Wins and Losses

My Fantasy Football team this year is, at best, mediocre. This comes as no surprise, really. Let me explain.

For those unfamiliar, the way fantasy football works is basically like this: Each team in a league has a roster of players, and each week the statistics for each of those players is added up to calculate your team's total points for the week. Each week, your team is pitted against another team in the league, and if you have more points than your opposition for that week, you win your game. The wins and losses are tallied throughout the season, which determines who goes to the playoffs to battle head-to-head in a kind of fantasy Super Bowl.

I used to spend a lot more time managing my team than I do now--contemplating roster changes, picking up promising new players off the waiver wire, and dropping players who underperform. But these days, I do as little as possible to maintain my team. I just don't have the time to bother. I'm a bit too busy playing another game, one with greater consequences and a more important outcome.

I can't help but see an unexpected correlation between fantasy football, inconsequential as it always was, to how we manage the boys' health from day to day. Sometimes we're on offense, being proactive about making changes to feeds, breathing treatments, positioning. Sometimes we're on defense, reacting to random fevers, drops in oxygen saturation levels, or apparent lack of energy. We are constantly monitoring vital signs, overall energy, and mood, making adjustments as necessary. Every morning when I wake them up, I'm checking the score: Are either of them running a fever? Have low oxygen levels? Do they seem happy? Rested? Ready for the day? Every afternoon, excited and anxious when they get home, I do the same: Are they happy and energetic? Fussy and tired? Will they need extra breathing treatments and CPT? Will we need to call a doctor for advice?

Back in the days when I was more active in my fantasy football league, I was elated at the close wins and felt defeated by the losses. When I lost, I looked back at my roster and tried to figure out what changes I could have made that would have produced a better outcome. Now, every day is game day around our house, and of course, the wins and losses are vastly more meaningful than in any fantasy sport.

Since September, William has had to stay home from school or get picked up early (due to being lethargic and/or needing supplemental oxygen) at least one day a week, sometimes more. (John-Raven had his brief three-day spell in the hospital, but otherwise, he hasn't really had to miss school.) William finished a round of steroids on Friday, so as always, we're keeping our fingers crossed that he'll still be strong without them. So far, so good. We're starting off this week with a mark in the Win column because he was good to go to school this morning (a Monday, which is one of his common stay-home days, tied with Fridays). With careful planning, and some luck, our team will perform well this week and no one will end up on the Injured Reserved list.

Showing Off Our Mad PT Skills Today - John-Raven

Showing Off Our Mad PT Skills Today - William

H-Town Adventures - Part 3 (postscript)

While in Houston, we did manage to get out a bit, even if it meant just going to BJ's Pizza.

Never too young to learn a good party trick.

We also made it out to Kemah for the boardwalk. That included a trip to a restaurant that had an aquarium. (Or was it an aquarium with a restaurant. No sure.)

Awake with the fishes. Grandpaw and the boys observe.

Even when we didn't go out, we entertained ourselves in the hotel with games like old-fashioned peekaboo.

Mom and Dad only made one excursion alone while there. But they made it count.

The brewery tour is a must for beer nerds.

H-Town Adventure - Part 2

The therapy went very well. We could tell a difference already by the end of the first week. Both boys were showing signs of being stronger and more active. The workouts seemed to paradoxically tire them out and energize them. When he wasn't working out, John-Raven couldn't seem to be still. That included some nights, too.

John-Raven: "Sleep=No. iPad=Yes!"

The boys worked hard. William sometimes worked SO hard...

...that he didn't even make it back to the hotel before going to sleep.

One day, he even decided not to wait until therapy was over to go to sleep, yet still kept working for a while. That's dedication, people.

Asleep? Yep. Still working? Incredibly, yes.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. The boys' regular PT, Nancy, is really amazing and makes great strides with the boys in the hour that she gets to work with them each week. But it's hard to overemphasize the value of getting two hours of therapy per weekday for three weeks. The boys definitely made improvements in strength and stability, and we hope to capitalize on that to push them further in their therapy goals.

We would like to say how fantastic the therapists and staff are at Pediatrics Plus Therapy Services in Houston. Trisha and Carla did great work with the boys and had a real gift for reading their reactions and motivating them. We can't thank them enough!

H-Town Adventure - Part 1

So, we never got around to posting this on the blog beforehand, but we just spent three weeks in Houston for an intensive physical therapy program for the boys. October 3 to October 21, we were camped out at the Staybridge Suites, and the boys engaged in an intense 2-3 hour therapy session each weekday. 

John-Raven made a fuss sometimes, but often enjoyed his workouts. 

The purpose of the intensive therapy is to give the boys an opportunity to really push their development. Normally, they get half an hour of PT twice a week. With the intensive, their two hours of PT five days a week means they're getting more workout time in a few weeks than they'll get over the next several months. Think of it as boot camp for developmentally challenged kids.

William is obviously a little tired here...but quite a trooper!

Getting the intensive PT doesn't mean they'll suddenly jump ahead developmentally, but it does push them to get stronger and improve their sitting up, rolling over, propping, etc. William suffered a little hiccup when he got sick after the first week. We took him to a local CareNow and got him some medicine. He missed a day of therapy as a result but got back on track after that.

William works much better with some motivation. In this case, a mummy that dances and sings Thriller.

I must say, the program was fantastic. Very professional, with excellent physical therapists who got a good sense of the boys' individual personalities and what they were capable of.

When they weren't working their little butts off, the boys enjoyed the experience.

The first week, there was only Dad to look after them until Aubrey (nanny extraordinaire) arrived as reinforcements toward the end of the first week. It didn't take long for the boys to get in a groove and adapt to the routine. Dad, however, had a bit of a rougher time of it. See, William tends to have some sort of nightmares that turn him into a squirming, screaming zombie of his usual self. When this happens, he is extremely difficult to wake up. It takes noise, bright lights, and sometimes a cold wet cloth on his face to wake him up. Once he's awake, he's pretty happy. We've noticed a correlation, though. William tends to do his little night trick more when he's hitting a developmental stage or otherwise working really hard to do something new. Our guess is, he's dreaming about struggling to do the thing that he just can't quite do. We've all probably experienced this in a dream, the kind when you're trying to run but feel like you're moving through mud. Naturally, during his therapy, he had a LOT of these. Practically every night. And they were worse than normal, which meant an hour or two of middle-of-the-night issues. Regardless, he still managed to tough it out through his workouts during the day.

More to come. Stay tuned...

GI Joes

Soooo we're getting ready for a little GI procedure for testing purposes to see how bad the boys' reflux is affecting them, if much at all.

Looks like we've graduated up from the purple gowns to the blue ones. Guess that's what happens when you're growing this much.

Chillin' after Workout

Because it's nice to relax after a round in our crawler.

WARNING: Now Entering the Terrible Twos

So the boys turned two on May 1st. Yay, boys! Hard to believe, really. They're around 27 pounds now and definitely aren't having any trouble gaining weight. We no longer have to go to a gym for a strength workout -- these days, we just pick up the boys.

A few shots from the birthday bash:

(Thanks to Mandy Hennebury for the Awesome Cake. Thanks to her husband Matt for the awesome sliders and hot dogs. Thanks to everyone else for...being awesome.)

If you look closely, you'll see that the boys did get a little taste of the cake icing.

And they had some help from the neighborhood kids opening presents.

We attended a Harris Methodist NICU reunion today and saw some familiar faces. (Sorry, didn't get any pics there. If anyone reading this has some to share, let us know.) We realized we haven't been to Harris with the boys since they first left the NICU. Seems like yesterday we were there. Yet another example of how time flies.

William and John-Raven have been working hard, and it's paying off. Their progress isn't speedy, but it's progress nonetheless.

Have I ever mentioned we love mirrors?

We have no idea whether the boys are really about to enter their "terrible twos" or not. Most people comment on what good attitudes they have. And they're right -- most of the time, the boys are happy kiddos. But trust us...they have their moments.

Springing Forward

Ah, spring. Aside from the itchy, watery eyes, the layer of pollen that turns our vehicles yellow, and the looming anxiety of another brutally hot Texas summer, we love spring around the CobbQuad household. Not that Winter was all that bad. We manage to stay happy even when it's cold outside...

...but we're definitely ready for the warmer weather and are already enjoying geting outside more. And now that we know their congestion issues have been due to adenoid problems rather than allergies, we're a lot more comfortable getting the boys out.

Speaking of adenoids, the surgery seems to have done the trick. Since then, they've had fewer congestion issues, which means easier breathing, less snoring, and fewer gag-triggers. Plus, it was one of the easiest surgeries they've had so far. They handled it like champs, as usual.

We all enjoyed a morning out at the recent Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Unfortunately, the boys were determined not to keep their eyes open during pics.

Their development is coming along, and they're getting stronger (and bigger) every week. We recently purchased a crawler to help the boys work on those crawling skills.

Early on, they HATED the crawler, mostly because it made them work. But the work is paying off, and as they get stronger, they don't mind as much. John-Raven even does a pretty good Superman impression from time to time.

In fact, John-Raven is probably leading brother in strength and overall physical tolerance. He can sit up for short periods (with a little assistance), and his core strength is improving. He even handled his time in a grocery cart pretty well (not that you can tell from his expression...I think I have that same expression when I go grocery shopping).

But William is getting better, too. We think the main thing holding him back is his personality rather than his ability. He's our resident lazybones. He'd rather smile and look cute than actually work.

So as we cruise into the warmer months, we look forward to some more outdoor time as a family. As the boys are getting bigger, we're all looking for a chance to get some air and stretch out a bit. Or just hang out in our pajamas.

Congestion is Snot Fun

One of the things keeping us busy in recent months has been, in a word, snot.

The sinus fairy blessed the boys with powerful and persistent congestion problems back in the fall. Though not among the most dramatic challenges we faced in 2010, the problem certainly has been frustrating.

And we haven't really identified a source yet. In the fall, we assumed it was allergies. Then we thought it was a cold. And since both boys have been teething so much (I'm beginning to think they're part shark), that seems to be adding to the problem.

It's been snot city around here. Remember this scene from Ghostbusters?

Kinda like that. (Just don't call William as "an ugly little spud" even if he does slime you. He will revenge pee on you.)

One of the ways we've been combatting their congestion is with breathing treatments.

Most of the time, breathing treatments don't annoy William too much.

The sinus drainage also tends to set off their gag reflex and cause them to vomit (which they're more likely to do being tube-fed kids), so we've fought hard to hold back the slime. We've done the allergy medicine thing and the cold medicine thing and the breathing treatment thing and we've used teething stuff to help with that. We recently went to an allergist who did skin tests and showed that apparently, they aren't allergic to anything except lack of attention, which they react violently to.

Over time, John-Raven seems to have shaken most of his congestion. William's has lingered, and a bout with some sort of cold in December didn't help.

William took a few days to fight off his cold (complete with high fever, inability to keep anything down, etc.) I always hate to see the boys feel so cruddy, but they usually keep a good attitude. And they support each other, too...

Solidarity, my brother!

Since the allergist ruled out allergy issues, we're next taking William to an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor. Since William has almost always had a tendency to snore, I have suspicions that he has some other issues going on. Here's hoping we get some answers.

Blog? What Blog?

So in my last post, I said I'd get more pics in a few days. But what I MEANT was a few weeks. Right? Hear me sigh deeply at not having enough time to keep up...

I'll try to get a better post up soon. In the meantime, here's a pic of the boys from earlier tonight, courtesy of Lissy, one of our two amazing nannies.

We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Sorry for being off the radar for so long, but life (the crazy stuff that happens between blog posts) got a little busy. Not bad...just busy.

Amanda and I will provide further updates on the boys, with pics (and if you're very good, boys and girls, maybe some video).

In the meantime, let me just say that in general, the boys are doing well, gaining weight, and making progress.

John-Raven chillin' in his bouncy.

William, also rockin' the bouncy.

Expect updates and pics within the next few days. Thanks for enduring the hiatus, and we'll make it a point to stay on top of things going forward.

Word,

The CobbQuad