Snow Day...?

For the last two days we have been hearing about the winter storm that is headed our way. Yesterday schools let out at 1:30 (we just happened to turn the tv on at 1:15, or Justin might have had a long wait to be picked up) and are on a 2 hour delay this morning. There is no snow to speak of on the ground, just a few flurries in the sky. I would say it sounds more like my parents area of NC, but they probably would have been canceled for the week with the first prediction of snow. It was nice to let the boys sleep in a bit this morning and not be so rushed, so I'm not complaining, and neither are they (case in point, sleep is a good thing in this house!). I was on the blog when they woke up, getting ready to post, but they decided they wanted to look through some pictures. Justin did a good job reading all of the captions - it is amazing how quickly he has mastered reading and can tackle words that are beyond a kindergarden level. He has also learned to tie shoes, which he is proud of.

On to Gabe's progress. He continues to do well with the cup, and we are trying to get him to take it without any vanilla pudding to flavor it. Can you say spoiled? He does pretty well when he is hungry taking just the formula, but after a couple of ounces he gets finicky. We discussed getting pure vanilla - without the alcohol - to give him the flavor he has decided he likes but without all of the sugar. Since he only takes about half the volume of milk/formula he did before, we are stepping up the fortifying to increase the calories (quality over quantity is the goal right now). Ginger (OT) was pleased with how well he is doing with feeding, but he was a bit grumpy during their actual session yesterday. He complained to Karen on Monday during PT as well, so we aren't sure what that is all about. We are particularly working on keeping his hands uncurled and reintroducing textures - he was doing pretty well with textures before he got sick but is having issues with them now. He had mac-n-cheese in his mesh feeder the other night, and that went well. I sometimes wonder if he wasn't getting more milk down the tube than he could really handle. Although the projectile reflux had all but disappeared, we suspected that he was still refluxing on a regular basis. He was a very restless sleeper at night and a catnapper during the day. He has been sleeping very well and taking two longer naps during the day since we have taken the oral approach. He doesn't fuss so much when he is laying down and doesn't seem to need his pacifier so much. Ginger mentioned that the pacifier helps with the reflux and babies will really go after it in attempt to settle the reflux. His ears are also improving. He still has fluid, but is passing his hearing screen now. We are going to worry less about numbers (volume) and focus more on how Gabe seems to be doing. We still put some pedialyte down the tube for hydration and electrolyte balance and we do put whatever milk he doesn't take in the cup at bedtime down the tube, but other than that it's all oral.

Justin is waiting impatiently for his turn on the computer - so that is it for now.