19 Months

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to update everyone on how well our little man is doing! He is now 19 months old - can you believe it. He is finally getting over a really bad ear infection and is on day 19 of antibiotics (the amoxicillian didnt work after 9 days of it) and is ready to work really hard.

He is doing very well with his oral motor program. He is able to eat a half of a dry cheerio without choking and not using his tongue as much as he used to when taking the food off the spoon. He is also working hard on holding his spoon and eating food off his fingers. He is also all done with his bottle!!! We are only using sippy cups now and he is doing very well with it. He's such a big boy!!!

Brandon wants to talk so bad - he has been talking up a storm and trying out all new sounds. He also loves to make his noises while he is biting on his hand from his 2 new teeth that are coming in! He is also interacting with us a lot and is always so full of smiles. We had music group this week and they had him sit on a plastic bucket with his feet on the floor at a 90 degree angle. He has a blast! (grammie Anderson came with us too!). It was the most I had ever seen him participate in this group. He was holding the instruments and banging his hands and talking. A lot of the time he gets too comfy in my lap and falls asleep so this was AWESOME! At one point I was moving him around to dance while he was sitting and he stood right up! He also has been initiating standing a lot more. His neck is much stronger we just have to work on his balance and trunk strength now.

We are going to a vision conference this Saturday. It is at Perkins School for the Blind in MA. Keith will be on the father panel (its a small group of fathers who will answer questions and talk to other families. I have been asked to facilitate the CVI group parent support group! It should be fun and we got a lot of good information last year and met some really great people. I have also been voted in to the Governors Board for Children with Visual Impairments. This is a group that consists of vision teachers, eye dr, tech people and so on. Our job is to write the agenda for RI and find ways to implement it. It meets once a month and I have already learned so much.

Hope everyone is well. xoxoxox

This is B Speech pathologist and Parents as Teachers working with him on his oral motor program.

We switched Brandons stander around so he wouldn't have any back support (prone) - his neck is getting much stronger!

Daddy's helping me learn how to feed myself!

Spring Time!

Hi everyone -

Happy Easter! Hope everyone had a wonderful day. We spent it with family in Connecticut and had a great day (and ate waaaayyyy to much!) We are all dry now from the huge rainstorm. We were very fortunate to have had only a little water in our basement and nothing was damaged. A lot of people around us weren't as lucky.

We toured Perkins a few weeks ago and loved it! They put vision and language and communication first. It would be a wonderful opportunity for Brandon, but now we just have to see if the town will place him there. It is a verrrrrry expensive school. We also participated in the Hasbro Radioathon. My mom and I were interviewed by WPRO 630AM. It was a lot of fun (a little nervewracking at first though!) They raised more than $450,000 in 2 days!!!

Library group started back up for us. Today I got a library card and took out some books for Brandon. He is finally getting more teeth - he has a total of 6 now with one that is coming through as I type. I feel so bad because I can tell that it is hurting him. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and doing lots of tummy time and sitting outside. He loves to grab the grass with his hands, but doesn't like it touching his feet - he is tooo cute! He scrunches his legs up like a frog when I try to have him stand in it!

Hope all is well with everyone. We are going to tour another daycare/preschool tomorrow that is closer to home (Cranston). I'll let you all know how it goes!

xoxox Jenn, Keith and Brandon

B is very tired after a great Easter!

Brandon and grandpa on Easter changing into cooler clothes - what a beautiful day! (he has his little chain on - sooo cute!)

Brandon and his great grandpa

Practicing sitting in the grass. He's such a big boy!

The fresh air made him tired!

B hanging out with his cousin Anthony who really wants a turn hitting the bell!

This is where the radioathon was and were my mom and I sat when Dan Yorke (pictured) interviewed us.

Brandon getting his 4th haircut!

This is the new positioner seat that we are looking at. He fits very well in it. Right now he leans his head almost on his tray when he is in his highchair. He needs a more supportive chair.