My little Easter Bunny

Whew! Ok! Got a lotta catching up to do!
Let's start with Easter

Owen and his dad

Trying out Owen's Easter present from 'Ama and Papa. A remote control car!

My mother's delicious Easter ham

My delicious Caesar Salad from a bag

Carrots and Onions with fennel

Ready for a nap after the big meal OK! Ready for the leftovers!

I know, I know...Right now you're thinking "What the hell? You haven't blogged in a month and you post pictures of your easter ham and bag o' salad? What's wrong with you?"
As we speak, I'm working on a post about regional! Stay tuned....

The best day!

I'm having the best day so far! Dan and I are both off today so we are having family day!

Owen had PT this morning which went well. Then, we took Owen to the Barnes & Noble where he walked out with a brand new Thomas the Train magnet book! To be totally honest with you, I loathe Thomas.

Am I the only one who finds all the Thomas story lines complete snoozers? Sheesh! What is the fun in reading about a train on his daily schedule? I think the most exciting thing that has happened to Thomas was when a log on the track screwed him for about 2 seconds, then he was back to his same old boring schedule. Also, one of the trains - I can't remember which one - is a total dick! I don't need that kind of negativity around my son. One more thing...Sir Topham Hatt? Could you have come up with a more difficult name to pronounce especially for a 2 year old? Might as well have named him Eioapnakbn Poaypruawedjralsdj (I apologize if this is your name and I have offended you). Whew! As usual...I digress....

Lunch was at Halo Burger and Owen had a blast in the play area and was extrordinarily cute. He was making friends with all the other kids.

When we got home, we laid in bed and he cuddled with us which he NEVER does. He was also very kissy. He never gives kisses without being asked but today, he wouldn't stop planting them on me! I loved it! My little cuddly Owen!

So that's our day so far. Owen's outside with Dan who will be grilling us steak for dinner. AND! To top it all off - Lost is on tonight!!!

Oh, my god... I just wrote the most boring post ever. Really?! Was it totally necessary for me to log on my computer and tell you about the totally mundane day I am having? Yikes! Well I hope I at least stirred some emotion with my Thomas rant. Ok, I'll try to do better next time!

Mr. D

Today is a sad day at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Our visionary leader Mr. William Davidson (or Mr. D as we all affectionately called him) passed away last night.

Here are a few articles on the extrodinary life of Bill Davidson

Pistons.com - Farewell Mr. D
Detroit Free Press - Free Press Staff Remembers Mr. D

Counseling the Counselers

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with blogger.com. Does anyone else find it tedious to use? Maybe I'm just saying that because Facebook is so easy. Anyways, that's not the point....

I have about 4 post that I want to write. Hmm..where to start....

I'll start with this week and work my way back. It'll be like a crazy time- traveling blog. Where's Michael J. Fox when you need him? Hello? McFly?

This week I had the opportunity to participate in something exciting. Sarah L, Kaela's mom (and one of my favorite people) and I were asked to speak to a small group of grad students in genetic counseling at U of M Ann Arbor. We were there to offer our persepective as parents of little people (POLP). We were also joined by Stacie, LPA member and little person who relayed her experience as a LP and a POLP. LOL! That's a lot of acronyms I should remove ASAP! J/K! Whoa! Outta control!

This was a very theraputic experience for me. If you are familiar with our story, you know that Owen was given no chance to live after his birth. No alternative scenarios were offered, no hope was given, we were told point blank that Owen would die.

As time passes and Owen progresses into a healthy happy boy, the anger as to how we were handled builds. The more I think about the fact that I was offered no hope that Owen would live, the more I want gather my doctors in a room and really let them have it!

So when I was give the chance to speak to people who may potentially have the same impact on other couples - I jumped at the chance. Despite what you are probably thinking, no - I did not unleash my pent up anger on a poor group of genetic counseling grad students!

Sarah and I were able to tell our stories and offer our opinions on what to do and not to do. We both felt that it was important to be sympathetic & honest. We also wanted them to keep in mind that though patients will pass in and out of their office, this is our life. Don't numb yourself to our plight because you have seen it all. To me it's very important that they always allow for the possibility that anything can happen.

These students were very bright and eager to learn. I'm sure they will be the type of counselers that will make a positive impact. I very much appreciated being able to relay my story. It was touching that they were interested in having our perspective. It made me think (which I hate to do but I went with it)...do med school students ever get patient perspective before they are unleashed into the wild? If the answer is no then - why not? All doctors should be required to attend a class where patients are able to give their sides of the story. I've been lucky enough to generally have great doctors, but I know that there are plenty of horror stories out there. Hmmm...just a thought.
Ok - well I'll leave you with some Owen pictures for your viewing pleasure!

What's up? You wanna go?
George always has my back
George and Owen in a staring contest. Guess who wins?
I'm just messing around!
I love kitty!
Like son, like father

Owen's Dr's Appointment

Owen's 2 year well appointment was last week and let me tell you, it was nice to go to see a doctor with a WELL child. I was beginning to think that he was falling apart at the seams!

Our new doc is awsome! Our old ped retired so we had to find yet another doctor but we got very lucky. He loves Owen and is willing to learn about his condition.

2 Year stats:
Height: 30 inches tall(yes tall, I can say that if I want!)
Weight: 25 lbs
Head Circumference: 52.5 cm
And for comparison's sake...

17 month stats:
Height: 28 3/4 inches (that 3/4th is very important!)
Weight: 22.5 lbs
Head Cirumference: 52.5 cm

You know, what's funny is that I don't keep a baby book. I tried to but I'm not really the scrap booking sort. This blog has become the only record for recording Owen's milestones so when I had to look up his last measurements, I had to look up the correct post. I just thought that was kind of funny.
Poor Owen! The only memories of his childhood are a jar full of hair from his first cut and a poorly updated blog that is shared with the world. I'll start saving for therapy right now.

Anyways, so what his measurements show me is that his growth is slowing a bit and his weight is not. His doctor plotted him on the AH charts and he mentioned that his weight had spiked. On that note, Owen will be starting the Master Cleanse next week. Lemonade and Cayenne pepper ONLY! Hahah just kidding...maybe for mom though....

His head. It hasn't grown at all. Not one centimeter. I honestly don't know if that is good or bad. My immediate reaction was that it was good, but now I'm not so sure. Does his head have room for all those brains? It just went to show me how little I know about human anatomy and specifically as it pertains to Owen's condition.

You know, I honestly don't know why LP's with achondroplasia have bigger heads? I thought it was because of their small foramen magnum and the excess fluid that gets trapped. But Owen's foramen magnum is getting smaller but his head isn't getting bigger. I feel like a loser for not understanding this. But no one has ever outright explained it. Anyone? Tonya?

Anyway....here are the plots. Notice that despite the doctors assesment that his weight has spiked on the chart, he is actually plotting slightly below where he was on the height/weight chart.



Oh! PS - I missed the cut off for sending Owen's picture into Regis and Kelly! Thanks for all the input but Owen's cuteness will have to be contained to just our little blogging world for now! We will conquer the world next year!

Go ahead...ask!

The older Owen gets, the more noticable his stature becomes. I can tell that more frequently, people notice his size. Other parents of little people - you know what I'm talking about. There is a certain way that people look at him, point him out and whisper to their partners ("Look at that little guy!") that signifies curiosity as to why he is so small.

I am not however, objective to how Owen looks, so I am not sure what people see. Do they see the dwarfism or does he just look too young (small) to be walking and talking? All I know is that people seem to think that Owen is super cute (and they would be right)!

Despite the fact that people notice Owen, they will rarely ask. A converstion with someone will go a little something like this:

Scene
Enter Owen in to a store or restaurant. He walks beside his mother with a confident stride looking extrodinarily cute. Other customers begin to notice the little boy and stare at him with amused looks on their faces. Owen walks by a particular woman,gives her a grin and then runs back toward his mom.

Woman: He's adorable!
Mom: Thanks! We think so too.
Woman: How old is he?
Mom: He just turned 2.
Woman (with a bewildered look on her face): Oohhhh.....

90% of the time this is where the conversation ends. I can tell that people are confused but once again, they don't ask.
Not that I can blame them. I'm sure people think it is rude to ask and under different circumstances, maybe they would be right. I suppose I could start explaining Owen's dwarfism without prompting, but I'd feel a little strange launching into a explainaton of achondroplasia without the question from the other person.

So I'm here to say "ASK ME!!". I don't mind at all! I welcome the chance to talk about Owen's dwarism. Owen is my very favorite subject so you can never go wrong being curious about him (espicially if you throw a few "He's so cute!'s" in there).

So I said, 90% of the time people don't ask. What happens the other 10% of the time?When people DO actually ask, here's usually the routine.

Mom: He just turned 2.
Woman: Really? He's so little!
Mom: Yeah. He's a little person.
Woman (chuckles): He sure is...wait...you mean a "little person"?
Mom: Yup. He has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. It's the most common form. Do you ever watch Little People, Big World?
Woman: Yes! I love that show!
Mom: Owen has the same form of dwarfism as Zach and Amy.
Woman: How tall is he going to be?
Mom: We are not exactly sure but the average height of little people is around 4 feet. I'm assuming it will be somewhere around there.
Woman: Well he's adorable!

That's almost verbatum some of the conversations I've had. Painless! In fact, a while ago, Dan and I were in the Children's Museum in Flint. We had passed this woman and her family a few times and everytime we in close proximity to her, she went crazy over how cute Owen was. She finally came up to me and asked "Is he a midget?" You all know how much I hate that word. In this case however, it didn't bother me because she had asked out of curiousity. There was no hostility or repugnance (go thesaurus.com,go!) in her question. My point is, if the genuine interest shines through, you can ask me anything!

Owen and I had a playdate with a friend the other day and she was asking me questions about Owen. She stopped in the middle and said "Does it bother you that I'm asking?". I of course told her no and expressed how I wished more people would ask. Especially my friends. In fact thinking about it now, my next post will be the FAQ's of Dwafism. Maybe those afraid to ask can learn a little more.

So now, all that said, I can only speak for myself. I do not know if other LP's or parent's of little people feel the same way. Do you?

The Freight Train

Last Wednesday, Owen came down with the flu. It had been a virtual epidemic at his daycare, even causing them to shut down to stop it from spreading. Despite that, Owen got it.

So Owen was the Exorcist baby for a few days but seemed on the mend by the time his birthday came around on Friday. No big deal. His birthday was very low key - only 'Ama and Papa, Mom, Dad and Owen. We had pizza and cupcakes. We sang "Happy Birthday". Owen got a playdough kit and a train table from us and a shiny new Radio Flyer from his grandparents. We played with his new toys for a little and then my parents went home.

Then all hell broke loose.

DISCLAIMER: Read no further if stories of puking, dirty toilet deeds (done dirt cheap) and general bodily disgusting-ness is not your bag. You can just skip to the pictures. For those with a stronger stomach....

I started vomiting at around 9:00pm. Now, let's be honest here. I think most people have at some point overindulged in the good drink. We can all relate to the morning- after revenge your body takes on you. But you puke, you have a plate of Moons Over Mihammy and a gallon of coffee at Denny's and - Viola! All better. This was not the same scenario.

I wanted someone to put me out of my misery. Throwing up gave me no relief. I spent a good 6 to 12 hours wondering if I would ever feel good again. To make matters worse...my husband started his own vomit regimine about 3 hours after mine. Oh yeah - we have one bathroom!

We both somehow make it through the night. Owen wakes up the next morning - earlier than usual of course - and comes into bed with us. We stupidly give him the milk he asks for and whaddya know? H promptly throws it up in our bed. So now Dan and I, already nauseaded, have to clean up Owen's mess.

I go out into the kitchen to get towels and almost step in a big congealed pile of something on our floor. Our cat had thrown up. WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me?!

I go to call my mother to tell her about our awful night and she had already texted me "Uh oh. Papa's been puking all night." Now, I'm really starting to feel like I'm in a damn Stephen King novel. It's like the Superflu has hit and the end of the world is coming. I try desperately to figure out if I dreamt about a cornfields in Nebraska.

Luckily, the worst of the flu passed quickly for Dan and I. It lingered with Owen a bit but he's almost back to his cheerful self. I won't even go into the diapers that 1 week of the flu has given him. Unfortuately for Owen, his big day was overshadowed by the drama. Had we all been well, he would have had himself a nice little birthday.

The calm before the storm.

Owen's new thing - Playdough

A new bike!!! I can even touch!

Uuhhh...I'm 2. All I get is a measly cupcake?

Train table!!! Just what I wanted!

Hell yeah!

Papa knows what he's doing.

ChooChoo!

This is sweet.

Uuhh...guys? How the heck am I supposed to reach the middle of this table?