{"id":7335,"date":"2012-12-05T21:33:15","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T04:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/?p=7335"},"modified":"2012-12-05T21:34:24","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T04:34:24","slug":"year-2-week-6-day-7-brendans-first-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/2012\/12\/05\/year-2-week-6-day-7-brendans-first-laugh\/","title":{"rendered":"Year 2 &#8211; Week 6 &#8211; Day 7 &#8211; Brendan&#8217;s first laugh!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This could be an epic saga of a blog post tonight, I have scaled back quite a bit and I still have a ton to post. We had a super busy fun day and then we got the package we have been waiting for!! <\/p>\n<p>This morning, Bill went to the office and Gramma surprised the boys with their early Christmas present. It is so super cute! This rocking horse whinnies, makes trotting sounds, shakes his head and wags his tail. The boys were in awe. <\/p>\n<p>Trevor was all about trying it on for size!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt10.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206bt10.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206t25.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206t25.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206t25.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Brendan did NOT like the texture of the mane and tail.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b28.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b28.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b28.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He was happy to chew on the stirrups though!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b27.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b27.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b27.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trevor thought that seemed like a good idea<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt11.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206bt11.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We have some cute videos of the rocking horse, but there was just too much to process to post them tonight!<\/p>\n<p>The boys played all afternoon with straws and cups.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt12.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206bt12.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206bt12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Until high drama tantrum throwing tired Trevor ended up on the naughty step!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206t26.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206t26.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206t26.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It had nothing to do with this naughty behavior&#8230;<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xAimyf6jMVk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And then the doorbell rang and we all jumped up with excitement! It was Brendan&#8217;s package!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b29.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b29.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b29.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But it was really a cruel trick. It wasn&#8217;t the speaking valve for his trach like we have been waiting for. It was the tiny little plastic adapter piece that allows an oxygen line to be connected to the speaking valve. <\/p>\n<p>But then&#8230; another truck pulls up to the house! Another package for Brendan!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b30.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b30.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b30.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We love the fact that in each box, the actual contents are just over 1 cubic inch in size. They had to use lots of air pillows. We were so anxious to try this out, we waited nervously for Bill to get home from work!<\/p>\n<p>Brendan gets dressed and ready to debut his voice for the first time in just over 8 months. The blue piece you see is the guard that he wears on his trach while he uses the mist collar.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b31.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b31.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b31.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new valve being put in place..<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b32.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b32.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b32.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This valve is called a Passy Muir Valve or PMV. It is a very simple design it allows air to be inhaled through the trach tube. But it slams shut tight on the exhale. Instead of breathing out through the trach tube, Brendan has to push his exhale out his mouth and\/or nose which is why he will be able to make sound. It allows air to move over his vocal cords. It is pretty uncomfortable at first and can be very stressful so Brendan will only wear it for a few minutes a day at first until he gets used to it. Then he will be able to have it on any time he is off the ventilator. <\/p>\n<p>We were able to distract him and make him smile like in this picture, but his first experience was pretty rough on him. He coughed and gagged and panicked a little. We would just give him breaks and then try again for a few more seconds until he started to figure it out.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b33.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b33.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b33.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t even begin to describe how thrilled we are even to hear a super mad baby belt out some good cries. Yay Brendan!!<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GKAaFO040vw?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After a few tries, he was starting to get it figured out, but he was tired. Bill did manage to get a laugh from him with some tickling! It just melts me to hear him giggle, and this is just the start. My silly Brendan will really love this once it starts to feel better. I can&#8217;t wait to hear his real belly laughs. Trevor is in this video mocking Brendan&#8217;s laugh. It is so funny to see Trevor&#8217;s reaction to Brendan making sound.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_oRJot0WAvc?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It is super hard work, but he has his brother for support!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b34.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b34.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b34.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b35.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19\" title=\"Week 6 - 206b35.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/206b35.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Trevor isn&#8217;t real keen about Brendan&#8217;s angry cry now!<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r_XPIQpBdTk?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This was a huge day on the timeline of Brendan&#8217;s progress. Once again, YAY BRENDAN!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This could be an epic saga of a blog post tonight, I have scaled back quite a bit and I still have a ton to post. We had a super busy fun day and then we got the package we &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/2012\/12\/05\/year-2-week-6-day-7-brendans-first-laugh\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7335"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7337,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7335\/revisions\/7337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectbat.com\/minibat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}