Reed All About It!

Bruiser...

          This is Bricen's new nickname. As most little guys and gals his age, he is very into climbing on anything and everything! I've noticed a bruise on each leg and as of today he has a scratch on his right cheek. From the looks of things when I arrived on the scene I can only assume he was standing on his motorcycle again so he could see out the window. I tried to capture a picture of his cheek but could not get a good one. 

Bricen loves this dog. Sometimes he loves her so much I feel sorry for her. Haha

You see that stuff around his face? It's a glorious site if I do say so myself! I would not go as far to say he was "eating" it but he was playing in it and tasting it.

Last weekend I came home to this little guy waiting in the yard to welcome me home. Am I one lucky girl, or what?  

When Bricen was in NICU and I'd take a ton of pictures during the day I would go back to the Ronald McDonald house and lay in bed looking at those pictures over and over. My confession is that I still do this. With a face like this, can you blame me?

This is a random Lyla picture. Dereck (her dad, my cousin) styled her hair for her. Don't worry Lyla we won't let this happen when you get older.

Monkey see, monkey do? Bricen thinks his daddy hung the moon. Everything daddy does Bricen wants to do. It warms my heart to see them together but I especially love it when they are playing and Bricen looks back to see if I'm watching him.

So...Bricen now has a new plastic shovel and rake so next time he can really help Daddy.

This is a goofy picture but it's a milestone for us. We had our first Riley day on our own! We've went to places around town and to the general pediatrician on our own but had yet to go to Riley. Well we did and we survived. I told the FB world and I'll say it again, I'm thankful for all the times we did have a partner in crime to accompany us for those days. I'm also thankful that Bricen's health is at a point that we feel comfortable going on our own. I knew there wouldn't be much discussed. It's harder if you are trying to keep the kid occupied (and as you can see in this pic he gets reallly worked up just going in a doctor office setting) and yet at the same time trying to listen to what the doc has to say and ask questions. I know, shocker that I would have questions. :0)

Developmental Peds thought we should add speech therapy to Bricen's "dream team." Dream Team. It's a phrase that I could think is cute and fun and also one that I could scoff at. She suggested we get his hearing checked. He's not saying quite as many words as they would like. But they also said to stop thinking of him as an 18mo old. They consider him a 16mo 24 days old baby. And of course they always say he's a boy and boys catch on slower than girls. (I always knew women could outsmart men.) I think his talking is getting ready to take off. He's vocal, squealing and babbling and a lot more in the last week.

I have pretty much been putting everything in front of this little guy. This time it was a cucumber and he actually bit a piece off and chewed it a little before spitting it out! I know, I get excited over the small stuff but small stuff leads to big improvements!

If you could zoom in on this pic you would see the red rash forming around his mouth. Long story short I think he has an egg allergy. He has broke out twice, common denominator was ranch dressing, ranch has egg yolk. Also, he had gotten the flu shot the day he started throwing up and diarrhea so horrible in February.  Coincidence? I think not. Doc says wait and see and try other things with eggs. I'm not sure I can elaborate on that without saying nasty things about the doc so I won't right now. :0)

Do you see how wide he is opening his mouth??!! I've never seen him open his mouth that wide for anything. Guess all we needed was a fudgecicle.

Do not pay attention to the lawn. This is a picture illustrating why the back door stays locked now. It was seconds and he must have been quite efficient at stepping out of the house because one second he's at the door and the next I look and he's standing on the patio. Yes, I do believe I've survived a heart attack.

He on the other hand was really proud of himself and just wanted to play some football.

Aunt Karen and I were filling out shower invites for Chelsi so Bricen and Daddy decided to play some rock band.

We finally did it!!! We have moved to the big boy bath (without the baby bathtub in it)! Daddy on the other hand still gives Bricen a bath with the baby bath and the headrest in the baby bath on top of the counter. I sure hope he cuts this out before the kid turns five.

This is my new favorite picture!!!! Random thought...when you tell Bricen to give you a kiss every once in a while he will give you wet sloppy kisses but for the most part he leans his forehead down for a kiss. Love it.

And with that face we will say goodnight!