Adventures in Potty Training

But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 

a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:26-28

I started out this morning reading the Bible like I so often do. My boys were still sleep and my husband was resting before work. These verses in the book of Matthew really stuck out to me. So much so, that I found myself praying to be encouraged to persevere (with a good attitude) and press into Jesus.

My plans were to get my son off to preschool and clean and organize my home and catch up on some well needed loads of laundry.

And then... my oldest son woke with what appeared to be pink eye starting or an irritated eye. I knew today was going to be a sick day for him.

I decided to seize the day and potty train my youngest, AaronMatthew. I had set aside time towards the end of this month to potty train, not intending to potty train this early, but eh. house chores can wait.

Thus, the verse above in Matthew becomes applicable and so does my prayer. I got to become servant of all to my son and gave up almost every waking moment of time today. I get to do it tomorrow and the next day and whatever days and times lay ahead to dedicate it to solely potty training. God knew I was going to need those verses to get me through this day. Its a lot of work and self-sacrifice. I wanted to give up several times but I drew strength from the Lord and my network of people I quickly put together to pray for us and cheer us on.   

I pushed liquids with AaronMatthew all day. The more I would get him to drink, the more he would pee. 

Many times when I put him on the potty, especially after a piddle, he would get frustrated at me. He cried, yelled, hit and tried to throw a toy car at me. He wouldn't pee for a few minutes while sitting on the potty and would continue to cry. I knew he was holding his pee and he preferred to just find a random place to squat. This is where my prayer this morning for perseverance (with a good attitude) would come in... These fits of frustration happened several times for him today. They would immediately go away once he peed on the potty. I kept a calm and good patient attitude and encouraged him in love and cheered him on.

 

AaronMatthew did so awesome! He peed 10 times on the potty and my husband got him to poop on the potty. He had 4 big pee accidents. Two of which were my fault because I wasn't paying attention and he piddled 4 times. One time he went into the bathroom, sat on his potty and peed all by himself without me giving him encouragement to do so!! And he is diaper-free tonight. The plan is not to go back to diapers. 

Pincer Grasp

AaronMatthew's Special Education teacher gave us some puzzles to work on this next week as he works on developing his pincer grasp.

What might come easy to most 3 year olds is challenging to AaronMatthew. It is challenging for him to grasp a tiny object with his thumb and index finger, (known as the pincer grasp). AaronMatthew tends to use 3 or 4 fingers to pick up an object instead of 2.

The pincer grasp is a developmental milestone which occurs neuro-typically between 9 and 11 months of age. Babies generally will use all of their fingers to pick up a toy, spoon or Cheerios.  Then they will refine the skill with their thumb and their index finger. Children with Down Syndrome will generally develop this fine motor skill a little later.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          AaronMatthew needs encouragement to use the pincer grasp and reminders of how to do it at first. But once we work on it for a few minutes, he gets the hang of it and is able to do it for himself and does not need the reminders. AaronMatthew learns best through repetitiveness and copying, especially with action and song.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         AaronMatthew wanted to see if he could pick up the puzzle with both of his index fingers.

3 Year Pediatric Cardiology Check-up

A total answer to prayer! How Great is Our God!!

AaronMatthew had his 3 year pediatric cardiology check up. It started with a echo cardiogram of his heart. We were pleased to get great results back from that test which showed any leakage he had is totally gone and he has completely healed. The mitral valve is also completely healed and isn't leaking either! The Pediatric Cardiologist said he did not need to take antibiotics before dental procedures and there is no need to worry for infections. He is in the clear. She said we could make our next appointment to see her in 2 years, when AaronMatthew is 5 years old.

 Psalm 147:3 

He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.

AaronMatthew and His Big Brother

AaronMatthew absolutely adores his big brother Tres and wants to be like him in every way!

Tres has literally taught him almost everything he knows. Because of his big brother, he can drink and eat on his own, walk, stack blocks, play with hot wheels, copy over 50 words and signs...

to name a few... 

Tres adores AaronMatthew too!

We really didn't need to teach Tres to look out for his little brother. He just does. He tries to protect him from harm. Like this day, he saw AaronMatthew walking around church (without knowing I was watching) and grabbed his hand. He wanted to help him up the stairs.

These two are literally best buddies!

The Flat Head & Helmet

I didn't like the shape of AaronMatthew's head. It was flat in the back and almost sideways-egg-shaped. I requested a helmet to reshape his head. Babies with Down tend to have flat heads. Many times they have low muscle tone and spend most times on their backs as infants. I couldn't put my son on his belly because he couldn't tolerate it with his open-heart surgery.

Unfortunately, we should have gotten a helmet at 3 months of age. The earlier the better. But we got one at 8 months old. We were late in the game and the window of reshaping his head was closing.

The place that did the helmet said he would probably need it until he was 18 months old to fully correct his head.  In the process of that time, we had moved from Detroit, Michigan to St Paul, Minnesota.

Once in Minnesota, we saw a Cranial Surgeon who said AaronMatthew's head was off a little, but not a lot. He suggested we discontinue the helmet because it wouldn't do him any good at 13 months old. He explained that it would just be uncomfortable for him and we missed our window when the head grows the most and is most pliable. He further explained that people with Down usually have "flat heads" and that it is a defining characteristic of a Down person.

I didn't like that comment! You know why??? Because many infants with Down Syndrome have low muscle tone and get flat heads because of it! I said, "It doesn't have to be that way! He doesn't need to be characteristic Down Syndrome!"

Needless to say, my pride got in the way. I had a difficult time accepting that my child was continuing to "fit the mold" of Down Syndrome. I felt the mold should be broken. I got on the defensive and even mentioned that he could be suggesting my child wasn't "good enough" for a "normal" round head! (That wasn't true at all-- Just me overthinking all of this in my frustration.)

The problem was the care we received in Detroit. He spent so much time at Children's Hospital, but his Pediatrician was at a different hospital with a different health system in Detroit. We absolutely loved his Pediatric Cardiologist at St John Hospital where he was born and didn't want to switch. Because of that, I was the only point of contact between the doctors. I had to do research myself and push for the helmet and gastric tube. He should have received both things many months prior. My advice for a person in this situation, stick with one hospital system.

And Tres wanted to be like his little brother with a helmet...