A couple days off because of a cold.

I had written a post to go with the painting pic but had done it on my phone... and clearly it didn't save it. So here it goes again.

The small benefit to Ian being sick these days is time home alone together. Hence the painting picture. We had two mornings with no school or therapy. He was (and still is) wheezing and coughing of course, but it was still quality time. With Lila in school for the mornings we were able to play with his train set, read a ton of books and paint. He wasn't as into painting as he's been in the past, but we still had fun with it. And that one will make it up on the wall in our dining room/living room with all of Lila's creations. Fun to add his.

We'll see how this cough goes. It seems to be running it's course but not as severely as usual but the cough and wheezing still lingers. Maybe it's the new supplements. I just hope it doesn't get worse like it did a few months ago. Maybe we'll be lucky and it will just run a short course like the last one did (right after he got his MRI). I really want to try to nip these things naturally if possible.

On another note, he's been really into the shape sorters lately. While he's not yet to the point he can take all of the shapes and clearly identify them to find the correct hole, he can do this with his favorite shape, the triangle. With the triangle, he will actually turn over the drum shaped wooden sorter, find it and slip it in. It seems once he's figured it out a few times in a row, he can go back to it. He was also doing this with the star from another little bird house style sorter. I've been working on getting there with the other shapes as well but he's not there yet.

Another really cool thing is he's started playing with a couple more toys which require him to place an object on a "track". I've kind of cleaned up the toys, cut the amount at least in half, and hidden most of the electronic ones (because he just ends up pressing the same buttons over and over, not doing much for his brain). I cleared his train table, which Daddy had started a few weeks ago, and just left one item per side. There's a little wooden stacked car track with basic color wood block cars. He's been getting those going quite often. The interesting things is that we also have a plastic one with a similar idea that's much more dynamic and he's only interested in pressing the buttons on the bottom that make the noise. We also have a simple small wooden ramp that he can place wooden duckies on and make them walk down. This one is a little more tricky because it falls over easy but he still keeps trying. When he gets it, it makes him giggle like crazy. And I did leave one piece of the track out with a couple simple trains. He's not so into these yet.

We are finally working towards getting rid of the Gtube. Scary, but I believe it's time. Scary because if he decides he no longer enjoys his meds mixed in apple sauce, along with his sometimes stinky (if he's sick on Olive Leaf) supplements, I'm up a creek without a paddle. But as long as he yummies it up, as he's been doing the last couple days, we are set. I'll consult with our ped but we'll probably wait at least a couple weeks before pulling it.

I've been getting a bit nervous about keeping it as I've heard some kids need to have the hole surgically closed up if they have it too long. And it makes sense to me because it seems like it's similar to an earring hole at this point. But according to the docs, if we pull it out within the next year or two, it should just close up on it's own. And it just seems as if he's just too aware to use it now. He's so used to it that he's not fased by me giving them via the tube but I still think it's time. I'll just have to make sure they are more on top of things if we find ourselves in the hospital again. They always seem to end up with a freaky schedule for the different meds because they can't get this one or that soon enough so he gets them in the middle of the night. Won't be happening like that through the mouth.