We figured out what he was allergic to (dairy,
eggs, almonds) and watched the sensitivity of dairy and egg decline
significantly (he can now tolerate baked eggs and is ready to try regular eggs,
and baked milk)
We also figured out that Bryce has been living
underwater for the past year, and had tubes put in and adenoids removed.
Bryce’s expressed language has improved dramatically in the span of two months
since the surgery.
In honor of our buddy angel’s birthday, here are some of
Bryce’s Favorite Things
·Food: Cookies, Blueberries
·Toys: Cars and Magna Tiles
·Words: NO (or more often nonononononono)
·Songs: Let it Go, Baillame, and Last Dance (yup,
Drake)
·Activity: Climbing on people and being
(dangerously) thrown through the air
·Book: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site
·Getting pushed around in the blue car
·Cuddling, especially with Daddy
·Yelling “waula!” 100x/day (poor Paula)
·Getting Chased (often when it is preceded by
“Bryce, come over here please. Bryce… Bryce!)
Gillian will undoubtedly help us celebrate
Bryce’s birthday tomorrow by opening all of his gifts, treating them as if they
are her own, and blowing out his candles (which might be in all of our best
interests given the strong possibility of Bryce lighting himself on fire). She
is a great big sister when she isn’t beating him over the head with matchbox
cars and ripping toys out of his hands. She is at her best when she is teaching
Bryce, “Brycie, say Bubble!!!! Brycie, say Auga!! Good job buddy! I’m teaching
him to talk.”
Also worth noting about our amazing Gillian
is that in honor of the U.S.A. dominating the pool this summer’s Olympic games,
Gillian has **sort of learned to swim**! Via the magic of a woman named
Margarete whose astronomical pricing for 1:1 swim instruction has sent Chad
into a tailspin, Gillian has gone from not putting her head in the water to
diving for rings and somehow managing to make it from one side of the pool to
another while remaining afloat!Watching
Gillian learn to swim has made me realize the importance of sheer determination
as a success driver. She wants to swim so badly, and works and tries so hard that it brings tears to my
eyes to see her near drowning make her way from here to there and pop up one
breath short of passing out, smiling from ear to ear.
