Big 8 year old, Gavin James!

Mommys valentines card from Gavin. 

 I hate hate hate when my baby gets another year older. No matter how much I
 beg for him to stay my baby he still manages to keep growing. It's rude, Gavin! Let's start at the beginning of the year. Gavin you're eight years old. You have grown so much. You learned how to keep going even when you didn't want to. First grade was so fun and easy for you. Especially being cut short, you were so happy to be home all day every day. I didn't mind either. Being in quarantine was awesome for you! Getting you to do homework while at home was quite the challenge. This is when I realized you had a really difficult time learning. Writing and reading was not your cup of tea. We were all so excited to have summer begin. Last summer was not the typical summer. It was boring. You didn't go anywhere but the hospital. January to March you went to the hospital five times and was sick every other week. That carried on into the summer. You often were sick. We were desperate to try anything to help you!! The reason I write and blog about your Cyclic Vomiting is not only for awareness but for advice. After I had posted on facebook a dear friend called me to tell me about an incredible Homeopathic Chiropractor. This man is known to cure allergies. Gavin had so many allergies. Food was a huge trigger for him. We dedicated our time and money to see if this man could cure Gavin. After two months Gavin was cured of his food intolerances/allergies. Needless to say he is a miracle worker. Gavins life is so much easier now. Which meant all of our lives were better. Gavin still was getting sick once a month, compared to every other week we were thrilled. But still we needed to change things up. Gavin eventually landed himself in Primary Children Hospital for four days. He was severely dehydrated.  Enough to give him a Kidney injury. His sodium levels were also dangerously high. Gavin was being poked every hour on the hour to check his sodium levels. I had no idea he could have had a seizure with it being so low. And getting your levels back to normal could have shifted your fluids in your brain to cause a brain injury. It was more serious than I could have imagined. We were incredibly blessed to have a great team of doctors. 

A two hour, three poke, ultrasound and speciatly doctor Gavin still managed to blown his vein. We left with no fluids! 

 

The gummy worms didn't help to say the least.

 

During our stay in the wonderful hospital Gavins kidney doctor mentioned to get Gavin on a 504 accommodation plan at school. The beginning of second grade Gavin started to show signs of anxiety which is a trigger for his CVS. We needed to take action at school. We gathered up a great team. The principal, counselor, teacher, district nurse, and myself talked and decided that he was a good fit for a 504. If your child has a hard time at school please look into it! Just having this plan helped Gavin. Using this plan genuinely helped Gavin during the school days when he was getting nervous or sick. His 504 allows him to have longer times to hand in homework, longer testing times, breaks when needed, when he does feel a headache coming on he is allowed to lay down in the nurse's office with an ice pack. The nurse is able to give him medicine, then a snack and gatorade. These small things has made a world of difference. It's amazing to see what a team of adults can do to help a child. I know Gavin will be taken care of at school. Which leads to better learning. We are in the middle of figuring out if Gavin can have even more help. Resource is the goal. He obviously won't be there all day but he can go to resource for more one on one time. It is exactly what he needs. IEP's are hard to get. Its a whole bunch of testing and a whole lot of paperwork. I'm confident he will excel in resource. His testing shows he doesn't have a learning disability(whoot whoot) but he's low enough to get the extra  little bit of help. Fingers crossed we can get this achieved. Til then we are just trying to get him comfortable at school and keeping a steady growth. PTC was yesterday his teacher was happy to see growth. And that's all I am asking from him. As school gets harder Gavin dont give up. You got this!! As of today he hasn't been sick in quite some time. His migraines come around about every three months. When a migraine hits we just need to keep fluids in to avoid things getting worse. It's a lot harder than people think. CVS is throwing up constantly. It's something you can't handle easily. It's easy to get dehydrated. All I wish for is that his CVS doesn't get worse as he gets older. CVS suffering adults have a miserable life. Helping him learn to control it and know his triggers will hopefully help as he ages. 

Setting CVS aside Gavin is such a beautiful boy. He is kind, soft hearted, and in all, a well rounded kid. Watching him gain weight and grow up has been exciting. Seeing the way he's living life and accepting his challenging life has been beautiful. All Gavin wanted for his birthday was a puppy! Mom and dad finally gave in! MOOSE welcome to the family! He's the perfect fit for Gavin. We hope having a dog will comfort him during the good times and difficult times. Moose has taught Gavin to be a little more mature and responsible. Just what Gavin needs. We had a small family party Gavin's theme was dogs. He didn't want a friends party rather he asked that the six of us to play at the fun park and go rock climbing. He thoroughly enjoyed his birthday. 

Gavin is now the proud owner of a hand-me-down dirt bike. He loves riding around like a little stud. He is the kid that wants to be so big. He has a cool mini BMX bike as well as a sweet mountain bike. He loves jumping his pro scooter. He also conned his dad into getting him a skateboard! Gavin also nailed his first year of snowboarding. Gavin just loves to be one of the big kids. He does have to keep up with his older brothers after all. 

Gavin you are my favorite baby boy. You have taught me to love unconditionally. You taught me to enjoy life to the fullest. It makes me sad knowing that one day my baby boy will be all grown up. I've been at your side every single day of your life. I am not ready for that to change. 

Three amigos. You'll find one where the other one is. 

See I'm telling you, they refuse to stay little!! 

We had a blast at the Monster Truck show! Gavin loved Grave Digger. 

Dennie makes it a point to take each kid on a daddy son date. It's Gavins favorite day of the year!

Gavin left me a note saying that I could have little blanky for the night. This made my heart skip a beat. He's the sweetest babe. 

After feeling sick for a few days Gavin made me a scavenger hunt to make me feel better! 

This was Gavin's last Kidney appointment. We skipped school to celebrate at the aquarium. He held my hand most of the time. This day was perfect! 

Always the center of attention.

Baking at Grandma Jackie's is an important event in our family. Everyone needs a Grandma Jackie!

First time holding his eight week old puppy, Moose. He was over the moon happy. 

Grandma Marie was suckered into making Gavin a birthday present. He picked out the fabric and she made his comfy dreams come true. We call this blanket "foxy".

This is all he needs in life. Little blanky and his Moose. 

Saying Gavin hates the dentist is no understatement. He truly hates going.
But at least he looks chill here. 

He had a slight obsession with grasshoppers this year. He'd shove them into his pocket and try to take them home. I forget how little he is, he still enjoys these small things. 

"Here mom this is for you!"

That face, that cookie nothing is sweeter!! 


I LOVE YOU GAVIN JAMES GALLEGOS.  YOU ARE, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, OUR SWEET BABY. ALSO STOP GROWING UP!!! 

ALWAYS AND ALWAYS
XOXOX
MOMMA