Halloween 2012

Brennan got to be two things for Halloween.  He just barely fit into his frog costume from last year but he couldn't really walk in it, so the day before Halloween he wore it while we too Sara to lessons and ran errands.  He was super cute and even thought that the frog feet might be duck feet, so he said "quack, quack" and Sara and I were saying to him, "No, Ribbit ribbit".  He was really trying to say ribbit and thought it was pretty funny, here's the vid.  He is really into animal noises right now.

For the actual night of Halloween we let him wear his Bat costume.  He does not really like it and I think it's because the first time we put it on him, we all laughed hilariously and he got upset.  Also, it's harder to put on and probably more uncomfortable, but it's so dang cute.

He didn't really walk that much because he was having trouble seeing and kept falling so we put him in the stroller and he watched Sara trick or treat.  He helped give out candy in front of the house for a long time and had fun looking at all the kids.  I can't wait until next year when he gets to really run and enjoy it!! 

15 month check-up

Brennan had his 15 month check up this week.  Everything was really pretty good.   Luckily his ear infection has totally cleared up and his ears got a clean bill of health.  His height was at 30% so nothing to worry about there.  However his weight has dropped from 22.5 to 21 lbs.  I'm not quite sure why but that set him back into the 5% for weight.  That is actually lower than Sara ever got on her weight chart, just comparing the percentages.

The doctor said that looking at him, he does not look unhealthy in any way so he's not worried about it.  He just suggested that we add more fat into his diet.  Brennan refuses to drink whole milk where he would be getting a large portion of the fat in his diet.  He does like cheese and yogurt thankfully, so we feed him lots of that.  He also gets fish oil caps and chia seeds so that he gets his Omega3's but they are not in any kind of dose to put weight on him.  He has been eating a lot lately and he even has 1 green shake a day, full strength with a lot of ginger (something that I have to leave out of Sara's shake).

I was actually surprised that his weight had dropped because to me he feels heavier and I thought we were doing really well with his diet.  I have no concerns that eventually he will catch up and sadly too,  I think he might even struggle with his weight at some point in his life.  So we really aren't that concerned as long as his weight does not drop further.

Another thing the doctor mentioned is that he has a small hernia.  I was surprised by this because lots of doctors have checked him and never mentioned it. He said it's small and should close up by the time he is 2 but it not, he will need to have surgery.

The other bit of good news is that his iron level has normalized and he is no longer in the iron deficient category.  Hopefully this will help the breath holding spells which do seem to be tapering off a bit.

Brennan got 5 shots including his flu shot and got his finger poked to check his iron and he did very well.  Sara always cried a ton and was very afraid of the doctors and nurses by this point, Brennan seems pretty unaffected as of now.  He's friendly and does not seem to mind the doctor or nurses, he will smile at them and is curious.  He is not a clinger, he wants to be out exploring everything in the office.

I did ask the doctor about Brennan's tantrums and moodiness, whether he thought it might be a personality trait or if there is a medical basis.  He said it's hard to tell but now that his ear infection is gone and his iron is normalized (iron can affect mood, behavior, and sleep) that if it's not teething or some other thing like his developmental age, it might just be his personality.  I hope not and I don't want to label him moody or grumpy yet in my mind so I'm just trying to think positive about it.  Hopefully it will resolve itself.  He does seem very much more serious than Sara was though and they will be different people, there's not question about that.

He is also being very active.  He has learned to climb up on to the couch and chairs, so really there's no stopping him from climbing anymore.  We are considering bolting the furniture to the walls though as a precaution.  He has already tipped over Sara's small bedside table.  Luckily nothing else.

Brennan does have a snugly and cuddly side occasionally when he slows down long enough.  He is really sweet.  He loves to snuggle and cuddle with me and when daddy is home he wants daddy exclusively to himself.  Also, Dan has trained him that when he says, "Give kisses" that Brennan leans his cheek in and lets Dan kiss him on the cheek.  It's really cute.

Also, just this week he gives "high fives" and he has learned the word "no".  He and Sara were in the shopping cart tonight telling each other "no"  it was pretty funny.  Sara would say no and then Brennan would repeat it and she would say back to him, "That's right NO".  He was pulling her hair or something and she was telling him to stop.  I said to Dan, now that they can just tell each other no, maybe we won't have to as much, yea right.

Things are good

Happily I can say that 7 weeks after Brennan's accident he is doing great.  We went for a follow-up appointment at the Burn Center today and they said he might be just borderline showing the beginnings of scaring.  We all decided we'd rather be preemptive and catch it early rather than risk having his mobility compromised on his hand.  They gave us compressions bandages for him to wear, cloth during the day and silicone during the night time.  We will put a sock over his hand to keep the bandages on.  I think because they are pretty tight, he notices them more and pulls them off more readily.   The sock should do the trick.

They noted that his hand and spots on his face are are still quite red, where as the spots on his nose and chin are almost totally gone.  They said anything that is red now is where the most severe burns were and his skin still has lot of blood flow and inflammation there causing it to be red.  They said it might be red for up to a year and those areas are at the most risk for scaring.  Scaring peaks between 1-6 months after the injury so that is why they are watching him so closely.  They don't want him to develop scars bad enough that his mobility is compromised.  They feel pretty confident that the compression bandages will work.  There is a spot that is at the top of his nose that might be starting to scar but they are more wary to put silicone patches on his face, given that he might be able to pull them off and eat them.  They are going to recheck the spot on his face in 6 weeks to see if he will require the silicone patch.

In other news, Brennan has changed leaps and bounds, even from his accident.  He has gotten taller and heavier since his 12 month check up.  He had an ear infection recently and he had gained 3 pounds and his 12 month size pants are getting too small.  He has a cute little smile that he flashes even at strangers.  He LOVES his Daddy.  He likes me a lot too during the day and we have tons of fun playing but when Daddy is home, he wants to be right with Daddy the whole time getting lots of attention.  Dan really loves Brennan every bit as much as he loves Sara, they are best buddies and I'm very glad.   He is fun to play with.  He likes to play games more than Sara.  Sara liked reading and snuggling best, Brennan likes throwing balls, banging toys, tickling, and music.

He is a surprisingly contentious 14 month old.  He has learned to pick up his toys already and put them away in the right places, put our shoes in the shoe cubicle, put trash in the trash can, and close doors.  Also today, his ball was in a basket and he took the basket down, got his ball out, and then put the basket back on the shelf.  I was pretty impressed.   It's looking good for me to have great helpers here.  Especially since Sara totally cleaned the house by herself today without even being told.  I could get used to this.  Don't get me wrong though, the two of them can make some spectacular messes too.

Brennan is very charismatic.  He has a kind of light about him and fun personality that you are drawn to.  I can't wait to see what he's like 6 months or a year from now.  He's already changing so fast this year.  I'm looking forward to Christmas this year and dreading it too, I have no idea how I'm going to keep him out of the tree.  He will want to climb it I'm sure.

Now for pictures. We recently went on a hike to Diamond Fork.  Sara and Brennan hiked hand in hand for quite a while.  They were really cute together.  Brennan had fun playing in the dirt too.

Sara took his jacket off all by herself.  She likes to feed him, put his clothes on, and take them off.  He's her life size doll.  He thinks it's hilarious when she does stuff for him too.  He realizes it's not her job.

  She likes playing ring around the Rosie

Photos more at home, Brennan loves playing piano with Dan.  He looks so friendly and happy in this photo and that's really his personality showing through.

Playing at the park.  Brennan loves the park and the slides the most.  He will go down them over and over. 

At the end of the day, super tired kids.