Dentist

Junior is pretty much fully recovered from his bug and did great at his dentist appointment today.  I won't say he was happy to go but he is now quite proud of his nice clean teeth.  His dentist is awesome and does such a great job with him. 

Waiting to get his teeth cleaned and then the big grin once we were home. 

Teeth cleanings are clearly exhausting.  He was out moments after I moved him into his recliner.

Being goofy with Abigail last night.

 

 Friday and Saturday it was rainy and Junior was one sleepy guy. 
While he snoozed I got some new trach pads made for him.  He needed some that were a little thicker for when he is extra wet around his trach with his asthma. 

 Slept much of the day and then when I told him it was bedtime he gave me the "your crazy" look and burst into a huge grin and started laughing.  He was wearing the shirt my mom got him.  Trach parents or anyone who has spent much time with Junior will totally understand the meaning behind what it says. 

Our Week

Our week has been a bit bumpy for Junior.  He started running fever on Monday afternoon and was having aches, a sore throat, and just not feeling well.  My sis came down with the same symptoms so at least we knew it was the virus going around and we just needed to work through it.  Today has been better and the fever is gone, he has slept most the day which is exactly what he needed. 
Keeping a close eye on things but so far it has not moved into his lungs which is a huge blessing. 
Here he is today getting lots of rest and even cracking a smile while listening to one of his shows.



A few pics from late last week since we are behind on blogging.
Hanging out with Abby watching tv and being goofy.

He was sooooo excited when he got this cool Star Wars shirt and thought he needed to put it on immediately.  He was not happy with me when I told him it had to be washed first.  Here he is proudly wearing his new shirt and he also chose his Star Wars socks, pants, and trach pad to complete the Star Wars look.  

  Next week is crazy busy with lots of appointments so please pray Junior continues to recover from being sick. 

Weather Ugh

Junior struggles during weather changes and lately it has been changing pretty much constantly.
Lots of extra naps, treatments, vent time and of course I Love Lucy are keeping him smiling.  Well at least most of the time.
Here he is watching Lucy this morning.  Looking sleepy and has "allergy" eyes but still smiling. 

 This afternoon during his exercise time he picked out a few activities to keep him distracted.  He started out with his Zoomer dog and then when it needed a charge he enjoyed watching his hex bugs run around in their tunnels. 

He loves his Zoomer dog, it is so cool and a great thing to keep him distracted during exercise.  Today he was trying to pretend he wasn't that interested because he thought I would think he might just be enjoying exercise/stretching time.  I didn't catch it on film but when he thought I wasn't looking he would go from acting like he was half asleep(what you see in the video) to busting into a big grin.

 

Trying to convince me he is not at all sleepy and doesn't need to go to bed tonight. 

 

Playing Chimes the Junior Way

Junior started his day with the usual airway treatments and exercises before we enjoyed listening to one of papa's sermons.  He then wanted to play at his sensory/moon sand table while I was fixing lunch.  He loves all the Spider-man stuff that is now on the wall around his activity space. 

 I then asked him what he wanted to do and he chose music and decided to play with the chimes he got for Christmas.  Using his hands wasn't working because of the limited positioning ability of the bar the chimes are mounted on.  We tried several things and then decided to try using the elastic strap that we mount his paint brush to on his head.  It worked great and he had a ball being able to play the chimes by himself.  Still couldn't find a great spot for easy access for the chimes but this works until we figure out something better.  The long thing he is using to hit the chimes is the extendable stylus from his ipad.  Yes, when there's a will there's a way.
 

After some music time Junior was ready for a movie with Abby.   You can tell he is having a sleepy day.  Plenty of smiles but not his huge ones.

 

"Visiting" Sweden & Making Valentines Cards

Though Christmas is over we are still finishing up his Christmas around the world school unit and yesterday we "visited" Sweden.  Junior thought wreathe with candles the girls wear was neat but wasn't so sure about the star hat the boys wear.  I suspect he thought it looked far too much like the wizard hat that Mickey Mouse wears in one of the shows.  A show Junior feels he is far too big for.  His face kind of says it all, not at all opinionated is he???  He did really enjoy learning the legend of the Christmas gnome who rides a goat and brings gifts.    Junior has two more countries to "visit" before we will finish this unit then it will be time to go back and complete the music unit we started before the holidays. 

 Yesterday afternoon Abigail came over with a friend and they were making Valentines cards for Joni & Friends(special needs ministry).  Junior initially had acted just tooooo tired to do any activities, that is until he saw the paints and craft supplies come out.  He suddenly decided he wasn't all that tired after all and wanted to join in.  

Rain, Rain

A busy week and Junior has struggled a bit with his asthma.  Today he was complaining of a headache and only wanting to watch the Andy Griffith show, his usual I Love Lucy was even too much for him.  Once the rain started falling you could almost immediately see the difference and his headache went away.  (after taking the picture I had to laugh when I noticed Darth Vaders head peaking out of the blanket). 

Saturday Junior's room was getting its New Years cleaning/organizing so he was having a Star Wars marathon. 

So nice to having everything organized at least for the moment.
We may not have a lot of space in our apartment but I love our closets.  

Junior loves to wear his choice of outfits and I feel it is very important for him to have that feeling of independence even if it is only in small things.  He is not a morning person and often we are in a rush to get out the door to appointments so I was so excited to find a new organization shelf.  It gives us a spot for several days worth of clothes.  Now during a good moment I pull out his ipad and he chooses his outfits for the week right down to what socks he wants.
Since Junior is not going into the closet I flipped the day of the week labels over and instead used the label to show what medical supply is in the drawer.  So a little more medical storage as well as clothing.  

  The main medical supply shelving in his room of course needed a good scrubbing. 
 
Just for fun a shot of the rest of his room. Junior loves his cards and that is now Christmas cards around the top of his room along with cards from his last birthday. 
 
I have talked about how hard it is to find slippers/shoes that work for Junior.
He got these awesome slippers but the foam insole didn't work for him.  They were otherwise perfect, so warm, and super soft.  I realized with the cloth on the bottom I could easily cut a small hole and pull out the foam.  I put a fabric sticker patch over the hole and they are now just right for him.  He loves them and has worn them all day, every day since I fixed them. 

Sunday he was enjoying playing with his switch toys.  Goofy guy thought it was so funny to have both the fart blaster and talking minion hooked up so he could turn them on at the same time.
 
I have been having oh so much fun playing with my Christmas present.  I got an Instant Pot from my brother and totally love it.  This was chicken fajitas.  Tonight I made potato soup in it.  This thing is so fast and the potato soup cooked in 5 minutes(10 if you count the time it took for the pot to come to the correct pressure).

 Goofing around with Abby, he was holding his breath on purpose so she couldn't finish giving him his inhaler.  Junior then thought it was hysterical when she pretended to fuss at him.

Yesterday playing with his kinetic sand and R2D2.  You can tell by the lack of smile that his asthma was causing troubles but he was still enjoying playing. 

Junior's mini sensory board needed a Star Wars makeover. 

Our Week

We enjoyed relaxing and getting all the Christmas stuff put away the weekend after Christmas.  We also had fun putting up the new things Junior and I received for Christmas. 

My not so little dude watching a movie and playing with his new Star Wars toys while I cleaned and organized.  Junior can't really move the toys but loves to hold them and you can often tell that his imagination is doing the rest.  

Enjoying a ride in his lift to get in bed.  We left the tree up in his room which made for a happy guy. 

Junior got some big wall stickers for Christmas so we put them up in the space where his sensory/sand table is.  He was so excited to see them.  The flying spidey we had moved in from his room but it was about 10 years old and fell off within a few minutes.  Junior was sure we needed one so we used a gift card he got for Christmas to order another one.  

 Yikes the new one was much larger then we realized but thats okay, a certain boy thinks it is wonderful. 

He also got Star Wars stuff for his bathroom for Christmas so we had fun getting that all set up for him. 
 
Today Junior had a Shriners appointment to pick up his new, night time hand splints.  After trying them on we quickly realized they were not going to work for him so we will be going back to figure out something better.  They will likely need to do a custom molded splint. 
Goofing around with my boy when we got home. 

 I love the frame with pictures, I got from the kids, and my sis helped me get it hung on the wall this weekend.

 Movie time while he warms up after being out. 

Christmas

Thank you to everyone for the prayers for Junior.  He was feeling much better today and had a wonderful Christmas.  He needed frequent naps but was happy and loving all the fun.  Family, friends, lots of food, and plenty of Christmas Joy.

The last couple of weeks I had noticed lots of whispering between Abby and Junior and looking at something on her phone.  Well this was the secret project they were working on for me.  I love, love, love it and can't wait to get it hung on the wall. 

 Junior was super excited about this switch adapted, talking Minion which he received from Santa's Little Hackers. 

 Lots of Christmas fun. 

 The amazing R2D2 bubble machine(thank you grandma Denise). 

 Junior having a ball with his bubble machine and no they were not getting in his mouth.

More fun, as you can see the main themes were Star Wars and Minions. 

 Abby knows how much Junior and I both love Dr. Pepper so she filled a gift bag with the mini cans, perfect.

 These two thinking they are just too funny. 

 We got a visit from this special lady and she brought Junior a book for Christmas in memory of her grandson Shane(one of Junior's best buddies). 

Goofing around in the wrapping paper after opening gifts.

This dog is too funny.  I still have to read the booklet to figure out how to program it to answer commands but even with it just doing random things it is great to watch(thank you to his parents).

Thank you to our family, friends, and Junior's special angels for the gifts, prayers, and love.

I have a totally wiped out but very happy guy this evening and he was actually requesting to go to bed by 7pm.  He loved watching the special colorized episodes of the Andy Griffith show on tv tonight and is now sound asleep.  Considering it is 9pm and he usually doesn't think he should go to sleep until around midnight I know he is exhausted.  

Not Feeling Well

This week has been a bit rough.  Monday Junior and I were both sick with the bug thats been going around.  I am fine again today but Junior is still not feeling well.  At this point his doc feels that he is just going to take a lot longer to recover so we are just keeping an eye on things and doing lots of extra treatments. 

Sunday we had a lovely visit from a group from our local church who caroled for us.  It was so nice to be included in a church activity during a time when we are not able to attend. 
We are so grateful to Providence Reformed Church for thinking of us and coming by to share the Christmas joy. 

Even being sick Junior has had moments where he is happy and wanting to do a very short activity.  He only lasts a few minutes but it is good to see that he isn't so sick that he is just wanting to sleep.
It took several sessions on a few days since he isn't feeling well but we finally "visited" Italy.  

  
Relaxing in bed and looking at his tree. 

 Christmas arrived so quickly this year and I realized I had not made Junior's gift.  I am doing his bathroom in Star Wars and since a regular shower curtain is just in the way I made a short one.

  A few random pics, got to love his choice of socks/slippers. 
  
His mini tree finally got decorated. 

Abby hasn't been able to come over for over a week because she has been sick.  Junior missed her and was soooo happy to see her yesterday.  

 Merry Christmas to everyone.  I did not get cards done this year but want to let you all know you are loved.