Seizures?

A couple weeks ago, I posted that Nate's speech therapist mentioned him "zoning out" and asked if he had seizures. His teacher's aid had asked me the same thing a few weeks earlier, so I decided we needed to get this checked out.

Nate has had these zone out spells since he was a baby. At one time, I was concerned enough about it to ask a therapist and his former pediatrician, and they didn't seem worried so I stopped worrying about it. But I see him doing it fairly often. We'll be in the middle of something, and he just spaces out. Sometimes it looks like he's thinking about something or trying to listen to something going on across the room. His eyes don't do anything funny, and he often continues moving while it's going on, so that's another reason I didn't think it was seizures.

We went to the pediatrician today, and he said what I had described sounds just like "absence seizures," formerly known as petit mal seizures. I looked it up online when I got home, and it does sound very similar to what Nate does. The good news I found was that children usually outgrow them and they don't cause brain damage. But they can cause trouble in school if he spaces out several times during class, and he could have a hard time concentrating on anything.

I am still not entirely convinced that he is having seizures, but I'm glad we're getting it checked. The next step is to have an EEG (as in glue in the hair and wires attached to the head) next Friday at the children's hospital. We have to keep him up until 10-12 the night before and wake him up at 4 am!!!! Then be at the hospital at 7:30. During the test, they'll do some sort of flashing lights and make him breathe out and sort of hyperventilate to try to induce a seizure. Depending on the results, the next step will probably be for him to see a neurologist. Oh joy! We get to add yet another specialist to the list! Apparently having a neurosurgeon isn't enough, we also have to have a neurologist. I have gotten a couple of glowing recommendations for a Dr. Puri in town, but it might take longer than we want to wait to get in to see him.

I guess these seizures are usually treated with medication to decrease their frequency so the child can concentrate and not continually zone out of life. I wonder if this could be at all related to Nate having mild hydrocephalus and no shunt and if he would need a shunt placed. But I'm not really thinking any further ahead than the EEG, since there's no use worrying about something that might never happen.

Anyway, on to more fun updates. Yesterday, Mindy and I took the kids to their first movie! I have been wanting to take Nate to see the Chipmunks movie, but it was sold out! So instead we saw the Princess and the Frog. It was quite an adventure getting us all there and situated, but it was fun too. Nate was enjoying his popcorn and the "really big TV." About 2/3 through the movie, he started getting restless and sleepy, and then Georgia woke up from her nap (yep, slept right through the movie), and Mindy and I got the kids out of there before they started to revolt. All in all, it went better than I expected! :) Now I need to add that movie to our netflix queue so we can see how it ends.

I also need to add a funny story I forgot to write in my last post about Christmas dinner. Nate is still confused about pronouns and refers to women as "he" and "him" and the opposite for men. So we were eating Christmas dinner, and Nate was sitting beside my dad. Nate reached over and patted my dad's arm and said, "Pop ... you're a good girl." I still laugh thinking about it! It was very sweet, just not quite correct. :)

Our Christmas

This year was the first Christmas our family spent the day at home, so it was very special. I did really miss going to my Granny and Papal's house to spend Christmas Eve with my dad's whole family, since that's what I've done every year of my life! Christmas Eve here was ... interesting.

We got ready to go to Christmas Eve service at church. (I don't know why this is sideways.)

Nate was not in the greatest mood (hence the lack of pictures of him), but luckily the kids in his kid's church class were playing with trains so he actually went in and stayed. By the time we got home, he was exhausted and very cranky.

Not Georgia! She was happy as an elf!

Hehehe.

I had all these plans for starting special Christmas Eve traditions, but it just wasn't happening with Nate being so tired and grouchy. He did sit still long enough for Blake to read the Christmas story.

Then the kids got to open presents "from each other." Georgia knows just what Nate likes and got him a train!

Nate picked out one of his baby toys to give to Georgia.

He later decided it was "MY elephant!" Georgia said, "Whatever!"

I put Nate to bed at 6:30 ... so that wasn't much fun! But then it got even less fun because he woke up an hour later and was up and CRYING until 1 am! He was so excited and anxious about Santa coming that he couldn't sleep. Blake and I both took turns laying in his floor with him to help him fall asleep. At one point, he whispered to Blake, "Santa is outside my window!" And then he got scared at that thought and started crying! Ha! Poor guy. He FINALLY passed out, and we all slept until 9:30 Christmas morning. When I heard him wake up, I went to his room and told him that Santa had been there and left presents under the tree. He said, "This is so exciting!"

It's EMILY!

Georgia got her first Cabbage Patch doll!

And an exersaucer!

Going through stockings.

A little while later, Granna, Pop, Memaw, GrandBob, and Uncle Lucas all arrived!

We did a lot of cooking and had a bit of a mishap with a ham. Blake made ribs, and my mom said she'd bring a ham because my dad would get one from his work. Well, my dad brought home this 18 pound ham fresh from the meat packing plant. They had to get up at the crack of dawn to get to my house earlier to put it in the oven, and it still wasn't ready by dinner time. A couple hours later, after we finished opening gifts, it was all done. :) Good ham--we just didn't have it for dinner.

We still had quite a spread. Ribs, mac and cheese, Janie's baked beans, caesar salad, sweet potatoes, rolls, cheese ball, stuffed mushrooms, peanut butter pies, a banana/chocolate dessert, pumpkin roll, and my mom's fudge and oreo balls. YUM.

Then it seemed Santa arrived again.

Nope, that was just Granna and Pop bringing in all their presents!

Georgia looks like she's thinking, "Granna, I am way too little for that!"

She seems to love her first American Girl doll. "Hey, you look like me!"

Nate, are you ready for a really great present? It was a geotrax train. The next morning I heard him say, "This is the best train I ever seen."

Here's Georgia with all her loot.

She was tuckered out!

Uncle Lucas is so silly.

I think Nate's favorite gift of everything he got for Christmas was, of all things, Leggos. He got two sets, and he has played with them nonstop. He can build a really tall tower. (I think he had help with this one.) Oh, and check out our new TV behind him!!!

She is just the cutest little thing.

My parents also got us new bedding and curtains for our bedroom, and I couldn't wait to get it all put together. Isn't it so pretty? I loooove it. It's so comfortable too.

Georgia sleeps in a bassinet that her big cousin Koko slept in as a baby.

Don't tell Nate, but after he goes to bed, Georgia and I play!

If you can't tell, Nate doesn't like to have his picture taken these days, so I'm not getting as many of him. He has been very busy and intent on playing with all his new toys. My computer caught a virus on Christmas Eve, and it was useless until earlier today when cousin Mikey came over and used his genius IT powers to fix it. We've spent the weekend putting away toys, taking down the Christmas tree, and just dealing with all the aftermath of Christmas. It was so nice to be home and not have to travel with two little kids.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you are now recovered from all the fun. :)

Jingle Bells!

Ready for some cute pictures? We just spent a really nice weekend with Memaw and GrandBob, and the kids had a blast. Nate was a busy man, playing nonstop until he passed out each night, and I think Georgia got a little spoiled with all the attention because she's been very needy tonight. :)


Look how sweet this child is! Her cheeks kill me. Have I mentioned the dream I had in which I bit her cheeks and left teeth marks? Blake was a little freaked out by that.

Nate is really into building towers lately. The taller, the better.

On Saturday we got dressed up for Blake's cousin's wedding. Nate cried as she walked down the aisle. Yes, he did. How do kids sense these big moments to try to ruin? Oh well, apparently there was a kid crying when I was walking down the aisle for my wedding, and I didn't hear it. I hope this bride was just as oblivious as I was.

I forgave him.

Georgia was an angel. Blake's aunt Kathy asked if I had slipped her something to make her so mellow. :)

When we got back to Memaw's house, Georgia had to change into something more comfortable. (Because she had not yet spit up on her fancy dress, which I have already had to have drycleaned once, and I want her to wear it once more to church on Christmas Eve!)

Imagine that--Memaw got Nate a train! (Well, several trains.) Just what he wanted.

Aunt Sunny got him a book (The Little Engine that Could).

Georgia also got a book! Hmm ... looks good!

Yep, tastes good!

The whole time Nate was opening his presents, he was like a broken record: "What's in there? What's in there? What's in there?"

In their Christmas PJs.

With silly GrandBob! (Bob lost his hair because of chemo, and this was the first time Nate had seen him in person since he lost it. He said, "WHAT happened to GrandBob's HAIR?!" haha. Now he'll probably be saying that about random bald men we see at the mall.

Memaw is great at reading stories.

And here's a great little video of Nate singing Jingle Bells! I hear this a thousand times a day! (If you're viewing this on facebook or email, go here to see the video: http://whatnatesaidtoday.blogspot.com/)