Koby's Basketball Court

KOBY'S COURT

We gave the kids a new basketball hoop for Christmas. It's the kind that has to be set in the ground and in concrete. Well Koby was born a few days after Christmas, so I didn't get around to installing it. I finally dug the hole and installed the concrete base last Saturday. Kyle and Kaylie are our basketball players right now, and they have been so excited for their new "court" in the driveway. I had them help me dig the hole and mix the concrete and water together. While we were digging the three of us had a conversation. Kyle asked if Koby would ever play basketball. I wasn't quite sure what to say. After thinking about it we decided that we were going to set the goal that Koby would one day be able to play on the court, so we decided to name the court "Koby's Court." This will serve as our reminder that we will all work together to help Koby learn to exceed expectations. Kinzy helped carve this into the concrete later that night.

GROUNDHOG DAY

The days are really blending together. That probably sounds like we are a broken record. One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Every day was repeated and it was hard to differentiate each day. That's kind of how things are feeling for us right now, as we are getting accustomed to our routine of feedings, little sleep, and taking care of the rest of our responsibilities.

I was talking to a friend of mine at church today that has quadruplets. He was reminded of the nights with little sleep, and was saying that when you only get two hours of sleep at a time you never get into a really deep sleep. This makes your short term memory not work as well. We can relate to that still, as Koby still likes to wake up throughout the night.

GAGGING

He has gone through a lot of change. He didn't cry at all until he was three weeks old. Like, not once did we even hear him make a noise. We prayed that he would learn to cry. Well, he has serenaded us with PLENTY of crying since he was three weeks old. I kinda regret asking for that now:)

When he had his feeding tube surgery he would cry in pain every time we fed him. When food hits his stomach he is very uncomfortable, and we have assumed that it had a lot to do with the fact that he didn't know how to gag. Normally babies will just spit up when they've eaten too much or when their tummy is upset. But Koby wouldn't spit up at all. We've prayed that he would learn to spit up and gag (funny to think that a parent would pray that their child would learn to spit up and gag!) I'm sure parents with babies that spit up would pray for the opposite of this, but when your child doesn't know how to gag it can cause a lot of problems. Well, about 10 days ago his gagging ability came while Sharalee and i were sitting next to each other during a feed. We could tell he was finally learning! The food was stuck in his throat and he started to aspirate, but we were able to suction out his throat in time, and he has slowly learned to gag. Now he spits up a lot, like crazy projectile spit up. Sometimes it goes flying across the room with a lot of force. So while this creates a new set of issues we are happy we have a projectile vomit baby instead of a non spitter.



MUSCLE CONTROL

Koby still arches and shakes a lot. Especially when he's upset. He has physical therapy and speech therapy weekly, and we are learning to try and help his muscle control. He will arch and then fall asleep. If we straighten out his body it wakes him up, so a lot of time he will just stay this way.









We are working on that. He will also shake and shake and then just doze off. I mentioned in a previous post that he would fall asleep and "freeze" and just stay that way. I caught this in a video a week or so ago, so here it is.

MUSTARD POOP

I only feed Koby either breast milk or formula every other feeding. But I think Sharalee must be sneaking in mustard seeds when she feeds him because all of his poop looks and smells like mustard:) We have to laugh at things like poop color and poop smell sometimes with a baby going through Koby's challenges. Sometimes he gets constipated and it causes feeding problems, so even dirty diapers are a welcome site right now.

PAPA HOWIE

Sharalee's Dad is visiting us for the week from Utah. We are having a great time with him. Nine years ago Howie stayed with us while he was opening a restaurant in Nashville. He would get home from work every single night and hold Kaylie for hours. They would both fall asleep on the couch while he held her. It's brought back those memories this week as he has held Koby every night before bed for hours, and we've enjoyed just sitting together and talking. It's so great to have visitors staying with us. If any of our friends or family want to come and visit us the invitation is now open! We welcome you to come and stay with us in our home and be around us. We are finally ready and able to handle guests again, and would love the chance to see and visit with you.









SMILING AND TRACKING

Koby's hearing seems to work, as far as we can tell. He reacts when there is talking in the room. He is also reacting to the light. He is not yet tracking with his eyes. I can put my face right in front of his eyes and he doesn't seem to track anything. He often looks like he is in a daze. We are still expecting that he will be able to see. The doctor said he should be tracking by now in a "normal" situation, but has told us not to worry yet about the fact that he doesn't track with his eyes yet. Hopefully it will come with time. Kaylie and Kamden have both said that they've seen him look at them. It helps that they were less than 1 inch away from his face when they were testing his vision.













CANADA

Our Spring Break is a week away. We usually find somewhere to go as a family, and had planned to go to DisneyWorld next week. But there is just no way we are ready to tackle such a trip. Oh we are anxious to get away and have some fun for a few days. But our four older kids are so excited to travel to Canada this coming Saturday. Sharalee's sister Tasha is going to drive with her three daughters and our four oldest kids to Toronto to visit Sharalee's other sister Cammie and her husband Robbie. They are living there while he is attending medical school. It will be great for the kids to have a vacation, and although we will miss them it will be a welcome opportunity for a few less responsibilities for a week or so. It's about a 12 hour drive, and we are thankful that Tasha is brave enough to drive such a long way with seven other little ones and no adults.



Koby and the rest of us are doing well and learning just a little more each day on how to deal with our lives. Normally we are starting the soccer season with the kids this week. But we will be taking a break from extra activities for the next few months. The three oldest are still going to take piano lessons but we will otherwise take advantage of the chance to slow things down and spend more time together. It will be a welcome break for us.