Happy 18-Month Birthday

Wow, where has the last 18 months gone? Happy year and a half birthday, Braeden. You're growing into quite the little man now, the little baby we brought home only 18 months ago is gone, replaced by the most gentle, good natured and curious little guy I've ever met (no, I'm not biased..hehe).

While Braeden's still not saying a whole lot, he definitely makes his wants and needs known in non-verbal ways. He loves his new slide/fort, a huge smile on his face when he slides his stuffed animals down first, following right after them.

He can almost put his jacket on by himself. He tries to put his shoes on, but that's not happening any time soon. He helps me undress him in the morning and at night. He knows some shirts go off over his head, others have buttons. Buttons have always fascinated him, as do zippers. He loves "dusting" with a baby wipe, and does it every morning. He also hauls out the vacuum cleaner on occasion - ok, I get the hint, time to vacuum again. He's drawing in his big coloring book now. Only scribbles obviously, but it's a start.

One of his favorite things is running around the yard carrying a little flower pot which he stuffs full of flowers that have fallen to the ground, the odd old leaf kicking around, anything he can find. Our hibiscus plants are in full bloom, but the flowers don't last long, so he's got a new supply of fallen ones each day to put in his pot, squealing as he finds another one. He also loves going to the park so he can climb the play structure all the way to the top, then with some help walk back down to the slides.

He's eating with his fork and spoon almost totally now. He doesn't want to eat unless I had him an approprite utensil so he can feed himself. Same with his milk - he wants to hold his own cup, doesn't want me to help him. He's an independent little guy.

He's still sleeping 12 hours at night, and has for a very long time. I'm always up early for some "me" time, and can hear the music or ocean sounds coming from his crib aquarium. He turns it on and off, changes the music, adjusts the volume (usually blasting it). The time change didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. Occasionally he'll have a morning nap, but usually he only wants to play quietly in his pack-n-play for an hour, which we've got set up in the living room. He has a great afternoon nap of 1-2 hours.

Tomorrow is our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and we're all set to go. I need to buy a little Easter basket for him to collect eggs, but I'll do that tomorrow morning. Last night I filled the 12 plastic eggs with candy, that will be Braeden's contribution to the egg hunt. I know he'll have fun, especially since he's so familiar with the park and loves it there.

So Happy Birthday, Braeden. Happy Easter to all of you.

Laser Surgery

First, a little about Braeden, since this is really a blog about him, although I really need to blog the medical stuff I'm going through right now too. I don't have anyone to talk to but whoever still reads this blog, and it helps me.

Braeden had no reaction to his vaccinations last week, thank God for that. Next on his plate is his hypospadias surgery in 3 weeks {gulp}. He's enjoying the new slide/fort combo DH got for him last weekend. It's a great place for him to climb, and he loves his slide. We have to check his left shoe. It's got a rough edge inside that's hurting him, so we'll have to see if we can glue it down or we'll get him another new pair of shoes. He's fine for a bit with it, then starts pointing to his foot, limping a little, which stops when we take off his shoe.

We took Brae to a little carnival in town last weekend, and he had a great time with all the games there. He wanted to visit each one. He really wanted to go on rides, but he's too small yet, even for the carousel - next year. We won him 3 toys, and he's enjoying those. He also got to sample his first cotton candy, a big hit of course.

I had to undergo laser surgery yesterday on my right eye (the one that had the cancer and was treated with radiation). Not a fun time, but I'm almost totally blind in that eye now, and the laser surgery will hopefully give me back a little vision. Back we go today, but to the cornea specialist this time. I've got a radiation cataract that will have to be removed in the next 1-2 months. The retina specialist finds it hard to do the laser treatment with the cataract blocking his vision looking inside. Not looking forward to that obviously, but I just want even a little vision back in that eye. I'm finding it harder to change Brae's diaper now, to feed him, because I can't see very well now. Vision correction via glasses/contacts isn't possible. But you deal with what you have to, and thank God for DH and Braeden's support. I know Brae doesn't understand, but he knows mommy's not feeling too well when I have an appointment like yesterday and he brings me some of his toys, almost like he's trying to cheer me up. I'll post later about this subject as things develop - hopefully for the better.

Speaking of feeding Brae, he's pretty much feeding himself now. He does a great job "stabbing" food with his fork and getting both into his mouth before the food falls off. He's not quite as good with the spoon, depending on what's on it. He hasn't quite got the hang of holding the spoon straight as he moves it towards his mouth, but he's sure got the fork down well.

We took Braeden's pediatrician's advice and got him a potty seat over the weekend. It's comical to watch him. I think somehow he knows what it's for, but he's not at the point of being able to pull his jeans down and taking his diaper off - duh. But he runs over and sits on it fully clothed, and after he gets up, sure enough he's "gone" in his diaper. So he's got the concept down, but then it's too early for the real thing. We'll work at it slowly, when he's ready. He insists on leaving his potty seat in the middle of the living room floor, and kicks up quite a stink if I put it away..hehe.

Brae's taken to invading the fridge, providing I open it for him. He looks in there and then decides what he wants and pulls it out, be it a teething toy (I keep a bunch in there so they're nice and cold on his incoming teeth), a container of his yogurt, his cup of water. Umm, any idea why he keeps reaching for an unopened bottle of wine? That's the only thing other than his own stuff that he tries to grab...hehe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day on Monday. We'll be wearing the green, even though we're not Irish. Have a great weekend all.