Simple stay at home days are good. There was a monthly ventilator inspection today but that is quick and they didn’t come during nap time this time.

Trevor has got excellent hearing and he knows long before me when the garbage/recycle truck is coming down the street and he gets anxious to go outside. He is so eager to see the truck working that I actually got him to sign “please” before I took him out the front door.
There is that truck coming down the street. He loves seeing it lift the big cans to dump them.

Of course, once it gets to our house, he has to run back to the patio because it is so big and loud.

He also likes to get the mail each day.

Oh look, he got a letter

The timing today was perfect. While we were outside, the mailman came down the street. So Trevor got to see the mail truck and meet the mailman in person. He was really friendly and squatted down to Trevor’s level and handed him the mail. Trevor was impressed.

We also saw a furniture delivery truck go by and the driver beeped the horn for us. It was like a big outing for Trevor all on the driveway!

We enjoyed the rest of the morning outside.

Brendan’s PT would be impressed. He was trying to figure out how to crawl down the step to get outside. Instead, he got both feet under him and got his butt in the air. This was the skill he was practicing this week in therapy as a move to standing up on his own.

Speaking of impressed, the day just kept getting better. I gave both boys chicken bones with lunch. Trevor loved it and I had to watch him closely. Brendan touched his only long enough to throw it on the floor.

He wouldn’t play with chicken but he did EAT some cheerios!! Really ate them. You can see them in there along with his 13th tooth coming in! He also ate six good bites of green beans.

Trevor’s little apprentice is a fast learner

Keeper of the cups

And as if eating Cheerios wasn’t enough for today, something special is happening in this picture too.

You can’t see it unless you know just what to look for. Brendan is wearing his speaking valve and he blew his time record AWAY. He wore the valve non stop for FORTY-FOUR minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last few days, he wore it for 2 minutes at a time. Then yesterday he did 5 minutes. Today I was hoping to get 5 again but he was doing so well and just going on about his playtime as if nothing was different so I left it and let the timer run.
This is such an encouraging thing.

Can I get a “Yay! Brendan!!!!”? 🙂
Yay! Trevor too for being an awesome role model and such a good boy.

It should have been a Wednesday of more chores and cleaning but I blew it all off. It was 75 degrees and partly cloudy today and there is no way we were going to stay inside and work. So while Brendan played outside with his nurse, I took Trevor back to the zoo. That is why we have the membership after all!

Today we took the Safari Train ride around the zoo. Trevor would have been bored except that he liked seeing all the kids and waving. It was packed today! He sat very nicely the whole ride, I was proud of him.
Then we went to Stingray Bay and he got to splash in the water and try to pet rays. None of them came up close enough to touch him but he was still fascinated watching them swim around.
I wish I could have taken some pictures but handling him was a full time effort for both my hands, especially around the water.
As I feared, he fell asleep in the car on the way home.

He woke up when I took him out of the seat and I was able to get lunch in him. I thought for sure he would not go back down for his nap but he did and slept really well. He had to wear his ocean day-jammies after playing with rays.

Brendan hears that Trevor is awake and out of baby jail

He makes a break for it

Trevor says, “Hurry up, Brendan, follow me”

Silly camera ham

The crabbing hour was especially bad tonight and I am exhausted. It is almost 9pm and Brendan is still awake. We are waiting for a delivery from our home care supply company that is supposed to come between 6-10pm. Sometimes it is a real hassle to get what we need.

Busy Tuesday has PT, OT, and oxygen refill. With meals and naps, it pretty much fills the whole day.

Trevor’s newest trick is that he can open containers with snap on lids with his teeth. He figured this out with a can of puffs and now he tries it on everything.

It works

Trevor now has a naughty apprentice that likes to escape baby jail too

It is a good thing he hadn’t had a bath yet.

Brendan got brave and decided to crawl through the tunnel.

He was having fun in there until Trevor came and rolled it and tipped him over!

He recovered quickly

He still tries to climb up on to my lap to escape therapy every chance he gets. He did a great job for PT and OT today, even though he sometimes makes a break for it.

Trevor makes a mess out of goldfish crackers

Trapped behind the new door