The Amazing Twin Adventure

Well, we made it through the first full week of school and we're halfway through the second, and so far it's pretty good. Mason is having a great time and comes home every day full of smiles. We did have a bit of a problem at the beginning of last week. Last Monday Mason didn't get a sticker on his chart because he got in trouble for yelling. Tuesday there was a note from his teacher on his chart. It said, "Please talk to Mason about saying 'damn it'" I was mortified!! I was also laughing because let's face it, that's just funny. So after emailing his teacher to apologize for his inappropriate use of language, I found out that Mason had been "defiant and uncompliant" with his teachers when they asked him to do something he didn't want to do. Greeeeaaaat. I can't say that this came as a surprise, because we all know that Mason is a stubborn little cuss who wants to do things his way. But nontheless, that kind of behavior is not going to fly at school. So we've done lots of talking about how we act at school, and we created a reward system for good behavior. Every day that he gets a sticker, he gets to choose a game to play with me and Matt before bed. And if he gets stickers all week, we get to have pizza and a movie Friday night. So far it's worked and he's gotten stickers everyday. But let me tell you, I am always nervous when I check his chart! I don't want any more notes!

Last Thursday we had an appointment with an ENT up at Scottish Rite for Will. We were going to see what further testing needed to be done to see if he actually had a fistula. I'm not sure what exactly made the speech therapist think he might, but the doctor said he could tell just from briefly examining him that he did not have a fistula. He said if Will did have one, he would have had pneumonia over and over from aspirating food and he would choke every time he ate, not once in a while. He agreed with me that the choking was likely the result of shoving too much food in his mouth at one time, and not an indicator of an underlying medical problem. He didn't feel that it was necessary to pursue any further testing, so yay!!

Will is also doing so well with learning to walk. He can walk about halfway across the room before he falls, and he is so proud of himself. I think Hays got jealous of all the cheering we've been doing for Will, because in the past few days he's really stepped up his attempts at standing independently and taking a couple of steps. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry to make them work hard! Their physical therapist was very pleased with their progress when she came to see them yesterday.