Paging Dr. Aiden....

During one of our extended stays at The Children's Hospital at The University of Oklahoma Medical Center, I went down to the gift shop. Gift shops at children's hospitals are almost evil.. They have some of the cutest stuff.

On one trip to the gift shop, I saw doctor scrubs for children. And I had to have some for Aiden. So, I bought them. Granted Aiden was no where near big enough to wear them, but he owned a pair. For 2 years, they have been in his closet waiting for the opportunity to be worn.

Aiden is now big enough to wear them. And he is wearing them today for his Halloween costume.

Orange Class Fall Festival

Hi, This is Aiden...

Aiden loves phones. And his newest accomplishment is figuring out that he is supposed to hold it up to his ear.

Happy Birthday Chris

Yeah, I know.. I'm such a slacker these days.

Saturday, Chris, Aiden and I went to meet Chelsea at the mall. Chris's birthday was yesterday and he wanted a new pair of shoes. The problem with getting people shoes for a present is that the person receiving isn't usually there. Shoes are the odd thing for buying gifts. Shoes fit differently and how does one know if they are going to fit the person getting them if the person isn't there?

Sunday, Chris requested his birthday breakfast. Since Aiden had school Monday morning, I couldn't refuse. Then Chris got to open his gifts and we ended the evening going to Incredible Pizza for dinner.

Aiden had fun at Incredible Pizza, no melt downs due to loud noises. But he did get "bitten" by the alligator game.. Aiden came home with a stuffed snake with a big goofy grin on his face.

Monday, was Chris's actual birthday. He turned 36. Apparently, 36 is an important age.. We have a bottle of champagne in the fridge. Yeah, that will go to waste. But he is now asking for a bottle of Dom for his 40th.

Another Bloggy Award

Awarded by Shannon at Gabi's World.

I'm passing it on to Pam, Michelle, Debbie, Debbie, and Jeannie

A Supported Milestone, Sweet Tea, and the Dentist

The gait trainer.

The bane of Aiden's existence. He hates it. But we know why he hates it.

It clicks.

So Karrie, Aiden's PT from Early Intervention, turned the clicking off.

And Aiden walked.

Three times....

But yes, he did throw a fit.. Mean Mommy was making him do it and wasn't saving him.

And when Chris came home from work, he rewarded Aiden with sugar.

Right before bed. But Aiden did sleep all night for the second time this week.

A few weeks ago Aiden had a dental appointment and he was supposed to get his teeth cleaned. Well, we didn't have the needed antibiotics required for dental cleaning. And that resulted in me calling both Dr. Pediatric Cardiologist and Dr. Pediatrician and rescheduling the cleaning. Dr. Pediatrician called the prescription in for us and Aiden has been taking his antibiotics since Tuesday for that pesky viral infection.

Today was Aiden's teeth cleaning. And it was scheduled at nap time. Aiden fell asleep on the way there. (Remember we live in the middle of nowhere - Egypt as one friend calls it - and a drive of at least 20 minutes is required for anywhere we go.) Aiden falling asleep is a good thing, maybe he'll sleep through this.

WRONG!! As soon as we get to the office, a certain little boy wakes up. Now, everyone in the office loves Aiden and says hi to him.

We get back to the room where the dental hygienist is waiting. And she is telling me that she is (hopefully) going to use the little rubber scrubbing thingy. And she begins to put polish on it.

I put Aiden in the death lock. I know anytime that I go near Aiden's mouth, he must be contained. A straight jacket would do the job that it takes three hands and two legs to accomplish. So Aiden's legs are being held down by my legs, his arms are being held in one hand and his head in another.

While Aiden's mouth is wide open due to the screams of a pissed off little boy, the hygienist is quickly sticking the little rubber scrubby thingy into the mouth and cleaning each tooth. This doesn't take but 7 minutes; he only has 9 teeth.

Then she uses a little paint brush to administer the flouride treatment. This took 45 seconds.

We were in and out of the dentist in under 10 minutes. Yes, that is a record visit to any doctor for Aiden.

It also took 3 hours for Aiden to allow anything near his mouth.

Beyond the Politics

Click here to watch the video

Gold Canyon Candles and the Prayer Child Foundation

Have you heard of the Gold Canyon Candle Company? Until a few months ago, I hadn't.

The Gold Canyon Candle Company sells candles. And they have a line of candles called Candles for Kids.

They come in Baby Powder, Baby Magic, Cuppie Cakes, and Cinn-A-Raisin Toast.

Each Candles for Kids candle is designed using soft white wax poured into a glass which represents the innocence and purity of the precious, and deserving, children for which the Prayer Child Foundation was created. The soft pastel colours on each candle label symbolize the different ways the foundation encourages, supports and assists those children in need. Pink represents emotional support which brings cheer and encouragement to a difficult situation. Blue represents physical support which provides relief and comfort. Yellow represents the opportunity for community involvement to ease the challenges a child may be facing. These colours inspire us to overcome the challenges that present themselves to children every day.

With the purchase of each Candles for Kids candle, 100% of the profits go to the Prayer Child Foundation. The foundation was started by Gold Canyon's founders. Since 2000, Gold Canyon Candles has given over $1.5 million in aid and assisted children in need throughout the world.

Some of the organizations that have been helped through the Prayer Child Foundation include:
* CARES Foundation
* Childhelp USA®
* Children's Miracle Network®
* Collin County Children's Advocacy Center
* Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
* Make-A-Wish Foundation®
* Phoenix Children's Hospital
* Relay for Life
* Save the Children®
* Save the Family®
* Solid Rock Foundation
* The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Aiden is the recipient of a grant through the Prayer Child Foundation. A Gold Canyon distributor approached me about getting this grant for Aiden to help out with some of the things he needs.

If you would like to purchase one of these wonderful candles (and I promise they smell awesome), contact Connie Jensen through her website. They are well worth the cost and the proceeds go to a wonderful foundation. Oh, and with Christmas coming up, their other products would make great gift ideas!

21 Things About Aiden

Aiden loves the colour red.

Aiden's favourite part of the day is bath time.

Aiden's favourite toy is anything that plays music.

Aiden loves to eat pickles.

There are only 2 hats Aiden will wear longer than 15 seconds.

Aiden's favourite cartoon is The Little Einsteins

Aiden is learning to wash his hands.

Aiden will only drink water if it is in an open faced cup or coming out of the bathtub faucet.

Aiden is now 30.5 inches long.

Aiden was born with red hair, then it went blonde, now it is turning brown.

Aiden loves to have Itsy Bitsy Spider sang to him.

Aiden is thinks all doors should be closed.

If Aiden is in an elevator, he has to watch the lights.

Aiden is crawling throughout the house.

Aiden is trying to learn to eat with chopsticks.

Aiden growls when he is "boxing" with you.

Aiden can make some of the funniest faces.

According to Aiden, if it's on the floor it's a toy.

Aiden has not met a food he doesn't like.

Aiden hates to take his medications.

If Aiden does not want to do something, you can not make him do it.

A Viral Infection

Aiden got a trip to Dr. Pediatrician this morning. And after an examination and chest xrays, it has been determined that he has a viral infection. Dr. Pediatrician was boarderlining to put him on antibiotics, but with surgery coming up, he is on antibiotics 3 times a day for the next 10 days.

While we were waiting on the xray tech to enter Aiden's information into the computer, Aiden decided to have a meltdown. He saw the space capsule Pig-O-Static contraption used for taking chest xrays. Aiden hates this thing.. with a passion. I think he remembers it from heart surgery and subsequent xrays.

Immediately following Dr. Pediatrician, we headed to Dr. Pediatric Cardiologist for the Holter monitor and surgical clearance. Aiden fell asleep on the way there which is only 2 miles between the offices.

He started to wake up as we were walking back to the exam room. Where another tantrum began.

I then had to go to Wal-Mart to get Aiden some Motrin, part of Chris's birthday gifts, and my second nail repair this week. (I had my nails filled in on Saturday, but one thumb nail broke Sunday and another one this morning... Serious irritation with my nail tech!)

Aiden wasn't happy with me.

While in Wal-Mart, I got Aiden a few new toys since he's been through so much the past few days. Aiden was then happy with me.

Aiden Has An Owie

Aiden stayed home from school today due to countless vomiting episodes last night. So today, we went with Chris to his physical therapy session. Aiden played with the 4lb medicine ball while Chris was doing his stretches.

I sat Aiden on one of the therapy tables and sat down with him. I went to move my leg and bumped Aiden. Aiden fell off the table and hit the floor.

This is the results:

Which earned him a trip to the pet store to play with the puppies. He won't play with the Hound, but he'll play with other dogs. Hmmm...

Then we went to Wal-Mart to get some Pedialyte, Pediasure, and some owie ointment. Since Aiden was sleeping all the way there, I decided to get his hair cut. As soon as I sat down in the chair with him, he decided to wake up. He wasn't too happy with the girl coming at him with a pair of clippers. But she did manage to cut his hair and for the most part, it's straight.

And the professionals from Aiden calendar photo shoot are in. Sometime this week, I'll pick them up and post them.

Buddy Walk 2008

Today was our 3rd Down Syndrome Association of Tulsa's Buddy Walk to attend. It was really really windy, but no rain this year. Aiden really could have cared less. His allergies and sinuses were bothering him so bad that he required two doses of Benadryl before the walk.

He was more than happy when Grandma Susan got there with Cheetoes and was feeding him chicken McNuggets and Pepsi. He did manage to stay awake for the whole 3 hours we were out there.

Friends of ours from Oklahoma City and Missouri came to walk on Aiden's team. Katie and her mom and dad came in from OKC. This was Katie's first Buddy Walk. Due to a major meltdown, she missed the one in OKC sponsored by the Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma.

Oopie (Alex) and his family came from Missouri. The association they are in (The Down Syndrome Association of the Greater Ozarks) held theirs in July. And, like Oklahoma, Missouri is hotter than hell heck in the summer.

Robby and his mom, friends of ours from Mended Little Hearts of Tulsa, came to their first Buddy Walk also. Robby also has Down syndrome.

A few months ago, when Chris was first starting out getting fish, we were at Southern Agriculture. We turned the corner, and I noticed something different about a woman there. Southern Agriculture is like PetSmart, they let people bring in their pets. Well, this woman happened to have a baby kangaroo in a baby sling. I'm dead serious. The big kangaroos from Australia, the red kangaroos. We talked to the woman and petted the kangaroo. As we were leaving, the woman was leaving also. We talked a little bit more about the kangaroo. She said that she had 11 of them and that her roos were therapy roos.

The bright light came on in my head. An opportunity to talk about the Buddy Walk presented itself. I mentioned that an exotic animal zoo in Adair (remember the post from going to Kansas for the family reunion) brought some of their animals out to last year's Buddy Walk and asked if she would may be interested in bringing out some of her roos for the children. I gave her the Buddy Walk information and my cell phone number. I didn't hear back from her until yesterday.

Chris, Aiden and I were doing some shopping yesterday. And my cell phone alerted me that I had a voice mail (but didn't alert me that I even had a call or missed a call....) I checked my voice mail and it was the lady with the kangaroos. She wanted to make sure that the Buddy Walk was still going on as planned and said that she would be bringing out some of her smaller roos. She brought 3 of her little ones. The one that she had at Southern Agriculture, one who was 6 months old, and one who came out of the pouch this morning, just in time to come to the Buddy Walk.

All the kids loved the kangaroos. All the kids except for Aiden. He wanted to look at them from a distance of a foot, but any closer than that and he would freeze.

And we donated $$ for chances to win some of the door prizes. I bought 45 additional tickets and didn't get anything. I wanted 5 of the 22 baskets this year. I didn't come home with any. Oh well, the money goes to a great cause and there is always next year.

Anyhoo, here are some of the pictures from the Buddy Walk. Grandma Susan and her boyfriend, Randy, were there taking pictures.. Which I am so glad that they did, because half way through my camera died. I forgot to grab the extra batteries off the charger in my tornado of a morning. I have to thank Lydia, Audrey's mom (from school) for taking the pictures where you actually see me in the frame. Also, hopefully my ob/gyn Teressa sends me those that she took of Aiden/her and Aiden/myself.

We also picked up our 2009 DSAT Calendar. Aiden is highlighted in the month of April.

An Appointment with Dr. ENT #3

WE'RE GETTING EAR TUBES!!!

Finally after a year and a half, numerous failed hearing screenings, a failed ABR, and 3 different ENTs, Aiden is getting ear tubes!! Normally this isn't something that most parents would be ecstatic about, most most parents don't have Aiden either. LOL!

Aiden's first ENT didn't want to touch Aiden due to his heart issues. The second ENT, would do tubes, but didn't have privlegdes at the closest hospital Aiden can go to. The third ENT will and does!! He's also going to take out Aiden's adenoids which is causing Aiden's constant runny nose. AND he's not opposed to having Dr. Pediatric Opthamologist come in and do the tear duct surgery at the same time. (Might as well get everything done at the same time since Aiden doesn't get to go under general anesthesia much.)

Aiden's surgery is scheduled for November 6th, so keep him in your prayers.

I do have to get written clearance from Dr. Pediatric Cardiologist, but we see her next week when Aiden goes in for his Holter monitor hook up.

We're so excited! Aiden will finally be able to get rid of that pesky fluid and we'll be able to tell if he has hearing loss from being on ECMO. As it stands right now, Aiden has moderate loss - but we're not sure if it's from the fluid or really hearing loss.

Dr. ENT was being followed by Dr. Student who took a look into Aiden's ear canals. "Boy, they're really tiny". And Dr. Student got quizzed on why 99% of children with Down syndrome require tubes. Small canals. And Aiden has some of the smallest.

Almost too small for the little ear plugs Dr. ENT gave him to wear while in the bath.

2008 School Pictures

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