A Morning in My Life

As I was running errands with Teddy this morning, it occurred to me that we probably provide some entertainment for others when we're out and about. I thought I'd share our morning, so you can be entertained as well.

5:30 a.m. Dave wakes me up before he leaves for work, but he warns me I might want to stay under the blankets longer. The house was 54 degrees when he woke up for work, instead of the usual 67. It turns out that when Teddy hauled in the step ladder from the garage yesterday and was standing on top of it by the thermostat that he turned on the AC, so we had no heat running all afternoon or night.

He apparently knew he was turning off the heat, hence his coat.

6:00 a..m. I finish my 15 minutes of yoga and 7-minute workout as AJ comes downstairs. When he learns that he has a play date tomorrow morning at his friend's house, he suggests I invite Teddy's friend Max to our house at the same time. Hmm, good idea.

6:45 a.m. AJ feeds the rest of his French toast to Teddy, flying each bite into Teddy's mouth. I don't complain that someone other than me is feeding Teddy. (Not complaining about dinner either because Dave usually takes the lead on wrestling Teddy, who no longer wants to sit at the table most of the time.)

7:00 a.m. I text Max's mom to see if tomorrow works for a play date. It sounds like a possibility. 

7:15 a.m. AJ gets on the bus. Teddy can't wait for nicer weather when he can go play outside every morning until AJ gets on the bus because Teddy always stares out the window watching everyone else play. (I'm just not up to getting him all bundled up in snowpants and boots when both of us are still in our pajamas in winter.)

8:00 a.m. We've played magnets along with opening the refrigerator about 20 times. I don't find that particularly fun, but Teddy most certainly does.

8:30 a.m. We head up to Appleton for grocery shopping.

9:00 a.m. I struggle to get Teddy's feet into the holes in the shopping card. I blatantly disregard the weight limit and ponder if I'll need to take off his shoes to get him out.

9:15 a.m. A couple chuckles at Teddy holding a giant bag of pretzels while I try to store everything possible under the cart where he can't reach it.

9:30 a.m. Moment of truth. Groceries are out of the cart, and now it's time to remove Teddy. I size up the situation and decide I need more leverage than I can get from standing on the group trying to maneuver Teddy above most of my body. I put one foot on the cart corral and the other on the bottom of the shopping cart to lift Teddy out. Both his feet wiggle out fairly easily, and I'm quite proud of myself until I realize what that must have looked like to everyone else.

9:45 a.m. We're at the next store, and I just can't muster the effort to get Teddy into and out of another shopping cart. So I load Teddy on my back using a soft-sided carrier. Then I proceed to ask the first person I see to help me adjust the back of the carrier. I walk away telling Teddy that I have no pride left.

9:50 a.m. Teddy is excited to be in the carrier. I know this because he is bouncing up and down. That does not make it easy for me to walk with 46 lbs. of flailing on my back. At least he's happy.

10:00 a.m. I regret not grabbing a cart because I was only picking up one thing. I miraculously manage to carry two packages of chicken, two bags of salad and a giant container of olives in my arms with Teddy on my back.

Smiles, sunshine and sweat. He's heavy. ;-)

10:15 a.m. I call for the fourth time on a records request to get EEG discs to the National Institutes of Health. I discover that I need to call yet another place for one of the EEGs. I'm not happy with this since I've been trying to get these records since February 1.

10:45 a.m. We arrive at the library to pick up my books that are on hold. I always request books to be put on hold, so I can walk in, grab them and walk out. I know it's more work for them, but it makes life much easier than trying to find a particular book while wrangling Teddy. I put the carrier on but decide to be brave and let Teddy walk. He's much better than last time and doesn't try escaping multiple times. Success!

10:50 a.m. I hear back that my original EEG request is being processed and should arrive by the middle of next week. I feel much better than I got such a quick, positive response.

11:00 a.m. I unload groceries while Teddy climbs into the trunk. Then I put away the groceries while Teddy plays in the car and turns the key partially. Thankfully, he honked the horn loudly to let me know he was being a stinker, so I got the keys away from him.

11:10 a.m. I make Teddy lunch while calling on the other EEG records.

11:15 a.m. Teddy eats his lunch, partially while sitting and partially while wandering through the kitchen.

11:30 a.m. I change Teddy and make sure he's ready for school with his backpack, talker and coat. He puts on my vest and then makes me wear my vest. He's getting so good with zippers.

11:40 a.m. Teddy's van arrives to take him to school. He's so excited he jumps up when I open the van door. (He is just starting to be able to jump, which is so fun!) I buckle him in and wish the driver a good day.

11:41 a.m. Freedom! I have no children until just after 3 p.m.

"Good job Teddy!"

As I was upstairs this evening finishing laundry and dishes, I heard AJ exclaim from downstairs, "Good job Teddy!" I immediately stopped what I was doing to listen to the exchange and heard AJ praise Teddy again.

This spontaneous praise, when only the two of them were in the room together, stopped me in my tracks. The thing is it's not unusual to hear AJ praise Teddy. It happens at least every couple days, if not every day. Or, AJ will try to encourage Teddy to do something new or different ... to teach him a new skill, as AJ would say.

These two are the best of buds. (Except when they're not.)

Lately I've been pondering how having Teddy as a brother molds AJ now and will impact AJ in the future. This is something that's always in the back of my mind, but Dave questioned me about it a few days ago and then I read an article on 8 ways children are affected by having a sibling with a disability. I know there will be challenges, frustrations and difficult conversations in the future.

But for now, I'll cherish the empathy and compassion I see developing in AJ. At a party today, a group of kids ran into a bedroom, shut and locked the door with Teddy on the outside. I called inside to AJ and asked him how he felt when earlier the girls had excluded him by saying "No boys allowed" and how he thought Teddy might feel being left out of the fun. Almost instantly, with just that prompt, he unlocked the door and encouraged Teddy to come inside.

When he told me his classmate didn't have crayons on the bus this past Friday, he also told me that he shared his crayons with her. (Good thing he took that larger pack rather than the 4-pack I had suggested. Oh yeah, that might have led to one of the meltdown I mentioned earlier.) He also gave that girl the picture he colored because she really liked it.

I'm certainly not saying that you need to have a sibling or family member with a disability to become a compassionate, empathetic person. But, at least for AJ, I see that as one of the benefits of having Teddy as his brother. He's learning to be more compassionate, empathetic and inclusive at a much younger age than most.

The Day Teddy Asked to Play Outside

When it snowed yesterday, AJ begged to play outside. I let him get bundled up to play on the deck while I retrieved Teddy from not napping (story of my life). At first when Teddy came downstairs, he was content playing with AJ through the glass door, each of them licking the glass on their respective sides. While they were occupied, I took some garbage to the garage.

Teddy immediately came to me as soon as I got back in the house. He grabbed my hand and led me to the glass door. Then he put my hand on the door handle and looked up at me.

Teddy asked me, clear as day, to go play outside with AJ. He did this without saying a word. He did this without crying to get what he wanted.

How could I not comply with his request? I bundled him up and sent him out to the deck, where he dragged around a snow shovel, licked somewhat clean snow, was dragged around on a snow shovel and licked the outside of the glass door.

Look at that nice squat!

Me, I stayed inside, smiling as my boys had fun playing outside together. But I have to wonder, how many other times has Teddy asked me something or told me something that I've completely missed?

When's the Last Time You Called Poison Control?

Based on the title of this post alone, you know it's going to be a good one, right?

Let me share a little bit about our day, which can mostly be captured with my Facebook posts. Here's the first one, shortly after my first failed attempt to put Teddy down for a nap:

Snowman fun after baking the pizza AJ made at school. Teddy is not in the picture because he insisted on heading to the neighbor's house repeatedly. It's not his fault. They invited him over. I mean, their garage door was open, so that's like an open invite to Teddy. 
 

AJ was waving the snowman's arm.

I swear that an open garage door, or better worse yet, an open door on a vehicle emits this strange frequency that only Teddy can here, summoning his presence. Once our neighbors left their vehicle hatch open for an extended period, presumably drying out something inside the vehicle. Let's just say we had to go inside because we couldn't keep Teddy in our yard. Today I chased him down at least three times as he headed to the neighbor's house. Had I let him be, I'm sure he would have been happily inside playing with their little girls' toys or trying to climb into their fishing boat.

Would it be rude of me to bake all our neighbors cookies and deliver them with a request to keep their garage doors and vehicle doors shut?

Fast forward about an hour later when Teddy should be tired from playing outside. Nap time, round two. He seems to be settling down after some of his usual thumps, so I decide to get a head start baking birthday treats for Dave (and eat lunch since it's 1:30 p.m.) Maybe he fell asleep, but wait, did I just hear him? Hmm, that's a lot of thumping, but he's not upset, so we'll finish up our baking (and LEGO time for AJ). Oops, he's crying. Better go rescue him.

30 minutes later came my next Facebook post:

Good news-Teddy used his fine motor skills to open a bottle with a twisting motion. 

Bad news-he did it when he was supposed to be napping.

Worse news-it was a bottle of Tylenol from the diaper bag hanging in his closet.

Best news-Poison Control says he'll be just fine, even if the bottle was full before he got it open. (And there's a chance he ate none. He won't tell me.)

Then he was playing in the toilet twice while I was on the phone with Poison Control. Sometimes I wish he wasn't developing all these skills ... eh, I just realize he use them more appropriately.

This is the second time I've had to call Poison Control. Fortunately both were relatively minor incidents with no significant risk of harm, so instead of panicking I simply felt guilty about being a bad parent as I made the call. For some reason, I'd much rather call his pediatrician's office than Poison Control, even though I know the nurse is going to tell me to call Poison Control.

Based on comments to my Facebook post, quite a few other parents make use of this valuable resource. (Seriously, I appreciate their knowledge, calm demeanor and let's not forget their non-judgemental responses.) And I had one other person who has children with the same type of diagnosis as Teddy share a picture of her son after he drank from the toilet, imitating their family dog.

Sure, I could have posted pictures of the cupcakes I baked and just our snowman, but that doesn't tell the rest of the story that happened during the making of those events. Sometimes, folks, we just need to keep it real.

Swim Class

Teddy absolutely loves water. He's always super excited to go swimming in a pool (or splash in it or drink the delicious chlorinated pool water). So I was excited to find an Adapted Aquatics class through the YMCA for something like $40 for 10-12 classes. This class is specifically designed for people with disabilities ages 3 and older. What I didn't realized when I enrolled Teddy is that his teachers would be students at the local university, UW-Oshkosh.

This Adapted Aquatics class is a course that students take as part of their physical education curriculum to learn how to adapt their teaching style to different disabilities. Teddy is matched with two students who are his teachers for the entire semester, and they work with him for an hour in the pool each week. Teddy is the youngest child in the class probably by a few years, but he's also one of the happiest. I swear he has a smile on his face most of hour (except when he's slurping up some pool water). Teddy was one of the last to leave the pool this week and kept trying to guide his teachers back to the pool instead of coming to me.

 "Seriously, guys, the pool is right there! Where are we going? There's still water right there! Oh, hi mom."

Playing peek-a-boo with his teacher.

I won't lie. Part of the reason I love swim class is because I'm not in the water with Teddy. I'm happy not to get almost drowned because he's half my height and is a lot to manage for a full swim class (so it helps he has two teachers). The other part is swim class gives a whole hour that I get to watch how much fun Teddy has without having to be the one responsible for his safety. That's a rare, rare thing because if I'm around Teddy, I'm responsible for him. Swim class is the chance I get to just enjoy the fun my child is having, laugh at his silliness and be amazed at new things he's doing. And I get to see how much fun everyone else is having as well without my focus solely being on Teddy.

His teachers are amazing with him!

I think this class is a wonderful experience for the UW-Oshkosh students and a true benefit for the those receiving the lessons. Kudos to whoever created this class and to all those who continue to make it a reality.

Check out Teddy making a basket!

Biking Boy

Teddy always enjoys climbing on (and then off ... and then on ... and then off ...) every bike we own, even the ones that are obviously too big for him. He scoots around using his feet and thinks he's pretty cool. He's also been practicing biking occasionally at physical therapy, and we've had plans to adapt a tricycle at home for him for months. (The idea is to enlarge the peddles, and secure his feet into the peddles.) The farthest we've gotten is his grandpa cut out the foot peddles for us a few weeks ago.

And then this happened today at physical therapy:

The best response was Dave's when he saw the video:

"My lil HERO!!!! I'm not sure children are suppose to inspire their parents as much as he does for me!!! Guess I got to get those foot pads on our trike!!"

First First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for both my boys: 4k for AJ and early childhood for Teddy. Someone asked me if it felt like the years flew by that AJ was already heading to school. I joked I'd been waiting for this day for 5 years (even though AJ isn't even 5 yet) since it was really difficult for me to leave work when he was born. And then I said the emotions about AJ going to school were really overshadowed by Teddy because Teddy alters our perspective on everything.

If we didn't have Teddy, I'm sure AJ's first day of school would have been more emotional for us. Instead, nearly all our nerves were wrapped into worrying about Teddy. We're excited for AJ, but it's easy because he's thrilled to go to school and has had so much fun the past two days. He comes home ready to show off anything he has, even a piece of paper in his folder that I need to complete, and rattles off everything he can remember about his day (which still doesn't include the names of anyone from his classroom, even his teacher).

It's harder with Teddy because at best I'll get a note or a quick statement of how his day went. He can't tell me anything about what he did, if he got hurt (like AJ who had someone step on his foot today) and who his friends are.

All smiles before school!

But, I know in my heart that he will love school. He will learn amazing new things. He will win over his teachers and therapy team with his smile, charm and personality. He will make new friends and learn to play with them in at least a somewhat socially acceptable manner. His smile as I picked him up yesterday told me that he had fun. (It did help to hear from his teacher, though, that he had a good day.)

I love how much these two love each other!

And another positive note: given their track record in day care settings, I'm quite proud to report that neither one has been kicked out of school yet. (I'm serious ... they've both been booted from day care ... and almost got booted together for a second time before we pulled them.)

Jump Around

Happy 4th of July to you! We spent the weekend up north with Dave's family, which is an awfully fun place for our boys to explore and play with their cousins. They enjoyed the swing set, the sand box, the trampoline and the assortment of tractors, 4-wheelers and lawn mowers. Teddy's favorite thing is to rotate among all the vehicles, climb onto one, sit there proudly for 30 seconds and then move onto the next one.

As I watched Teddy's younger cousin bouncing happily on the trampoline, I was wistful for a few moments. Although Teddy likes to be bounced on the trampoline, he's a long way from independently jumping on the trampoline. The moment passed as I went to chase Teddy to the next climbing obstacle. (For the record, he's fairly safe with all except for the tractor. That's where I spot him pretty closely.)

Later that night, Teddy was supremely excited to be near his bigger cousins and brother playing on the air mattress. Teddy was standing near the extra-tall mattress, swinging his arms into the bed to bounce it. That's when I noticed that he was jumping at the same time. I kept watching in amazement as he jumped in excitement. He was stabilized by the bed, but he was jumping in his own way. That accomplishment swept away that wistfulness from earlier in the day.

Our fun continued with swimming at the lake, ice cream at town and more time playing with cousins. Teddy managed probably the funniest moments of the weekend simply by being himself. When we were tossing horseshoes, Teddy was buckled in the stroller to keep him contained away from flying metal objects. Well, he reached around, snagged a Mike's hard lemonade from the drink stand atop the stroller and proceeded to do a nice long pour from high in the air covering himself. Thankfully, his aim isn't so swell, so he only got a taste. He certainly had quite the style ... a classic Teddy moment. (And if you think about all the fine motor skills to pull off that escapade, well, that's like a whole session of OT in less than a minute.)

The other classic Teddy moment was also a testament to how far his fine motor skills have come. At breakfast this morning, his younger cousin was eating watermelon next to him. All the adults warned her to keep her fork away from Teddy, but Teddy decided he needed more watermelon. He quickly reached across his body, grabbed her fork and shoved her watermelon in his mouth in one smooth move. None of us could stop him, partly because he was that fast and partly because we were laughing so hard. (We did make Teddy share a bite of cookie in exchange for the pilfered fruit.)

For all the times I let myself become melancholy about the struggles Teddy faces and how much harder those struggles make life, Teddy manages to do something amazing ... and often hilarious. It's his way, and God's way, of reminding me to let Teddy be Teddy. He's amazing in his own right. 

Together Again

It's a beautiful day in the Blondheim household. My boys were reunited this evening after Dave being gone nearly two weeks for a work vacation, as AJ called it. All of us survived, but we were equally happy to see each other.

AJ was helping Teddy look at the camera.

Of course, we had a party for Papa coming home, complete with balloons, signs, streamers, party hats and presents. AJ was so excited to find this gigantic party hat at the Dollar Tree because Dave never wears party hats because "they are too small" for his head. AJ found one that wasn't too small for his head. (Me, I just laughed and put it in the cart. Mom has to have some fun when Dad is roaming through Rome.)

How to Create an Integrated Tumbling Class ... as Described by a 4-Year-Old

AJ is taking a tumbling/gymnastics class this summer through the rec department in Oshkosh. It's one of those things where he cries and throws a fit that he doesn't want to go and then has a splendid time. (I signed him up solely for the socialization to help him develop those skills.)

After his first class, he asked about Teddy taking gymnastics. I explained that Teddy is too young this year because you have to be at least 3 to take this class. I said Teddy would be old enough next year. AJ informed me there were some things they did in class that Teddy already knows how to do, like bear crawling. AJ said there were some things that Teddy would need help with, like the activities that involve jumping. "It's OK, Mama. I will tell the teacher, 'You can help Teddy with this.'"

There you have how to integrate a child with different abilities into a gymnastics class through the rec department. Do what you can how you can and ask for help when you need it. That's truly how simple it can be for a child like Teddy. I hope the Oshkosh rec department feels the same way next summer. If not, I guess I'll just have AJ explain it to them. (Because, by golly, Teddy sees all those mats and wants to join the fun!)

Flying Solo

So Dave has been gone for work for more than a full week ... and we still have to wait until Friday evening for him to come home. He left last Sunday early in the afternoon to head to Europe for work. He spent the first week touring different companies in Switzerland, Italy and Germany, including BMW. That is exactly the type of thing that fills his bucket, so I'm glad he had the opportunity. He's spent this weekend sightseeing in Rome, which has been amazing for him, and he'll spend the rest of the week in Italy for the first run with a die-casting tool his company is purchasing.

As AJ calls it, it's Papa's vacation. Dave was creative enough to take along a Lego pirate captain to photograph for AJ in different places on his journey. It's been great for AJ to see all the different places where Papa has been. (And Dave got frisked by German airport security for having a Lego sword in his pocket.)

We've been able to talk on the phone briefly more days than not and have managed to Skype once or twice. The 7-hour time difference makes that a bit challenging. AJ enjoys seeing Papa with Skype and talking to him, and Teddy gets so excited to hear Dave's voice. I can only imagine how excited both boys will be to see Dave again.

I give all the credit in the world to single parents, military spouses during deployments and other parents who are solely responsible for the health, safety, happiness and all other aspects of their children's lives. I dreaded Dave leaving so much that I knew I'd be better once he left. And I was.

We've managed to finish a week of AJ's swim class, thanks to our sitter handling Teddy all those nights. We started AJ's tumbling class with the amount of tears I expected from him. We all had fun at the Children's Museum for Teddy's 0-3 session. I've managed to escape to work a few days (with one more scheduled this week). We spent the weekend playing with the boys' cousins. The lawn is mowed, the garden is (finally) weeded, strawberries are jammed and I got my long run done this weekend.

Teddy's been putting himself to sleep every night except when we were at Grandma's house. It was rough the first night and again tonight after the weekend at Grandma's. He's had one night where I got to keep him company from 3:30-5:15 a.m., but at least he was tired enough that I was able to doze off and on in his room instead of wide awake Teddy who wants to play.

Teddy and I have taken advantage of our friends and family to spend some time together. We went to the local water park last Sunday, and Teddy had the best time. We went down the water slide 12 times! (Imagine me carrying a wet, slippery Teddy and a tube up 2 flights of stairs. Yeah, after two times, we switched to the slide that didn't require a tube, which Teddy liked even better.) We stopped on the water slide after my wrist was literally numb from carrying my lovable lunk. We may have looked extremely ungraceful exiting the lazy river, but neither of us drowned, so it was a success.

I'm smiling because I'm done hauling Teddy up the stairs for the slide.

I greatly appreciate all the help, whether it's a friend offering to take AJ for ice cream or for a sleepover. As I told my folks, for these two weeks, I'm all about leveraging the odds in my favor of surviving with some of my sanity.

Party Like You've Been Seizure Free for a Year

In case you thought I was kidding about celebrating today as the anniversary of one year since Teddy's last seizures, I wasn't. We really had a party for him tonight.

One happy boy with his cupcake!

It was just a small gathering with my friend and her daughters, which was perfect. Her younger daughter plays so well with AJ, and her older daughter adores Teddy. We made homemade pizza, ate delicious cupcakes and simply spent time together.

Dollar Tree is the best for simple parties.

We also had balloons, which Teddy loves, party favors and decorations. Like I said, it's a day to celebrate, and celebrate we did.

Word of warning: never buy these whistles. They are the definition of annoying.

Today We Celebrate

Today is a good day. An amazing day. A day to celebrate.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Teddy being seizure free. Teddy's last seizures were on Father's Day on June 21, 2015. Here's my Facebook memory from a year ago: Happy father's days to all the dads, especially Mike Kassie and Dave Blondheim. I'd be lost without you guys. On a positive note, AJ drew his first picture of a person tonight-a picture of Teddy to make him feel better after he had another seizure. Right now Teddy is sleeping with ice packs under him, trying to keep the fever from spiking again and causing more seizures. Obviously Keppra isn't going to stop him from ever seizing again, not that I really thought that but it was nice to pretend.

Some children with this diagnosis have frequent, at times uncontrollable, seizures. We've been extremely fortunate that Teddy's only had seizures every couple months or so, starting when he was 5 1/2 months old. Don't be fooled by the word "only." That word describes the frequency, not the fact that each seizure episode ripped our lives apart, scared us beyond belief, at times entailed an ER trip and took a few weeks each time to ease back into normalcy. Although I'm grateful for the relative rarity of Teddy's seizures compared to what could be, in ways I think it made each episode harder because we got up our hopes that he wouldn't have more ... that he had outgrown them ... that we were safe not to worry constantly ... and then the next episode would happen and shake not only Teddy but our entire world.

This was our first ER trip for seizures on New Year's Day 2014.

We put Teddy on Keppra in May 2015 after switching neurologists to a wonderful doctor who engages Teddy and asks us each visit, "What is on your heart?" (Beyond that, rumor is he's pretty darn smart, too.) It's not that our former neurologist didn't recommend Keppra, but we never got our questions answered to the extent that we felt comfortable putting Teddy on an anti-seizure medication with potentially serious side effects. The Father's Day episode one year ago were the first, and only to date, seizures since putting Teddy on Keppra. (It was one of those two-for-one seizure specials he sometimes has. Technically his last seizure was at 1 a.m. June 22, which is why this post will go up at 2 a.m. June 22.) After that, we increased his Keppra for about a month until we couldn't stand how miserable he was. We decreased his dose just in time to enjoy Teddy's true personality again for a family vacation. Since then, we've tweaked his Keppra twice to accommodate his growth and keep him in the therapeutic range of the medicine.

But that's enough medical history. Today we celebrate.

We ignore how much more the next seizure will shake our world because we've gotten so comfortable. We don't get our hopes up that in another year Teddy might be able to wean off anti-seizure medication. We don't relive the past. We don't worry about the future. There's time enough for that on other days.

Today we eat delicious peanut butter cheesecake brownie cupcakes. (Teddy told me that's what he wanted. I read his mind. Or my mind.) Today we make homemade pizza with friends. Today we play with balloons. Today we celebrate and are grateful for this milestone.

Fun Family Weekend

We headed to my family's farm this weekend in Colby. It's where I grew up, and I love bringing the boys there to get a taste of farm life, even though my folks haven't had their dairy cows in 15 years. We had a fantastic weekend, filled with birthday and father's day celebrations and plenty of fun.

These boys are my world! All smiles for a 4-wheeler ride!

Saturday morning we headed to a dairy breakfast, which is a Wisconsin tradition for June dairy month. A dairy breakfast is essentially breakfast served at a farm, highlighting dairy products and showcasing a farm for the general public. This dairy breakfast served pancakes, sausage, cheese curds, donut holes, milk/coffee and ice cream, which is pretty standard for a dairy breakfast. After breakfast, we watched them milking cows in a huge carousel milking parlor and rode a school bus around the farm to check out the operation. Teddy thought it all was pretty cool, especially the tractor he got to ride behind to go back to our car.

We spent Saturday afternoon playing outside, splashing in a small pool and playing with hoses, taking breaks to watch the neighbors make hay in the nearby field. AJ thought it was pretty neat to watch the huge round baler "poop out" giant bales of hay. Teddy, of course, thought the tractors were cool.

Teddy's favorite part of the weekend, though, was the golf cart rides. My grandpa has a golf cart that he uses to travel the mile between where he lives and my parents' house. Both boys love going for rides, and this was the first time that AJ really drove it by managing the steering wheel. He'd cackle like a maniac and steer as close as possible to all obstacles without trying to actually hit them. (He only managed to run over one rain gutter ...) Teddy thinks golf cart rides are the best thing in the world, and he's perfectly happy just hanging out on the golf cart when it's not moving.

Teddy's not afraid of AJ's driving. I think he's the only one though.

My favorite part of the weekend was watching my grandpa with Teddy. . It makes me so happy to watch the two of them together. Teddy thinks Grandpa's cane is the coolest thing in the world, and Gramps gets a kick out of watching Teddy play. I'm not certain how much Gramps really understands how much Teddy's syndrome will impact his development. But that doesn't matter because he loves Teddy just the way he is.

Few things make me happier than watching these two together.

Bedtime ... I don't need no stinkin' bedtime ...

The subject line was my husband's Facebook post this weekend. We went through about a week where Teddy magically went down on his own, no protest or fuss, without really being sleep trained again through the painful screaming process. And then it stopped.

Note the look of protest at the thought of bed at 10:15 p.m.

We had at least 3 nights in a row where he was up until 10 p.m. He even managed midnight one night because he's a party animal. He likes to pull open his closet doors, rifle through the diapers and see what exciting things we hide in there. (Sorry, bud, it's pretty much diapers, even though one time you found a new pair of shoes, which was a true jackpot for you!) One night he pulled about 50 wipes out of the wipe container ... see, he's just practicing his fine motor skills?

It doesn't help matters that he's finally mastered turning and opening his door handle, which is great grip strength and dexterity, but it hinders the sleep process when he escapes. I know we need to put a child door lock on his door, but I almost hate to discourage his new skill. (I hate not sleeping more, though, at least after a few nights in a row.)

The only time he's interested in movies is 9 p.m. at night.

Things AJ Knows

As Teddy's only brother, AJ knows a lot of things. (He doesn't know humility yet, so he'd be among the first to tell you he knows a lot.)

AJ knows how to untie shoelaces and undo velcro straps. He hasn't learned this from his own shoes. (He prefers to cram his feet in them without ever undoing the velcro straps.) He knows this because he helps me take off Teddy's braces and is now to the point where he can do it by himself.

AJ knows that Teddy is thankful for spending his days with Miss Katelyn, their wonderful sitter who happens to be a nursing student. When I asked AJ how he knew this, AJ replied that Teddy cries when Miss Katelyn leaves.

AJ knows that Teddy likes to mountain climb. When Dave asked why Teddy was trying to climb over him the other night, AJ said, "Papa, Teddy likes to mountain climb. There are no mountains, so he's pretending you are a mountain."

AJ knows that when he has a fever of unknown origin, Teddy automatically gets Tylenol. "Silly Papa. I only get medicine before bedtime. Teddy gets it during the day." (If we don't know what causes a fever in AJ, we tend to medicate Teddy as a preventive measure to minimize the possibility of a seizure.)

AJ knows that Teddy likes to reach into containers and share other people's food. AJ had to explain this fact of life to his cousin this weekend, who understandably was a bit irritated with Teddy's thievery.

AJ knows that Teddy likes to take the easy way out and eat out of people's hands rather than pick up food, if given the chance. (As he was explaining Teddy's food sharing to his cousin, AJ picked up a piece that fell and automatically let Teddy eat it from his hand.)

AJ knows that Teddy doesn't know how to floss his teeth yet, so AJ helps him out sometimes. Trust me, AJ's the only one brave enough to try flossing Teddy's teeth. I haven't seen a dentist attempt that, and they even get paid to do that!

AJ knows the way to Children's Hospital in Neenah, all of Teddy's therapists, the word therapy and so much more. He knows to hold the elevator doors for us while Teddy slowly walks onto the elevator, and he holds the doors for other people as well.

AJ knows an awful lot. I hope he knows how much Teddy adores him.

Captain Teddy

Even before Teddy was born, I've been inspired by myTEAM TRIUMPH at different running events. It gives me a boost of energy (granted, it only lasts maybe 100 yards or so) to cheer for them, calling out encouragement for the Captain and Angels. myTEAM TRIUMPH designates able-bodied runners as Angels, who push individuals with disabilities in adapted equipment that enables them to safely and fully participate in a variety of events. These individuals are the Captains of their team, and they receive much cheering and encouragement along the course.

The thought had crossed my mind that I'd love to be an Angel sometime, and I even looked into it a few years ago but never made the commitment. I was amazed to discover myTEAM TRIUMPH participates in events ranging from 1-mile runs to a full IRONMAN. Not only do they have adapted running chairs, they have adapted biking chairs and special boats to pull Captains for swim events. Let's just say that I immediately discarded the thought of being an IRONMAN Angel. (The only way I'd become an IRONMAN Angel is dying in the process of trying to complete an IRONMAN.)

As Teddy has grown older, and we've learned more about what his world looks like, we thought myTEAM TRIUMPH would be a great opportunity for Teddy. He's such a social little boy, and we think he'll love cruising along to cheering crowds.

When I asked if anyone was interested in being an Angel for Teddy on Facebook a few months ago, the amount of support was overwhelming. I had a number of people who didn't quite realize that being an Angel means running (and pushing) the entire length of the event. I think perhaps some of those eager volunteers will be along the way cheering for Teddy, rather than pushing him. I easily found two others willing to be Angels for Teddy since Angels run in packs of three (one to push, one to engage the Captain and one to clear the way so to speak). I'm beyond excited to be an Angel for Teddy and to help give him this experience. (I had to restrain myself from signing him up for multiple events ... maybe next year.)

We went to our first training run tonight, but it was a bit less exciting than I anticipated. I'll blame the rain for scaring off everyone except for Teddy's angel Ashley. The three of us still had a really good time running, and Teddy didn't get us too lost. Hopefully next time we go there will be a few more people.

We're signed up for the Fox Cities 5K on September 17. Since we're having AJ's birthday party later that day, it will save our families an extra trip by combining the two events into the same day. I'm sure I'll be wiped when I run the Fox Cities Half Marathon the next day, but it will be well worth it to earn my Angel wings with my son.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad ... Doctor's Office?

When we visited my mom in a rehabilitation center following her knee replacement, Teddy was freaked out by her room there. At first I thought it was the contraption that automatically bent and straightened her leg, but that didn't seem to be it. Rather than fight it, Dave kept Teddy entertained in the common area, checking out fishies and scoping out the rest of the place. We chalked it up to Teddy being scared of seeing Grandma out of her normal environment and capabilities (although he had a blast with both her walkers).

Teddy was teaching Grandma how to walk.

So I was a bit surprised when I took Teddy to his neurology appointment last week when he cried when I set him on the scale for his weight. I became more perplexed when he continued to cry and act afraid when we went into the exam room. Teddy's norm is to engage new, smiling faces and attempt to take any of the objects they're using to get measurements because they are obviously toys for him. Instead, he whimpered and cried and eyed the nurse like she was Santa's helper the entire time. (That, folks, is not a compliment in Teddy's mind.)

He settled down and warmed up quite a bit as the appointment continued with his awesome neurologist, but he still wasn't his usually Teddy self. (He didn't even try to eat the doctor's pet parrot Jabber.)

Honestly, I'm befuddled as to what caused this change for Teddy because there was nothing traumatic (from my viewpoint at least) at the rehab place or the neurology office. No labs, no confining tests, nothing that would agitate Teddy (and even those rarely cause much more than a few tears while they occur). Although I'm happy to see him demonstrate his emotions and dislikes, why couldn't he develop a fear of being too high when he climbs onto the kitchen table instead?

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, including those who are maternal figures and those who yearn to be mothers. I hope your day was filled with a bit of extra-special love.

My mother-in-law helped AJ make me a pretty special card. As much as I love the treats (trust me, "Mom" didn't stand a chance against this mom), I was so impressed AJ did all the writing himself. He knows all his letters, but the patience to follow Grandma's instructions for that long is quite the feat. It helped that he had his two favorite cousins doing the same project for their mom, but still, I give him credit. And I appreciate the thoughtfulness of my mother-in-law.

The way to a mom's heart is with candy, especially if she doesn't have to share! ;-)

And in case you need a translation: Mom, you are the best mom in the Milky Way. You deserve a Payday. Relax and Take 5. You give us Mounds of love. We love you to Reese's Pieces. Love, your Sugar Babies AJ, Teddy & Papa

Legoland and More!

We headed down near Chicago this past weekend for some fun family adventures. Our first stop was the Jelly Belly factory for a warehouse tour and free samples. Jelly beans are not my favorite candy (by a long shot), but I can't get over the buttered popcorn and pancakes with maple syrup ones. The taste is spot on, which is crazy weird.

The boys enjoyed their fill of pool time both Saturday evening and Sunday morning before we went to our main adventure: Legoland. Let's just say I had two very excited boys (Dave and AJ) with this adventure, and that Teddy was a good sport. There was quite a variety of things for them to do, including a two small rides, lots of areas to build, neat models to enjoy (like a jungle room the boys thought was fun) and a large play area. Teddy's favorite were the giant blocks to build, crawl on top of and attempt to eat the moment I looked away. AJ loved most every thing, except any waiting and the fact he couldn't play with the pre-built fire trucks made of Legos that were glued down to prevent kiddos from wandering off with them.

Figures Teddy would go for the hook. That child has no fear.

The absolute best part of Legoland, for Dave and I, was meeting up with another family from the Chicago area with a child who shares the same diagnosis as Teddy. That was the reason for our trip, and Legoland was just the perfect meeting place. It was absolutely awesome to meet Sammie, her brothers and her parents. There was something so special about seeing these two children with the same diagnosis meet each other for the first time. She is the friendliest little girl who immediately wanted to show Teddy everything (and take his hand and lead him everywhere).

Sammie is almost 9, so it's incredible to see all the skills she's mastered, along with her similarities to Teddy. We recognize each child is unique, regardless of any diagnosis, but meeting Sammie gives us so much hope for what Teddy may be able to achieve. It was fun to see how Sammie and her brothers interact. It was also great to spend a couple hours chatting with her parents, learning when she hit milestones and more about their lives. And Dave discovered her dad fly fishes, so all was well in the world.

Sammie and Teddy, two very special kiddos, together!

Of course, we couldn't part Legoland without a Lego set or two. AJ picked an Angry Birds pirate ship, which he couldn't wait to open. He spent a good hour or more in the car entertained by playing with just the box. We also checked out a second Lego store, where David got his pirate chess set. AJ had to wait to build until we got home Monday afternoon, but the wait was worth it!

This boy is obsessed with his Legos!

We managed another round of swimming Sunday evening and again Monday morning before we headed to Milwaukee. We made a quick stop at the Mars Cheese Castle, which is filled with every edible Wisconsin souvenir you could imagine, along with plenty of non-edible ones. We met my aunt in Milwaukee and spent a couple hours at the Milwaukee zoo. The boys are a bit young to fully appreciate it, but we all had a good time checking out the animals. I think the elephants impressed AJ the most, although he wasn't a fan of the smells of the zoo animals. Teddy likes to watch the animals when he's able to notice them.

Teddy loves carousel rides!

The highlight of the zoo for the boys, though, was either the playground or the carousel. Teddy absolutely loved the carousel ride, as did AJ. Teddy had a grin the entire time and did a nice job of holding onto his pole. And the weather was finally nice Monday, so it was a perfect day for the zoo, after two days of drizzle and rain.

Teddy still is Teddy. You have to taste test everything.