We had a wonderful Spring Break and Easter this past week, despite all four of us getting a cold!  We were able to take a trip to a beautiful hotel on the Chesapeake Bay for two nights.  We ate, drank, enjoyed the views, played mini-golf, threw shells into the bay, roasted s’mores, napped and swam in the indoor pool.Ben, just this month, has finally learned to swim!  We are so excited!  He has worn some sort of floatation device until now, but Dave and I were determined that he would know how to swim by this summer.  And after private swim lessons all winter, he does!  Our first goal was simple… for him to be able to not drown.  The doggy paddle was good enough for me!  But, after seeing his growth this winter, I think I may have set my expectations too low!  Go Ben, go!

Kelsey surprised us a lot this past week and month too.  The new glasses prescription and occlusion tape (inner corners of her glasses to prevent double vision) seem to be making a positive difference in her mood.  I have been loosely doing vision exercises with her but at her current level of development, that is kind of difficult.  Food seems to be her biggest motivator in all things therapy, so we use that for a lot!  Snacks are our friend.  We use Gerber Puffs to cruise the coffee table, Cheerios to learn to sign “more,” and Veggie Sticks to track and follow with her eyes.  Whatever it takes, right!?!

Around the same time as our appointment with the developmental optometrist, I also stopped giving Kelsey Miralax for her constipation.  I’m a bit ashamed to admit that she was taking it pretty consistently since she turned one.  Around the time she fully started eating solids, she became chronically constipated.  With her doctor’s continued blessing, I’d give her the Miralax (a very small dose) everyday.  Well, without sharing too much information, apparently Miralax can do funny things to your body besides it’s intended purpose.  I tried it myself to see what it was like and was often suffering from some abdominal pain.  Besides that clear reason to stop, even though it helped her, I didn’t love that she was taking it…despite her pediatrician’s approval.  So, I decided to try prune juice again even though it failed to help her months ago.  Well, it worked this time and she’s been able to maintain her regularity without Miralax!  If you’re keeping up, the new doctor, the new glasses, the vision therapy, and no more Miralax all came around the same time.  Not to mention the fact that the temperatures have started rise and we’ve been able to get outside more.  I’m not sure what, exactly, has improved her mood.  A combination of all of those things?  Just the vision improvements?  Just the lack of Miralax in her system?  Whatever the case, I’m begging the universe to let it continue, despite the fact that I just “put it out there.”

I’ve been keeping my trap shut about her mood improvement until now because it seems whenever I celebrate a change, it stops.  I’m sure other parents can relate.  “He finally slept through the night!!”  Not any more.  “She’s taking longer naps!”  Haha!  Yeah, right!  I’m definitely superstitious when it comes to sharing something I’ve been wishing for…especially when it comes to the kids.  So let me take a minute to KNOCK ON WOOD!!!  So our trip was great even though Ben and Dave had a cold.  Kelsey’s mood was wonderful and she was enjoyable to have around again, and it was time for Easter!  Annnnnnd, guess who woke up sick just in time to see what the Easter Bunny brought?  Yep, Kelsey had a full-blown cold on Easter morning.  Things didn’t seem positive when I had to wake her from a deep sleep to go to church, not when she woke up after a very short afternoon nap, nor when she was so cranky and tired that she had to take a third nap right before the family arrived for dinner.  But, my prayers were answered!  Kelsey has not made a family gathering enjoyable for her father or I in about a year.  I had prayed that she would be as happy as she has been at home from at least 4-6pm.  And she was!  She played a little, observed the egg hunt, ATE DINNER WITH THE FAMILY (this hasn’t happened…ever?!?), and even participated in the gift opening and dessert.  It turned out much better than any gathering we’ve had in a long, long time.  Dave and I were/are so happy!  Hopefully there are more in our future.

It was was a great week, but for now, it’s back to our reality.  Tomorrow, we are heading to Johns Hopkins so Kelsey can have an EEG.  While Kelsey’s mood has improved with all these changes, her little startles have gotten worse.  I mentioned these little jerks Kelsey is experiencing before on the blog here.  Two doctors have told us not to worry, but my gut is telling me to get another opinion.  We decided to worry when a spasm or two caused Kelsey to lose balance and fall down.  And some times when she’s really tired, the little jerks cause her to cry.  So we are going to see a neurologist tomorrow.  Hopefully she will be able to explain these and calm our fears.  If you’re the praying type and could pray for us, I’d be so grateful.  If not, and you could cross your fingers or do a little dance, that’d be great too.  It all works or we wouldn’t be where we are today!

Sorry this post was all over the place.  Our life is a daily roller coaster of emotions.  I’m so happy to report that we have been “up” a lot more lately.  Hoping this trip tomorrow to the hospital doesn’t bring us too far “down.”