It's Still My Birthday!

Mommy and Papa took me to Chuck E. Cheese today so I could celebrate my birthday even more! I was a little unsure about most of the rides at first, but then I started to warm up to a few of them! Mommy said it sure was a different experience with her and Papa chasing me around instead of carrying me!

Here's me playing Ski Ball...

And riding some rides...

And riding a big horsey...

Happy 5th Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party and it was so much fun! I woke up really early, at 5:45, so Mommy got up and turned cartoons on for me. Turns out there was a marathon of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse all the way until the time my party started! Mommy said someone must have told the Disney Channel it was my special day!

I was a little under the weather from my allergies, but I started feeling better once I realized how much fun everything was! I loved all my presents, including my water table from Mommy and Daddy and my parachute from Great Grandma.

But I especially loved my GIANT balloon from Papa! It was the biggest balloon I've ever seen and it was fantastic! What a special treat for my birthday!

Mommy was so proud of me for eating icing when we did cake and candles! It sure was yummy!

It was so nice to spend the day with my family and friends! Tomorrow is my actual birthday and Mommy is letting me play hooky from school so we can celebrate some more!

My Custom Helmet

It should be ready in the next couple of weeks! Although I still won't like wearing it, it will be nice to have one that fits my head correctly and isn't a stinky old boy color. Mommy was able to find one that is open on the top, so hopefully I won't sweat quite so much. I actually had a "fever" at school a couple of weeks ago from wearing the helmet while playing outside! My hair is soaked with sweat when Mommy comes to pick me up. And the one from school rubs on my forehead where it sticks out a little further, so it was leaving read marks.

Instead of just getting a stock helmet, the orthotic place that Mommy found was able to order the stock helmet and tell the manufacturer to send it to them before they dipped it in the colored vinyl. It came in last week, so Mommy took me in this morning, and they marked the spots where I need a little more room for my forehead. They shaved it down and added more ventilation holes too. Now they are going to send it back to the manufacturer so it can get dipped in the final coat of pink, and then it will come back to us! It was so nice of them to figure out a way to help our special situation!

Mommy has to admit the helmet looks a little funnier because it is open on the top. It makes it look like it sticks out really far in the front. But if it keeps me cooler, then it doesn't matter! =)

Here's a picture of what my current helmet looks like (mine will be this color):

And here's what my custom helmet will look like (with added vent holes):

Surgery? What Surgery?

I was acting crazy and silly by the time the discharge nurse came in to check on me! I pulled through like a champ, of course! I played like crazy before the surgery. And I looked super cute walking around (for the first time) in my hospital gown! We forgot the camera, so thank goodness Mommy had her cell phone!

The surgery went really fast, and we were home in time to eat a late breakfast. Daddy spent the day working on baby Madilynn's furniture, and I spent the day playing and helping Daddy!

The only time I got upset today was when Mommy had to put the ear drops in my ears. It's twice a day for seven days, so Mommy says that's two down, twelve more to go. Could you hear me screaming at your house? =)

New Carpet!

I came home from school today, and the bedrooms all had new carpet! Mommy took my socks and shoes off so I could feel how squishy it is under my feet. I didn't really care about that part--I was just happy that I was FINALLY allowed to go in the new baby's room! I've been banned from there for months and if I ever made it in, I was quickly carried out! It's not as exciting as I thought it would be--it looked like much more fun with all of Daddy's tools in there!

Also, here's a funny picture of a diaper for baby Madilynn next to one of my diapers!

What Is Going On Here?!

Just when I think Mommy and Daddy can't change my house anymore, they've done it again! We are getting new carpet tomorrow in the bedrooms, so they have to be emptied out. I chased Daddy all around the house yesterday while he moved furniture out of their bedroom and into the dining room. Mommy said she's never seen me move so fast! As soon as Daddy would move a piece of furniture, I was right under his feet checking things out! Here's Daddy trying to move the dresser away from the wall...

Then Mommy emptied her closet and I found my own little fort to play in!

Mommy keeps using my room to do stuff in, since it's the only room that's still in order. She left the laundry basket of clothes in there, and that was a mistake! At least I kept them in a pile for her!

They are waiting until the end of the day today to mess up my room. Probably a wise choice for them! =)

Surgery #10

Today I saw the ENT because my ear tubes were starting to fall out when I was there last month. She told Mommy she was very happy with the results of my sleep study! No crazy throat surgery necessary! She also said my ear tubes were out but there was still no fluid building up (well, a tiny bit just in the right ear). She said I may have outgrown the need for tubes, and we could give it a month or so to see if anything changed. Mommy was fine with that, except she has been concerned that it was when the ear tubes came out that my self-injury behavior got so much worse. Of course, Mommy knows there could be a lot of reasons for that, but she was starting to wonder if there is pressure or pain in my ears and that's contributing to my behavior issues.

So she spoke up to the doctor about it and she's glad she did! The doctor said that would quite possibly be the case, or the tubes could be a contributing factor. She said let's go ahead and do them then, since chances are we would have waited a month and then wound up needing them anyway. She's going on vacation later this month, so our choices for surgery were either this Tuesday or waiting until March. So I'm having surgery Tuesday morning for ear tubes! This is a very quick surgery--it literally takes the doctor 5 minutes to put the tubes in. So we should be home in time for lunch. I never seem to experience any pain with the ear tube surgery, and by the time we get to the car to leave the hospital, you can't even tell why I was there!

Homemade Helmet

Mommy found a big piece of foam while cleaning the closets today and when she was about the throw it away, she realized she might be able to make me a more comfortable helmet to wear at home! It still needs some adjustments because I can pull it off no problem, but I've already tried it out and it definitely cushions the head banging!

Mommy said it was worth a try anyway! =)