Braeden's Sick

Poor Braeden developed a 102 fever yesterday. The little guy was miserable, although Tylenol drops brought it down to 99. He had a rough night though. It doesn't help that we're having a mini heatwave, with temps near 100. I ran the air conditioning for him yesterday, something I try not to do - costs too much with central a/c.

This morning his temperature was 101 before Tylenol, but dropped back to normal and has remained there the rest of the day, his appetite has returned and so has his activity level, although I'm trying to keep him a bit quiet (not much luck). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that his fever doesn't come back tonight.

I called his pediatrician just to be on the safe side, but she said to just let it run its course, that he's picked up a little virus. That's what I figured, but I basically wanted the fever recorded on his chart. I think he's on the mend now.

The bee guys are coming next week to remove the hive underneath our roof. I'm not looking forward to that, but with 2 guys coming, hopefully they'll be able to finish in one day, then I can call the roof repair guys to take care of the damage from removing the hive. At least there aren't any more bees around. That was scary.

It's Been Awhile

While the url for Braeden's site will stay the same, I just had to change the title of his blog. He's not a baby now, so this new name is much more fitting for a little boy.

Sorry it's been so long since I wrote. Things have become even more hectic in the time that's passed. I'm not even sure I can remember all of it.

My doctor released me to have the cataract surgery I need, but I decided after all the stuff I went through accepting the fact I'm diabetic and dealing with that plus everything else, that I'd take a breather before plunging in for more trauma to my poor eye. I can still see shadows with that bad eye, and I know my vision will be greatly improved once the cataract is removed, but I need some time to enjoy Braeden without a surgery date hanging over my head. I'll rebook early in July.

Brae's been so busy it's hard to keep up with him, but we do fine. He's still not talking a whole lot as he approaches his 21-month birthday next week, but his lack of actual speech sure isn't preventing him from making his "demands" known. He loves to grab your hand, or your shirt, or anything else he can get hold of, and drag you to the fridge, a cupboard, the TV, anywhere. He couldn't be more clear if he flat out said "follow me over here because I want what's there".

He's still helping to dust around the house, and since I last wrote has taken to dragging out the vacuum when he thinks the carpet needs some attention. He's finally tall enough to reach the locks to the garage door - both the button lock on the door knob and the deadbolt lock. Luckily he hasn't quite figured out that he has to turn the door knob in order to get the door open. He's constantly reaching in my pocket now looking for my keys - he knows he needs a key to open a door, but not that he only needs one from the outside.

He and I drag the trash cans back into the yard on trash pick-up day, me holding one handle, Braeden the other. He really loves to help. He insists on washing his hands at the kitchen sink afterwards, before and after all his meals, and several other times throughout the day. He pulls the kitchen chair over to the sink, climbs up and stands there waiting. He can't quite reach the faucet yet, but he will soon. Along that same line, he also loves to help me wash the dishes, unbreakable things only of course. I know he'd love to wash some of my mother's crystal, but I think I'll pass on that.

We got him a swimming pool, and he absolutely loves it. The weather hasn't been real warm recently though, so we packed it away in the garage for the time being. It hasn't been exactly safe for any of us to be playing outside lately, more in a minute.

Last weekend he attended his first birthday party, and he had a great time eating pizza and a little cake. He's not real fond of any type of meat at the moment, but he loved the pepperoni on that pizza.

Braeden will be attending his first pro baseball game the end of the month. We've got tickets to go to see the Padres play the Seattle Mariners. I'm not sure how he'll take to that, but we'll give it a try. He's enjoyed every other place we've taken him.

Two weeks ago someone pointed out that it looked like we had a bee hive on our roof. I couldn't see a whole lot of bees up there, so left it for awhile, in case it was just a swarm and would move on. It didn't, so I got a bee removal company in this week and they sprayed/fogged up there, which will kill off the bees, which the guy said were Africanized bees - not a good thing.

He also informed me there's what he estimates to be a 10-pound hive under our roof tiles, so he'll be coming back next week to cut through our roof tiles and the plywood underneath to get to the hive, remove it, clean up all the honey, wax and debris, then paint it with a waterproof solution until we can get another company in to make the roof repairs. Hello government rebate check - and good bye. So far it's over $1,500, with more expense to come {sigh}.

I'm sure there's a lot more to write, but I'll save it for another time. I've been reading your blogs - sorry I haven't had time to write until now.

Off To The Zoo

Yesterday we took Braeden to the zoo for the first time. He looked around at everything quietly at first, then saw his first wildlife, a huge group of flamingos with a few ducks in the area, and he went absolutely wild, pointing, waving, smiling. He loved the petting zoo, marching right over to the first real goat he's ever seen to swipe at it with his hand. We really wanted to get him to see the larger animals, but they're far from the entrance, and we didn't want to travel that far on Brae's first trip. That's for next time.

The zoo is gigantic, so we didn't get to see much of it yesterday in the few hours we had, but got a year pass so we have free admission for the next 365 days. I know we'll spend many weekends there.

My cataract surgery has been postponed. My family doctor refused to sign the surgery form because my diabetes is out of control. I've been in denial that I even have it for over a year, but it's time to get back to reality and deal with it. So I've started diabetic medication, changed my diet drastically, and the glucose numbers have started to come down. My doctor threatened throwing me in the hospital if I don't have them down by this coming week. I'm not real pleased with where they are, but at least they're heading in the right direction.

Ok, enough about me and my stupidity and back to Mr. Braeden (something I've called him almost since the day he was born). DH says he'll think his first name is Mister if I don't stop...hehe. Brae's picking up new words every day now - finally. A lot of what he says isn't clear enough to decipher the words, but he's getting there. His latest thing is to grab you by the shirt and pull you where he wants to go.

This morning he wanted in the fridge, so pulled me in that direction. He's not able to open the door yet, but makes it known he wants to look inside. When I opened the door he reached in and grabbed one of his yogurt containers - that's what he wanted as part of his breakfast, and that's what he got. Once he had the container in hand, he was ready to leave the fridge and head to the table and his high chair for breakfast.

Will post more later.

All Healed

Braeden had his post-op exam just over a week ago, and while he was still a bit swollen and bruised at the time, he got a great report, everything looking good.

Now the sutures have all dissolved and he's totally back to himself, although he's discovered great fascination with his private parts, maybe because things look so different there now, and probably feel different too.

He continues one of his favorite things - somersaults. They were temporarily suspended after his surgery, but he's up to doing them again. He's also just starting to use the potty - success twice this past week. He's still pretty young for it, so I wouldn't push him, but if he shows an interest I'll definitely help him along.

We're having a heatwave right now, so Brae's not too interested in playing outside. But last week when it was cooler, he was playing ball with the boy next door (who's 7 years old). He was tossing the ball to Braeden, and we were both surprised when Brae caught it most of the time. He loves J. so much. I'm glad he has time to play with Braeden most afternoons after he gets home from school.

I'm gearing up for my cataract surgery in 2 weeks. I hope and pray to get some vision back in that eye, because I'm really down to just shadows now, and it's getting really frustrating. I can hardly see well enough to get Braeden's meals, even changing his diaper's harder now. But while the radiation caused all the damage, at least once the cataract's removed that part of the damage will be gone.

I've got so much to write about Braeden's adventures, but dangit, when I sit down to write, I totally forget most of them. I'll have to make a list for next time.

Surgery Is Over

Braeden had his surgery yesterday. The procedure went well, the doctor was extremely pleased, and Braeden was a brave little guy. We were home 4 hours after the surgery began, so it wasn't a long stay. It was sad seeing them wheel him into the discharge room. All we could see was his little face since they had him strapped to the gurney and he was covered with blankets. He was sobbing, his whole body shaking. Once they unstrapped him and I could hold him, he settled right down.

They gave him what they call a "caudal" - an injection in his lower back to numb the surgical area, something that lasts 4-5 hours post surgery. He couldn't walk at all while the caudal was still active - his legs were numb and he couldn't stand up. Once it started to wear off, I took him outside for a few minutes. He could hear the neighborhood kids out there and wanted to go out to see them, but didn't want to stay outside long.

After the caudal wore off, Brae had considerable pain. You could tell when he walked that it hurt very badly, and he couldn't bend down to pick up a book. All he wanted was to snuggle on the couch with daddy, hanging on tight to his blankie and teddy, then trying to get up and walk again. We got a prescription for Tylenol with codeine, but so far haven't given it to him, but have stuck with simple Tylenol drops. They seem to take the pain away, and the surgeon suggested using those first, and saving the strong stuff for those times when he might really need it.

He's slept through the night, which surprises me. I'll get him up at his usual time, change his diaper and get some Tylenol in him before his breakfast. He vomited once after we got him home yesterday, which they said was very possible, the car ride upsetting his tummy, but after that he was holding down juice, water, yogurt, and eventually his dinner (we kept it on the light side).

I know he'll still be very sore today, but he's allowed to have a bath Wednesday, although I think we'll stick with sponge baths a few more days, and goes for his post-op check-up the 16th. The sutures are the dissolving kind, so no suture removal in his future.

And so the hypospadias repair is over. The surgeon didn't have to repair Braeden's urethra, so no catheter or anything. He straightened the chordee (bend), and completed the circumcision nature started, and that was it.

Please Pray For Braeden

Braeden's hypospadias surgery is this coming Monday. Please pray for him and for me. If I don't have a total meltdown before this is all over, it'll be a miracle. The thoughts of that little guy undergoing surgery terrify me, but I know it's something that needs to be done, and better now, when he won't really remember anything about it.

I'll post again sometime next week to let anyone who still reads this know how he's doing. I'll concentrate on my own upcoming surgery after Braeden's is over and he's recovered. At least I've got a month between his and mine. Sheesh, medical stuff really sucks, especially when it all seems to pile up at once.

We'd all appreciate any extra prayers you can send Brae's way. Thanks!!

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.

We're All Sick

Oh, this really sux. Braeden and DH got bad coughs with phlegm on Friday, DH with a ripping sore throat. We think they picked up the "bug" at my retina doctor appointment last week, since they both got sick the same day.

DH was off work Monday, went to the doctor Tuesday, only to be told he's got an upper respiratory infection (the common cold). Neither of us has ever seen a "cold" like this one. We were starting to think maybe it was strep, nope. Brae's being a real trooper. His cough is better than it's been, but now he's got a charming discharge coming from his nose. Still, after he rests for awhile he's off playing again. A nice warm bath helped his chest congestion a lot yesterday.

Braeden was to go this morning for his vaccinations, but I called Tuesday and they said no shots for him for at least 2 weeks, until after he's over this cold. Talk about the medical community run-around. Our pediatrician wasn't there that day, so the on-call pediatrician returned my call and said "no shots". When I called to cancel today's appointment and reschedule, they wouldn't let me, the nurses saying he'd be fine to have his shots with his cold, as long as he doesn't have a fever (which he doesn't). Still, that's not what the doctor said. After being on hold for nearly an hour, the doctor called back again to reaffirm his position - no shots. He said he'd be having an emergency nurses' meeting immediately and one of them would call back. A different story on that return call - Brae's appointment for today was cancelled and a new one made for about 3 weeks from now.

By Monday, I wasn't feeling too well myself, and now I've been stricken full force with the same "bug" DH and Braeden have. Not a fun thing, but I've never been one to give in to a cold, and usually keep going, doing the best I can. I was worn out by the time last night rolled around, and was glad when Braeden went to bed - ok, so I put him to bed about half an hour early. We'll all be fine in a few days. Meanwhile, we'll be gentle with ourselves.

What really sucks is that DH's whole family arrived in town last night for a week, and they wanted lots of Brae play time (sister has multiple kids) and a family photo done. Play time is definitely out for Brae for the next day or two - I don't want those other children catching this on their vacation or risk Brae getting sicker. As for the family photo this weekend, it'll depend on how we all feel. I certainly won't drag Brae to an outdoor photo session if he's still sick. While it's by no means cold here, it's too cold for him to be outside for hours while they take various poses so we can select our favorites. I'll keep you posted.

For now, I just want to rest as much as I can, relax, and not think about anything else.

Retina Leaking Again

Just a quick little background - I was diagnosed over 3 years ago with a cancerous tumor on my retina. They inserted a radiation plaque (like a disc) behind my eye in one surgery, left it there for 6 days, then removed it in a second surgery. That was supposed to kill off the tumor - and it did!!

I had my regular retina specialist check-up today. The good news is that the cancer is still gone, the tumor has vanished. The bad news is that because of radiation damage my retina is once again swollen and is leaking fluid (just like a year ago), and I've also got a radiation cataract which will have to be removed. My vision in that eye has deteriorated badly. I can now only read the 2nd line on the eye chart, and new glasses wouldn't help. They won't let me wear contact lenses either. I have to accept the fact that the vision in my treated eye is basically gone.

I had to have dye injected into my vein and over 100 photos taken of both eyes, of course many more of the radiation-damaged eye. Both eyes are still sore from all the poking and prodding, so many photos with the camera so close to my eyes, the bright flashes literally temporarily blinding me.

I'm waiting to hear back from the retina specialist once he views the pictures, on what the game plan will be this time. Last year they gave me a steroid injection into my eyeball, which hurt like sh** and didn't do anything to help. I refuse to do that again, although I'd definitely go for more laser surgery (I had two surgeries last year) to try and close off the leaks. I've gotta tell you though, I'm getting so dang sick and tired of dealing with this eye of mine, my lack of vision, the discomfort of feeling like there are 100 hairs in there that I can never get out (foreign body sensation), that it's tempting to just let them do an enucleation and get rid of the thing. It's almost useless now anyway.

I thank God every day that my other eye remains in perfect condition and with perfect vision. At least I can see Braeden with that eye. With my bad eye I can't even see his face anymore. It's just a blur. I've become paranoid about my good eye. If something happened to that one, I'd be legally blind and would never be able to see my son again. I have to think positively that my good eye will remain that way.

Thanks for letting me vent a bit here - this is definitely not fun stuff

Molars Arriving

Poor Braeden's finally getting his molars. The two top ones have broken through his gums, the two bottom ones are nearly there. He's drooling up a storm, chowing down on all the teething toys he's got. It doesn't stop him from bombing around or from sleeping, so we haven't given him any meds.

He's now operating his little TV and DVD player on his own, turning both on, ejecting an old DVD, throwing it across the room and inserting a new one in the tray, closing the door. Then he heads over to his Elmo chair and sits down to watch. All the DVDs we have are Baby Einstein ones, so I don't object to him watching about 10 minutes of one DVD in the morning after his breakfast. By then he's bored and ready to move on. When he's done I have to pull the plugs on both the TV and DVD player, or he'll play with them all day.

His latest antic is trying to climb up the back of the couch in the family room, looking over there, playing with the window blinds, then throwing whatever he's got in his hand over the back. I have a very hard time navigating "stuff" to get behind there and retrieve the wayward object, since we've got it blocked off so he can't get behind the couch, but so far I've managed to get his things back for him, him watching me over the top.

He goes Februar 14th for his next check-up and round of vaccinations. Obviously not looking forward to that, but it'll soon be over with for another few months. He hasn't been for shots in 4 months, although we had him once to the pediatrician when he had a weird cold (cough and wheezing) awhile back. It disappeared in a few days.

As for me, I've got an appointment this morning with my retina specialist, to check on the remnants of the cancerous tumor they found (and treated with radiation) 3 1/2 years ago. At m last check-up the tumor was totally gone - I'm praying that's still the case. These dang appointments still scare me, but I'm hoping and praying for a good report today. I'm usually there 3+ hours. It's long and gruelling, and I'm ready to sleep by the time I get home. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Surgery Scheduled

Sorry not to have posted for so long. Things have been very busy for us. Braeden's extremely active now, and loving life. He's so much fun, but in the shadows I've been dealing with the issues below.

Braeden was born with hypospadias - a congenital abnormality of his "private parts". We've been very leery of having this surgery done, because initially we were told they'd have to repair his urethra, which could mean several additional surgeries down the road because it can cause fistulas to develop, he'd have catheters, not a nice prospect, but that situation has changed for the better.

Now surgery will only entail repair to his minor chordee (his penis is bent). After weeks of research, getting a lot of information, and finally speaking with the urology surgeon's office, we're going ahead with the surgery. It's scheduled for Monday, April 7, 2008.

Nervous? Off the charts, but if we don't have the repair done now, it could pose major problems for Braeden in childhood and as an adult - he'd look "different" than other little boys, and could have problems being intimate, may not be able to have children. After the surgery, those problems will be non-issues for him when he grows up. I'll keep you posted.

Otherwise, everything's fine. I've been taking Braeden to Kidsville, a great little "town" set up for the children to play without a whole lot of supervision. I still stay pretty close to Brae while he's playing since there are a lot of older kids there and I want to be sure he doesn't get knocked over by a racing car zooming past, but I let him roam from building to building, hanging back so he doesn't see much of me. His favorite buildings are the school house where he "draws" on the blackboard, plays with puzzles and looks at books; and the take-out restaurant, where he spends most of his time putting the play food into the cupboards, fridge, oven, any compartment available, or sitting at one of the tables with "pizza".

Whoever came up with the Kidsville idea had a great one. It really is like a child-sized town, with all kinds of "buildings" around the perimeter, a park-like setting in the middle with tables and chairs for eating lunch, or having a snack, or just relaxing. Brae loves going there, and I love taking him, especially where our weather's been pretty wet lately. It's impossible to get him to our park up the street since everything's drenched, but Kidsville is always available as a place for him to let off some steam.

I'll keep you posted on Braeden's upcoming surgery, and will try to post more often.

Merry Christmas!!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but it's been busy with Braeden. I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate with your family), and all the best for a great 2008 for all of us.

Braeden is 15 months old now. He started walking a month ago, now he's running everywhere. He loves to splash in puddles outside when it rains, to pick up the odd leaf lying on the ground where the trees haven't quite lost all of them yet, to go to the park, and his Gymboree classes. And he loves playing with his dog. They chase each other around the house and he giggles. Going on "trips" are his favorite thing (he loves the car), be it to the post office to stand in line mailing out cards, to the store, and especially to restaurants, where we've been ordering him his own meal from the kids' menu. He loves his sippy cups for water, and his straw cups for milk, although he wants to drink right from the cup more now and not use the straw.

Poor Braeden picked up a nasty chest cold just over a week ago - coughing, sneezing, and some chest congestion. We took him to his pediatrician last Friday to be sure all he had was a cold, and she assured us it's going around, and that's what it is. What a relief, since he's only ever had one other cold and it was the nasal congestion type. He only has a slight cough left now, and it never slowed him down at all, or affected his appetite or sleep.

Nothing affects his sleep - he sleeps at least 12 hours at night, still has 2 short naps during the day. I have to laugh some mornings when I go to get him up from his crib. We've left his "aquarium" attached to the side of the crib and if he awakens early he turns it on. If he wants my attention before I get upstairs to start his day, he cranks up the volume on it so I can hear it downstairs and at the back of the house.

Braeden loves helping with the laundry, taking his clean clothes out of the laundry basket and putting them in his drawers. Now if I could only get him to fold them first..hehe. He's emptied one of his drawers of all clothes, and now stashes his favorite books in that drawer, putting one inside, closing the drawer, grabbing another book and adding that one. He loves taking off his socks during naptime. If one's missing and I ask him where his sock is, he either goes over to the wayward one, or points to it if it's nearby.

He's eating pretty well on his own with his spoon, although he misses his mouth sometimes. He also loves brushing his own teeth, after we've given them their "real" brushing. We haven't taken him for his first dental visit yet, but will do that before long.

All our months of work on sign language (and some great tips from Oliver's mommy) are finally paying off, and Brae's doing more and more signing. His favorite ones are sleep and more, but he's doing probably 10 signs. He's saying more words each day now and is starting to string 2 words together, his newest ones being "take dat" as he hands me something. He loves cleaning up his play yard and books each evening, and keeping the carpets and floors free of tiny specks of anything, picking some minuscule thing up and racing over to hand it to me. Carpet fuzz, a crumb, anything that's out of place.

He's a happy little boy. Sometimes I miss that snuggly little baby of months ago, but I really love this new toddler stage. He's not big on snuggling anymore, but he loves to hug and give kisses. It's going to be a fun Christmas with my DH's family. I know Brae's going to totally love all the wrapping paper. A friend gave him a wooden puzzle as an early gift, and he loved it so much that the guy gave us a few more to put away for him for Christmas. And Braeden's so strong now it's kind of scary. He picks up a huge box of diapers all by himself and carries it around the room, dropping toys and books inside if it's been opened.

Anyway, I'm off to start our day. Have a wonderful Holiday Season, and I'll try to post more in 2008.

Fire Storms

We were caught in the middle of the recent Southern California fire storms that started this past Sunday. Before I go on though, we were very fortunate that we're all safe, and our home was spared the horrible devastation that so many people are having to endure here.

We were shopping at a large outdoor mall on Sunday morning, near noon. We bought Braeden a pair of crocs shoes, so we'd have a pair of shoes for him we could put on quickly, that he'd be able to use to walk and crawl around in our back yard without ruining his Stride Rite shoes. We had a great time at the mall, but as we were leaving, saw the all too familiar smoke in the sky that we saw four years ago during the horrendous Cedar fire that destroyed so many homes and started four years ago tomorrow.

We stayed tuned to the radio and TV Sunday afternoon and overnight, and did the same thing Monday. Suddenly on Monday afternoon we heard that our area had been placed under mandatory evacuation, that we had to leave immediately. Neighbors started knocking on the door to tell us we needed to get out - NOW, and our next door neighbor brought over a surgical mask for Braeden, to help him breathe. Luckily I'd been packing things up all day, in anticipation that we might have to leave. Four years ago we got a voluntary evac. notice - this time it was mandatory, the sheriff driving up and down the streets announcing "You must evacuate this area immediately", the fire moving towards us, driven by 60 mph Santa Ana winds.

Luckily my ILs' home wasn't affected by the evacuation notice, so after loading up what we could cram into both cars, I left in the SUV with Braeden and DP (dear puppy). DH followed after one last check of the house, grabbing anything else he could think of.

There's only one way out of our neighborhood, so traffic was gridlocked. It took me over an hour to travel the 4-5 miles to my ILs home, and DH was stuck in even worse traffic, having left about 10 minutes behind me. The smoke and ash was awful. If not for my ILs, we'd have been camping out at the stadium, the freeways gridlocked too. Thank God we were able to stay at their home, although they were under an advisory evacuation - i.e., pack up and be ready just in case. Luckily it remained advisory only and while we didn't sleep much Monday night, at least we were safe, praying for our home to be spared.

To make a long story short, on Tuesday afternoon we received notice that the mandatory evacuation notice had been lifted for our neighborhood, and we were allowed to return home. Seeing so many homes burned to the ground, was so reminiscent of the fires 4 years ago. Once again, we were spared that devastation. Why? The fire was heading right for us, just like last time, and exactly like then winds changed direction and the fire moved elsewhere, sparing us. God was certainly watching over us these past few days.

There are still evacuations being issued, others being lifted, but the 8 fires burning here have moved on, hopefully to areas without dense populations of people, where nobody else will die, be injured, and/or lose their homes. It's been an extremely stressful week, but we've made it.

For any of you reading this who were affected by these massive fire storms, know our thoughts and prayers are with you, and if there's anything at all you need, anything we can do for you, please let us know. Now the healing process starts, and soon the rebuilding for those who lost their homes and are left with only what they could take with them as they evacuated.

Chickenpox Outbreak

It was announced on our news this morning that there's a chickenpox outbreak at one of the nearby schools, and everyone is being urged to have their kids vaccinated immediately if they haven't already done so. That's the 2nd series vaccination, given when they're about 4 years old. The one given at 12 months old gives them about 90% protection, while adding the 2nd one ups that to 99%. I like those odds.

Braeden's had a little head cold which I think he picked up at his gym class last week. Two of the other little ones were sniffling and sneezing, and while they strongly suggest you keep your child home if he/she is ill, some people appear to be oblivious to the fact that it's so easy to spread germs in a setting like that, no matter how clean they keep the gym area. Everyone's still climbing on all the equipment, drooling on everything, hands in their mouths. Braeden's just got the nasal thing going on, and it's starting to clear up now. It hasn't affected his activity level, or his appetite, or his sleep schedule. DH and I caught the dang thing over the weekend - blech.

We've got Braeden's Halloween costume. He's going to be a pumpkin this year. We didn't want anything fancy, and being 13 months old by then, I don't think he'll mind. It's a 2-piece outfit, nice and warm, with a hood. While our weather here definitely doesn't get cold, it's chilly at night, and we'll be out in the courtyard to greet the trick or treaters for a couple of hours, so I want Braeden to be comfortable. DH probably won't make it home from work in time for me to take Braeden to our nearest neighbors and pass out treats too, but again, I don't think Braeden will mind. I think he'll enjoy seeing the kids in costume, and he won't be eating any candy anyway.

He's still working on this walking thing, preferring to speed crawl rather than walk. I put his shoes on him inside the house this morning so he could try walking while wearing the shoes, since he hasn't been out much with his cold, and he did very well holding onto his truck and/or car as he took off around the living room. After about 15 minutes I took them off. I certainly don't want him learning to walk wearing them, but do want him to be comfortable walking while he's got them on for our outside trips.

1-Year Appointment

Today was Braeden's 1-year appointment with his pediatrician. He weighs 22 pounds, 8 ounces (50th percentile), is 33 inches tall - nearly 3 feet (95th percentile), head circumference is 17 3/4 inches.

He got a clean bill of health, is thriving, growing at a "perfect" rate (if there's any such thing as perfect), meeting all his milestones - crawling, cruising, doing a little walking, "talking" and babbling appropriately for his age, waving, etc.; totally off his bottles and drinking from cups. We took a sippy cup full of water to his appointment, and his doctor was pleased to see only water in it and not juice. She's not a fan of sippy cups full of juice being dragged around all day, but prefers any juice to be given as a supervised snack and then taken away. Brae loves his cool water in the sippy cup, uses straw cups for his formula/milk.

We've decided to keep Braeden on a 50/50 mixture of Enfamil Next Step (for 9-24 month toddlers) and whole milk for another month or two. His doctor said we could go either way - as we are, or all whole milk - either is fine. Probably after one more can of Enfamil we'll stop it completely.

We're pro-vaccination all the way, so Braeden had his 12-month vaccines today - two shots. One is chicken pox, the other a combo shot for mumps, measles and rubella (German measles). When I was a kid I ended up contracting all those diseases except rubella, and had a very rough time with all of them - these vaccines weren't available in my childhood. I'm glad they're here for Braeden, so hopefully he can be spared the misery of contracting any of them. And not only that, these vaccinations are all required for him to attend school where we live. I'd much rather have each one administered as we go along rather than play catch-up later when it's time for him to start kindergarten.

Braeden and I went to Gymboree yesterday - he loves his weekly class. He walked for the first time (other than a few steps). He went about 10 feet on his own, heading for a bucket of balls he spotted across the room that he wanted to get to. Yipee!!! His doctor said he's maybe been a bit slower with the walking because he's so tall, that it's hard to balance all that height, but he's on his way now.

So we're home and Braeden's playing. I'm hoping he'll have a nap soon, but he had none yesterday so he may be outgrowing them. I'll post again soon.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, BRAEDEN!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Braeden!! How much you've grown and developed over the past year, how many times you've melted my heart. He's off the bottle now (loves his straw cups) - I'll miss it more than he will. Brae had his first whole milk this morning and loved it, but we'll continue using Enfamil Next Step for a couple of months, and will gradually make the milk switch.

Today we're baking cupcakes for Brae's birthday party tomorrow. He loves to watch me working in the kitchen, and I know he'll be fascinated with all this baking. He's on the verge of walking, and it'd be awesome if he took that plunge today. But he'll walk when he's ready, and his timing works for me. Tonight DH and I will have our private celebration of Braeden's first birthday, a cupcake with a candle. We've got the camera and video camera batteries charged and ready to go.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we're having a little party to celebrate, with just a few close friends. We were hoping for the back yard, but with a rain storm forecast for later today and tomorrow, it looks like we'll be inside. That works. Early in the morning I'll pick up his helium-filled balloons and his cake, while DH will pick up the food. My MIL ordered and paid for the food for us, which was sweet of her. Sadly my ILs are leaving this morning on a trip, so won't be here for any of the birthday celebrations. My FIL's health is deteriorating, and this will probably be their last trip.

So Happy 1st birthday Mr. Braeden. You're no longer a baby, but you'll always be my baby!!

Two Weeks To 1st Birthday

Wow, hard to believe Braeden will be a year old in only 2 weeks. We're planning a small party for him here at the house, a few close friends. Like others have written, it'll be bittersweet - so exciting that he'll be a year old, yet already missing the little guy we brought home nearly a year ago. I'll miss my baby bunting, but my little boy is such a sweetheart.

Braeden's got 6 teeth now - 4 uppers and 2 lowers. I've started weaning him from his bottles, and am not having any problem so far. He loves his cups, especially the ones with the straws. We've got a couple of sippy cups, but I save those for water. He drinks his formula much better with the straws. We've got quite a variety of different brands, but his favorite is the Nuby straw cup. He drinks his formula while sitting in his high chair - it's easier for him to grasp the handles, and when he decides to stick his finger in the straw and fling formula all over the place, at least we're in the kitchen..hehe.

I'm also weaning him from his infant formula to Enfamil Next Step. That's going well too. We thought of going right to whole milk, but decided to give him a couple more months of DHA and ARA that Next Step has before we make that switch. He's eating Graduates veggie and fruit dices, and meat sticks I cut up for him, and any table food around at his meal times. So far there's nothing he doesn't like. That makes life easier. He's still eating some stage 2 and 3 foods, mainly to finish up what we bought earlier.

DH got Braeden a pre-birthday gift - a Tonka riding dump truck. He absolutely loves it. It's supposed to be good for him until he's 3, but when he sits on it, he's already flat footing it, so I think he'll outgrow it before then, but it'll still last him a long time. You can take the seat off and snap it on the back, so he has something for support as he walks along behind it. It's great for picking up blocks off the floor and carpet too - run over one and the truck scoops it up and deposits it in a storage area for later retrieval.

No, he's not quite walking yet, although he stands alone frequently and takes 2-3 steps on his own before he sits down, so walking isn't far off now. His new favorite thing is going outside in the afternoon with the neighborhood kids. They're all over 4 years old, and the older kids sit on our lawn in a circle, Braeden in the middle, and he giggles as they pass him around, rolling on the grass.

This morning I started taking Brae and DP (dear puppy) for walks together. DP has gained weight in the past year and after checking out a dog walking service, they're way too expensive for our budget. When I tried walking DP and Brae at the same time earlier, it wasn't a pretty sight, but today DP walked calmly next to the stroller, totally enjoying a nice long walk, and of course Braeden had the best time - he always loves going for a walk.

So we're gearing up for Braeden's big day. Have a great weekend.

Happy 11-Month Birthday!!

Yikes, 11 months old today. It doesn't seem possible that in one more short month little Braeden (who's not little anymore) will be celebrating his 1st birthday. What happened to our little baby? I'm so glad we've got a ton of pictures and video of those early days to look back on.

We went to our gym class this morning, but poor Brae's cutting 2 teeth at the same time, so he didn't have the best time. Still, he participated with the other children there, and did some of the activities. We were going through tunnels today - lots of fun. He was more clingy though than he has been, but that's ok. He'll have good days and bad like we all do.

So Happy 11-Month Birthday little Braeden. The next time I wish you Happy Birthday, you'll officially be a toddler - ack!! LOL!!

Braeden's Busy Week

Braeden and I headed off for his 2nd Gymboree class earlier this week. It was his last level 2 class. Next week he moves on to where he should be, level 3 - 10-16 months. Now that he feels totally comfortable at the gym, he's more than ready to move on.

He's had a few adventures and minor mishaps this week. We've got a gigantic play yard in our living room (32 sq. ft.). Close to it is an antique "drum" table (about 36 inches round) that's been in my family for over 200 years.

One day this week Brae decided to climb onto a stool we've had in his play yard for him to use to pull himself up. It's not there now. I was playing in there with him when he put his knee on the stool, then pulled his other leg up, so he was kneeling on the stool. Grabbing the top of the play yard, it was nothing for him to pull himself to a standing position so he could bang on the table. I keep the camera in my pocket now, so was able to get pictures of him in action, and got a video of him going from kneeling to standing. Major danger lurks there though. Standing on the stool, the top of the play yard is below his waist, so if he leaned forward, over he'd go. Like I said, the stool isn't in there now.

Apparently my table was even closer than I thought. For his next trick, the next day Brae opened one of the drawers (only 2 open, the rest are false drawers), but I guess he couldn't see everything in there he wanted to see, so he pulled the drawer right out and it landed in his play yard. Thank God it didn't hit him, but it scared both of us half to death. I was in the play area with him, lying down with my eyes closed, obviously drifting off. I could hear him playing with the drawer handles like he always does, but never thought he could pull the drawer out. Needless to say the play yard is now further away from the drum table so he can't even reach the handles.

Yesterday he was playing in his play yard (no he's not in there as much as it sounds - he just gets into more trouble when he's in there now) while I uploaded some pictures to the computer, and he was totally enjoying his new game of picking up toys one by one and dropping them over the top and onto the carpet and/or ceramic tile. He's already broken a few electronic toys by throwing them on the tiles. He started to cry - he'd thrown one of his balls over the top, then decided he wanted it back, so stuck his arm through one of the slats to retrieve his ball - yep, he got his arm stuck above the elbow. It only took a second to free him, but by then he wanted some "hold me" time, and he got plenty.

After he'd settled down, I put him back in the "yard" so I could finish uploading the pictures. More crying. We got Brae a "phlat ball" which you push down in the middle so it goes totally flat, and then springs open into a ball. He loves playing with it, and if a finger or two gets caught when the ball "pops" he laughs and thinks it's funny. I've tried it myself to be sure, and it doesn't hurt at all. Not so when somehow he stuck his whole hand inside. He was waving the ball around, trying to get his hand out, but he needed mommy to push down on the ball a bit so his hand slid out.

No worse for wear, at that point I let him roam around while I finished up the pictures. Maybe Braeden doesn't want his pictures on the computer..hehe. He headed right for the stairs, and of course I hadn't closed the baby gate since he'd been in his play yard. Forget the pictures - I'll finish them later..hehe. I followed him as he climbed upstairs and roamed around up there awhile, then carried him back down.

Otherwise it's been a quiet week - yeah, right..hehe. He continues saying "wassat?" to everything he sees, inside the house, while we're out for our walks, at the store particularly where he wants to know the name of everything on each shelf. Of course right now he doesn't know what they mean, but out goes the hand towards an object he's interested in, then "wassat?" follows. After I tell him, he moves to the next object. It's funny. He's saying his name even more clearly now. I love how he says "Brae" - he rolls the "BR". He's also calling his dog by name now. I was on the phone last week when he called for his dog, and the person on the phone with me could hear him say the dog's name very clearly.

I hope it's a quieter weekend. Hope you all have a good one.