Our First Trip to the ER...Kind of

He's all boy, so we knew it was going to happen eventually, right? Break something, require stitches, do something to himself that would send us rushing the hospital. Well, today, it did. Except we didn't go to the ER. We ended up going to see a plastic surgeon, Dr. Robinson. He's the best and happens to be a family friend, so we felt that it would be best to get Brian's first stitches from him. It helps to have a Nana in the medical field :)

Yep, that's right, Brian got his first stitches today. On his face. Three to be exact. In three separate places. My parents' very old, practically deaf and blind dog bit him. In the face. It was a bad day, but we all know accidents happen. We were honestly surprised it wasn't Ruben who took the first chunk out of him. Brian loves dogs a little too much!

Dr. Robinson thinks he will have very little scarring if any. He said the only thing we might notice once he's healed is a little blemish on his cheek. We have to keep him out of the sun all summer which means Brian is going to have to learn to love hats and zinc oxide! He's also on an antibiotic and we have to keep Neosporin and eventually Vitamin E cream on the wounds. The stitches will come out Thursday or Friday.

We made sure he pet Jackie before we even went to see the doctor. We don't want him to be afraid of dogs, although you can be sure he won't be spending time around Jackie any more.

Brian did well at the doctor's office. He screamed and cried as any baby would when Dr. Robinson gave him a local and stitched him up. But he did manage to give the doctor a smile before we left for home. Such a good boy :)

Below are some pictures of the damage. I think the logo on his shirt says it all!

Some of His Favorite Things

Here are some new pictures of Brian's favorite things to do...

"Fly" with Daddy! You might notice the insane amount of drool on his shirt.
Tooth # 3 finally popped through this week. His top right center incisor :)

Read, or be read to!

Play in the bathroom! Yes, I know he's a strange one :) Don't you love the
plaid shorts though? I didn't think I was a plaid fan, but they crack me up!

Pictures Updated!

Here are Brian's 10 month pictures and pictures from our Zoo trip over the weekend. You'll have to flip to the end of the Zoo pictures, as the ones at the beginning are from our past trips. Enjoy!

Zoo

10 Months

Are You Kidding Me?

This is how Shawn found us today. I suppose after 11 months Ruben has finally decided Brian is not so scary. At least when he's nursing. I swear I did not invite the dog up onto the couch. He came on his own. And I swore I wouldn't let Shawn take my picture while nursing, but who would believe me about this if he didn't? You can't make this stuff up!

11 month pictures will be posted soon :)

Not So Little

I decided it was time for some "photo shoots" this week. Brian is growing up SO FAST! He'll be 11 months old this weekend. He's recently learned to point and clap, and he does both of these things all day, every day. Sometimes all night, too. (He's not been sleeping very well.) He's still resisting "chunky" food, but last night tried graham crackers, raw carrots and celery when we put them on his tray. It just had to be HIS idea! He's also jabbering like a little maniac.

He laughs hysterically at me when I tell him NO. Such a boy! And his new favorite thing to do is to clear his bookshelf. He thinks it's hilarious to knock every single book to the floor. My little guy, was never really little. But my baby is turning into a little boy before my eyes. See for yourself...

Hearing Update

We saw the ENT this morning.  He seems to think if the next hearing test is moderate we
SHOULD proceed with hearing aids.  Er!  It's so frustrating that they can't all be on the
same page.  He said he would talk to both audiologists (regular and aural rehab) and they would have a unified
answer for us when we retest hearing on 6/4.  He also did blood work to see whether
Brian's loss could be genetic.  Why they did not do this before is BEYOND me.  Brian
didn't even flinch when they took his blood this time.  He has quite the pain tolerance.
We also have to see an eye doctor and developmental pediatrician in the next month.
These are "standard" at a  year when you have a kid with any issues.  Love how
they withhold that information until he's 11 months.  I think they are really trying to
break me.  Financially and emotionally.  I'm still holding out hope that the last test
was wrong.  Please pray that this is the case!!  

Nennie's Birthday

Over the weekend we went to Nennie's to celebrate her 30th Birthday!!!

I got to play with Addison Rose. I love that girl!

We had lots of good things to eat and to drink.
Mom says I am getting to be more like Dad every single day ;)

Happy Birthday Nennie!

Another Couple of Weeks

We rescheduled the hearing test again. Brian Thomas is still not quite himself. His fever was higher than it has been throughout his mono this past week. It hit 101.8 at one point. I'm happy to report that today it's been normal or almost normal (98.7) all day so far. However, I don't feel like he's going to be 100% on Tuesday. He's still somewhat congested and sleepy. So, we put the hearing test off until June 4th.

He is still going to see the ENT this coming Friday (22nd). I want to hear his spin on the most recent hearing test (where he tested in the moderate loss range), the aural rehab evaluation, and the mono. I am also hoping he can look and see if Brian's adenoids and glands are swollen.

I hate to keep putting this off, but we need to know with absolute certainty that this next test is accurate. Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers thus far. Keep it up!

The Call

I have been busy. You may have guessed since I haven't posted on the blog in a week-a really long time for me. I have taken on a new job. It doesn't start until July 1, but already I've been in meetings, and on the phone. A lot. You may ask, how does a stay at home Mom take on another job? The answer is the best answer of all-Brian gets to come with me!

Fr. Jeff called a few weeks ago with a proposition for me. He asked me to be the new Director of the Pre-School at his parish, St. Patricks. As he described the job to me, I was in shock. I was not looking for anything like this. I am really, really happy staying at home with Brian. I like watching the Bantas after school. It's been a great year. I told Father I would have to talk to Shawn and my family and think (and pray) about it.

Over that weekend I kept tossing around pros and cons. I was having a really hard time thinking of cons. The pre-school is open 2 hours each day during the week. The current situation is that it has been run a bit unprofessionally over the past two years and Father is looking for someone qualified to come in and help to correct the problems. So, I would get to USE my administrative training, and expose Brian to 3 and 4 year olds learning and socializing 5 days a week. How great is that?

Not to mention I had been spending a lot of time worrying about the cost of hearing aids. Even though we know now that we may not need them, a few weeks ago, I was buried in worry over the expensive prospect that we might. And we still might. This call from Father Jeff made all of that worry go away. Honestly, it was probably as close as I'll ever come to having God call me on the phone. It was like he said, "here's your hearing aid money." Crazy. We spent a lot of time in Catholic school listening to talks on vocations. The priests and nuns who spoke always talked about how if we were meant to do something for God, we would get a call and we would know when it happened that it was the right thing to do. This call from Fr. Jeff felt very much like that call to me.

And can I even put into words what Fr. Jeff means to me and to my family. He is the most wonderful, amazing man. Could there be a better boss?

Oh, and given the pre-school is a morning activity, I can still take care of the Bantas next year. I could never abandon my boys in their first year of high school.

Are you hearing any cons here? I'm sure there are some, but they seem to be few and far between. So, I took the job. And that's why I've been so busy. I'm really excited about this new opportunity! I'm also really grateful for it. We Borchardts are truly blessed.

Hearing Test Rescheduled

Today we went to Children's for an Aural Rehab Evaluation. We wanted to be sure that Brian's hearing loss had not had a negative impact on his language development. The test results were very clear...it hasn't!! Brian is right on target (and better in some areas) when it comes to language development. This is very exciting news!

The therapist walked us through some things we can work on at home to continue along this path and to check to see if he's developing as they would like him to. She praised us for our work with him thus far, and said that he is obviously a pretty smart cookie :) She will see him again in 6 months.

After talking to her about his mono diagnosis, we decided to delay his hearing test by 2 weeks (or more if he isn't better by then). She thinks that his last test may have been skewed by swollen glands or adenoids, and didn't see any negatives to holding off on testing him again until he's well. This means that the moderate loss that was found could be inaccurate. I am trying really, really hard not to get my hopes up about this.

However, she also said that based on today's tests and the last hearing test, even though his loss was in the moderate category, she would not recommend hearing aids at this time. She said that one hearing test alone, or even two, don't necessarily paint the whole picture. As long as he is on target with language development, she feels it does not make sense to add hearing aids to a child who is not having any problems due to his hearing loss.

So, we got good news today! It feels very much like we are on a roller coaster ride with all of this. Today we got to feel the thrill of going down the hill, so for that I am grateful. Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers and support. We are grateful everyday for our wonderful network of friends and family who love Brian Thomas so very much.

Refugees Again

Shawn is sick. I think this has become the story of my life! He finished his antibiotic two days ago and last night he had a fever. With Brian's mono diagnosis, we thought it would be best to keep them apart, so Brian and I are staying with Nana and Pappy.

I am not complaining. Nana took Brian last night and I got NINE hours of sleep. In. A. Row!!! I also got cinnamon toast for a bed time snack. And I got pancakes for breakfast.

Brian is happy, too. Nana let him sleep on her chest all night. And she let him "reorganize" her tupperware. Jackie lives with Nana and Pappy. He's slower than Ruben...much easier to chase.

I hope Shawn feels better soon. But for now we'll enjoy the cable tv and all of the other perks of exile.