Determination and a Positive Attitude

Parker is SO determined to walk with less support.  Yesterday evening, he walked all the way to the neighbors house and back (including the steps) just holding on to my fingers.  He was fast too!   Lately, he's been trying really hard to transition between two surfaces that are far enough apart that he has to take a step on his own.  Although he is very close, he hasn't quite mastered that yet.  Last night we got out a different walker that offers very little support and he was so proud of himself that I just had to share.  I really believe that Parker will walk on his own someday and this determination and great attitude is what is going to get him there!

 

 

 

Is Spring finally here?

It's been a rough winter health-wise in the Ladd household.  All of us have had various illnesses and it seems as though at least one of us has been sick with something or another rather consistently since the New Year.   We met our family insurance deductible in record time - hitting the $5,000 mark by January 7th.  Geesh!

Parker was especially sick in January and ended up spending several days inpatient at Children's Hospital.  He has had four GI illnesses since Christmas and respiratory illnesses that come and go all the time.  We are suspecting that he is having some seizures as well but they are brief and I'm having a hard time capturing them on video so I can show his Neurologist what we are seeing.

Alexa has had Influenza A and several yucky GI illnesses over the last 3 months.  The worst for me was a nasty virus I caught in January that landed me in the ER dehydrated and with a whole body rash.  That was sure fun.  Paul gets a minor version of about everything the rest of us get and he also cut his head open pretty good a couple weeks ago.  Luckily it is hidden underneath his hair and he didn't end up with stitches.

Needless to say, we are sick of winter and have been hoping and praying for Spring to come.  This last week was Spring break for the kids and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.   We wanted to have a couple of days to have a fun family adventure but had to wait for Paul to get home.  He was in California for a work conference at the beginning of the week.  Unfortunately by the time he got home, Alexa was throwing up with another bug.  We had to put our plans on hold but on Sunday everyone was feeling well so we took advantage and took the whole family to the Omaha zoo.  It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to get to spend some happy family time together. Of course, our springtime fun didn't last too long because by Monday evening Parker was throwing up but hey at least we got one good day!!

Here are some pics of our first zoo adventure of the year.

The Aquarium is Parker's favorite!

Alexa really likes the Jungle and the Desert Dome

What a cheese-ball!  And yes, I do realize Parker desperately needs a hair cut!

Alexa wants to take a picture with every animal statue we see.  Silly girl.

These monkeys were really interacting a lot with Alexa.  I told her they liked her curly hair!

We love the zoo!   We love Spring!  And we would sure love to all stay healthy for longer stretches so we can have more fun family adventures!!