Today was a total surprise to me. I was alone with the boys all day and they were awesome!
I don’t know if the Body Snatchers’ pods hatched and substituted them with sweet little duplicates, but it was a really good day.
First, there was not a single throw-up. Not one! I guess it is so commonplace every day that I forget to mention the struggle with the gagging, coughing up goo, and formula soaked pants.
Second, Brendan wore his PMV all day!! I mean ALL day. Trevor got irritated a few times when Brendan got too loud but Trevor tolerated it so well!
Third, there was no hitting and tackling!! I keep working with Trevor to sign “No” to Brendan when Brendan is doing something Trevor doesn’t like. He also takes him toys to trade when he wants what Brendan has. Trevor even gave things to Brendan without direction, it was adorable!

I sure wish we could build on this foundation and keep moving forward. I know the chaos will be back!
Trevor has turned some of his attack energy on the dog and wants to pull and bend poor Eins’s tail. I know Eins can escape at any time, he seems to like the game and ends up pulling Trevor over often.

Trevor recognizes some letters, especially “o” and points them out everywhere, “M” and “S” too!

Dumping the toy box usually helps prevent rapid tackle-attacks. Brendan played in the toybox for a while.

“I know one of these turns the TV on”

I gave Trevor another stack of “cans” to dump. His sound effects are adorable too.

Time to change things up

When Brendan tries to invade Trevor’s personal space…

…he has to learn how to improvise

That will help

What’s wrong with this picture?

If you said “That’s not where an HME is supposed to go”, you are right! You all got it, I am sure.

It was so adorable today watching Brendan laugh himself in to fits of silliness while playing “Endless Alphabet”. Hearing his laugh is amazing. I can only hope tomorrow goes just as well or better!

Today we participated in the Phoenix Congenital Heart Walk with team Mended Little Hearts.
It is too close to the HopeWalk in terms of fundraising efforts so we did not go all out this year, but we appreciate the contributions that were made in Brendan’s name.

The boys were all set in their matching outfits and little orange sports drinks for their high exertion strollering. (Brendan even drank some!)

It was a one mile walk and was over super quick! Then we spent some time letting the boys run around the baseball stadium that hosted the event.

Trevor was captivated by the train ride

Trevor is practicing being an outfielder

Brendan was walking in the dirt!

Trevor LOVES playing in dirt!

Brendan would rather watch from on high

It was a good morning! We could have used some clouds, the sun was brutal even though the temperature was nice. It was nice to see some old friends from the hospital, including “the other Brendan” who just got out of the hospital yesterday and made it to the walk this morning! The boys also met some adorable toddler triplet girls.

We are all feeling a little better today, getting outside and walking as a family sure helps!

I have a major junk food hangover today. Bill and I are serious about getting control of our health and our new plan started yesterday. After two years of just trying to get by and a month of celebrations with food, indulgences of food, and too much Halloween candy, we are setting goals and eating right. It has to happen.
If you have never experienced the crash of too much sugar and junk for too long followed by a few days of healthy eating, you are lucky. Cravings were not bad, but emotions were all over the place. I just wanted the garbage truck to come by so I could just run out and jump in it and have it carry me away.

I think Trevor is feeling the same thing. He recently had so much ice cream, candy, cake, treats, and frozen coke, he has to ‘detox’ too. He was an emotional wreck all day! I guess when the whole family is a wreck, Brendan decided he was in a bad mood too.

It made for a long, exhausting day with lots of crying by all.

The only thing that gets us through is knowing that it is temporary and that it is worth it.