Yepperoosy its been a month of constipation and teething. My poor little munchkin has not been the happiest camper but hey who would be with those two things nagging at your body all the time. Luckily, we finally got the one sorted out for the most part ie constipation. However, two little chiclets keep threatening to push through his lower gums . So ya, I was just feeling the bliss of him sleeping through the night when WHAM it all got changed about again. One good thing is when we came back from Manitoba we decided to move down stairs and Alistair finally got his own room. Its great! For one, I don't wake at his every movement or random squack as I turn down the monitor so that I only hear him when he really wants his mama. So on the nights that constipation and teething weren't an issue (which are few and far between) I got some amazing sleeps. So bonus for that!
I really can't believe we're at the end of August and here I haven't written at all this month. Sometimes one can say ...no news is good news! Basically thats the truth! Alistair has been doing just fine apart from the above complaints. The only problem is is he also became pretty wingy too. He's getting pretty clever actually. Mom comes in the room and the whining begins. Mom leaves the room and the whining stops and out comes the smiles! The part that has been really bugging me though is the fact that I can't do my regular physio with him as the little gaffer literally hyperextends backwards and cries his little heart out! 
So yes an abrupt stop came to the sitting, the weight baring on his feet, and the kneeling in crawl position. I just find it a real bummer as it was the one thing I could do to help him moving forward and progressing. Its definitely been a 3 steps forward two steps back month. But as usual Lynn at CDC helped take the pressure off my brain. She just helped me realize that I shouldn't beat myself up about this and to focus on what I can work with rather than what I can't. Sounds simple hey! Well it is once someone gives you the ok! Today we got Alistair in a very odd looking appartus that basically straps him into a standing position. He managed 15 minutes for his first go. Not his favorite thing but he was willing to tolerate it somewhat. 
Anyhow, we do keep seeing little bits of progress here and there. Its just that this month its all in the details! For instance, with his hands he's starting to curl his fingers around the side of his high chair and he keeps himself proped up with hands. He also seems to be following stuff with his eyes a lot better now as well. So since our physio side of things have slowed down I'm trying to put an extra effort into enhancing his hearing and vision and I think I'm seeing some positive changes. Sometimes I just wonder how much is wishful thinking and how much is actually occuring. Anyhow his vision is a far cry from what it was in February. However, he still isn't too keen to focus on the face. Mind you right when I tell people this he turns around and looks at them! You may wonder how one works with the vision. Well basically you just stimutate you kidlet with visually stimulating things that aren't too busy. Plus you always want to present them the same way. So not upside down, sideways etc. So we use a lot of colorful things and as soon as he looses interest we move onto something else. I incorporate the hearing stimulation with the vision a lot too. So using items with bells (he LOVES bells!), or squeeky toys, or toys that make noise when he touches them. Thankfully, the CDC and IDP provide a lot of great toys as a lot on the market is basically out there to entertain the parents then help the kids. 
Ooo some other good news is on August 9th Alistair had his last dose of phenobarb (one of his anti-seizure meds) and just the fact that I don't have to crush and mix a med everynight is a bit of a treat. It seemed to take forever to get off the med as one has to slowly decrease the dosage over time. I think it was about eight weeks ago that we started decreasing the phenobarb, so ya its been awhile. Now the goal is to see if he can handle being off the Ranitidine, which is his anti-reflux med. The pedicatrician's plan is that he will hopefully "grow out of it" and it seems to be working as he has been on the same dosage for the past 5 month or so. Would it ever be nice if he was just down to one daily med! 
Well thats the gist of it! I continue to be busy with the PG Deaf Children's Society. We have our Adventure Camp out at Ness Lake here in a few weeks so thats keeping me a bit busy. Plus an instructor that works at CNC is pretty keen on working with our society to develop a new logo and website for us. So I'm pretty pumped about that. As for the soccer, the summer season is winding down. We have a couple more games to play and then hopefully I get on an indoor soccer team! As you can see we've also checked out a bit of back country and if you can believe it these lakes are all within an hour of moms farm! Kuddos to Jason for loving the back country as I had never seen this part of PG!
So ya life continues to be busy! I thought as the cooler months started to arrive my little daily planner wouldn't look as caotic but that doesn't seem to be the case! But one should just be happy that they have the opportuntiy to enjoy the caos as you know in this last month there has been a couple of people I know who have received some shocking news in regards to their health. So if you've got it....appreciate it and take care of your body as its the only one you get!
Well I had better send this on. I hope it finds you all well and I'll do my darndest to blog sooner than the last one!
TTYS Julie : D
