Monster Max

Flat Max - Milwaukee, WI

2012-01-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Max's second adventure was by email to Milwaukee, to see his buddy Krista. Krista was Max's main squeeze this summer when she stayed with us before moving to go to P.A. school in Wisconsin. He was so happy to see all of the fun places she had to take him in her new town at Christmas time!

(Thanks Krista for writing this up for him too!)

Flat Max decided to spend a very rare sunny Sunday checking out a few places that make Milwaukee a fun place to live. He headed on over to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which is an amazing building overlooking Lake Michigan. We both decided it was way too cold to walk down to the lake, but we did check out the museum, which was most recently in a Transformers movie.

Flat Max then headed across the river to the most famous place in Milwaukee, the Harley-Davidson museum. They make some of the most iconic American motorcycles. Inside you can play the noises of every motor every made since Harley-Davidson was created. Your dad would really love to have some of those as his ring tone.

Here Flat Max swings by a statue by the Harley-Davidson that was donated to the company.

Flat Max then decided that he would come with me for a quick workout at Cream City Crossfit. I started doing some push ups and when I looked around Max was swinging in the rings have a great time.

He then got bored and went outside to try and bring in some more people to the gym. It worked! I had 10 people in my class.

On our last day together, which was also a day I had to take final exams, Flat Max jumped out of my backpack and went on his own adventure. His first stop was the Department of Physician Assistant Studies. It's where all the cool kids hang out.

He was next spotted at one of the pillars that mark the edges of the main campus at Marquette. We aren't really supposed to sit on these, but Flat Max just seemed to find a way.

Flat Max then decided to make friends with one of the Marquette police officers. It is a pretty big school that has it's own police force who are very good at what they do. This officer was taking a break but noticed Flat Max. He had just finished a project with "Flat Julie" and was more than happy to take a picture. He said, "Merry Christmas".

After all of Flat Max's adventures in Milwaukee, he met me at my desk for my Genetics final. What a sweet guy. He sat with me through the test to make sure I did well.

Milwaukee may not be as exciting as other places Flat Max has traveled, but I'm really glad he stopped by and got to see a little bit of my Milwaukee!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, MAX!!!

Strong girl...

2012-01-24T18:06:00.001-07:00

When he was a baby, Abbey would say to Max, "I have to teach you your ABC's so you can read !". And she would go through the alphabet over and over and over again with him as he lay beside her smiling.

She would pick him up and say, "I have to move your legs (pumping them back and forth) so you can learn how to ride a bike and run!".

Abbey was only 5 when Max was born, but from the very beginning she was set on showing him the way through life.

He loves her being with him all the time, and they have a very unique and special relationship. He was just as proud and excited as we are to see her on the news today, talking about her accomplishments as an 8 time world record holding power-lifter.

They're both made of amazing things. They both inspire us every day. And when she told the reporter that when she doesn't feel like working out, she thinks of her little brother, Max, who love to walk, and she pushes on, it made our hearts swell with pride.

What a strong girl, indeed.

Flat Max - Denver, CO

2012-01-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Flat Max has been making his way around the world. We first told you about Max's second grade class's project back in October. They went as a class to the main post office to mail their Flat Stanley and Flat Stacey dolls to their first recipients. His classmates sent their dolls to friends and family first, and from then on, they sent them on to who they wanted. So, they may not know all of the people who they are going to get letters back from. For Max, we wanted to make sure he could relate as well as possible to the project, so we sent his only to people he knows, and they'll send it on to someone on the list of his friends. Max also thought that instead of the typical Flat Stanley face, his needed a picture of himself. So, we call him Flat Max, instead of Flat Stanley. If you don't have a clue what Flat Stanley is, you can read about it here.

Max wanted to send his first to his cousin Addie, here in Denver. Of all the people, the whole world over, he wanted her to get it first!

So, without further ado from me; I give you Flat Max's first adventure with Cousin Addie in Denver, CO.

Auntie Angie wrote the letter to Max on what all they did with him.

They took a ride in the car...

And to the zoo...

And to the park...

To school with Addie...

And to work with Auntie Angie...

(The playground at Aunty Angie's work)

I think he was really helpful with Auntie Angie's work...

Addie wrote him a letter and drew him pictures about their adventures too.

What a great first adventure!!! Thank you cousin Addie and Auntie Angie and Uncle Dan for taking Flat Max to see all of Addie's favorite places!

If you would like to take Flat Max on an adventure, check out the Flat "Max" Stanley tab.

Rumbly Tumbly...

2012-01-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

It's always a mixed bag when we take Max in for a test at the hospital. Usually the tests have been ordered because there is something going on. So, either the test will give us answers, or more questions.

I say it's a mixed bag, because, it's not always a bad thing to have more questions. Today, we took Max in for yet another radiology test to look at the anatomy of his intestines. He's had an upper GI, stomach emptying test, multiple xrays, and multiple stool sample studies to see if we can get to the bottom of why he's having stomach and intestine issues since having the partial resection of his transverse colon back in June.

The test today was to show us if where his colon was put back together, had scar tissue, or if it had pinched again. I have to admit, I was holding my breath once the test started to see if we were looking at more surgery. Now that we've seen so many of these tests, I know what the boy's innards look like, and I was pleased to see it all looked normal to my untrained eye. I know what not normal in him looks like...and it usually means a rushed trip to the OR. At least it was not that today.

So, back to square one. We're still working with GI, who will likely put his head together with Metabolic, and Max's pediatrician. My guess is that they will put him on Flagyl when needed, when his intestines start holding onto gas, and he can't have bowel movements easily. For whatever reason, he holds onto too much gas, which then makes it uncomfortable for him to have a bowel movement, so he holds it in...causing more gas and more pain. But, we shall see what they say.

We've got all the imaging tests we need to do finished for now. Hopefully we can keep out of Children's for a while. And hopefully we can get to the bottom of his GI issues.

Oh, George...

2012-01-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

George turned 7 months old yesterday.

He's been such a great addition to our whole house. Max loves him, of course, but he's something special to all of us. I've been working closely with him as far as the training goes, and the daily activities with Max . Steve keeps him active, by taking walks and running with him. And Abbey likes to use the laser light to play with him too.

It's so easy to forget he's just a baby puppy. In the past couple of weeks, he's really started to get the training bit. Perhaps, it's mostly because we've been home and not in the hospital lately!

Steve gave him a haircut over the weekend, his first time to go it alone. We're learning as we go, and thankfully, George is pretty forgiving of a few straggly edges. Steve went shorter all over, and I think it's adorable!

(His coat is still wet in these photos. We think his light skin is so funny, under that thick coat of dark hair.)

We took him for his first trip to Max's favorite park this weekend. We've been holding off, because there are so many people and dogs, but, it's time to start introducing him to crowds and to teach him to stick close to Max in exciting situations. He did really well, and only got distracted when he met these creatures that liked to tease him.

We didn't let him in on the secret, that if he ran at them, they would all fly off. That would have been the end of a fun walk at the park.

Yes, life with George is exciting for sure.

Today, he was protective of Max, as he got his wheelchairs fitted. He thought maybe our equipment guy was messing too much with his boy's things so he gave a couple of barks to him, to let him know Max was his boy. He also wanted to make sure that Max had his snow boots on, quite randomly, while he was getting his wheelchair fixed up. So, naturally, we put his snow boots on him, since George brought them to Max.

We're so proud of how he has attached to Max, and loves him so much. So much in fact, that today, when Max went to his bed for a rest, George thought he needed to take the glasses he left behind to him. That's when he realized just how chewy they were.

Oops.

Ouch.

I hurried over to the store, with 10 minutes before their closing to get a new set made. It will take about a week for them to get here with a rush. And it's a good thing we had some extra funds in the HSA account. They were a VERY expensive chew-toy for George.

But, being 7 months old, and him living with us for under 3 months, not too bad for the only thing he's torn up, to date. They just tasted far too much like his boy.

I've tried to mend them the best they can be, until his new set comes in. I hope he can see well enough with them for this week. They are really scratched up on the lenses, and the temple pieces are taped together, with stretchy tape on top to smooth out the edges.

Oh, George.

Growing...

2012-01-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

He's grown so much in just one year!

First Grade photo:

Second Grade photo:

When his scar shows, I tend to think of "The Boy Who Lived".

Photos for You...

2012-01-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

Max woke up on the wrong side of his bed this morning. He's grumpy and groggy, and just wanting it dark and quiet in the house. George knows his boy is feeling a little down, and is keeping close to him...when he's not standing at the back door trying to convince me he REALLY needs to go outside...to play in the snow.

I thought today was a good day to do a photo dump. We've been so busy with the start of the new year that the photos are adding up without me taking the time to post them each as their own blog post.

George wasn't so sure he wanted to follow me out to the yard with the wild wind that was wipping around. So, the scaredy dog just stood on the porch and peeked around the corner.

Abbey put her new boots on Max to let him feel the furry insides. It was like boots with George on the inside!

I find Max in the funniest positions while he sleeps. This one was definitely picture worthy. And yes, I did re-position him after I took the photo.

These cuddle-pups were just trying to stay warm last night since it was so cold!

Max made his own pizza a couple of weekends ago at his favorite pizza place.

Max was a lion in music therapy last week. "In the jungle the mighty jungle..."

Max learned with his classmates about farmers, and counting by 10's.

George is unimpressed with the stair lair. He prefers to be out with his people.

So, he just figures out a way to make sure I never put him in there again. Stinker...this didn't hurt him, and I was right there with him, but I won't be leaving him in there now that I know he can stick his peanut head through the gap. We'll be moving the gate back to the entry way, it just makes it extra difficult to get Max out to his van to have to take it down every time we leave.

Mr. Bright Eyes...back when his tummy was still bothering him, we got out for some rides in his van to make him feel better.

And finally, Steve found a toy that George really loves. A laser light on the floor.

Robot Boots...

2012-01-06T23:10:00.002-07:00

This week was full and frenzied with back to school and therapy fun! Max did really well to get back into the swing of things, but I found myself dragging along towards the end of the week.

Today, we took Max to get his new AFO's, Ankle Foot Orthosis, or as we call them - his Robot Boots!

Max needs to wear his boots for standing, and his monster feet have outgrown the last pair. We also got him another set that will protect his boney heels and ankles from all his wild kicks.

The soft set are made of foam, and aren't custom. They are truly just to protect his feet, and knees, and face and whatever else he gets with those boney heels of his.

Seems as though the only smiling picture I can get of him these days is blurry...he's a flurry of movement!

His second pair that he'll use to stand are quite hard plastic, and hurt when you get kicked with them. Since it was just me putting these on for him to get a feel for and to get a photo, I only put the one on. As you can see, he got as much yellow as possible! These are molded and fitted exactly to his feet.

They are going to work great for him to be able to stand more, now that the set he has will be more comfortable so he can stand longer!

And he thinks he's pretty awesome to have two pair of robot boots!

So Long 2011...

2011-12-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Last year, on this date, we were being discharged from a lengthly hospitalization with Max. We had spent Christmas there, and we were quickly approaching the new year. I remember nearly begging them to not make us ring in the new year in the hospital. I had big plans for 2011 to be much better, stronger and healthier than 2010 had been.

Like most things in life, it didn't work out that way exactly. From December 2010 - December 2011, Max was in the hospital 47 days. That's nearly 6 weeks of this past year we spent in Children's Hospital, 2 of those weeks in the ICU. He had 27 outpatient clinic visits. He had over 12 weeks of IV antibiotics. No, 2011 was not a year of great health.

But, it was a great year.

In January, we started the year with a grant from Professionals Miracles Foundation, which has paid for an entire year of music therapy for Max. It's one of his favorite things, and we're so thankful he can enjoy it weekly.

In February, Max got sweet Valentine's from his entire first grade class, each of them writing to tell him they were happy he was their friend.

In March, Songs of Love sent Max an opera song written just for him. It's still one of his favorite songs to listen to.

In April, we learned that while his vision is poor without his glasses, he sees well with them on, and he got some sporty new blue frames.

In May, he had field trips, and field days, the last day of 1st grade, and made his tv premier on the local news.

In June, Max got his Make A Wish granted, and got a bike!

(Video)

In July, he got to ride that bike as much as he could handle while being on the IV antibiotics at home.

In August, Max started 2nd grade, and his sister Abbey moved here to live with us full-time.

In September, Max got to ride a horse and zip-line up in the mountains.

In October, we got his van lift, and of course thanks to all of you, we got GEORGE!!! And after waking up on his birthday in the hospital, we got a fast pass out of there to celebrate turning 8 at home.

In November, after a year and a half of appeals, we finally got Max's bath lift approved and installed!

In December, Max got to spend Christmas at home, and his friends in Michigan held a fundraiser for his trust to help pay for some repairs on his van.

It was a busy year. A full year. One that we'll all be happy to put on the shelf. We look forward to 2012, hoping for health and happiness. If we have those things, it will be a wonderful year.

A Christmas at Home...

2011-12-27T00:20:00.002-07:00

Since I last wrote, we've spent many hours with one of Max's doctors trying to figure out what might be going on inside of him, to make him cry and be in so much discomfort.

His GI doctor suggested we get an xray and once he saw the results from that, asked that Max come in to do another scan. I think at this point we've been in nearly every radiology room in The Children's Hospital. The scan we did on last Friday was one to measure how quickly his stomach empties when there is food in there.

The tech put nearly a full can of food into his stomach within 5 minutes and then Max had to lay still on a hard scan table for one hour while his stomach emptied. Here's the thing. . . Max doesn't lay still. Max is ALWAYS moving, unless he's completely asleep. So, we got to sit with him and hold his arms up above his head, while the very large straps helped hold him still to the table. It sounds awful, and we certainly thought we were about to encounter the coming undone of our son, but I think he almost liked it. He pushed against the straps quite a few times and enjoyed the sensation of them pushing back. I think it made him feel like his muscles were doing just as much as he thinks they can.

Directly after the test, we went for a clinic visit with his GI doctor. Thankfully Radiology had read the results and dictated them into the system so the doctor could see. It was found that Max does have a mild delay of emptying his stomach. Which we already knew. We were glad it wasn't significant, and it gave the doctor direction on what to treat.

His doctor thinks that at some point, in all of the "messing with intestines" Max has had in the past year, with 2 surgeries and 1 scoped procedure, that his intestines are just temperamental. We all have bacteria that moves through, but for Max he thinks it's finding some areas to just get lazy and set up camp. When that happens, the bacteria start producing extra gas. That extra gas is getting trapped, and making Max a very uncomfortable guy. Luckily, there is a medicine that helps. Within the first full day of doses, he's back to his happy self, and doing all of his potty business as he should.

The question still remains, why does this happen? Can he be on this medicine periodically - long term? We'll get through this round and just see. He had to be on it back in October, for the same sort of funky gut stuff. It may be that we will add a different maintenance medicine on that will move things through his intestines more quickly, so they don't have the chance to get settled and cause problems.

But for now, we're just happy he's happy. He's not uncomfortable, and we had a merry Christmas, at HOME! I'm so thankful that he has such great doctors who care for him. It's really something incredible when I get a phone call, after hours, from one of his doctors and can hear in the background his own holiday festivities picking up. You can't teach that sort of care in medical school, and we feel especially lucky that all of his doctors truly do care for him.

We're on the right track, hopefully of getting him better. And hopefully, with fingers crossed, prayers whispered, and a few shouted, we'll end 2011 without illness and can look to a much healthier 2012.

Now, that you've gotten through all of that, I'll load you with the photos from the weekend.

We really had a nice Christmas, it wasn't a big to-do, which was what we were hoping for. But, we were happy to be together.

The end of last week, we got a lot of snow. George loves the snow, and wanted to play in it all day long!

He even got in the igloo that Steve and Abbey made.

And he wanted to show it to Max, who still had a little bit of the grumpies on the day it was built, as we hadn't seen the doctor yet.

Max thought it was pretty great!

On Saturday, we had our big Christmas meal, and opened gifts with family. Max's cousin Addie was such a great helper to open all of Max's gifts for him.

Max was still feeling a little grumpy on Saturday, and really didn't want me to take his picture.

I finally got him to put his arm down from his face, and to stop kicking for half a second for me to get one.

Christmas morning, he got up and was ready for the fun.

He got this rad light box that he loves.

A set of his very own jingle bells like Ms. Laura brings to music therapy each week.

And a new shirt, which is yellow, has Curious George on it, and says Teachers Pet on it.

Christmas afternoon, we got out and went to Max's favorite park for a long walk. Before we got out, Max had not been out of the house the entire month of December besides going to the hospital for appointments, or when he was sick. We thought that was for the birds, so we made sure to get out for a long time in the sunshine...even though there was snow on the ground! Grammy and Grampy were here for the weekend, so they got to see Max's favorite park too.

All is quieting down now, and the year is nearly finished. I am working on our "year in review" post, and finding it hard to come through it without feeling sadness for just how much he's gone through this year. But, being the eternal optimist that I am, I am finding all of the wonderful things that have happened in 2011, and still find myself in a place of gratitude.

A Mystery...

2011-12-18T21:38:00.001-07:00

The past few days have been loud. Sometimes when Max gets out of the hospital, he needs and wants his body to get back to normal more quickly than it is ready to. This gets him so very frustrated, resulting in what can only be called melt-downs of epic proportions.

Steve and I have had to divy up responsibilities with Max, because there are so very many. Some things he can handle better than I can. Blood and staying up all night...all him. Poop and crying...all me. I don't know why or how it doesn't bother me, but I can just sort of tune it out. I don't ignore Max, and I do try to comfort him, but I know he's not "throwing a fit"or just doing it to be bratty. Max is one of the sweetest most mild mannered kids I've ever known, so when he gets into crying jags, I know something is just wrong.

It turned out to be good timing that Abbey and Steve had a weekend trip planned this weekend, because Max needed to just cry it out. It's not necessarily a pleasant sound to listen to high-pitched screaming and crying for hours on end, but Max does this sometimes. Especially after intense hospital stays.

He's not hurting, he's not sick, he's not tired, he's just out of sorts.

It could be his medicine has been all whacky the past couple of weeks. It could be over stimulation from the hospital. It could be he's overly tired. It could be he's slept so much that he's bored. It could be those teeth that have to break through like a newborn because his gums close back up after losing teeth. It could be gas...we already know he has a slow bowels and a lot of gas. It could be that he's sad. It could be that he's frustrated.

It could be any of those things, or something else altogether. I don't know. I can't figure it out, and he usually gets through it before I need to figure it out. He's sleeping soundly through the night. If he was hurting, or sick, he would not sleep. He's back to eating his normal amount of food, at the rate he usually eats it with no vomiting or gagging. If the food was bothering him, it would come back up, or out or I could smell it on his breath. There's none of that. He usually keeps his eyes semi-opened if his head is hurting, and besides when he's crying, his bright blue eyes are wide open. I can move all of his extremities without discomfort. I can brush his teeth without objection. He's doing all of his potty business with ease.

It is just a crying mystery. But, one he'll likely just have to get through. I'll rock him, and play with him, and try to comfort him through it all. And hopefully it passes soon enough. Because it is an impossible thing for a Momma's heart to not know what's wrong with her child, and certainly to not know how to make it all better. Sometimes a cuddle and a kiss is all I can offer, and just hope it's enough.

The Threat of Being Sick...

2011-12-16T19:45:00.001-07:00

I feel like we live with our own sort of color coded warning system, like the one Homeland Security used for the terrorism threat to the United States, when Max is sick.

LOW - He's mildly sick. This one will get us watching him more closely. Checking temperature, maybe a little medicine at home, and probably some extra sleep and snuggles will be needed.

GUARDED - Time to call the nurse. We get the feeling that he'll need some medicine or another set of eyes to check on him. Because he's part of a special clinic for special needs kids, the nurses are wonderful with triage and sometimes we're able to just sort it out on the phone. More often than not, this ends with us taking him to see his pediatrician.

ELEVATED - Skip the triage, dial doctors instead. We call his metabolic doctors, neurologist, and pediatrician to let them know we're taking him straight to through to Emergency, rather than taking a space in clinic. We know at this point he has to be seen, and the great thing about all of his doctors being at the hospital is that they will all know when he goes in through Emergency and all get on the case pretty quickly. When we go from home to ELEVATED, we come with all of his medicine and a packed bag, knowing it is going to be a long day/night.

HIGH - This is the point where he gets admitted. Most of the time it's straight from Emergency, sometimes through Urgent Care, or once by a ride in an ambulance. We have our favorite floor, and favorite nurses, so we will often request them before we even get up to a floor. We know he'll need to be watched for a day or so. Good thing we have that packed bag!

SEVERE - This is sick. Sick-sick. PICU-sick. "I don't know what could be wrong with him", says the doctor, sick. We usually are sent to the Intensive Care Unit for Code Red, SEVERE. Sometimes we're on the floor still, but he's watched very closely. When he's this sick, it takes months to get over it fully. He was this sick last December, and again this past summer. He was that sick for one day this past illness, which put him in the PICU, and he stayed in there, but was downgraded to HIGH.

We go through this mental list all the time when Max is sick. In order to get home from the hospital, the order goes backwards. I told Max's teacher today that Max issn't hospital sick, but he's still not feeling great. It's still astonishing every time how a 24 hour bug can last nearly 2 weeks in him.

Today he slept until about noon, and then woke up a mad, upset, grumpy, frustrated little terror. We watch him closely, and troubleshoot what might be wrong. I got him to use his Dynavox for a few minutes to try to tell me what was making him scream so much today, and he told me he's FRUSTRATED!!!, he feels silly, and his bottom hurts. He has been full of gas bubbles, so I think it might be that. In the end, I think he's just feeling crummy. No fever, keeping his food down, nothing hurting from our own exams of pushing and poking on his body. No need to take him in. Just sit, try to comfort, and hope that the threat level doesn't rise.

How do we do it?

2011-12-14T16:15:00.001-07:00

We have made it back home!

Max was discharged directly from the PICU on Monday evening. Once every one was on the same page about his abnormal movements, there was really no reason for us to be in the hospital. Max got over the stomach bug fairly quickly, but just needed the extra help to get through the after effects of it all.

Of course, George was over the moon to see him. I had George on his leash to make sure he didn't jump on Max with excitement once he got home, but it wasn't even needed. He went over very gently and kissed his boy and nuzzled his long nose into Max's lap. Any time we would leave Max's side George would move right in to make sure he was still there and taken care of.

Max slept when he got home, and all day yesterday, and through the night. Although, last night he really wanted a cuddle with one of us, so one of us was with him most of the night to keep him comfortable. He woke this morning with a smile, and has been upright for most of the day.

Monday night was the only Christmas party I had planned on going to this year. It was with the group of moms I meet with once a month. We each have children with significant needs. Being with my friends after such a rough week really made me realize just what a special group of people we have here.

While I was sick, my sister and brother in law came to get me to ensure Steve was able to stay with Max. They didn't need to get sick, certainly with a stomach flu, but they were there before I could object. They took me home, and made sure I had enough vitamin water to rehydrate a football team. And saltines, which I still can't bring myself to eat after an unfortunate morning sickness episode when I was pregnant.

I had these same "supermoms" bring me dinner, Abbey dinner, flowers, and chocolate...always chocolate. Each one of them checked on me, whether by bringing and leaving food and drinks on the front porch, or by emailing or calling. Each one of them, having children who couldn't get sick - just as Max can't get sick, making sure we were okay, and offering to help.

The next day my friend Susan, straight off an airplane, went up to the hospital to let an exhausted Steve sleep. She sat there, ready to wake Steve if needed. Steve slept and recharged his energy. She got home in the very early hours of the morning, having let Steve sleep all night. Then came and got me so I could get back up to the hospital once the horrid bug made it's way through my system.

While I was being taken care of at home, doctors and nurses who know Max were checking in on him and Steve. There is a system in the hospital which dictates who is "in charge". Because Max went in through the ER, and admitted to the floor, the doctors on the floor were "in charge", until Max got to the ICU, then those doctors made the decisions. Still, each of Max's doctors came to check on him. His pediatrician, metabolic doctors, nurses he's had before, his GI doctor, his surgeon, his wheelchair rep. all came as soon as they saw or heard that Max was there. None of them had a lot of input as far as treatment for this stomach bug or the shaking was concerned, but each stopped to make sure he was okay, and to make sure we were okay. And yes, his neurologist who was still brushing the sand off his bags from vacation called as soon as he heard Max was in the hospital.

This is why we have all of his doctors and specialist at Children's Hospital. Because in their extremely busy schedules, and when they have their own lives and children to get home to, they stop, and they check on our boy. They make sure he is okay. They care when it's not expected of them.

Max got letters from many of his friends at school. This wasn't done at school, but each of his classmates went home and asked if they could send a letter to Max so he feels better. His teachers were checking on him, and his therapists too.

And even George was taken care of...and little Olive too. George's trainer was amazing to come over and walk George and Olive, and play with them. Our neighbor helped with getting keys to her to be able to come and go without much effort at all from us.

There are times when we get out of the hospital and wonder, how do we do it? How DO we make it through these extremely tense situations time after time, and not end up crazy? When I stop and think about it, it's really pretty simple...we're not doing it alone. We have people here who care for us, and step in to help in any way they can.

And then there's you. Family and friends who read about Max and pray, and spread the word about our little guy. Your words of encouragement bring a sting of tears to my eyes every time I read them. In the dark hours in the isolated world of the PICU, I read that you're up too thinking of Max, and hoping he's better soon, and it calms me. It makes me feel that we can go on. Everyone else has our backs.

Yes, I'd say we have a pretty good village of family, friends, therapists, doctors, nurses, receptionists, and 2nd graders. We all make it happen, and then our boy gets better and he gets to come home. That's how we do it.

Peace...

2011-12-11T12:51:00.001-07:00

Max is still in the cocoon of the PICU this Sunday afternoon. He is resting now, after a sleepless night for both of us.

We've been able to talk with his neurologist, who has been out of town, and we think we're on the right track with weaning him off of the slurry of seizure meds he's been on this week.

It's a strange thing being in the PICU when you're not really sick. I don't especially like being in the PICU with Max at any time. But, what a luxury we live where we do, and have great insurance to afford a week long stay in the PICU, just to make him comfortable as he is weaning off of too much seizure medicine.

Max is on a sedation medicine called precedex. It's unlike any other we've used with him before, in that he can wake and interact with us in between resting. Unlike other sedation medicines where he's knocked out and we see his eyes a week or more later. It's been nice because he's been able to wake up and we're able to tell from his facial expressions, and voice that he's feeling much better, just really being affected by the seizure medicine overload. (Not overdose...he was never in danger of overdose, just a bit too extreme for what was happening.)

I'm hoping we're out, and back home soon this week. It is still enough time to pull off a Christmas. And one outside of the hospital is what is on all of our Christmas lists this year!

Max sitting up in his chair, listening to opera Christmas music, and peeking at this flashy snowman from his buddy Calvin.

Having a peaceful rest.

Keep Calm and Carry On...

2011-12-09T23:06:00.001-07:00

Neither Steve nor I have had the energy to keep up on the blog this week. But, I want to try to do an update for those of you who do not follow along on Max's facebook page as well.

Max has been in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) since Tuesday morning. It was determined, due to my own abrupt illness, that he had a stomach flu, and simply needed rehydrating and some of his medicines by IV since they were giving his gut a rest.

Yesterday, late afternoon, I was able to go up to be with him and stay the night to give Steve a chance to come home. Max was restful, but happy to see me as he started waking up. They also started feeding him slowly yesterday. By this morning, he was much more interactive and waking, but with that came the tremor from the load of seizure medicines he's on.

It's something we're going to have to talk with his neurologist, as well as his pediatrician, but we think that a combination of the double dose of seizure medicine he has to be on to cover the medicines he can't get through his stomach. If you've ever taken a medicine that makes you jittery, it's like that, only through an IV and at an incredibly high dose for your body. Every time he's on it, it hits a level that makes him move like he's coming out of his skin. Some doctors have seen it and think it's seizures. Thankfully, the PICU doctor watched the progression and we talked her through it all day.

This afternoon/evening, the plan was to move him back up to the floor. He was tolerating his food. He was starting to wake more, and he was not having any fever or vomiting. I left Steve and Max to pick up Abbey from school and take her back to the hospital at 3:00. When we got back there about an hour later, Max was full on agitated. He was crying and soaking his bed with sweat. It looks like a sort of anxiety attack he's getting.

I asked Steve if the PICU doctor had seen Max yet, and he said not since he was that agitated, and he and I thought she definitely should before they move us to a floor, in case they would end up putting him right back down in the PICU. As soon as she came in she said, "oh no - he's not going anywhere.". They had his entire room packed up and ready to move him, and just in time we decided he should stay. They gave him some medicine to calm him, and a slow drip of another to keep him calm. We'll talk with neurology about starting to get him off of the seizure medicine's high dose so we can get him back to his regular dose.

He will still have some of these side effects as the medicine works it's way out of his system, but that will happen when it's actually working it's way out, not when we're still giving it to him at the same high dose without weaning it down. So, for now, he's been given some medicine to keep him calm, so he can carry on getting better. Once the extra seizure medicine is not through IV anymore, he'll be on the road to coming home. Hopefully next week.

Now I will close my computer and lay my head on my pillow. Where I am surely going to collapse until tomorrow morning.

Thank you for all the kind notes, prayers, and well wishes for us all. They really do mean a great deal to us when we're in the hospital and he's sick. Even when we don't respond to each one, we do read each one and it's very touching to know how he's loved the world over.

-Deana

Being sick...

2011-12-07T12:41:00.001-07:00

There are moments when I stop and think, "He's doing so well, maybe one day he can go to school.", or, "I wonder if we could take him on a vacation in an airplane?", or, "sure, it's respiratory season, but we can get out as a family and have a nice weekend in a crowded mall.".

And then, we find ourselves up in the wee hours of the morning counting number of times our boy is vomiting, or how little he's been peeing, or pooping. Packing bags, and gathering medicines, and on our way to emergency because we know he's sick.

We watch him get sicker and sicker, not knowing what is going on because he can't tell us. He looks at us with scared eyes, wanting us to make it better. But we don't know what to do to make it better.

Yesterday morning, after I woke from my one hour of sleep, I felt dizzy, and nauseous, and sick to my stomach. I had just lived through one of the most stressful moments with Max, without Steve there to take over when I couldn't keep my brave face on. I racked the sick feeling up to being stressed, and not having any rest. I barely made it to the restroom before I got sick.

I came out and thought I just needed to eat a little something because meals are so few and far between while we're there. I barely finished my crackers before I was getting sick again. I let the nurse know that I thought I was sick and I would be staying away from Max's bedside and let them do their work.

Steve arrived about the time I was going in for my third violent vomiting session, and got my sister to come by the hospital to take me home since I didn't think I could sit upright, let alone drive home by myself.

All of this was happening as the doctors and nurses were deciding that Max was too sick to be on the floor and needed constant supervision by the doctors and nurses in the intensive care unit. They rolled him down and I waited for my sister to come up to get me.

I got sick on the way home, and a couple more times once I got here. This illness is one of the most violent sicknesses I've had in years. It's knocked me down. It's everything embarrassing and disgusting that happens with a stomach flu, and yet, I'm on my way to feeling much better after 24 hours. I'm still not at the place where I can be at the hospital, but well enough to eat a little and keep hydrated on my own. And while my stomach still feels like it's got a blender inside of it, my fever is gone and I'm not vomiting anymore.

My being sick has been a sort of blessing in disguise for the moment. As soon as I told the nurse I was sick, she said "Good! That likely means it's a virus he's got! Be sure to tell the doctors when they do rounds". I did, and they all were 'pleased' to know that I was also sick. It gives them a direction to go with. While I've felt awful, and it knocked me out for a couple of days. It's not put me in the PICU with seizures, and fevers of 104f, and uncontrolled shaking throughout my whole body. It's been a setback for a couple of days for me, but has made my son critically ill.

It's moments like these that bring us back to reality. How very sick he can get from the most common of colds. How very diligent we have to be about washing hands, not kissing him on the face during respiratory season, not being around him if we're sick, removing shoes at the front door, staying away from crowded areas, not going to school, or the hospital, or anywhere kids tend to be. Because this little flu bug has knocked him down so hard.

He's being watched after by his dad-dad, who is doing a wonderful job of juggling doctors, and sleeping, and getting away to eat. But, we need to be there together. Steve needs to stay well. Abbey needs to stay well. I need to get better, and Max needs to get better.

The other day Abbey said she was so glad we weren't going to be in the hospital on Christmas this year. I knocked on the table and said "knock on wood we won't be.", then explained to her what knock on wood meant, since she hadn't heard that phrase before. We're all knocking on wood that we don't have to spend Christmas in the hospital again this year, but if that's where he needs to be to get better, then we'll be there with him.

Max is sick...

2011-12-06T14:25:00.001-07:00

I have been updating Max's facebook page and forgot to mention anything here. Max is in the hospital with we don't know what. He went in through the ER yesterday because of vomiting and high fevers, got admitted to the floor overnight, and this morning is in the PICU.

I'm awake for a bit, and thought I should update on what I know. Max experienced intense pain last night, and uncontrolled shaking of his whole body. The emergency response team was called to his room on the floor and gave him very heavy doses of ativan to calm him, because we were unsure if he was having seizures or in pain.

Once the ativan wore off in a couple of hours, the shaking and pain came back in full force. That's when he was moved to the ICU, and I was sent home. I have caught a stomach virus, which has caused me to be vomiting as well.

Steve is at the hospital with Max full time. They are going to be running more tests to see if they can figure out where the pain is coming from, since they were able to see it wasn't seizures with an EEG test.

Please keep us all in your prayers. For Max, that he'll be comfortable until we can figure out what is going on with his little body. For Steve, that he stays healthy so one of us can stay with him at all times. For Abbey, that she stays healthy. And for me, that I feel better soon and can get back up to my boy. And for the doctors to figure out what's going on soon so they can treat it.

Max and George in Photos...

2011-12-02T13:25:00.001-07:00

George wants you all to know that he likes sparkly Christmas lights, just like his boy!

And Max LOVES sparkly lights!

You know what else George likes? Max's hands.

He likes to get a sticky Max hand in his paws and just clean it right up!

And maybe just hug him for a little while.

George also loves to lay on Max's beanbag chair...with one of Max's stuffed puppies.

Max is just happy he leaves him with Curious George at night.

Extubation Day...

2011-12-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

I forgot!

My mom messaged me a few minutes ago on Facebook.

"Happy Intubation Day!", she said.

"Extubation..." I said, then added "but I had forgotten; how about that.".

Some years it's so near to the front of my memory. That incredible day when Max showed us how much fight was in him. It was so early into our journey of the tight-rope walk of Max's medical care. The decisions we had to make then, to intubate, to have brain surgery, to agree to a tracheotomy, all prepared the way for more decisions, and bigger fights along the way.

On December 1, 2004, Max was to be taken to the operating room to place a tracheotomy tube to help him breathe. This was after a month of attempting to get him off of the ventilator that was breathing for him after a horrible reaction to flu vaccine that we didn't know he was deathly allergic to. The combination of the vaccine, too much of the wrong type of IV fluids, and double pneumonias, bought him very special treatment and very watchful eyes in the PICU at the old Children's Hospital through the month of November.

We had doctors who didn't believe he would make it home alive. We had doctors, nurses, and counselors alike preparing us for the worst. We had to make heart-wrenching decisions, and in the end leave it up to God.

On December 1, 2004, Max woke up with a terrible coughing fit. His lungs were actually clear after a month the pneumonias healing, but this cough was violent. I called the nurse in to suction him, and before she could get it all sorted and ready to suction, the intubation tube came out. He coughed that monster tube right out.

After a flurry of doctors, PICU nurses, flight for life nurses, and respiratory therapists, the decision was made to leave him off of the vent to see how he did. Surgery had been postponed until the next day. And they thought it would be good to give him a day to see how he did. They could always replace the tube if his saturation levels dropped.

They didn't drop though. He was breathing in the safe range, on his own, with only a little blow-by oxygen. And, for the first time in a month, I held my baby, and kissed him lips without a tube in the way.

On December 1, 2004, we were reminded that we are not in control. That miracles do happen, when you least expect them. That our baby was a force to be reckoned with.

Now, how could I have forgotten that today?

A Sweet Fundraiser for Monster Max...

2011-11-29T12:06:00.001-07:00

When Max was just one year old, and in the PICU with the possibility of a tracheostomy very real, I read online a parent's quote about her special needs son. Blogs were not all that common back 7 years ago, but there were a few. To paraphrase the quote: "We started out wanted to teach our son about the world; we ended up teaching the world about our son.".

I've thought of that quote so many times through the years with Max. I often will find myself without words at how far-reaching his story is. As checks come in from all corners of the planet to buy our guy a special buddy. As prayers and cards come into his hospital room from friends and family, and friends of friends, and family of family. I sit amazed.

He sits in his chair, in his cozy rooms in our house, because germs don't allow him to get out much. But, he enters into each of your homes, and offices, and thoughts daily, because you come to him. It's incredible.

We sat amazed once again at this phenomenon of Max touching the lives of those who have never met him when a friend of ours contacted us about a couple of her friends that have fallen in love with Max. They own a catering business called Prissy B's Catering, and wanted to hold a holiday fundraiser for Max. They are donating all of their baked goods, and all proceeds from the sales will go towards Max's trust to pay for the many things not covered by insurance.

If you are in the Detroit area, they are holding an open house for Monster Max where they will be selling their yummies, and taking orders. If you are interested, I will send you the address in a message, so as to not put their personal address online.

If you are not in the Detroit area, they have put up an online order form that you can fill out and email to them at prissybcaters@hotmail.com. They will ship items that are non-perishable. No cheesecakes will be shipped. And they need 48 hours notice for orders.

And they are the real deal too. Just check these lovelies out!

I mean seriously, don't you want one of everything?!

Thanks to Tammy and Jessica of Prissy B's Catering!! We are truly grateful.

This is the online order form:

Online Order Form

Fill it out and email it to:

prissybcaters@hotmail.com

And if you are on Facebook, you can "like" their page here:

www.facebook.com/prissy-bs-catering

Thanksgiving Weekend...

2011-11-29T10:15:00.001-07:00

Are you stuffed from all the Thanksgiving yummies? Max had a great long weekend off of school and therapies. Since Thanksgiving is not all about the food for Max, we try to make it fun in other ways. Thanksgiving for Max means getting to go to the zoo!

We love to go to the zoo on Thanksgiving and Christmas because the crowds are very low, and we can take Max into the buildings. He especially loves to see the lions, and then over to see the tropical animals inside. Abbey enjoys the elephants most, and we all like the apes, but skipped them this year.
We all thought it was fun to watch the hippos out of their water while they ate!

I think the tropics building is better for Max than our big Downtown Aquarium. Not nearly as crowded, and just long enough to keep his attention and not overwhelm him. And, they have yellow frogs, fish, and snakes.

Plus this monster, who took a special liking to Abbey.

We had lunch at our favorite Middle Eastern restaurant after our fun at the zoo. Then back home to get the Thanksgiving meal finished cooking for the evening meal. I made way too much food, but not too much for leftovers as it turns out, so that was a nice surprise. We had a great time with my sister and her family.

Friday after Thanksgiving, George got his first haircut by Steve. The breeder who we got George from was gracious enough to teach Steve how to clip him so we don't have to fuss with getting him to a groomer once a month. I think George looks great! He's cut shorter, so brushing isn't as much work for me now! And, he was more than happy to be back with his boy once he got home.

Addie helped decorate the little schoolroom tree for Max. She was a great help!

(This is the finished tree, with just a few adjustments from Auntie, after Addie went home.)

And we got the outside decorated. The dogs seem to like it.

By the way, this is our 300th post on MonsterMax.org! We'll end this season of Thanksgiving, by saying that we're thankful for our friends, family, and fans of Max every day of the year for following our son's story, and cheering him and all of us on. Thank you for reading, clicking on the ads, donating, and spreading the word!

Learning Max...

2011-11-22T22:06:00.001-07:00

Max and his teacher last year got on really well with each other. Especially after he stopped crying through his school times with her. (She can't take that personally though, if you remember, a certain little guy's insides kept flipping on him around that time last year.)

But, at the end of the school year, they said good-bye. He got a new home teacher this year. She and Max were having fun learning each other, and learning new things. But as schedules started filling up for her, the district needed a teacher to focus on the high-needs kids like Max since there were fewer of them, but they need so much attention. In came Mrs. J. again. She will be with Max again through most of the school year. And we may beg and bribe her to stay on past that. ;)

Because, you see, she GETS Max. She knows when he's being lazy. She knows when he's joking around. She knows when it's difficult for him. She knows when to sit and wait 5 minutes for him to answer her question. She knows he LOVES Curious George stories. She knows he loves songs. She's a great teacher. And Max is a great student with her.

This week, she brought a Curious George Thanksgiving book for them to read together. Max was getting a little fussy, so I brought in his Curious George hat, which tied into his sight word time, of pasting a photo of himself wearing his Curious George hat. I will have to post pictures soon of his book he's making of his school work this year. It's pretty great so far.

They also had a little light box time, learning about the moon. Which, you know, shines very brightly in the sky, and is round.

George already knew about the moon, so he slept through this one.

But, when it came time for answering questions about what shape the moon was, Max got downright silly. First he said it was square, then rectangle. His teacher said she knew he was joking with her, and he gave her his little crooked grin. She knows him alright. He then got around to telling her it was a circle.

George thought all of that was just downright exhausting, so he flipped over to get in some great puppy sleep time.

Max is off of school for the rest of the week for Thanksgiving. And George will be getting a trim at the end of the week. We'll be checking in as the week gets on with photos from Thanksgiving fun, and George's new "do".

Max and George...

2011-11-19T20:03:00.001-07:00

It's really unreal the bond these two have already. The other day, in music therapy, happy feet here cut his toe on his drum. It started bleeding, and didn't want to stop.

In comes George. He knew his Max was hurt. So he gave that little toe kisses, and sniffed it with his wet puppy nose. And Max kept those happy feet perfectly still for his helper puppy to make it better.

Yes, they are so close, that George really isn't liking being away from Max right now. So much so that he prefers to have all of Max's bedding in his crate while we're away. This is the start of some separation anxiety, so we're working on that. I guess when they're ALWAYS together, George thinks it's for the birds to leave him for an hour!

Oh George! George!!! I had put his covers up at the top of his bed. So, smarty George figured out he could get the covers by pulling the fitted sheet first into his crate, then the covers followed. The little stinker! We have to remember...still a puppy...still a puppy...still a puppy! And, he doesn't like to be away from his boy!!

One of those days, with one of those moms...

2011-11-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

Today was a day for the record books; or at least worth noting on Max's blog.

Today was the first day in about 6 years that I ventured out with Max to doctors appointments by ourselves. In fact, I've never been to the new Children's Hospital without help from Steve or my sister, Angie.

But, with the new lift in his van, comes new freedoms!

Max and I left with an hour to get to the hospital, and we needed it in 8:00 traffic. We got to the hospital in time for his appointment in radiology, but they were already backed up so early in the morning. I wasn't too worried though, because it was supposed to be a short test, and then we were on to the pediatrician's office for a follow-up with her.

Except, as soon as we got set up in radiology, I found out the test could take anywhere from an hour to eight hours, depending on how quickly the bowels move. They were pushing barium into his gtube, and then taking photos every 20 minutes until it went all the way through his intestines to his colon. Since that's where he's had his surgeries, the GI doctor was wanting to see if everything looked good there, and the cause of Max continued "poo issues".

I wasn't prepared. Plain and simple.

When I made the appointment, I asked if it would work to see his pediatrician the same day, and was told that it should give us plenty of time, since the test was only 30 minutes long - at most. Also, I scheduled the first appointment in the morning, since Max should not fast for tests, as his metabolic disease does not jive with not eating for long periods of time, and his epilepsy does not jive with not getting medicine on time.

So, when the nurse told me it could take up to 8 hours, and no, he couldn't eat yet, and we would need to cut his pediatrician appointment short, I was not too happy.

Max was though. He was in an uncommonly happy mood for being at the hospital today. Maybe because besides the robot pictures every 20 minutes, he got to be in a room with robots, and lots of echoing walls, and watch cartoons all day.

After the first few photos, taken by xray, we were rushed over to his pediatrician across the main floor of the hospital. The nurse had called ahead, and they said to just check in and they would get us back right away, since we had to be back over to imaging in 30 minutes. (Yeah, right!)

I waited in line to check in, and when it was out turn said, "This is Maximilian Watson, he's here to see Dr. P., the nurse in radiology just called over and his doctor said to let her know when we got here to be sent back and seen because he's in the middle of testing in radiology.".

The check in receptionist desks at Children's seat about four check-in admins, all very busy checking in for all the clinics on the floor. It seemed like there were quite a few clinics today, because it was packed! I think I got the new recruit, because she leaned over and asked who she needed to call to send us back for Max's appointment.

This was where things got a little weird. Her desk mate said, "Who told you to call them when he got here?", the rookie said, "she did", pointing to me. Desk mate says, "No. You don't take her word for it, these moms will say whatever to get back when it's not their turn.".

I'm standing right there. Max is in hospital pants and has a mask on his face. He's wearing a hospital bracelet. Do I look like I'm just here to chat it up with the doctor? Do I look like I'm trying to jump some imaginary line? I must have had that written all over my face, plus some not so nice words as well, because she smiled at me and said "Not that you're one of those moms, we just never know, so we have to check every time.".

One of those moms.

I didn't have the time to argue with her, we only had 20 minutes left at this point to get back over to radiology. But, it stuck in my side and dug around all day. You're right I'm one of those moms...one of those moms who got up at 5:30am to get my son to an appointment an hour away on our only "free day" of the week. I'm one of those moms who is proud of the accomplishment of getting out alone with my child for the first time in years. I'm one of those moms who has spent months at a time in that hospital watching my son fight for his life. And I'm not a liar, and I certainly don't enjoy spending my time having my intentions questioned. Just rude.

Anyway, the pediatrician appointment ran about an hour long. It was rushed. We didn't get to visit about all the great things Max is doing. I brought his talker computer and his school notebook for her to see, but got off on more important things and forgot to get them out to share. He's the same weight, and we're changing his formula, so it's not so involved of a mixture. It will be 3 ingredients, instead of 5.

Once we got finished there, I rushed back over to radiology...only wait. There was a mix up when I checked back in and no one told them I was back with Max. So, once we got back there, it was musical rooms for a while until they got us back in the original room he was in. This is where I went a little bonkers on the poor nurse. It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and we had been there since 8:00am. Max had still not received a full feeding, I needed to be home to let the dogs out - because George is still a puppy - and Max would be needing his afternoon meds by now.

When the radiologist told me it would be another 2-3 hours, I had a mini melt-down. I knew she wasn't the one who told me it was a 30 minute procedure, but I was pretty sure she could find the person who was at fault there, so I let her know about my extreme frustration. We decided to call the GI doctor to see if they had enough images to go off of, and when he came back and said they need to get to the colon to get the best test possible, we called metabolic. He'd gone so long without eating at the normal rate, I was nervous of him getting dehydrated, or not getting enough nutrients. If he were home sick and not eating for that long, we'd be in the ER getting an IV.

So, metabolic was called. It was Max's first metabolic doctor on call, who rarely sees Max in clinic anymore, so he had no idea what amount of food Max was on a day. We went over all of that and he told me he was okay, he just would need to eat all night long to catch up. Oh fun.

Extremely long story shorter...we finally got out of there at 4:30. My sister came up around 3:00 to feed me, and be a sounding board. And my friend Susan was able to go to the house and let George and Olive out for their potty break.

As soon as I got in the house and Max settled in his chair, the phone rang. It was the GI doctor. He apologized for the awful miscommunication, and let me know the results of the imaging done.

Max is full of gas. Just in pockets throughout his bowels. He mentioned a special feeding bag for it, which we've tried before and don't really see a ton of difference. But, we'll try them again. And wants Max to have another imaging test from the other end of his bowels to see how large his colon is. He said it looks like Max's intestines are just bigger in some areas than the others. There are things to help with the gas, but he wants to try the bag first. So, 8 hours of waiting to hear that Max is a little fart monster. Man, I wish I got paid the big bucks.

Like I said, a day for the record books. And because I was by myself, I had to keep myself busy with taking photos of my happy boy. Here they are for you to enjoy. I'm going to start Max eating again, and go to sleep!

Waiting to be called back. During respiratory season, Max gets to wear these fancy masks around the hospital waiting rooms!

It's a little blurry, but you can see he's lost another tooth!

Holding him up and on his right side so the barium could travel as it should through his intestines.

Waiting for more pictures, in his sporty hospital pants since his got dirtied with a blow-out...agh that reminds me those are still in his bag, better go through them in the wash!

And, home at last and eating!

Learning...

2011-11-16T15:36:00.001-07:00

Max is resting in his bed right now. It's 3:30 in the afternoon, and seems his nose wants to start telling me he's getting another little cold. He doesn't have any fever this time, but he told me during school that his neck, teeth, and head hurt. And we went through 10 bandanas in 2 hours to catch all the running things coming out of his mouth and nose. I think it's a good thing he has an appointment already set up with his doctor for Friday.

I took a few moments on Monday to take some photos of his school time to share on the blog. He's been learning new things, and still showing his teachers how smart he is.

He's learning about the moon right now in science. I got this great light at Ikea over the weekend that rotates "stars" on the ceiling. He thought it was great. It made me dizzy!

His teacher (who was keeping herself covered from germs and to not give germs) drew this great picture of Max for him to color.

I think he likes it!

He's been working on sight words, and identifying them with his computer. He's pretty spot on with these, and now we're having to get more vocabulary in his computer since he's starting to go into other areas to find the words he's memorized. At this point his teacher asked him to find the word "like". He was getting frustrated because he kept getting out of the screen with the sight words on it, and we kept putting him back in there. He finally got away with it, because he's lightening fast, and got to "I don't LIKE this.". He was upset that we wouldn't let him get to that sentence, and he was just trying to tell us another place the word "like" was. A smart cookie that one is!

And of course, George is learning lots in school too. He's learning to be a good boy for Max, and lays under his chair while Max is learning.