All I Want for Christmas Is.......

You guessed it ~ his two front teeth.  The first x-ray, which wasn't a good one, because Nathan was uncooperative, showed that he not only knocked out his upper front tooth, but it appeared he also fractured the tooth next to it. Our hearts literally sank.  The first thing I thought of was the aesthetics: how will he look with no teeth for the next four years!  He's already going to be the subject of ridicule, teasing, and harassment by his loving classmates (sense the sarcasm) when he enters public school ~ having no front teeth is going to make it worse.   Not to mention, he is just beginning to produce sounds and say all sorts of new words ~ what's going to happen when he can't produce them because he doesn't have any front teeth or even have the opportunity to learn how?!  The teasing will be worse, and Nathan's ability to communicate will be diminished.  This was getting worse by the minute

The following day, Nathan went to school under the watchful eyes of his classroom teachers.  After this x-ray, and the ones yet to come, we were going to do everything possible to keep his tooth in for a long as possible.  We cut everything up and won't let him bite into anything using that tooth.  If he was verbal and possessed the ability to produce sounds like "th and f, " then it wouldn't be such a big deal, but it is.  He won't have the ability to even learn how to produce these sounds until he's probably eight years old.

After school, we headed to the pediatric dentist for his initial consult.  Nathan ended up having Dr. Christine because Dr. Jason was on vacation.  What a great kid friendly dentist office!  I was really glad we chose this dentist and have to thank my friend Lisa Carney for the recommendation!  Another neurotic mommy of a super special kid.

Look Mom, a t.v. and it's playing Toy Story!

After the initial exam, Dr. Christine gave us the sobering news: Nathan's front tooth is loose to the touch, he is missing four baby teeth, and the enamel on his back teeth didn't form correctly and calcium has built-up, which will eventually eat away at his teeth. (WHAT? This gets worse?)  This was a classic example of: when you think things are bad, just wait - they'll get worse. 

So, here's the bottom line ~ Nathan is missing both of his eye teeth on the top and the bottom.  Just upon examination, she said that, if they're not present as a child, they probably won't be as an adult.  Sometimes, this happens ~ the body just doesn't produce all of the "normal teeth."  I think she said, this happens in about 2% of the population.

The enamel issue is a rather big deal too because the calcium buildup will eat away at his molars and those teeth will eventually decay and need to be removed. But as the doctor said, Nathan needs those teeth until he's about 10, so we need to do something to protect them.  We now have to apply a Mi Paste to his teeth every night before bed.  The paste breaks down the calcium and will keep his teeth healthy. I don't know if any of you are aware of Nathan's love of teeth brushing, but it's just slightly less unpleasant than his hair cutting fits  It's a daily struggle, but we are absolutely seeing improvement.  His speech therapist has been working on it at school for us too.  It's made a difference.  Anyway, I actually thought Nathan's teeth were yellowing because I wasn't brushing them good enough, but that's not the case.  The first night I applied the Mi Paste, he bit me so hard, I was in tears. 

Next up ~ the x-ray.  The results showed that Nathan indeed has fractured his other front tooth and that we can expect it to loosen up and fall out.  We also learned that his "missing" teeth are in fact in his mouth, but are impacted.   It appears Nathan didn't have room for them to come in, so they didn't. The only upside to Nathan knocking his front teeth out is that the ones missing on the top may now come in.  However, if none of them come through by age six, they'll need to be surgically removed.  As will his adult teeth.  We are going to have a long and very expensive relationship with the dentist.

After learning all of this information, my greatest concern is still with Nathan's speech and his ability to make certain sounds.  I asked the doctor if we could bond the current tooth that is still pretty tight with the one next to it, so we can save it for as long as possible.  Hopefully, just long enough to learn how to produce those sounds and then let it fall out.  She said, no we couldn't because she believes the tooth is just too detached from the root for it to be successful.  I also asked if it were possible to put artificial teeth in his mouth until he could learn to speak.  Yes, but again, she didn't think it was going to work for Nathan because 1. they would have to cement a retainer to back teeth that he may not want to tolerate, 2. Nathan wouldn't sit that long, and 3. he may pull them out.

I'm not satisfied with having no options.  We're going to seek a second opinion next week, when Dr. Jason returns from vacation.  We're also going to discuss sealing his molars to prevent decay.  Nathan has appointments scheduled every three months for a while, so I'll keep you posted on any new developments.  Thanks for stopping by. 

It's A Hard-KNOCK Life For Us...

You don't always have to live in a fictional orphanage to wonder why life is so hard sometimes. Or wonder why some children are chosen to live in a perpetual state of challenges while others are left unscathed. 

This blog post was suppose to be about the great hair cut Nathan received at SnipIts, located in 20 Mall in Guilderland.  It was suppose to introduce you to a salon that not only specializes in entertaining and cutting just children's hair, but to also inform you that the salon owner has an 8-year old son with Ds, so they get it.  They were amazing ~ blowing bubbles, singing to him, and just loving him.  All while he was throwing a classic Nathan hair cut hissy fit.  I even took a few before and after pictures.   

 

Without a doubt, we will return to SnipIts for Nathan's hair cuts. They were beyond wonderful with him and so patient. There are a few of you out there (Nicole and Grammy) who have had the pleasure of experiencing a Nathan hair-cut-hissy-fit, so you know that having the assistance of anyone is greatly appreciated.  Not that it makes it emotionally easier for either of us. 

However, had I known this picture was going to be the last one Nathan would take with ALL OF HIS TEETH, I would have snapped a thousand of them. 

On Monday, at around 1:10PM, I received a phone call from Nathan's special education teacher because he apparently tripped or fell in the classroom and hit his face on a wooden step stool.  He was ok, but it appeared that his front tooth had come loose because it was crooked. (Nice. Oh, shit.)

Luckily, I was already on my way to pick him up and when I arrived he was sitting happily in the kitchen eating a green Popsicle and reading an Elmo book.  It took at a nanosecond to see that his top front tooth indeed had come loose ~ very loose. 

Once we got into the car, I started calling every dentist I could think of to see Nathan.  I called Jason Decker's Office and because Nathans not their patient, they wouldn't take him right away, but would schedule a new patient visit the next afternoon.  How nice.   Next, I called my own dentist ~ Dr. Lyons.  His secretary again informed me that he doesn't usually see new emergency patients not even 4-year olds.  Great.  My won dentist won't see my kid.  However, to his credit, he did call me back to tell me there was little he could do for Nathan, and that we might want to consider calling an orthopedic surgeon to have the tooth removed. Super.

Next call, the surgeon who doesn't take patients as young as Nathan and they have no idea who does.  I was really batting a thousand here.  So, you ask ~ why didn't I bring Nathan to his own dentist?  Because I couldn't remember who that was!!  It had been so long ago that I took him there that I couldn't recall his name and, as I told Dr. Decker's office, he reminded me of John Wayne Gacy, the American serial killer of teenage boys.  My son was never going back there.  And, that's the truth.  He even looked like him.  But, this was an emergency, so I tried calling every pediatric dentist I could think of on Western Ave, because that's about the only thing I remember.  No luck. 

I was seriously getting nowhere and had a little boy with a big problem.  Then, I remembered we know someone in the dental field ~ Jeff McMinn!  He was my cousin's next door neighbor growing up, a fellow instructor at HVCC. I sent him a message on facebook and then called his mom, who gave me his cell number and within minutes he called me back.  He agreed to see Nathan after his scheduled patients, to be sure he was ok.  Thank God!!  Someone actually cares about my son and the tooth that's about to fall out of his mouth.

As Nathan and I were walking down the stairs his tooth fell out. 

We went anyway.  BTW, someone told me to put the tooth in milk because they heard it could be put back in.  Yeah, I didn't try it. Could you imagine me walking into the dentist office with Nathan's tooth in milk? lol. 

Anyway, Jeff needed an x-ray of Nathan's tooth because the tooth literally broke off and he wanted to make sure there weren't any fragments left in his gums.  As you could probably imagine, a mouth x-ray was about to go over about as well as a hair cut.  So, we tried to make him comfortable and the machine became a giant microphone. 

 He is so cute! Pisses me off that he has to go endure so much.

Look at those cheeks!

We ultimately got the x-ray, but it wasn't without a fight.  What that x-ray showed and what we uncovered at our dentist appointment the next day is still sinking in.  We're anger, hurt, and scrambling to help him.

Stay tuned.....I'm out of time today.   
 

Some Sweet Honey from our Little Bee

One of the coolest things about Nathan's new school, is the ability to celebrate Holidays, like Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day, Halloween, and others.  This was our first year to give Valentines to Nathan's little friends at school and I wanted them to be a little special rather than the store bought alternatives, sow e went shopping at the craft store.   We went for the Valentine's, Be Mine theme.   

 We made the bees from pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and tissue paper for wings.  We bought the hearts and attached them with lollipops.

Nathan's big job was to help mommy glue his friend's name on their Valentine.  It was like the honey from the bees ~ a sticky situation!  But, he got the job done. ;-)

 Each year, jammies are the gift of the Holiday, but trying to find Nathan, Valentine's Day jammies was impossible.  I looked everywhere.  There are almost no few cute Valentine's Day clothes for boys ~ tons for girls, but nothing for our little heartthrob!  Well, except this super cute t-shirt I found at Target!

We hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day as much as we did.  Thank you to those who thought of our little honey.  It is always appreciated and sweet of you to remember him on this Valentine's Day and always.   

Nathan truly is a sweet lovable kid and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.  Valentine's Day is all about the LOVE, and we sure do love you little man! xxxooo

I did not eat all the Valentines M&Ms ~ Nope, not me. Prove it.

HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS

I really wasn't sure what to name this post ~ "Where is Nathan?" Or maybe, "Change.  The only Constant." Or even, "Toto, I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore."   They would all apply to our life this past month. 

As most of you know, we accepted an offer on our house in October and were suppose to close at the beginning of December, which meant we had to find an apartment, didn't have our traditional family Christmas dinner at our home, didn't go away on vacation or for my 40th birthday, and had to throw together a last minute party for our sons 4th birthday.  In mid-January, we had no choice but to move or lose our apartment (the complex had now graciously held it for us far beyond what any other establishment would have). So, we moved.  Super fun. Everyone loves moving - right?  Especially when you have to figure out how to put 30 pounds of stuff in a 5-pound bag.  Not to mention, we now owned two houses with mortgages, a small overpriced apartment, and still had no closing date; almost 8-weeks after our first anticipated closing date!  We eventually had to file special papers to force the bank's hand or they'd be in breach of contract. We had been patient long enough.

On a late Friday afternoon, 5 days from the expiration of this motion, our attorney called and said, "get this: the buyers attorney just called and said if we don't close in the next two business days, there will be no mortgage!" WHAT?  After all this time and inconvenience!!  So, we said, "Fine.  Do it."  And, we spent the next three days emptying the basement, garage, and shed.  I have come to appreciate why people don't save stuff.  Although, our stuff is now literally all over the place, I have no intention of being a pack rat anymore.

Here are a few pictures from Nathan's final night in his first house. 

My last story ~ If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

My final bath in our house.

About two weeks after we moved, we had to stop at the house with Nathan, to pick up his stroller and as we were pulling away he began to cry.  Broke our hearts.  He misses his house and we completely understand.  

This transition from house to apartment has been difficult on our family and especially on Nathan. He no longer has a playroom and his bedroom now serves a dual purpose of sleeping and playing. Not something I really wanted to foster, but we have no choice.   Once we moved, we also made the decision to put Nathan in the toddler bed, which as you might suspect, has given him the freedom to get up whenever he wants and he does.  The first night, I laid with him until he fell asleep, but in the middle of the night I woke up and he was gone!  I went into his room ~ no Nathan.  Then, the living room ~ No Nathan!  Not in our room either.  (There really isn't anywhere else to go)  Now, I'm freaking out and yelling to Danny to get up because I can't find the baby.  Well, we turned on all the lights and found him sound asleep on the floor in the living room amongst the boxes.  Uhg.  Ok, time to close his door.

The next night, at 2:00AM, we hear this little knock.  We're like: "what the heck is that?" One guess ~ Nathan! He wanted to get out of his room and couldn't open the door.  It was seriously cute. I still snicker about it.  He has the littlest knock and he wasn't upset, but just kept knocking until we went to his room and let him out.  Lights on ~ life is good at 2:00AM.  :-)

Then, he figured out how to open his door and every night he wakes up and either tries to watch t.v. or plays with his musical books/toys.  One night, I found him sitting inside his toy box at 2:00AM, which has become the witching hour now.  Needless to say, no one is sleeping well in this apartment.  Not to mention, listening to people all around you walking, doing laundry, talking.  We hear everything here and it's less than ideal, but thank God, it's temporary.

Besides Nathan not sleeping well with his new found freedom, we've also transitioned into pull-ups.  Nathan's teachers really didn't think he was ready, but I believe that diapers prevent Nathan from knowing when he's wet, so I made the decision to try the pull-ups.  Nathan needs to feel the sensation of being wet and uncomfortable in order to understand he needs to use the potty.  And, guess what?  It worked!  Nathan is now regularly pooping on the toilet and has begun to tell us when he pees!  It's certainly a work in progress, but progress is being made and we're thrilled!!    Way to go our little man!!

My first day in pull-ups!

Considering life has been so challenging lately, and I haven't told you the half of it because in the grand scheme of life, it doesn't really matter ~ home is where your heart is, and as long as we're together as a family, nothing else matters. This too shall pass....

To balance out the chaos and change in our lives, we've tried to keep Nathan busy with some regular play activities and other events.  We took Nathan to see his very first Broadway Musical ~ Shrek!  He loved it and was great during the entire show.  We've gone to TreePad for some fun (see video below)and Grammie and I took him to see his bff's ~ the gang from Sesame Street. 

Once again, we bought the Sunshine seats that, so Nathan had some one-on-one time with a few of his favorite characters ~ Elmo and Grover. 

We are so going back to Sesame Place this summer!  We had a great time and were glad that Grammie was able to join us!  On that note, thanks Mom for all that you've done these past few months.  I'm not sure how we would have managed if you weren't so willing to take Nathan and Chopper every time we asked.  Even when we just needed a break ~ thank you!

When we first arrived at the Treepad, Nathan was very afraid of the loud noise, but I made him go up to the guns and see what it was that was making the noise, and help him to figure out his environment.  As you'll see in the video, he was fine after that.  We're all afraid of the unknown.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Nathan Has A Gambling Problem Too....

This video is too powerful not to share.  Its message is clear and resonates deep inside a place I try to keep hidden because the pain is just too raw.  It's hard to understand what it's like to have Ds or be the mother of a child with Ds ~ you simply can't understand and I don't expect you too.  However, you can change your expectations, and that of others. You can be the person who lifts-up and inspires those who are constantly being demeaned and defeated by an ignorant society.   Nathan is counting on you.

THE BIG 4 ~ Our week long celebration of Nathan

On January 2nd, Nathan turned four years old, but the celebrations began on New Year's Eve and continued on for about a week!  On the one hand, it seems like yesterday since Nathan was born, but on the other, we've been through so many changes in our life that it seems hard to believe that so much could happen in such a short period of time.  

Like the Hebrew meaning of his name:

 Nathan is truly a gift of God, so each year, we honor of our son and His precious gift to us.   

On New Year's Eve, Nathan's Aunt Domenica and Aunt Charly honored him with his very first jello cake, which is also Daddy's favorite flavor!  He even managed to blow out his own candle, which as most of you know is a major challenge for Nathan. We're still working on the technique for blowing bubbles, so he's definitely getting it!

On Nathan's actual birthday, we took him to explore the caves of Howes Caverns, which if I'm not mistaken, are prehistoric caverns about 150 feet below the earth's surface.  Neither Danny or I, had been there since we were young, so it was a fun and new experience for us all.   

Our math lesson for the day ~ we were in group 4 at the caverns. We got off exit 22 to get there (2+2=4).  And, we took Nathan to 16 Handles for dessert that night after pizza (4x4 = 16) and if we purchase a specified number of sundaes, we'll receive $4 off our next visit.  Just a little something we noticed along the way on his special day. :-) 

This was the only stalagmite that any one's allowed to touch because the oils on your hands can damage their surface.

We were even treated to an underground boat ride, which I thought might be disastrous.  For those of you have yet to visit the Caverns, at the end of your journey, you take a boat ride to the literal end of the public section of the caverns, where your guide, shows you how dark it actually is without the modern conveniences of lights.  It was pitch black. There's no natural light in the caves, so your eyes never adjust. Creepy. She kept the lights off long enough to prove that point and I thought Nathan would have gotten upset, but he didn't. Thank God! 

Do you see Nathan and Danny down there?

The next phase of the caves turned out to be Nathan's favorite part of the exploration ~ the very narrow and sharp s-turns. I'm not claustrophobic and it was a little unnerving. :-) Danny just let Nathan run, so he thought that was cool.

 

Good thing there are these areas that I'm not suppose to touch, so when I'm tired I can sit down! No oils on my butt! :-)

Given that Nathan's birthday was on a Monday, the day after a Holiday, we opted to plan a fun family night away the weekend after his official birthday, at the indoor water park at the Great Escape Lodge.  Nathan's Grammie and Nonnie spent the day with him too. 

We had signed Nathan up for sundaes with Spruce the Moose, but we waited so long in line to get our room, that he unfortunately missed the event.  However, he was signed up for some other fun character visits, so we weren't concerned.  Unfortunately, Nathan played a little hard and was too tired for them, so the Welcome Dance party and a quick visit with Scooby Doo were the only times he interacted with these silly friends.

I caught this picture while Nathan was in mid-dance.

He's got to keep all that hair dry! :-)

As most of you probably know, we are in the process of moving and have been for a very long time now.  We should have moved twice by now, but have continually been delayed.  To say this has been an inconvenience would be putting it lightly.  We rescheduled our Christmas plans, our vacation plans, and Nathan's birthday plans.  When we found out that we were yet delayed again, we put together a last minute family bowling party for him.   

Look at his little bowling shoes!

Like his dad, Nathan loved bowling!! We're going to go more often, now that he's old enough to roll the ball and beginning to understand the cause and effect relationship of the game.   Roll the ball ~ pins fall down.

Nathan's Sesame Street Cake

There were lots of candles on Nathan's cake, so he needed some help from his cousins!

   

I wasn't aware of the fact that Nathan was going to be given a bowling pin, but it made a nice personal keepsake.  Everyone at the party left Nathan a little birthday message. 

Nathan had a great time bowling and on all of his birthday adventures!  Thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes, generosity, and for making yourself available on such short notice.  Next year Nathan's going to be five ~ can you believe it?!   We're already thinking about his big day, and if it's up to me, we'll be going back to visit Mickey.