I'm Thankful For....

An adorable son!





(he's singing into his "microphone" and wearing a "cape")



A gentle Grandad.



A funny Mema.



A patient Papa.



A helpful Mimi.



(She is opening his Thanksgiving present, a Swayne tradition, which was a remote control car)

An energized Aunt Ashley.



(he is in his "car")

A geeky Uncle Ryan.



(although his wiimote was not turned on you would have thought it was the way he copied all of Ryan's movements)

A wise Grandma Smith.



A loving Daddy.



(one of his many treatments during this round of RSV...yes he is asleep)



A wonderful family!!





(Lukas is cheering Daddy and Grandad on while they're playing wii golf)











This is a video of Lukas' latest "thing". He will sing into his "microphone" (a block) very loudly and usually for long periods for time. We videoed this while we were decorating the tree tonight, and this was only a tiny, tiny portion of the very long song he performed for us. Listening to him sing you'd never know he was sick with RSV.

RSV and Thanksgiving

About a week ago Lukas' nose started running, but it was always clear so we really weren't worried about it. Then a few days ago he started coughing, and the cough medicine wasn't helping it. So, we took him to the doctor on Wednesday figuring he was just draining really bad and needed a new medicine. However, he was diagnosed with RSV (after the "oh so fun" nose swab...he was NOT happy about that). We are back on Albuterol breathing treatments every 4 hours, and as long as he's coughing he's contagious. This meant instead of going to Eric's family Thanksgiving we had to stay home so we didn't get everyone sick. I'm at the point where I just throw my hands in the air and give up. Not only is Lukas sick, but Eric and I sick with it too. Thankfully in adults it just basically a cold. Our whole family has been sick for the entire month of November. I'm SO ready for December. I don't know if December will be any better, but I'm hoping because I'm ready for our family to be healthy again.

I snapped a couple of pictures, so we'd have something from this Thanksgiving.





Even though I'm pretty fed up with our family's general health, I must say I'm extremely thankful for the pulmonologist. At that doctor visit his medications were changed up, and he's doing much better on a daily basis.

19 Months Old

At 19 Months Lukas:
- is 22 lbs 8 oz
- is 33 3/4 inches (these stats are technically from his 18 month well-visit, but that appointment was 2 days before his 19 month birthday)
- has discovered he can stand and walk on his tip toes
- has these new words to add: bath (ba - signs also), pumpkin pie (pumpi pie), giraffe (raffe), tv, "oh no", alright, okay, tiger (iger), book, school (cool), Lamby (yamby - this is his security blanket)
- knows several Sesame Street characters and if he sees them anywhere will loudly tell you until you acknowledge him
- is starting to play with his friends (the follow around and do the same thing style of play)
- has a best friend, Kaleb W.
- can figure out how to do things on your technology that you didn't even know it could do
- thinks bathtime is the best part of the day
- is beginning to pick out letters - He doesn't yet know what they are, but he sees them and wants to talk about them. It's always unfortunate when he does this in the parking lot or the street.
- has started to pretend play - He does it the most with a phone or a comb. He will make anything into a phone or a comb. Recently he has also started to pretend to be a lion. He will walk around the house roaring.
- can put his shirt on by himself once it's over his head
- is really getting into singing songs (especially ones with motions) - His current favorites are Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Twinkle Twinkle.
- is getting really good at following commands - We can send him running back and forth between us by simply saying "go see _____"
- does throw fits when he doesn't get his way - these are so dramatic and usually only occur if Mommy or Daddy are watching, so we just ignore them and he usually settles down pretty quickly.
- loves his Mommy and Daddy more and more everyday!

Asthma update: We went to a pediatric pulmonologist last Wednesday (11-19). He changed some of Lukas medications to hopefully give him medicines that lasted longer during the day. Lukas is now on Advair (inhaler not nebulizer capsules!) instead of Pulmicort. He also now has an Albuterol inhaler, so we have a more portable system for his rescue medicine. We are thrilled to be off the breathing machine. Lukas has been doing breathing treatments for about a year (since he was about 6 months old). Now that he's used to the spacer (the thing the inhaler plugs into for kids) he likes it a lot better too. We have still been needing one albuterol treatment a day (usually at night), but we are hopeful that once the Advair gets completely in his system we will no longer need the Albuterol on a regular basis.

It's much easier to capture him in video these days. Enjoy!

The Asthma Blues

A couple of weeks ago Lukas was diagnosed with upper respiratory crud that was close to pneumonia (but thankfully not quite). Needless to say, his breathing was a mess because of that. This started us off on a round of antibiotics, baby prednisone, albuterol breathing treatment 3 times a day, and pulmicort twice a day. We did all of this, and two days later he was doing better. This past week we ended up back at the doctor on Monday because his symptoms seemed to come back. His breathing checked out fine, and so she said it was probably a virus that hadn't cleared yet. All week we watched the green snotty nose, and did at least one albuterol treatment (this is his rescue medicene) a day. Friday afternoon landed us back at the doctor's office, an appointment that started at 2:30 and ended at 5:10. During this appointment Lukas got a chest x-ray down the street at a local emerency clinic and a breathing treatment. The x-ray told us that he's been laboring to breath for a while, so while he's not wheezing all the time he's certainly having trouble. It also showed some spots that could be pneumonia, but she was unsure. So, he is now on another antibiotic, baby prednisone, pulmicort twice a day, albuterol when needed (which is twice a day right now), and singulair. These are in addition to the allegra and rhinocourt he's also on daily. I have to admit I'm not really looking forward to this week with him back on the prednisone because while it does make him feel better it also makes him extremely hyper and grumpy. So for the next few days he will alternate between bouncing off the walls and crashing all while being moody to the extreme. But even when I'm ready to give him away because he's been crying at me all day I can't help but feel sorry for him. He's only 18 months old and he's on so much medicene just to try and get his breathing back under control. My doctor keeps telling me we've done a really good job with controling his asthma because while he's having a lot of trouble right now, he's also not ever been in the hospital. This is what I remind myself when I see him huffing and puffing while he's just sitting doing nothing.

The not fun, but lately very common breathing treatment. He's a trooper though. :) I guess it helps that he's been getting these since he was about 6 months old.



Reading, a favorite past time.



I told him to say "cheese", and this is what I got. Is he cute or what?!!

18 Months Old!!

Lukas is now 18 months old and completely immersed in toddlerhood (as you will see below).

Lukas at 18 Months:
- is about 23 lbs (we'll be going to the doctor soon, so I can get the official height and weight then)
- has become a true toddler eater - He picks at his food most meals and then all of the sudden eats enough for the month. Also, the food that is yummy right now might not be in a few minutes and vice versa.
- LOVES Sesame Street! He sits and watches the entire hour, although his favorite part is "Elmo's World" at the end.
- has added these new words to his vocabulary: spoken: moon, star, ball, car, Elmo, pretzel, cracker, square, triangle, circle, no, 'shhh', hush, baby, bee, lizard, cheese; signed: flower, hot, eat, turtle; animal noises (which he uses instead of the word): dog (he pants), snake, gorilla (he beats his chest and says "ooh ooh"), lion and bear (growls through teeth), cow ( says 'mmmmmm')
- will soon win a Tony Award for the fits he throws - The are so fake and dramatic, and only occur if you're watching.
- still thinks school is the greatest invention ever!
- will soon figure out how to put his own shoes and socks on (he's almost there, but just can't quite get his foot in the openings)
- loves to sit in his 'new' rocking chair when in the living room (this was first my mom's chair, then mine, and now Lukas')
- can't wait until he's big enough to ride (without help) the 'new' rocking horse (this was my rocking horse made for me by my paternal grandfather when I was little)
- thinks he's seven already (no, he's already growing up fast enough)
- can now not only reach the door knobs, but open the doors too (I'm so glad he hasn't figured out the locks....yet)

New rocking chair!



Halloween 2008 (more pictures to come)



Looking outside on the first cold day1



New table with chairs for friends!



Saying "cheese" for the camera.