In the Midst of Craziness

The last year has been filled with craziness: Colby's diagnosis during my 20th week of pregnancy, Colby's birth, the 11 day NICU stay, the surgery and resulting hospital stay, our "house arrest," constant doctor's appointments, and just the daily stress of Colby's eating/weight gain (or lack there of). With so much going on, Jason and I have not really had much time or energy on our hands. Since hearing Colby's next surgery will not be until late summer, though, we have actually been able to sit back and breathe again. Don't get me wrong, we are by no means relaxed, but we are at least a little less crazy around here, which has been so nice!

With our new found "free time," Jason and I have been reflecting on how big our little baby Brody has gotten. It is amazing to us how much he has "grown up" since Colby was born. For starters, he gave up his pacifiers back in March without a fight. The "Paci Fairy" came during nap one day and took all of his pacis away but two. Don't worry, she of course brought a big treat to replace the pacis!! He only used those two pacis during nap and night time for a couple of weeks, and then we asked him if he wanted to put those two pacis in the drawer of his bunk bed and not use them anymore. To our surprise, he agreed with no problems! Occasionally he wants to look at the pacis and tell them night night, but other than that, he hasn't even asked about them. Pretty impressive!


Brody has also impressed us recently with his potty training. I have to admit that Jason and I have put this process off, and would have continued to put it off for as long as possible, if Brody hadn't initiated it. One night when Jason was putting him to bed, he said, "I want to go potty in big potty...like daddy." He went that night, and he hasn't looked back since. I think he has only had one wet pull-up (other than sleeping times) in over two weeks. I don't know many kids that potty train themselves, but luckily for us, ours did! Now if we could just get the "shoo wee" (as Brody calls it) in the potty instead of his diaper! One step at a time I guess.

In addition to no pacis and using the big potty, Brody's vocabulary has grown so much! He talks non-stop! I'm sure that this isn't surprising to anyone that knows Jason, though. Every day, he throws a new word or phrase out there that we have no idea how he learned. It is so funny to hear him tell a story, which he does quite often. I think his favorite time of the day is when Jason gets home from work, because he will go through our entire day to tell Jason all that we have done. I do have to translate some of the words, but he seems to speak more clearly with each day. He has also started using his hands when he talks, which cracks me up. I love watching him, because he is so animated and gets so excited. Again, no surprise to anyone who knows Jason!

Brody is very big into doing things "just like daddy" or "just like mommy" right now. It is hilarious and also a little scary to see him mimic us. I have found myself more than once thinking, "do I really do that?" My favorite is watching him mow the grass "just like daddy." He loves using his bubble mower to follow behind Jason as he uses the "big mower." One Saturday, Brody mowed the entire yard with Jason, and then, he got his play chainsaw and pretended to cut the bushes. To finish off the day of yard work, he got the hose and watered the grass. He absolutely loves to spray the water!! Unfortunately, he likes to spray people as well as the grass. He has sprayed our neighbor, Woody, more than once. I'm just glad Woody thinks he is so cute!!

Since Jason and I have been reflecting on how big Brody has gotten, I wanted to post this along with some pictures to brag on him a little bit. He is such a good boy, and he always makes us smile! I don't know how I would have gotten through the stress of the last year without him. It's funny to think that a two year old is what helped me hold it together. God works in mysterious ways, and he always provides us with just what we need when we need it the most! We love you Brody!! Thank you for being such a good boy and a great big brother to Colby!!