Where to begin....

We learned at Meredith's 4 year old well visit with the pediatrician that she hasn't grown any taller in the passed year. On average children grow 2-4 inches a year. When they don't, it raises some red flags. Meredith is now being followed by the endocrinologist. She's had a bone plate scan which has come back normal. Now we must figure out a way to get Lady M to have her blood taken.

We tried a couple weeks ago with the lab at CMC Huntersville, but.... well... lets just say it didn't go well. And not because of Meredith who was as perfect as any 4 year can & would be.

Meredith is also eating some veggies (be still my beating heart) and steak. Yes.... you read that right. Steak.

Sean on the other hand has grown an amazing 3-3.5 inches in the last 7 mos. And that's not including the latest unmeasured (as of yet) growth spurt he's had. He went from a cool 18-24 month pant size to a whopping 2T. He's also wearing 2t shirts. Except for his short arms (no gorillas here), he could easily wear a 3t shirt. CRAZY!!

Sean's TSH levels have been normal. Thank goodness.

The last few months have been hard on Sean though. He's had these awful recurrent ear infections & sinus infections. He's missed more play dates and such because of them.

He's now been on more antibiotics than I am comfy with and we've started a new probiotic. We've also upped the vitamin D and a couple other of his supplements in the hopes of helping his body fight the infection.

We also had some immunoglobulin (antibodies) blood tests done. They've shown that his IgG & IgM are both within normal limits, but to close for comfort to too low. SO we're going to the immunologist. His nuetrophils & tcells are both normal. So his immune system SHOULD be able to fight the infection. Especially with the antibiotics.

So why isn't his body fighting the infections? Why aren't the antibiotics working? Is it a resistant bacteria?

What we know right now is that Sean does have a penicillin resistant bacteria. It's not the end of the world, but at least we have somewhat of an answer as to why his symptoms keep coming back. I have my theories as to why it's happening in the first place.

We go back to Sean's regular ENT on December 3 (Monday) to see what our next step is. We know that antibiotics are not working. Even Suprax which is the preferred drug for this bacteria.

What else are my kids doing?

Well Meredith is reading sight words. She's able to sound out letters. You say cat and she immediately sounds out the "c" sound and says "c". She's writing her numbers & letters. She's really amazing.

Sean is talking & communicating so much!!! I can't believe how much he relates to his world in so many typical ways. I'll ask a question and he'll answer. He recognizes that he can't say certain things like "hungry". If we're not paying attention to his cues, he'll go over to his seat & pull it out.

He's potty training. Yes. My 2 year old boy is potty training. I never thought it would start at 2 because he's a boy. I really didn't think it would start at 2 because he has down syndrome. He recognizes when he's pooped and will come over & say "Ooooooooohhhhhh". Then the stench smacks you in the face.

He'll grab his diaper & look down when he's peeing. He's gone on the potty a couple of times, but I think he's afraid of it. He's a little to skinny to sit on it alone.

And if you ask really nicely I'll tell you our awesomely funny 1st time on the potty story.

Both kids are discovering that the other one is actually fun to have around. HA! They can actually play games now that Sean follows Lady M's directions. Did you see my eye roll there?

Sean started gymnastics this morning. Rob was able to take him and said he did really well. He needed minimal assistance and did really well until Mr. Frank tried to have him do a somersault.

We had Sean's transition to CMS (school system) meeting this morning. There were some good things, but there were also some things I wasn't so thrilled with. I have a few months before I have to really think about it. For now I'm going to live in ignorant bliss that my baby is going to be 3 years old.