May is gone and June is here!

We have truly been busy around here! We had house guests for a couple of days, one day of packing then we headed to see my family and friends (just M and me) for a week, then the day after we got home Brandon headed out for a training. The day after he got home his parents and sister and her family came and stayed for 5 days. That got us up to last Tuesday. Thursday and Friday were spent with a dear friend (momma to little L) who said good-bye to her dad early Saturday morning. Our hearts ache with them and their family. So that is the very short version of our May! I will unpack some of the highlights for you!

Updates on our little man:
~He is talking away and repeating many things we say. “Big Truck” is one of his favorite things to say. We are so thankful that daddy has a big truck in our garage. M is not a fan of stopping whatever he is doing for a diaper change (no matter how much he needs it) so reminding him that we will peak in the garage (where the diaper pail is stored) and see the big truck is very enticing.

~He is walking and even running well. He is still a bit stiff in the knees, but for 2 months of walking is doing amazingly well.

~He is still not a fan of big people food unless it is blended. No, he doesn’t have a chewing problem since he inhales about a package of rice cakes a day. Rice cakes are his favorite food, for sure! We have started adding plain peanut butter to them. He loves this and is a total mess when he is done, which for now I think is cute!

~He has been dairy free for over six weeks now and WOW has it changed him. He was once a very congested little guy with horrible digestion and now can go a long time without needing tissue and has much better poos! Great news on the bre@st milk front. I was able to pass along the milk to L’s mom so she would not have to worry about that during this hard time. I am so thankful that it is able to be used!

~Emotionally he is doing quite well. We keep rocking his world with guests and trips and schedules and he is taking it all in stride. He is doing so much better as we emerge from the cocoon. While visiting my family I was amazed and delighted to see him play with others and continually check-in with me. Once home he has been keeping up the pattern when we are with friends. The time in the cocoon and the continued focus on attachment have helped SO much. We still try very hard to cocoon every Monday. I know it won’t always be possible, but I try to not schedule anything for us that day. We do go on walks, but just the two of us. We read lots of books, listen to daddy’s message from the day before, dance, play, do laundry and relax. This doesn’t happen every week, but I try hard to make it happen because we both need it!

~ Sleeping? Well, overall, he is doing much better actually. When I think back to life when he was on dairy and pre-chiropractor I am shocked that we survived. He is still in our room, but that is a blessing because we feel like at this point we just all need sleep. He sleeps through the night in one sense. Yes, he wakes up several times, but as soon as I touch him he falls right back to sleep and I can do this in my sleep so I feel much more refreshed too. However, last night we had fireworks here. Yes, I live in a town that has MANY fireworks connected with many festivals each summer. Think Gilmore Girls’ Starshollow, seriously! We live up on a hill near the lake and at the perfect spot to really feel and hear the show. Poor M was SO SCARED that he was still shaking an hour after they were over. Today he was off all day. I am hoping tomorrow he will be back to his playful self.

~Napping: If he takes a morning nap he takes a better afternoon nap. If we skip the morning nap he will only take about 30 minutes in the afternoon and whine all evening. I am tired of systems to wean him from the am nap... it will happen when it happens :)

~After months of major stuffed animal fear he has fallen in love with “Kitty” a stuffed kitty that he carries around all the time. It is actually super sweet and enduring to see him show affection to the kitty. His new fear is grass!

~ He doesn’t like big car rides and cried (SCREAMED) for over two hours on the way to my parent’s house (8 total hours). I was thankful that we were their for a while so I could gear up for the ride home. Luckily he loves rest areas and really enjoys greeting every.single.person as they arrive. He says “hi” over and over getting louder and louder each time until the people respond. Good thing he is tiny and cute.

~Speaking of tiny, he continues to be at the .01 percentile for his height. I learned to start telling people “he is one” when they ask how old he is, because when I say “almost 22 months” I then have to tell a long story of failure to thrive, stunted growth etc. and those waiting in line at the grocery store were really just saying the baby equivalent of “how are you?” :) They expect “fine” so I give them “one” and they smile and say something like “and he is walking already” and I smile back and say that he has been for 2 months... and the conversation ends.

~ He continues to love his best friend L and they are so cute together. They defy all psychology books and actually engage with each other! What a blessing for them to have each other!

~I think I will let the photos (and M’s explanations of them) speak for themselves so I will save the details of our trip for a photo blog that I hope to do soon.

Updates on Brandon and Shelly:

~Really is there anything about us that is as interesting as things about our son? Most likely not, but I will write a few things anyway.

~Brandon finished his year of Next Network training in May. I know he is sad to say good-bye to his turbo group friends, but we are thankful that he no longer has to travel each month! We are so thankful for all the knowledge he has gained and the blessing that these training sessions and conferences have been. I know the Exponential conference is one that he will not soon forget!

~ I had a milestone night last Thursday night... I slept for over 9 hours for the first time in 2011!!!! Thursday night is Brandon’s night on duty with M and my night to recover from the last 6. Last week I didn’t wake up until 8:00am which felt amazing!

~I continue to want to blog about the book our Lifegroup read, and about vaccines, but it never seems to get done. To wet your appetite for the vaccine blog I will say that I have learned some things that shocked me! Did you know that many (most) vaccines are cultured using aborted human fetuses (yes, BABIES)? Well, I guess I gave away a huge part of my post, but for those of you who are pro-life and pro-vaccine, you have morally manufactured options, you just have to ask for them and know what you are talking about... in case I never write that blog post, google “morally manufactured vaccines” and you should find some good info.

~Brandon continues to preach through the book of Luke and I continue to truly enjoy each message when I listen to it later with M. We are still involved in a Lifegroup and are so blessed by the friendship, laugher, accountability, and joy it provides. I am done with iGnite for the year, but we finished the year very well and I left just amazed at the questions young children ask about God.

~Brandon meets weekly with some other men in the church for a more intense time of discipleship. It is such a blessing to him and I think to the men in the group. I am so thankful that he has this group. I am going to begin meeting with a high school girl each week for discipleship as well. We are very excited to begin studying Deuteronomy together. I have not gotten to meet with women as often as I did before M, but each time I am able to I am thankful.

~I am organizing “weekly weeders” for church this summer so I don’t have to weed each week. If it was left to me I am not sure it would ever get done. While my son might be scared of grass, he loves the street!

~We are starting a summer play group at area parks which I am very excited about. I know M will enjoy his Wednesday’s with the other children and I will enjoy the time I get to spend with the big people who love those little children!

~ This weekend we are going down to the City (like the actual City, one of the Big 3 in the US) and Brandon is speaking at a Gift of Adoption event. We are honored to be a part of this event and have been so blessed by Gift of Adoption.

~ In just 4 days we will celebrate 9 months since getting “the call” about our M. That is right, we have held him in our hearts for an entire pregnancy now. Each day the love grows, it is incredible!

~ Our summer schedule is being filled with Dr visits, trips to visit family, play dates, and church commitments. I continue to be in awe of our Sustaining Life giving Father in heaven who lavishes grace of me every day. Each day I am reminded more times than I can count of both my deep desire to try to control things and my total failure at trying to control things. I know that things work best when I live in surrender... and so I continue to yearn for surrender!!!