OCTOBER 2016

October sure was a busy month!  After all the hard work and planning for Jay's party was over, the rest of the month was spent going to appointments for Talen.  On the 18th, Talen had another x-ray (bone age) done in preparation for his appointment with Dr. Murray (endocronologist).  We met with Dr. Murray on the 19th.  She said that he has grown a lot since his last appointment, but his bone age is only around a 12-13 yr old.  She recommended we increase his estrogen to 4 pills a day for the next 6 months, and re-evaluate (and hopefully get him of the estrogen) at the next appointment.  Not really what we wanted to hear, but it sure sounds like we are getting closer to the end, so that's good.  Talen also had two appointments up north at the end of the month.  The first one was at Primary's with Dr. Such-Neibar.  She said that his stiffness is about the same as last time, so it was hard to tell if the botox was helping or not.  But, because he is on the estrogen, no increase leads us to believe that it probably is, so we decided to give him more botox in his legs again.  He hated it and cried, but as soon as the shots were done, he was fine.  The next appointment was at Shriners to adjust Talen's wheelchair.  I just love those guys! They are so good at what they do and they take the time to make sure that it fits him just as good as it possibly can.  They also said that sometime in the next four-six months, we will probably need to come back for re-adjustment and possibly order a new wheelchair because of the growth caused by the estrogen.  That pretty much sums up October!!

Halloween

Kennedy has gotten to be old enough that she only dressed up for the Ward Trunk or Treat and skipped out on regular Trick or Treating.  We tried to talk her into staying home and handing out candy, but apparently hanging out with friends on Halloween is now the cool thing to do.  So we left Talen home with Holly (to get his bath) while Jay and I took Carter (our cute little elephant) and Daxton (Hulk) around the neighborhood.  We only made it to the two closest cul-de-sacs before Dax had to pee and they both decided they had had enough of knocking on doors.  Dax loved being able to open the door and see all the trick-or-treaters at our house.  And Carter took every distraction to dig into his bucket - I think 90% of his candy was gone before bedtime! 

Kennedy plays volleyball

We signed Kennedy up for volleyball at the Rec Center again.  I think she has finally found a sport that she really wants to pursue (I'm not going to lie, I'm sure glad its volleyball!!).  Her team didn't have the best record, but she sure is getting better each time she plays!  Yay KiKi!

Daxton plays basketball

I signed Daxton up for the Rec Center Basketball league.  It was basically 30 minutes of going over basketball skills then 15 minutes of game play.  I'm not sure if he learned much, but he sure had lots of fun!  Dribbling is definitely a technique that we need to work on, but he loved every minute of being out on the court and the center of attention!  Look at that cute little basketball player!!

Daxton's Halloween Parade

Because I was up north with Talen at his appointment, I missed being able to see Daxton at his Kindergarten Halloween parade.  So, I made Cathy take lots of pictures for me!  What a ferocious Hulk!!

Talen's first Field Trip & Bus Ride

Talen officially went on his first field trip today.  We met his special needs class at the new "All Abilities Park."  It was fun to let him do things that he hasn't ever been able to do before like swing, zip line, and teeter totter.  We had fun looking for and finding his handprint from the previous year.  It was right at the entrance on the right hand side.  (RES means Riverside Elementary School)  I had Cathy bring Carter too!  So Talen and Carter were able to be in the swings next to each other for the first time ever!  We even took a ride in the train.  Talen wasn't too sure about it at first (the speaker was a bit loud), but he eventually calmed down.  I wouldn't say that he liked it, but he didn't cry so I guess he didn't hate it either.  But, the biggest event of the day was the ride back to the school.  I let him ride the bus!  Even though I followed it all the way back to the school, I was still so nervous about putting him on it.  But, Pat reassured me that he had a blast and giggled the entire time.  So happy to see my sweet boy being able to do things that he has never been able to do before!  Love that boy!!    

Riding the zip line

Dax reading to Talen

One of my favorite things in the whole world is seeing my kids show love to their sweet brother!  Dax has been practicing reading and what better audience than to read to Talen?!  This just makes my heart happy!