Sleeping Daddy=Hippo Neck

So, today for dinner we went to Jack-in-the-Box. James Micheal got a hungry hippo toy in his kids meal and was really excited to open it when he got home. Well, James crashed on the couch to take a nap, since his surgery he has been really tired. Well, I guess James Micheal thought it was the perfect time to see if his hippo could balance on daddy's neck, and well, it fit. I had to take some pics, James Micheal was super proud of himself. James Micheal sitting next to his creation,(he wanted me to take the pictures, he asked)
A disease called hippo neck.This form of disease manifested itself in a yellow colored raised bump, right below the chin.

Makayla in her Stander

Well, for those of you who don't know, Makayla has been making a lot of progress physically. She is almost standing up on her own with shoes on and is rolling around everywhere. The physical therapist fitted her for a stander about four weeks ago. It has made all the difference and is the main reason for all her progress. She will be fitted for splints in a couple of weeks, because they think she has weak ankles. The splints will help her stand alone. We are all hoping she is standing on her own by Christmas and walking by her birthday. Besides that, her speech pathologist thinks she is ready to do another swallow study at the end of December. She feels like Makayla might be ready for a thinner consistency of fluids. She hasn't aspirated since the hospital and has stopped tilting her neck back to drink which is a good sign she is learning to swallow correctly. We are so happy she is making such great progress. Here are some pictures of her in her stander. This contraption helps stabilize her legs so she can use her back and hips to pull her body up.

Trick-or-Treating

We all had a lot of fun taking James Micheal and Makayla trick-or-treating. James Micheal loved getting candy and would say he needed to get a piece of candy for Makayla and he would take two. He would then go put a piece into Makayla's bucket hooked to the stroller. Everytime a door would close, he would say, "I need to go to another one, and get more candy." It was so cute, and Makayla had fun in her stroller dressed up as a ladybug. James Micheal was a dragon. Here are some pictures of James Micheal and Makayla's stash of candy after two straight hours of trick-or-treating and them in their costumes.