It has been pretty routine for us over here - slowly getting back into therapy appointments after being on vacation. Brady's PT is still on vacation so we only had OT and Speech this week. At OT we settled on getting Brady splints for his hands - out of habit, his thumbs stay rested in the middle of his palm. Our OT and PT wanted him to wear splints during bedtime to start re-teaching the thumb to move out. I am going to a specialty medical store to get those. I am also trying to get a good band for Brady to wear so he will leave his glasses on. The optometrist gave us one, but Brady pulled it right off! Smart little sucker. I have a lead on another office to go to for that. We also had weight check this week - after doing great on food all month Brady gained a whopping ounce! It always happens when he is back on food as opposed to being on formula for the month. Our pedi only let us out without changing his formula because we have a Nutritionist appointment in a few weeks. Plus, after a good calcium level check, she gave us the go-ahead to use Miralax, which we will start tomorrow once I figure out how to make it. That will hopefully lead to more eating as well.

My mother is on a genealogical kick right now. A distant cousin has already put together a genealogy tree of the family and my mother has been filling in the holes. I was glancing it over the other day, and commented on how confusing it was. Coming from an Italian heritage, children were named after grandparents. First son, paternal grandfather; second son, maternal grandfather; first daughter, paternal mother; second daughter, maternal mother. And all the children did the same thing. For example, my grandfather and his brother both had children named Joe, Laura, Peter and Sadie. As I read down the lines, I kept reading the same names over and over. Joe, Peter, Laura, Sadie. Joe, Peter, Laura, Sadie. Here a Chuck, there a Chuck... a couple Mary Roses and Rosalies.

My parents didn't completely stick to it - but both their father's names were Charles anyway, so it was a good thing they didn't have two sons. At a family reunion many years ago, we photographed all the "Joes"; all the "Chucks"; all the "Petes". I have two cousins named Chuck; two cousins named Peter; two of us are named for my grandmother; and many are in some way named for an aunt or uncle.

My mother was adding in the newborns and other babies born to my cousins. I read some of the younger generation: Cooper. Natalie. Grant. Brady. Sam. Trey. Alex. Many parents utilize the middle names now to honor someone, instead of the first name. For instance, both Cooper's and Natalie's middle names honor a grandparent who is no longer with us. Doing this gives people a chance to pick a name they really like, but still remember someone with the second name.

I like tradition. We did it ourselves: Michael Thomas is named after his maternal father and father; Brady Joseph is named after his maternal uncle and the Brady Bunch LOL. However, I don't think my brother, sister and I will have to distinguish between which "Michael" we are yelling at (well, my mother and I do! LOL). Times have changed. People don't always follow the same rules, same traditions that were so prevalent years ago. The continuity is not there. Does anyone have a grandmother named Tiffani? If not, somebody will, in about 40 years probably.