Headed to Dallas

Scott, Landon, and I are headed to Dallas today! I am excited to be able to see my family and for Landon to be able to see his Grandpa again! I think I am most excited about seeing some really good friends and eating at our favorite "Dallas only" restaurants. I cannot tell you how much I have missed Texas BBQ. We found a pretty decent place here in Tucson, but nothing compares to the place by our old house in Frisco. The actual reason for the trip is to go to my sister's baby shower on Sunday. Please pray for safe travel for us today and Sunday, and I promise to post pictures when we return! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Adventures in Rice Cereal

Well on Tuesday, May 19 2009, Landon had his first taste of solid foods in the form of Rice Cereal. He wasn't quite sure what to think, but I think he was more leary of the foreign object entering his mouth, the spoon. For the first 2 days he would jump every time you put the spoon in his mouth, but as of today he seems to have made peace with the spoon, and we are successfully getting more rice cereal down the hatch then all over himself and me. Or at least so it seems. We have tried Brown Rice cereal so far, but tomorrow we are going to try regular rice cereal. I have also bought Barley cereal, but our Pedi says not to give him anything except rice cereal until he turns 6 months old, so we will follow what he says.

Here are some pictures of Landon's first rice cereal experience:

First bite.

It's going in...see how there is more on his face, than actually on the spoon. We missed the first time, oops.

"Ummm...Mom, what exactly is this stuff? Are you sure I can eat it? Is that Spoon really necessary? I don't need one for my milk."

It makes a really cute go-t don't you guys think?

4 Months

Landon is 4 months old today! My how time has flown by since he got here. He is doing so much, it is really amazing to us. He is rolling over both ways so quickly now that if you blink you might miss it. He is also constantly playing with his feet or sticking them in his mouth to eat. And what is super amazing is twice now when we were holding tissue boxes he will actually (slowly) pull a tissue out of the bow and then drop it. He is going to be one smart kiddo I tell you. He is also trying so hard to crawl that if he could manage to get his knees under him and his arms up a little more he would be off and running. We are so amazingly blessed to have our sweet baby boy. I love watching him grow up and learn new things right in front of me. Tonight we get to try Rice Cereal for the first time. I am WAY to excited about this, and cannot wait for Scott to get home so we can get Landon all set up, the Camera ready, and see his reaction to solid foods!

Here are some of our favorites of the Pictures I took of him today for his 4 month old shots:

Always has fingers in his mouth, but he is not teething yet.

Looking like a little man sitting on the Love Seat!

Watching the puppy dog, he thinks they are really fascinating creatures to watch and sometimes pet.

Swimming!

Landon went swimming for the first time yesterday in his Great-Grandma's pool. He had so much fun and really enjoyed being in the water. We thought he might cry at furst, but he didn't. He only started fussing when he got tired and was ready to get out of the pool. He seemed to have a blast, he was kicking his legs in his float, and slept very soundly last night, but was up and ready to go at 5:00 a.m. That's what happens when they pass out at 7:00 p.m.

Hanging out with Daddy and Big Brother before walking down to the pool. Daddy put his hat bill up and it is now called "sporting Vanilla Ice"

Sitting on the pool steps with Mommy gradually working our way into the water.

He was leaning forward in his floaty b/c he was kicking his legs under neath...he also enjoyed chewing on the blow up part. We are really glad he has no teeth right now.

Playing in the pool with Daddy. They had lots of fun floating around together.

Hanging out with Mommy in the pool, and a good view of his Floaty. It has a canopy over it, which is nice for the Arizona sun!

4 Month Well Check!

Landon had a great 4 month well check this morning! He weigh's 15.05 lbs (50th percentile), he is 26.5 inches long (90th percentile...we are going to have a tall boy!), and his head is in the 90th percentile! Dr. Couchman said he looked wonderful. They did a developmental scale on him and he is 5.5-6 months developmentally!! I am so proud of my little guy, I knew he was ahead of the developmental curve (my speech background taught me this), but I didn't realize he was that far ahead! Dr. Couchman said he looked for any little thing that could be wrong or out of place and he "couldn't find a dang thing!!!" Which is great news b/c other children with Landon's disorder are usually behind the developmental curve, have trouble gaining weight and growing, and Dr. Couchman said he looks like an above normal kid who is going along great! I am so excited, it just goes to show how his disorder does NOT effect him, and how very mild he has it! I am also super excited that on Tuesday when he turns 4 months old we get to start him on Rice Cereal! I think this will be so much fun for all of us. So look for pictures next week!

Pictures Today

So everyone loves pictures, especially of babies! So, I thought I would leave you with a series of pictures today. Landon has his 4 month check-up with Dr. Couchman (our Pedi) tomorrow, and I am really hoping he will clear us to start rice cereal. I will update tomorrow when we get home about the appt. Landon's blood draw yesterday went well. I told the lady she had 1 chance to get blood from him, and they got everything that they needed! Success finally :o)

Quick funny story: While we were in the waiting room at the lab yesterday to get Landon's blood drawn, my MIL came with us and she had a box of tisssue in her hand. Well apparently tissue is some really cool stuff b/c Landon successfully reached for and pulled out 2 tissues from the box! It really was neat to watch! He is grabbing for everything now and it's amazing to watch him learn about different things...like that Mommy's glasses come off when he grabs and pulls at them! Anyways, that's my neat Landon discovery for the day. So, without further ado here are our most current pictures.

Hello! Want to join me in playing on the floor? Mommy and Daddy do and it really is alot of fun!

Feet are the best part about playing on the floor...Mommy says some day really soon I will discover that I can put my feet in my mouth! I wonder how they will taste?!?

I also love to roll over and look at everything. It's a whole new perspective on life when you are on your tummy.

I actually really love Tummy Time now...Mommy says I don't scream anymore like I did when I was really little...so for all those mom's to be it really is worth it! Mommy also says if I can figure out how to get my legs under me I will be crawling in no time!

And when I am tired, Mommy lets me sit on the couch with her. Here we are chillin' at Grandma's house on her nice cushy red couch! My hair almost matches the color!

1st Mothers Day!

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day thanks to the boys in my house! On Saturday morning Scott made me his famous French Toast. It is so yummy I could eat it everyday, but I would weigh a bazillion pounds. Then on Sunday we went to church, and they had brunch there. It was pretty good, but French Toast was way better! Then on both Saturday and Sunday Afternoon Scott worked really really hard to get my garden going. He put in hours of work...our soil out here is really rocky, he dug up this massive boulder with the pick axe, it's nuts. We are almost ready to lay the chicken wire so the dogs and local Jack Rabbits don't eat my plants. I am really excited about my garden, my goal is to grow most of my own baby food veggies. We will see how it works out though. I will post pictures once it is completed. I am so thankful to have such wonderful guys in my life. We had a great day spending time together and Scott even grilled out Kabobs for dinner...yumm.

After such a wonderful weekend I will leave you with some pictures!

Landon and Mommy hanging out on our 1st Mother's Day.

Landon and Mommy being goofy with the Camera. I think he was more mesmerized by the flash.

Like my new hat mom? It looks jut like the one Daddy wears all the time, except his is always on backwards.

Hanging out in my high chair at Dinner. I like to be at the same level as everyone and play with my toys since Dr. Couchman has not given the go ahead for cereal yet. Mommy is hoping he will say o.k. at my 4 month appt on Friday!

Look Mom I have feet, and they are so much fun to play with!

Appointment in Phoenix

We had our first appointment since Landon's diagnosis yesterday with his Geneticist and his Nutritionist. The appointment went very well. We found out how truly blessed we are that his case is so very mild. We learned that we are truly lucky that he ahs the non-cardiac version of the disorder. Apparently children with the cardiac version of the disorder can "drop dead" (in the words of the doctor) at any given point from Cardiac Arythmia with no warning. This is something we do not have to worry about at all. I am truly thankful b/c I am honestly not sure that would be something I could handle. The Geneticist said we don't even have to worry about death from the disorder in Landon's case that we just needed to throw that out of our mind and not even think about it. The only minute way it could happen is if he got very sick and did nothing about it for a long time..and of course that will never happen. So without further stalling here are bullet points of what we learned yesterday:

• Landon looks great! He is meeting all of his milestones on time or ahead
• He is developing normally and has none of the "markers" for problems with the disorder such as gaining weight, meeting milestones, being alert, sleeping too much, etc. He shows none of these...which is why he is so very mild.
• He will be able to eat some "junk" food like pizza, cake, etc. We will just have to vary his diet around it.
• We will get alot more information on foods once he starts eating more solid food. But the general gist is all fruits, veggies, and whole grains/complex carbs are fine for him to eat. For protein he is to have lean protein. For example: Only white meat chicken with the fat trimmed off, fish, filets for steak not ribeyes. For cooking oils we will be using an oil called MCT oil (Medium Chain Triglyceride oil...it contains only medium chain fats that Landon can break down without a problem).
• He will not have as strict a diet as most kids with the disorder b/c he is so mild.
• We will have to watch processed foods and read the labels carefully.
• He is able to be in sports, be active, swim, etc. Although he will need to drink lots of gatorade while participating...basically almost drowning himself in it...If you are looking to buy stock, this might be a good one to invest in :o)
• He weighs 14 lbs 6 oz and is 25.75 inches long. This boy is growing! He has grown almost 3 inches in a month and a half and has gained 7 oz since he went to the doctor for shots on April 13th!
• We also recieved the guidelines for taking him to the hospital when he is sick.
• My favorite part: We can go 6 hours between feedings when he reaches 6 months of age! This means I will get to sleep longer than 2.5 hour stretches in a little over 2 months. I am so excited!
• He will be able to eat in the school cafeteria. The Nutritionist will send the school a letter explaining his disorder and dietary needs and they can specially make him a lunch in the cafeteria along those lines so he can be like the other children in school too!
• And finally Landon will be able to have regular cow's milk once we go off of Formula and Breast Milk. He will have 1% cow's milk with the MCT oil mixed in.

We have decided to go ahead and slowly start adding Landon's diet requirements into our own diets here at home so when he reaches the point that he is eating mostly solid food, it won't be a complete shock to us and our eating habits..we will have eased into it slowly. Also, for those that know us well..this does not mean we won't have sweets (ie: cake, ice cream that we all love in this house) it just means if we want it we will have to wait until after Landon goes to bed to eat it. He will be able to have it occasionally and we will gladly share with him then!

I am so glad that my little boy will be able to be a mostly normal child with mild dietary changes and having to take meds for the rest of his life (these meds help him move fat around to the different places it needs to go in order to process it..this is what his body can not do on its own).

So, we had a great appointment and learned alot about Landon's specific form of the disorder and how we will cope with it so he can be healthy and happy. I feel much better after talking to the Geneticist and Nutritionist yesterday. The only disappointing part of the appointment was learning his formula is going to cost a small fortune..I am still fighting with the insurance company to get them to cover it...but that's a different post for a different day.

Geneticist & Nutritionist

We are headed back up to Phoenix tomorrow to meet with Landon's Geneticist and we will finally get to mee Melanie our Metabolic Nutritionist. She and I have talked a ton over the phone so it will be nice to finally put a face to the name. We were accepted into the program to help us with our formula, Dr's appts, etc. So we are really excited about this b/c it will help out alot and because I am literally on our last can of the freebies we got from the formula company. I am assuming the Geneticist will do a check up on Landon and then explain to us his specific case of VLCAD and what is means for us and him throughout his life. We are so very thankful that he has the mildest form of the disease, but I am ready to know exactly what all is involved with it. And then with Melanie she is going to let us know what Landon's diet will look like once we move onto solid foods (and baby food), and things he can eat regularly, occasionally, etc. Scott and I are ready for some answers on all of this. The last time we met with the Geneticist it was mostly general information about the disorder b/c at that time we weren't even sure that Landon had the disorder...so we are ready for more detailed information on Landon's specific case. I will definately update the blog with the information we recieve when we get home tomorrow.