Ava's 7th Birthday

On September 23rd, Ava turned 7!! She had quite the birthday this year with lots of celebrations!

She had a friend birthday party at the gym she takes gymnastics. When you get nine girls together, it gets LOUD. They all and a great time and wore themselves out in the gym.




She also had a party at home and celebrated with lots of family.

Papa Dave made the cake again this year! Ava designed it and he made it just the way she wanted it. When Ava was designing it, I thought, how is he going to do that?!? Should never doubt Papa Dave!


Ava with her gift from Max.

Ava with her new IPOD! I thought she would be attached to it 24/7, but she told me she has been too busy to play with it a lot.


At a Brewer game on her actual birthday.

Grandma and Grandpa Ragatz also came along.

She had fun watching for her name on the score board.

Snacks at the game are the best!


Happy Birthday Ava! We love you!!

Field Trip

A couple weeks ago, Max has his first field trip of the year to an apple orchard. His teacher told me he had fun walking though the garden and pointing at different things and having the teacher sign what each thing was. I love the beautiful colors in the picture!

GI Appointment

On September 21st, Max had a GI appointment. At the appointment he weighed 25 pounds and was 2' 11". We were shocked that he was 25 pounds! Usually he hovers around 22-23 pounds. We thought he was feeling a little heavier. At the appointment we talked about removing his G-tube in a year. We are going to see if he can make it though cold and flu season without having to use his tube. We were so excited to hear such great news! When Max had surgery for his G-tube in April of 2007, we never would have thought that he would possibly have it removed before his 5th birthday. We thought he would have it for life! And yes, progress seems slow. But when you look at the big picture, he has accomplished a lot since he was put on a feeding tube at three months old and being NPO. I have to remember this when I get so frustrated with his eating! Currently he gets about 90% of his calories from drinking Kid Essentials Boost formula and he eats about 10% of his calories.

We also tried to take him off his reflux medication. About a week after we took him off the medication, his appetite started to decrease, was extra fussy, and grinding his teeth again. We put him back on his medication and seems to be back to himself!

Buds

We spent Labor Day weekend at my mom and step-dads cabin. On the way to the cabin, Max signed "Dog" the whole way there. He was so excited to see his buddy Tucker! Max followed Tucker around all weekend and couldn't get enough of him. And Tucker didn't seem to mind Max being his shadow for two days.

Follow-Up to First Day of School

About 6:45 while we were eating, Max couldn't stay awake!

Back to School

Today was Ava and Max's first day back to school! Ava was super excited! She was up before 6:00 this morning bouncing off the walls. I hope 1st grade is everything she hopes it to be.







Max headed back to Early Childhood. He has a smaller class size this year with only four kids in his class. Last year, he had nine kids in his class. The class size may change as the year goes by with new three year olds coming in. He seemed excited to be back although he got to be in the classroom over the summer for Extended School Year. He will be going to school from 12:15 to 3:05 Monday through Thursday. Last year we had him start at 1:00 to get a short nap in after lunch before heading to school. This school year we are going to try going without a nap. He is not great at taking naps, so I am hoping it will work well for him without a nap.

Max had another big change this week. He moved up to the three year old room at day-care. I am hoping he will enjoy it and learn lots from the three year olds. The room is really big so he will have lots of room for fun. He looks like a little peanut in the room with all the three year olds. He is with a teacher he previously had, so I think the transition will go well for him. His teacher at day-care is going to go to Max's next IEP in October with us so we can keep consistency between school and day-care.