20 months

"No more pictures please"
"Please note the one blade of grass that escaped his mouth"

"Yes, we even have stairs outside"

The last couple of days Brady and I have been enjoying the great outdoors. I have simply enjoyed the fresh air and Brady has simply enjoyed eating the grass... and the rocks... and the sticks.... and anything he can possibly shove in his mouth. This has been enlightening for a Mom who carries hand sanitizer on a holster. I have actually surrendered to Brady's earthly ways. Which really means this is one battle I will never win. He can scoop a mound of dirt, leaves and grass into his mouth with precision and ninja like speed. The OT side of me is impressed with his "self-feeding" skills.

Today Brady is 20 months old. I am really looking forward to him turning 2 for no better reason than to stop using months in reference to his age. I will never be the mom who refers to their 3 year old as their 36 month old. It just sounds silly. So we have 4 months left of the months and then it's onto big time YEARS! OMG, years as in plural.

"What??? no rocks for dinner???"

Prep

Brady is in full sibling preparation mode. Ever since we broke the news to him he's been nose deep into big brother training. I told him not to get to worked up and to go with what feels natural. Well, Brady doesn't like to leave anything to chance (must be his fathers trait). Above you can see him rehearse the ever popular "how big is....." reply: "sooooooo BIG." He firmly believes this simple ruse is what won over millions of adults, assuring him a later bedtime, cash and ice cream. He plans to teach his little sister this trick ASAP to ensure her popularity and safe keeping. Is this guy for real?!
He has also decided that Bill could use some training. He doesn't want Bill mistaking our little girl for cat nip or a shoelace. Brady has been directly Bill's energy to things that are okay to eat. Later Brady plans on strapping a saddle onto Bill's furry little back in hopes of providing his sister with the most joyous ride of her life. Thank God we have a few months before her arrival and the development of the necessary core and neck muscles for such an adventure.

Earl is a .....

Earl's face with hand and thumb near mouth
Face shot

Earl "kick'n it"

Earl's first fist bump

Obviously we had our official ultrasound today and it turns out that Earl is a girl! All looks healthy. The doctor said there is not reason to do any further testing or follow up ultrasounds. I have to be honest I have been on an emotional roller coaster today. I didn't really expect that. I guess it's a smoothie of relief, guilt, anticipation and disbelief.

When Brady was 3 months old I had a conversation with my Mom about having another child. At that time Jeff and I had decided that Brady was going to be our one and only. I told her that another baby just wasn't in the cards for us. We were scared and in the thick of Brady's medical issues. Rolling the dice again just wasn't something either of us wanted to do. I broke down and said to my Mom "it's really too bad because if we did have another baby it would be a girl and she would be fine." For TODAY my insight is correct.

Here comes the hard part... telling Brady that we were indeed having a girl, a human girl! He was totally disappointed. He had his heart set on it being a puppy even though I explained that evolution was an amazing thing, but it's not that powerful. As a consolation prize Bill let him pull his tail. The perfect band aid to mend his disappointed soul.

Now let the name games begin!

The Adventures of Brady

"You're strong enough, you're handsome enough and darn it people like you"

"Up, up and away"

"Look out point"

"Mount Saint Stairs"

Each day Brady runs through the same route through our house. Most people see our house and say "whoa, this place isn't very kid friendly." Well after months of discovery I have decided our place isn't parent friendly. Our digs are actually a kids dream come true. We have stairs for miles, which Brady is happy to climb up and down all day long. We have a latter to no where land, a view that sores across the top of Omaha and nearly touches the sky. At the end of Brady's "tour of duty" he engages in a yell fest with the man in the mirror. It's like he is giving himself a pep talk for the day, reciting "make it a good one little man," or "go big or go home."

As a parent our house serves as the ironman course of supervision. The ultimate test in speed and agility. How fast can you sweep up your child before they launch themselves down 25 wooden stairs?

Baby Earl update... we find out if Earl is a girl or a boy tomorrow. Check back to see what we find out!

I think its love

Brady needed a Claire fix so we headed to Lincoln! The last time they saw each other Claire was a bit doped up on morphine, and Brady was busy dealing with uncooperative nurses! This time love was in the air. Brady was taken by Claire's mature advances and beauty! I think he forgot what a vixen he has chosen for his future wife. He has a bit of work to do in his own personal love department. He hasn't quite figured out how to express himself appropriately, as seen by the downward dog above. I might have to review proper dating/wuing techniques. Tossing ones buns in the air may not be the best strategy, but I'm guessing Claire will be a good mentor.

V and B

"Sweet hair dude, I remember when I was cool too."

"Don't worry it will grow back"

"It was my signature piece man!"

Today we went over to Vollen's house, well Vollen's parents house. He's only 11 months old so his ability to make the mortgage payment on his own is limited.

These two are going to be great friends. I already heard Brady offering some of his worldly advice. Since Brady has 9 months on the little man he thinks he's top dog. His advice is strictly limited to 1. how to get more dessert 2. how to work the grandparents for bigger and better birthday gifts (timely advice since Vollen turns one next month) 3. How and where to get the best fake ID. Trouble!

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship! Thanks Casie!!

Back off

Lately, Brady has been displaying the need for independence. Of course not enough to clean his own poop from the tub, but just enough to be a stinker. Above is what Brady does when he sees Jeff pull in the driveway. All together now "ahhhh." I assume he's trying to open the door for dear old Dad, but in reality he's trying to make a run for it. I happen to be a bit of an overbearing Mama bird and Brady's patience is running thin. I have been offering assistance, as usual, and Brady responds with a quick slap of my hand, followed by "stink face." What is stink face you ask? Well its the crusty around a stink pie. If looks could kill Jeff would have been a single parent weeks ago. About a month ago I remember stating "more independence" as a
goal for Brady. Check!

PT update- many of you have been asking about Brady's PT progress. Brady has been doing great. He no longer walks with the walker and takes many steps just holding our hands (see! he does need my help) He even took two independent steps at Grammie Lou's and Grandpa B's. Of course this happens during the 1 hour I am away from him. He cruises all over the furniture and climbs up and down the stairs. His strength improves every single day. His onesies are even tight around his biceps. I caught him cutting the sleeves and neck out of his t's! He said it drives the ladies crazy. I told him the only way a homemade tank is going to drive the ladies is AWAY. Point taken and he pulled back on his polo. That's my boy!

St. Poop-trics Day

Don't be fooled by these charming pictures. Brady is pressing his Irish luck today! This morning I dipped Brady in the tub for his bath aka scrub-a-dub time. While he settled in I grabbed my tooth brush . I usually multi task while Brady is in the tub (he is never left unattended). I like the wild side, but that is just shear madness. So I turned to rinse and during this 22 second process Brady became quiet. He is only quiet for two reasons; 1. he is about to attack Bill or 2. he's pooping. Bill never joins us for the morning swim, so I knew it was the later. I look in the tub and Brady had dropped two of the largest leprechauns I have ever seen. I panicked!!!! What do I grab first??!!! I'm not real familiar with turkey's in the tub protocol. I went the smart route and snatched Brady up from the murky waters. I placed him on the bath mat where he promptly peed!! SERIOUSLY! Then back to the tub..... how does one remove turds from tub? On any other day Brady's poopsters are like small grenades, so clean up would have been simple, but today was a different story. It was like he slammed a case of Old Style and topped it off with a bean burrito from Taco Bell. I grabbed the toilet paper, which isn't so great in the water. I thought...strainer, cardboard, Bill?? Maybe Jeff could come home from work. This definitely qualifies as a family emergency. I called Jeff and promptly told him that his son had just had a water birth. My darling husband just laughed, offered some disinfecting tips and went back to his meeting. At that moment going over 1300 spreadsheets sounded like a nice vacation from poop island. So I went bravely back to the task at hand, which is exactly the tool I ended up using for the recon mission. Once the waters were cleared I poured an entire bottle of sanitizer in the tub. Of course this is the one day that we dumped ALL the toys in the tub. After the family friendly special on the toxins found on bath toys I was tempted to just throw them all away. But I think the scalding hot water and glowing green cleaner did the job.

I'm pretty sure this was Brady's way of getting back at me for making him wear that green Afro last St. Patty's Day. It's on little man, it's on!!

Buzz

This weekend Jeff and I made our first really bad parenting decision. It wasn't like we left Brady home alone or let him sharpen the knives, we simply choose the wrong attachment for the clippers. As you can see what started out as a "trim" ended up more like a donation to Locks of love. Brady had more hair at birth. This new do isn't much of a stretch for Jeff (for obvious reasons) and he really felt it was about time that his boy had a "man cut." I fought back tears for the better part of the weekend. Brady is enjoying the freedom of his new cut. On the upside, he no longer has to fuss with product and the blow dryer, it's just wash and go for our little man.

Back to basics

Like Father Like Son

"Bitter Beer Face"

Brady pretty much thinks Jeff is the best thing since sliced bread. About an hour before Jeff is due home from work, Brady starts to sign "Dad" and yell "Hi Dad" at the door. When Jeff finally arrives he crawls to the hallway and goes bananas. He explodes with enthusiasm! It is the sweetest thing and obviously Jeff's favorite part of the day.
Above you can see Brady imitating dear old Dad. These days Brady is like a piece of carbon copy paper. He will duplicate anything you do. You should see him try and drive the car. It's pretty amazing considering he can't reach the gas or the breaks.

Ballsy

Ball mission #1 was a success! Oddly enough Brady's voice seems deeper today and he seems to be sprouting facial hair. Hmmmm. Well the surgery went great. The Dr. poked three holes in Brady's middle and did the deed. Brady's right man is now one step closer to coming on home! The next surgery will be in 3 months. For this procedure Mr. lefty will be pulled down into his proper establishment. Then 3 months after that we will check back in on our right hand man and see if he survived this surgery. If all is viable the Dr. will reunite the twins. If not, Brady will be renamed Lance.

Today Brady is doing great. He's still a bit sore and is just taking it easy. This was the worst of the three operations so we are grateful it's over.

The picture above is of our friend Hannah! She played a big role in the "Spread the word to end the word campaign." She had a booth at UNO and got many, many people to pledge not to use the R-word. Thank you so much Hannah! You effort means so much to us!

Spread the Word to End the Word

"Kisses anyone?"

If you use the R-word Brady says "kiss this"

Today is the official "Spread the Word to End the Word" day. This is a powerful campaign sponsored by the Special Olympics to help eliminate the word "Retard(ed)" from our vocabulary. In our honor of this movement Brady wanted to share what this word means to him. Well, fortunately at this stage it doesn't mean anything. The only words that hold value in his life are; eat, drink, more and Bill. BUT this doesn't mean that he doesn't understand hurtful gesters or tones. I applaud the Special Olympics for taking on such a task, but my true hope is that people become aware of the power of ALL their words. Too often the word retarded just slips out of peoples mouths. I have personally heard it twice this week alone from close friends of mine (please don't rerun all of our conversations in your head, it probably wasn't you). Truth is, no matter what the actual word is, if it was meant to hurt, it shouldn't be said.

Hopefully, today you will take the pledge at www.r-word.org. There is no way for us to track who has pledged, so please don't feel obligated on our behalf. If you want to make a mental pledge GREAT! Make today the day that you erase the r-word and replace it with kind and uplifting ones.

Jeff, being the factual, level headed part of our team did a bit of research on the root of this word. In an effort to be impartial, here is what he found courtesy of Wikipedia:

The term "mental retardation" is a diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as "idiot," "imbecile," and "moron" derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse.

The moral of the story: once a word has been labeled as hurtful, it goes out of fashion. The r-word has met its expiration date! I only hope those awful skinny jeans follow the same path.

Lady Claire

"Proposal prep"

Even in hospital issued threads, she is still adorable!

Brady and I went to visit his lady Claire yesterday. She was in town to have her tonsils removed. Not the most romantic of venues, but he was thrilled to see her none the less. He kept asking the nurses to dim the lights and to bring him the room service menu, but the service was sub par. They wouldn't even let him light the candles he brought. Darn oxygen machines. He did manage to get his girl a cherry popsicle. That seemed to brighten her day. So while Claire tried to sleep off the morphine Brady played and serenaded her from her bedside. He has amazing vocal range for a 19 month old.

Claire did great and is recovering nicely. We are so proud of her. I think the two of them draw from each others strength. It is so sweet to see them together. Hopefully this will be the last time the two of them meet in a hospital room.

Brady's surgery is set for Thursday at 10:00. We will be staying the night (oh joy) for observation and pain management. Hopefully all will go well. I absolutely dread surgery day. You would think we were old pros at this by now!