16 Months Old and GI Specialist Appointment

Brandon is 16 months old today. I can't believe it has already been 4 months since he turned 1. I don't know where the time has gone. Brandon had an appointment with his GI specialist today and was discharged. We are going to start weaning him from his prevacid. He wants me to give him half of his prevacid at night for the next two weeks and none in the morning. He thinks he will be okay without it so doesn't need to see Brandon again. However, if Brandon starts having problems again he said I can call whenever I need to. Brandon weighed 20 pounds, 5 ounces and is 29 1/2 inches tall. He had dropped to 19 pounds, 14 ounces when he was sick so he has gained back what he lost.

Brandon has been walking all day. He pulls himself up and then starts walking to where he wants to go. Walking really happened overnight. He looks so cute doing it. Kind of like Frankenstein with the slow, stiff movements.

Walking in a sleepsack

Brandon has continued to take steps unassisted. The most he has taken so far is 17. He can definitely walk but it is all on his terms. If he doesn't want to he won't. He seems to walk the most when he wants to see Hershey. Tonight he was in his sleepsack ready for bed and started walking. It was pretty funny. He is standing not holding on for quite awhile now too. You will have to ignore me in my pajama pants in the background of the video.

Opthamologist Appointment

Stu brought Brandon to the opthamologist yesterday for his eye appointment. He was originally supposed to go in August but the office called me twice to reschedule since his eye doctor was going to be away and then Brandon was sick a few weeks ago when he was supposed to go so it was rescheduled for yesterday when Stu was off for election day. Dr. Turtel said Brandon's eyes look great. He said one eye is slightly different from the other but overall they look great. Brandon slept through the second half of the appointment but Dr. Turtel was still able to look at his eyes while he was sleeping. Brandon doesn't need to go back for 6 months.

Taking Steps

A few days ago Brandon started occassionally taking 3-4 steps without holding onto anything. He did it several times tonight. He kept walking to my dad.

Happy Halloween

Brandon had a great time trick or treating this afternoon. He was all smiles the whole time and loved getting treats to put into his pumpkin. We went to our neighbors' houses and then we went to Stu's parents' house and a few of their neighbors who Stu has known his whole life. We also went to a few of our friend's houses on the way back to our house. Brandon kept the head to his monkey costume on the whole time. I wasn't sure if he would since everytime he had the costume on prior to today he would throw it off. My parents and brother came trick or treating with us and then hung out and ate dinner at our house with us and watched some of the World Series game. It was a nice Halloween.

Swine Flu Shot and Halloween Parade

Stu brought Brandon to get his swine flu shot this morning. Brandon did really well with the shot and didn't even realize he had it since he was so busy looking at everything on the nurse's desk that gave him the shot. He has to go back in 21-28 days for the second shot. I am just hoping he has enough in him to stay healthy until he gets the second shot. There are some kids that have the swine flu in the school where I teach and I know a few people who have had the swine flu. It is scary how it is affecting so many people.

This afternoon Stu brought Brandon to the Halloween parade at my school. He was dressed in his monkey costume but would not leave the head to the costume on. I thought he might cry when he saw me but he was so into watching everyone in their costumes walking by that he hardly noticed me.

Playing and Reading

Brandon was up early this morning so he played for awhile before we had to leave for the babysitter. His favorite thing to do is hold onto the gate door when it is open and walk back and forth between rooms that the gate is in. He also enjoyed reading his books. Over the past few weeks he started pulling his books off his bookshelf and wanting us to read them to him. He definitely has his favorites. One of his favorites is "I Love You Through and Through". He just smiles when he hears it.

Brandon's new favorite way to get around our entire house is by holding onto things and walking. He will hold onto the wall from one end of the house to the other. A few times today he let go and stood for a few seconds and took one step in between things to hold onto.

This week he has decided to only take one nap instead of his usual two but he is napping for 2 1/2 hours which is nice. It makes a long afternoon but he has been really good about staying up until he goes to sleep between 7:15 and 7:30.