Archives for March 2007

Last Gymboree Baby Signs Class

Today was his last day at the baby sign language class. We’ve learned how to sign things to Nathan like, milk, cereal, all done, more, diapers. We hope one day he will be able to use these signs to help us understand his needs.

We signed him up for swim classes today, he’s going to start next Monday, we are excited about that. We’ve heard it can really help children with cerebral palsy as it helps them strengthen core muscles.

Other than that, he’s doing great. There are a lot of people in and out of our house nowadays and he loves it. Everybody hangs out with him so he’s getting stimulation from lots of people every single day.

Thank you for your dedication if you are reading this 🙂 And for your support of course.

The class was lovely and we really reccommend it to other parents!

Hello

Well I’m trying to post as often as possible. I’m awful at scrapbooking, playing with photos, etc. So I figure this will be Nathan’s scrapbook. This I can do. So I will be posting short updates, pictures, and videos often.

Today was just another day. It was very cold and rainy so we couldn’t take him outside much, but he did get to go shopping with his dad.

Just chilling with Pati.

This is when he’s supposed to already be in bed.

Nathan is doing wonderful!

The last week has been fantastic. Nathan has been doing so well, he’s been happier than ever and just full of sunshine.

We are saying a lot of progress also in his head control and trunk muscles – he’s doing a bit better at holding up his head and his trunk. Of course it’s tiny baby steps but everything counts, right!

He enjoyed his “Baby Signs” class at Gymboree last week:



We also discovered he loves going jogging with us in his super stroller, so we’ve been doing that every afternoon with him.

Otherwise…it’s just life as normal..with lots of smiles from Mr. Smiley.

Joshua Tree Weekend

We took Nathan with us to Joshua Tree desert this weekend, to a meditation retreat, and it was lovely! We all had a great time.

Nathan got to see the desert, the Joshua trees, and lots of friends. He slept a lot as he was still recovering from being sick, but he did enjoy hanging out and was happy for the most part.

We added to albums to the pictures page, so if you want to see pics, click here


Watching the desert sunset


Dad it’s too windy!


With Dharma godfather Joe and Lisa


Buddha Tsonghkapa and sons


With namesake Dorje and Buddha Shakyamuni


Happy to be home in my own crib

Doing a little bit better

We took Nathan to the pediatrician today and he seems to be doing a little bit better. She thinks he might have SSV – some stupid virus 🙂 Her other thought is he might have mono, from the EEB virus. She gave him another shot of antibiotics just in case.

He was feeling a little bit better today and laughing a cooing more. The great thing is Dr. Feldman is doing her best to keep him out of the hospital, as every time he goes to the hospital he is exposed to so much stuff there.

I’ll keep posting updates. Thanks!

Ooops..we dropped him in his car seat!

And he didn’t even move. Just kidding we moved the car seat as he startles on his back so we put him on his side.

The pouty lip. Still not feeling great.

Aaannd…and the smily face. Feeling a bit better 🙂

Nathan’s not well

So Nathan woke up today with a fever again, so we had to take him to the pediatrician. He was running fevers and just not doing well.

He was tested for flu and strep throat and both were negative. We still don’t know what he has. They took a urine sample, and blood, and lots of nose swabs to try and figure out what he has. Of course the fear is shunt infection once again. We have to go back to the pediatrician tommorrow.

Here are some pics from today:

Sleeping in Pati’s arms.

Angel sleeping.

Really just not feeling well.

Nathan’s sick & craniosacral therapy

Good news is that Nathan had craniosacral therapy today and he really enjoyed it.




Bad news is he’s sick again. He had a small fever today. We have to watch him and if he gets worse we may have to go to the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers.

Laughing with Dad

Nathan’s favorite game




Nathan at the park

We’re trying to incorporate a daily visit to the park to Nathan’s routine. Some days he likes it but others he’s just not happy about it. Here’s a couple of quick pics:

Great Grandma Mae’s Bday

Nathan went to see his great grandma and family on Owen’s side. He had a good time, he got to play with all his cousins and to run around in just his diapers (it was hot).

Nathan’s first trip to the Zoo

Look at the lion!

With friend Presley and her mom Michal

All of us at the zoo

Today we took Nathan to the LA Zoo for the first time and he loved it!

Of course he was more interested in people watching than in checking out the animals. But it was perfect for him as he loves to people watch and there was just so much eye candy.

We went with this friend Presley and her mom Michal and it was lots of fun. We discovered a way for Nathan to enjoy his stroller, and Michal discovered she can have Presley facing out in the baby Bjorn, so it was a day full of revelations.

We all had a great time and we ended the day with dinner at the Souplantation and a quick walk through the mall.

Check out the photos here: LA Zoo

Saturday, March 10th

On Thursday we took Nathan to see the opthalmologist and it went well. She thinks he has good vision. However, she’s giving him a diagnosis of cortical visual impairment as it’s difficult to tell how his brain is processing the information.

Afterwards we had our appointment with Dr. McCombe, the neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital LA. We were interested in a second opinion and wanted to explore Children’s Hospital. He said the shunt is working fine and at this time there’s nothing that needs to be done.

We decided not to switch to Children’s as there were a couple of things that we weren’t happy about with Dr. McCombe. He emphasized that the best thing about all this is that Nathan’s mutation is spontaneous, not inherited, so we can have lots of normal children. It felt like he was discarding Nathan’s life due to his problems and we left feeling flattened.

Dr. Lazaref, Nathan’s neurosurgeon at UCLA, has told us many times that he thinks Nathan is going to do very well and he gives us hope.

So we are going to stick with Dr. Lazaref in the future for any neurosurgical issues.

Other than that, things are very good and stable. We are going to enroll Nathan in a study at the NIH so they can study his genetic mutation and hopefully learn more about it so they can help other children in the future.

Again thanks for checking in and for your continued support and prayers

Just a quick update to say Nathan is doing GREAT!

Just a quick update to say Nathan is doing GREAT!

He’s having a great time, we all call him Mr. Smiley. He’s just a great little guy to have around.

His head control is getting a little bit better, we see him making an effort to hold up his head and we can see him trying! Yesterday I saw him reach for a bubble and it was the first time I saw him trying to grab something.

Other than that his health is great, and we’re all just having a good time watching him grow and learn a tiny new thing any more.

Thank you for keeping our little miracle in your prayers. We are so grateful!