Happy (Thanksgiving)

Our Thanksgiving tradition is to spend most of the day with Phil & Elise and their children (and whoever else happens to be there that day!). Elise does an amazing job creating and organizing the most delicious spread, and it's the one time of year that I actually cook a dish. This year I cooked two! (Yes, it's true. Even though I hate to cook, I splurged for just one day.)

You are so much fun!

 

 

Rolling away...

 

I know all of my boys had the best time. Ayden pushed his mower or his tricycle. (He only rode the tricycle if someone was assisting him.) Brogan had his first Thanksgiving plate of mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes; he bantered back and forth with his newest pal, Mr. Donald (Elise's dad); and he played in the grass with his buddy, Samuel. Bryan played football in the cul-de-sac with the big boys.

 

 

Ayden, where are you?

 

 

The time spent with friends was everything you want it to be: happy. Hope yours was too! 

 

Ayden's First Fight

Ayden has been in a few pushing matches at school, but those incidents are not the reason for this post title. (For the record, our son never pushed first... but that doesn't mean that he didn't hunt his opponent down on the playground in hopes that the teacher would never see him retaliate... oh, dear.) Ayden's first real fight was with the pavement. And he lost. Badly. The lump on his forehead swelled rather large but not large enough for him to end up in the emergency room. And what was our child doing? Well, he was disobeying his parents by doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing, playing on the uneven curbs in the church parking lot. Of course, I'm not sure he saw the connection between disobedience and pain in the midst of his screaming.

The event was indicative of the day that we were having with our toddler. We were trying to get our family pictures made for our Christmas card, and, as you can see, our oldest son was not at all cooperative. (Brogan, on the other hand, was a doll!) Though Ayden is normally a very well-behaved, well-mannered child, he certainly has his ugly moments. We experienced quite a few all in one day... but we managed to get a couple of good photo opportunities... that you will have to see in late December!

An Unwelcome Final Day

Yesterday was Ayden's last day with his feeding therapist, Ms. Helen. I wish I could say that the day marked Ayden's completion of feeding therapy. It did not. Instead, Helen will be going on maternity leave, so Ayden will be going to a new feeding therapist at the end of the month.

 

Learning to Use a Straw in Front of a Mirror

Helen has been extraordinary for Ayden. She was instrumental in helping to create a daily feeding plan that weaned Ayden from the NG feeding tube. She has also been an encouragement for Ayden's continued work with biting, chewing, and swallowing. He loves her, and he does stuff for her that he won't do at home.

I have a lot of respect for Helen. I always felt like we worked as a team for the good of Ayden's development and progress. She treated Ayden individually, rather than just another cardiac kid or tube fed baby. We trusted each other with Ayden's care, and, as a result, he has made significant progress.

We are hopeful that the transition to a new feeding therapist will be a good one. Helen believes that Ayden will respond well to anyone, now that he has gotten over some significant hurdles. I have observed his new therapist and envision a good opportunity for fresh perspective.

Ayden certainly enjoys eating a lot more. He feeds himself, whether it be by spoon or by squeeze (the toddler & baby squeezers were an ingenious invention!). He asks for certain foods or drinks. He keeps his cup of water out on the table at home. He still loves french fries, Ritz crackers, chocolate candy, and cheese puffs. And... here's the big news: Ayden has EATEN as many as SIX Ritz crackers at school. Yes, you read that correctly. When I received the news, I made sure to ask (several times) if there was a child he was pawning his food off on (i.e. dog under the table idea). I have been given assurance that he is indeed EATING (biting, chewing, and swallowing) these crackers. Apparently, he has a little friend that sits next to him at school and commands him, "Eat your crackers!" He likes this little friend enough to do as she says! ;)

Trailing Thomas

While Brogan was being weaned and I was recovering from my procedure, Ayden hung out with CeeCee and G-Daddy. One of the things they did with him was take him to the botanical gardens to view the train exhibit.

As with all things trains, Ayden was completely enthralled. He ran after the trains, and when they disappeared into tunnels, he would ask his grandparents if they were coming back.... and, of course, they did. Rinse. Repeat.

The End of Nursing

We tried Brogan on a slow wean from nursing to the bottle. He would occasionally take two, maybe four, ounces, but, for the most part, he would refuse. Since we knew he was able, though unwilling, we decided the time had arrived for nursing to end.

On Friday I had a kidney stone procedure that will hopefully rid me of kidney stones... at least for now. (Yes, I have held on to those kidney stones since my pregnancy with Brogan.) We chose Friday morning as Brogan's final opportunity to breastfeed. The last time was certainly bittersweet for me. I didn't get the opportunity to nurse Ayden, so I was eager for the chance to do so with Brogan. Though I was happy to have had the intimacy and health benefits with our youngest son, eight months was plenty for both of us; Brogan was beginning to get easily distracted, and I was feeling resentful of the every two hours of nursing.

So... for the next three days, Bryan offered Brogan a bottle at normal feeding times. In the end, Brogan succumbed, and with the exception of some angry moments the first night, Bryan thought the experience wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Though I have certainly thought about it, I haven't nursed Brogan since he made a successful transition to the bottle. Instead, I have weaned my pumping (I make a lot of fatty milk!) and worked toward formula-only bottles with Brogan (he gets a mix of breastmilk and formula right now). We are also giving Brogan solids twice a day. It has been difficult to determine what he is willing to eat, but he most certainly likes anything banana and Gerber macaroni and cheese. Those squeeze packets have come in handy; he almost prefers those over being fed with a spoon. (He hates Gerber pears, peaches, or apples, but if you give him an equivalent Earth's Best squeezer, he eats the whole thing!) He literally gags on any green foods. What can I say? He's my son... so much so that he is also one of the messiest eaters I've known!

Brogan, you like this cold strawberry?!?! BLECH!

A Collection of Cell Phone Pictures

These are cell phone pictures of the boys taken this year by Allison. Some of them are recent, some of them are not, so don't freak if you see a few where Ayden has a feeding tube. (There's more after the break.)

Allison's worst nightmare when she's home by herself.

The first time Ayden got to actually wait in the feeding therapy waiting room, instead of in the hallway.

Brotherly love.