Our big week.

Is there anything that can give a small child more joy than a big box?


I went a little nuts with the camera, but these boys were being so cute and silly piling on top of one another and taking turns in their "house."



What a happy boy! He couldn't possibly smile any bigger than that.

Zhen shut Ralph inside, which Ralph loved!

Ralph and Zhen are now seatmates on the school bus. Tuesday was Zhen and Theo's first official day of pre-school. Today was their first day to ride the bus. Zhen and Ralph sit next to each other and across the aisle is Theo...and his para!

I had to insist that Theo rides the bus in a rear facing seat. He's really only been sitting for five months and he is barely 20 pounds. For his safety he's been assigned a para to ride the bus with him until he can be in a forward facing seat.

Their first day on the bus was a success! And school is going great! I'm really fortunate to live in a great school district. The teachers and therapists at the school love what they do and they seem to enjoy all of my children. I hope this lasts!

Look what I caught Rose rolling through the house the other day!

Ruby fits in a rolling backpack! Why do I find that so funny?

The other big even this week was our trip to the children's hospital in Kansas City. You should have seen me trying to get out of town. It was ridiculous. The first time I left I realized after about 20 minutes that I forgot Theo's required physical report. No choice but to turn around and go get it.

The second time I remembered after driving for about 30 minutes that I forgot Ralph's hearing aids. He was having a hearing aid check the next day. Crap! The good thing was this: I bought a cheapo cell phone the day before. So I called dad and he jumped in the car and I turned around and we met each other about 15 minutes later.

If you know Ralph, you know that I needed to bring a helper with me. It was Thomas' turn. We did a lot of waiting and he did a lot of reading.

Ralph got a little wild and so he got strapped into the baby seat!!

He didn't seem to mind too much! haha!

Theo had a sedated MRI and ABR. They looked at his brain and pituitary gland in particular. Not sure when I will hear any results. The ABR is a sort of hearing test. That test indicated that Theo's hearing is fine but he has fluid in his ears so his eardrums don't move. Aha!

The audiologist we saw was also a sort of magician. She arranged for an ear/nose/throat doctor to see us immediately, without an appointment. He looked at Theo and we talked a bit and then scheduled him for surgery to place tubes in his ears. Wow!

Ralph and Theo both had their neck x-rays done that day, too. Children with Down Syndrome need to have very specific x-rays done to rule out instability in their neck. The pictures were not easy to get, but with the fabulous technology available there, we knew immediately which ones needed to be redone. So glad to have that out of the way!

Ralph got his hearing aids checked. Then I took him to have a booth test. Thomas stayed in the exam room with Theo. Ralph did such a great job in the booth. He let the girls put the wires in his ears and he paid attention. I was very proud!

I was quite certain that this test would prove that Ralph is hearing well and doesn't need his hearing aids anymore. Wrong. The booth test confirmed all of his previous tests and he still needs hearing aids, especially when he has speech therapy.

Lots of excitement this week. I still have some homework to do for Zhen and Theo. The school needs physical forms, birth certificates and immunization forms. They both still need to see and eye doctor. I see glasses in our collective future. After that I think we are finished checking them out. Phew!

Oh, I nearly forgot...yesterday was our 19th wedding anniversary. Funny thing: we had a baby in a crib at the foot of our bed on our wedding night. 19 years later, we had a baby (4 year old - looks like a baby) in a crib at the foot of our bed!

I wanted Thai food, but the weather was bad. It was too icy to drive clear across town. I had to settle for a 5 guys burger. *sigh* My birthday is coming up...maybe then I'll get some Panang.