The Buckners: Spring is in the Air

Well time sure has flown by since the last post. I will try and catch you up on the past few months. Brooklyn is growing like a weed. She is now 22.5 lbs. and 29 inches long. She is almost walking. She can cruise around the couches but she hasn't gotten brave enough to let go just yet. She is eating regular table food and she is drinking 2 percent cow's milk now. She got excellent reports at her 15 month checkup back on Feb. 29th. She also got a great report form the Pulmonologist (lung doctor) and the Cardiologist ( heart doctor). She is cleared from the Pulmonologist and she doesn't have to go back for anymore check ups with them. She will always have to be followed by the Cardiologist but it will become less frequent as time goes by. This Saturday marks the one year anniversary of her open heart surgery. We are so thankful for all God's blessings on her. She is doing amazingly well. I remember this time last year was such a stressful time in our lives. This year we have really enjoyed each day spending time with our sweet Brookie Cookie. We took her to the Botanic Gardens in Fort Worth after her Pulmonologist visit on Wednesday. It was strange to be back at Cook's with a one year old in tow knowing that this time last year she was a patient there.

This time last year we were trying so hard to get Brooklyn to take her bottles and ultimately she ended up with the g-button. Now our goal is to get her off the bottle and drinking from a cup. So strange. I keep thinking but we just got her to take the bottle....She is doing really well with the transition. We have gotten rid of the morning bottle and one afternoon bottle. She does a pretty good job of drinking from the cup. I'm a little worried about her bedtime bottle. That one might be hard for her to give up. We will see...

I almost forgot. She has a five word vocabulary. She can say mama, daddy, pop, neigh, and okay. You can ask her what sound a horse makes and she will say neigh, neigh. You can also ask her where her ears are and she will grab her ears. She continues to love to be read to. Her favorite book is still Brown Bear by Eric Carlie. This is the first book we read to her in the NICU. She can also clap her hands, she can wave at people, she can do the touchdown sign (thanks to her dad for teaching her that), she attempts to snap her fingers and she makes a clicking sound with her tongue.She also tries to imitate us when we make funny noises or do things like clap or snap our fingers.

Here are some pictures from the last few months.