Mallory Renea

Claire came to meet her future sister in law

Official Big brother

"She pooped, I'm outta here"

"Seriously, she's really coming home with us?"

Miss Mallory

Big Brother

First family portrait

Brady is a big brother! His itty bitty sister decided she didn't want to miss his par-tay so she decided to enter the world 4 weeks early. She is healthy as a horse, minus a solid case of jaundice. Mallory weighed in at 6.6lbs and is 19 1/4" long. Most of those inches are consumed by her feet. I'm thinking she will be more of sneaker girl vs. stilettos.

Here is a brief summary of her arrival:

Tuesday at 3:00 am my water broke, but not in the text book fashion I was thinking. I thought if I was the 10% of women whose water does break then the pacific ocean would come crashing in. Not the case. So life went on throughout the day. I went to my scheduled 3:00 massage and when I got up from the table half of the pacific ocean did decide rain down upon me. Thank God for dimly lit massage rooms and a close parking spot! I made a mad dash for home, called Jeff 23 million times, packed a bag for the family and headed to the hospital. Oddly enough I didn't start having contractions. So my lovely midwife started an induction around 6:30 pm on Wednesday. I labored the old fashion natural way for about 7 hours and had only progressed to a 3! A THREE!!! AHHHH!! I was having back labor, which is like taking an ice pick and jamming it into your back for the entire labor. I couldn't take it anymore so I opted for an epidural. WOW! What a difference. Minus the fact that medical intervention is not my cup of tea, that baby was awesome. I napped for 2 1/2 hours.... WHAT? a nap during labor?? Crazy talk! I had a completely natural birth with Brady so this was a whole new ball of wax. I have to admit I loved it. It was relaxing, calm and peaceful. After 4 quick pushes Mallory popped into the world at 4:40 am. Due to her rush on life she did have a bit of trouble breathing at first, but quickly snapped out of it. She has lost some weight and now owns the heavy weight title at a whopping 5lbs and 13ozs. Don't worry, Brady has already offered to feed her ice cream and cookies to help compensate.

How is Brady taking this? Well, he isn't so keen on her cramping his birthday style, but due to the fact that she is family, he is willing to over look this "flaw." Today he offered to give her a bottle, but then remembered that that little bottle contains the golden sauce he so cherished for 18 months, and he drank it himself. Seriously.

The past few days have been a blur! Brady is off to a swim party tonight, while Mallory and I are stuck at home. She is spending some time on "South Beach" due to her jaundice. (fyi South Beach= light therapy). She will be tanning for the remainder of the weekend. Tomorrow we are headed to grandma and grandpas for a Mexican fiesta to celebrate Brady's 2nd birthday! Unfortunately all this baby jazz has over shadowed his birthday, but I promise to make it up to him next year. Until then, he has drafted a list of demands in order to ensure that no permanent psychological damage has been done.

The list:

1. Large birthday cake complete with exploding bikini models

2. 2011 Audi wagon (ok I might have added this one)

3. Pedicure

4. Dog

5. Small parade complete with large banner stating

(July 31st is National Brady Shannon Rocks Day)

So life is a bit of a mess right now, but we will get things back in order in no time. Feel free to visit if you would like. Just give Mallory a heads up. She is prefers to do a bit of primping before she meets her new friends.

ABR Test

Brady had an ABR test today, the clinical name is Auditory Brainstem Response test. It is a hearing test that is administered after the little person is sedated. It bypasses any fluid and ear canal issues and gives an accurate reading of Brady's hearing ability.
I think the only thing this test confirmed was Brady's resistance to heavy sedation. The audiologist was in shock that he could "fight it" for so long. The first dose was given at 9:30 and then the 2nd (usually never needed) dose was given at 10:00. After an hour and 15 minutes of crying, fighting, wrestling and juggling Brady finally slipped into slumber land. It was a MISERABLE experience. It was like watching a very bad drunk at a very bad party. The Doctor said he would be "tipsy" and a bit clumsy, but that is an understatement. Our boy acted like he had slammed Jack Daniels for the last 24 hours, dropped a few hits of LSD and topped it all off with a case of Red Bull. The combination was a disaster. He went from hitting on the nurses..."Are those space pants you wear'n? because you are out of this world!" to actually hitting the nurses. I came out of there with a bloody nose, fat lip and a black eye (not really, but it adds drama).
The good news.....we were able to do the test on the left ear and his results are normal! He can hear and he can hear well. Of course since he was attending the "Rave a la Boys Town Hospital" for an hour and 15 minutes instead of sleeping, the sedation wore off and we couldn't test the right ear. The Doctor threw in the towel and said "maybe we'll try when he goes in for surgery." Roger that!
So we now know that Brady boy has 1 good ear and 1 good ball! The Shannon's are racking up the wins this year!

ps. Brady fell asleep 3. 2 minutes after we got home. That little stinker.

Extra, not special

Next Friday Brady turns 2! In this picture I swear he is 15, at least that is what he is putting on his college application. I reminded him that typically one is around 17 when they hit the dorms, but he kindly reminded me that he is exceptional. Ah yes, thank you Brady.

People are always curious about what it takes to raise a child with "special needs," a term that I have never been particularly fond of. Brady's needs are no more special than a typical kid. I prefer to think of it as needing just a bit extra. So on that note here are some of the "extras" for Brady: 1. Daily foot massages (HA!) 2. Weekly private speech lessons 3. Weekly private physical therapy 4. Weekly physical therapy from Early Intervention 5. Weekly swim lessons 6. Coming soon... speech therapy from Early Intervention 7. Next summer Brady will begin pre-school at Munroe Meyer
8. Daily speech lessons with Mom (I follow the See and Learn speech program by DownsEd).

By next summer Brady will have speech about 3 times a week. This is primarily because speech is a MAJOR priority for our family. We want to make sure Brady is able to talk and when he talks we want him to be understandable. Of course according to Brady everything he says is pertinent and poignant, but we are taking extra measures during these most impressionable years.

Other than a rigorous speech schedule Brady's life is very typical. He takes no more patience, time or love than any other child. There are weeks that Down sydrome doesn't even hit my radar. I'm sure there will be a couple of meteors that will blast us in the future, but for now I'm going to enjoy all the extras Brady has brought to our lives.

Brady

Lately, I have been savoring every last minute with Brady. I know the just "Brady and me" minutes are ticking away. I have such a wonderful time being his mom. He has such an incredible spirit and I feel unbelievably lucky to call him my son. The trillion expressions and quirks that he roles through on a daily basis make me laugh and appreciate all that is Brady boy! It is such a special time when the adults out number the kids. I know in 4 short weeks that my heart will expand to include our little girl and Brady's heart will be slightly confused. It'll take him a bit to understand why his every demand isn't met with the current urgency of today, but after awhile his kind soul will accommodate and tolerate our new family member.

It's strange to think that on this very step Brady will have to scoot over and make room for his sister. Big brother is a new role and a new title that he will wear proudly. Until then the song "just the two of us" will be quietly playing for 4 more weeks.

Let it roll

It's been an eventful morning already! I scooped up Brady for our morning swim session with Captain wetsuit. I have been honoring Brady's greener ways and suit him up in a reusable swim diaper. It is extremely stylish and very European looking (just how he likes it). The trick is, with a reusable swim diaper there is no absorbency...none. It's just a "net" to keep the snickers from floating in the pool. So in order to make this work I dress Brady in his swim gear at the pool. So there we are in the locker room getting suited up and then I see it... the look. Ah crap....literally!! NOT IN THE REUSABLE diaper. Think fast, must slide trunks off and reusable diaper and scurry the disposable back under the buns before the turkey lands! TOO LATE. The biscuit made it's landing right in the basket. Typically this wouldn't be a big deal but today Brady decided to grab the diaper with the prize winner in it and toss it gently to the sky. The flight pattern of the turd had it's crash landing pin pointed for Brady's mouth. Again, typically this kind of disaster can be manged, but all I saw was Brady's open mouth smile from ear to ear. I think he really thought he caught a Snickers bar in his pants. Deflect, deflect!! The turd "safely" kissed Brady's shoulder and then rolled down locker lane. You would have thought Brady won the lottery. He was laughing and giggling like a little school girl. I was grappling for my sanitizing wipes, trying to wash out the poop stained swim diaper, dress a squirley little swimmer, finish my coffee, not go into labor and get him on the swim deck all without anyone noticing the swirling insanity of the last 3 minutes.

Swim lessons went off without a hitch. Brady is crying/screaming less and less. A refreshing turn of events for a typically stressful 10 minute lesson. Sure he still leeches onto coach wetsuit like sap on a tree, but I think that's as good of a "life saver" strategy as swimming.

ps- the picture was done by Regal Photography. They are the wonderful photographers who are shooting our fundraiser calendar. Brady will be featured in the calendar along with several other kids in the Omaha Down Syndrome Parents Network. All funds from the calendar will go to creating a resourceful website for my Mom's group. I am currently taking pre-orders and the calendar will be available this October. They are selling for the bargain price of $15 (Brady is offering complimentary autographs). Shoot me an email if you are interested in one: jen_shannon@cox.net THANKS FRIENDS!

Big what?

Brady has been acquiring some new titles lately. You are all familiar with future husband of Miss Claire, and in 5 short weeks Brady will be a big brother and lastly BIG WALKER!

I know the mini steps may not seem like much to some of you, but in our world it's like a trek up Mt. Everest or a world record marathon. After almost 2 years of training Brady is finally taking consistent steps. His official long track record is 5 big time strides. We are so proud of him and I think this last title is his most coveted.

Baby Earl count down....5 weeks...maybe 3??? Ahhhh the suspense. If I get any bigger Brady will be using my belly as a runway.

Happy Birthday Claire

"Rub my feet"

"Your so pretty"

"Dinner will be ready in 1 minute"

Brady's little lady, Claire turned 3 on Saturday. So Brady pressed his favorite polo, ran a comb through his hair and jumped on his bike to Lincoln (remember his attempt at a "greener life") Well, after I convinced him that by the time he actually got to Lincoln, via 2 wheels, Claire would be 5 and the cake would be gone, he reluctantly jumped into the car. I appreciate his inner conviction though.

The Claire and Brady love story continues. Though most people have come to understand this "relationship" as 2 crazy Mom's attempts at an arranged marriage. They will love each other. THEY WILL!! :)

Typically a visit to Claire's involves a couple of vigorous hugs and a quick wrestling match. This time was a bit different. She is so grown up and really showing her maturity. She had a PARTY to attend to! Brady was left in the dust, grappling for her affection. Which in a 2 year old world equates sharing some grapes. So share the grapes they did. It was pure magic.