Fun with finger paints

I recently got Sara some finger paints and worked up the nerve to let Brennan try.  He was watching her paint and crying and begging.  I decided it would be fine for them to both paint before bath time.  I was surprised that Brennan actually did not try to just eat the paints and he did not cover his head in paint.  He mostly just played on the paper and his hand, even though he was ready to be done after only five minutes.   It still made for some cute photos.

He was using his hand as a mixing palette

Things Moosey does

Moose has recently learned to walk down stairs which came just in time for Springtime and playing in the yard.  It's been nice to be able to leave the back door open and he can come and go.  He loves to play in the yard and go up and down the stairs.

He really loves playing in the dirt especially outside and very often when he comes in his hair is full of dirt, as well as his diaper, clothing, and sometimes his mouth.  He has gotten a little better about not eating it though.  Here is a video I got of the kids but Brennan loves to dig in the dirt and he has just learned to say the word "yeah", it's super cute. 

Here are some pics I got of them doing their thing in the yard.

Brennan has been taking lots of baths now that he spends the day digging in the dirt.  He loves his baths...

Sometimes his pants are saggy :)

He likes playing with Sister's MLP's too but it makes her really really angry, so he tries to sneak it in while she's at school and taking baths.   If he gets caught though, he runs as fast as he can with Sara screaming behind him.  He is really good at pushing her buttons.

Helper

Brennan is really concerned with helping me out.  Much more than Sara ever was, although Sara is a fantastic helper now.  Brennan studies everything I'm doing and he really likes helping with the dishwasher especially.  First I take out the glasses dishes and knives while he cries impatiently.  Then he gets to take all the plastic dishes out and he says "go", short for "here you go" and then he hands them to me.  Sometimes if he knows were they go, he will even put them away.  I finally got a video of him helping.  He also likes to put trash in the trash can.  He can usually even separate out the recyclables.

Also, he's been talking up a storm.  Every day he tries to say new things.  He says iphone, Uh Oh, ow, go, ball, us, ice, and bye bye, and balloon among other things.  He also makes all kinds of animal noises too.  Here is a little video I got oh him speaking that is really cute. I can't believe he sat still that long for me to get the video.  What was even funnier was for him to watch himself on the video.  He was really interested and wanted to watch the video I took of him over and over and made the noises all over again.

He is growing up really fast, I can't believe it's only about 4 months until his birthday, that just can't be right.  Time just flew by. Before we know it, he'll be going to kindergarten like his sister this year.

Flashy dresser and fast learning talker

Brennan is talking more now all of the sudden.  He will try to say any word that you say to him.  This week he was trying to say rice and ice because he really loves those foods.  Sometimes he is saying words for something and it takes me a while to figure out what he is saying.  Tonight he was helping me put away the dishes and every time he handed me something about of the dish washer he said "go".  I think he means "here you go" because he hears me say that to Sara and vice versa, but he just shortened it.  I need to get a vid of him unloading the dish washer and saying go, it's really funny.

Here is a video I got of him tonight saying a few things.  I wish I could have remember more words to ask him to say.

In addition to speaking more and laughing a lot and being a prankster, Brennan also has his own sense of style.

He loves to wear Sara's multi-colored hat, her cat hat, and her pink sparkly shoes. 

Sometimes his hair acts a little crazy too, like this morning when he woke up with a mohawk.

He is also all of the sudden eating a lot more.  I don't know why, maybe a growth spurt but he wants to be in his food chair all day long.  He can climb up in it by himself now so he does that quite often and then cries for food even if it's only been 10 minutes since he ate last. Maybe it is because he is so active.  He never stops or slows down.  This morning he walked all over the neighborhood with us without asking to be picked up. I guess he's working up an appetite.

He is a prankster too.  He likes to hide in closets and ambush us, or sneak into a room and jump out shouting.  He also likes to pretend like he's going to bite you and then say "Ow".  Lately too he has had a really maniacal laugh, he really thinks it's funny when he gets a rise out of his sister. 

Hole in my heart

Brennan's pediatrician recommended we go see a pediatric cardiologist in order to asses the loud heart murmur he was hearing at Brennan's 18th month appt.  So we went to Children's Hospital and had him evaluated today.   There was a huge freak snow storm this morning too which shut down the freeway in some spots and there were accidents everywhere, which almost gave Mom a heart attack just getting there.

At the appointment they first did an EKG on Brennan.  He was covered in electrodes and wires.  In order to keep him still, the person administering it blew bubbles at him and gave some to Sara so she could blow bubbles for him too.  That kept him mesmerized long enough for the machine to get a reading.  Then he had to have his blood pressure taken on all four limbs which was no easy feat either.

Then when the doctor came in to see him she listed to his heart every which way, standing up, sitting down, laying down, from the back and front.  Amazingly enough while she was doing all this, Brennan sat perfectly still, like he must have known it was important.

After it was all over his doctor told us that all of his tests came back normal. She did hear a small hole in between his chambers and she said that possibly it is louder because it's trying to close up.  She said that there is almost no chance of him needing surgery and that by age 5 there is a likely hood that it will close up on its own.  She said until then that we should come back once a year to have it monitored and that they might do some imaging of it by the time he's 3 if it's still there.

I told her about the MVP in Dan's family and asked if it was related.  She said no, that it is a birth defect of some kind not related to any type of family history.  She said that in all likely hood he will never notice any effects.  She did say if the hole stays then they may need to tell us some things to do a precautions for him in the future.   She also said it is not related to his breath holding spells.

I hope we don't have any more issues with it and he can live a totally normal life.

Home Spun Fun

Our trifecta of family blogs would not be complete without a post on "light balls" as we call them.  The kids love these rubber balls that light up brilliantly when you throw them.  We've collected about 7 of them now and they are like kiddie crack.  It's hard to take pictures of them because you can't really tell how cool they are.  I thought I had gotten a pretty good video but apparently I need to learn how to take video on my new camera.

Here is Brennan playing light ball.

Brennan also likes to run around with his sisters fairy wings on.

Tonight, the kids also had fun making a tent in the living room.

Someone is wild-eyed.

He likes to wear star fish hats and his sisters backpack

Last week Daddy brought home a fun toy from his convention.  Light up margarita glasses, apparently those make great hats.

Brennan says a few new words, which I also thought I had recorded.  He says backpack, boots, and book.  He can make lots of animal noises, his current favorites are meow and gobble gobble.

Not another doctor's appt!

Brennan had his 18 month check up this week and I was thinking to myself, only 1 more doctor's appt when he turns 2 and then we're done!!!  Well, it was too good to be true.

His pediatrician listened to his heart and detected a murmur that he felt uncomfortable with, so he recommended we see a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital up in Salt Lake for a further evaluation.  His actual diagnosis was "The heart murmur sounds a little harsh today- to be sure that he does not have a heart defect that might need further treatment, I recommend he see the Pediatric Cardiologist for further evaluation."

His pediatrician said if Brennan does have a defect that it's not severe, or else we would have noticed him being low energy and that is DEFINITELY not the case at all.  He has enough energy for 6 kids.  Mitral Valve Prolapse runs in Dan's family, almost every member of his family has it and my grandmother has it as well.  So chances are it's only something like that and nothing really to worry about.  Still, as a mother it's hard not to worry a bit.   Also, the doctor says as a hole is closing in the heart sometimes is gets "louder", and that might account for it. 

Also, Brennan has had trouble maintaining his iron levels (although the last 2 checks it was almost normalized) so at his 18 month appt they drew three vials of blood for further testing.  Hopefully the results will come back all fine.  He hasn't had any breath holding spells since he had the flu in January.  We've probably gone three weeks without one, so I'm hoping that that is finally getting better and maybe his iron will start to climb.  Anyway, I'm curious to ask the Pediatric Cardiologist if all of these different symptoms are related. 

Thankfully Brennan's growth was much better this time.  He had almost fallen off the chart last time and the doctor said if he has another visit with low percentiles that we'd have to investigate that too.  However he weighed in at 23.6 pounds, so 16% percentile, and 32in in height, or 37%, so the doctor was happy with that.  The doctor actually said his growth was "excellent".

Brennan has all the sudden started talking more, he says : knock knock, Poo Poo (Yay),  Ouch (when he hits you), and the cutest thing he says is Uh Oh.

He has also started head butting and hitting and even biting.  He bit me pretty good this week and I bit him right back.  So far, he hasn't done it again.

On the plus side, he has the cutest smile and he loves his Mommy!  He loves to cuddle and nuzzle and he likes when we sit on the floor and play trains or cars and tickle him.

He has started feeding himself with a spoon, even messy things like yogurt and he also drinks from a regular cup now, with no straw.   Also, he's not too proud to have sister feed him, he actually thinks it's pretty funny.

I'm excited to see what he is like at 2 years old.  I wonder if he'll be talking up a storm like his sister and I wonder how he'll adjust to the new house.

We love our little Moosa and it's good to know he's growing and thriving, despite the difficulties he's had.

He just went tubing for the first time this week and, being the adrenaline junky that he is, he of course loved it.

This picture says it all :