June 11: A Dozen Years of Our Little Buddy

School has ended, summer has started, but have we slowed down?  Absolutely not!  Summer brings fun, but also its own challenges.  Lots has been going on around here!

First things first, Little Buddy finished up his first year of middle school and we couldn't be prouder.  He handled the transition really well and developed close relationships with his teachers and aides.  We are so happy with his progress and the people he is with!

     

     

Enjoying the last week of school and pajama day!

Yearbooks are in!

We were also surprised (and delighted!) to receive an invitation to the end of year awards ceremony at Little Buddy's school.  Turns out, Little Buddy earned All A Honor Roll for the year!  We were stunned but so pleased that the school recognizes that Little Buddy's coursework is as challenging to him as his classmates' coursework is to them!

So proud!

     

     

Last day of 6th grade!  Proud of our Not-So-Little-Anymore Buddy!

And then we dove headfirst into summer.  We had Memorial Day weekend, Little Sister had swim meets, Little Buddy had birthday pictures, boating season began, VBS started, and we had some big fun at an Astros game, all before our boy turned 12 on the 11th!  Not to mention all the regular errands and activities we try to do during the summer! 

Happy Memorial Day!

A supportive Big Brother cheering on Little Sister at her Swim Meet!

Happy to be back on the lake!

     

All the errands and usual summer business: Target trips, park playing, swimming at the pool, and haircuts!

Ready for VBS!  Little Buddy got to be my assistant at the games station again this year!

     

He always loves VBS!

We were also treated to an amazing experience this month!  Our friend, Mr. R, works for the Seattle Mariners and sadly couldn't come with the team when they traveled to Houston this month.  However, when Mr. R told one of the players he couldn't come and told him he was sad to not to see Little Buddy, this pitcher said, "Well, I want to meet him!"  So that's how we got a personal invite from a major league pitcher to batting practice and a game!

Little Buddy was so excited!

Hanging out with Penn Murfee on the field!

Great time at the game!

And then it was time time to gear up for someone's 12th birthday!  Because we obviously like to overwhelm ourselves, we also scheduled our annual Lemonade Stand benefiting the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation on his birthday.  

     

     

Daddy met us after VBS on Friday for a pre-birthday lunch at House of Pies.

     

Last night as an 11 year old!

     

Birthday pie and presents are ready!

Birthday boy!  It was actually really fun to celebrate his birthday at the Lemonade Stand.  So many people came by to say hi!

Hot, but surrounded by friends!

     

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy!

     

     

     

First round of present opening!

Birthday pie time!

     

More presents!

Our favorite 12 year old!

We were so happy that Pop-Pop and Mimi came in to celebrate too!

Height and Weight

Well, that pesky tooth fell out and someone is eating well again!  All of that worry and now we're eating just fine.  He weighed in at 99.6 pounds today, so we'll keep up the healthy fats, but I am hoping we see a significant shift in his weight number soon.   

Eat, eat, eat!

Personality

Overall, very calm and happy.  He's also a big fan of sleeping in now that school's out (on days we don't have camps or appointments, that is).

     

Love this face!

Developmental Changes

It's amazing how one little thing can change so many body systems.  Since the loss of Little Buddy's baby tooth and the addition of his high fat and high fiber diet, he's gaining weight, less agitated, sleeping better, and regulated his GI.  We are so thankful that the month of difficulty he went through seems to have passed.  We'll take all the good days we can get!

Fun Tidbits

As always, our photographer managed to capture the essence of our Little Buddy in his annual photo shoot.  We love this boy and love these yearly memories of his growth.

     

     

     

Our favorite boy.

I'd like to say July will slow down, but I know better.  That's ok, the more adventures, the more memories.  And those are priceless treasures. 

Good night,

LBM

May 11

And we have made it to May!  Somehow, this amazing boy has finished his first year of Middle School (during a pandemic no less) and is only a month away from turning 12.  Sometimes I just can't fathom where the time goes and how it moves so quickly.  My babies are growing and up the bittersweet flavor of it is strong.

April ended with a bang (and May's been going strong with events all month).  Little Buddy had an amazing end to his Spring race season and enjoyed Easter!

It was a rainy, humid morning, but both kids did great at the Ironkids race!  Little Buddy had one of his best miles of the past season and we're so proud of him.  Here's hoping for another strong running season this fall!

     

My running kids!

We got to start our Easter break with one of our favorite family traditions, strawberry picking at the local farm.  It was crowded, but we managed to get two bucketfuls of ripe, delicious strawberries!

     

     

Love going to pick our own fruit!

We then made sure to complete the rest of our Easter traditions!

     

Egg coloring!

     

Matching Easter PJs!

Church with Uncle M, Aunt S, and L!

Happy Easter!

They found their baskets!

Enjoying hunting eggs!

     

Mimi and Pop-Pop even came over to celebrate!

     

Looking very dapper in his new shirt from the Easter Bunny!

We finished up April with some race cheering instead of running and have enjoyed our May so far!

Excited for the Amazing Grade Adaptive Mass at our Church!

Mother's Day with my greatest gifts!

Height and Weight

We went all in on trying to counteract Little Buddy's weight loss this month.  With the addition of eggs, avocado, protein powder, and whole milk to his diet, we're seeing stabilization at about 100 lbs. and hoping to see that number starting to go up again.  Now that we've found out about his loose tooth from the dentist, we're hoping that explains more of the chewing and swallowing issues we had been seeing, as opposed to a Sanfilippo change.

     

     

So many pictures of him at the table this month as we try to add on some weight!

Personality

Agitation is definitely down and he seems very happy and vocal.  Hoping to keep him that way!

A proud big brother at his sister's First Reconciliation!

Developmental Changes

Guys.  GUYS.  It has been another rough month, but we're hoping that we're coming out of it.  Sleep, chewing, swallowing, weight gain, and GI issues have taken over our lives this past month.  We were very concerned that, after we got Little Buddy's allergy issues handled, that a Sanfilippo change was happening.  We have been so concerned BUT a visit to the dentist may have given us some relief.  Turns out Little Buddy has 6 baby teeth left and one is loose.  We are hoping that the chewing and swallowing issues (which are contributing to the weight and sleeping and GI issues) can be explained by this.  He has been starting to sleep better, but we'd really like to see the eating improve in the next few weeks.  

All smiles for the dentist; zero cavities again!

     

Sleep.  Sleep is good.

Fun Tidbits

Little Sister's school was submitting entries to a local art contest and I noticed there was a special needs division. Her teacher very kindly allowed Little Buddy to submit an entry with them.  He's never been in an art contest before!

Little Buddy's Masterpiece!

By next month, school will be finished and we'll be starting all our summer camps and activities.  And Little Buddy will hit 12!!!  Life never slows down, but every minute with this boy matters.

Good night,

LBM