So Much News!

FIRST, SOME NEW PICTURES!!

I am digging the hair Jack!

My VERY happy girl!

Jack loves to "read" Savannah books

Jack's silly smile!

Our roly poly chubby girl!

Me and red cheeked big boy!

Our little snow bunny!

Sledding with Dad off the deck steps!

I don't know about this Dad!

Bubbles at Kindermusik class

Time to hit the cymbal!

Family picture after swim class with Jack at the Community Y

Jack loves to splash, and to do the hokey pokey at the beginning of class!

I think his favorite part of his swim lesson is when the laundry basket of toys gets brought out and mommy plays with all the boats and squirt guns.

So yes there is lots of news to report! I will start with the most oldest and work my way to the most recent. I haven't written in a long time so this may take ages to read!

1. Jack returned to the eye doctor about a month and a half ago. The pediatric ophthalmologist did not think Jack's eye had shown any improvement since he last saw him. We were so discouraged because we had been working so hard to keep a patch on him all waking hours. That is a very difficult task because guess what? Jack HATES his patch. But we did everything under the sun to encourage him to wear it including bribery. So all of our efforts felt very wasted at that appointment when we got that news. The doctor wants Jack to see a pediatric neuro- ophthalmologist (who knew there was such a thing?) since Jack's lazy eye (amblyopia) is not like a traditional lazy eye. We have an appointment with that doctor coming up next month. In the meantime we are patching a couple of hours each day.

2. Jack recieved his theratogs, something I have been working on with the insurance company for some time now to get approved. Theratogs are a bodysuit system that Jack wears under his clothes that allow straps to be placed in different areas of his torso and pelvis to help him use muscles that his body is not recruiting on its own. Chris has been trained on how to put them on and how to apply the straps. I haven't learned yet. It is a lot of work. Getting any two year old dressed in the morning is a challenge, but with Jack and his foot brace, helmet, hand splint, patch and now Theratogs, it has a whole different meaning to us. He is tolerating them well. Potty training will be another obstacle but I am sure we will find a way.

3. Quick update on me and Chris. Work is going well, still very busy ALL the time but I am grateful for the job security. Lots of poor teeth in Marshalltown. We are expanding to a new clinic with more treatment rooms so that will be exciting this spring. Chris is doing well, March mustache is keeping him entertained (see Facebook if you are curious) and he is doing great with the kids. Every day he impresses me more with the new things Jack is learning (all his colors, new words, puzzles, how to problem solve to figure out ways to do things with one hand) and the cute things he has taught Savannah to do. We finally picked out some new furniture at Homemakers in Des Moines and now we have one less empty room in our house. We love the pieces we picked out. Our friends, Chris and Kelly came to visit a few weeks ago and we had a great time seeing them and catching up. Otherwise, nothing else new.

4. Jack started a parent/tot aquatic class at the Community Y earlier this winter and I was never able to write about it. There just isn't enough time in the day! It is every Tuesday night after dinner. He absolutely LOVES it. He gets so excited to go that we can't even get out his wetsuit until right before it is time to leave otherwise he won't eat any dinner! He loves jumping or should I say falling off the side of the pool into my arms to the different songs we sing. He has learned to kick in the water and blow bubbles. He loves to go down the slide too. We also are doing Kindermusik in Ames every Saturday morning. We did a session of Kindermusik in Iowa City when Jack was about 15 months old and he just loved it. The social interaction with other kids is really good for him and he really enjoys the music. The class in Ames is bigger and Jack definitely is not as good of a listener as some of the other boys but he is more independent and likes to be very social, even when he is supposed to be sitting with me and listening. Oh well, so my kid is going to be popular. I can handle that. :O)

5. Our contact person from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore called this morning and let us know that Jack has been officially accepted as a patient and will be attending their intense therapy experience from April 26- May 26. It is 23 days long, not counting weekends, and Jack will have his own occupational therapist and physical therapist for daily therapy while wearing a cast on his "good" left arm to encourage him to use his weaker right arm for functional play. I will have three weeks off work to go to Baltimore with Chris, Jack and Savannah, and after those three weeks, Chris and Jack will stay and me and Savannah will return home. It will be my first time away from Jack for more than two nights. I am dreading it already but I know it is what is best for him and I am so hopeful that this therapy will bring about some real improvement in the function of his right arm.



We started Savannah on rice cereal a couple of weeks ago and she just loves it. We have learned that we cannot even put her in the high chair until she her cereal is completely mixed and ready to go because she starts to grunt and make so much noise that it drives everyone crazy. The second bowl I gave her I had to pry the spoon out of her fingers and out of her mouth because she was trying to eat that too. She takes after her mother and loves to EAT! She has had green beans, peas and today her first taste of something sweet.... bananas. She loved them too. Surprise, suprise.

My big girl sits up all by herself! Savannah is now 6 months old!

And what is big brother up to?


Guess who went potty in the potty chair?




Yep, you guessed it! Jackson Christopher Lohr made his potty chair sing this morning when he went for the first time in his potty chair. (His potty has a sensor that makes different songs play and congratulates him on his achievement when it detects a deposit. What will they come up with next?) I asked him to smile for me afterwards so I could get a picture and thanks to his Lolli, who taught him to smile silly, he gave me his cheesy smile that makes me laugh too! So Lolli this picture is for you!!