Milwaukee Monday

We were back down to Milwaukee today for Brode's 1 month post-0p check! We scheduled a later appointment this time so we had time to sleep in, play, and eat a big breakfast. Brode got all dressed up in his "Maschers" (Masters) shirt and plaid shorts and we headed down to Milwaukee, golf ball in hand.

We're at that stage. That "say cheese with your face all scrunched" phase.

His appointment went well. They were all happy with his progress, and shocked at his hair. They double checked his procedure date to make sure they were correct that he grew all that hair in a month! All the nurses loved him in his outfit with his golf ball marching down the hall. Dr. Braly took more pictures for his file (they always do before and afters so we have a lot through Brode's journey and large number of appointments). I'd love to see them all in a row now - his first ones were at 6 months!

After our appointment (it was extremely short) we went to the Betty Brinn Childrens Museum in Milwaukee. Brode loved all the different areas and was much more involved from the last time we were at a Childrens Museum. He spent much of his time at the sand table. It was located in the section for children under 3 and luckily he was the only one in there so it was quiet for him!

The only exhibit that the Children's Museum near home and Betty Brinn both have is the golf ball track exhibit. They have loops, U's, hills, and spirals that golf balls are dropped and twisted around. One little boy was running around gathering all the balls up so we weren't able to try. We finally remembered Brode brought his own golf ball so we tried each one and held onto it tight!


Next was the Music in Motion. There were drums, guitars and dancing everywhere!



The area we came to next was a large gameboard. One of the stops was mini-golf and Brode loved it! We were worried he wouldn't leave. Unfortunetaly Milwaukee doesn't believe children can be left-handed and Brode had to improvise and turn the club upside down.

He eventually found the golf ball cart. I think he needs one of these to follow Grandpa around the yard when they're practicing chipping!

(Yes I see the No Shoes Allowed sign as Brode sits under it with his shoes on!)

Around 4:00 everyone started leaving and we had the roam of the place. We made our way back to "Home Town" because Brode was a bit to overwhelmed the first time. We stopped in the auto shop, real estate office and the grocery store/deli.

He loved the grocery area. We went shopping for a bit, but he then fell in love with the delivery truck. Brode ran from one end to the other grabbing food, putting it in the back of the truck and then delivered it to Grandpa's house.

(Notice the bacon and single piece of chicken in the back on it's way to Grandpa's)

He combed the cow and horse quick as we walked out the door.

One of my favorite comments from the day was "WHOA! Big house!" As Brode points at the skyscrapers in the city. I guess we need to get him out of the country more.

The ride home: exhausting. We stopped for dinner, but this guy was not tired. We searched everything in the car for entertainment. Here is Brode practicing his "Cool Dude" thumbs up with my sunglasses on.

Weekend

What a beautiful weekend! The humidity is finally gone and we're sitting around the 87's with nothing but sunshine! We were able to get a lot of outside time in this weekend.

Saturday we all did yardwork outside as we're working on some landscaping. N0thing exciting.

Sunday however Brode had a very fun day. We went to the parade in Greenville in the morning. Brode was extremely nervous about the firetrucks and large tractors but he loved the floats with candy, hockey, puppies, and little tractors! It took him a bit to catch on to the "they throw candy, I pick it up" concept but he still came home with lots of loot:

After the parade we went to the corn roast at the park then home for a nap. Brode took a long nap then headed to Grandma Beth's for dinner. Mr. High Maitinence himself loved the steak they had, its the only meat he'll eat large amounts of!

Monday we're off to Milwaukee for Brode's 1 month post-op check!

The Past Month; Update

Yes, I realize it has been a month.

Yes, I am very sorry.

Yes, people have been harping on me for it (they all just want to see that cute little blonde-haired boy)!

No, people probably aren't even checking for updates anymore.

Things have been crazy. 4 weeks... what have we all done?!? Where did they go?!?

My main reason of not updating for 2 weeks was because of this: www.caringbridge.com/visit/Brode. All of you that follow know about Brode's surgery, but that was my main communication. We have many more friends and family that were looking there for the week so it seemed almost pointless to write it all over again here. We spent 4 days down in Milwaukee, then Brode and I were home recovering for 8 days. We had a wedding that weekend for our neighbor and had a lot of fun! On the 9th we went back down to Milwaukee, got his staples out and went to the Milwaukee Zoo. Brode loved the zoo and seeing all the big animals (favorites included the hippo, polar bear, lions and monkeys!)

Everyone went back to work and day care that week. It took a bit to get back into the routine, Brode did the best out of all of us! I was extremely worried after 2 weeks with family, field trips and ice cream shops he would he a terror at day care. The past 2 weeks since he has been back we've gotten nothing but good reports that he has been sharing and using his manners very well!

Sunday the 15th Brode and Matt had lots of play time while I went to Noah's Ark with some friends! Us girls got a beautiful sunny day to ride all the water slides and had a lot of fun. The boys had a good day peeking in on Extreme Home Makeover as it was starting right in Neenah this past week. Our fun weekend was followed with another week of humidity and work.

For our last week of failed blog updates - we were camping! Matt and I left Friday morning to meet his mom, stepdad, cousins, aunt and uncle for their yearly camping trip to Chipewa Falls in the Lake Wissota State Park. Brode stayed with Grandpa and Grandma and we all had fun! Matt and I were given some time to relax and Brode had lots of fun playing. We had good weather camping except for a bit of rain(ok a LOT, all night, puddles to your ankles, and matt's drenched clothes on the clothesline) Friday night but luckily it was all while we were sleeping. We toured the Leinenkugels Brewery, went to the Leine Lodge, sat around the campfire, swam in the lake, hit up the ice cream shop and played lots of horseshoes! After our long 3 hour drive back Matt and I stopped home for 5 minutes then continued on to a family get-together. My aunt and uncle are in town from Houston so we had a good-weathered afternoon to have a cookout at my cousins. The whole family gathered for grilled burgers and horseshoes while the little kids jumped on the trampoline (for HOURS). By the time we were leaving the sun was setting over the lake and we were all exhausted from a fun-filled weekend.

My night didn't end there. This leads me into the other 'excuse' as to why I haven't been updating. My computer sits in my bedroom, but I've got this little roommate for a few weeks that gets to bed around 7 so I'm not able to do much updating on my computer. I'm also busy with a large project, the reason for the roommate. We're re-doing Brode's bedroom! I don't want to post pictures until it's finished but I know a lot of friends want to see how it's looking. It might be a bit until we get it completely put together so I'll just give a bit of a preview. We're still going to move his crib back in and hold onto his toddler bed (not even trying to get out so we're not going to rush it). We're hoping to get the queen bed and rocking chair out to make room for his train table, shelves, and some of his toys. This will clean up the living room, and give him a fun toddler space of his own! My painting scheme has taken a week and a half so i've been busy trying to get it done and not drag it on any more!

(No he doesn't dress like this every day, it was mismatch day at day care!)

I'm hoping to get Brode's room finished so I can work on his surgery scrapbook, his toddler scrapbook (the zoo gave many good pictures that need to get in there!), construct some thank-you cards for our surgery followers and well-wishers, and finish some of the books in the Pretty Little Liars seris before school starts on September 8th. I'm thinking 20 (18 really) credits aren't going to be very nice to me and then they definetaly won't get finished!

Sorry again for the month-late update. Once I'm able to get all the pictures from the last few weeks organized I can give a few more details of what we've been doing.

Picnic

We had a very fun Sunday! We had absolutely nothing to do and we completely enjoyed it. Matt, Brode and I played all morning then had a picnic lunch outside.

Yes, I made his lunch into a smiley face to make it that much more fun.

Brode went down for a quick nap and we kept on with the playing.

EAA began today in Oshkosh so we drove down to see the planes coming in and to get some ice cream. Brode at an entire cone himself, then bounced off the walls with excitement at all the planes. We headed home and went for a bike ride, had a good dinner and called it a night. It was nice to have a day of nice weather and fun, we've been missing those with all this rain!

Lately

We've just been hanging around lately. We've had just about enough rain! Brode is ready to get outside and run!

Brode in his ladybug hat - last week was All About Bugs at day care. I asked if I could take his picture and he said "cheese" but I don't think he understands that word is to make you smile.

I've been swamped with homework and we've been working and day care all day therefore we have no fun pictures from anything. We've just been trying to spend some time together inside between the storms, homework, baby showers, dress shopping, work, etc.

Friday we did get a chance to get outside and get some things done, is this considered child labor?(Excuse the unclear pictures it was SO humid everything just kept fogging up)


I'm just kidding - For me it was a chore, Brode quickly turned it into fun. Our stroller desperately needed a scrub down. It's never really been washed down well and between snacks, dinners, drinks, etc. it was a MESS. It needs to come with us to Milwaukee next week and it would have been an embarrassment in the clean hospital. I got the bucket of water and of course little guy wanted to help. For some reason - like always - he was automatically drawn to wash the part of the stroller that didn't need washing: the padded seat. Need I remind you a 22 month old does not know how to wring out a rag. It was soaked so we pulled out the tractor and told him to wash his own vehicle. Brode LOVED it. Every inch of that tractor was clean by the time he was done. Brode was also SOAKED.

Fell Behind - Two Posts in One

I was going to post the last two days because I had a few pictures from things we've been doing as short updates. That didn't happen - I fell behind. I love updating and posting pictures but I think my parents would appreciate to see me doing my homework instead.

I started a new class - Literature and Film - on Monday. It's my last Gen ed, it's completely online, but it's hard. It's very in depth, based completely off of discussions and interpretations of different novels and films. I'm trying to get ahead because the last two weeks of the class (it's only 4 weeks long) are when Brode has surgery and the week after when he'll be home with staples. I'd rather read ahead and watch the movies, write down my thoughts then answer the questions when they come up and can submit them on time. This plan = stress and confusion.

So anyways, here are our updates! Monday we went to Milwaukee. Yet again, another Milwaukee Monday. Brode had a CT scan scheduled for 8:00 AM which meant leaving the house by 6:00. I'll just remind you again that Brode slept until 10:00 AM the day before so 5:45 wasn't looking like it was going to be easy. I scooped him right out of his crib and put him directly in the car and we were on our way before he could fully get his eyes open. The scan went well, he did need sedation but he recovered very quickly and was more than ready for breakfast and some juice. The surgeon showed us his scans right away and was very happy with how things looked. They didn't need to change their plan and said the plates look like they'll come right out. All good news. We headed out for lunch afterwards, came home to do some errands and play and by that time it was dinner!

Brode still trying to wake up from the sedation.

He was extremely hungry for breakfast afterwards.

Brode kept throwing his toys and things on the floor on the drive where we couldn't reach them so I told him he needed to hold on tight. This is what I got:

Tuesday wasn't anything exciting - until 10 minutes before bed. Brode was begging for the sidewalk chalk out of the bottom of the garage toybox. We traced our feet, drew circles, wrote our names, and then drew balloons. The balloons got large and colorful. Brode then found it more fun than ever to slide through the colorful balloons and rub the chalk all over himself.

A bath came quickly after!

Scratch the Routine

Well Brode's schedule is officially completely messed up! Saturday we went to our neighbors graduation party and Brode played, ran, blew bubbles and jumped for a long four hours until he finally fell asleep at 8:00. I was hoping he was going to sleep in, but when 10 AM rolled around I was shocked he was still sleeping! His schedule then got sidetracked because there was no way he was going to take his normal nap at 11:00. Today was a great day for him to wake up late because we had a family reunion at 11:00 so Brode was able to go when he was all rested up. He did great with no nap and headed to bed an hour early tonight.

He played with all of his (2nd) cousins. Unfortunately all the ones that live in town are the girls so he was a bit confused.

Brode LOVED baby Jonah. He hasn't seen many babies but he was very content watching baby Jonah sleep.

He also loved playing baseball with Grandpa. Brode is going to be the kid in t-ball that picks the weeds in outfield.

On the way home we made a little stop at DQ. Brode loves to share our ice cream, but he got ahold of my cone and wouldn't give it up.

'merica

Brode learned all about America and celebrating independence day at day care (Well, as much as you can teach a 1 year old). They made fireworks with glitter, flew flags in a parade around the room, made a collage and a red white and blue windsock to fly. Every flag he has seen since Monday has been a "merica!". As well as doing all these activities they dressed in red white and blue all week. Brode had no troubles finding these colors in his extensive wardrobe:

Two weeks ago at day care they wore pink and did Commotion In The Ocean so they dressed like sea creatures - not the type of clothes Brode has so we were happy to have him participate in this weeks!

Saturday we spent the day at home in the scorching heat. We played around the house and outside. After Brodes bedtime the neighbors lit off some fireworks so we sat outside and watched them and the little man slept right through them!

Sunday morning we packed up and headed up to the cottage. Unfortunetaly we picked the wrong days and should have switched them. It rained all the while we were there. We had fun playing anyways. Brodes favorite toy in the 'toy drawer' up there is the mini Cozy Coupe (thankfully he didn't try and climb in it like his own!).

We did get outside for a bit on the dock and Brode's favorite activity was to throw all the rocks. Great. He refused to stand in the shallow on the sand so Matt and I fished out the rocks and he threw them over to the other side. Back and forth we went.

The afternoon started to look gloomy so we had a large - family affair - cribbage game going on. Brode wanted to learn how to play.

He wasn't much of a help and was seconds away from giving daddy's cards away so grandma tracked down some little guy cards for him and he gathered and dropped, gathered and dropped them all over the kitchen.

Finally, after dinner we got out the snaps for Brode to have his own firework fun. He loved yelling "merica" or "bang!" when he threw them.

Two boxes later there was paper all over the ground - this little boy wasn't much into the cleaning it all up once all the "bangs" were gone.

Monday we spent another rainy day inside playing games and getting things done. That night we headed out to dinner then home to unpack and get the little guy in bed on time. Although it wasn't a bright sunny 4th of July it was a good long weekend to play!

Own Set

You know it has to be good with a face like that! Can you hear the "OOOooooo" coming out of his mouth in amazement?

Brode, the sports fanatic, somehow gets to everyones house and finds a football or basketball, etc that he loves and they let him take it home. It was finally time for his first set of sports equipment - basketballs he can actually hold on to and baseball gloves that fit his hand.

First there was a football:

Then the basketball:

He started catching on, "more? more?" Then there was the soccer ball:

And finally the baseball glove:

He loves them. They go everywhere. All four of them. Inside, outside, to the cottage and yes, he did nap with the basketball last weekend.

There is just one tiny problem.....

He doesn't know which one he loves the most and can't figure out how to play with them all at the same time!