Counting Down Until Lazy Summer Days!

Just a few more weeks left of school. The girls are looking forward to staying up and sleeping in late. We are hoping to keep them busy with swimming lessons and guitar lessons during the Summer.  Certainty they will hangout with their friends a lot.  Big sis and I want to start jogging together a couple times a week in the early hours before it gets hot. As a family, we would love to explore new fun outdoor places and take many trips to the parks.
Mechanical Baby Simulator Teen Living Assignment

Over a weekend for a teen living class, big sister brought home a mechanical baby doll. As you can see in the left bottom photo, she wasn't thrilled since she was rolling her eyes... She was graded on how well she handled her baby (burping, changing, feeding, rocking, head support, etc). No surprise she didn't get much sleep and was terrified to go in public with him because he was very fussy.  Not only did she put up with him crying a lot during the night, she also was woken up by her real baby brother too. After completing her assignment, she admitted to me that she prefers her real baby brother over the doll any day because the doll was very difficult (like the newborn stage, lol)!  I'm glad she got a reality check on what it's like to have a baby and hopefully she learned that parenthood is not easy at all!
End of the Year Concert 

Big Sister had her last choir concert on May 14, 2014, which was held at the high school on the football field.  While preforming on stage at the junior high on Tuesday May 13, 2014, Big sister fell down while doing an interactive dance and choir number on stage. She was very embarrassed and luckily didn't get hurt.
Playing at the neighborhood Park and Miller Park

We have been enjoying the warmer weather and taking trips to the parks! Baby brother loves being outdoors!  We love taking walks, playing sports (tossing a football and basketball), and checking out new parks. We live by two parks that are minutes away from our house. We look forward to finding other neat parks near the area that we haven't been before.
Miller Park (American Fork)

Yikes, He is Eleven Months Old

Milestones:  Life has not been easy adjusting to little brother's medical problems this past year, but I'm grateful we got through it. At this point, I am hopeful that he will be stable. He still has some catching up to do developmentally!  After his surgery, he finally started babbling more since he couldn't move around much.  He loves to clap and say "bababababa", "mmmmm", and "ma ma"! I was nearly in tears when I first heard him say "ma ma"! As for feeding, he can finally drink well through a straw and cup. I recently started him on some chopped bananas, mandarin oranges,  peas, and baby cookies since he is very sensitive to different textures.  He still eats a lot of stage 2 foods. He is very reluctant to try new foods and and hopefully get used to new textures without gagging and throwing up.  A few weeks ago, his GI doctor increased his calories and volume by adding Boost Essentials in his diet because he wasn't gaining enough weight. He didn't tolerate the new diet plan very well due to throwing up and feeling full all the time. We are still figuring out a great solution that will help him gain weight with no adverse effects. In the meantime, we may need to accept the fact that he will gain weight slowly instead of making him uncomfortable with excessive tube feedings and a lot of Boost Essentials. I think a gradual increase would make a difference. Thankfully he has so many people supporting him (dietitian, pediatrician, and OT feeding therapist).  As for gross motor skills, he can properly get in and out of sitting position and is starting to pull himself up to stand. He still isn't crawling or walking yet. In due time once he figures out how to crawl or walk, he will be very actively moving around thanks to his physical therapist and his childhood developmental specialist from Kids on the Move helping him achieve developmental goals! He is definitely as his shirt says my "First Place Champ"! I admire his strength!