Brotherly Love To The Max

When I found out that I was pregnant with Nate I worried about the 6 years age difference, how Nate would accept Timmy with his disabilities and how well the two of them would interact, being that in a short period of time Nate would surpass Timmy's developmental abilities cognitively and physically.

Those worries were quickly pushed aside. At only a couple of months old Nate has delighted and insisted on spending time with Timmy each morning while Timmy is getting ready to face the day. If for some reason, like Timmy has a Doctor appointment out of town, and Nate is unable to see or spend time with Timmy in the morning it's like Nate's world has come crashing down onto him. And his day has been totally turned upside down until Timmy graces Nate with his presence.

I believe that Nate has early on realized Timmy's limitations and Nate has adapted his interests and interactions with Timmy to Timmy's level. Nate really enjoys just sitting with Timmy and listening to music or having books read. One of Timmy's current interest has to do anything related to Pirates. So Nate has also taken up this same interest and enjoys pretend play of Pirates with Timmy.

There has also been times when Nate has taken the role of Brotherly Love to the Max. One evening after Timmy's Home Nurse had finished brushing Timmy's teeth, with Nate's supervision, she left the room to go clean Timmy's toothbrush. Upon her returning to the room she found Nate had crawled onto Timmy's lap and was licking the excess toothpaste from Timmy's teeth.

It warms my heart to know that Timmy's siblings have shown a great deal of interest in Timmy's day to day care. And Nate is no exception. At an early age we have taken the time to show and allow the siblings to help with Timmy's daily care where approperate. One thing that we allow the siblings to start helping with is supplimental G-tube feedings. We even explain that the G-tube needs to sometime be cleaned.

Well, on our most recent train trip to Chicago for Christmas Nate took this daily task to an extreme. I was gathering up the kids things for their nightly bath when I heard Nate sucking on something. My first thought was Oh Boy what have you picked up off of the floor and put in your mouth now? When I looked up what did I see? Nate was "cleaning" Timmy's G-tube! Yeah you got it. Nate had pulled out Timmy's G-tube and was fiercely sucking on the balloon! Just the sight was gross, funny and shocking all at the same time that I didn't know which reaction to display first. Of course I quickly regained myself and took the G-tube from Nate, cleaned it and replaced it. Being thankful that the force of Nate removing the G-tube with the balloon still inflated that their was no damage done.

I can only imagine what the future holds with the funny and not so funny antics that Nate has in store for us......

Happy 1st Birthday Nathaniel!!!

                HAPPY  1st BIRTHDAY!!!

It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone. We have had a lot of laughter. And shared a few tears. You have come a long way physically, cognitively, and socially.

*You have learned how to play Pat-A-Cake and Peek-A-BOO.
*You love music and dancing.
*Your two favorite games are placing objects into a container and taking them out. And crawling after a ball that you roll across the floor.
*Your favorite foods are steak, baked potato with sour cream, applesauce, cheese sandwiches, squash, carrots and ANYTHING that brother Timmy is eating or anyone else for that matter.
*You absolutely LOVE bath time and swimming in the pool. But I have to say, you are the first and only baby that I know who insists on taking their washcloth into the swimming pool.
*You can pull yourself to stand and stand without holding onto something for a short period of time.
*You have learned how to climb onto the furniture and find climbing onto and getting down from a fun game.
*At your WIC appointment on Friday (July 22nd) you weighed 20lbs 1oz and you were 28 1/2in. tall.

You're 11 Months Old Today!

Yet another month is behind us. Today Nate is 11 months old. It is hard to believe that in just 11 months Nate has grown so big! Your physical and cognitive development is right on target for your age, which is a blessing, being that Nate has a visual impairment.

Nate loves long car rides. This is a very good thing, being that there are always several out of town appointments a month with specialists for myself, Nate or Timmy.

 Nate is a curious and adventurous boy. He loves to explore and has started to climb. If something that he wants is out of his reach, he will come up with creative ways to gain access to whatever it is that he desires.

On ocassion Nate will have Timmy to assist him in gaining access to whatever it is that he desires at the present time.

For brief periods of time, Nate is able to stand with little or no assistance. He has even started using his Chicco Activity Walker to help him walk independantly around the house.

Nate loves to eat. He has completely given up on eating baby foods. He prefers to eat Timmy's homemade puree dishes that Daddy makes special for Timmy. Nate's favorite foods are baked potatoes (white or sweet), cheese sandwiches and any kind of fruit or veggie. He dislikes scrambled eggs and tuna.

Nate enjoys hanging out with his big bro. Nate gets upset in the morning if I or someone else doesn't let him say "hi" to Timmy. And Nate's face lights up with a big smile in the afternoons when Timmy arrives home after school. Like us all, Nate dislikes the fact that Timmy keeps his hands in his mouth. Nate refuses to touch Timmy's drooly hands. So if Timmy has his hands in his mouth when Nate wants to interact with him, Nate will touch Timmy's arm and Timmy will immediately take his hands out of his mouth. Hmmm, maybe, wishful thinking I know, but just maybe Nate will be the cure all of Timmy's hands obsession. Yeah right!

You have the sweetest personality. But yet you are very opinionated. Everything with the world is just grand as long as everyone in your life stay on tract with your strict schedule. You have the cuties smile. And infectious laugh. You love to cuddle and give kisses.

Your favorite play things are balls, drums or any other item which you can hit on, a large stuffed kitty and Fisher-Price Bubble Gum machine, in which a ball is placed into machine and rolls out from the bottom. You also enjoy placing small items into a container and dumping them out.

Aside from spending time with siblings, playing with toys and eating, your all time favorite part of the day, be it nap time or just before bedtime, is to cuddle in Momma's arms and fall sound asleep. This is Momma's favorite time of the say as well. If it wouldn't be selfish of me, I would make a wish that you would never get any older or bigger. That you will stay Momma's baby boy forever. So I will cherish and treasure the gift of watching you grow into a curious, intelligent, energetic, funny, happy, Momma's boy!

Momma LOVES you Natie Cakes!

Grandpa and me

 There isn't anything better than some cuddle time spend with grandparents who spoik me!

9 - Months Old

To start, I want to apologize for the picture quality. I'm having technical difficulties with my digital camera. So I have had to resort to using the camera on my LG flip phone from Verizon. I've had this phone for 3 years. The camera on the phone isn't much better. Sorry!

It is hard to believe that 3/4 of a year has passed since you were born. Wow, it's AMAZING at just how much you have grown and learned in such a short time.

You now have 4 teeth, Two top front teeth and two front bottom teeth. Now that you have teeth, when someone is eating, especially momma, you insist on having a bite of food from my plate to sample. Even though you may have just eaten, you give me that precious puppy doggie look along with a pitiful little whine that would make anyone want to share their food with you.

You now have a vocabulary of 4 words, Momma, Dada, Baba (bottle) and Nahnah (nite nite). I have had to stop putting you to the breast for feedings, because now that you have teeth, you consider Momma your special chewy toy. It is nice though that we still get to share cuddle time at bedtime, while you take your last bottle feeding of the day. Even though you are feed from a bottle, you are still getting breast milk. I express breast milk for you just before each bottle feeding. I will continue to do so until you turn 1 year old.

You refuse to sit in your bouncy seat. You still enjoy playing with the hanging toy bar. Your favorite place to be is on the floor, not restrained, so that you can GO, GO, GO where ever you desire.

While holding onto furniture you have learned to pull yourself to standing. Now that you are able to stand alone, you find enjoyment in being able to hold onto something and bounce (jump) as long as your heart desires.

You are now fully mobile. No more Army crawling. You crawl on hands and knees. Going ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE, exploring every nook and cranny of your world.

Shadow play is your new found form of self entertainment. It is fun to watch you play and explore your shadow. It appears to amaze you that even though you can see the shape of your hand and head in shadow, you can't figure out why you can't actually see yourself.

Now that you have gotten older, Timmy isn't just your Big Brother, he has become your Best Friend. Your interest and desire to play with Timmy has grown. You so enjoy crawling over Timmy as though he were your Jungle gym. Timmy is such a trooper to tolerate this type of play from his little brother.

The expressions on your face once you figure out the solution to a problem, discover how something works or accomplish a new task are priceless!

You continue to have the best personality. Your laughter is contageous. Your day is routine oriented. Heaven forbid someone gets off of your set schedule.

You are very inquisitive, loving to explore to figure out how the many things in this world works.

You are a very socialible boy. You haven't met not one stranger so far. Different people interest you. When someone holds you, you are fascinated by a persons face. You stare intently at the person's mouth the entire time that they are speaking.

You are the Love of my life. You bring me so much happiness into my life with each passing day. I never noticed until you came along just how fast a infant grows into a happy, vibrant, inquisitive, active baby. With your arrival, my life is complete. It is with this feeling of completeness, I want to savor every minute of your young childhood. Because with just a blink of an eye it will soon disappear.

Mommy's Scurvy Pirate

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho Off To Grandma's They Go

 

The kids are suppose to start their Spring Break on Friday, April 1st. We decided to keep them out of school for 2 days, so that they could go to IL with Floyd to visit Grandma. Timmy hasn't been to visit Grandma, since January 2008.  He is so excited. And is looking forward to being able to visit with his cousins once again.

Being that Timmy is a special needs child and requires a great deal of extra items when travelling, food, diapers, diabetic supplies, medications. I always feel as though I'm forgetting to pack something. It isn't until he has been gone from home a few days before this feeling go away.

In the past when we have travelled with Timmy we packed all of the food that he would need for our entire trip. When Floyd took Nate to visit Grandma last month, it was brought to his attention by an Amtrek employee that the chef who prepares the on board meals could prepare all of Timmy's meals. A few days ago, Floyd had a long phone conversation with the Chef . The Chef felt very positive that he would be able to prepare Timmy's meals as he needs them. So Floyd agreed to let him try. Even though this service was put into place, being the well prepared mommy that I am, I went ahead and packed Timmy some food for his trip, just in case. If the Chef does get the consistancy of Timmy's meals correct, travelling with Timmy will be a breeze in the future. Our bags will be a lot lighter.

We travel by Amtrek ALOT. When travelling with Timmy on the airlines, the airport employees haven't been very acommidating or helpful. And getting Timmy through security with all of his necessary medications and supplies has been a NIGHTMARE!

Here are a couple of pictures of Timmy and Nate together today before they left for the train station. Nate LOVES his brother. Well, Timmy LOVES his little brother, especially when he is crying. Timmy thinks that Nate crying is hysterically funny. Maybe he knows that most of the time Nate's tears are crocodile tears. I swear sometimes it seems that these two have their own form of communication. Who knows. And they sure won't tell their secret.