October 2006

October 10, 2006 Ok, I'm going to sound like a broken record but....man, it's been so busy around here! :)

Let's see, Jacob has been doing very well. *knocks on wood* He's been going to school everyday *knocks on wood again* and other than a runny nose, has been healthy. Hmmm, I wonder if I've knocked on enough wood....Ok, back to Jacob. He went on a field trip yesterday to the local pumpkin patch. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go with him, but I was told he had a lot of fun. As you saw on the homepage, Jacob is quite the artist. He comes home with something new almost everyday. Our fridge is covered! 

Jacob has been working very hard on walking independently. Yesterday he took several steps on his own using his arms to check out his surroundings. Sometimes I have to hold back the cheers because it startles him and he falls down. What can I say, I get excited when he does cool stuff like that! When we assist him, we hold just one of his hands so he learns to balance. 

Jacob is doing really well with verbal cues and commands. He definitely knows what "no!" means. When mommy has her laptop on the coffee table and he stands up and puts his hands on it, he hears "no" and quickly pulls his hand away. When he gets upset and bites his hand in frustration, he'll hear "no biting" or "hands down please." He doesn't always stop, but he's getting better. When he's crawling around the house and we see that he's getting close to a wall or table, we say to him: "there's a wall Jacob" or "table" and he will slow down or turn and go another direction. We try to give him lots of encouragement with "thank you" "please" "good job" and he seems to respond to that. Now if we could just get him to talk back! 

In Family News....after over four months, our stolen car was located and returned to us in good condition. In fact, it was being used in a major car theft ring in the Wichita area. Our little car, a 98' Chevy Cavalier, was towing other stolen vehicles into a auto salvage lot. The thief's were using fake bills of sale to get cash for the stolen cars. Right now the car is awaiting a new license plate, a professional cleaning and of course a good tune-up/check to be sure there's no major damage under the hood. The thief's put a great deal of miles on it too. We are so grateful to God that we have our car back. It was very hard to make one vehicle work (hence the reason we bought a second car in the first place). And another great blessing: Brett's parents, who gave us a loan to purchase the car, told us we would not have to continue our monthly payments to them. Praise God for their generosity.

In Mommy News...I am plugging away at school. It's almost the half-way point in the semester and I'm doing good so far. I attend General Psychology on Wednesday evenings and Intermediate Algebra on Friday afternoons. I have been working plenty of hours in the NICU (about 15 a week) and just yesterday I started working at Rainbows United as a Respite Care Provider. I will work center-based at Jacobs school, but may do in-home care as well. How will I handle being Jacob's mommy (and the doggies too), Brett's wife, work two jobs and go to school? Very carefully! 

In related news... The preemie group I started with fellow preemie mom Lainie, Wichita Preemie's, is off to a slow start. We aren't giving up though! We have a great new flyer and will soon launch a website. I will update the journal as soon as the website launches. For more information, please email me at onestrongmother@yahoo.com.

October 22, 2006 It seems when the cool weather came in, it brought with it sinus infections and other cold-like symptoms. Just two weeks ago Brett, Jacob and I were sick and now we're feeling "under the weather" yet again. Jacob has a never ending runny nose and Brett and I both have sore throats and sinus pressure. Lots of water, rest and some good medicine seem to be doing the trick.

I'm sorry to say I don't have any new pictures to share- my sister, "Aunt Pam" borrowed my camera for her trip to Iowa last week. I plan to get camera crazy just as soon as we're all feeling better. 

Jacob is graduating! Starting tomorrow, Jacob will be in a preschool class instead of an infant/toddler class (as he has been for the last two years). We wanted to have him in a preschool class at the beginning of the school year, but there wasn't an opening. Needless to say a spot has opened up and we are so excited for him! With his new class comes a new bus pick up time- 8:45am, a whole hour and 40 minutes later than before...a great thing for mommy who is not a morning person. :)

In other news...the preemie support group web site is up and running! Check out http://www.wichitapreemies.com/! The group is going to be mentioned in the local newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, and a link to the site will be put on the web site of Wesley Medical Center. Lainie and I hope this will help our group grow!