Connor was so excited for his party on Sunday; he was happy to have friends over and especially to play games.  He and Logan were all planning on what games they would be playing.  Before the party, all four of us helped with some preparation; we cleaned up the house and backyard, blew up some balloons, later Connor and I decorated the backyard.  As the party time approached, the boys got more excited, and Stuart got more nervous if the game truck would arrive on time.  Five minutes before 11am, the truck arrived.  The guy was quick with set up and the game truck was ready.  Within minutes, the friends started trickling in; finally ten boys joined Logan and Connor inside the truck to play.  Most of the parents just chatted briefly and took off.  The boys all situated comfortably inside the air conditioned truck playing games, and the truck guy was helpful interacting with them.  Stuart and I along with Ted just hung out in our living room looking through the window to watch for any action from the truck.  During the two hours, while I had offered drinks and snacks a few times, only Connor and Maxim had come out to the backyard for a snack break.  Right before the end of game time, Ted and Marcus had to leave early, and Logan and Rohan also were done and ready for food.  The rest the boys wrapped up their game time soon and we took a group photo before migrating to the backyard.

    The kids got some pizza, popcorn, chips and fruits, and situated in the shade to have a lunch.  Next we sang Happy Birthday to Connor, and it was cute that they all sat closely together on the coach to enjoy the cool ice cream cake.  After everyone ate and during the last 15 minutes of the party, Stuart was a bit stressed trying to keep the kids occupied.  It was a hot day and we did not prepare with other activities for the kids to do.  So they just went around playing tags, later with the few water guns and Stuart also prepared a few water balloons for them.  I also gave them the goodie bags a bit early to keep them occupied.  Right at 2pm, the rest of the parents came for pick up.  Rohan was staying behind, and after we said bye to other kids, Connor, Logan and Rohan went inside the house to cool down. 

    This was a nice party and Connor seemed to have a good time.  Many kids also told us that they really enjoyed the game truck.  Stuart and I quickly cleaned up and chilled out in the backyard with a beer.  Stuart also took a nice nap on the couch.

   Last month I found out that I received a high Member Patient Survey score for 2016 (95%) but I could not attend the luncheon celebration as I was off that day.  Last week I was given the little framed certificate.  This reward definitely means a lot to me!

      We took the boys to see their new doctor for annual visits last Friday.  The MA checked the vitals for both of them, did the hearing and vision tests for Connor, then just a vision test for Logan.  We thought it was easier to do both boys’ visits together; in some ways it was, but the two of them were giggling often that it was hard for the doctor to ask them questions during the exams sometimes.  The doctor was thorough and spent quite a long time with us.  Everything checked out fine for Connor and his weight has even out with good BMI now.  Logan is getting taller, so now his BMI is on the lower side, but the doctor said it is fine that he is a slim tall boy.  During the exam, the doctor found a fade murmur from Logan and suggested a follow up with a cardiologist.  We wrapped up the visit, and the boys were happy that there were no shots involved.  Height estimates for both are currently at 6’2”.

Connor’s Vitals:

Wt 57lb (76 %)

Ht 4’2.7’’ (90%)

BMI 15.5 (52%)

BP 89/44

Logan’s Vitals:

Wt 64lb 8oz (53%)

Ht 4’8.6” (94%)

BMI 14.15 (7%)

BP 87/56

   We practically swam the entire weekend.  I rushed home on Friday for us to go swimming in the late afternoon.  The boys definitely seemed more comfortable in the water.  Connor was able to swim without using full arm movement and popping up his head all the way down the long side of the pool.  He was so excited to tell us what he did.  He must have been drinking water in the pool as he got out to go to the bathroom 3-4 times in two hours.

    On Saturday we arrived at the pool at the same as our neighbor, and we sat together again.  They had a friend with two kids joining them; they planned on barbequing for the guests, and they asked us to join them.  So we ended up staying at the pool for the rest of the evening with them.  There was a huge excitement of the day for us to be proud about.  While Cole and his two friends wanted to go to the diving pool, Logan decided to hang in the pool with them.  After watching them doing some dives, Logan suddenly told me that he was going to jump.  He walked up there to the board, he tested the spring, and he jumped.  He came up to the surface and swam to the side.  Since then, he did a few more jumps and he became so much more comfortable afterward.  Connor had been tempted to jump for the past couple of weeks, so after seeing Logan do it, Connor was definitely ready to try.  He was up on the board, looked a bit nervous, and he jumped.  He came up to the surface looking proud and swam to the side to me.  When I was able to get hold of my phone, Logan and the bigger boys went to to play Marco Polo at the big pool, but Connor stayed for me to take a video of two of his jumps.  Stuart and I were so amazed what the kids did that day.

   Rohan came to play with the boys on Sunday afternoon, so we took them to swim again.  Logan, Connor and Rohan tried to dive to pick up the rockets.  Connor was the first to figure out how to do it, and Logan got the hang of it quickly after.  They played around for awhile, then Logan and Connor wanted to go jump in the diving pool.  Logan did not want me to video his jump, so a picture would do.  Later Cole came and the four kids played tag and other games together.  It was a very hot day; we did wrap up the swimming outing and went home for the boys to play a bit of video games instead.

    It was finally time for Logan to begin this journey.  It was decided six months ago that Logan would have an expander placed on the upper palate in July.  Last week was a tough week for Logan; after being ill for 24 hours, he had poor appetite and felt weak for days afterward.  We had considered postponing the start of the treatment, but at the end, Stuart and I decided to keep all the schedule appointments.  Last Friday was the first appointment, and all four of us were there.  Stuart went into the treatment area with Logan to have the spacer bands placed.  According to Stuart, it took lots of convincing before Logan willing to sit down and open his mouth to proceed.  Then the procedure went quickly and we were good to go.  Surprisingly Logan never complained about having them in his mouth, just a couple of times saying that he could not eat something too hard.

   Friday was the second appointment to take an impression of the upper palate, and Stuart accompanied Logan again to this one.  The appointment took long; Logan could not keep his mouth open long enough for the mold making, and sometimes he almost gagged.  Logan was relieved and Stuart was pleased when the mold was finally made.  The third appointment will be in another week to put the expander in place.

    Logan was sick that day, but we did not want Connor to miss out on the festivities, so Stuart and I took turns taking Connor out.  In the morning, Stuart and Connor went to join the neighborhood parade.  Connor enjoyed walking with our neighbor following a fire truck during the 30 minutes parade.

   Later we switched off, I took Connor to the pool to watch the events.  Our neighbors shared some seats with us, and we watched the coin dive, watermelon battle, and diving contests.  Connor and I had hotdog lunch there, and I also enjoyed a margarita from our neighbor.  Connor hang out with Cole majority of the time; they enjoyed an ice cream treat and later played in the play structure for quite a long time. 

      In the evening we had to cancel our initial plan to go watch firework, but we actually all could use an earlier bedtime after an eventful 24 hours with Logan.