Ok, finally a new update on Logan! Sorry for the delay in news, it's just that we've really just enjoyed Logan being a baby! He is so good for us! Aside from having a little temper, his temperament is excellent! He is growing like a weed, but since we haven't taken him back to the doctor's office since 7/5 we don't have a new weight yet (last time it was 8 lbs 5 oz). His coloring is still great, and aside from losing hair (he's still cute though:), he's never looked better. He's definitely more "solid."
Yesterday, early intervention came out to the house to evaluate Logan. Although Logan automatically qualifies for state services given Trisomy 21, the initial eval must still take place. Three women came out, including Laura, his service coordinator, Jenn, his occupational therapist, and Amy, a nurse. Jenn and Amy won't be coming back, but Laura will be our coordinator for 3 years, helping us evaluate Logan's needs.
Up until the age of 3, Logan gets free therapy from the state. From everything that we've read and everybody we've talked to, early intervention is absolutely critical to advancing Logan's development, and helping him advance as much as practical. Again, Logan will more than likely learn things at 1/2 to 1/3 the rate that Noah will learn things. Things such as sitting up, crawling, walking, talking, etc. We were really happy with the initial visit, and can't wait to help Logan as best we can.
Jenn was extremely impressed with Logan's muscle tone (that's my boy!). She said that not only is it fantastic, but that he's actually above normal children. This is remarkable given that both down syndrome babies and congenital heart defect babies have low muscle tone. He was able to hold his neck up on his stomach for quite some time. She was extremely impressed with his leg strength, and we remain optimistic that this will help him develop gross motor skills at a good rate. Jenn would like his short term goals to be able to prop himself up on his elbows while on his stomach, and to be able to roll over in 3 more months. (This actually puts him very close to a normal baby).Jenn also tested his vision and awareness. Again, Logan excelled. He is very aware of his surroundings, and turns his head to where he hears sounds. He also was able to focus on objects in front of him. I was a little worried about his vision previously, because I thought he might have Nystgmus, because his eyes seemed to jerk a little, but they don't believe he has this at this time. Jenn also commented at how mild Logan's down syndrome's features were. In particular, she was keenly aware of his tongue. His tongue does not protrude (unless of course he wants to push it out, which he does alot like most babies). This hopefully will help his speech development in the future, and again we remain optimistic.
At this point, since he is so young, Laura will set up bi-monthly visits with a physical therapist until approximately 3-4 months of age. At that point, we can re-evaluate his needs. Laura explained to us that we can have more or less treatment depending on our needs. Personally, Kireta and I would like to get the maximum amount of help available to help Logan, which will eventually be a speech, occupational, and physical therapist once per week, each for 1 hour.

I was originally very worried about early intervention billing our insurance. It used to be optional to use your insurance to pay for EI, but that recently changed in the last two months. It is now mandatory that developmental pathways (EI in Colorado) must TRY to bill the insurance companies. I had Laura do some research, and she found that Cigna (our insurance) was one of seven that had a large trust fund set up. They will indeed cover the cost, however, it will NOT affect Logan's lifetime maximum! (Currently 1 million) I was concerned because Logan will need a minimum of one open-heart surgery, as well as ALOT of therapy. He could quickly reach this maximum if the state billed him for these services. However, the way Cigna has it set up, this treatment will not affect his yearly maximum, and at that rate will not even cost us a copay!

Here's a great shot of the boys with Grandpa!
Also, Gruncle Rand and Graunt Bette came out to visit us from Cour de Lane Idaho! It was a pleasure to have them out for a few days! We also got to see our Cuzn Katie and her husband Randy P!

Logan's next cardiologist appointment is on 7/30. At that point we'll be taking another echo cardiogram, so please pray specifically that his pulmonary artery is growing!

As always, thanks for your interest and your prayers! We'll give you another update after the 30th!