November 7 we had Owen's 2nd birthday party. He had so much fun. We had intentionally kept the guest list small (he still doesn't really care for crowds or strangers). We had a ton of fun and lots of extra cake for dessert the next few nights. The Barton cousins came to play in the morning and then Wyatt and Bryson came in the afternoon. The boys had a blast in a bounce house our neighbors let us borrow. Balloons and trains and these boys were in Heaven.
So on November 13 we took Owen for his post op follow up. The surgeon said that he does not believe Owen has a fistula (Praise God!!!) He thinks that either 1) his palate is so short that he is regurgitating some of the food we are seeing over the back of his palate, or 2) he may have a tiny fistula at the front where they closed his alveolar cleft after they removed a tooth, but if there is then it doesn't need to be repaired until he has his bone graft in 6-8 years. Yay!!!! I won't lie, I cried a little. His post op recovery was a real struggle. He has had so much medical related trauma that I think this just drudged up some bad memories for him. On a good note I think the fact that we walked him through this and never left or wavered has earned us some major points in the attachment area. More on that later.
He is already trying so hard to talk. His favorite words (and most easily recognized) Mickey Mouse, More, Mine, On, Off, M&M, night night and Mama.
He has also tried getting some two word sentences like "Want More" which is great developmentally. He so wants to be able to communicate. We are in the process of having him screened for Early Intervention for Speech, Developmental, OT and Dietician so see what areas we need to work on.
Currently Baxter and Owen have a Love/Hate relationship going on. They really do love each other, but Baxter is prone to snagging any extra food he might be able to reach. Owen has caught on to this and screams at Baxter anytime Owen has food in his hands b/c he wants to keep Baxter away from his food (it really doesn't matter if Baxter is right in front of him or asleep on the couch across the room, he gets yelled at in anticipation of possible food stealing). Poor Baxter just can't win with Owen right now. I am however happy that Owen is calling out to us for help with this situation and that he feels secure enough to exert his needs/wants.
Owen got to experience his first snow. Okay it was barely a dusting, but let's introduce him slowly. He isn't used to all this cold. He really wasn't all that impressed. We also (after much begging on Konnor's part) put up our Christmas tree. Owen thinks it is pretty cool and thankfully doesn't mess with the ornaments much. The boys built a train track around the tree since we don't have a motorized train for around the tree yet and will spend forever just sitting there taking the train in circles.
Thursday we celebrated Owen's first Thanksgiving. We traditionally don't do much for Thanksgiving. We went out for dinner with Mark's parents and then just planned a chill day at home. For afternoon snack we ended up making a picnic on the floor of our guest room. We spread out a blanket and the veggie, meat/cheese tray we had bought for snacking. We all sat criss cross applesauce and acted silly. We all said what we were thankful for and I am sure you will be shocked to learn that Konnor was thankful for Monster Jam. When it was my turn this conversation happened: Me: I am thankful that Owen is home b/c for Thanksgiving last year he was still in China.
Konnor: Mommy that is when Owen got his owies.
Me: yes, it was close to that time that he got his owies.
Then Konnor leaned forward and rubbed Owen's burns (this is big b/c he is usually afraid he will hurt Owen if he touches his arm) and said: "Owen I love your owies. I love you Owen."
And then my Mommy's heart burst. I mean really! He is so sweet and kind and just loves his brother so much. Don't get me wrong they fight, but overall they get along beautifully. This moment is getting stored in my Mommy's Heart is Full long term memory section for all those days that they don't get along so well as teenagers.
Then we get to Black Friday. We had not been able to get our traditional Polar Express tickets this year b/c they sold out so fast, but around noon a friend posted that they had tickets for that nights train in Monticello. I jumped. I have 2 huge train lovers in this house so this is a no brainer, and by 415 we were headed to the Polar Express train ride. Konnor was so excited to be able to take Owen this year. He had been very disappointed when we couldn't get tickets so this was a huge win in the Mama/Papa points book. The boys had so much fun. They laughed, danced, drank hot chocolate, ate cookies and we honestly just had a beautiful family evening. I am so happy we were able to do this.
