Mr. Logan

Well we have some updates and there really isn't a good way to start, so I will just dive right in. Anyone who has been a follower of our blog might have noticed that Logan has been a bit behind his sisters in terms of development. At 11 months he still does not roll over or sit up. He has trouble eating and using his hands or arms. He is starting to grab at things and will even shake the rattle back and forth. These are all good signs but....

About a week and half ago we had our Developmental Pedi follow up. As expected the girls are great, right on target for the actual age and way ahead for their adjusted age, we couldn't be happier. As for Logan, we kind of knew what the diagnosis would be and this appointment would just make it official. The reason for Logan's developmental delays are because he has Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement. Or to speak English, at some point in the womb or very shortly after birth Logan suffered some sort of brain injury, the result of which will leave him with some physical and mental disabilities that will never get worse but never get any better. At this age it is impossible to tell the extent of his disabilities or for that matter his potential abilities. People with CP can have full motor skills but simply can't close their left hand, on the other end of the spectrum some will never walk or talk. The key is to get him as much therapy as we can try to maximize what ever his body and mind will let him do. He is in for a fight every step of the way, steps that will go on for the rest of his life. It will most likely be years before we know the extent of his development, so for now we just wait. For more info on CP check out this Wikipedia page on CP here.

In the mean time we are waiting on some results from an MRI that he had today. Poor guy had to be put under anesthesia. He did great though and we now just wait to hear from the Neurologist hopefully tomorrow. We are still putting together a plan but hope everything will fall into place quickly.

One last thing I want to say, Amy-Jo and I debated whether or not to post this information for the world to read. I fought hard to do so and I thought I should explain why for any that would question my motives. My son is in for a life long fight, both physical and mental that will make even the simplest things difficult. And not to mention this world is cruel to anyone that is labeled as "different" and this could be his biggest fight. I plan to prepare my son for these challenges and as far as I'm concerned that starts with opening up to the world and not hiding behind or denying his disabilities. He is different but that isn't a bad thing. Logan is still a happy boy who is always smiling and laughing. He has two sisters and a mom and dad who love him no matter what, and to us he is PERFECT. The thing I want him to know is he has done nothing wrong, this is just the hand he was dealt and we will teach him to handle anything that may come his way, good or bad.

Come and get em...

We are working on an update, below are some pictures to tide you over. Prepare for picture overload...

Lizy doing the "Dragon" to herself in the mirror. The "Dragon" is a thing Lizy and Madi do, basically they snort through their nose like a dragon. Hilarious I tell you, and Lizy doing it in the mirror here was great.

Teething? Who's teething?

Ok so its not easy to see but that is the swing strap Lizy is chewing on. They hang down and both girls attack when they see them.

Lizy standing tall.

What Mom? Never seen babies crawl down the hall before? We'll be good we promise, he he he!

Logan hanging out under the loudest baby toy you have ever heard. When we fire this bad boy up our neighbors call to complain.

This seems innocent enough, until you realize Lizy has Madi pinned against the couch. You would like to think this was an accident, but I don't think it was.

Thanks Lizy the couch looked a little to dry.

Ok so what you can't see, Logan is laying in the boppy Madi is standing on. We break this toy out and the girls attack Logan, not sure why but it happens pretty close to every time.

Logan just kicking back to enjoy a good book.

The greatest Christmas gifts ever, not the toys, the boxes. Girls had a blast with these until they decided to start eating them and we had to take them away.

I know I dropped something else under here, now where did it go.

Like I said every time this toy shows up the girls attack. Here they decide to give Logan double trouble.

I don't think she had this sippy cup thing figured out just yet.

Hey Lizy you missed a spot there is still a dry area by Madi's head.

Ya this is not going well at all.

Girls hanging out.

Lizy doing the "Dragon". Honestly they do this back and forth like its their own personal form of communication, it NEVER stops being funny.

Logan's big smile.

AWWWWW!

Yes still teething.

I wish I could say we posed them like this but they actually ended up this way.

Pretty sure this picture only made the cut because Madi is wearing boys clothes and Mommy thought she looked "oh so cute".

Girl talk, I wish I could translate but it sounds like babble to me, when Madison is talking it is high pitch screaming.

Logan was forced to wear a sweater, lets just say I owe him one.

Busted! Lizy caught behind the Lazy-Boy finding trouble.

Madi helping Logan in the jumper.

Again not posed.

Classic Lizy face, always into something.

Naked Madi!

"Eyes they help us see our friends" Elmo singing to Lizy.

Madi most likely watching some Baby Crack.....errr I mean Praise Baby.

So the swing still calms Logan down so we keep it around, as you can see it continues to work.

Escaping into Mommy and Daddy's bedroom.

Mommy, we don't know how the toy got tipped over. Maybe Blue did it?

Look closely and you can see the Logan spit up on the back of Lizy's head. The funny part is this was at our Developmental Pediatrician appointment and AJ would not clean her until she snapped like 5 pictures. Poor Lizy didn't know what hit her, literally had no idea.

Look at those eyes, how could you say no?

Ditto.

And the first word is...

Today is one of the greatest days ever, one of our children said their first word. Who could it be, what was the word???

Lets just say that there is one word I would not say for the longest time in our house and that is Dada, I always said that person or that man to the kiddos because I did not want that to be their first worddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd........

Dada in control of this blog now. First, I would like to announce there is a spot open as my favorite child, Logan and Lizy first to say Dada gets the opening. To Madi it was a good run but you have made your decision.

Second, if any of you knew the extreme measures AJ has taken to ensure this day would come it would be disbelief. There was the before mentioned not calling me by name (this really happened she is not kidding). There was the "Mama" song she would sing at every meal, playtime, bath time, etc. This song had but one word, Mama. I am almost certain she threatened the kids with only eating peas if they said Dada first. All of this has paid off as of course today Madi finally ended the suspense.

Finally, I wish there was a hidden camera that recorded AJ in the minutes after Madi said "Mama". Imagine hitting the game winning shot, or last minute field goal to win the super bowl. There was jumping, screaming, more jumping, and I think the info was on Facebook in less then 45 seconds. Congrats Mama you win this round but the war is far from over!

Finally a Christmas Update!

Ok so after a week or so of AJ bugging me, and then a couple days of my Mom bugging me I finally decided it was time for another post. Its been a busy few weeks with the holidays and all so get ready for lot-o-pictures!

I guess I started this thing where I put the kids in boxes, etc. For some reason I find it funny and the kids seem to think so as well. We were using this box to block the kids from the kitchen, it did not work, well until I put Lizy in it!

Here is Madison getting some reading in while sitting in the diaper box.

This one cracked me up, Logan in the top to our wrapping paper box. He was laughing so hard before this picture he almost fell over.

Our Nanny/Babysitter Kaity. She is a life saver, we honestly could not have made it through the year without her! Thank you so much Kaity!

So Logan has some pretty good curls and a TON of hair. It's mostly out of control all the time so we have been experimenting with a few different looks. Let us know what you think.

The Classic Gentleman's Look.

I call this the Mad Scientist.

And finally the rock star.

To keep things even here are a few of the girls then we can start the Christmas pics.

Madison wakes up about once a week half undressed, she finds this to be hilarious.

This is the greatest picture of Lizy, AJ didn't even realize she got such a good shot of this face. This is the face she makes when she is about to do something she shouldn't, we see this face a lot!

Now on to Christmas. What a day, the kids really wore Mommy and Daddy out. Trying to wrangle them and open gifts was a LONNNNGGG day. For the most part they were not into the presents, mostly the paper and the boxes. Logan cried every time we opened a present in front of him, so he didn't get to open many. All in all it was a fun day.

I would like to say we did not travel home to Michigan but we were so "lucky" as to get a white Christmas anyway. AJ thought this was a funny pick with the snow and the Palm Trees.

Our tree with all the presents. Before you freak out this is from all of the family as well and lets just say when grandparents and great grandparents of triplets live across the country they tend to go all out for Christmas.

The kids ready to attack.

Lets get this show on the road!

Daddy before the storm.

Blue was the first to open a gift.

The girls finally get their own cell phones so they can stop playing with Mommy and Daddy's. This was their favorite gift hands down.

Logan and his new dog.

We put bows on the kids heads all day, for some reason this entertained them.

Lizy eating her new rubber ducky.

Logan enjoying his new car, thanks Santa!

You can see how into this the girls were, Lizy is playing with a toy she has had for 3 months and Madi is eating the paper.

The drum, their second most favorite!

Mommy and the kids.

Still works!

What an awesome shirt you say? Where can you get one? Glad you asked, check out our good friend Casey Gerwer's website http://www.designedforbabies.com/ for this and other great items for Mom's, Dad's, and babies.

Madison playing with Blue's new toy.

The girls really thought this box was awesome.....errr I mean present.

Happy Madi showed up for a few hours.

Long morning time for a nap, and no we are not done with presents.

Blue was whipped so nap for him as well.

Mom trying to nap, HA right.

Ok so after a quick lunch and long nap we get a costume change and return to opening gifts. Only to find Mommy and Daddy finished while the kids were asleep!

Lizy found herself in the middle of presents and with this outfit I thought this was like a Where's Waldo picture

AJ's new "toy". You have no idea how happy this made her.

A few days later my Mom and step dad arrived with you guessed it, more presents.

Madi tasting some more paper.

Look how big this gift is guys.

Its the greatest box ever! The girls beat on this box for an hour, its their new favorite toy.

Our family Christmas photo, the kiddos were not too thrilled on this day.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE JONATHON!!