Woohoo vacation

Alright so I just noticed it's been over a month since I last posted. I'm just going to give you links for the vacation pics because I am being too lazy to upload right now =P.

On the Robert front for those that don't already know he was sporting a nice cold when he had his hospital appointment so he couldn't get his MRI. No sedation if they have a head cold! They finally rescheduled him. He goes back on the 30th of June to try again. So I have to keep him in a bubble until then! NO more colds. He's doing good. Starting to walk a little bit. Definitely behaving like a normal 2 year old. Let's us know when things aren't going his way.

Pics from trip here: http://bridget0202.spaces.live.com/

and I think you can see mom's pics on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=2010487&id=1273324207

Ok that's all for now. Talk to you all soon.

Gardening

Ok so I have horrible memories of having to dig dandelions out of Grandma's front yard. I remember thinking THIS IS CRAZY! So now here I am in Swabia where their gardens are perfect, and feeling guilty because I have dandelions going insane (the tenants before us did not care about the yard at alL!) And now I am DIGGING UP dandelions cursing those weeds! In fact my husband said I better get the ones in the driveway because they are encroaching on the neighbors. Crazy that I learned that from grandma not understanding as a younger kid that dandelions are the plague!

Tests tests and more tests

Ahhhh so I'm having a relaxing evening. Robert is in bed, and Dave is tired and followed suit. So I've had almost 2 hours to myself. I've got ITunes Jamming in my headset and am surfing the web getting ready to go to bed myself.

So I figured I wouldn't leave anyone hanging any longer. All we know from Robert's appointment is that they don't know what has caused him to be the way he is, but they are determined to figure it out. So we go back probably about the middle of April. They are going to do lots of blood tests, an MRI of his brain and spine (which he has to be sedated for), plus hearing tests and eye exams. He's going to be one tired little guy when all is said and done. On a good note I was super impressed with the Developmental Pediatrician and the Neurologist, and feel very grateful to have finally found someone that isn't telling me...Well we'll watch and see how he is in ANOTHER 6 months. So yeah that's about all the talking about that I want to do...

On a happy note my husband is sooo wonderful, and I got a reminder of that this past week. As we were driving up to Ramstein to spend the night for Robert's appointment Robert hit his tolerance point for the car ride and begin to complain loudly. This was only about an hour into our drive and we were at that point on the roads where the speed limits were non existant so it was quite stressful. Instead of yelling screaming or getting angry my husband began to whistle which immediately calmed Robert down, and he stopped to listen (he thinks whistling is cool). Then for the rest of the drive until Robert fell asleep Dave proceeded to sing to him or whistle (with me as back up of course!) so what could have been a disasterous stressful time turned into a fun time as Dave and I were cracking up at how easy it was to entertain Robert, and how badly we whistle! Good thing toddlers don't care!

It's been a while...

Fun with daddy.


Playing with Daddy's guitar

Trying out this walking thing.

Helping daddy build the new computer.

Yeah yeah sorry I'm a horrible blogger. There hasn't been much activity here on the German front. I was going to wait until we got back from our trip this weekend to post but I'll upload some pics now too. We go on Friday to meet with the developmental pediatrician. Leaving Thursday night. Staying at Ramstein Airforce Base Thursday and Friday night. His Doctor's appointment is at Landstuhl Regional Medical center which is also where the injured from Iraq go. It's a pretty big place. His appointment is at 8am on Friday. If you want to think about something that will blow your mind this about this...that's midnight mountain time. So most of you will still be in bed!

Oh also a couple more things...if anyone who reads this is on Facebook and is not on my friend's list yet you can look me up with my email (bridget0202@hotmail.com). If you read this and ARE NOT using facebook yet. You should sign up and try it. It's a wonderful social networking utility. Even my mom is using it! The neat thing about it is if you are online the same time as other family members you can directly chat with them.

Merry Christmas!

Robert on his new bounce and spin zebra. Still trying to figure it out.


We bought these foam number sets to make a mat for him to play on. The numbers pop out. He loves the number 3.

This is my Christmas present from Dave. They are hand painted, and signed by the artist. She is either Eastern European or Russian by the sound of her accent.

Twas the night before Christmas.

Standing alone. I finally got a picture of him standing by himself which is his latest thing. Too bad he closed his eyes for it.

We had a wonderful Christmas here. Just the 3 of us! I still miss family and home and friends, but we opened presents and had fun playing with them. Daddy got a new PS3 so he was really excited. I got those Buschka Dolls, and Robert of course made out like a bandit. I hope all of you also had a wonderful Christmas.

December Pictures

Success he captured the pop tart!


Working REALLY hard to pick up the Smore's pop tart.

More Love to the Christmas tree. Yes he IS standing by himself. He's supporting his foot with the present but STILL.

I love this picture. It cracks me up whenever I see it.

Still so proud when he pulls himself up on furniture


So it's been an eventful past few weeks for us.

Thanksgiving was wonderful I gained a new way so make Turkey. Our friend that was visiting gave me some marinading and basting tips that made the turkey super juicy...so anyone that wants to come visit for Thanksgiving next year there will be fabulous turkey!

Robert had his 18 month check up last week. His pediatrician sent us back to a neurologist for a follow up on his condition. Which was routine, but Dave and I hear neurologist and our heart sinks. It took us 45 minutes to get to Olga Hospital in downtown Stuttgart. Somehow we got registered and found the neurologist. He warned us his English wasn't great. Yarg! They ended up taking blood to test for anything that may be genetic or more serious. They couldn't get enough blood out of the vein in his arm so he took it from a vein in his head. The doctor gave me a bonnbonn (candy) for being such a good sport while they did that. He emailed us that night to say that everything is fine. So we're sticking with Benign Hypotonia. However if after another 6 months he doesn't improve then he's going to do a muscle biopsy. I'm not horribly worried because he's made so much progress in the last 2 months, but keep Robert in your prayers just in case. We also thanks to the wonder of google FINALLY found the EDIS Program here in Stuttgart. Early Development Intervention. It's on base and they evaluate the child and set up a plan. Their goal is to have them ready for kindergarten. The woman is coming tomorrow to evaluate Robert and get a plan in place. We're excited about that. So that's our recent excitement and why I haven't been so diligent about blogging. I love reading everyone's blogs and seeing how everyone is doing.

Sick Baby Blues!

I have 4 Stuffed animals tucked in the corners of the crib so he doesn't bang his head. He had to have pried that animal out of the corner to get it. So apparently he has a favorite stuffed animal.

So anyway I'm at my worst as a mother when my child is sick. I just want to go to sleep and wake up and have him be better. It KILLS me to see him be sick. I wish I could be sick for him! Dave brought a cold home from work and both of them have runny noses and coughing all over the place. When Robert is sick he's SUPER grumpy and nothing makes him happy. Nothing nothing nothing. I don't know how mom's do it when they have 3 or 4 kids. I struggle with one. =(. Sorry this isn't that positive! I'd love to hear how you other mom's deal with it.