Dahlhouse Life: Week #39 & #40

Week #39 found this little Man Cub and I at another developmental evaluation.  This time he was evaluated at a feeding clinic by a speech and language pathologist.  I really felt that Matthew would be fine, and the SLP would say he is making slow progress let's check him in six months to reevaluate his progress.  I was not prepared for the therapist to tell me that Matthew was going to need 12 weeks of feeding therapy, and then reevaluate if he needs more.  Matthew has very low oral motor muscle tone.  He doesn't move the food around in mouth the way he supposed to.  He often will use his hands to push food into his mouth instead of using his tongue.  I find all this information faciniating and frustrating all simultaneously.

It's been a very long road to get help for Matthew.  I was first alerted to the fact that Matthew might need help when he choked on a piece of food nearly a year ago. This event led me to begin to think about some of the milestones that he was not meeting. Lots of advocating, met with lots of waiting followed.  Nothing has been quick or efficient.  The sign that hangs in the pediatricians office reads, "Babies Can't Wait."  However...I have found that is all we get to do is "wait".  I have often wondered how many babies get lost in the paperwork and scheduling and waiting.  I am a college graduate/educator who understands how to advocate for kids and this is my experience.  Currently, we are waiting to be scheduled to begin feeding therapy. 

In the meantime, we have our first homework assignment from the feeding therapist.  We had to take Matthew off all sippy cups with spouts.  The cup in the above picture is a 360 degree Munchkin brand cup.  It is pretty amazing how it works.  He can drink from it the way you would normally drink from a cup, promoting his mouth muscles to work properly, but the flow of the liquid is controlled by the design of the cup.  The next thing we had to was take him off all baby food pouches.  This has been oh so tough. I must admit must tougher than I thought.  Pouches are the greatest invention and he loves them.  But...we have gone back to the baby food containers and a spoon.  This allows him to work his mouth muscles again instead of sucking the food into his mouth and swallowing like a straw.  The next step will be to get rid of the bottle.  But...I'm not taking that on right now.  And he really only has a bottle before nap and bed.  

I finally completed a project I had been working on. It was a long project (mainly because I am raising 4 kiddos LOL).  But it was very enjoyable and I love looking at our favorite attractions.  It makes me smile.

The end of September found me celebrating my mom's birthday at the Portland City Grill!  It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed having lunch with just her. 

Uncle D and Auntie Katie came to celebrate my mom's birthday!  It was so much fun.  Man Cub's face sums up how I felt about seeing them too!

Papa and Matthew!

We had a VERY fun adults dinner at the new Ilani casino and the restaurant Line and Lure.   We all even squeezed in our new van so we could all ride together!

It was one of the best dinners out I have ever had!  There was a lot of really yummy food, drinks, laughter and conversation.

TRUTH: I've never been in a casino before.  So it was so funny for everyone to watch me learn how to play the progressive slot machines.  Oh my gosh...I had the best time!

The rest of the weekend was filled with more fun times with Auntie and Uncle.  I always cry when they leave.  Always.

Week #40 was our week of pumpkins.  Bella is so proud of this pumpkin.  She planted the seeds in her kindergarten class in the spring and then planted them in our garden in the summer.  This is the pumpkin she grew!

Then she went through and picked the rest of the pumpkins that she grew.  Amazing this came from one three little pumpkin seeds!

We took the kiddos to the Vancouver Pumpkin  Patch!  This was a very good year for pumpkins!

He loved the baby cow.  In fact he learned how to say "Mooo" at the pumpkin patch!

His latest skill is sitting in baby doll strollers!

The view from the gorge after the fires.  We took a Sunday drive up to the Bonneville fish hatchery.  You could see a lot of damage; however, it was promising to still see a lot of green.

I closed week #40 out feeling very grateful for all the blessings in our life.  I am especially thankful for our home.  This is the view I see when I rock Matthew to sleep each night.  After nearly a decade of rocking babies starring at a fence, I am so blessed to watch the sun dip down behind the trees. 

Week #37 & #38 @ The Dahlhouse

I am attempting to get "caught up" on our happenings at the Dahlhouse.  So I am squeezing a couple of weeks together.  Week #37 and #38 were filled with appointments.  Seriously how do we have so many appointments???? One week it was 8...yes 8 appointments...the other week it was 6!

Repurposing some older furniture for newer little people.  The white cubbies used to be Bella's with green and pink bins.  I bought new bins at IKEA and used my Cricut to cut out his name and the Batman symbol.  I was really happy with how it turned out and now it is holding toys and books!

When you have older sisters...enough said!

Decorating the front of the house for fall.  My favorite time of year.

Lots of VIPKID.

The smoky filled Gorge from the Eagle Creek fires.  Mark drove me up to see the Gorge (from the Washington side) after we had some rain.  The smoke was still very thick in the air. We were able to drive home the Oregon side after they had just reopened I-84.  There is a lot of loss, but there was still a lot of green.  It was good to see.

Man Cub "helping".

Computer work

TV watching

Teeth flossing

Someone got their braces off!!!!

Someone went to the dentist! (That someone HATES the dentist).

Noodles!

Some serious Wii playing going on.  I love that Matthew thinks he is playing.  I also LOVE that my olders include him in their play.

Baby in a box.

I had my mole mapping down at OHSU.  I was not prepared with how vulnerable I felt.  There were two female medical assistants with me. You stand completely naked in this booth with NINE different cameras pointing at you.  The TV screen takes you through how to pose your body into 7 individual poses so that photographs will capture all of your skin.  After it was finished, I paid the $150 dollars (insurance doesn't cover it) and then you wait for your photos to be downloaded onto a flash drive.  After it was all over, I cried.  Its the journey.  One foot in front of the other.

I did have these two people waiting for me when it was over.

The perfect end to a long week.