I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures today, it was busy. The only photo I got of Trevor was trying on his monkey pack. It was actually pretty funny because it touches the back of his head and he tried to get away from it, but it was attached to his back! It will take a little getting used to.

Brendan had a better day today. He is stabilizing a bit so hopefully by Friday he will feel better again for company. Dealing with his poor digestive system has been a handful, I won’t go in to detail. Nobody wants to talk about projectile vomiting bright yellow bile. He still needs almost constant trach tube suctioning which is hard on him. But today, he managed to do his full day of sprinting off vent.

I spotted another problem that would be giving Brendan trouble this week. Tooth number 6 cut through the gums on the lower left today. It is just through enough that you can catch a fingernail on it. There was no way that he was going to show the blog readers his new tooth.

He will brush them though, the new tooth doesn’t really show in this pic, it is too blurry

I would say that puts Brendan in the lead, 6 to 5 on teeth. But Trevor is cutting his second top center tooth, it is right there under a very thin layer of gum.

Poor Brendan just has had such bad luck this week. On top of everything else, he developed these weird spots all over his body.
I am just keeping an eye on them for now, I hope they are not contagious! I took a picture, don’t look if you are squeamish about these things.
Strange spots picture

The boys have received several packages now, the door bell has been busy. Medical supplies got delivered today too.
What kid doesn’t like a good cardboard box and packing material?

The living room is a total mess, time to go clean it up. I did everything I could to baby-proof the area so Trevor could roam freely while I suctioned Brendan over and over. He had a good time and I thought everything was protected from him and him from it.
But I look away for less than a minute and Trevor has the last bit of milk in his bottle and he is turning it upside down, milking the nipple with his fingers like a professional farmer with a cow. Formula all over the floor, he is splashing in it and spreading it around artistically.
Clean up wasn’t bad, but Trevor stinks like formula no matter how many baby wipes you use. He needs another bath!

Week 52?!?! When did we get here? Birthday in 9 days? Impossible!!
Gramma, Erin, and Caleb in 3 days!! Can’t wait for the madness!

In all, it was kind of a tough day. I am glad we had nurses these last couple days to help Brendan cope with his withdrawal symptoms. It just isn’t fair to see him pay the price now for the “relief” back then. We have months of this yet to do.
Brendan’s symptoms are bad enough that we are going to hold steady for a while now and let him adjust before we continue to reduce the dose. It isn’t right to suffer like this for your first birthday party.

Hopefully the worst is over for now, and he can feel better to meet his aunt and cousin for the first time.

It was early, but the boys got to open up a birthday gift that came in the mail today. These adorable little animal backpacks are from Great-Grandma Bobbie. Trevor’s will probably get used a lot with the tail to keep him from running away in Walmart. Brendan will probably use his to carry medical stuff when he learns to crawl and walk. They both got a chance to look at both of them and pick their favorite. Trevor picked the monkey and Brendan picked the lion, so there was no coin toss required!

Trevor was dressed today, really he was. But his drool was overwhelming so it was easier to keep him dry this way. He thought he would “rotate the tire” on his stroller.

Brendan tried to play in the jungle but it was hard to get in to it today.

He lost his favorite alligator pieces off the side and couldn’t get them back

Little brother to the rescue!

Trevor really did help put the pieces back up in place

Yay! Brendan is so thrilled that Trevor is starting to play with him

Brendan is not so thrilled about Trevor wanting to suction his mouth

Brendan goes to bed earlier than Trevor, so we have to go play in Trevor’s bedroom to wear him out before his bedtime. I found this little wind up toy in a drawer and it was the highlight of his night.

Bill brought home some old reels of Super 8 film from his dad’s house and set up the Instamatic tonight. We watched a couple of short home movie clips from 1970-1971. It is pretty amazing how times have changed. The difference between the handful of films and photos of Bill growing up and the thousands of pictures and almost 100 videos of the boys in the first year.
We had a good time with the blast from the past and seeing little Bill running around was so cute!

Brendan has gotten in to the full swing of withdrawal issues now, it could be a rough month for him. He did manage to sprint for almost 4hrs, but he had rough spells all day. He still smiles and plays when he can!
He had an occupational therapy evaluation this morning, and the therapist is going to write her report recommending weekly OT sessions. Physical therapy is going to keep working with him every other week to address gross motor skills, strength, rolling, crawling, standing, walking, etc. OT will work on fine motor skills, coordination, and developmental milestones.
He showed off his stacking skills.

He was pretty proud!

Trevor had to spend a little time in the jungle while I did some paperwork. He is far too big for it now. When I bought the jungle exersaucer, Trevor could not even reach these hanging toys!

This is how he starts to climb out! Trevor is really ready for it to be opened up in to the standing play center, but Brendan is still using it like an exersaucer and he loves it.

We had to go to Walmart again today for some things that we forgot. I picked up this very handy little baby-view mirror for the car and now I feel much better about travelling with Trevor in the rear facing car seat. I can see him very well!

Funny thing is we got a phone call about a grandma planning long distance baby super-spoiling that involved the Walmart trip. Great-Grandma Bobbie loved Trevor’s purple monster video so much that she couldn’t resist but to buy Trevor the monster so that he could continue to enjoy it and share it with Brendan.

Trevor was thrilled! I have heard purple-people-eater at least 800 times tonight.

Brendan was a little concerned at first and just stared at it with his own “what the heck?” face.

He did warm up to it!

I think this video has it all!! Tragedy, suspense, drama, violence, clever dialogue, and dancing!

Setting aside the monster, Brendan had to get ready for PT tonight. He did a great job with his therapy and learned a set of new skills that he has to work on. They are challenging.

Brendan has a game he likes to play that impressed the therapist. It is his “trade” game. His toys all have a hierarchy. If you don’t want him to pitch a fit when you take something away from him, you have to offer him something of greater value. He will either accept your offer and trade, or he will just ignore it, obviously finding the new toy unworthy.

I am still learning the order of things. Tonight, the yellow mega block was tops until he saw Trevors leopard print paci. Then it was game over, he would not trade anything I offered for that one!