Brett's First Playdate

We received the news Thursday morning that Ms. Laura's furnace needed a break and her family was living in an ice box.  Brett's aunt Dana spent the day hanging with the boy, but headed out that that afternoon to miss the evening traffic.  Little did we know, Ms. Laura's furnace had truly bit the dust and a replacement would not come until Friday afternoon.  Unless we wanted to send Brett to Ms. Laura's in his new snowsuit, he needed to find somewhere to hang out and fast.  

Before I get too far into my story, please be aware that I try to pretend that I am clever, witty and have a way with words.  The truth is I really steal all my ideas from our dear friend Courtney.  She is actually the one with all the humor and she has more creativity in her pinkie than I in my entire body.  If you really want to be entertained you can see Brett's play date through her eyes. 

I called Courtney Thursday evening to beg her to take my son the following afternoon.  I didn't even finish my pleading before she happily agreed.  Brett was so excited to see his buddy Jace, he was full of smiles all morning.  

Once we arrived, the boys gave each other a nice pat on the back (a hug would have been too girly) and started their day.  

 

From the information I received, Brett was a party pooper and spent most of his morning napping.  This is probably best, because Courtney and Justin have more than just one small child to chase- they have two!  That's right, they graciously took my rugrat even though they have two children of their own.  I'm not sure how Courtney managed to wrangle three kids, under the age of three, for a day, but she did.  The worst part- she managed to bake us a batch of cookies as well.  Cody may begin to question his choice in wife if I'm not careful. 

Once Brett woke from his morning nap, he was full of energy. 

 

He was also pretty pumped about all the toys Jace and LC were willing to share.  Now, if he could just figure out how lean over without falling on his face, he might actually be able to play with some of those toys.

I knew Courtney and Justin would keep a good eye on Brett, but was a little concerned that he might come back with a few bruises.  Don't get me wrong, Courtney's children are sweet and adorable, but they are toddlers.  Jace and LC are older than Brett and they are both mobile.  In addition, even though Brett is bigger than most of his peers, he is a shrimp when next to Jace.  After reading Courtney's take on the day, I discovered this fear was ill founded.  While Jace enjoyed having Brett over, he did not particularly enjoy the loud, high pitched baby noises Brett made.  Therefore, he kept his distance for a chunk of the afternoon.  

All-in-all Brett's first play date was a success.  I know Brett had a great day, because he was out as soon as he got home.  A big thanks to Courtney, Justin, LC and Jace for coming to the rescue on such short notice! 

Our New Friend Pat

Cody, Brett and I had a very busy afternoon.  We started off at the lawyers office to finalize our trust, will, etc.  I highly recommend that everyone get this done, but this is especially important for parents of those that have children with special needs.   

We then headed to CMH for a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist.  Brett has put on more than 3 pounds since surgery (no wonder his nine month clothes are getting snug) and she said he was looking great.  We stopped fortifying Brett's bottles and quit giving him Lasix more than a week ago and there is no need go back.  Other than a strange lump near his incision, he was perfect.  The doc doesn't think it is an infection or anything else to worry about, but we need to keep an eye on it.  We were also given the all clear to resume therapies.  This is especially good news as we started back up more than 2 weeks ago.  I'm pretty positive that they told us one month, not 6 weeks, when we left the hospital.   

After a 2 hours visit at the hospital we headed home for a quick nap and bottle.  After Brett's power nap, the three of us headed out for a pretty cool encounter.  We met Pat and his mom.  Cody and I didn't know much about Down syndrome when Brett was born.  In fact, Brett was the first person we knew with Down syndrome.  Cody and I have gone to a few events with the DSG and have seen children playing in the distance, but we've never met any of them.  Our interactions with individuals with Down syndrome have been limited to those under the age of two.  That's why meeting Pat was so cool. 

Pat is a 24 year old with Down syndrome.  And he is a typical guys, guys.  He enjoys music, sports and most importantly giving his 3 brothers a hard time.  He and I enjoy watching many of the same TV shows.  He's witty and doesn't miss a beat in a conversation.  When I picked Brett up from his car seat, Pat said "he looks like me!"  Brett does have some of the same features as Pat and we can already tell that Brett will have the same love for music.  I wish I had a picture to share with you, as Pat lit up when he saw Brett and Brett was pretty interested in Pat.  However, I was not very prepared tonight and forgot our camera at home.

It was great meeting you guys this evening and I hope we can meet up again very soon.              

Look Up

Look up!  See those tabs above.  Those that say:  "Our Story", "Look How We've Grown" and "Movie Star."  If you click on those words you will get a quick background on our family, see some pictures and watch a few movies.   

One Month Down

It was just one month ago, December 2, 2010, when Brett was taken from my arms and his heart was stopped.  Several hours later, his heart began beating again and again.  The doctors placed pacemaker leads on his heart for precautionary reasons, but Brett's heart continued to beat on its' own.  One month may not seem like a big deal, but each day that we have a boy with a healthy heart is pretty awesome. 

The last month has been very challenging.  Brett has done amazingly well, but my patience has been tested.  However, the past week has gone by very smoothly.  Brett has been in such a good mood (probably from the Christmas high he has been on) and the fussiness had lessened.  He is still a lot more vocal, but I think that's just the new Brett.  My best guess is that he didn't have the energy to scream this much before surgery.  We are still up during the night, but it is beginning to be less with each passing week.

Brett will return to daycare and resume his therapies this week.  It will be nice to be back in a routine and have some normalcy.  However, it will be interesting to see how he adjusts.  He has never been a big fan of his therapies and has had it pretty cushy since surgery.  I've been a pretty big pushover and have been quick to scoop Brett up at the first sign of a tear.  I think that's what we moms do best.  I think he has Miss Laura wrapped around his finger pretty tight too. 

On a side note, Brett has been pacifier free for 3 weeks now.  He doesn't seem to miss it much.  We've replaced his addiction with a new one- stuffed animals!

Christmas Weekend

Wow, who knew someone so little could be in such high demand and get so many gifts!  Brett had a great Christmas.  We started off Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Hanavan's home.  Brett was super excited to see all of the gifts they had for him. 

We then headed to have Christmas with Great-Grandpa Hanavan.  Brett was unsure about the baby doll he received, but quickly warmed up to it when he realized that it spoke Brett's language.

We were able to catch up with Cody's family and Brett got to spend some quality with some of his favorite cousins (Peyton- 6 months, Ross- 22 months, Brett 7- months).  I'm pretty sure these kiddos were blinded by flashes by the time we were finished taking their picture.  Just think, 5 crazy women all snapping pictures at the same time.  They weren't sure where to look. 

Saturday, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma Peters' home to have a Christmas breakfast.  Once again, Brett was so pumped to see all the loot he was going to get.  You can definitely tell he is the first grand baby on both sides of the family.

He received a nice hat from his Aunt Dana.  It keeps his ears nice and toasty on those cold days.

Uncle Cory and Laura gave Brett a snowsuit for Christmas (among many other things).  The timing was perfect as Brett was able to see his first snow while we were visiting.  He was unsure about the cold, wet stuff, but ultimately decided it tasted alright.

We finally headed home Saturday evening, where Brett opened a few more gifts.  He didn't seem too enthused at this point.  Who knew a person could become bored with opening presents. 

Our last stop was Christmas with the Meyers.  Brett must have gotten a second wind, because he was back to his usual self.

However, Brett was sure glad to be home and able to sleep in his own bed. 

Overall, Brett's first Christmas was a great one.  We are very lucky to have such great family. We hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful and we look forward to the start of a new year.