MRI's and Graham Crackers

We got the official word from the doctor today.  Benjamin's MRI is normal.  Looks like he just takes after the rest of us and has a large cranium to accommodate all those brains.  We are going back to the doctor at the end of the month to measure his head again and to make sure he is staying on his growth curve.  He is developing perfectly normally, so I have no doubts that everything is ok.

Ben's new favorite snack is graham crackers

More goes on his lap than in his mouth

He also loves listening to Robby's music compositions

The MRI Experience

Ben had his MRI this morning. It went fine. Although he wasn't too fond of it because they had to strap him down and he was all wrapped up like a mummy so he couldn't wiggle very much. Then they wedged his head in with rolled up towels. I stayed in the room with him the whole time and helped hold him down so he couldn't move his head around. I don't know if any of you have had an MRI but it is really noisy. Lots of loud humming, buzzing and banging sounds. The noise startled him and actually held his attention for a minute or two at the very beginning. Then I think it kind of scared him. He screamed the entire time... poor baby! I just stood there in a semi-crouched position with my arms stretched into the tube trying not to cry, because it is so hard seeing my baby scared and crying and not being able to pick him up. I think it was only about 20 minutes long, but it seemed like forever. As soon as it was over, I picked him up and he was so sweaty and had lots of big tear stains but he was back to his normal smiley self after just a few seconds... checking out his surroundings and flirting with all the hospital workers. :)




We don't have the results yet. I was told that the MRI would be read by a radiologist today and then the report sent to our Pediatrician's office... so we are just waiting for a call from them. I guess Monday. I will update everyone then.

More storms and other stuff...

The river on the side of our house

We had another great storm last week.  The rain was coming down so hard for about half an hour that we couldn't even see the houses across the street.  The street looked like a river and the water was coming up and covering up our sidewalk.  The kids thought it was a blast though.

One great thing about the rainstorms here, is that they really cool things off.  There have been a few evenings (and even mornings) when it was pleasant enough to take a walk.

View of the sunset from the park on Friday night... Wow!

Friday morning we got up and decided that it would be a good day for the zoo.  It was overcast and not unbearably hot, although it was a little humid.  So we went to the zoo.  As soon as we got there, the clouds broke up and it was HOT!  We went straight for the splash pad to try and cool off a little.  I figured that it wouldn't be so bad if we were wet.  That didn't work out so much because we were still way hot.  We hardly looked at any animals, just went from one splash pad to the other and then came home.

So Ben had his six month check up about a week and a half ago.  It turns out that he has a big noggin (which is not a surprise).  The surprise part is that it is big enough for the doctor to have a little concern as to what is going on inside.  So we took him to have an ultrasound at Scottsdale Hospital last week on Tuesday.  I was a little freaked out.  The technician reviewed it with the radiologist and then told me that aside from his fluid being a little on the high side of normal, Ben basically just has a big head.  I was relieved, so I spread the news that everything was fine.

Look at that perfect little noggin :)

Trying to get the monkeys on his feet

Friday afternoon, I got a phone call from my pediatrician.  He told us that since Ben's ventricles are a little enlarged, they want us to go to Phoenix Children's Hospital for an MRI.  So much for being relieved... now I am a little freaked out again.

Random picture of Ry being... well, Ry!