My Dad has almost been in the hospital a week. The doctors did a second CT scan and it showed that the blood clot/bleed in his brain is receeding. Last night was his first good night since being in the hospital. All other nights he either missed a pain med or he did something silly like sneeze and it would take him most of the day to get his pain level back to a 7 out of 10.
If things continue to progress he will be discharged from the hospital in Sudbury on Wednesday.
He will be at home for a few months recovering. He isn't allowed to drive for atleast a month. He is fortunate that another man was around to see it happen and call for medical help right away. My dad delivers to grocery stores at night and where his accident happened was in a dark parkinglot and nobody would have found him until morning.
So please continue to pray for him and the long road of recovery that he has ahead of him.
(Jay I took the password feature off the comments so hopefully you can get it to work now)
J's eating has been SO much better this past week. I guess he realised that I am just going to keep giving him stuff. He still won't eat a vegetable that is cut up in little chunks and put in front of him, but I did discover that he will eat baby food vegetables from a jar. I keep hiding puree veggies in his yogurt and applesauce. But I'd like him to get to the point where he will pick up a vegetable and eat it. I'd like to not always have to hide them. Tonight at supper he willingly ate some corn. I fed some frozen kernals to him first and then he ate some cooked ones. His fruit is expanding as well. He will now eat kiwi, mango & plum. Hopefully he realises that I am just going to keep serving him so he might aswell give them a try and learn to love them :)
CO on the other hand has had a bit of a rougher week. I think having my dad in the hospital, us camping out at my mom's during the day due to the bathroom renovated and no longer being an only child is all part of it. I've been SO busy with camp plans, trying to stay on top of messes and looking after J that a lot of our routine has just gone out the window. We seem to be in survive mode these days rather that thrive mode...so I am going to try to put J on a more solid schedule and have him go down for his morning nap around 10:30 and then CO and I can do some special stuff together until lunch and CO will then have his nap around 1:00. If I am lucky they will overlap thier naps by an hour so I can have some peace, but then J wakes up and we are able to do some stuff together until CO gets up.
well I need to go...my blessing, CO, is requiring my attention and a neighbour is on his way over to see if he can put up the sunshade on the front deck.
Monday, May 30, 2011
our 2010/2011 school year
We did 'school' of sorts this year. If you count reading books and doing activities/crafts/skits about the books as school. That is exactly what we did. I followed (some moments/books more loosely than others) both Sonlight's 3/4 program and BFIAR (before five in a row).
CO has LOVED many of the stories we came across from both of the curriculums. Above are some of his favorites from BFIAR and below are some of our favorites from Sonlight.
with the Sonlight many of the books I put up are collections of many books in one...he loved SO many of the stories in them. Normally I am not one that likes these types of books, I prefer having them separate as I feel it is nicer to hold while reading and also then all of the artwork is included in the story....but at the same time I loved most of the stories we read, CO was able to learn about the index and how to find out what page the story we were looking for was on. CO has totally loved the fairy tales he has been exposed to. It is very obvious when I hear so much of them in his everyday play.
So even if you aren't interested in homeschooling, I suggest picking up some of these books to add to your personal libraries...they are great investments and you too will love reading them over and over again
Thursday, May 26, 2011
update on my dad...
Update via my mother's email: Thursday evening
When I arrived at the hospital this morning he was in excruciating pain. The nurse reported that he had missed pain meds during the night. With good nursing care by his private duty nurse we were able to get his pain level under control and he slept most of the day. Hospitals are very noisy places so I was able to put a fan beside his bed that helped drown our all the surrounding noises and this helped him sleep better. This evening after supper he got up and we walked all 3 wings of his floor. By the end he was really tired and a bit dizzy which is understandable.
The nurses have assured me that his Doctor will be here about 8 am tomorrow so hopefully I will get and idea of what is ahead and be able to make some plans.
~Barb
*************************
please keep praying...it seems his pain is worse...we are waiting for results to find out if the bleeding in his brain is worse or not...
When I arrived at the hospital this morning he was in excruciating pain. The nurse reported that he had missed pain meds during the night. With good nursing care by his private duty nurse we were able to get his pain level under control and he slept most of the day. Hospitals are very noisy places so I was able to put a fan beside his bed that helped drown our all the surrounding noises and this helped him sleep better. This evening after supper he got up and we walked all 3 wings of his floor. By the end he was really tired and a bit dizzy which is understandable.
The nurses have assured me that his Doctor will be here about 8 am tomorrow so hopefully I will get and idea of what is ahead and be able to make some plans.
~Barb
*************************
please keep praying...it seems his pain is worse...we are waiting for results to find out if the bleeding in his brain is worse or not...
adventures in feeding J
CO is a fantastic eater! There are less than 5 things that I can think of that he won't eat.
J...is NOT a great eater! I can only think of 5 things he will happily eat every time they are served to him (ok some exaggeration!)...he will eat bananas, apples, grapes, oranges, cheese & yogurt happily. Some days he will eat pears, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, oatmeal, raisins, kiwi & egg (hard boiled). I have succeeded in getting him to eat peas twice and that was only like 10 each time. He ate about 20 kernels of cooked corn once. He won't touch tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beans (green or kidney), blueberries, carrots, sweet potato, watermelon, honeydew, cucumber, cantaloupe and many of the other millions (once again some exaggeration) of things I have handed him. Monday on the way home from my parent's trailer I stopped at the grocery store to grab some jars of baby food veggies (his last FM said that he didn't like toddler baby food...so I was thinking she didn't feed him any jar food). He ate two bites of peas and that was it. He happily opened his mouth for the carrots and for the carrots that I mixed the peas into). He has issues if his puree has chunks in it but he is getting better. At first if I gave him yogurt and there were fruit chunks in it he would spit out the chunk and get mad. I have successfully managed to hide mashed avocado in his yogurt if I make sure it is all of the same consistency about 6 times...
I can't believe how picky this baby is. He has a very quick 'spit out' reflex! But the funny thing is that he eats chunks of things...you just can't mix them with a puree and you just have to guess which thing he is willing to eat at which moment. And if he spies something that he loves (like an orange) he will refuse to eat anything else (even if it is something I know he likes) but the desired item. Which makes having a fruit bowl out on my table a pain.
We are making progress I think. I just keep offering him bits of lots of things and some days he will eat them...other days he just throws them on the floor (very annoying habit that needs to be stopped). I have to not let it frustrate me...especially when I am offering him something he happily ate the day before and he is refusing to eat it. This morning he ate two bites of his banana and then refused to eat any more which was odd because it is one of his ALWAYS will eat items. But then later at the grocery store, on the way out he spied the bananas in the bin so I opened one for him and gave him half and he gobbled it right down....silly boy. I will be happy when he is handed a vegetable and willingly picks it up and eats it....that is my goal!
In the mean time I realise how blessed I am with CO's eating...he eats spicy, onions, practically anything!
J...is NOT a great eater! I can only think of 5 things he will happily eat every time they are served to him (ok some exaggeration!)...he will eat bananas, apples, grapes, oranges, cheese & yogurt happily. Some days he will eat pears, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, oatmeal, raisins, kiwi & egg (hard boiled). I have succeeded in getting him to eat peas twice and that was only like 10 each time. He ate about 20 kernels of cooked corn once. He won't touch tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beans (green or kidney), blueberries, carrots, sweet potato, watermelon, honeydew, cucumber, cantaloupe and many of the other millions (once again some exaggeration) of things I have handed him. Monday on the way home from my parent's trailer I stopped at the grocery store to grab some jars of baby food veggies (his last FM said that he didn't like toddler baby food...so I was thinking she didn't feed him any jar food). He ate two bites of peas and that was it. He happily opened his mouth for the carrots and for the carrots that I mixed the peas into). He has issues if his puree has chunks in it but he is getting better. At first if I gave him yogurt and there were fruit chunks in it he would spit out the chunk and get mad. I have successfully managed to hide mashed avocado in his yogurt if I make sure it is all of the same consistency about 6 times...
I can't believe how picky this baby is. He has a very quick 'spit out' reflex! But the funny thing is that he eats chunks of things...you just can't mix them with a puree and you just have to guess which thing he is willing to eat at which moment. And if he spies something that he loves (like an orange) he will refuse to eat anything else (even if it is something I know he likes) but the desired item. Which makes having a fruit bowl out on my table a pain.
We are making progress I think. I just keep offering him bits of lots of things and some days he will eat them...other days he just throws them on the floor (very annoying habit that needs to be stopped). I have to not let it frustrate me...especially when I am offering him something he happily ate the day before and he is refusing to eat it. This morning he ate two bites of his banana and then refused to eat any more which was odd because it is one of his ALWAYS will eat items. But then later at the grocery store, on the way out he spied the bananas in the bin so I opened one for him and gave him half and he gobbled it right down....silly boy. I will be happy when he is handed a vegetable and willingly picks it up and eats it....that is my goal!
In the mean time I realise how blessed I am with CO's eating...he eats spicy, onions, practically anything!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
please pray
***update*** the nurse thinks he will be in the hospital a minimum of 3 days
my dad is in the hospital with a head injury...please pray
my dad is in the hospital with a head injury...please pray
Friday, May 13, 2011
and then we were three....
CO & I are unofficially a family of three!! These past three weeks we have been spending a lot of time getting to know a little boy and having him get to know us. On Monday he will be officially moved in with us. His name is J and he is almost 15 months old. He is tied up in the system so he will be living with us as a foster child. There is NO guarantee that he will become legally a member of our family. The CAS has put in a petition to make him a crown ward and any bio family has 30 days to appeal. If he becomes a crown ward I can put in a petition to adopt him. My foster parent certification is 'foster', 'foster with a view' (to adopt) and 'respite' (mon-fri). Due to the fact that I am licenced as a 'foster with a view', I was approached to see if I would take him with the understanding that I'd apply to adopt him if such an opportunity arose. He is currently in a foster home (he has been there since he was 8 months) and that home is wanting to close ASAP for reasons of their own.
He is a smart, tiny little boy. He is scheduled for surgery for next month but other than this surgery he is healthy. He has blond hair and blue eyes. He seems to be a happy, quiet boy. CO is enjoying having another little one around. He needs to work on being 'gentle' and to stop trying to carry J to where he wants to play with him. It isn't easy to adjust to being a sibling after being an only child for 3 1/2 years but we are working on it and I'm working on having him 'help' to look after J. On the most part he hasn't shown signs of being jealous, he is just torn between being a 'baby' and being a 'big boy'. He wants to use the highchair, and he is desperate for a bottle :) He stopped having a bottle shortly after he turned 2 and he very much 'mourned' the loss of it. After he stopped getting a bottle, he'd often take a swig from other baby's bottles if he ever got a chance :)
Every time he declares that he wants to be a baby, I remind him all the special things he gets to do because he is a 'big boy' that the 'baby' (J) can't do.
He is a smart, tiny little boy. He is scheduled for surgery for next month but other than this surgery he is healthy. He has blond hair and blue eyes. He seems to be a happy, quiet boy. CO is enjoying having another little one around. He needs to work on being 'gentle' and to stop trying to carry J to where he wants to play with him. It isn't easy to adjust to being a sibling after being an only child for 3 1/2 years but we are working on it and I'm working on having him 'help' to look after J. On the most part he hasn't shown signs of being jealous, he is just torn between being a 'baby' and being a 'big boy'. He wants to use the highchair, and he is desperate for a bottle :) He stopped having a bottle shortly after he turned 2 and he very much 'mourned' the loss of it. After he stopped getting a bottle, he'd often take a swig from other baby's bottles if he ever got a chance :)
Every time he declares that he wants to be a baby, I remind him all the special things he gets to do because he is a 'big boy' that the 'baby' (J) can't do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)