Happy Birthday Joe!!

Happy Birthday to the best Husband in the whole world!! I hope you had a wonderful day!! :) Love you!!

Weekend of Potty Training!!

So this weekend we started potty training! Yesterday was a bit rough. He had easily over 12 accidents. Most of them were after he had gotten up from the potty and hadn't gone.. then as soon as he got out to the living room, BAM, he peed all over the floor. SO by about 5pm I'll admit I was a bit frustrated, and (not wanted to get frustrated at Zach or let him sense that i was frustrated) I said forget it! We'll try again in a couple weeks, and put a diaper back on him.

Well, this morning he woke up dry again, so I thought, ok lets try this again, just to see. So I put him in his underwear and he did SOOO much better!! I couldn't believe it. He only had 4 accidents today, 1 of which was at grandma and grandpa's house, but I think that was just from standing in front of a cold window, lol. So all in all it was a much better day, so we are going to keep trying this week. He is SO proud of himself when he goes in the potty, and loves to flush the toilet after we dump it into the toilet!!

Zach's MRI

Zach had his MRI this morning, and all in all it went really well. He was pretty apprehensive (as he always is in any sort of hospital setting) when we first go there, and was REALLY upset once they started the IV to give him his medication to sedate him. Luckily the nurse we had was an AWESOME IV started who works in the ER up at primary, and he was able to get Zach's IV in on this 1st try (which is unheard of for Zach!!). It took a long time and a LOT of extra medicine to finally knock him out... he was "not a cheap date" according to the nurses, lol (the male nurse who was about Joe's size said Zach had enough meds in him to knock out a grown man). Once they finally got him down, the actual MRI only took about half an hour to 40 min. Then waking him up was really hard to do... the nurse was about to break out the cold wet washcloths when Zach finally opened his eyes. After he drank a couple ounces of juice and kept it down he was good to go. We should hopefully hear the results back early next week. Now he is all snuggly, and sleepy, so its going to be a snuggle filled day here in the Magleby house!

One Miracle after Another!!

So today Zach had his ENT appt with the vocal chord specialist up at Primary. We went in basically because in Jan of 07 Zach was diagnosed with a paralyzed right vocal chord, and his pulm just wanted us to follow up on it to make sure nothing (food/drink) was getting caught up on top of the paralyzed one.

So we go in, go over the normal why we're there, what procedures.surgeries he has had in the past, all kinds of things. Then we got Zach to talk for him a little bit so he could hear how raspy/grunty he is when he talks. And then the Dr. put in a camera through Zach's nose down to see how his good vocal chord moves, and see if it looks like anything was caught up in there. So he looks around for a while looks at a couple different things and then pulls it out and says "Well neither of his vocal chords are paralyzed anymore, that happens sometimes." And my whole brain just went "duh... what?!?!?"lol. I had no idea what to say, i was totally NOT expecting to hear that, so all of the questions i had before we got there no longer applied and i couldn't think of a single thing to ask him! He probably thought i was quite slow, lol. SO basically he said he does have some scarring on his vocal chords probably as a result from being on the ventilator for so long, which is why, even though they both work now, he still has a soft cry. He said as he gets bigger, hopefully that raspyness will wear off and he should someday talk completely normal like anyone else! Also he said that the grunting he uses when he talks is just a way his body has come up with putting that extra emphasis behind what he is saying (since he cant yell or get to that high pitch most people can) and he should grow out of that too!!

So all in all it was an amazing day.. not the day I was expecting to have at all though!! It just amazes me how still (2 years later) we are still seeing these little miracles touch his life. He is such a blessing and seeing everything he has gone through and overcome has been the biggest testimony building experience I have ever been through in my life. We are so lucky to have been entrusted with this little guy and I cant wait to see what other hings he has in store with his life!!

Dot Art fun!!

So, yesterday we made these super cute caterpillar's so naturally.. (since caterpillars turn into butterflies) we made butterflies today! :) We used these super cute dot art things I got a little while ago. Zach had a blast!! he does have this problem with needing to kiss it, lol... SO he had some cute blue lips for a little while, but luckily it washed off by lunch :)

2 Years Adjusted!!!

So today is Zach's 2 year Adjusted birthday! Basically meaning that 2 yrs ago today was his due date. And i must say that this day this year is a much happier day than it was last year! Last year i was still so wrapped up in him making his developmental goals... I thought for sure he would be starting to catch up by his 1 yr adj bday, and when that day came and he was still so far behind, it was a really hard thing for me to cope with.

However because of that (and because of my amazing husband who always is so laid back with this, it has helped me to ease off of it as well) i have learned to just go with it, if he hasn't hit his milestone by his adjusted birthday then oh well.. as long as he is making progress :) And that has helped a lot over the last year. And now, i am happy to report he is caught up to where he should be for his adjusted age!! Its such an exciting thing, and it has been such an amazement to watch over the last 2 years where he started off so far behind, and to see him catching up to other kids his age, it really just touches my heart.

In other exciting news Zach has a busy week this week. He has his physical therapy re-evaluation Wed afternoon, so we will know better after that where he is falling in with his development. Then Thursday he has an appt with a Vocal Chord Specialist. Basically just to follow up on his paralyzed vocal chord, and make sure it isn't hindering any sort of oral development. Also they want to make sure food isn't getting caught up on top of it, since it doesn't move at all. Then on Friday Zach is (finally!) getting his Brain MRI done. His Pediatrician and his Neurologist have been wanting to do this for a long time, but he was on oxygen and then they decided to wait until he was 2 to do it. For that basically they are looking to follow-up on his brain bleeds he had when he was born (Level 2 IVH), and also to check and see if there are any remnants of the "possible" stroke he had when he was so very sick in the NICU. Basically its just a looksie, see whats going on in there and see if anything looks worrisome. When Zach say his Neurologist last Friday she didn't seem too worried that they would find anything bad because he isn't showing any signs at all of having problems resulting from the brain bleeds. Now there are certain things that wont show up until he is in school, such as learning disabilities, ADD, ADHD and all sorts of other things, that could be as a result from it. SO basically like everything else related to Zach's health, we'll have to wait it out and see :)

On another exciting note, we are going to attempt full-blown potty-training this weekend. All weekend long this past weekend Zach would follow me into the bathroom every time i went and go over to his potty and sit on it. And he went pee-pee this weekend in his potty after his nap! And he has started again to wake up from his naps and nighttime dry. SO we figure what the heck lets go for it. Whats the worst that can happen: it doesn't work... oh well! we'll try again later then!! SO wish us good luck with it!! it would be SO fun to have him potty trained!!

Zach Talking

Zach has exploded on his vocabulary! He is starting to repeat pretty much anything you ask him to say!! Its so exciting!!

Neurology Appt today :)

Zach had his follow-up appt today with his Neurologist. She was SO pleased with the progress he has maid since their last appt 4 months ago. She would ask a question not expecting to hear Zach was able to do whatever it was (walk backwards, squat down, run, name 6 body parts) and every time i answered yes she was more and more surprised :) All in all he is just a little behind still in his fin motor skills, but other than that he is right where he should be developmentally for his adjusted age (which will be 2 on Monday!) That was such exciting news!!

She also gave us a referral to get the MRI done that they have been wanting to do on Zach for a while, and now that he is off of oxygen and is 2 it is the perfect time to do so. They want to get a look to see if his brain is showing any signs of the possible stroke he had when he was in septic shock (in the NICU when his intestine perforated). Also they want to check to see what the remnants are of his brain bleeds he had when he was first born. He doesn't seem to show any signs of having brain problems, but (as is the story of our life) its better to check it out just in case :)

Random Cute Picture

Our Little Professor

Here are jsut some cute shots of Zach (of course) i LOVE this outfit!! He looks like a little professor!!

Zach's haircut!

Today when Zach was playing i looked at him and thought, man.. this kid needs a haircut!! So before we went grocery shopping we stopped and got Zach a haircut!! He of course freaked out, and ended up sitting in my lap. He eventually calmed down once the girl gave him her spray bottle... he was so busy squirting water he didnt even notice her cutting his hair!! I was worried that buzzing the back would make his little flat spot on the top of the back of his head more noticeable, but it doesnt seem to be :) He looks about 3 years older, which is so sad lol, but its SO cute!!

4 Generations of Magleby's

On Saturday we went up to Salt Lake to visit Spike (Joe's grandpa) and take Zach up to see him again (we haven't been up to see him since last fall) and get some more pictures for Zach to have of him when he gets older because sadly we aren't sure how much longer Spike will be around (although you never really know no matter what). It was a great trip, and Zach actually let Spike hold him and didn't cry. Zach was a little apprehensive when we first got there because of all the workers wearing scrubs but once he realized we were just visiting and none of the nurses wanted to touch/poke/do anything with him he was fine! It was great to visit with Spike and so great for Zach, hopefully he can have some memories of his Great Grandpa!

Afterwards, we met up with Grandma and went to lunch at Fudruckers :) Zach had a blast "playing" with the video games and stuff while we waited :) He's getting to be such a big boy!!

Happy Halloween!!

Well I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!! We had Such a fun (and busy) day!! To start off the day Joe took Zach into work (in his costume) to kinda show him off :) Joe said Zach had a great time, and then when they came home I had to leave with Zach to his music class. They had told us all the kids could dress up, and every single kid came in costume, the CUTEST costumes!! Then they ended class a little early and let the kids trick-or-treat around the other classrooms! Zach was really getting into it, and was loving everyone else's costumes!

Then after lunch and a nap Zach was up and ready for round 2! We made a "spooky" grahm cracker house (of which he mostly jsut ate the candy!) and then we took off to do Trick-Or-Treating down Main Street in Springville with our great friends The Jones' :) It was SO much fun, and such a great way to trick or treat!! towards the end i got Zach out of the stroller and let him walk and then he really got excited then! He was signing thank you to the people and laughing. He would only carry his bucket for a minute then put it down and walk away, lol. So either Joe or I would end up carrying it :)

Then we took off to visit Dave (Joe's dad) at his office at BYU, and he was SO happy to take Zach around the office and show him off to his colleuges. After that we stopped by JT & Kasaundra's for a visit and then they came with us to Dave & Linda's for some pizza & some more trick-or-treating around Joe's parents neighborhood. It was so much fun!! after a trip around the block, Zach was having a last helping dave pass out candy. He would wait by the door, peering outside and as soon as he would hear kids coming he would get all excited and turn around to let DAve know, then when they would come up to the door he would open it and smile at them and jsut babble! Then he would wave (and say) bye bye to them and shut the door and wait all over again!! If by any chance he wandered away form the door, as SOON as the doorbell would ring he would RUN to the door and wait to help grandpa!!

It was such a fun day, and we had a blast!!