Dancing

Brandon was dancing this morning to a song on Yo Gabba Gabba. Sorry for the sideways video. I can't figure out how to turn it when it is a video and keep forgetting to hold the camera so it isn't the long way when doing a video.

2 Years Ago

Two years ago today I gave birth to Brandon's twin sister at only 20 1/2 weeks. I can't believe it was already 2 years ago. It sometimes seems like it was so long ago and sometimes it seems I went through it all a few days ago. Two years ago I didn't know if Brandon would be born too early also or if he would continue to stay inside of me until at least 24 weeks gestation when he would be considered viable. He did manage to stay in until 26 weeks, 1 day. He is a remarkable little boy today. Doing so many things that we never knew if he would be able to. My pediatrician last week said he can't even tell by looking at Brandon that he was such an early preemie.

I still think about Brandon's twin sister. I wonder what she would look like, what she would be doing, how Brandon would be with her. Tonight before bedtime I am going to show Brandon her pictures. I want him to know that he did have a twin sister.

Today I am going to hug my little boy a few more times than I normally would and tell him how much I love him. And tell him how happy I am that he is here.

This has been a difficult week in the preemie community. A 20 month old named Justice (I am on the same preemie message board as his mom) passed away last week. Justice was born at 27 weeks and had respiratory issues as a result of being born early. It is so not fair what prematurity does to so many babies.

Point Pleasant Boardwalk and Aquarium

Brandon, Stu, my parents, and I went to the Point Pleasant Aquarium and boardwalk today. We were going to go to Storybook Land but the forecast wasn't good. Brandon loved the aquarium. It is the perfect size for him and he really enjoyed seeing all of the fish, seals, penguins, and other animals. He even touched a horseshoe crab, sea star, and sea urchin.

After the aquarium we walked on the boardwalk for a little while and then Brandon and I went on some rides. He really liked the flying elephants. He wouldn't sit on a horse on the merry go round. I had to hold him on my lap while we sat on the bench. He then didn't want to go on any other rides but I think a lot had to do with the fact that it was time for lunch and he was hungry and also that he hadn't had a nap except for the short time he fell asleep in the car on the way to the aquarium.

Weight Check

Brandon went to the pediatrician today for a weight check. He now weighs 22 pounds, 2 ounces. The pediatrician was happy with his weight. He has gained almost 2 pounds since March. From October-March he couldn't get past 20 pounds, 6 ounces. The pediatrician did think a lot of it had to do with the fact that he had started walking and was so active. He is still less than the 5th percentile for his real age but at least he is on the chart still. I am so happy he finally cleared the 22 pound mark.

While we were at the pediatrician he listened to Brandon's lungs and said he sounds good. We discussed starting him on singulair and he gave us some free samples of the chewable for Brandon to try. He said it should help with allergies and asthma. He also suggested using flovent and giving him puffs instead of pulmicort on the nebulizer. I am going to call the pulminologist tomorrow to see if that is okay with him. If it is we will do that. I think it will be much easier to give him 2 puffs then to do a 10-20 minute nebulizer treatment depending on which medicine he is doing with the nebulizer. Brandon HATES the nebulizer. He also said that by looking in Brandon's nose he thinks he has a cold but he is doing ok with the cold.

6 Month Speech Review

Yesterday afternoon we had Brandon's 6 month early intervention speech review with his case manager. He is caught up to where he should be in receptive language (understanding) now. When he first started early intervention he was 3 months behind his adjusted age. He is still delayed in expressive speech which is the only reason he qualified for early intervention again for the next 6 months. He will continue to have speech once a week and we will meet again in 6 months. The goal is for him to have 20-25 words by then. Of course more words is okay too.

I had to start Brandon on xopenex again on the nebulizer on Sunday night because he started coughing again. It is definitely his allergies this time. I called the pediatrician on Monday to see about getting a prescription for singulair. A few preemies from one of my message board are on it and doing well so I thought maybe he would do well on it too. The children's claritin is not strong enough for him. He is going to the pediatrician this afternoon for a weight check so the pediatrician switched it to a doctor's visit since they want to listen to his lungs first. She did tell me that singulair will probably be good for him because it is for allergies and asthma.

Playdate with Danny

Stu, Brandon, and I went to Maureen, Greg, Danny, and Julia's house today. We ate lunch there and then we went out into their backyard for Brandon and Danny to play. Danny is a little over a month younger than Brandon. The two boys played so nicely together. Danny has a slide that Brandon must have gone on at least 30 times or more. He LOVED it. He did so good at climbing up and sliding down by himself. I got to see Julia for the first time today. Julia is almost 2 months old and such a cute baby.

Brandon has a new favorite food. Chocolate oreo ice cream. I was eating some tonight and Brandon came over to me on the couch and opened his mouth for some. At first he was surprised by the cold but I guess the taste of the ice cream outweighed the cold because he kept opening his mouth for more. He probably ate more than half of my ice cream. The funny thing is he let me feed it to him with a spoon. He usually will not let me feed him with a spoon anymore because he wants to try by himself.

Pictures from This Past Week

Brandon went back to the babysitter on Monday and was very happy to be back. On Friday when I came to get him he didn't even want to leave. I had to carry him kicking and screaming out of the house to go to the car.

Brandon's new thing is laughing. He laughs all of the time and cracks up about everything. Not that he didn't laugh before but now he laughs constantly. We went to the supermarket yesterday and he was just cracking up at everything. It is really cute.

Brandon loves going on his firetruck ride on toy but for some reason he lifts the seat up and climbs in. He then either sits in the space where he should store things or stands in it. He is also obsessed with balls. He has all different sized balls and loves to play with them and carry them around.