Elliott Hampton

Elliott Hampton
Elliott Hampton

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

4 months old!

I'll label these later, just thought I'd post them while I had a minute.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Sweet Saturday Mornings

How wonderful to open my eyes to such bright sunshine:










Here are few more pics from when Mark was in town:






Oh that sweet chubby leg!













My sweet mother in law is in town, and she so graciously watched Elliott while I took a VERY therapeutic sewing class. I came home with a nearly finished bag!





A few weeks ago, I sewed this blanket for E.


And here is the taggy mini blankie that I stitched up as my husband (yes, my husband- can you believe it?! He only watches Tech, though) and son grunted and grown watching our beloved Texas Tech lose last weekend:






More pics soon!


Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

ECI/ Keep Pace Developmental Eval

As an SLP, I am surrounded with mildly to profoundly disordered children and parents that are any where from on-board to swimming somewhere in the the sea of denial. I do not want to be in the sea of denial. Of course I think Elliott is perfect, above average, to the extent that I am already looking at private schools that will meet his lofty academic needs. Am I being unreasonable? Perhaps...

Enter ECI/ Keep Pace. Today's developmental assessment included a developmental specialist and an OT (Occupational Therapist).

The take home message is that our Mr. Elliott is scoring well over 4 months In terms of social and cognitive development and 1 month in terms of feeding. What does this mean? Basically, the assessment protocol (BDI-2) lists eating from a spoon and chewing solids as skills appropriate for his age group. They are not. I confirmed this with his pediatrician. The OT said she was happy with his feeding and basically recommended that I decline services and call back if I have concerns in the future.

What a relief to hear other experts tell you that from a developmental standpoint, your kid is doing great so far. I do not take that chunk of information for granted, I am so immensely thankful!


Monday, October 17, 2011

Birthday! Fever!

All seems right with world when I get to spend my birthday with my wonderful husband and son... But life can never be that simple, right?

Well, it seems that, despite our best efforts, Mr. E has contracted what is suspected to be virus. He has a fever and a decided disinterest in eating. We called his We caught the first inkling of the suspected virus, so we have to return to Dr. Z's office tomorrow for a full work-up.

On a positive note, he received his RSV antibodies today. All other vaccines are on hold until dear E is full steam.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone


Sunday, October 16, 2011

New posts

I have updated the blog with a few pics and a post. I am switching apps, because blogpress has too many bugs. I am frustrated with losing so many posts. The downside is that blog updates will no longer auto post to Facebook. I will try to remember to note updates on Facebook since many of you link via Facebook. Happy Sunday!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, October 6, 2011

1.5 oz from 11 lbs

Forgive me friends, for I have neglected the blog. It has been more than 2 weeks since my last entry.

Elliott is just blossoming! He has precious little fat rolls adorning his legs! When Elliott was in the CVICU, a friend from the blog world was just a few doors down for a quick visit. I had followed his journey through his mama's blog. He started out a wee little dude, not unlike our E. Meeting him and his mamas in the flesh was intensely therapeutic. Despite having just undergone a major procedure (though relatively minor given his procedural and surgical repertoire), he looked so amazing! At the time, Mark had just returned to Lubbock and E was still intubated. Looking at this little friend's growth and triumphs, and getting to talk with mamas who had truly "been there" was oh so uplifting. I marveled at their dude's chubby legs. I recall telling myself that I would know my sweet E was really on his way when I could marvel at his chubby legs. Well, today is that day! Oh, how lovely it is to marvel at E's chubby legs!

I have ECI/ Keep Pace coming out to do a developmental assessment with PT, OT, and a developmental specialist. The rationale for the Ax is one part history (hospitalization), one part concern about torticollis, and eight parts mother is an SLP and therefore moderately to maximally neurotic because she only knows disorder and works with so many super severe children.

We also have another pediatrician appointment next week. Elliott will receive the RSV vaccine, which is a series of 6 doses at over $1,500/ dose. I received a call from the vaccine manufacturer last week informing me that our insurance will cover the vaccine at 100%! Hooray! Now the rub...So does this mean we may be a separated family for the length of Elliott's vaccination course? I don't know. We have been actively pursuing a family reunification plan, but in this economy with this health insurance situation it seems living in the same city is a distant dream.

Last night, Mark and I were trying to coordinate his visits to Houston for Elliott's care for the remainder of the year. It suddenly occurred to me that we may not spend our 5th wedding/ 9th dating anniversary together. I started thinking about all of the little things we took for granted each day before May 22, 2011, such as:
1. Morning routine, or resistance to morning routine- I am going to admit that I routinely hit snooze on my alarm so that Mark could have the bathroom first, and I would then have an "excuse" to sleep a bit later. I miss waiting for the bathroom in the morning.

2. Making dinner together. We had certain dishes down to a science with teamwork.

3. Poking my head into the garage/ shed/ ceramics studio/ woodshop and watching Mark work intently on a project beneath the golden glow of the explosion proof lights. I would watch him for several minutes and then try to startle him. Of course, he nearly ALWAYS knew of my presence. Once in a while, I would succeed and we would laugh together, the kind of rolling belly laughter that erases the day's toll.

4. Driving over the BIG Marsha Sharp overpass. We would joke about how Lubbock looked like a big city for a second.

We will be fine. We will be better for our toils. Isn't that the mantra you are supposed to recite when you are in the midst of difficulty? I know that Mark and I will get through this and I look forward to rediscovering the precious minutiae of daily life. In the mean time, I am working toward sifting through the overwhelming minutiae of working in the public schools.

I am continuously dismayed at the rules, regulations and paperwork associated with w...

I am just going to post this unfinished post that was headed toward a diatribe on the failure of the present education system, since this is the millionth time this app has deleted my post and kicked me out.

I will be exploring other blogger apps, any suggestions?


UPDATE:
Elliott is now over 11 lbs! 11 lb 4.5 oz!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone