Sunday, April 13, 2008

Rearranging The House.....

Wow we are doing alot of rearranging of our house to accommodate all of Rhett's new medical equipment. We have two living rooms, and up until now the TV has been downstairs, and we used the upstairs living room as just a sitting room type of thing.

But with Rhett being on oxygen 24/7, and no end in sight with that, as well as the feeding tube, and the pump, and all of the supplies......well, it's just easier to have everything upstairs. So today I have been moving furniture, and toys, and the TV upstairs. It's much smaller than the downstairs, but it works, and everything is in one place.

This way since he spends quite a bit of the day attached to his pump we can put him in his high chair, and read books, watch Signing Time, or Elmo, and work on our signs. I have to tell you since he has been tied down and watching Signing Time so much, he has learned a ton of new signs. Since Wednesday he has learned Bean, Cold, Peach, Sun, Like, Don't Like, Grapes, Cry, Sad, Happy, Laugh, Sleep, and Bath.

Not only that, but he is using them in his sentences in the right context. I am so proud of him.

Tomorrow is a busy day. We have PT at 9 am, ST at 10:30 am, and then we have to be up at Primary's for his ENT appointment to get his ear cleaned out, and to follow up with the Dr who did his airway surgery. It will be interesting to see what he says about this Dysphasia diagnosis.

Anyways, we are also trying to get Rhett's room set up as a play room for him. Since Andy can't move much, I am doing this on my own, and using muscles that I never knew I had. I should be one buff chick by the end of the week!

Rhett seems to be doing so much better since we quit feeding him orally. I am amazed, and he is keeping up with his wet diapers and everything. I am very happy with his progress.

The other kids have all handled things really well, and were so excited to see him when he got home. It amazes me how compassionate they are towards Rhett, and how much they love him. Each day as they grow they become more understanding of people with disabilities.

Chloee has a friend that lives a few houses down from us who has speech problems, and she is so cute and patient with her. Her mom is so pleased, and loves to have Chloee over because Chloee seems to understand this little girl, and plays so well with her. It makes me proud to think that maybe we are okay parents after all.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It's spring break this week, so I am looking forward to going for walks and playing in the back yard. Hopefully it's a very uneventful week!!

I will post some updated pictures tomorrow when we can figure out why our camera is being so stubborn at downloading. Ugh.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This post brings tears to my eyes. Finally, you are seeing progress...the kids are full of compassion and help for Rhett and it sounds like you are motivated in rearranging things for Rhett. Hugs and prayers.

Pam said...

Just an FYI: The camera issue was a Pamela issue. I have to laugh becacue I fixed her issue in about 30 sec. Clearing out the printer Doc. So that she could down load the pic's off of the camera. I'm glad she needs me for something around here.
Love ya babe,
Rhett's Big Daddy (Andy)

little.birdy said...

Oh hurray! I know that many, many answered prayers from many people are expressed in this post! I am so glad that little Rhett is making the best of being tied down by improving his signing, and that he has returned to his old spunky self. Good luck in moving everything around; please be careful and do not pull or sprain anything!

Melissa @ Banana Migraine said...

I'm so glad there has been some improvement with Rhett! I can't wait to see some cute smiling pictures of the little guy soon :)

Niksmom said...

It always amazes me how resilient our kids are. SOOOO glad to hear Rhett is doing so much better. I'm mailing tht package to you this afternoon when Niksdad comes home from school. :-)

Good luck with the rearranging...can the older kids help you with some of the smaller stuff? I bet they'd love to know they were helping make a nice space for Rhett.

And yes, you are wonderful parents and should be very rpoud of those kids! :-) :-)

Michelle said...

So happy to hear that he is doing a bit better, honey. And the signs...all I can say is WOW! Elliot learned "hat" the other day. That is his only one thus far. Send Rhett over! Now, regarding moving stuff by yourself: be careful, okay?! Better yet, call a neighbor! Sending hugs...better get back to puking Wee E. On the hour still. Ugg!

Sustenance Scout said...

Pam, you are much more than an okay parent!! I LOVE this story about Chloee and her friend. That alone speaks volumes about your entire family. Thanks for your note on my blog...take care...love, K.