Lake Living

Brian and I spent the last two weeks at Grandma and Grandpas house.  They live on the lake, and it was amazing! Carl drove up to visit on both weekends so we all got to celebrate father's day together.  I took a ton of pictures.  

It was so neat to see the progress Brian made while we were gone.  When we first arrived he still needed his oxygen during the day, he would get fussy, tired and wasn't eating as well.  By the time we left he was off oxygen the whole day (pulling it off at night even!) and all his numbers looked great.  And sweet boy has now been sucking down 4-6 oz bottles no problem.  The lake was good for him.  :)  We plan on heading back soon! 

He's definitely more mobile.  He started off on his mat and while I was getting ready managed to roll himself on the nice cold tile.  

This little man loved the lake.  Lucky boy!

Brian and I met up with some of our NICU nurses while we were in MI.  He missed them (mainly me) and I think they were impressed with how great he is doing!  Julie and Holly are amazing.  We are SOO thankful for the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital and their awesome NICU staff.  

 

Brian kept busy playing with necklaces and trying on headbands.  He is a lone boy surrounded by lots of girls! 

 

Every morning my dad would stay home until Brian woke up.  They would have some snuggles, read a book and go look out at the lake.  It was precious and adorable!  I love how much my parents love my baby.  

 

We played on the beach a lot!  Brian loved the sand and tried to eat.  Charlotte hardly likes it to touch her fingers.  This whole boy thing is going to be interesting...

Our big boy is sitting up all by himself!  And also loved to grab the grass.  Something his cousin is still hesitant about.  :) 

We all went on a Father's day coffee cruise.  It was wonderful.  Because of the babies and their bedtimes we're thinking our nightly booze cruises are a thing of the past.  But the coffee cruise idea sure was a hit! 

We have the happiest and sweetest little boy.  

Happy Father's day!  Four generations of boys.  

Carl found a Brian sized chair in the basement.  Brian thought it was hilarious.  

Here is Brian back home sitting up and playing.  So far he is right on track for a NORMAL six month old.  Hard to believe for us when six months ago we were told he might never do this! We're just so happy.  This next month we have a lot of Dr appointments.  We see our pediatrician, lung doctor, eye doctor, physical therapist and neuro development team.  I cannot wait to hear what they have to say about our sweet boy.  I hope he shows off :) 

And of course, here are some videos.  This boy is too funny! 

9 Months!

Our little man is 9 months old today!  And we took lots of pictures :) 

 

  We can hardly believe it.  3/4 of a year already.  It seems to have gone super fast and taken forever at the same time.  Brian and I have our 9 month Dr. appointment tomorrow, so we will get to see his height and weight and see how he has been doing these LAST SIX WEEKS without his feeding tube.  GO BUDDY!! 

  

Brian has been on and off his oxygen for the past two weeks.  The pulminologist gave us the OK to take him off during the day (well, really I called and told his nurse this is what I'm doing...) and to keep the oxygen on at night.  Our little buddy does great with all of his numbers that we watch, but when the oxygen is off he is much more tired and doesn't seem to eat as well.  I did a few trial days back on oxygen full time...and that stinker ate much better and wasn't nearly as crabby come night time.  It seems right now he can either breathe with out oxygen or eat/gain weight.  Our priority is definitely the eating, so back on the oxygen went.  I'll update the Dr on all of this tomorrow.  Mom's all over it, baby!

This boy loves his bath time!  We have now moved the tub upstairs to the "big boy" tub because he splashed too much,  I had to mop after every bath! 

Brian and his girlfriend.  :)  Someday when they're 12 pictures like this will be very funny!  And Carl is starting early with his future beer drinking buddy.  Brian got to smell all the beers at his dad's tasting night.  

   

We have been having so much fun with our sweet baby.  He is becoming so much more interactive! Brian is "talking" and has a few different voices.  I keep trying to catch on video his funny deep/scratchy throat sound that seems to be his favorite lately but every time I try he just stops and smiles!  We even ventured out to Costco as a family and ate dinner at the food court.  That was a big deal for us!  Brian has now been to Target and Joann's as well, I'm pretty sure Joann's was his favorite place ever.  I took him out and was holding him and he started laughing looking at all the colorful fabrics.  Babies can be so fun!  

I think I figured out how to add videos! 

Life is definitely getting better day by day for our little family.  Brian is still much more work than an average baby.  We have twice daily meds/nebulizer treatments and I need to pack his little oxygen tank and a backup anytime we go anywhere, but at least we can leave the house now! Brian sure  helps by eating better and smiling all the time.  

Our next few weeks are going to be great.  Carl's mom is coming into town this weekend to visit and hang out with the boys while I work and then the following weekend we are heading up to Michigan to visit my family for 11 whole days!  Well, just Brian and I - Carl will head back during the week to work.  It's going to be wonderful.  Summer is here!