Dental Surgery has come and gone!!

Nikolas had Dental surgery on February 10th. When he went into the Operating Room it was expected to be about 2.5 hour proceedure. In pre-op Nikolas was suppose to have 5-6 teeth removed and 6 others worked on/crowned. We sat in the waiting room for what seemed like for ever as it always does. Three hours had gone by and no word........ 3.5 hours go buy and no word... then the surgeon appeared. Nikolas had 14 teeth removed and the remaining 6 silver capped. It was explained by the surgeon that nikolas teeth were malformed and had malformations on some of the basis of the teeth. He explained thier were infections in some of the teeth and he had felt he had no choice but to remove them. He took samples of the malformations and sent them to a lab and also kept Nikolas teeth to dysect them to figure out why the malformations formed. (Picture is 5 days post op, Nikolas is finally pain free)

Nikolas now has 4 silver bottom teeth. Two eye teeth and two molars. He also has two molars on the top of his mouth. These are the only teeth he will have until his adult teeth form and come in. (Picture is 5 days post-op of his lower jaw. You can see the silver capps and where the teeth were. Nikolas lost 6 teeth on the bottom and 8 on the top)

His eating is going well... Softer the better..... He still loves his hotdogs, chicken nuggets, fries and mac and cheese as any other two year old does. The surgeon has discussed dentures and bridges for Nikolas. We see him again April.

Another surgery on the horizon.....

Nikolas will be having his first dental surgery this Friday. After seeing the cleft team on January 5th they immediately scheduled the procedures. Nikolas teeth are in horrible shape. They are falling apart, rotting and infected. The initial plan as of now is to remove 5-6 teeth & silver crown as much as they can. They feel only 4 or 5 of his teeth are in good condition. They are opting not to white crown them. They do not feel his teeth will last in there current state if they place the white crowns on them. I know his teeth hurt him a lot. He is constant drool and placing his hands in his mouth all the time. He is getting Tylenol on a regular basis to help. I am not sure what his teeth will look like when they are done I just want him pain free.

Nikolas Turned Two!!!

Nikolas turned 2 this month. It was a celebration he deserved. It was the first time his birthday was celebrated. He has been home for 9.5 months now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKOLAS!!

Nikolas had a Mickey Mouse bounce house at his party. He was a little afraid at first when we put him through the door but he loved being inside it. He was the smallest one inside all the other kids were so good to him they would carfully bounce around him and he would sit there laugh and clap his hands. He staying in side the Bounce House for a good part of his party.

At his party he also had a spongbob pinata. Being the birthday boy he got to hit it first. He did not understand how to hit it so he would push on it with his hands and pull at the paper. Grandma had to give him a hand and helped him hit it with the stick. Momma helped too. Spongbob refused to break at the party after being hit by 20 kids/adults and had to be tore apart and the candy pored out.

Nikolas had a Mickey mouse cake surrounded by Mikey Mouse cupcakes at his party. He got his own cup cake. It was the first time he had ever been given cake. He was not sure what to do with the cupcake at first but had some help from all the adults surrounding him on what to do. He did a great job at smashing it. He would not put his hand in his hair or on his face not matter how hard Unlce Mike tried to coax him to do it. All mom had to do in the end was change his cloths and wipe his hands and arms.

4th of July Weekend 2011

Nikolas went on his first vacation to Lake Michigan. We stayed at the silver Creek RV resort. He got his first expierences being in a pool, on the beach and at a petting zoo.

The pool was a blast. He liked floating around in his blow up tube. He went in the warm kiddy pool at the RV resort and could touch the bottow with his feet which he liked. He would go everywhere in the pool. You could here his laughing as splashed and moved around. He wanted to stay in the pool all day.

The petting zoo was fun. He got to see a wide variety of animals. We let him get close enough to some of the animals and got to pet a Camel, Goat and sheep. We did not let him feed any of them. It was a neat place to go. They had a Chicken show that talked about eggs. It was cute and Nikolas enjoyed it. When he gets older their were lots of things for older kiddo's to do we plan to go back next year.

The beach was relaxing for Grandma and Grandpa. Nikolas loved the sand. He loved crawling through it, putting it all over himself and of course tasting it. Yuck! He got a few mouth fulls of sand. He crawled everywhere and to everyone in range on the beach. They all thought he was cute and would talk to him as he pulled on their blankets and towels. He kept mommy busing chasing after him.

Spring 2011

Its been a while since I posted we have been so busy. I wanted to post a few pictures cause he is changing so much. He is developing quite a personality as you can see by the high chair pictures. He loves to run his hand through his hair as he eats and pull his hair in all directions. You cannot help but laugh. The picuture in the blue was his first day of school at the MIPP program. Macomb Infant Preschool Program. Thier he recieved some physical and occupational therapy. He likes his therapist alot. They were impressed week to week by the changes in his abilities.

First Early Intervention Evaluation

Today Nikolas was evaluated by Early Intervention Physical therapist. She was pleased with the progress we explained he has made in the 4 months he has been home. She also was very pleased to see how he has bonded to his mom & grandparents. Thier was another therapist with her that evaluated more with him to get him qualified with Early Intervention and Special Education. They both said he will qualify and in 45 days we should get a call for further evaluation.

The PT evaluated him on the Peabody Scale and this was his results:

Stationary: 11 Months

Locomotion: 10 Months

Object Management: 12 months

She also said the left side of his lower body is weak which we knew cause he dragged his leg for the first three months home. Now he is in a fast crawler and going places!!

Oops ... here is the picture

Here is a sneak peak of Nikolas new lip an nose!!! We snapped a quick picture while his tubes were out being cleaned! He looks so different! The surgeon did a wonderful job on him!!

Forgot to hit attach on the picture.... Here he is eating Tapioca Pudding!!!