October 21, 2012 - On a Roll

A lot has changed since I last wrote. Being in school full-time has made it difficult for me to find the time to write. Between Organic Chemistry, Physiology, Biology, and all of their labs, I hardly have time to do anything other than study. I guess I had better get used to it.

The last time I wrote, Aiden had been off oxygen for a couple of days. He did really well for about a week and then he picked up a virus and started struggling again, so we had to put him back on oxygen. About a month ago, he was doing really well and we decided to try taking the oxygen off again. Other than a few times when we had to put him back on for a few hours, he has stayed off. It's so nice to not have to lug heavy oxygen tanks around with him wherever we go. And you can tell he feels so free. With his newfound freedom, he has really begun to come out of his shell. He crawls around our house at a million miles an hour, getting into everything and trying to keep up with his brother and sister. He is such a happy kid. He is always smiling and making happy noises. He is an absolute joy to have around. I don't know what we would do without him.

We took Aiden in for a follow-up visit with his pulmonologist up at Primary Childrens Hospital a couple of weeks ago and he did a bunch of tests to see how Aiden was progressing. He was very pleased to see him doing so well and his lung x-rays looked much better than before. There are still a couple of other tests we have to have done, but he is really improving. We are so encouraged by his progress.

It won't be long until Aiden is walking. He can stand on his own without falling for quite a while now (he gets a huge kick out of this and laughs and claps while he's standing there). He can walk along while we hold his hand pretty well now. I don't think it will be long until he's walking around on his own.

Sky is doing well at school. He loves his teacher and is having a really good time. He is also taking piano from Kandice Gardner. He likes the idea of being able to play the piano, but so far he's not very thrilled with the idea of practicing. He is getting much better, though. He's a really good big brother and enjoys playing with Jazzy and Aiden. He's getting pretty excited for Halloween. He hasn't totally decided what he wants to be yet, but he can't wait.

Jasmine is working her way out of her "terrible twos". She's almost three and a half, but she has a little bit of terrible left in her. We're hoping the terribleness ends before she turns twelve. She so darn cute, though. She loves her grandpa. Whenever we go to grandma and grandpa's house, she is always so excited to see him. She loves talking to him on the phone, too. She loves her grandma, too, of course. She loves spending time with her and having grandma read to her. But Jazzy and grandpa have a special bond. She is in a dance class at the Legacy Center and she absolutely loves it. She was feeling left out because Sky was going to school and she couldn't, so since she loves to dance around the house, we sent her to dance class. Now she goes to "school" too.

Amaraa's mom is coming to live with us again this week. She went home to Mongolia for about six months and she will come and stay with us for a while now. Amaraa and the kids are really excited for her to get here.