Life with The Leivas

Monday, February 2, 2009

Sleeping through the night

I swear that I am not going to be one of those moms who remembers and documents every second of her first child's life and then is too busy to do the same with her second child. Last night Peter had a terrible night, for whatever reason he was up from about midnight until 5 am. He was fussy and cranky, he didn't have a fever, who knows what was wrong with him! Poor guy. The point is that I didn't realize how much I appreciated that he'd been sleeping through the night until last night when he didn't.

Perfect Saturday Morning

The perfect Saturday morning happened this past weekend at our house. We all slept in until 8:30. Olivia and Mike made breakfast together. The sun was actually shinning. We all went on a relaxing walk up to the coffee shop in our neighborhood. We stopped by the park on our way home. Despite the beautiful weather we happened to be the only ones at the park and we had a blast playing together. Mike and I got to talk about whatever we wanted, without interruption. It was wonderful!

A big girl bed

When Mike was out of town a couple weeks ago (I'm a little behind in my blogging) Olivia and I decided it was time for her to sleep in a big girl bed. She's been sleeping in her crib that was then transitioned into a toddler bed and then a day bed but we decided it was time for a real big girl twin size bed. She and I took apart her crib and then we went to go pick out sheets for her new big girl bed. That night I put Olivia to sleep in her big girl bed and she absolutely loved it! She's very proud of her big girl bed and she especially likes that she gets to sleep with her books. This isn't completely true as I only let her take a couple into bed with her but there's a shelf under her bed and apparently Olivia decided that sleeping on top of her books is the same as sleeping with them.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

What a champ!

Olivia did great at the dentist! Wait no, let me rephrase that, Olivia behaved exactly like any 2 and a half year old would behave at the dentist. At first she loved it! She picked grape flavored fluoride toothpaste and she proudly told the dental hygienist that she likes to "brush teeth". She brushed the teeth of the stuffed alligator they had. She sat in the big scary chair. She let the dental hygienist brush and count her teeth. She was having a blast. She laughed at the dentist's special glasses. She said "ahhh" and opened her mouth. She told him how she likes to "brush teeth". Then it came time for the exam, I helped the dentist hold her down while she screamed, kicked, cried, and bit. I loved the dentist! He was so calm about all of it and told her that she behaved exactly like every 2 and a half year old should. When it was over she got a brand new toothbrush and she got to pick a prize from the toy chest. We'll see you again in 6 months doc.

MPS/Sanfilippo Syndrome

In October, 2008 Olivia was disgnosed with MPS III or Sanfilippo Syndrome, type B. MPS stands for: Mucopolysaccharidoses. It is a genetic lysosomal storage disease (LSD) caused by the body's inability to produce specific enzymes. Normally, the body uses enzymes to break down and recycle materials in cells. In individuals with MPS and related diseases, the missing or insufficient enzyme prevents the proper recycling process, resulting in the storage of materials in virtually every cell of the body. As a result, cells do not perform properly and may cause progressive damage throughout the body, including the heart, bones, joints, respiratory system and central nervous system. While the disease may not be apparent at birth, signs and symptoms develop with age as more cells become damaged by the accumulation of cell materials.

Babies and young children with Sanfilippo Syndrome appear normal, but symptoms begin to appear with age as more and GAGs build up in the cells of the body. There are 3 stages to the disease. Stage 1 the child begins to lag behind peers and begins to display difficult behaviors. Stage 2 the child losing his/her language, becomes hyperactive, chews on everything, and has sleeping difficulties. Stage 3 the child slows down, becomes dependant for all mobility and loses the ability to chew/swallow. There is no treatment or cure for Sanfilippo. Life expectancy varies.