Brady P. Tells You What

Hi!

This is Braeden.

I am good.

I am really good.  I have a super good life.

Mommy and Craig love me and I get to play with other kids.  I get to flip my turtle and go for hikes with Mom.  My mom is sweet and she loves me and I love her.

Daddy and Kelsi love me too.  I get to go swimming and drive excavators with Daddy.  I get to play with my little brother Cedar and snuggle with my puppy at night.

I get to eat berries right from the bushes.  Not thimbleberries though.  I give those away.  I just like raspberries and blueberries and bilberries.  They are so yummy.

I get to play outside a lot.  I am getting good at hitting my ball off the tee with a bat.  And pitching to Mommy.  She can hit it far.

I like when it's sunny outside.  Sometimes it's rainy, but that feels nice for a little bit.  Then it gets sunny again.

I get to pee in the bushes.  I am learning how to go pee in the potty, but I like to pee in the bushes better.  Then I can aim on the leaves and watch them wiggle and get them wet.  I am good at aiming at leaves.  There is one heart-shaped leaf that I like to pee on in the yard.  I get it wet every time.

I have a really lot of love to give.  I like to give hugs to show love.  When I see a person walking who looks like they need a hug, I go right up to them and give them a hug.  My mom shouts, "he's going to hug you!" like they might be afraid of me, but I just get good hugs back.  

It's a good way to feel another person's heart.  People love my hugs.  I mostly hug my friends, but sometimes I see a person who I don't know their name, but I feel like I know their heart, so I hug them to see if they remember mine.  I like when they look at me and I can see it in their eyes that they know my love.  They smile a really nice smile.  Sometimes with a tear.  They say it makes their day, and it makes mine too.

I like to eat ice cream.  It is so yummy.  I would eat ice cream all day long, but Mommy won't let me.  Sometimes I have to finish my schoolwork first or listen to Mommy before I get ice cream.  She says it's a treat, not a food.  Sometimes we eat it together.  Craig said that if I go poop on the potty, I will get ice cream no matter what time of day it is.  I did not poop in the potty yet for a while, but I still think about ice cream.

Okay, I got stuff to do, so bye!

Sky diving in his dreams

Summer to the Fullest!

Man, summer sure is a difficult time to actually sit down and write at a computer.  There is so much more to life!

I missed you last week.  Want to know what's funny about that?  Last Tuesday I started writing to you, but by Wednesday, I changed my mind and I never published.  

Ha!

So just let me say that I finally got my little boy back with me.  We have been having so much fun!

It's amazing how, when a mama gets a break to do all the other things she needs to do, after her child comes back, all she wants to do is spend time with them!

Well, at least I do.

Brady P. and I have been spending every day playing.  Playing in the yard, going on walks around town, throwing rocks, finding adventures and new trails for him to hike (he loves to hike!), being goofy and laughing our butts off.

One of his talents is to blow raspberries on my belly so slowly that it sounds like a Harley Davidson idling under water.  Hilarious!

Two nights ago, I laughed soooo hard that I shook to the core.  It was much needed.  So wonderful and so healing.

Thanks, Brady P!

The rare Lake Superior water zombie emerges!

So we are doing great, just in case you were wondering.  

I hope you are too!

We have also been doing schoolwork.  It's necessary, so he doesn't regress in his cutting, reading and writing.  Oy!

Yesterday we drove 7 hours to Marquette hospital and back just to have his new urologist read his ultrasound from our local hospital and ask me a few questions.  Kinda seemed like overkill, but B was great on the drive.  Whew!

And his kidneys look great!  Hooray!   Some kids need to go on dialysis after having the ureter issue he had after birth, but we seem to be on a good trajectory.  Nice!

If you're curious, it's berry season!  Bils, thimbles, dews and blues are out.  Raspberries are coming soon!

See you next week.  I hope!

Smiles from the Boat

Hi!

A day late and a buck short.  I know.  

But I have a life sometimes!

My family came to visit!

I am not going to report much except the fact that my sister, son and I got to take the pedal boat onto the Harbor on an amazingly calm day...

...just before a thunderstorm came!  We hauled the boat back right before the sky let loose.  Whew!

Thanks for your patience and understanding with me.

All we can do is our best at any given moment.

And be grateful.

Beach Bum

Oh my goodness.  Is it summer, or what?

Hoy!

So we've been swimming.  A lot.

Brady P. hasn't really liked to swim the past few years, but he is getting taller, and more open to it.  Last week he went into Lake Manganese up to his chest!  

Just wading around and enjoying the coolness.  He told me he was alright, so I let him have at it.  I was so proud.  That was the farthest ever on his own!

Today we went to Lake Fanny Hooe.  His dad has a house on that lake, so we get to use their beach.  It's perfect for a little guy!  Sandy, shallow and gradual.  No weeds.

We floated there from the dock on his pizza raft from Uncle Matt.

And after previously watching the bigger kids (and mom) jumping into the big lake lately, plugging their noses and cannonballing off of docks, he had his own rendition of how to jump into a lake.  

Here it is!

If he's not swimming or wading, he likes to throw rocks.  As long as he's mindful of the other kids, it's okay.  But man, sometimes we have to remind him loudly.  His aim is impeccable.

Stay cool!