It was a very special day, Grandpa Jack turned 81 today! Trevor had big plans to go to his birthday party and had to whip up a delicious carrot cake. It is a good thing he is such a good baker. (There was no crab in the cake)

Because Brendan has two little teeth, he had to get a toothbrush. He brushes them himself!

Trevor doesn’t have teeth yet, but since he was going to a birthday party, he had to freshen up too

Trevor got dressed in a cute outfit and went to visit Grandpa

Trevor holds on to Grandpa’s hand

Trevor handled the new place and the crowds of excited people very well! He was only scared in the very beginning and then he had a good time. He got to meet Uncle Ken and Aunt Barb, Cousin Bob and Marian. He saw Aunt Heather again and then said hello to all of the staff and residents who fawned over his cute little toes. I think he liked being the center of attention.

He got to eat a little tiny frosting off of the cake too, he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Brendan is feeling a lot better today. He is still on a reduced food rate and getting half pedialyte instead of all formula but he has been keeping it down as we slowly creep back up to full feeding.

Trevor gives him a stern talk about having to go to the hospital.

Today is also the birthday of the boys’ Great Uncle Rich. We all wish we were lounging with you at the lake on your birthday, hope it was a great one!

Brendan has resorted to using dirty tactics to get Gramma to stay longer. He has been having some bad days and today was one of his worst. He just could not keep anything down in his little tummy and he was having a hard time breathing without constant coughing and need for suctioning.

We tried everything we knew, but in the end, we drove Brendan to the hospital. Better to go to the clinic where everyone knows him and he can see his real doctor than to try to get through the night and end up in the ER on a Saturday. Brendan is sleeping soundly now and getting nothing but pedialyte at a slow drip tonight. We have to get fluids in him and get him to keep his meds down. The vomiting is most likely caused by his coughing triggering his gag reflex so if we can dry up his cough, it will help. Change in drug strategy, change in formula, hope for a good weekend.
We changed his trach tube tonight and that went smoothly. I get a bit nervous every time we have to do that. (weekly!)

This morning seemed to be starting well

Brendan really likes to sit up and play

Peek!

Gimmee a little kiss!

Brendan did a good job at the hospital, we promised him that we would not be leaving him there overnight.

Today was another roller coaster day, filled with silliness and cuteness but also with vomiting, tears and frustration. I don’t take pictures of the latter, so here are all of the cute pictures we captured today.

Brendan gets to eat breakfast with Trevor. Today he played with bowls and spoons and oatmeal and prunes. He even got some prunes in his mouth but mostly on his tape and tubes.

The boys are saying, “You are interrupting”

Trevor says, “Once I was only this big…”

“…Now I am THIS big!”

When Brendan was feeling good, the boys took a journey together in to space.

Trevor was helping Brendan get the most out of space!

Good thing there are crabbies in space. Trevor wiped out and they had his back

Brendan thought the wipeout was hilarious

Then Larry the O2 guy showed up for refills and we had to distract Trevor while all the clanging and banging noise was going on.

After all that play time, Brendan went to bed and Trevor offered to cook dinner.

Hopefully both boys have a quiet, restful night. I heard from the GI doctor’s office that surgery is going to either be at the very end of July or early August at the soonest, so we have some waiting to do. That just means time to get stronger and bigger!