"Spring" time update

I say "Spring" because we still aren't convinced that it won't snow still. We've had quite a bit of rain (bah) and that is driving us all crazy. It's the wrong province for that much water to be falling out of the sky. Anyway, it is in theory spring here. In honour of the change in seasons and a renewed effort to blog, I present some photos and commentary from the past few months. I have given up trying to catch up on the long past blogs....they will just have to be a mystery, I suppose. It might be better for me to focus on the now instead. I might just be able to stay on top of that. Anyway, we've been busy around here. Lots going on for all....here is some evidence:








My St. Patrick's day beauty. The headband didn't survive, but the necklace did. A leprechaun visited Sophia's class and did a little chaos making here at home too. The day was finished off with green pancakes, cucumber and grapes. The kids had fun.














And swimming lessons have started again. This is an exciting time, as Sophia is in the last of the "preschool" classes --Whale-- before moving up into Swim Kids. In August (fingers crossed that she finishes whale) she will move up to Swim Kids 3. Swimming lessons have a new angle for Jacob this year...he is in the water by himself. THis is the first time for him. The first class was a little nerve wracking for me, he is too light, so when he gets into a bit deeper water, he can't keep his feet on the ground and ends up under the water. It hasn't discouraged him. I was in the water once, but he ends up not doing the things on his own. He is much better without me in the water. I am having a bit of a hard time letting go....I keep forgetting that the boy is almost 4 years old. It is time to let him be more independent. He's not a baby anymore, right? I am very proud of my little fish!




Just 'cuz they are so cute....





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Christmas 2011

yup, I am fully aware that it is March, and that I am extremely behind in posting anything relevant or even picture laden. We've had a busy couple of months and certain things inevitably fall to the way side. So here now, in March, I am updating the blog, starting with Christmas. This means that by the time I catch up to March it should be July and I will have entered the never ending circle of blog updates.

I digress...

This Christmas we traveled. We went to Maple Ridge for a week, and bookended that with Winnipeg. We decided to fly to Abbotsford from Winnipeg as it really was easier for us not to try to get three one way tickets (Regina to Abbotsford, Abbotsford to Winnipeg, and Winnipeg to Regina). So We went to the 'Peg, spent time with the family in the new house, and then stayed the night at the airport hotel (waaaaaay easier for an early morning flight!).




My sweet little Niece...she's cute, hey?



The girl cousins. Sophia and Jacob are both taken with Baby Rachel. so much so that when I asked Jacob for a kiss one day, he said "no" and I asked who he did kiss and he promptly and without hesitating said: "I kiss Baby Rachel" My response: "only Rachel?" Jacob: "Yes." Thankfully he's come around on the kissing Mommy front.



The tree that everyone helped decorate! What fun.

Then to Abbotsford and Maple Ridge for a Mantel family holiday. It was great fun to see Auntie Dea and Uncle Todd, especially at Christmas. We haven't all been together in BC for Christmas in a long time.




We discovered that Bear Creek Park has a mini train, and even better a daytime running Christmas train! Nana, Poppa, mommy, daddy, Sophia and Jacob all travelled out and had a ride. We even got to see Santa, who was very friendly, and treated the kids to a candy cane. Can't say enough about the train and the folks who work there. They made it very festive and joyful, going the extra mile in making little craft goodie bags for each kid and welcoming them to the train. It was fabulous.


The Gerhard contingent decided to take advantage of the closeness of the West Coast Express which is part of the public transit system. It is an honest to goodness train train which went from Maple Ridge to downtown Vancouver in about an hour and a quarter, stopping at regular stops to pick up folks. It is an inexpensive way to get downtown, especially when you can use your ticket for the skytrain and buses as well. Awesome.



We spent some time down at the waterfront, checking out the Plaza of Nations and the Woodwards Christmas windows (which are no longer at Woodwards, but they are in windows!).



From there we hopped a skytrain to one of the hotels downtown to check out a huge display of Gingerbread creations...done by professionals and students alike. This is the display created by my friend Jacquie's food class at Prince of Wales highschool. From here we hopped yet another skytrain and spent several hours at Scienceworld before heading back to Maple Ridge. It was a fabulous day!


Christmas aftermath....serious toy liberation.



And Christmas dinner...yum!

Then back to Winnipeg....



Wrangling the cousins for a Christmas morning photo...Thank you Uncle Alan and Auntie Chris for the great matching pajamas. This is about as good as we could get. It's a bit like wrangling cats, cats on catnip. Yeah...you get the point.


Gift openings


Daddy and Uncle Adam putting together Adam's Millenium Falcon lego kit with Jacob's help and supervision.



"See, see, I no too big."


Jacob as his cars...all lined up and ready to go.



The kids and I spent some time at the Manitoba Children's museum. This here is slide which is part of the Optical illusions section. It is not as big as it seems.



Before....




after.



The cousins about to embark on a sledding adventure.






Sophia and Jacob proud of what teamwork can accomplish....I complete line up of ALL of the cars in the house!



Jacob and the train trains.



We had a great holiday. Looking forward to whatever comes next year.
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He is gaining

Jacob got weighed today....he's 22 pounds!! woo hoo! We're happy with the gain.

Excitement ...That's all!

So what is up with that Jacob kid?

I have a picture laden update brewing in the background, but I figured it was time to give the low down on what is going on with the youngest Regina Gerhard. We have been busy with appointments with him and getting some answers and no answers both.

We have seen a paediatric gastroenterologist to look at the possibility of something in the digestive system being the culprit of Jacob's smallness. Jacob didn't show all the symptoms for any one disease but showed symptoms of several, so nothing came of that. The doctor arranged for tests for Cystic Fibrosis (again, and negative --although we had to do it twice because Jacob didn't produce enough sweat the first time to test) and Schwarkman Diamond (which is similar to CF, but was negative too --very good to find out). They also arranged for an upper GI test which was done on after not eating for 12 hours and had Jacob drinking a barium drink in order to follow his swallowing on an x-ray. It truly was a cool thing to see but alas did not come up with anything either. All his upper GI physiology was working just fine. So, nothing came of that...other than Jacob is a fantastic test taker --he never balked at taking the barium and laid perfectly still for the X-rays.

Jacob is still seeing Janice and Denise, our fabulous phsyiotherapist and occupational therapist. They are working with us to help strengthen Jacob's hyper mobile (double jointed) joints. This will help him grasp better with his hands...hopefully assisting with the holding of crayons and pulling on of clothes. We are seeing a Speech Pathologist every 6 months as a way to keep an eye on him seeing that he really isn't that far behind where he should be. Truth be told, his language is blooming!

This January we had two important appointments which took us up to Saskatoon. We did the first trip to see the allergist in one day. Jacob was tested for peanuts, dog/cats, mould, and dust....and came up clearly positive for all of them. The last three really were not a surprise, but the quick positive on the peanut was a bit shocking. No one in either of our families has food allergies. So now we have two shiny new Epi-pens that go everywhere with us.

The second appointment was with the geneticist. it took over 18 months to get this appointment, so we didn't let Sophia's round with Strep throat keep us from going. Our friends Tracy and Greg graciously let us stay with them overnight so that we didn't have to do all the travelling in one day. Anyway, we went to see the doctor (and his team) who took more of our medical histories and Dr. Lemere took a good look at Jacob's physical attributes to see if there were any symptoms of any disorders. The long and short of this look over was that the doctor could not see clear symptoms pointing to a disorder. He had some things but not enough to diagnose anything...some things needed to have mental retardation or other factors mental and physical in order to diagnose. The doctor did order a blood test to take a closer look at Jacob's chromosomes and took our (David and my) blood in order to compare them. If Jacob had an extra or missing chromosomes and if either David or I had the same issue then there was a good chance that Jacob would turn out just fine. The only problem with this is that it takes four to six weeks to get the results...so we are still waiting.

But Dr. Lemere was helpful in giving us something positive. He told us that because there is a disconnect between Jacob's bone age and his chronological age, there is growth potential. It would be worse if his bone age matched his age, and he was still small as that would mean that he wouldn't likely grow. So, Jacob will eventually grow --we just don't know when. This means that we don't have to worry as much about the eating issue as he is probably eating enough calories to maintain his current size. So this was helpful for us to know...relieves some of the stress at dinner time.

One of the only down falls of this month was that Jacob has now developed a very strong dislike of having his blood taken. Just after we arrived home from Winnipeg we ended up back at the ER with a high fever that would not decrease. in order to figure out what was causing the fever Jacob had to have blood taken. He did really well for that, mainly because we had been there for six hours and he was tired. But he only cried when the needle went in and settled quickly. Then he had needle pricks for the allergy test. So by the time we got to the lab at the S'toon hospital to do the blood test for the geneticist, he had had enough. Jacob positively freaked out as soon as he saw the blue elastic band they tie around your upper arm. It was heartbreaking. He has been doing so well, with all the tests etc. Now every time he takes off his shirt, he looks at his arm and tells me: "It is gone now. You and me and Daddy, we all had pokes. All three". So he remembers and I don't think he will be forgetting anytime soon.

Anyway, Jacob is happy --loving preschool, gymnastics and skating. He is chatty, engaging and fun. He is also developing a temper, a strong sense of will and a sense of humour. He plays well with Sophia and fights with her too. We are blessed by his presence in our lives, keeping us centred and laughing.

Ah, C'est l'halloween

This year Sophia decided that she wanted a store bought costume...a princess costume. So, I agreed to it, and we found a fabulous Mermaid Princess costume at Winners for far less than I could have made it for. It had a hoop skirt, sea shell and starfish themed gauzy overlay, with a mermaid scale bodice adorned with pearls and silver.





And to go with the princess....we had a dragon










Our pumpkins...






Yes, that is Perry the Platypus (Agent P!) from Phineas and Ferb, beside the pumpkin carved by Sophia.

Trick or Treating.
This went really well this year and even included a break at a colleague's of Davids for hot chocolate and sit down. And it was a terrific night weather wise, which is always a bonus, because it isn't completely unusual for it to have snowed by Halloween! It was cool but clear, perfect for little goblins, dragons and princesses.














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