Thinking about the time in the NICU.

For all the children in NICU without a finger to grab. A hug for you.

Christina is sick. The poor little girl became very sick on the car ride to the doctor appointment. To summarize, she became violently ill and her belly hurts a lot.

Christina was very cuddly and in pretty good spirits most of the morning despite the incident in the car. Unfortunately, the flu bug started to get the best of her and things became more uncomfortable. On the way back, Christina's fever went up and her belly hurt more.

More vomit several times on the way home. With a couple of stops to clean up we made it back. Christina became very sick very fast and she went straight to the doctor here in town.

The rest of the afternoon and evening got a little better. Shortly after bedtime the little princess' belly became upset again.

Lots of cuddles and plenty of rest are going to make this better.

Christina continues to keep us proud. Her doctor appointment went as well as expected(see other post). She does not like the pokes and prods, but the news was good. Christina is doing well and better than anyone expected when they first saw her in the hospital.

Christina has been back to her good 'ol self. Talking and walking seem non-stop.

We received a sample wheelchair to try. It is not for Christina to use, bu8t more for us to see how it works and how well it maneuvers around the house.

Last weekend Christina played outside a lot. Walking, gait trainer, stroller walks are the popular activities. Inside Christina was a HUGE fan of swinging. Using her blue chair(rehab2go chair) and teh swing stuff, Chrisitna was able to sit upright, be strapped in, swing without barriers, hold on to handles. The combo worked great. As soon as I figure out how to post video I will. The first time we tried it Christina had so much fun it brought a tear to my eye. I let her swing as long as she wanted with the occasional re-adjust to keep her sitting tall. The princess enjoyed 45 minutes.

Christina's teeth have not been bothering her lately. Good or bad, I'm not sure. They have not poked through so she will go through it again.

Although the benefits from the Phenol and Botox have been wonderful again this round, it has also shown in Christina's trunk and neck. It does not seem to slow her down at all though.

The next appointment with the developmental doctor is coming up. We only have to go once a year, yea. There will be tests that do not show how much Christina knows. It is frustrating to see. For those who need some explanation I will give it a try... Christina is not able to quickly(if at all) point, touch, grab, push, pull various items that are used during a test. Example: layout several cards with pictures and ask Christina to point or pickup one of the cards with a particular picture. Christina can see the cards, decide which card is correct, make an attempt to grab or point said card. Christina has difficulty controlling her movement so as she tries to move her arm and hand into place it can be jolty(for lack of a better word). Christina needs extra time to get her muscles to do as she wishes. And the muscles have a tough time hearing/listening to her instructions. If the card is laying flat on the table, it is very difficult for Christina to grab the card. If she tries to point her arm may stop before reaching the target card, give it time and she will get there. But Christina may push or touch other cards while reaching her goal. The tests do not take into consideration physical setbacks.

Let's end on a happier note:

Christina has been doing wonderful in school. Her communication device came and we are looking forward to see how Christina does. Christina is going to use an iPad for her device with communication software. She has used an iPad before in speech and does well.

Christina is not feeling well today. Lots of hugs and cuddles for the princess.

Get well soon Christina.

Daddy's Log 20110404 Supplemental

Time has continued with its elusive behavior. I could use a couple more hours in the day. Whether those hours would be best spent working or sleeping has yet to be decided. I've have been fighting off a bit of a cold and it has slowed me down.

Christina and I had a good weekend. Saturday the princess was her typical cuddly self as soon as we got home. We went to see some friends at the bowling alley and the noise had Christina a little startled. She wanted up from her chair and I obliged for a little while. It wasn't long and she was smiling and talking with everyone. Christina was even happy enough for pictures.

Sunday we ventured to the mall. We played a lot and then went for our walk. After some mellow time at home she still did not nap much. It showed Sunday night shortly before bath. The energetic four year old had run out of steam. Yea daddy. With a good nights sleep Christina was ready to go about six. It worked out well getting ready for school with her getting up a little earlier.

Daddy's Log 20110404

I have been working on the pictures and videos pages. The pictures page lays out well. The downside is the number of pictures. I display 100 per page, but it is still not easy to find anything. I would not call it difficult, just not easy. The videos I have opted to upload an mp4 version. It is a smaller file size and plays on most browsers. I have also started experimenting with some of the HTML5 tags. So far success with some learning of the methods used by the hosting service(see note below). The video files are still large, especially starting after the first of the year. I opted to record in HD starting 2011/01/01. I can say this though, watching them is worth every moment it takes to load, but I may be biased.

The pages for the pictures and the videos require a username and password. Please let me know and I can get it setup for you. After a request in court to not have the pictures available to the public I setup the login pages. I love to share the pictures and videos of Christina, just ask.

I am also trying to keep up with the slideshow of pictures. The slideshow page is still available to everyone. Only an email address is needed. This keeps the search engines from indexing the pictures and the spammers and the bots. It has been beneficial in keeping the visitors limited to those who really want to see them. For those who get an email upon update, clicking the link avoids having to enter your email address. If you read your email like I do in plain text the link looks funky. The end is a bunch of characters telling the server "Hey, you gave me the link; let me see the pics". At least for a simple explanation. ;)

I found some more options to display pictures and I will look into it. It looks nice and they market it stating that it is easy to organize and view large amounts of data whether it be news, pictures, feeds, videos, etc. Apparently I fall into the category: "How many pictures?" because it will not be useful for viewing all of the pictures. I'm thinking a replacement for or maybe a supplement to the current slideshow. What I did like are the apps available for the various smart phones allowing them to view this data. That would mean I could see it on the iPod.

Goodnight to all and to all a goodnight.


note: I will say it now as I have to anyone who has asked. If you want a professional site do not use a cheap host. I should rephrase that, even some of the more expensive hosts do not do a good job. For those who understand it is a huge undertaking to attempt to provide service and support while maintaining a level of security. Since I host this blog with an inexpensive provider my expectations are not high; however, it is frustrating when you have to go in and create/edit an access file so an audio file in a standard format will play. Video tags to come.

Saturday we went to the bowling alley. When we first got there I think everyone threw a ball at the same time. Christina was startled and fussed a bit, but once the noise settled all was OK. Christina walked a lot on the multi-colored carpet.




We borrowed an activity chair from school to see how well it would work at home. Although not definite, it worked well in most scenarios. Christina also preferred the activity chair verses the Kid Kart.

Christina took wonderful steps in the gait trainer also. It is amusing and frustrating at the same time as Christina fusses when getting placed in the gait trainer and then takes off cruising around the house. I am looking forward to consistent good weather to give her a workout outside.

The Phenol blocks and Botox have definitely made a difference for Christina. A noticeable difference can be seen as the Botox has reached its peak. Christina's leg and arm movements are much better. She is opening her hands more and her vocalization is amazing.

Christina I am so very proud of you.

The slideshow will be updated within a couple days.

Christina had a message for Daddy using her talker. I really enjoyed her playing it for me and wanted to share.

Getting the blogs updated has become elusive. Dishes are done, tomorrows dinner is in the crock pot, laundry is started, and I have to head to work. So... here is the skinny.

You may have noticed two more links on Christina's blog for pictures and videos. They are working and if you would like to see the 1000's of photos or 100's of videos let me know.
A username and password is required to keep the public out. It was mentioned in court about the slideshow being available to the public so many of you probably already know I ask for an email address. I chose to use an email address to help keep the spammers and automated systems out.

More update to come later.