Waiting for an End to Cold/Flu Season!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I guess I'm just lazy! It's those winter blahs that hit this time of year. I'm really getting ready for some nicer weather and the END of cold and flu season!! Friends of ours have been sooo sick, the whole family! Especially their four year old son, who also happens to be Owen's best bud! They go to the same pre-school and Owen really misses him and wants him to come over and play! The poor little guy had RSV (with pneumonia!) and then got hit with a stomach flu. He's lost some weight and has had a hard time keeping enough fluids and food in his belly. It has occupied my thoughts for days now!! We really hope that the little guy and his family will be on the mend soon!!

Everyone here has been well. No news is good news...right! Kaitlyn has had some odd secretions, by times seeming thicker than normal, other times seeming pretty dry, and then sometimes I look over and she's drooling! CRAZY! She's just keeping us on our toes. In spite of all this she is fine and not acting sick or like there is anything particularly wrong. In fact, Tim and I have both commented recently that she seems to be more communicative lately. She's even making an effort to say two to three word sentences. My favourite....."I laaaaAAA Dora"!!! (LaaaAAA is love in Kaitlyn speak)

Today I asked her if I could lay her down that my arms and back were sore and she shook her head no!! LOL I've never seen her do this....and she was all grins while doing it, and looking like she knew EXACTLY what she meant. Raising her eyebrows with an impish grin like she was challenging me to disagree!! I asked her several times and got the same answer every time. She has been wanting to be held A LOT lately. I think that she likes the change in perspective and she seems to tolerate her secretions really well when somebody is holding her. We place her in a sitting position in our lap and hold her head in our hand. This also allows her the freedom to turn her head from side to side, which is how she was able to turn her head from side to side to tell me NO.

I think sitting up more may be encouraging her to communicate, but unfortunately she is so heavy and cannot help support any of her weight. We haven't any specialized seating that we can put her in. Kaitlyn needs full body support in order to sit up. We would need specialized seating with a lot of support, a TLSO(body brace) and some sort of specialized head and/or neck support. Of course these things cost money. Currently we are still trying to get her into a power chair. It's been a year and counting! This would be huge, did I say huge, for Kaitlyn. She really needs to be able to follow her brothers, make some of her own choices, get up off of the floor and start living a little!!

This is Kaitlyn sitting up playing a computer game. She tolerates this really well some days. But we cannot do it for long, only a few minute at a time, as her body is not supported properly.