Drums and more Drums

Over the holiday weekend Teresa and Edward were here. Other then the rain ruining our chances of going to the Zoo, it was a nice time. Ran around and did some stuff...used my PBK coupon and gift card for small child's Christmas ;)



On Monday, the rain finally went away and we were able to go to the Missouri Botanical Garden for the Japanese Festival. This is the second year we have gone. Those of you who know my husband know that he went to school in Japan for a while and quite enjoys the culture. I got to have my Buddah's Delight and Eric got his Curry. He talks about that Curry aaalllllll year. The Gardens were packed, but we were able to see the Ice Sculpting demo and the Drums. St. Louis has a Osuwa Taiko chapter and we were able to sit through about half of the performance. Alex is in love with the drums. The spent the whole time attentive and clapping. Imagine that...my son leaning toward percussion :) (I played percussion, while Eric played the trumpet.)








My last PT appointment is today, Friday, and I will be discharged. I am getting ready for the Just Between Friends sale next Friday and my cousin Jackie's wedding next Saturday. This next week will be quite busy! Eric and I did take a brief 'time out' last night and saw a movie and had Oberweise...wished Oberweise was a bit closer, but worth every penny!

Because Frankie Says Relax!

Last week was somewhat relaxing...we had an empty schedule due to PT being canceled because Peggy was sick. We managed to go out with some friends on Tuesday evening and I fed my Sephora addiction :) Eric worked on continuing babyproofing the stairs going up. We put up plastic sheeting between the spindles on the landing and a gate at the top. Basically, Alex can now be on the landing while we are around and play safely. I just felt badly putting him in the pack and play all the time when I needed to work upstairs. This way he has much more room and can be stretchie baby!

Still not quite crawling yet. He does this really cure inch worm thing where he gets his rear in the air and lunges forward. He LOVES being able to move around and pick different toys to play with. We did start him on a sippy cup, essentially for fine motor skills sake, and he has taken to it well. I think his biggest accomplishment in the last week is learning how to pet Gabby correctly. (Molly doesn't let him touch her) He gets all giggly when he has the oppertunity to pet Gabby and of course Gabby loves it. Her goal in life is to be petted.

Gymboree starts Wednesday. I scheduled a class right before Open Gym time, so we can do both. Although we won't do Open Gym this week. I am anxious to get Alex started, but I am not looking forward to the drive and cost. I wish there was one closer, but there is only one in the entire STL area. If I had the money, I would invest in a franchise!

Low Key

Another big PT breakthrough!!! Alex actually let Peggy work on him and do some stretching. He did get upset, but not for the whole time. He even smiled again at the end. At this point, we are looking at therpy until the end of year, maybe into '09. As long as he is making progress and isn't in pain, I am happy :)

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We had a low-key weekend this past one. Didn't do much, other then buy a couple of shelves to put up. Hopefully Eric will find time to put them up this week. My cousin Amy Agatucci got married to Ryan Gobble ( you can giggle, I did :) ) over the weekend in Springfield. Several of Grandpa's brothers and sisters were in the area, but we were unable to see them. Mom, Dad, and Grandpa did, however. I was under the weather last week. I thought it would be a sinus infection, but I never got full-blown sick. I just felt blah for a few days and had a runny nose. Basically, just a cold. Eric was nice and got Alex up and dressed Thursday-Saturday so I could get some extra sleep.

We have yet another beyond busy week. Eric has a meeting tomorrow night, I am going to Annunziata (where I used to work) Wednesday to drop some things off, Thursday Colleen and I are going to an event at the Purple Cow in South county, Friday I ahve a dr's appt., and Friday/Saturdayish we are heading to Jasper for 4 days to see some family!! Somewhere in there I need to start packing and ship a couple of Ebay items. For now, Alex is napping and I am watching Jeopardy.

I thought this was priceless. Alex scootchied himself over on his playmat and was peaking out between his chimes. He enjoyed being there, it didn't bother him a bit!

Wedded Bliss

since last I checked in, we have been bbuusssyyy!! Over the last weekend, we attended the wedding of my good friend Gail Baker and her new husband Bob Zwaska in The Haute. We went with Colleen McQuaid-Glattfelt and met her husband John there. We decided to make it an "adults only" weekend and left Alex with my folks. We had a great time and saw lots of people we haven't seen in a while. We even had square donuts!! The highlight was watching John almost take out a Little Old Lady while his picture was being taken.

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PT went fabulously this week. The therapist said Alex really made a big breakthrough. He didn't scream that much and he actually smiled at Peggy! She did caution that this isn't the end of his road, more like the beginning. She thinks he is ready for the next "level".

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Cats went to the vet this past week and all is well. They told us Gabby was fat, so nothing new there :) Speaking of kitties, I need to run. Molly is trying to step on the keyboard to get my attention and I believe it is working.

Busy Folks!

Wow, what a busy week so far!! PT and errands Monday, cleaning today, Vet tomorrow, AND going out of town Friday. I am preparing for my folks to come this weekend and watch Alex, while Eric, Colleen, and I go to Terre Haute for the wedding of our friend Gail Baker. I decided to leave Alex at home, since this will probably be the only oppertunity my parents will have to babysit. I cannot lie, I am looking forward to being a away for a bit, even if it is just Terre Haute.

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on a PT note, Alex actually made the therapist cry on Monday. He just doesn't want to give control of his body to her. It is working well, he is becoming more flexible in his neck/trunk muscles.

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I become an Ebay seller in the last week. I have always been an avid buyer, but I needed some extra holiday $$, so I am selling clothes. My screen name is Sarahmag79 if anyone wants to check out my clothing offerings. There will be more up some time next week.

PT Update

First off, I would like to wish everyone a 'Happy Fall' Fall has officially hit here in the STL, nice cool temps and cool rain.

Alex had a bit of trouble this week with PT. Last week, he pulled a small muscle in his neck and it started bothering him Thursday night/Friday. Peggy worked with him an hour yesterday and couldn't get his body to "give in" and let her work well. She said he is one of the worst cases she has seen of this problem. Depending on how this week goes, he might be going twice a week starting next week. The more this goes on, the more irritated I get with the hospital where I delivered. As of now, I am not going back there to have subsequent children. I had the choice between there and St. Johns and I think I will go to St. Johns next time.

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On a more productive note, we have started some minor remodeling on our house. We took the carpet off of the hallway stairs because I cannot keep it clean/fur free and I have almost fallen down them twice with Alex. When taking up the carpet, we found two flat razor blades and 3 broken stairs. Not 100% sure what we will put on the stairs. I had found a stone laminent that I liked, but Eric doesn't like it. We need to decide soon!! The whole house, sans kitchen and bathrooms, is done in the same nasty dark grey carpet (the rest is done in nasty grey tile!). It was three years old when Eric bought the house, so that makes it 7 years old now. I want most of it gone. We decided that over Christmas break we will replace the dining room carpet and office carpet with snap-together laminent. I really want hard wood, but it is double the price!! This will suffice for now. As soon as I download the pics from the camera, I will post some of the stair ripping!

PT Monday

Alex had PT later then usual on Monday, due to a new OT joining the facility. This allowed Eric to go with us! Alex is making lots of progress. He is much looser in shoulders, neck, and back. He can turn his head from side to side, but still has a bit of a hangup on the one side. We keep working with him and try to make sure he is using his muscles.

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Sunday we went home to see my folks and go to the St. Agnes Chicken Dinner. Mom surprised us and switched with a gal at the hospital, so she didn't have to work. Afterward, we went down and watched some golf with Grandpa. It was nice just to spend a bit of "unstructured" time with the family.

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Thursday is Alex's four month check-up. I am anxious to see how many inches he has grown since his two month. He is becoming more "torso-y"

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Last bit, ( I know, I should have posted Sunday night! :') ) We ask for prayers for a little girl we know. Willamina Clayton, who just turned a year old, had a liver transplant on the 20th. So far she is doing well. They have moved her out of ICU and is now on the Immune Suppressed Floor of Children's Hospital. Please pray for her continued recovery and for her parents Will and Katie.

Round Two

Today was round two of physical therapy. Alex started crying the moment he saw the therapist and didn't stop crying until he was in his carseat ready to go home! He was much looser this week, then previously, but still really tight in his shoulders/neck area. He has two more scheduled PT visits, but I have a feeling they will spill over into October.

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It has been a "trying" few days here for me. A dear nun friend/professor/choir director died on Saturday of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. She had not been sick too long and last I had heard was responding well to the chemo. The husband of my father's cousin Dorothy also passed away over the weekend. (such a close family, I had to read it in the newspaper and call my Dad because nobody told him!). AND to top it off, a priest with whom I know well and his family are friends of my folks had a quite public arrest for cocaine possesion and has bought himself a subsequent rehab stint for a cocaine addiction.
To be a bit cliche, when it rains it DOES pour!

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Wednesday I have an Ideal Image appointment and am meeting Colleen for a "night off" and to do a bit of shopping at the Galleria in Richmond Heights. Other then that, it is a fairly open week!

Surviving PT

Alex survived his first day of PT. The gal did his eval and determined it wasn't just his neck that was the trouble. It was his back, hips, shoulders, and jaw that are all out of line. I was glad to see he has muscle range of motion in his neck, so nothing in physically wrong with the muscles. He basically is "out of whack" and needs to be realigned. Poor guy wailed the whole time while the gal worked on his muscles. She basically did a lot of massage and relaxing techniques all over his body. We have bought ourselves at least a month in PT, maybe longer. I'm just relieved there is not an injury to his neck muscles. This is all reversible.

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Tomorrow I am off to lunch and the Galleria with some friends!!

PT

Not a whole lot has been going on this week. Alex will start physical therapy on his neck on Monday. He can only turn his head one way and there was concern that his neck muscles are not working properly. Consequently, he also has a flat spot on his head. He tried to come out sideways, so I'm not surprised there was stress on the muscles. We are going through Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, they have an out patient PT center in Hazelwood, about 15 minutes from our house.

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Eric has been working crazy overtime last week and will continue this week. He was approved for 80 additional hours in two weeks, on top of his regular 80. He most likely won't get in 80 additional hours, (that would mean 16 hour days!!), but he will get some extra time in. In fact, he has worked a good chunk of today, Saturday, and I'm sure he'll put in some hours tomorrow.