Who knew poops had a life?

Sometimes, when Chloe is sitting on the pot, we have to wait for the poop - as we all do sometimes, right? Only remember we are dealing with a toddler here, so part of the dilemma is to figure out whether there really is a poop coming or whether this is a clever delay tactic so as not to have to go to bed. It's the best one she's come up with (according to her) because how could we possibly deny her the chance to go potty before bed?

I say, "Chloe, are you sure there's a poop coming? We've been waiting a long time now." Chloe says, "Mommy, of course the poop is coming, but she has to stop for coffee first. And then she has to have breakfast and dinner and lunch and a snack and then she's coming. (Duuhhh, mommy!)

The Brain That Changes Itself

There's no limit to what Ben will achieve. I've been reading this book entitled, "The Brain That Changes Itself", by Norman Doidge. He's an MD who tells the stories of individuals and their doctors and therapists who have regained function after incredible brain injuries. The stories run the gamut of brain injury. The take home message is very clear - the brain is amazingly plastic and can rewire itself to regain lost function. If anyone out there is interested in brain plasticity, this is the book to read! It's very encouraging, and given Ben's MRI - which I've seen - I feel like there is absolutely no reason that he will not be able to function like the rest of us. His one obstacle may be that he is incredibly content - wherever he is! This can be a good thing in life, right? But, right now, I want him to be motivated to move :)

The Anat Baniel Method of Feldenkrais

Ben has been seeing Peggy Chipkin, an Anat Baniel Method for Children practitioner, since January. This method uses gentle touch and manipulation to help the body learn how to move better. We found Peggy through Mom's nursing school letter, and lucky for us, she has been working with Ben and getting him to achieve amazing progress in the last few months. We are so happy to have found her. Ben loves his sessions with her, and talks the whole time! He has started pushing up more and more on his hands and reaching for and grabbing toys. We are so happy for him, and I know there are no limits to what he can achieve.

Therapy wears me out :)

Ben's Appointment at Stanford Today

Ben had his first follow-up appointment at Stanford today. Though the seizures are continuing to happen regularly, they seem to be lessening in intensity and length. They now say that could be a good sign. They've also adjusted his formula so that he will enter into a stronger level of ketosis. We monitor his ketone levels twice daily and they have not always been large, so there's some tweaking of the diet to be done. All in all, they were hopeful. They saw no reason to rule out yet that the diet will not work, so that leaves us with hope! We love hope. I am breathing a lot today :) in and out, in and out, in and out.

Update on Ben's seizures

Ben had his mid-week seizure today. He has been having them regularly every Tuesday or Wednesday, and then again on Saturday. We were hoping this pattern would change on the ketogenic diet. Some good news is that instead of a cluster of 40 or 50 seizures lasting 10 or more minutes, this one only lasted for about 5. It also seemed less intense for him. Apparently, the quality of his seizures will continuously change as his brain grows, so it's hard for his neurologist to admit to us that this lesser intensity is a sign that the diet is working. But it's hard to believe that it's unrelated! So, there is definitely still hope for the ketogenic diet.

On a happier note, Ben got his first tooth today! It's his bottom right one, and it broke through during the night. HIs bottom left tooth is also about to pop out. I remember Chloe not getting her first tooth until about 10 months too... But I don't remember her being so grumpy about it! Is it true that boys have a lower pain threshold than girls? ;)

We have a nonchalant progressor!

Ben has been nonchalantly reaching for and grabbing toys all day! He was doing it so nonchalantly, in fact, that I wasn't sure he was really doing it. But there is not doubt in my (or Aaron's or Nana's) mind that he is, in fact, reaching for and grabbing toys!!! It's amazing and we are so happy to see him doing this. He puts them in his mouth and swats them off his high chair table. This is big stuff. Big big big big stuff! I am so happy for him.

"It's just beautiful in itself"

Chloe found a rock on her walk yesterday. She brought it home to give to her teacher, Cindy, to put on their nature table at preschool. When our friend asked if she would like to decorate it with glitter glue or paint, Chloe looked at it, thought about it, and said, "No, I think it's just beautiful in itself".

The Ketogenic Diet

Ben started the ketogenic diet last week. This is a very high-fat diet; in fact, 90% of Ben's intake is fat. That's a lot of fat! The result is that his body is getting its energy from breaking down fat instead of sugar (kind of like the Atkins diet), and puts him in a state of ketosis, with lots of ketones floating around. Somehow, this state can sometimes control seizures. There is a 33% chance that this will stop all of Ben's seizures, a 33% chance that it will decrease the frequency with which he has seizures, and a 33% chance that it won't help. So far, in the first week, there has been no change, but we are told that it can take up to 3 weeks for it to work. So we are still optimistic that he will have some benefit from it. The good news is that Ben loves the new formula (it's flavored with vanilla) and is eating with gusto. Maybe too much gusto :)

Chloe's zen moment

When Chloe is hopping around trying to hold her pee to make it to the toilet, daddy says "Stem the tide, Chloe, stem the tide!" Chloe says, "Stem the tide? NO, daddy, BE the tide!".

Happy sleepyhead

Ben is pushing up on his hands

We are very excited to see Ben pushing up on his hands! He is also rolling from both from his back onto his belly and from his belly onto his back. He's no longer content to watch the world from a lying position; he wants to be in a sitting position, so he spends a lot of time in his highchair now too. He likes the change of scenery :) Another really exciting progression is that he has started pushing up on his hands when lying on his belly - exactly what he needs to learn to crawl. He can pull his legs underneath his little bottom so he's got that part down. He has started babbling and some days just talks up a storm.

Chloe is so sweet to Ben. Yesterday he wasn't feeling well, and she went up to him and said, "Ben, I love you soooo much". Then she kissed him on the head, and patted him and walked back to her kitchen to make some more milk with orange juice and chocolate - her favorite drink.