It's a... blog!: Living Life Together

So... it's kind of been awhile. I am singing praises that we haven't had much to write on our family journal. "No news is good news," right? Bryan and I have been busy taking care of our two small children, which has proven to be... well, busy.

Ayden is in school a couple of days a week, which is a positive experience for all of us. His teacher tells me he is advanced. By that, she means he is really smart. He talks A LOT, to both adults and children. He has a tendency to listen and observe and then talk about what he's heard and seen days later. He takes time to absorb and think. Nothing gets past him. He remembers details from more than a year ago. He remembers; he repeats; he tattles unintentionally.

Ayden uses intelligent humor, which his teacher is identifying as sarcasm. I am not sure Ayden is old enough to understand sarcasm, but he is certainly very funny. Sometimes he is silly funny; sometimes he's deliberately witty and dry. He has also begun to engage in more imaginative play. Last week he was shaking his Little Tikes car because it was stuck in a snow storm, and shaking one's car was how one freed a vehicle from snow; in another instance, he hopped in his car, exclaiming that he needed to go fast, so he could go to the grocery store and then pick up his three kids, Mommy, Daddy, and Brogan, from Clemson. Yesterday Ayden made a fort in the corner of his bedroom, and he and his brother read books in the fort. I am amazed at his cognitive development over the past six months.

Ayden's Last Day as a Caterpillar

Ayden's First Day as a Dragonfly

Ayden does both physical and feeding therapies at school. He only has physical therapy once a month, and he's working on building strength (for climbing stairs) and coordination (for running). For the most part, one probably wouldn't know that Ayden has any mobility setbacks, unless one knew his age and watched him on the playground. He moves with all of the energy of a typical three-year-old and is willing to try most anything. He's a bit of daredevil like his mama, and we are observing that his heart doesn't seem to be keeping him from the things he wants to do. This past summer, Ayden rode an inner tube down on an enclosed water slide by himself four times, danced the "Cupid Shuffle" on the county fair stage, was passenger on a train, carried a sign down the aisle in his cousin's wedding, started learning to swim, and rafted behind a boat on the lake. He never ceases to amaze us.

Yes, this was the slide!

The boat could not pull him fast enough!

Both boys had faux hawks this summer.

Ayden seems to have hit a bit of a plateau with eating. Ayden's diet still consists of formula, juice, and purees. He has begun to chew and swallow more table foods, but he takes SO LONG to do so that he can't make a meal of it yet. His feeding therapist is going to begin to do more oral motor work, in hopes that she can get him more comfortable with moving food in his mouth (he chews on one side) and chewing and swallowing quicker. His new favorite puree is apple, plum, and kamut (last year at this time, it was pumpkin, cranberry, and apple, so he must get seasonal cravings!), and he loves macaroni and cheese, ham, and an assortment of fruits. His new favorite juice is prune juice, which is a good thing because he needed a daily dose of it for almost a month!

Uh-huh. I hate potty training. we have a 3.5-year-old that has decided he is not at all interested, no matter what the incentive or consequence may be. For awhile, he wouldn't even poop in his pull-ups (he calls them "underwear"), and he got backed up over four days. We're not sure if this issue contributed to another problem Ayden has going on: he is experiencing belly bloating over the course of every day. His belly gradually becomes Santa equivalent, and then he looks normal when he wakes every morning.

Our first order of business was to get an x-ray, which showed moderate stool buildup (big shocker) but no other issues. Then we started a regiment of probiotics and prune juice, and with help from his CeeCee and Gdaddy's $5 poop rewards (expensive kid!), Ayden finally began to poop in the potty regularly. (He still pees in his pullups.) After several weeks of getting our kid back on regular bowel movements, we were still seeing bloated belly.

Admittedly, we had a bit of a panic moment. We know that there are a lot of scary possibilities attached to belly bloating and cardiac issues. We called his pediatrician and began involving his cardiologist. They agreed to blood work. A group of nurses took three sticks to get the blood, but Ayden never cried. And the results? The tests were negative. PHEW!

Next step was two weeks of lactose free diet, which was terrible since the bulk of Ayden's calories come from dairy products. I made the dreaded trip to Whole Foods, and we were armed with Lactaid (he can't tell the difference), coconut milk yogurt (he likes it better), and lactose free cheese (which he refuses to eat). Result? Still bloated.

We aren't really sure where to go from here. We aren't eager to involve GI specialists. None of the doctors seem terribly concerned, and Ayden doesn't complain of stomach pain. We are starting to think that maybe the bloating is just gas. We are somewhat considering removing grains from his diet, but he gets so little in the first place that that strategy seems like a longshot.

And, in the background of all of this, Ayden is dealing with seasonal allergies, which, in turn, results in a cycle of vomiting and aversions to his formula. Oh, the joys! (He has gone five days without vomiting, so we are hopeful that this cycle is over... at least until he gets hit with illness or congestion again.)

Yes, THE JOYS. Ayden is a lot of fun. Though he enjoys trains, cars, and balls, he loves artistic expression. He sings; he dances; he paints. His favorite part about school is music. (I would have guessed playing outside!) He has begun to really love puzzles, blocks, and games, though I am sure some of that is because he craves the one-on-one.

Big brother loves big boy time with his parents, but he also misses his brother when they are apart. When Ayden isn't trailing his brother to steal a toy (typical I-want-what-you-have) or trying to be the parent (he has put Brogan in the corner quite a few times), he plays pretty well with his little brother. I love to hear them laugh together.

Brogan has grown up faster than our firstborn. When he turned one, it was as if he decided to flip the switch. He took no time at all learning to walk. Now he's running, dancing, climbing, and attempting to jump. Two months ago, he really started talking. Unlike Ayden, he said few single words before speaking whole sentences. He tells us when he wants something, when he is hungry or wants something to drink, when he has pooped in his diaper, and he officially uses the word "no." Last week he began singing Mickey Mouse's "Hot Dog" song. My favorite thing he says is: "That's funny." It's also pretty cute when he says both "thank you" and "you're welcome." (Ayden used to do the same.)

Over the summer, we stopped segregating the boys' toys, and now Brogan plays with everything that Ayden does. He especially loves vehicles -- riding them, pushing them, rolling them, throwing them (Brogan unfortunately throws toys); one of his first words was "truck." We changed his room to planes, trains, and automobiles, and the theme has turned out to be a much better fit. Brogan wakes up earlier than the rest of us, and when I am not annoyed by how LOUD he is in his crib every morning (nothing has changed about his volume since birth!), I am amused by him identifying all of the objects in his "new" room.

Brogan also loves to play with balls, though he stands right in your face when he throws the ball to you. He wants you to throw the ball back to him, even if he can't catch it. He thinks playing catch is hilarious. We are about to the point where we need to eliminate ball throwing in our home; I'm afraid soft balls and a bunch of rules aren't going to prevent something from getting broken or someone from getting hurt.

Both boys play actively, but Brogan is just as likely to sit alone with a book or a car. He plays much better by himself than Ayden does. Though Brogan and I play together and go on Mommy Brogan dates while Ayden is in school, Brogan will also allow me to get chores done around the house. He will sometimes come to me to check in (usually it's to wipe his nose on me, which he finds hilarious), but he doesn't do much hovering.

Brogan loves hats as much as Ayden does.

Brogan's eating has also been a touch and go process. Getting him weaned from nursing was a chore, and then getting him to take a sippy cup was even harder. So far he has been completely unreceptive to putting his milk in a sippy cup, so our next task will be to remove his bottle. Table foods have also been slow moving. He will eat just about any fruit (the kid is especially obsessed with blueberries), and he likes meat and rice. His recent favorite food is poppy seed bread. Give that kid a vegetable, and it's probably going in the floor or on the far corner of his tray. For awhile, he wouldn't let me feed him anything, but that has improved some. He is now also more receptive to picking up a food item and biting pieces off himself, rather than me cutting up everything he eats into small pieces. I have to say that feeding children might be one of my least favorite parts about being a mother. I am not the greatest eater myself, and I hate to cook. I always envisioned children just following the natural feeding progression easily, but it's not at all that easy in our home.

Feeding, however, is not the biggest battle we face with Brogan... not by a long shot. He has shown signs that he may have asthma (which we are regulating well with a daily low-dose steroid and albuterol if needed), but not even that has been as challenging as... THE tantrums. As a church nursery worker told us, he is "committed" to his tantrums. He wants you to know he is unhappy, and he does not care if it means hitting his head or potentially falling out of your arms. His most recent really committed tantrum actually made live television at a fall festival; I was so proud. What I will say is that his tantrums are based on being hungry or tired or just not getting what he wants. It's the extent at which he displays his displeasure that makes them overwhelming for me as a parent. His pediatrician assures me that he is behaving normally and that he will grow out of it. Please, God, make the end be soon!

Brogan's pediatrician has been thrilled with Brogan's overall development. We think she may even have a weak spot for our little man. It's really cool for me to be able to answer all of the nurses' and doctors' questions about his development so positively. His recent growth records are a follows (clearly, he is eating well enough!):

Age: 15 months

Height: 30.5 inches - 50th percentile

Weight: 26 pounds 4 ounces - 75th-90th percentile

Age: 18 months

Height: 32.5 inches - 50th-75th percentile

Weight: 28 pounds 4 ounces - 75th-90th percentile

One of the boys' favorite things to do separate or together is create art. We play with Play-doh, paint, use markers, color with crayons, make things with stickers, etc. Our house is so filled with art (bedrooms, hallways, fridge, family room) that we usually give a lot of their art away to friends and family.

Ayden layers his paint. He is never done with a
project in one sitting. Usually he takes several
days to finish his creations.

Is Brogan putting an "L" on his forehead?!? :)

Our family recently made our second trip to Clemson, South Carolina. We were gone for eleven days (includes the two days of travel), so we stayed through two home Clemson football games. My parents rented a lake house and a pontoon boat. We spent a lot of much-needed time outside. The boys went out on the boat and rafted during the week; they played on Bowman field; they tailgated both Saturdays, and Ayden went to his first football game (he lasted one quarter). Bryan and I got to spend an entire afternoon together, and I had dinner with three girls I taught as 7th graders who are now sophomores at Clemson. We hung out with some precious friends and family, and we made a lot of awesome memories. We are so blessed.

Daddy & Mama, thank you for an amazing trip!

Tailgating for the Clemson vs. Georgia game - SO HUMID!

Dabo Swinney signed our jerseys!


Ayden bought a soccer ball and stickers from Mr. Knickerbockers. When he handed the money to the cashier, he exclaimed, "I got this for poopin' in the potty!"