EEG was normal

So, that is good news. The neurologist said it was totally normal and that is very encouraging. However, he said he would not rule out seizures entirely since what we are describing does, indeed, sound like seizure activity. No meds, etc, at this time, which I am totally fine with. I don't want to start medicating her if we don't have to. She is not in any danger, they don't hurt her, etc, so we are just going to wait and see.

She did awesome at the appt- as her comprehension increases we are seeing less anxiety in situations like a doctor's appt, and that is encouraging, too. She was great about answering his questions, making eye contact, etc, which is a huge difference from her appt with him 4 mos ago.

The doc is still incredulous at the decision of the school and wants to write one more letter to try to help us... he is very kind and genuinely seems bothered about this.

I'll say again that every single time I go to Children's I have to take a step back from my own life and realize how incredibly lucky we are. Some of the kids there are so, so sick, and may never get better. From the waiting room we can see the windows of some patient rooms and some of the kids have their names on the windows. One girl, Ella, has had her name there since we were there four months ago and it is still there. I can't even imagine...

Perspective like that is always important when I start getting really down about Mairead. I don't feel 'all better' about it and some days are still really, really hard. But, I get to put her to bed each night and tell her I love her, so I have it pretty good, I'd say.

I have to tell you a few cute things the boys are doing lately. The other morning they running around playing 'tag' and if one falls down, the other says, "Ok? Alright?" And then they get up and run around again.

If they are in different rooms for more than a few minutes, they have to find the other. Jack does this more than Ben. He will walk around asking, "Ben? Are you?" until he finds him and then says, "Oh, there you are!"

They love Blues Clues so my mom gave them each a spiral notebook. They LOVE them. They walk around saying, "Handy dandy...notebook!" They put the crayon through the spirals at the top like Steve does. Jack will run to a chair and say, "Thinking chair!" Then he sits in it with dramatic flair and says, "Ahhh. Think!"

When Ben finds his notebook he says, "Think! Think. Right. Think!"

Mairead is making longer sentences and using language more appropriately all the time. She comes up with such funny little ideas. Recently, she has given names to a few of her little friends (toys), which is a huge step for her. She now understands that everyone has a name, and she has the ability to come up with names for friends where she never did before. Her toy dog is Rainbow, her whale is Patchy, and her duck is... well, Duckie.

Last night she was SO exhausted having been up at 6:15 to go to the doctor and then the appt and then speech. When I put her in her pjs she ran to the door to go to bed and said, "C'mon, Mom... c'mon! Go the bed and have a big dream!" Love that kid!

Valentine's Day Fun

We had another full weekend with friends and family. On Saturday morning, Lily arrived to spend some quality time with her cousins. How cute is this kid? She is SO good about letting Katie dress her in whatever adorable outfits she likes. Lily is walking like a pro and has a great time chasing after Mairead and the boys. It is really fun to watch them all play together. On Saturday night, Nana and Grampy watched all four kids so that we could enjoy dinner out with Katie and her friends to celebrate Katie's 30th birthday again (she is so great that we had to celebrate her twice!).

On Sunday, we took the kids to the Winter Party hosted by the Mothers of Multiples group to which I belong. The kids had a great time running around and playing with the other kids and the fun toys. Jack made friends with a couple of 4 and 5 year old blonde girls... maybe he is going to be a heartbreaker some day.

Oh, Ben...

Ben

Jack

Today, we had a lot of fun celebrating Valentine's Day. I had all kinds of plans last week about making Valentines for family members and mailing them out in time for the holiday, but with all that went on with Mairead it just didn't get done. Sorry, everyone... maybe next year!

There was a little Valentine's Day party at playgroup complete with heart shaped sugar cookies (which none of my kids would eat- they don't know what they are missing) and Valentine's crafts. I love Mondays because the kids have a great time at this group and then the boys take great naps!

For dinner, we had our own little Valentine's Day party with a special table, decorations, and chocolate chip pancakes. The kids opened the cards that Grandma and Grandpa and Rachael sent and Nana brought home some chocolate hearts. Even though the plans I had didn't come to fruition, I wanted to make sure to celebrate in some way. Every day we have with these kids is precious- I know that now even more than I did a week ago- so these little celebrations are important... and adorable.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Valentines Day and that we all remember to celebrate the ones we love!