Wow – where did July go!? A little update on where we are at these days.
This summer has been pretty busy for the Austermans! With Shane and I both working, and Shane driving to Iowa City every day, our days tend to go by fast! We have our house on the market, hoping it sells soon, but thus far we’ve had no offers. We are patiently waiting for God’s perfect timing to move on to our next steps near the Iowa City area!
Zay continues to learn and grow daily. What people say about ‘life after tubes’ is so true. Zay has been a little sponge lately! He understands SO MUCH! It’s almost scary all the things he can comprehend. I can’t wait to be home with him and spend time teaching him. Until then, I’m so happy he’s at Lori’s house everyday! She is so great with him!
Last week AEA came in to observe Zay to make sure he’s developing normally. This is something that is completely optional for us at this point, but I feel strongly that since it is a service provided to us, I will take advantage of it! And, it takes a little pressure off of me – they are the experts and I haven’t had to read any books or websites to wonder if Zay is where he needs to be. They tell me each time they come, that there are no concerns for Zay’s development. That is such a relief! The only area that Zay is a little behind in is his speech. He doesn’t speak as many words as he should yet. However – he has started doing sentences in sign language! Our teacher and occupational therapist that observe Zay, think that he will go straight to speaking in sentences and not bother the one-word thing. The area that Zay is off the charts in….social interactions! I had to chuckle at this. A child that doesn’t hardly talk, is astoundingly social! I think anyone that has met Zay, would agree…he’s a happy, content, and affectionate little boy! He can bring a smile to everyone’s day…he gets this from his daddy! All in all, I know the speech will come and I’m thrilled that he has such an infectious personality…you can’t teach that!!
Also, I don’t think I did an update after his last appointments in Iowa City. We had some great news, with his Pediatric Pulmonologist – no more appointments unless Zay has some bad breathing again! Yay!! While down there they did a full blood workup on him. With this they discovered that he had some abnormal results on his iron studies. Basically meaning we just had to put him on an iron supplement. Thankfully, Zay doesn’t mind the iron being mixed in with his formula! And I’ve started to add in a liquid multivitamin in his formula as well. Funny story – Zay has started taking his thyroid pill all by himself. He just pops it in, chews it up, and usually asks me if he can have another one! You would think since he takes this ‘chalky’ little pill, he’d have no problem with a Flintstone vitamin! Not the case – he tries and tries to put that flavored vitamin in his mouth and it’s just too sweet for him! I won’t complain, so glad he takes the other one without any problem!
That’s all the updates I can think of for now! We are just enjoying the time we have left here in the Cedar Valley. Trying to spend a lot of time with friends, neighbors, coworkers and our small group! We still aren’t sure how long we have here, but we do know that we will miss the wonderful people!
