Christmas in Pictures

I was busy this month with the holidays and preparing for our trip east for Christmas...and now it's already New Year's Eve.

Here's a recap of our month...

 Oscar and Ruby visit with Santa. (Ruby's one wish - a candy cane. She'd never had one)

 Christmas tree tied to the top of our old wagon. (In our version of the punch-buggy game Ford Taurus wagons are worth 10 points.) Abe is dressed for baseball tryouts later that day.

 Reading Christmas stories in bed. (And yes, it's so cold in our house that some of us wear ski hats to bed)

Oscar with his "First Christmas" ornament

 Abe wears the Santa hat all over town and even to bed. Perfect for tree decorating.

 Ruby's year to put the star on top

School ice skating trip -- both Oscar and Ruby spent as much time on the ice as possible. Oscar didn't want me to take this picture, he told me later, because his friends were watching, and "it isn't cool for 10 year olds to take pictures with their moms".

Watering the Christmas tree with a tea pot.*

Ruby writing her letter to Santa.* 

 Candy cane at the top of the list.*

 Walking on a frozen pond in Pennsylvania

 On the way to Philadelphia with cousins.

Cousins lined up, watching for the train.

 Christmas Eve at my parent's house.

 Ruby gives Abe a present

Oscar opening a present containing some more of the animals he collects. (He must have hundreds of these now...a clear example of "enough is never enough" in PWS, but they make him SO happy, and hey, it's not food!)

 

Abe excited about a gift

 

Oscar and cousin A. relaxing with A's dog Penny  

 

A blizzard with over two feet of snow in NJ! Abe was thrilled and played in the snow for hours and  hours

Ruby and cousin A jump aboard the sled

Oscar throws a snowball at Paul -- he thought he was so sneaky

Oscar walking Penny the day after the blizzard. He giggled and jogged along.

(Maybe a dog isn't such a bad idea?)

Ruby built a snowman with Grandpa

And Abe dug a tunnel (with cousin A and Grandpa)

We had a great trip, relaxing for a few days with each of our families. Thankfully the snow didn't affect our travel and we are home again now enjoying the last few free days before school and work and all those other responsibilities start up again.  

Wishing you all a Happy Happy New Year!!

* photos by M. Roark

Grandpa took most of the snow photos and many others too!

Good Friends

My friend Lindy and her three kids surprised us with a visit last week. They moved to LA a few years ago and we hardly ever see them, but we have one of those distance-proof friendships.  Brooke, her daughter, was born with PWS just three weeks after Oscar in the same hospital.  Most of those doctors had never seen a child with PWS before Oscar was born and actually delayed testing Brooke for it because the odds were so low that two kids would be born with this diagnosis at the same hospital in such a short period.

I remember the moment I got the call that another baby had been diagnosed. My heart sank and soared at the same time. I was devastated for the mom, but I also suddenly had company in my grief.

I spent many an afternoon curled up in the faded green chair in my living room talking to Lindy on the phone while the boys napped. We cried and shared feeding tips. We said things we couldn't say to anyone else.

Our kids presented differently with the syndrome...another reason we confused the NICU doctors I think. Brooke had better muscle tone and moved and rolled and batted at toys long before Oscar. Oscar had an easier time with eating and gained weight more easily (a good thing in the early months, but it still scared me).

Here they are in February 2001 -- Brooke was nearly two months old and Oscar just over three months old. Whenever I look at these pictures I remember how much I wanted Oscar to move. His shoulders were glued to the floor and it took every ounce of energy just to turn his head the slightest bit.  Brooke, on the other hand, had more muscle tone -- look how her position changes in each picture and how she's tucking her body in to Oscar's. Notice how her arms are up and her fingers slightly curled.  Oscar did move his head! 

I spent a lot of time comparing Oscar to other kids (with and without PWS) in those early years trying to figure out how he was going to fare.  I wondered obsessively if he was "mild" or "severe", terms I no longer use.  I finally realized, after many many months of pouring over articles, talking and emailing with other moms, and interviewing doctors and therapists, that PWS is a syndrome comprised of many symptoms, each with its own spectrum of possibility.  Just because a kid develops more quickly or slowly in one area really does not mean they will fare the same in another.  A kid with super low tone, for example, is not necessarily going to struggle more with skin-picking or food-foraging.  It is true, however, that a kid with better muscle tone can explore and learn from their environment, which can aid cognitive development.  (I lost a bit of sleep over that.)  It amazes me how this one set of pictures brings back all that angst.

Anyway, here are Brooke and Oscar at age four, re-enacting that baby scene. (Silly parents obviously put them up to this!)

And here they are now at age 10.

Still good friends!