After a very rough few winter months, in January 2015 he got to visit his grandparents and great-grandparents in Canmore, then went to Mexico with both grandmas and his parents to see the ocean and beach for the first time. Although he was still fighting lots of symptoms like throwing up that made him not enjoy Mexico as much as we had wished, overall it was a great experience and I’m so grateful we had the opportunity to take him. Braxton got to play in the sand, experience the ocean, hear some resort music shows, sleep by the pool, and feel the warm tropical breeze.
Right before Braxton’s second birthday he was admitted to hospital with seizures. He still struggles daily with different types of seizures, throwing up, not being able to move his body in the ways he likes, and having trouble sleeping. However we were elated to have him celebrate his second birthday with lots of family, especially because some doctors didn’t predict he would live to 2 years. He has a great team of people working with him to make sure he would make it to 2 years and beyond, nurses, doctors and therapists. His favourite is music therapy, which we enrolled him in 8 months of weekly therapy with JB music, on top of his monthly music therapy at CNIB. Braxton also attends physio therapy and speech therapy.
Braxton is working on his gross motor skills, trying to learn to sit up, lift his head when laying on his stomach, and bearing weight on his legs with equipment called a standing frame. He has been having a fantastic time in his pool, and transferring the skills he was learning in the water to the floor, giving him the ability to “run” in circles, lying on his side pivoting around his head. He was running and wiggling around our living room so much he rubbed the hair right off a spot on his head and got a bald spot! He is still stuck at the abilities of a 3-6 month old, although he is getting bigger and bigger, he is 3 feet tall and over 25 pounds. He is on the waiting list for a wheelchair, and should be getting it any day now. His fine motor skills are also slowly improving, he can hold light objects in his hands, like a music shaker, rattle, or soft ball. He holds your hand and feels the texture of fabric on the couch or his bed.
In April we welcomed our baby, Zander, to the family. Braxton loves being a big brother, and Zander has been a great playmate. Zander and Braxton babble to each other. Zander brings toys to Braxton and will move his arms and legs to make Braxton ‘play’ with the toy. Zander gets excited to see Braxton each morning, and tries to help us with his equipment like his feeding machine and suction machine. The summer and fall were pretty uneventful, just lots of family time in between the many hospital appointments and therapies. We took the boys camping and Braxton got to try riding a horse at Our Lady Queen of Peace Ranch. Braxton really enjoyed going for walks in his stroller and laying on his swing in the backyard. For Halloween Braxton was a wise owl, and Zander was a busy bee. Luckily we had a pretty mild winter and we were able to be out and about lots. The boys enjoyed Christmas celebrations with family.