We've been busy!

But first, a picture :)

LOVE YOU BABY!

Brian and I have had quite a busy few weeks.  We took our first trip up to Michigan since coming home to Peoria in January.  Carl had to travel for work so instead of going crazy stuck inside my house alone, we packed up my car and I made the trek.  Oxygen tanks, nebulizers, feeding supplies and all.  I should have taken a picture.  :/  Oh well.  Brian and I left around 10 at night and he slept for the whole ride!  He started to fuss a little about 45 minutes from the lake.  Little stinker pulled out his oxygen then quickly fell back asleep.  I just kept going, his saturations were good enough!  

We had the best time.  It was great seeing family again.  Brian got to hang out with his cousins!  Charlotte was so excited to see him, she kept trying to grab all of his tubes.  When they were laying here for the picture she was so happy and flailing her arms, unfortunately the flailing went right into Brian's face... Little buddy did not appreciate it and got the saddest, little pouty lip.

There is not much of a size difference any more!

We did some eating and playing and laughing at the lake.  And we also walked to Brian's very first restaurant!  It was a pretty big deal for this little guy.  :) It was so nice to visit but a lot of work for me!  We have a set routine at home and a certain place for all of his stuff, it's hard to relocate everything.  Here's hoping the next trip up we can lose some of his tails.  

Baby boys in a bow tie are the best thing ever! 

He is having so much fun kicking on this toy now.  He loves "standing up" and jumping.  

Last week we had three different appointments.  Feeding therapy, pulmonologist (lung doctor) and our pediatrician.  We got some pretty great news, all around!  The lung doctor said he is looking great.  His lungs are healing and he sees very little evidence that he ever had Chronic Lung Disease.  We are keeping the oxygen on for another two months until his feeds are up to 100%, then he thinks we'll be able to wean completely off!  (here's hoping!) Our pediatrician says he looks great too.  He was 15 lbs 1.6 oz and 23.5 inches.  That makes him 50th percentile for a normal 4 month old baby.  Go, Buddy Go!

A little help here mom?
 

Brian loves going for our walks! We graduated to the big boy stroller and he seems so much more comfortable. 

And while we were visiting I told our doctor the good news on Brian's feeding status.  His tube broke last Wednesday so I went ahead and pulled it out, going to give him his normal 24 hour tube free break.  Well, that 24 hours has now been almost a week!! Turns out we have a picky eater.  Stinker didn't like his formula... I decided on a whim to give him some apple juice/water mixture just so he would pee overnight, and he sucked down the whole 2 ounces!  Carl picked up some Pedialyte on the way home and he ate that no problem as well! It wasn't that he couldn't eat, he just didn't like what we gave him.  Stinker....  So, the Dr gave us the green light to try other formulas (not just the high calorie preemie kind) to see if we can find something he likes.  We've been encouraging baby food and limited amounts of juice/Pedialyte and I have been doing daily weights at home.  As long as Brain continues to grow we can keep the feeding tube out! YAY!!  So far he is doing great, he's up 3 ounces and is just the happiest baby.  His reflux is better, he no longer throws up with every feeding, and we are thrilled that he might not need another surgery.  My mom thought we should do this weeks ago but I really needed the Dr's OK...you were right mom!  But I really think the juice thing was all my idea :)

This is Brian's favorite napping place recently.  So sweet! 

We are getting very excited for our first big trip.  All of us are packing up and heading to Phoenix next Friday for our yearly family vacation.  Carl and I cannot wait to get a desperately needed break and some sunshine!  It has been a LONG winter.  Traveling with Brian is going to be interesting.  I've spent the last 3 weeks trying to figure out how to fly with a baby on oxygen.  Apparently, you need a special portable device because those tanks you normally see are not allowed on airplanes.  Originally, our first oxygen company told us it was going to be over $1,200 for rental and delivery of everything!  Crazy - I was crying I was so frustrated.  Carl then went about it from the insurance stand point and we figured out if we switched companies everything would be covered.  This was three weeks ago that I started the process, and finally yesterday we got all our new supplies delivered but we are STILL waiting on the special oxygen device to travel with.   I sure am glad I started a month early.  Medical red tape is so frustrating!  The vacation is going to be so worth it.  Our buddy is going to love splashing in the kiddy pool while mom and dad hang out with family drinking fancy, overpriced cocktails.  :)

This guy LOVES splashing!