Birthday #2 came exactly two weeks after Aspen’s and it was Jen’s. I had a wonderful day with bagels for breakfast, some shopping at Home Depot, and dinner at a new Italian restaurant. I also decided that I wanted to get a tattoo for her birthday. It is in perfect view, however not noticeable by anyone unless pointed out. It is perfect and I plan on adding to it in the future.
Birthday #3 was Bryant’s which was to the day three weeks past Jen’s. Bryant’s big day was not only a great day for him, but also for us as a family. It is hard not to talk about the year in review with all of the ups and down, test and test results, waiting and this and that. In short it is LIFE and we are happy to be living it. It was hard not to think about events occurring a year ago on his birthday and the 5 weeks he was in the hospital. In fact as I am writing this I was in the process of being discharged from the hospital in Billings. Some of the events are hard to think about and others are overwhelming. Friends wondered how I kept it so together being apart from Joe and Bryant. I still don’t know. But remembering everything brings tears to my eyes every time.
Bryant has been growing – on the small side according to charts, but he is growing and eating. With every new strand of red hair he gets more and more independent. He wants to eat what we are eating, which is fine but we are in the process of teaching him to drink more while eating. If he doesn’t then he gets food somewhat stuck in his esophagus. His favorite thing to eat is bread. He has learned that KIX cereal pieces are perfect cannon balls to be shot out of one’s mouth. Fun, but messy. He Loves Loves the water including the dogs’ water dish, however hates bubble baths. His favorite word to say is ball and tries really hard to say balloon. Other words he likes are tadah, oh, mama, and dada. If he could say Aspen he would they play so well together and love each other more than fish love the water (A Martin analogy). Bryant is still a bad sleeper, however I don’t mind all that much because I love to snuggle with him and one day I won’t get to do that anymore. He really is a great little boy and we cannot wait to see what he will become.
On the medical front, Bryant had ear tubes put in to drain the fluid buildup in his ears since birth. He has since passed his first hearing test in March. Eleven months past birth and he passes his first hearing test. It was a great day for celebration. We said goodbye to his STEP (developmental) specialist who worked with Bryant on learning new things. One of the struggles was rolling over; he wouldn’t do this until he started crawling. I guess he didn’t need to do it, but now it is important. So he does things on his own time and sometimes in the wrong order, but he is developing well.
In a few weeks we head down to Salt Lake to check out his surgery and reflux. Due to the lack of expertise in Billings for AE/TEF we hope that things turn out well enough that the doctors in Billings will be able to pickup Bryant’s medical treatment. Upon our return we have another surgery, then who knows what life will hand us.
We also had the tooth fairy visit. Aspen lost her first tooth and was none too happy that the tooth fairy actually left with her tooth. She wanted to keep it. While Aspen was subtracting teeth Bryant was busy adding teeth. Not just one tooth but four. So if you're keeping track that would be 12 teeth total.
We look forward to baseball games, a few trips to see friends, and enjoying our family. As M, M &M say – “Life is always better when we are together”
