One and A Half

Brode - You're 1 and 1/2!

The past 18 months have gone so fast! You've changed so much in the last six months since your birthday!

You learned to walk (and RUN!). You also learned to jump somewhat well and how to kick a ball!

You are so unbelievably interested in sports. You are a true fanatic! If the TV is on it has to be on hockey, you carry your stick, bat, and ball everywhere. You recently got your first hockey jersey! You also are beginning to love baseball caps! You are also very good at swinging a golf club, except we need to get you a left handed club!

I have a feeling this is going to be a summer of playing outside!

You have learned to talk in a very short amount of time. Your vocabulary includes: Bus, Plane, Puppy, Open, Close, On, Off, Yellow, Apple, Banana, Book, Car, Hockey, and Milk among MANY others.

You're also very smart and catch on quickly to everything. When asked what a cow says you say moo or what a horse says you say neigh. You have your favorite baby book memorized. You have started to put 2 and 3 simple phrases together like "I got it" or "Come back!" You know where to put your laundry and throw things away (even when they dont belong in the garbage sometimes). You have started to tell us when your diaper is dirty or just head for your room and the changing table. You're also great at trying to help vacuum, sweep, or fold clothes - we can't help but smile and laugh.

You love music as well. You're always dancing and try to sing! You actually know a few songs yourself like Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Ring Around The Rosie, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. You know all the actions!

You've been growing a lot. You weigh 26 pounds and you're about 33.5 inches long. You mostly clean your plate and ask for seconds, and you LOVE your milk.

Your favorite foods include bananas, green beans, peaches, and grilled cheese!

You love day care and we love it as a home for you during the day! You've done fun units like transportation, dinosaurs, health, and world cultures. You come home with new songs and activities every day. You always eat great and are still napping very well. They have taught you sign language for More, All Done, Please, Thank You, Apple, and Open. (That I know of, you always show me more!) You love to read and do art projects there too!


You are SO social. Any store or restaurant we are in you must wave at everyone and say Hi or Bye. Everyone laughs and gets a smile on their face. You're not shy at all!

Brode - You're so much fun and always make us laugh! You do have a little attitude and throw tantrums but you always move on and play or giggle again. You love to give kisses and big bear hugs and we couldn't be more happy... just don't turn two!

Random

Today I just have some random things to update on:

1. We haven't heard a surgery date yet. I get asked every day, multiple times a day. Trust me, my cell phone is on, right next to me, at all times. They have our house number and my cell phone number. My patience gets thinner every day because I just want to know! I did very well being gone for a few days it was off my mind but we're coming up on 3 and 1/2 weeks and I can't stop wondering. I am confident in saying we will hear this week... and if we don't... well then I'm tough out of luck and hopefully Easter will keep my mind off of it for a few more days!

2. A few videos! I know everyone loves the videos because most of my readers are relatives and best friends that aren't able to see Brode as much as possible.

First, my favorite, the phone. When we went to Tundra Lodge Brode LOVED the phone.I had completely forgotten about it, but we were unpacking in the hotel and Brode was wandering around and all of a sudden we hear:

He LOVED the phone once again. It took him 3 seconds to find the speaker phone button and who know a dial tone could be so incredibly interesting? None the less we unplugged all the phones for the weekend so he could talk on them. Also, do you like how he says "Hi-lo?" He says hello "normally" and clearly in every day conversation, but on the phone he gets this little excited "Hi-lo?"

Well I had another video for right here and after many longgggg attempts to upload it it hasn't worked out so I've only got the one. Maybe it will work another day.

I think those are my only two randoms for now! I've already got more posts coming up soon as well - I feel like a blogging machine - so be sure to check back!

Minneapolis

This past week was my Spring Break. The first few days I worked, then we decided to take the last few days and head to the Mall of America. We packed up the car at 5:30 on Wednesday night, put Brode in his pajamas, and headed out for the weekend.Brode lasted a while in the car, then cried out of frustration and tiredness. After an hour he finally fell asleep like this, blocking the sun:

We stopped to get dinner around 7:30 and Brode woke up and wanted OUT of the car. We took a break for a couple minutes then got right back on the road. Brode didn't sleep the last stretch from 7:30 until 10:00 but now that it was dark he sat contently resting and whispering. He tried as hard as he could to fall asleep, not even Tigger or his blanket could help:
We got to our hotel late Wednesday night and headed right to bed. Thursday morning we woke up, had breakfast and went right to the mall. Brode has lunch and naps around 11 so we didn't have much time. We walked a few laps, played in the theme park, and checked out Lego Land.

Brode was wishing that he could have been bigger and rode on the big rides!
He had to ride the little quarter ones. Can you believe I had to peel his hands off the steering wheel as he screamed to get him out of here?
Because Brode's schedule was so messed up from the night before he napped for 3 hours! My mom sat at the hotel with him while my dad and I went back to the mall and ran in some stores. When the little guy woke up we headed right back to the mall and actually did some shopping this time around. I got in touch with my friend Alix who lives in the cities and she met us for dinner at Rainforest Cafe!
Brode loved all the things to look at, but wasn't too sure about the large fake snake in the ceiling. He got very into his coloring and flirted with Alix the whole meal.
Brode hasn't been eating the greatest lately. It is very obvious he is not in his growth spirt. He eats a few bites and drinks a LOT of milk but he hasn't been cleaning his plate like usual. Most of his kids meals didn't get finished this week, but he did like these carrot sticks:
After dinner we sat outside the restaurant and let Brode run out some energy! He did so well for sitting all day long in the stroller, but he was ready to laugh and have fun. Gramps took him for a ride on the escalator!
While packing and getting ready for a long weekend or trip with a young child you always need to figure out how to improvise. You need to figure out the most important things to remember, think of his few favorite toys, and never forget the blanket! We had a suite so it was very easy with Brode this weekend, but he had a tough time not getting time to play, run and sit with toys. Friday morning after breakfast he did get a little bit of time to play with some toys that got mixed in:
After we had our breakfast on Friday morning we all finished getting ready then headed out for my favorite store: IKEA!
It doesn't matter what you are there for, you always come home with more! We had to walk around the whole store and picked up quite a few purchases. My main goal of IKEA this weekend was to find things for Brode's room when he needs to move to a toddler bed. He tested everything out for us, and it was determined as he jumped and rolled that he still need a crib!

Yes, we came home with one of these egg chairs. The canopy fold all the way down to make a full, round egg and Brode just loved playing in it so he got one for his room:


I think Brode enjoyed IKEA just as much as I always do!
After IKEA we still had some time until lunch and nap so we headed out to another mall fairly close to our hotel. They had some different stores we wanted to check out. We ended up walking around here a bit and got some lunch before heading back:
Back at the hotel Brode napped for another 2 and 1/2 hours. My mom sat with him again and my dad and I ran back to the mall and did 2 more laps and went through different stores. We came back when Brode woke up and we all packed up and went back to the mall AGAIN. (I feel like the whole weekend was sleeping and traveling back and forth to the mall and the hotel)! Because Brode napped so long it was already dinner time. We headed to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company to get some seafood because it was Friday and it seemed like the perfect opportunity! This was another fun restaurant to bring Brode to because there were so many things to look at! We all had a great dinner and had fun doing trivia!
We got fun lemonades that came in light-up glasses we got to keep. Brode enjoyed them very much!
When we were finished with dinner we headed to the theme park. The first time I went there was I was 7? 8? 9? ish my dad and I got our picture from the large log chute ride they have. We then went back when I was in my mid-teens? i think, and got another one. So yet again we had to ride the log chute, get soaked, and get our picture. We had some tickets left over so Brode got to ride some rides with a chaperone! We rode the trucks first and oh boy did he love steering and honking the horn:
We rode the Blues Clues ride next. I didn't know how Brode would react because they go up and down in the air but he loved it!
We had a few tickets left so we rode the trucks, again. He threw a fit every time our turn was over!
We headed to Lego Land to pick something out for Brode - what I called his 1 and 1/2 year old birthday present because our little boy turned 18 months on Friday! He once again wished he was bigger to play with the kids.

Saturday morning we were checking out and heading back so we took our time getting ready. We had breakfast then Brode and I hit the pool. He had to miss swimming lessons so I thought we could brush up on his skills. He loved it!
We packed up the car and headed out around 11:00. After a stop we were home at 4:00 and had to find a place for all of our purchases. Overall we had a very "relaxing" weekend. We walked a lot, but we got some time to do some fun things and had lots of time with Brode! I think Brode would agree that he felt pretty relaxed as well:

Patience

The Rivet family has NO patience. Ok that is wrong... Gramps has no patience, so Malorie has no patience, therefore Brode has no patience. Darn these genes.

We met with Dr. Denny on Monday March 8th and yes I realize it has only been 2 and 1/2 weeks but I'm losing my patience. I'm just so anxious. We're waiting on Brode's surgery date for 2010 and some days I can't stop thinking about it and others I compeltely forget! He told us we would hear within the week but they are working on getting caught up so it may be a few more days. They're so quick about everything and I cannot not complain, I completely understand, but what mother wouldn't be dying to know when their child has to have surgery!

On another note, Brode is doing alright after croup. He is still extremely whiny and has a bit of a cough but it seems to be on the leaving end. It is a virus and cannot be treated with antibiotics so it just needs to run its course. Hopefully he will begin getting better now that it is his 4th or 5th day with it. He has been sleeping great, but the eating not so much. That poor little boy!

On a Scale From One to Awful

On a scale from one to awful The Croup weighs in a full blown - AWFUL. It is the current sickness Brode has gotten. I am fairly surprised he did not get it earlier but either way it is now on our list. Matt got it all the time when he was little so it does not surprise us at all. With Brode's history of pneumonia and asthma it was bound to happen.

He got a slight temperature last night and went to bed a half hour early. Around 11:30 he woke up and it was downhill from there. At that point he had the barking seal cough and was not able to sleep more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. We got the cool humidifier out (yes we have both because each sickness demands something different) and took shifts rocking him, sleeping in bed with him, sleeping in the living room with him. He seemed to be doing fine as long as he was sitting up so he got a little bit of sleep.

Unfortunately we had to cancel swimming class this morning, again. He has already missed some. We've also got plans that he can't go to next weeks so I really wanted him to go this week.

UPDATE: We went to the doctor and confirmed croup. Thank you daddy's genes. Brode was given a steroid and some Tylenol and will hopefully start improving! He is sitting at my feet emptying his entire basket of books reading them all, I'm sure it's going to be a quiet day around here.

On a completely different note. Yesterday after I posted about the nice weather I went to run errands and it started raining. It then continued to rain all afternoon. Whoops spoke too soon. Brode and I ran a few errands together and came home with WAY too much scrapbooking stuff (it's a sickness I think) a few random things, and golf clubs for the little guy. He does NOT need any more toys and won't be getting any for a long time, but he needed some outside toys now that it is getting nice. He sure is spoiled. They were $5 I couldn't pass them up. Too bad it was raining and he had to play with them in the house the first time.

Sixtys

No we're not going retro this week, but we did get some temperatures in the 60s! We have been spending a lot of the afternoons outside going for walks, playing street hockey, getting out the toy cars, going for runs, and playing basketball! Brode got his golf club out with Gramps yesterday afternoon but we soon discovered that he cannot figure out how to hit it right handed but can hit is very well with the golf club backwards with his left hand! We're going to need to get him a new club!

Trigger Thumb

Today was yet another doctors appointment. This time we were meeting Brode's hand specialist/surgeon. We were referred to him by Brode's regular pediatrician to look at what we believed to be Trigger Thumb.

He loved watching the fish in the waiting room.

Brode and Daddy sharing a Dum-Dum sucker while waiting.
We walked into the room and the doctor followed close behind. He introduced himself to Matt and I and we shook hands. Everyone looks down as he says "and this must be Brode" and there stood the little guy holding out his hand to shake and introduce. I do NOT know where he gets these things from.

After he evaluated his history, shoulders, elbows, and wrists it was determined that it was just the typical, simple case of Trigger Thumb. Our first thought was that it was congenital and we did not see it developing, but as he pointed out to us, new research is finding that it may just be something that can be developed.

The final decision ended up being to wait. The doctor decided waiting 6 months and re-evaluating would be the best option. He is not optimistic that it will release and said it usually never does. He will need surgery to correct it but it is a 10-minute procedure with a dressing for 10 days so it is relatively simple.

After we talked with the doctor and got some x-rays we got Brode a special Dum-Dum for being a trooper through another meeting with doctors. We were then all back off to work, school, and day-care for the day!