a poster size picture. Today Abigail went to her dads and will be there until next Friday, Junior wasn't real happy about that.
The neurologist called and increased Junior's Depakote a little today so he is kind of sleepy. Thankfully his labs showed that the levels are finally starting to go up. For some reason the tablets were just not getting the level up where it needed to be but the liquid is making a difference.

Junior did his exercises and then wanted to watch High School Musical 2. I know this looks like a strange angle to watch tv but it is one of his favorite spots.
This boy had me laughing with his antics. First he was trying to sing with the songs then at the part where Sharpay screams he hollered at the same time. He just loves those movies.
Here is a little video I took of him watching the movie. The volume was kind of loud so I am not sure you will be able to hear him hollering.

Exercise and Crafts

Today was a better day for all of us. The smoke is still really bad but we didn't have any appointments and were able to stay inside.

Junior spent quite awhile doing his exercises this morning. With his asthma issues earlier in the month and now all this smoke he can't get out on his bike. We have to do lots more stretching and weight bearing exercises when he isn't riding his bike. He did great and didn't even complain(at least not loudly).

The kids worked on crafts much of the afternoon. They made little hangers for their bedroom doors, window stickers, and picture holders.

Here they are showing off their door hangers.
They both spent most of the time working on their picture holders. The Giraffe, butterfly and flower that you see Junior working on each have a slit in the top to hold a picture. This boy loves to paint, look at that excited face.
This evening we have been reading. Abigail and Junior are both signed up for the summer reading program at the library. They are so funny, and think it is great to get out the clock and time how long they read(or are read to), then they get to put a sticker on their chart for each fifteen minutes. If this smoke ever passes we will go to the library so they can get their prize for each three hours that they read.

Fires

There are currently 800 fires burning in California. None are near us but the smoke is terrible. When you are outside it looks like everything is in a fog.
We are all tired, coughing and have itchy eyes. Thankfully the air purifier I was able to get last night is really helping.

Junior and Abigail are not wanting to do much. They watched High School Musical 2 this afternoon and Junior loved that.
Then craft time and Junior spent a little while in his stander.
Not a very exciting day but hard to do much with all the smoke in the air.

New Stander

Junior's stander arrived first thing this morning and fits him so nice. He didn't have a good night and was not impressed with it especially when he wanted to stay in bed. The man making the adjustments was being thoroughly scolded by him in between tears.
Here are a couple pictures of Junior in his new stander. They were taken this afternoon and he decided to go to sleep as soon as I put him in the stander. Wow, a tray that actually fits and doesn't need anything stacked on top.
There is a lot of smoke in the air and it is making Junior miserable. He looks pitiful with his red eyes and he is very congested. We already had an appointment with the pulmonologist scheduled for today so it worked out perfect. She is putting him on a higher dosage of Pulmicort for a couple months and we will of course be doing lots of extra treatments.
Summer is usually Junior's best time of year and we go on lots of outings. He is not happy about being stuck inside and not even being able to ride his bike. The smoke should pass soon though and we can get out and have some fun.

Mosaics

This afternoon Junior got in his stander and we finished his mosaic. He is so proud of it and loves all the colors and that it has a J for Junior on it.
He also did this little night light kit. He had a great time putting foam stickers all over it and and then helping me turn the light on and off.
This was the last time he will use this stander. His new stander arrives tomorrow morning.
The new one will be exactly the same just bigger.

Snakes

A few days ago I posted a picture of Junior and his snake. It is one of those toys that you put in water and it is supposed to grow. This picture was from last week.
We put it in water for a few days and now it is huge. I let Junior hold it today for a picture and asked him if he was going to scare Mellisa. He just started laughing and got so excited.
Late this morning the kids painted the boards for their mosaics. Junior was so funny, I handed him his board and put the paint brush in his hand. Then I told him to smile so I can take a picture of him painting. He refused and Abigail told him she was going to paint for him. Oh my goodness, he told her off in no uncertain terms. He went on and on, I have no idea what he was saying but that is probably good, because he was letting her have it.
Now they have to glue on the mosaic blocks. We will probably do that tomorrow.

Dentist & Visiting

This morning we had to get up very early to drive to Auburn for Junior's dentist appointment.
Junior told me "no" when I told him where we were going but once we got in the car he did fine and was all smiles. He and Abigail watched movies on the way there and then we ended up waiting a very long time in the office. Junior waited with me but Abigail discovered the movie room and disappeared until it was time to leave. Not sure why the goofy face in the picture since she was having a blast and would have been happy to spend the day there. It is like a little mini theater with a big screen tv and plenty of movies. She told me she thought she needed to go to Junior's dentist now.
Junior was sleepy from getting up so early.
Once we were finally seen he did great. Slept through much of his cleaning and only fussed at the end when they were using the fluoride stuff on his teeth. I don't think he liked the taste. He did decide to let the dentist know just how he felt about having his teeth cleaned and once he was back in his chair he cried and hollered(all of which was being specifically directed at the dentist). As soon as we left the office I told him how nice his teeth looked and suddenly he was grinning and giggling again.

After the appointment we headed over to Barbara's for a visit. It was treatment time when we arrived.Michelle was so happy and full of energy. She was smiling about everything.
Junior and Abigail on the other hand were exhausted from getting up so early and both fell asleep. They slept for a couple hours.
It was great to see Barbara and Michelle and have a chance to visit. We didn't get home until late and the kids are both still sleeping this morning(it is 10am).

Happiness

This morning I heard Junior giggling and went in to check on him and get him up. Well he was still sound asleep and it was all I could do not to start laughing. He had this huge grin and kept laughing in his sleep. I think he must have been dreaming about that bike ride he has been waiting to go on since his asthma started acting up.
This has been a much better week and Junior is getting very close to being 100% again. He is taking some extra naps and still a little tired but that is very normal after all the sleep he missed last week with the asthma.
If it isn't too hot I will take him for a short bike ride this morning.

Feeling So Much Better

Junior had such a good day today and went most of the day without any oxygen. He did need a minimal amount(1/2 -1 liter) this evening but compared to the 3 liters he has been on for the past week that is no big deal.
Saturday and Sunday were better days but today it was like you flipped a switch. He has had very little congestion and has been up playing much of the day.
We went out to get his AFOs checked and adjusted this afternoon. Junior was in a great mood and though he told me "out" the minute we walked into the office, after I told him no we had to get his shoes checked he was fine.
Nap time
Teacher Cindee came by for a session this evening and Junior had a blast. It is summer school now so they do a lot more fun activities and minimal academic stuff. First he wanted to show her his bottle painting. We cut the top off a pop bottle then put a rolled paper inside, dip a ball in paint and drop it in. Then put the top back on and spin, shake and roll the bottle. Junior loves doing this and it makes a very cool pattern on the paper(now we have to get a two litter bottle for this craft, it worked with the small bottle but would have been much easier with the big one). I didn't have a free hand to take a picture during the project so here is his paining.
After that they painted with his dot markers.
Junior just loved the Keiki card he got today, it had a giraffe pattern on it and a lion. He gets so excited every week when his card arrives, Keiki cards is such a wonderful program and brightens the days of many children.
Tonight my goofy kid is watching Nashville Star. He really likes watching American Idol and last week he happened to see a little bit of Nashville Star. I am not a country fan and tried to change the channel, oh my, he got sooooo very upset and kept saying "on, on, on" very pitifully.

Junior did not have a very good night but ended up having a good morning. He wanted to get in his chair and color. Mellisa brought him a giant Speed Racer coloring book from NC so he was very excited to color the first page.
With his asthma being such a problem lately he has very little energy and just couldn't get his arms to move much. I gave him his switch and told him if he wanted me to help he could now ask. I also told him I wanted him to try to do some by himself because I was hanging up the laundry. Well in the first picture he is serious as he hits the switch and waits for me to come running to help him.
After that the "game" was on. As soon as I would walk away he would hit the switch(it is programed with "help me please") and thought he was very funny. He usually has two switches or his step switcher(we program them with "I want a new color" and "I want to color a different spot on my picture") so he wasn't quite sure how to get me to change colors for him with only the one switch. He quickly figured it out and if I was helping and he wanted a different color he would lay on the switch so it kept repeating "help me please, help me please, help me please" until I got him a new color. He was having so much fun but got tired quickly. Activating even the one switch and trying to get his arms to move to color takes up a lot of energy when he is having asthma troubles. It was great to see him being his goofy self though, I know he is feeling better when he starts being a little tease.


Junior just loved seeing the pictures from Mellisa and Abigail's trip to NC. One of my brothers is a fire fighter and lets him get on the trucks when we are there. Here are a few of the picture.

My parents(Junior does not think his day is complete unless he has talked to grandma on the phone)
Abigail with my two brothers on the fire truck(David is the fireman and Andrew is the youngest 15 yrs)
David took the truck out put the ladder all the way up for them.
Squirt gun wars
David taught Abigail to play Guitar Hero, now she thinks Junior just has to have it.
Junior likes seeing the pictures so much that I am going to have to put them all on a disc so he can watch them on the tv. He absolutely loves any thing to do with fire trucks.