Spiderman

So, most people who know me know I am not a fan of characters. Meaning, I don't really allow (or want) my kids to wear things (clothes) that have characters on them. I have always thought it was cheesy, meant for babies, and cheap looking. Now fast forward nearly four years, and I have a little boy OBSESSED with Spiderman all of a sudden. My brother accidentally bought the Spiderman 3 movie last year and gave it to Ethan. He had no interest in it. A year later, he is wanting to watch it 24/7. He wants Spiderman everything! He cried when I asked him what sweatshirt he wanted to wear and he said "spiderman" and I told him, "you don't own a spiderman sweatshirt." Well I guess I have caved... I so long for Ethan to be as "normal" as possible and I see other kids liking super heroes, so I gave in. I have bought him spiderman stuff. I know, it was a big step for me! My mom was shocked! Now, let's not be crazy, he can only wear the spiderman shirts as pajamas, but he is happy. And I am happy as well, that he is doing things that other three year olds do!

Oh and as a side note, those sweatshirt were purchased by Kathi (with my blessing!)

Exit the Real World

This weekend my mom came to visit from Montana. We had a great time. It was too short of a trip. I wish we could make it home more often, but travel for us is difficult. We picked up Ethan an early birthday gift from exitrealworld. http://www.exitrealworld.com/ We bought him a custom made skateboard. He has shown a lot of interest in skate boards lately and Jesse was set on getting him one. Luckily for us, Ethan has always had great gross motor skills, and has always been into sports. I am looking forward to watching him progress on the skateboard! Even Theo was excited for the board. Here is a little video of our future star...

Roloff Farms

We had a great time going to the pumpkin patch for Theo's birthday yesterday. He sure loves getting dirty! Here are some pictures-

Happy 1st Birthday Theo!

1st birthday

Well we are about to embark on a very busy week. We had a great weekend in Yakima. It was so nice to see everyone and April did a great job with the boys photographs. I am so excited to see the final result. This week will mark Theo's first birthday. I can't believe he will be one. On Thursday (his actual birthday) Jesse is going to take the day off of work and his parents are going to come down. We plan on heading to the pumpkin patch for a day of celebrating. Then on Friday we are having a Halloween party with the neighbor kids. Then on Saturday my mom will be here! YEAH! She has yet to see our house, and I am looking forward to seeing her. It is going to be a great week. Happy Birthday to my little angel.

Playdates

Well the last two days I have had some playdates for Ethan. On Thursday we had one of his preschool classmates come over to our house. I met his mom randomly at a class the school district was giving a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time. Ethan was his usual wild self (he is especially excited when people enter his domain) but that was OKAY. Today we went to the first play date for a group that has just formed for children (and parents of children) with special needs. It is so much more relaxing to have a playdate with other parents who are aware of your child's issues, and are OK with it. I didn't feel any pressure to make sure Ethan acted a certain way or behaved like a robot. I had a great playgroup in Yakima (hi April, Nicki, and Debbie) but have hit some bumps here in Oregon. I have met up with a few moms and never heard back from them, for whatever reason. Now that Ethan is almost four, the differences between him and "typical" children are becoming much more obvious. He can't really communicate with most people, which is a problem in and of itself, but it also leads to other problems. He can't communicate to say he wants his toy back or that someone is getting too close to him, etc. It makes me feel like I am not alone, to see other parents going through the same struggles as I am. Anyhow, it is a good thing to be making these connections with others, and it is a positive experience for Ethan as well. On a less serious note, Theo got his first hair cut last night (in preparation for pictures this weekend) and he looks so grown up. He looks like such a little man, no more baby curls!

Microcephaly

Just wanted to type up a quick blurb about microcephaly. Many of you are unsure of what it is.
Microcephaly is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which the circumference of the head is more than two standard deviations smaller than average for the person's age and sex. Microcephaly may be congenital or it may develop in the first few years of life. The disorder may stem from a wide variety of conditions that cause abnormal growth of the brain, or from syndromes associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Two copies of a loss-of-function mutation in one of the microcephalin genes causes primary microcephaly.
In general, life expectancy for individuals with microcephaly is reduced and the prognosis for normal brain function is poor. The prognosis varies depending on the presence of associated abnormalities.
Infants with microcephaly are born with either a normal or reduced head size. Subsequently the head fails to grow while the face continues to develop at a normal rate, producing a child with a small head and a receding forehead, and a loose, often wrinkled scalp. As the child grows older, the smallness of the skull becomes more obvious, although the entire body also is often underweight and dwarfed. Development of motor functions and speech may be delayed. Hyperactivity and mental retardation are common occurrences, although the degree of each varies. Convulsions may also occur. Motor ability varies, ranging from clumsiness in some to spastic quadriplegia in others.
Generally there is no specific treatment for microcephaly. Treatment is symptomatic and supportive.

Here is the link to our old blog if anyone wants a blast from the past...
http://diaryofadeployment.blogspot.com/

The beginning...

Well I am going to try and start blogging again. I found my old blog (some of you will know to which I am referring) Diary of a Deployment from 2004. It was such a nice thing to go back and re-read my posts. It was like taking a walk through the past or reading Ethan's baby book. I am going to print it out and save it so I can read it later in life.
Anyhow, a lot has changed since Jesse was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and I thought I should start a new blog. We have a new baby (who now is almost one!) We have moved to Oregon and we are a different family.
I haven't done very well at keeping up with family emails like I used to. So I am going to try and blog once a week or post new pictures to keep everyone updated. I also want to use this blog as a forum to discuss microcephaly (what Ethan has) with my friends and family and other families struggling with this diagnosis.
More to follow soon I promise!