A little update

Friday both Stephen and Braden were having drainage. :-(   So was Grayson but not as badly.  Then Grayson decided to get the nasty coughing all nite with yellow snotties on Sat morning and I just knew he had to have an ear infection.  Last nite Braden had the ugly coughing all nite but today after seeing the Doctor they seem pretty good.  Much to my surprise neither has an ear infection.  Just the usual redness that comes with a cold virus.  Great news is Braden seems to be handling being sick better than Grayson. lol  I never thought that would happen EVER.  I guess it's his huge growth spurt that rivals any he has had in the past.  He is a whopping 37 and 1/2 inches tall and weighs 33 lbs 4 ozs.  That's a no clothing weight too. :-)  So much to be proud of... Grayson is also growing.  He weighed in at 22 lbs 4 ozs.  Funny they stay exactly 10 pounds apart now with every weigh in.   Grayson is wearing 18-24 month clothing and seems tall.  But we did not get a height on him today.  He turns 2 in May.  Wow!!! can you believe it?  We will get a new height and weight on him with his 2 year Ped. checkup. 

We have a rough draft on our March of Dimes T-shirts and I just wanted to remind everyone that if you would like a shirt please let me know asap.  nnyl1806@comcast.net.  We will need to have our order completed by the 1st week in March.  I want to make sure they come in on time for the walk.  That is for those walking and if your not you can still buy a t-shirt to support the cause.  Thanks so much in advance to all who support this year's giving back to other preemies and their families.  We are so blessed and thankful for our Braden and all the new technology and research that has brought him farther than we ever imagined he might go. 

March of Dimes T-shirts

Hello everyone - If anyone would like a T-shirt for this years March of dimes walk please email us your size and number of t-shirts wanted.  The shirts will range from $11 to $13.  Youth sizes may be a dollar or so less will have to check.  Either way part of the proceeds will go as a donation to MOB.  If you are not walking you can still buy a T-shirt.  This year we are doing a templated custom shirt.  So it will have a picture of Braden when he was born and one of his most recent photos. :-)  It's really nice and will be a light blue with white and black lettering.  My email to order is nnyl1806@comcast.net or if you are on Facebook please feel free to send me a message or post on my wall.  As always thank you for your support. 

We had a wonderful week last week.  Nana visited and we were all able to get haircuts and do alot of errands that can't be done without help. We also had to buy a new washer as our one from just 4 years ago died. :-(  We had to use Nana's washer while trying to find a new one.  Thankful we didn't have to go to the laundry mat.  The boys are about the same. Growing like weeds and becoming more and more active daily.  They are really keeping us busy.  Especially right before bedtime.  From 5 to 8 pm they literally wear us both out.  lol  Add in the dog and we are struggling just to eat dinner.  Sometimes we just have to wait till they are in bed.  We often say how we never could imagine what Braden is able to do today.  So despite all the craziness we are VERY thankful. 

New growth

Braden is almost 32 lbs if not already. His new feeding plan of 1300-1500 calories per day is packing on the pounds. In fact he isn't meeting that goal daily. He gets 1200 to 1300. I haven't pushed for more because this time last month he was 30 lbs 4 oz. A significant jump for not being on a push for maximum growth. So I have emailed his nutritionist to see if she wants to make any adjustments. I am still unable to get Braden to drink anything but water and I am still having trouble with new foods. But we are making great progress with using a fork. Braden is also brushing his teeth by himself. Of course as all Mom's do I go behind him to make sure it's a good enough job but we are very proud of him. He has made huge strides towards independence. He has never been as I call Grayson a go getter. He usually needs prompting for task and has been hesitant to follow directions. However lately he has exploded with motivation. He climbs into his bed consistently by himself. He is actually helping get in and out of his carseat. He runs down the hill when we walk out of the house. He comes to you when you ask him too. He actually strategically plans to get to what he wants by climbing counters, chairs, shelves. He has learned some from his brother but also I think he has just had another one of his bursts of development. We love those times because it's so sudden and encouraging to see him just a little closer to catching up with his peers. He has also been asking daily to watch his Elmo potty time video. So I thought I would do a trial run this week. I have his charts, stickers, potty seats, big boy pants and M&M's ready to begin. I do not have any expectations as I totally don't expect to accomplish anything but awareness and some new level of understanding. The real training will begin this summer when we can train more outside. But I do have towels couch covers and things in place to keep accidents from ruining our house. Our carpets have already seen one family with young kids so they really won't look any worse from us. I know for sure Grayson is not ready so we won't be working with him just yet. I would love for Braden to be trained before G. I just think it would be easier on us. This trial run will help me especially to know if I have a good plan in place and if Braden gets excited about the reward system. It will also help me figure out how his schedule works. Tube fed kiddos are a lot different to work with than non tube fed. They pee a lot more is one difference and that in itself complicates things.

Grayson is doing good too. He loves to dance and is a big fan of music. He will crawl in your lap and clap when he wants you to sing "when your happy and you know it". He likes to stump his feet and march in circles. He loves big knob puzzles and he loves the fridge magnets from leap frog that are the alphabet. He plays with them on the art easel. He also does really well drawing his up and down lines on the chalkboard. We have enjoyed two gifts that the boys love. Their animal baby mags and their high five mags. Both have short stories and activities. We read stories before bed and we have done several of the activities during the day. We have enjoyed activities like soaring like an eagle and imitating motions like a kite.

I will be mentioning March of dimes in every post till the walk. We really encourage your support and thank you for the continued support you've given Braden for the past 4 years. Please see the previous post for information on how to participate and a link to our March for babies web page.

March for Babies - Our babies please :-)

It's that time of year again.  The Nashville March for Babies is April 22nd at Centinnel park.  Would you like to donate to a great cause?  Would you like to join our team to walk in honor of our Super Hero Braden and in the memory of our precious daughter Kaleigh?  Here is the link to sign up or donate or both today. :-)  Your support is GREATLY appreciated.  We love this time of year.  It's our chance to give back and help others save their preemie babies and help prevent premature birth all together. 

http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?pp=3596480&ct=4&w=5236618&u=bradenandkaleigh

A pic from 2011 walk.  What a gorgeous day it was and what an awesome event and turn out.  If you would like a T-shirt this year please let me know.  Part of the proceeds go towards the March of Dimes and we are looking into custom shirts this year.  If interested please email me at nnyl1806@comcast.net.  Thanks again for everyone's support.