Here are some pics from the month of August and the first few days of September. August was a busy month. We had lots of doctor appointments and then Matthew and I had to get ready to head back to work. Brooklyn turned 9 months old on the 24th. It is so hard to believe she is that old. Her adjusted age is 6 months. Thankfully the OT said she is on track developmentally for her adjusted age so she is doing well. She can roll from her back to her tummy and from her tummy to her back. She can also push up on her arms all the way up. She can now sit up with her hands on the floor and use one hand to balance and the other one to grab a toy. She is eating oatmeal, peas, and green beans twice a day. Her formula was increased to 180mls per bottle. We no longer have to feed her at midnight. She can just get all of her food during the day now. She is now 26 inches long and as of August 15th she was 15 lbs and 6 ozs. so by now she is probably 16 pounds. She got a clean bill of health at her last checkup with the Pedi. She doesn't have to go back until her first birthday. We saw the surgeon and he said Brooklyn could get the g- button out on September 16th since she hasn't had to use it since July. We are so thankful and can't wait to get the button out. She has started to grab it alot more. I'm sure she wonders what it is there for. Brooklyn has been using her high chair for her solid food. She likes to sit in it like a big girl. She has also recently gotten an exersaucer. She loves to play in it. The month of August was hard because I had to leave Brooklyn to go back to work. Thankfully Mimi is able to take care of her at our house so it makes it a bit more bearable.  Well, we have a checkup at the end of this month with the pulmonologist and the cardiologist. Hopefully we will have great reports from them as well.

 

Brooklyn and her daddy. Don't they look a lot a like??

 Brooklyn's new high chair. Oatmeal is yummy!

 See my new tricks. I can push up.

 Fun time in the exersaucer.

 Giddie Up Cowgirl.

 Her new sleeping position.

Brooklyn and her Mommy on her Mommy's 35th birthday!!

Update for August

 Brooklyn after eating rice cereal.

 Yum!

 Doing tummy time in my crib.

 Me and Uncle Stew!!

Brooklyn has had a busy last couple of weeks. She has been eating her rice cereal everyday. Her eating skills are getting more refined with every attempt. She is convinced that she can feed herself and she takes every chance she can get to rip the spoon our of her mommy's hands so she can be a big girl and feed herself. This of course doesn't go over very well and she ends up grabbing the spoon and rice goes all over her. Today was her first attempt at oatmeal. She actually seemed to enjoy the oatmeal more than the rice. She ate all of her serving today. Although I'm thinking about 50% might have gotten in her instead of on her. This is quite good compared to the 5% that usually makes it in her rather than on her. Her favorite thing to do is squish the food between her toes. We just strip her down to her diaper and let the her have fun with her food. When we put a bib on her she just tries to lick the food off the bib and she forgets about the spoon.

On a more serious note we went to the Geneticist for a follow up visit last week. Brooklyn has officially been deemed normal. She is developing at the rate she is suppose to for her adjusted age and she is physically developing normally. The Geneticist was very pleased with her progress. The doctor doesn't feel there was any  genetic correlation between her heart defect and her prematurity. She also referred us to a perinatal doctor to discuss all of my issues that I had regarding the pregnancy and the future risks of having more children since my body had so many issues.

Tomorrow we go to see the surgeon regarding Brooklyn's g-button. We are hoping to get it out soon. It has been a month since she has had to use it.

Brooklyn learned how to roll over from her back to her tummy. Now she does tummy time on her own when she feels like it in addition to her regular tummy time. She worked so hard trying to rollover. She would always get her one little arm stuck but she finally figured it out!! Go Brookie!


Matthew's brother, Stewart came for a visit over the weekend and got to hang out with Brooklyn. She had fun spending time with her Uncle Stew.

Dolly and Me

Brooklyn Eating Cereal

This is Brooklyn eating her cereal.

 Brooklyn before her cereal.

 Eating cereal for the first time.

 Cereal all over her face.

 More on her face than in her mouth.

 Notice the cereal on her leg and the bumbo chair.

Brooklyn's First Attempt at Cereal

Brooklyn had her first attempt at eating rice cereal on Monday. It was very successful and messy. She ended up with more on her than in her. I'm not sure she actually ate any of it but it sure was funny to watch her. We set her a little area up in the kitchen for her to have her first feeding of baby food. Matthew put a big blanket down on the kitchen floor and then we sat her in her bumbo after tying a plastic bib on her. Needless to say she still ended up with it everywhere. It was so adorable. There is nothing like witnessing your child's first attempt at eating baby food. On Tuesday we had the speech therapist come out and do an assessment on Brooklyn's tongue and a little demo lesson on feeding with a spoon. It was very helpful. At this point her tongue doesn't seem to be a problem so we are on track to continue with our daily attempts of feeding her rice cereal. We were thankful to hear that she is right on track for her adjusted age. I am going to attempt to post some pictures and videos of Brooklyn's first eating experience with rice cereal. The videos are in windows media player.

 

Video Before Brooklyn eats her cereal.

Mid-July Update

July has been a busy month so far. We went back to the Pedi on July 6th. Brooklyn weighs over 14 pounds now and is 24 inches long. She is now almost 8 months old. Adjusted she is 5 months old. We are so thankful for all of her growth!! We are also excited because she no longer needs to use the g-button. We feed her completely by mouth for all of her feedings now. We will return to the surgeon in August to see when we can get the g-button taken out. The surgeon wants her to go two months on full feeds before he takes it out. By the time we return to the office it will have been one and a half months that she will have been on full feeds. So we are hoping either at the end of August or in September she can get it out. We will see what the surgeon thinks. In the mean time we get to start giving her rice cereal with a spoon. We will see out that goes and post pictures of all of the funny faces I'm sure she will make.


We took Brooklyn to church to the big service last Sunday. She did pretty well. She only got a little fussy one time.Brooklyn also made her first trip to Mimi and Grandpa's house this month. She had her first sleepover at their house this past week. Mimi and Grandpa were excited!. Plus she got to help Mimi celebrate her 55th birthday. Below are some updated pictures from this month.

 Brooklyn wearing her dress Mimi bought her on Mimi's Birthday.

Mimi's 55th birthday.

 Brooklyn layig on the blanket her Nana made for her.

 Brooklyn (24 inches) and Dolly (9 inches) now.

Brooklyn (13 inches) and Dolly (9 inches) then.

First Fourth of July

 I celebrated my first Fourth of July with my parents and grandparents.

 I'm an All American Cutie.

 Mimi and Grandpa with Brooklyn.(April's Parents)

 PaPa and Nana with Brooklyn.(Matthew's parents)

 All the grandparents.

 Go Rangers!!

Brooklyn's first Fourth of July was celebrated with both sides of the family. We had a cook out on Saturday with all of the grandparents. Brooklyn was feeling the love that day. She is our All American Cutie.