Rockwell's 16th Birthday

 Rockwell is 16!!!! He wanted to do his birthday dinner Sunday night. Vince came over for steak tacos.

Monday was his birthday and it was President's Day so he had the day off school. He was very happy to not have school, but so disappointed that the DMV was closed! He wanted his driver's license so bad and was frustrated to have to wait even a day to get it.

Paul made crepes for breakfast when Rockwell woke up.

Rockwell met up with his friends at Provo Beach Resort and spent the afternoon there.

He opened presents when he got home.

Tessa and Damon both got him Sweet Tart Ropes.

He was excited for an upgraded phone.

And he loved some new books.

Joe stopped by that evening with a fresh loaf of bread for Rockwell that he had baked himself. That meant so much to Rockwell! It was delicious!

That night he wanted to watch The Office and eat cherry chocolate chip ice cream.

I checked him out of school Tuesday morning to go to the DMV. He was so excited to finally, officially get his license!!

He dropped me off at home and then drove himself to school. Well, apparently to McDonald's first, and then to school. Haha! 

Rockwell is doing great in school, even though he despises homework and studying. He has great friends in his classes and on the cross country/track team. Hanging out with his friends is his favorite thing to do right now, and we love that they hang out at our house sometimes. 

Rockwell loves running still and is SO excited that we have figured out his breathing issues. He was diagnosed with Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction, which means Rockwell's vocal cords involuntarily close when he exercises. This restricts his airway and makes it so he can't get the breath/oxygen he needs. I took him to a pulmonologist who was so great and listened to everything that he's been experiencing, and then referred him to a Speech Pathologist to see if he had EILO. The test was miserable for Rockwell, poor kid. He ran hard on a treadmill until he started having the symptoms, and then Dr Houtz put a camera up his nose and down into his larynx so he could see what was happening. He confirmed that yes, Rockwell does have EILO. He said that was really good news though, because he knows how to train the larynx to do what it should. He has taught Rockwell breathing techniques that open up his larynx, and Rockwell has been practicing and using them while he runs. He has felt so much better and we are all so relieved to know what is happening. It's been really hard to watch Rockwell over the past (almost) year and know something is wrong, but not have any answers. His coach Koy told us that Rockwell has seemed like a different kid at track practice this season. He said he can complete workouts that he just couldn't do last year, and he can see that Rockwell is feeling much better. Rockwell has been so sweet and thanked me many times for taking him to all the dr appointments and sticking with this to figure it out. He said it's really important to him, and he wanted me to know how much he appreciates all we did to get him the help he needed.

Rockwell's favorite show right now is The Office. As soon as Tessa and Damon are in bed each night, we'll watch a couple episodes with him. He loves to have a bowl of ice cream while we watch, preferably cherry chocolate chip. :)

Happy 16th birthday Rockwell!! We sure love love love you!!!