Every Eleventh with Little Buddy: June 2023

It's hard to believe everything that's happened this past month! The end of the school year, the start of summer, and the realization that my baby is now a teenager. There's been a lot going on, including a lot of challenges, but we face them the best we can!

It was a blessing yet again to celebrate another Mother's Day with my favorite two babies. We got to hear Little Sister sing at Church with the choir and just enjoyed our day together. How lucky am I to have these two in my life?!

A day with them is all I could want.

Little Buddy was getting a bit shaggy, so we wanted to make sure we got him a hair cut before the end of the school year, since he was going to be recognized in the Awards Ceremony again!

Looking good!

And then, before we knew it, our 7th grader's year came to an end. He only has one year of middle school left; how is that possible?

Proud of our boy for his A/B Honor Roll and so happy he got to share the moment with his aide, Mr. C!

Last day of 7th grade!

The beginning of our summer was chock full of activities, like swim team and VBS!

Awesome brother cheering on his little sister at her swim meets!

Loving VBS life as Momma's helper in the games section!

When the Texas weather allows, we do try to get outside for some fun time too.

Enjoying our daily mile walk around the neighborhood!

Splash pad time!

That Texas heat wears them out, so sometimes I still get big kid cuddles!

Enjoying stories together at night.

Leading into Little Buddy's big birthday was our annual Lemonade Stand! We are so blessed by our awesome friends who volunteer to help raise funds and awareness for Sanfilippo Syndrome.

Ready to sell some lemonade!

Little Buddy and E, the two almost-teens! Dear friends for life.

Always a treat to see the Market Street donkey!

And then it was time to celebrate...

Last sleep as a pre-teen.

Why hello birthday boy! Praising God for the gift that is Little Buddy at Mass to start the day.

Birthday boat day for our favorite TEENAGER!

Home for presents!

Best sister ever helping open presents!

Birthday pie time!

Good night to our new teen!

Height and Weight

So this month has been a challenge. At his well check, Little Buddy was measured at 5'4.5'' but only 113 pounds. This is quite a drop to us, but better than what we had measured him at on our home scale, which was 110. He's also having trouble eating, with not chewing much and then pocketing food without swallowing. It's making meals take a long time and we're worried about getting his calories in. He doesn't seem to be having issues swallowing, per se, since pudding and applesauce are being swallowed without issue. We wonder if he does have a loose tooth or something? In any case, we will be upping our calorie count again and try to rectify these issues.

Personality

He's still happy and pleasant, but a bit tired lately. We think he's adjusting to the summer schedule and the terrible, AWFUL heat. It's so HOT here. Ridiculously so.

Developmental Changes

Besides the eating issues, we've been fortunately that everything else has been fairly stable. We'll take it!

Fun Tidbits

Even with everything going on, we were able to fit in some birthday pictures for Little Buddy. I'm always glad we did it, even if he was so hot and tired that smiling was just not on his agenda. But these moments, smiling or not, are still precious to us.