18 Month Post

September 26 Kanyon made the big jump to 18 months. I feel like that is almost as monumental as a real birthday. It just seems old. I'll start with a few things about him at 18 months:

• talking....he's started making "mumumumumumu" and "dadadadada" "bubububububu" and his long time favorite "sssssssssssssssssss" He will copy us when we say "mu mu mu" and "Daa" those were just the first sounds he started really making, so we copied him, then he copied us. We like it.
• He's a steamroller!! It is his favorite form of transportation and you would be amazed where he can get just by rolling. We are working on army crawling, but he doesn't want to use his left arm, so he's stuck after he makes his first reach with his right arm.
• NOSEY!!! He wants to look and touch and eat whatever we are holding or looking at. He thinks that he world is HIS!!
• Still loves the bouncy seat and is an extreme bouncer. He can catch major air in that thing. He bounces his whole body up....yes, he's strapped in.
• No official measurements yet, but at a clinic last week, he weighed 20lbs. and was 30 in. long.
• He can sit up by himself pretty well but the best thing is that he can fall on his own. He doesn't fall like a tree and hurt himself, he's learned (thanks to his PT) how to fall softly. Because of this, I can sit him up and leave him. He is still working on getting to sitting independently. He is doing it with less and less support, but he still needs help. We're working on it though!
• His eyebrows still turn red when he cries
• His spike is so long it curls, but the rest of his hair stands straight up now
• hates morning feeds
• LOVES to spin things
• currently has his 4th cold that lasted so long its turned into a "cough". We've had lots of snot the last couple of months....HOUSE ARREST IS COMING SOON
• I bought 18 month size clothes for winter....he needs it for the length...they look huge and probably will be, but his torso is amazingly long!
• He has outgrown his carseat (his head is to the top) but I hate to give it up because he can't sit in a shopping cart or high chair yet, so I will miss the carrier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• He has still never been to Wal-Mart. Brookshires and Target seem cleaner to me for some reason. I just can't take his little lungs and germ sensitive body to Wal-Mart...ikcy sticky yucky.
• Some things never change: we love him more than we thought we could, we miss his twin sister more than we thought we could, we are proud of him, we laugh at him and kiss on him all day, we are so very very very very very very thankful!

So, in honor of the 18 months, I chose 1 picture from each month (ok, some months had more than one, but it was impossible to decide). I tried to keep it just Kanyon. If I started putting other people in I would get a guilt complex about not including everyone and that is just crazy, so here is the Phillips Phamily 18 month Roller Coaster:

March 2007: My favorite picture in the whole world. You see mostly Kanyon but the important thing is that he is holding Jayde's hand.

April 2007: I held this little guy for the first time. It was the first of many Kangaroo times for us (and the plaid pearl snap shirt). I love his hand, he still assumes this same position when I hold him.
I had to include this one too because it shows more of his tiny body. He weighed about a pound a half that day.
And this one of showing his tiny head.
May 2007: Kanyon was finally in his daddy's arms and Nurse Kathy was deemed Kory's favorite nurse hands down, no questions asked because she was the one who made this happen!
June 2007:This picture captured this month. We were in IMC so people could come visit. I tried to get pictures of the people looking in and this one was a favorite!

July 2007: Our baby boy's first peek of home!

Not sticking to the 1 picture rule. This was one of the most moving moments of my whole life. We drove up to this great crowd of friends and I was so humbled. After some "oohs" and "ahhhs" from a distance, the whole group circled up around us to thank GOD for this day that we had all been waiting for and to pray blessings on the days ahead. I wish I could capture the emotions of this time. Unbelievable.
August 2007: True love was budding between Kanyon and his bouncy seat.

September 2007: Our first smile. When I say we I mean WE. This was the first thing that was purely good to me. No worry, no sadness, no fear. Thanks to Drew who was quick on the draw with his phone, we have this moment forever. Patty-cake did the trick.

October 2007: The Grand Kanyon. Does this make you wonder what he will be this year???!! We have decided, making it is in progress, and I can't WAIT!

November 2007: The smiles just kept on coming!

December 2007: There were WAY too many Christmas pics to choose from so I went with the picture that I can't look at without laughing....go ahead...try.

January 2008: Again.....try to look at this and not laugh. His manners are much better these days.
February 2008: My gangsta boy rockin' his paper glasses from the eye doctor.
March 2008: Kanyon's bug birthday bash! This was a group shot with most of the group. It was so great to get a chance to celebrate Kanyon's life and thank our family and friends for their support. Just for the record. No, Kanyon will never have another birthday party with 100+ people.
April 2008: He was really into wrinkling his nose and flashing a grin.
May 2008: N.G.Tube. no. good. tube. This entire month (and some weeks before and some weeks after) were spent at Our Children's House for "eating camp".

June 2008: Kanyon's first visit to CDR
July 2008: This month had to have 2 pictures because we spent lots of time with Grandparents. First, our trip to Montana to see Chief and Gram and the rest of the Phillips. We had big fun riding tractors, meeting friends, enjoying cool weather, and we celebrated his 1 year Happy Home Day!!
Then a trip to Paris that was nice and long so we had plenty of time for Paw Paw and Mama Gay to teach Kanyon new things about fish, the lake, and how you get whatever you want when you're with your grandparents!
August 2008: First pair of basketball shorts!
September 2008: Love it.

So, there you have it, a look back at where we've been. Happy 18 months to Kanyon...this "review" of pictures made it seem like it has all happened so fast!

Lots of Stuff

My plan was to do several short blogs, but I have a couple of things on the horizon that will need their own blog, so I want to get this one done so I can stay up-to-date. What are those things? 1-Kanyon's 18 month post. I'm making it in my mind. I think it will be fun.
2-My nephew who keeps psyching us out and pretending like he's going to come and then changing his mind and giggling at us as we pack our bags and buzz with excitement! We're putting all our chips on having him here by Saturday!

So, it is back to the same ol' way too long posts from me!

What is so great about a remote control??? He will chase this thing down when he sees me hide it under my leg or behind a pillow!

Interesting carrying technique by dad
My cousin John David got married last weekend and we had a great time! I only took one picture, but it was a good one! Here is klp with his cousin Spencer!
I had the best treat ever the other day when my great friend from high school Tracie came to town. She and her husband were here getting some things they needed so we got to hang out! It was so fun! Kanyon got a spanking for sticking his tongue out in this picture.....not really, but maybe he's trying to tell me to STOP WITH THE CAMERA!!!
A very serious boy ready for a walk. Or maybe another STOP WITH THE CAMERA moment.
My dear dear dear dear friend Pam who is the secretary at White Oak Primary where I taught sent Kanyon this blanket because she knows he loves tags. This blanket is like the never ending tag heaven. He loves it. He samples and snacks on each one! Thanks Pam!!!! You are THE BEST!
Equal to the remote control love is the phone! He loves the blue light!
I can't help but take his picture like this. He is doing really good in his standing frame!
Why are pictures from behind so irresistible to me!

CRAZINESS here....I sat his bottle down to get him out of his standing frame and he reached over and started eating! Haha!

He gave it a shot...
Then decided he'd rather just play with it instead of drink it. Great.
Ike came through here and we were out of power for a couple of days. KLP was showing klp the storm. Our power was already out and it was kinda hot, so klp was down to his diaper.

New love: baskets. Particularly this one in his room. He will spill all of his toys, ignore them, then eat the basket.

You'd think he's looking for toys, but my bet is he's trying to figure out how to nibble on the bottom of the basket.
yummy yummy weird boy
"Who you callin' weird?"
Ok, so we have an eye situation here. If you've followed, we've had an eye situation for a long time. BUT we got the ROP fixed before we came home and uncrossed the cross just before he turned 1. His vision is SOOOO much better, but he has a few quirks. One of them is that he inspects things very closely by holding them out in front of his face, then he will bring the toy RIGHT up to his left eye as if to take a VERY VERY VERY close look at it! Then it of course goes in his mouth. We're glad that he inspects things before he eats them, but aren't too encouraged by the fact that EVERYTHING goes in....oh well.

We have started our weekly trips to Dallas for Speech/Feeding and Occupational Therapy at OCH. We see both a speech therapist and an occupational therapist on Tuesday and Wednesday. This week was our 2nd time to go and he did pretty good. The Speech Therapist is trying to get him to eat from a spoon. It will be slow, but we are starting. Slow like starting with an empty spoon. He has to accept that before we move to a wet spoon (water), then we will gradually work our way up to accepting a spoon with food on it. I'm glad we're started and I feel pretty relaxed about it. It isn't like when we went for inpatient because he wasn't eating ANYTHING. We know he's getting what he needs so this will come when it comes and we don't have the pressure of time limits, weight gain, and TUBES!!! Though my arm muscles are begging him to do this sooner than later! So far we're still working with the empty spoon, we just have to break down all of his "walls" he has up when people come at his mouth with something. Understandable for a dude who was messed with LOTS! The OT is working a lot with his left arm and getting that thing moving and working. She also does a lot of things similar to PT. I'm sure the trips will get old, but we are getting to spend the night with Kasey, eat lunch with Ali, and we're getting the best help that there is, so it is worth it!

Between sessions with the therapists, I work with him a couple of times a day. This was the first time he's ever sat in his high chair. Thanks to his sitting skills, he can finally do it.....not for long, but that's ok!

All of our dentist folks will be proud....look at this boy brushing his teeth! Too bad he won't let me do it (remember the whole "people coming at his mouth thing"). But he thinks its a cool toy. We'll keep trying.


Being in Dallas 2 days a week make my list of "to-dos" a lot harder to do, so I guess I should go work on them.....or maybe I could blog again....hmmmm........

My Little Escape Artist

You've seen Kanyon wear the blue brace on his left hand. He doesn't use his left arm much, it is a little tight, and his left hand stays tight in a fist. The brace is supposed to keep his hand open which ideally would make it easier to use and encourage him to use it more. It keeps his hand open, but we have one small problem......klp eats it off.

Not because he's uncomfortable or bothered, but because he's obsessed with chewing on the velcro straps. The instant I put his brace on, he has a one track mind set to get to that velcro. His aggressive chewing and gnawing is what causes the brace to come off....here we are....

He literally did AS SOON as I put it on....."YESSSSSS!!!!!!"

"What Mom? Don't get mad, I'm just gonna chew on it a little" (can you tell he just woke up...puffy eyes!)
"yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum"
"Hee Hee! This stuff is GOOOOD!"
"HA HA I got it!!!! Look at me now!"
As you saw, it completely comes off and does him NO good. So I had to come up with a way to stop him. I knew that taping or pinning the straps down would only make him eat the tape or pins. I eventually came up with a sleeve to go over it. I used a little blue sock and cut it so that it goes over the brace so that there is nothing to chew on.

"AHHH COOOOL MOM! A new brace!"

"I'll just reach over here and grab my velcro str......hey...wait a minute.."
" Ok, maybe I can just get it with my teeth...."
"You big meany"
"WAIT! I found it!" At this point, he found the strap underneath the sock and was working on pulling it through the sock.

"Ugghhh...ummmph.....rrrrrrrr.....I just can't get it!"

You can see the strap poking up under the sock..he worked so hard.

"Get that camera out of my face you party pooper!"
Luckily Kanyon doesn't hold a grudge. I think he's over being mad at me and the sock thing is actually working.