Milwaukee Monday

We had another Milwaukee Monday yesterday! We haven't been down to Children's Hospital for six months. It was nice to have such a long break and a healthy little boy for a while!

We had a long day of appointments: 9:00 CT scan, 11:00 meeting with craniofacial, and a 2:00 re-check with the eye doctor. First, Brode wanted nothing to do with the CT scan. The entire process lasts 5 minutes if he sits on the table still an quiet but he chose to wiggle so we had to go with sedation again and we were there for an hour and a half. Once we were finished we got our starving child some breakfast before his appointment.

Our meeing with Dr. Denny went wonderfully! Brode jabbered away to the nurse who gave him a big stuffed Eeyore, stickers and a sucker then the doctors came in. We looked at his CT results that were perfect and talked about the future! All of the bone grafts held tremendously and there are no soft spot concerns. The symmetry also held and if his bone all grows proportionally for the rest of his life it will keep same shape and there will be no further concerns! Dr. Denny will see Brode once a year to monitor that shape and make sure nothing alarming is taking place that we need to address.

As for the eye doctor, we had a bit of a different meeting. We ended up getting the appoinment mved up to 12:30 so we didn't need to spend all afternoon there and luckily it was right as the doctor was returning from lunch we got right in, bypassing all of the tech's measurements. The doctor examined his tracking and started doing measurements of his vision (what we have been waiting for Brode to be old enough to do). Brode did great identifying and matching letters with both eyes and with his left eye, but when forced to only look out of his right eye he wasn't able to identify or match any of the letters. In order to strengthen this right eye we're going to patch his left fa few hours a day for two months, then readdress the problem and see if w can move on to the tracking issue!

I know, I know, it's never ending. Brode's head has never bothered me once, I'm com fortable doing what is best for him. The eyes on the other hand just make me feel horrible. Starting with the glasses and now patching, I feel so bad for him. I imagine myself looking at little kids with a patched eye and wondering what is going on with them, and I don't want Brode to be that little boy. As we were driving home all I could think was I hope all the little kids at day care will leave Brode alone when he is wearing the patch, but also that I hope he is small enough that he won't remember and I would rather worry and hurt for him now and he will be better off when he is older. I know the two months will go fast, but I really hope the whole process works and we don't need to go back to the glasses.

Overall it was a good day, we got a lot of good news and Brode is completely still on a track of being a normal little boy like everyone else! Our doctor reassured us he is ahead of the game, he doesn't need to be held back and treated any safer, and if he breaks something we have his number - use it!

(Sorry for no pictures, the camera doesnt usually come with us to the hospital! Disney pictures and posts soon though!)

Graduation

May 14th was my college graduation day! Hurray!

Thats's not true. May 14th I sat through the 2 hour ceremony for th College of Letters and Science to get an empty diploma jacket. August 5th is my actual graduation day. They do not hold a ceremony for summer graduates so once I walked and once I complete my internship I will recive my actual degree.

But I still call it my Graduation Day!

The ceremony was bright and early, 9AM Saturday morning. We did the whole walking, announcing, moving the tassel, and singing the alma mater thing... then celebrated!

Graduation was strange because I do not have a large attachment to Oshkosh. I started at LaCrosse and have the majority of college friends there, but I did my studying at Oshkosh. I do however have attachment to the UWO Kinsesiology program and eveyone I have gone through it with! I had those classmates in every class, every day, every semester so we all get very familiar with each other. It will be strange not seeing them every day and hearing everyone's ineternship stories from all over the country.

The best thing about graduation, that I am most proud of are my honor cords. I was glad to have them around my neck and show I not only finished, but strongly. Many reputations come with Oshkosh: UW-Zero, anyone gets in, it's easy... I completed all of my coursework in biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, bimechanics, motor learning, sports psychology, nutrition, clinicals, and many others that tested my limits so I am still proud of my grades no matter where they are from (my hardest struggle to overcome when transferring home).

(Half of this semesters Kines grads)

I am officially a University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh Kinesiology Graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology - Exercise & Fitness with  minor in Wellness Promotion!

Soccer Star

Brode has been going to soccer for three weeks now! Yes I realize he is only 2 and 1/2, but it is something fun to do!

We signed him up through our park&rec for the 2-3 year old class at the park down the street. There are 10 other kids in his class and they work on their passing, dribbling, shooting, and running!

(Brode listening to Coach on how to score on Daddy)

(Dribbling in a line behind the team!)

(Working on his passing with Daddy)

Matt and Grandma Beth have been bringing him as I was working on Saturday mornings, but this week I got some time off to go! He was hard to get moving but once he got there he was all over the place.

(Watching the other kids shoot on the goal)

It was very entertaining to watch all the kids count out loud stretching and running a warm-up lap around the trees! He loves it!

(Dribbling - the little kicks aren't his favorite)

(Cool down stretches)

We'll see how long this cool kid lasts in soccer, he isn't really a fan of the whole sharing the ball thing.

Easter 2011

We had a wonderful Easter! On a day that the 2 year old could potentilly have a million breakdowns for his basket, in church, too many people around, too much candy, and wanting more eggs.... we seemed to avert them all!

Friday night we started with dying eggs. Brode dyed eggs at day care last week and loved it, but they only got one egg so he had a tough time picking one color. When we went to dye eggs at home he didn't understand that we had a whole carton full that he could put in any color he wanted.

After he colored them all he put stickers all over and wouldn't you know, he picked all the sports ones off the sheet then said he was done so I finished up.

Saturday Brode had his first 'soccer practice' that he is doing through the Park and Rec. Matt and Grandma Beth brought him so I'll have to save that for another post and get some pictures! After soccer Grandma and Daddy took Brode to McDonalds to play in the playplace and he got a magnadoodle and a bubble gun for Easter from his grandma!

Sunday morning our goal was to get up, feed Brode, get dressed and head to church right away and avoid the whole "I want to play with my toys fro my Easer basket meltdown". Didn't happen. As I was in the bathroom finishing getting ready I hear, "Mom! My duck! My duck is full! Look"

I ran down the stairs to see his little behind sticking out from behind the chair. He dragged his chick basket out with a huge smile on his face. Brode got a book, a movie, a spiderman car/guy, and some candy! Luckily he was dressed and ready to go so after a few minutes of play time he was alright with leaving them home for later.
He was great in church and wondered why all the other kids around us were crying and talking. Brode only hadhis one moment that he needed to yell above the rest of the church when he stood on my legs "I can't see Father Mike!" At least they all knew he was paying attention.

After church we came home for Brode to play and have a nap before our family came over. He did very well with an early nap and got a good 2 hours in before heading outside to play. While we waited for company Brode played bubble gun, chatted with his neighbor friend Blake, and ran around while we tried to get pictures.

Our family came over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner. Last year Brode didn't really understand the concept but he was really into it this year!

 

Grandpa had a few surprise eggs we didn't know about for the hunt.

Brode's winnings from the egg hunt!

Inside each of his small ones was candy from Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma. The large eggs were a gift from Grandpa and Grandma - water shoes, swimmies, and a singing and dancing Mickey - all for vacation!

We all had a large dinner and cupcake desert:

Yes, I made these, and yes they were a lot of work, but talk about a fun spring desert!

We're hoping after that beautiful holiday the spring weather can start to come around!

New Bike!

Brode picked out his very own new bike this weekend. When I say he picked it out, trust me, he picked it out. We tried to talk him into Toy Story with all of our might, but he insisted on Cars. We got up to the checkout and sure enough Toy Story was all gone and would need to be stored ordered but there were 4 Cars bikes left. Needless to say we walked out of the store with a racing red Cars bike and matching helmet on Friday night.

Brode has been starting this thing where he gets out of bed and leaves his room by himself on weekend mornings. Saturday morning we came down the stairs as Brode skidded around the corner in his socks "Grandpa! Can we put my bike together?" I wonder if the kid even slept that night.

After a big breakfast Grandpa and Brode gathered their tools and put together his racing red bike. He was a fan of the helmet too and wore it the whole time.

All finished and ready to try it outside!

Our Week

Our week hasn't been anything exciting. I went back to school after a nice Spring Break week off, I started working at the Y at night, and Brode was in day care.

Brode did have a bit of trouble with a cold and fever this week, and by Thursday he was too glassy-eyed and snot filled to go to day care. We got him into the doctor to have his ears, throat, and lungs checked to see why he had a 101 fever all week, but it was determined to be just a virus with a cold. He is slowly recovering but we're still flying through tissues.

Luckily, Brode picked Thursday to say home sick and watch the Brewers on their Opening Day!


Matt made progress with his foot. He got his stitches out and upgraded to a boot instead of a cast, but he is still on crutches and still anxious to play hockey. Brode has been a big help getting him water from the jug and carrying his foot up the stairs.




We don't have much of anything else planned! We're just hoping the snow keeps melting and we can get outside soon. I'm also hoping April goes fast so graduation, Florida, and summer are that much closer!

One last picture: Brode got a new sleeping bag for day care and he is in love with it. He insisted that he must nap in it and use it at bedtime, but he slides right out of the bed on it's slippery fabric so we made a nice bed on the floor for him. And yes, he is sleeping in this picture, he loves his hands behind his head.

Catching Up

I promise I'll get back into weekly posts... just not yet. Things are just crazy! I always wait until I have pictures to post, then I forget we took pictures and I don't post for a month. When I finally get around to posting it is somewhere that doesn't have pictures loaded and I put it off longer.

Anyways, why have things been so hectic?

I have no idea. School, work, Brode, all of the above.

School is taking over. My schedule is crazy, there is barely any routine. I'm personal training two clients, have to work hours in the fitness center, and have to teach group exercise classes and the times change every week! I really only have two structured classes on top of those things, as well as two online classes. Somehow 16 credits come out of that.

Work has completely changed which is causing most of the chaos. The project I was working on at KC calmed down so my contract ended after 2 and 1/2 years. I quickly got a job at the YMCA working in the lifestyle center and personal training people. I'm currently job training for that which makes random hours all over the place ,also constantly changing. In addition to the YMCA a coordinator at the Student Rec on campus heard I was personal training and they have been looking for more people to work so I agreed to train 1 client there.

Brode has been great, when I actually see him. Between school, work, interviews for internships, and volunteering for the Shamrock Shuffle 5K we only get a few hours together a week and then on weekends. His independance has changed a bit recently and he is expanding greatly. He plays by himself much more, if you ask "Brode want to play some matching game?" he will reply "No thank you I'm playing train right now". He is also getting better at changing and costumes and such. He voluntarily has changed his winter hat to one he refused before, and loves putting on his chef outfit... this is huge! As usual he has been going to all of Matt's home hockey games and has gotten much better at cheering and watching the game. He also got a new baseball bat, ball, and batting gloves that he loves as well as a football tee for kicking so we have been playing a lot of sports.


We had one big event since my last post, Disney on Ice! We went in the middle of February and Brode loved it! He sat and watched the entire show, except the Little Mermaid part with Ursula. His two favorite parts were when the blow up crocodile ate hook, he looked at us as chomped his mouth, "Got 'em!" His other favorite part was the Zamboni at intermission,... of course.

We have been spending our weekends at Matt's hockey games when they are in town. If they have two games at home they usually take up our whole weekend as it completely changes Brode's nap/wake up/play time schedule. He sits through the entire game and picks up on every possible detail! Often the games include popcorn, skittles, chuck-a-bones, and pep talks with Daddy between periods, but he really does love the sport too!
That won't last much longer as Matt broke his foot in a game last weekend. The fracture on the foot was not going to heal in the proper position so he needed to have surgery to plate and pin the bone back in place. Hello 8 weeks on crutches. Matt happened to break his foot the game that had "Skate with the Ice Dogs" afterwards, so Brode went out on the ice with Petey. He was not happy he didn't have his own skates for this event!Other big news, I accepted an internship for the summer at Kimberly Clark Health Services! I was extremely happy to hear that I got it and quickly accepted. We have been talking about the projects I'm going to be doing, and although it is a lot, there is a large variety and it is one of the best opportunities I can get starting out in the field! It will open me up to many positions.

After securing my summer schedule with my internship we have been evaulating what we're going to do this summer. I graduate in May and my internship starts in July so we're left with about 6 weeks of just evening work shifts every other week. I have been thinking I would much rather love to spend these weeks with Brode by pulling him out of day care. I really do love his day care - he learns a lot, he has a perfect routine, he interacts with other kids and I don't want him to get rid of that but time for us together and some independent play time will be just as valuable! I have him signed up for soccer lessons/class/play and a Wiggles and Giggles class, I would really love to take him swimming more often again, and we could have fun daytime trips to the zoo, park, and museums. When my internship starts I would then put him back in his spot at his current day care! It sounds like a perfect summer to me. Getting a job at the Y has been wonderful as I am able to enroll him in classes and take him to open play times without paying an arm and a leg for a membership, it will definately keep us busy!


Our last major plans for the summer - Walt Disney World! We have planned a trip that I'm sure Brode does not understand, but we're all very excited! More on that later


This week is my Spring Break, and you want to know my large plans? Well.... I'm working on a group project and working all day tomorrow, I'm hoping to finish two 7 page research papers, and do some spring cleaning of my closet, my room, and my car! Yes I know, it is just so terribly exciting!