Crazy Busy Week!

Wow, this past week it felt like I was going nonstop!! Let's see Monday Elizabeth had swimming lessons in the evening and for FHE(ish) we stayed and I put my swimming suit on(Tony's wasn't in the swimming bag like we thought it was) and Elizabeth got to play at the fun little kid section of the pool. Devin put his new suit on and was pretty hesitant at first, eventually he started having lots of fun with the water fountain type part of it, and by the end he even ventured out into the water a bit to investigate a fun fish. Elizabeth had sooo much fun playing at the pool, it was a great way to spend the evening! Tuesday afternoon Devin had an evaluation at the Children's Center in Salt Lake, which went pretty well. We decided that since Devin is now getting so much help from Davis Early Intervention that it isn't necessary to take him there at this time, but if when he's outgrown the Early Intervention program, we still would like help with his "issues" there's a lot they can do for him.  He may also do a play group through them as well if they have room for him in one of the sessions.  It was a good visit.  I had left Elizabeth in her room for her "quiet time" until my mom got done working from home then she got her out and watched her and got her ready for dance/tumbling. Tony took off a little early to be there to take her to her class.  We got back just as they were getting ready to leave.  My dad kept an eye on Devin while my mom and I went to a Relief Society activity, which was a great reminder to get back to the basics, and how important the simple basic, "Sunday school" answers are in our lives.  Wednesday my cousin Mary came down and watched Elizabeth in the morning while I took Devin to his playgroup, he did really well this time I was impressed!  He still freaked out anytime anyone, especially any of the other kids came close to him, but that's what he's there working on. When we got. back Mary stuck around and had lunch with us, then after I put Devin down for his nap, and finished getting Elizabeth ready, we drove to Taylorsville for her dentist appointment, while Mary kindly stayed with Devin as he napped.  Elizabeth did pretty good....she's still really apprehensive about the hygienist using any of the "tools" on her teeth, so she just brushed her teeth real good, then they did the x-rays which she totally rocked! They didn't have to redo any of them.  Then while we waited for the dentist she and the hygienist played dentist on Elizabeth's stuffed dog, Puppy Paws that she had brought with her.  It was too cute!  The hygienist was wonderful at playing along with her, it really helped loosen Elizabeth up.  When the Dentist came over he had Elizabeth count her teeth with him, she was amazed she had 20 teeth!  And NO CAVITIES!! He said they looked great, which is what we love to hear!  When I checked us in I gave them our new address and was not looking forward to telling them we were going to have to find a dentist office closer to us....lucky for us the receptionist came in a little into the visit and informed us that he is opening an office in Farmington!! YAY!!!!  So on our way out I scheduled appointments for both kids at the new office.  I'm so relieved as I really love how good with kids and nice this dentist is, and he has the best hygienists ever! Happy day!  That night was swimming lessons and again afterward we all went swimming(as we found Tony's swimsuit), Tony took a very excited Elizabeth down the BIG water slide, she was begging to do it, and asked him to go again and again and again!  Devin had a lot more fun in the kiddie section this time around as the "sprinkler" parts weren't going at first, so he even learned to go down the little slide there, though I always had to be there to catch him.  He really enjoys turning all the wheels(that are used to control the different sprinkler effects, when they're on).  Then eventually the sprinklers came on and he just wanted to play in the fountain type ones again.  It was a very fun night!  I helped get the kids dressed then Tony took them home and I stayed and soaked in the hot tub for a while....it felt so good!  Thursday my amazing cousin Mary agreed to watch Elizabeth for me again as Devin had his feeding therapy evaluation at the Primary Children's Rehab Clinic.  Since it's in Bountiful I dropped Elizabeth off at her house in Farmington, on our way. Devin met with a feeding therapist/nutritionist, after she glanced at his 3 day food diary, and noting that she didn't have a lot to work with, she did some nutrient level tests, then we went straight into watching him eat.  They had me bring a food he would eat and a food he wouldn't eat(it was really hard trying to decide on the food he wouldn't eat as that leaves just about ANYTHING!) he ate his bread pieces and bit of string cheese no problem, then she offered him the apple slices I brought and he picked it up looked at it like it was purple and oozing puss, put it to his mouth(probably just to impress the therapist) got a disgusted look on his face put it back on the plate and pushed it away.  She then tried giving him some applesauce from a cup(which preciously he has refused) and he ate it just fine!  Then she offered him Mandarin oranges which he completely refused, as well as the green beans and soup.  We talked while he played with some toys, she said it was definitely time to give him PediaSure as he was definitely NOT getting the nutrients he needs.  She said she suspects his weight isn't dropping because most of what he eats are starches and if not needed in the body starches turn to fat, so his weight would imply he's fine, but the amount of needed nutrients is extremely low in his body....and obviously this can cause serious problems eventually.  She also told me not to expect miracles.  She would do her best and try everything she knows to help Devin expand his diet but he has complete control over this area of his life, and that living off PediaSure(and eventually Ensure when he gets older) is not the end of the world...not ideal, but not as horrible as it sounds.  But when a child eats so few foods by choice, meaning he is capable of eating anything he wants but chooses to only eat a very few certain things, it's hard to add hundreds of foods to his diet, it will be hard to add even 3 new foods, as it will be completely his choice.  But in the meantime whether he decides eating more foods is something he wants to do or not, we know he's getting the nutrition he needs to thrive.  It was good and informative visit.  We visited with my cousin and aunt for a while when picking up Elizabeth, who would have been content to stay forever I'm pretty sure!  But eventually we did have to be on our way home.  When I got home I got a call back from The Children's Center who I had contacted about Elizabeth.  One of their therapists talked to me about our concerns with her, and hopefully we'll get her an appointment set for next month this week.  That evening we did our needed grocery shopping for our first camping trip of the season at Antelope Island that weekend!  And that is where I'll leave you, as I'm going to do a separate post about our camping trip.  There are some pictures of our swimming fun on Tony's phone I'll try to get posted soon. :)