March 2014

REAGAN! The highlight of the month was Reagan being released from the Special Infant Care Clinic at UNC Hospital. Paul took Reagan in for a full evaluation (Hearing, Bayley Development Examination, Physical, etc.) and she passed with flying colors. The staff was super impressed with her and they have zero concerns over her development today and for the future. Not to say that something couldn’t arise, but the likelihood is almost on par with any child.

The most gratifying part of the evaluation was during the Bayley Exam, which is an exam used as a tool to evaluate infant and toddler development. This testing is done by an instructor and looks at things like motor skills, cognitive skills, language, social-emotional and adaptive behavior, etc. Each section of the exam gets more and more difficult as the child goes along and the child is required to miss five questions in a row in order to move on to the next section of the test. Well, Reagan, the little star that she is, was so good at each section that the instructor was learning some of the test questions on the fly, and said comments like, “wow, I’m not used to getting this far.” Reagan easily put together puzzles, picked out the yellow ducks from the blue ones, pointed at most objects in the books she was asked to find, showed off her vocab skills, and to her instructor’s surprise, even walked backwards on a blue line on the floor.

The other proud moment of the day for Paul was going to the hearing test. This testing is done by two instructors (one in the room with Reagan and Paul and another in the next room over that observes Reagan through a large window). At first, they attempted to get Reagan to look to her right each time she heard a noise by having a box light up with a toy in it. Reagan started doing this, but it didn’t last long. I guess they could tell by her face that she was too advanced for this basic test, so, they moved her on to the next method. This next test used a pig piggy bank. Reagan would hold a large plastic coin to her ear and then each time she heard a sound she was allowed to put the coin into the pig. She enjoyed this and both instructors were shocked that an 18 month old was able to do the hearing test this way. One instructor said, “My son is 2 and he wouldn’t be able to do this,” as she watched in awe of Reagan. It was a good day and Paul was so very proud of Reagan’s progress and her loving nature towards others.

Who knows where Reagan’s development goes from here, but with all the worries from her initial birth, it’s wonderful to see her shine so brightly. She’s our shining star! The hardest part for Paul, is seeing how special and wonderful this little girl is, and knowing how much joy it would bring Jamie to be here with Reagan while she reaches all these milestones. That’s definitely the hardest part. These deep feelings of pain are frequent, and they tend to co-exist with joyful moments, but a lot of that has to do with John, Larkin, and Reagan. They are such great people, and seeing them grow into unique and loving individuals brings Paul great pride and happiness.

On a recent trip to Pop’s Backdoor Pizza in Durham, NC, Paul looked around the table at his three beauties, and was in awe of them. He can’t believe how mature they are getting. John and Larkin walked into Pop’s as if they owned the place. John went up the counter and sat at a barstool and looked up at the TV, then over to a girl sitting next to him, and then just chilled at the counter by himself. Larkin joined daddy at the cash register to make sure he didn’t mess up the order. Reagan sat in her seat relatively quietly observing the family next to ours. All three ate salads before the pizza came, which greatly pleases Paul. Larkin asks to try the “grown-up pizza” (veggie pizza w/ artichokes, olives, feta cheese, etc.) and eats the whole slice. After finishing their meals the trio goes over to the kid’s area (small area with some toys and books) and John and Larkin read some books with Grandma, and Reagan took a book to a family sitting on the floor and reads a book with them. While this took place, Paul sat there with his draft IPA beer in hand, and let this great moment soak in. Most moments are not as sweet or as smooth as this one trip to Pop’s was, but there are so many great moments. He tries his best to enjoy them all and not be completely over taken by the stress of caring for three little ones without his special Jamie.