Day 16: Describe My Dream House

I know some people can describe their dream houses very specifically.  There is only one feature that is certain on my dream house.

A giant wrap around porch!

I'm thinking something like this....

I love the porch and the varied roof line. 

I found this house on another site...and discovered it was a remodel of an old house.  Quite a transformation!

And I discovered a new food blog, written by the owner of this house. All in all, a very productive google search!

Swallow Study and Weaning

On Friday Claire and I headed to Denver for her third swallow study.  It had been six months since her last one, and we were hoping that she'd outgrown the aspiration.  If she was still aspirating we were hoping to have her drink more than a swallow or two.  For her first two studies, she would take one drink and then refuse any more of the stuff since it tasted so bad.  We were never really able to get her to drink once we thickened the milk to make sure the consistency was right for her. 

This time they had a new product that was apple flavored.  We started with Claire's yogurt and that went down just fine.  I haven't been worried about solids, so this wasn't a surprise.  We also gave her a small piece of cookie, and this was swallowed whole.  It was pretty hard, so that's what I was expecting, but it would have been nice to see her chew.  I forgot her string cheese in the car though, so there wasn't anything else for her to chew on, and we did the milk next.

We started with thin liquid in her straw cup and she did great.  She took a few swallows in a row and there was just very minimal penetration and no aspiration at all.  With her bottle she was still aspirating on thin liquids, and had pretty significant penetration even with it thickened like we have been.  So the verdict is thicken in the bottle (even more than we have been), but unthickened is fine in the straw cup.  The SLP thought it was the speed which she was able to drink by bottle, and the angle of her head that was causing the aspiration.

I'm not totally convinced that she doesn't need her straw cup milk thickened too though.  She will often get a little 'junky' sounding after she drinks, and I think I will continue to thicken it just a little bit.

So onto weaning from the bottle!  I've wanted Claire off the bottle for a little while now, but also didn't want to lose all my snuggle time with her.

For the last 10 days she hasn't had any bottles during the day, and hasn't had night bottles in about 4 days.  This morning I was going to skip her morning bottle too, but she insisted.  :)  When we were eating breakfast I would offer her straw cup, but she kept pushing it away and signing 'milk'. We finished her morning milk in the bottle and will try to skip it again tomorrow.  She's done so well with the transition this far that I think she'll off the bottle completely within a week or two. 

Sorry for the lack of photos...we lost power last night, and I still haven't pulled the Easter photos from my camera.  Hopefully tomorrow!

Hodgepodge

I've gotten off track with my 30 days of posts...and have some other stuff that I need to post about or I'll forget, so bear with all my randomness...

* Claire's 15 month appointment was last week and all is well.  She is still growing right along her 50th percentile curve, and she weighs in at 18 lbs 10 oz.  Of course she started crying before they even gave her the shots, but the rest of the appointment was spent charming all of the staff.  She is still solidly in her 6-9 months clothes, with a few 12 months.

* My computer at home is acting up.  It's 2 years old, gets used only for our book keeping, the internet and photos, and yet something bad is going on.  Some days it won't even start.  This weekend it took about 15 times of restarting and patching/repairing to get it going.  I'm in the process of transferring photos off it so that if it does crash I won't lose them.

* I have a super cute video of Claire blowing kisses that I've been trying to transfer to my computer so that I can post it.  But since my computer issues started when I tried to install the video camera software I've been hesitant to install the software at work.  Don't want to break the work computer, and they have most of the video sites blocked...

* We bought a brand new car a month ago.  I don't go into big decisions quickly and this has been in process for years.  I also can't make a decision...Anyway, that brand new car has been in the shop for 2 of the 4 weeks I've owned it.  To say I'm unhappy is an understatement! I have the car back, but the bluetooth still isn't working right.  It's not the end of the world, but I'm peeved that there is anything wrong with my brand new car.

* I went to an awesome Ds symposium this past Saturday and came away with some great tips for school and IEPs.   I still need to get my notes together for a post though...

* Claire has turned into a ham.  When you bring out the camera, this is what you get...

Day 15: Share a Bible Verse

I had a different post planned for tonight.  One about Claire's 15 month appointment, complete with a cute video, but my computer is not cooperating AT ALL.  So, I'll just continue with these posts until I can get the glitches figured out...

Day 15: Share a Bible Verse

I shared one of my favorite verses (Isaiah 41:10) the other day, but another verse has been running through my mind a lot lately. 


Paisley, being adopted by the Tam Family

 I follow many Reece's Rainbow families.  Adoption, especially of a child with Down syndrome, has been on my heart a lot lately.  These children have been abandoned, left behind simply because they have Down syndrome.  Because they are like Claire.  And that hurts my heart.  These children need and deserve families.

The international adoption journey is hard.  While I haven't done it myself, I've talked to other families, I've seen them frantically fundraising.  And I know that adoption is a journey of faith.  And until, or even if, I am able to join them on a similar journey, I will support these families as much as possible.


Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

Day 12, 13 and 14

So I didn't manage to blog everyday.  And this time I don't even have a good excuse like I didn't last time...


Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without

My phone.  Before my phone my answer would have been a book.  But my phone is able to be a phone, my calendar and a book all in one!  Our library has ebooks available for checkout, and now has an app so that I can read them on my phone.  This finally means that I will always have a book with me for those long waiting room visits at the doctors office.



Day 13: A photo that makes you laugh

We call this her hammy face. :)

Day 14: A website you love to visit

While facebook and babycenter are favorites, I'm going to have to go with Google Reader.  I don't know if this really counts as a website, but it is BY FAR the place where most of my online time is spent.  After Claire was born I found an amazing support group on babycenter, and from there met many moms who blog. 

Through these blogs I have friends all over the county.  Friends that I refer to by name on a regular basis, even though most of them I've never met.  Friends who celebrate with us, friends who understand my fears and friends who love Claire, just as I love their kids!

Day 10 and Day 11

Day 10: Something you're afraid of

It may sound trite, but I'm always afraid of losing those close to me.  After Brian's accident if anyone was more than a few minutes late getting home it just about sent me into a panic attack.  I knew in my head that more than likely everything was fine, but my heart was just scared.  These days I don't worry as much, but I'm still particular about checking in when people reach their destinations.

What I did learn from Brian's accident is to make sure you tell your friends and family that you love them, and what they mean to you.  Don't leave fights unfinished.  To this day I'm so grateful that my last words with Brian were "I love you.  See you tonight".



Day 11: TV shows that your currently addicted to

I won't call it addicted, but I do love reality TV.  I always watch Survivor and Amazing Race, but I've also been watching America's Next Great Restaurant and Top Shot.  I don't usually watch cooking shows, but Next Great Restaurant is interesting because everyone eats in fast casual restaurants (think Chipotle or Noodles) and I love seeing what concepts work with the investors. 

Top Shot is on History Channel and this is the second season.  It's hosted by Colby (of Survivor fame) and follows typical reality show format.  It starts with a team challenge, then moves to individual.  The contestents have challenges each week.  Some speed and accuracy, some just basic marksmanship.  The remainder of this season will be intesting as all of the contestants left have a military background.  The show is now casting for season 4.