Index nieuws

Oct 2004

Sunday, 10/31/2004
Halloween
On Friday October 29, Bram had a Halloween parade at school. We all went there, and we enjoyed seeing him participate. He really seems to have found himself his spot in school. Also we think he looked great as Dracula. After the parade there was a little party at school, all kids (including Vera) got a snack and something to drink.
When this was finishing up, we drove to Maplewood. Here a crowd of people gets dressed up and there is live music. We really liked this, met loads of people we know and enjoyed the friendly and happy atmosphere.
Local business owners gave out candy etc, so there was loads for the kids.
On Sunday it was Halloween for real (so the 31st) and we were invited over with people in the neighbourhood for a little party. We carved pumpkins etc. Bram and Vera ended up being too tired to go door to door for trick-or-treat, so we'll see about that next year ;-)

Tuesday, 10/26/2004
Nice event
Just yet Bram tried to pull off his sock, this is quite difficult for him, so it took some time. Vera noticed his efforts and came to stand in front of him. She cheered him on, saying "push, push, push!".
This made Bram pull harder on the sock and it came off. He looked so proudly towards Vera. Vera started cheering, clapping and jumping in a small celebration of his success. Bram in return had his most beautiful smile for her.

Monday, 10/25/2004
Bram is sick again
This morning we had a recheck for Vera with our pediatrician. Her ears were clear now and she got the shots she missed on her well baby visit.
On our way home, we received a phone call from Bram's school, telling us he was bothered very much by his cold and he was not himself. So I drove on to the school right away. As soon as I saw Bram, I decided he needed to see his pediatrician, so I made an appointment for the afternoon.
He was diagnosed with another ear infection and also the cold might be the onset of a sinus infection. So he was prescribed antibiotics again as well as a medicin that should clear up the nose. As the day progressed, he got sicker and sicker, so it was a good descision to be cautious and take him in.

Thursday, 10/21/2004
Vera is wearing a bandage.......

Last Saturday Vera fell in the woods. She was carrying a few rocks and tripped over another one. Most likely she got her right pinky stuck, for this was bleeding heavily from the nail. After doing first aid ourselves, it looked ok. A few hours later it looked even better and the bleeding had stopped. It looked calm, so we put a bandage on it to make it more comfortable. She also had full use of the finger and did not really seem to be bothered by it at all. The nail and fingertip got blue, so we expected the fingernail to come off in time.
On Wednesday night things looked less nice and it was bleeding again, also in this morning. This made me fear an infection was coming up, so I decided to go to the emergency room. There they took a good look at it, soaked it and took 2 x-rays. Now we know for sure that there is no infection, nothing got stuck under the nail and the finger is not broken. She did damage the tip of the bone under the nail, this causes the finger to bleed again as soon as she hits it again.
We can expect the bone to heal by itself, the nail will fall off, but grow back nicely. She now will have to have a bandage for a while, to make sure she doesn't keep hurting it more.
Vera was very good during the whole procedure that did take 3 hours. She cooperated nicely with the examinations and thought everything extremely interesting. The bright red bandage on her finger is considered completley cool and she keeps showing it off. Every once in a while she'll show me another finger, hoping she'll get another bandaid ;-)

Monday, 10/18/2004
Tradition?
On October 10 Vera had her birthday and it seemed as if we might had to cancel her party. We had organised a little party with her friends and parents, but the nights leading to her birthday she was not doing well. During the day she was ok, but on the day itself she was a tad too quiet, we thought.
When we got to her 2yrs checkup the next day, it became clear. Bram got declared healthy again after the ear infection he was diagnosed with 2 weeks before. But Vera now had her 1st ever ear infection. So she got her 1st antibiotics. Since last year Vera also was ill on her birthday (in the Netherlands), we are now fearing that she might be making it into a tradition ;-)
Other than that she is doing very well, she is fast with most goals. She also behaved excellently. Doctor John explained to her what he wanted her to do and she cooperated!
She now weighs 24lbs and is 36 inches tall.

Bram now wears glasses
On September 27 Bram had a scheduled eye doctor appointment, she has been seeing him regularly over the past years.
summary of the findings:

good news: his eyes did not deteriorate after January of this year

good news: he does not have a "lazy eye", as I was fearing since the beginning of the summer when he started squinting his one eye all the time

not so good news: Bram has a different eye condition that appears between 3 and 5 years of age and that causes his squinting.

That is why he now did get glasses anyway. His eyes are needing those also and the chances that he'll actually wear the glasses are greater than they were in January. Most important reason is that the necessity is bigger, because it might help his eyes keep straight and reduce the squinting. Apparantly he is doing that to correct the "seeing double", that is caused by his eye turning outward. The squinting though puts him at risk of not developing the eye that he closing all the time, with the risk of never being able to see depth.
The first step is hoping that the glasses have the desired effect. After that his eye might need to be patched, to make the other eye work harder. If these things do not work sufficiently, he will need surgery to correct the eye muscle. The problem is a neurological one: the brain sends wrong information to the eye muscle.
Bram was at a higher risk of developing this condition because his Down syndrome, but all kids have a certain risk.
If you'd want more information, check out: http://www.pedseye.com/Exotropia.htm.

Bram has started school again
On September 9 Bram started the regular school year. As it turned out, he got used to the routine again fairly quickly after his vacation. The fact that the days now are longer than during the summer program, did not make too much of a difference to him. He now goes 5 days from 9am till 3pm, which means that he gets on the bus at 8:45am and is back home at 3:30pm.
He really seems to like it.
It's now about 6 weeks after his start and we see him making subtle progress. He is using a few more words and has more sounds that he before could not make. Also his hand movements are more precise. It goes without saying that we are extremely proud of him.
© Wilma & Erik van de Pol, 2000-2008