Cold or Allergies

Brandon made it through a cold or allergies with no nebulizer! Almost 2 weeks ago he woke up very congested an hour after he went to sleep. He was congested with a horrible runny nose for 10 days. I brought him to the pediatrician 4 days into his congestion to make sure he wasn't wheezing. I didn't hear it but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. The pediatrician confirmed that he wasn't wheezing, just breathing heavily since he was breathing only out of his mouth, and told me to give him benadryl, zyrtec, or claritin. I tried benadryl first but Brandon woke up all 3 nights that I gave it to him after sleeping for 5 hours and was crying hysterical and was inconsolable. I then switched to zyrtec and the crying stopped but instead of making him tired like it should it made him wired. He hasn't needed the zyrtec now for 2 nights so I am hoping he goes to sleep a little more easily tonight.

Tunnel to Tower Run

Yesterday Stu and his friend, Shawn, ran in the Tunnel to Tower Run in New York. The run honors firefighter Stephen Siller who ran the same route when the World Trade Center Towers were hit and the tunnel was closed so he couldn't drive through. He parked his car, put on his gear, and ran through the Battery Tunnel to where the World Trade Centers were. He didn't survive when the towers fell. This is the 9th year of the run and over 7 million has been raised. More than 20,000 people ran in the run yesterday. Brandon, my parents, and I were there to watch the run and wait for them. It was something else to see all of the people finishing the race. Many firefighters ran it in their gear just like Stephen Siller had.

the site of the World Trade Center

the finish line

watching the run after waking up from a nap

Stu at the end of the run

Brandon and Stu

Stu and Shawn

Fall Fest

On Saturday we went to the fall fest at Palaia Park. Brandon had fun trying to win a goldfish, painting a pumpkin, going on the police motorcycle, and jumping in the bounce house. He also ate an entire chocolate chocolate chip italian ice. He loves chocolate! Brandon enjoyed giving Brody a high 5. Brody is the son of one of my co-workers and someone that Stu went to high school with and is a few months older than Brandon.

Halloween Sneak Preview

I went and bought Brandon's Halloween costume tonight at Old Navy. The costumes were on sale for $17 and I had a 30% off coupon so I got it for really cheap. I decided to get a dalmation costume for Brandon since he loves dogs. When I got home with the costume he hugged it and let me put the pants on and the top but wasn't too happy once I put the hood on. I told him to say cheese and he started smiling. I then showed him what he looked like in the mirror and he got a huge smile on his face and then started signing more because he wanted to see more of himself.

Such a Ham

Big Steps for Little Feet Walk

Today was the Big Steps for Little Feet walk to support the NICU at Monmouth Medical Center where Brandon spent the first 12 weeks of his life. Stu, Brandon, and I were part of team 18 feet. I have become good friends with 5 other moms of preemies. They were all in the NICU after Brandon was discharged. We decided to get together to form a team. There are a total of 9 babies (3 sets of twins and 3 singletons) so that is how we came up with the team name, 18 feet. My parents and Stu's parents joined our team to walk with us as did several family members and friends of the other preemie moms. It was a beautiful day for a walk today. We all got there early and ate breakfast together. The big hit of breakfast with the toddlers were the munchkins. They couldn't get enough of them and sat down right at the box. Over 400 people were part of the walk and $60,000 was raised. We saw some babies who were in the NICU with Brandon who we hadn't seen since he was discharged which was really nice. We were really excited to see Kaitlyn, one of Brandon's pod mates, who was born the same day as Brandon and her family. Brandon fell asleep during the walk and slept through the presentation. While he was awake he had such a good time running around and seeing his friends.

Brandon and Savannah eating munchkins

Brandon with one of his primary nurses, Kate





Brandon and Dr. Rekedal, one of the neonatologists


meeting Buster

giving a high five to Ava

University of Massachusetts Toddler

Brandon finally has a University of Massachusetts (Daddy's college) sweatshirt. Stu has wanted him to have one for awhile since Brandon has had several University of Delaware (Mommy's college) shirts and sweatshirts over the past few years and I never got around to ordering it. I think Brandon looks very cute in his new sweatshirt and I should have ordered it for him long ago.

Cheese

This morning I was holding my camera to bring it upstairs so I could bring it to work. Brandon saw it in my hands and immediately started saying eeeeeee (his way of saying cheese) and smiling so I of course had to take some pictures of him.