~ 7 Months ~

Our little man is growing up.  He was 7 months on the 1st and tipping the scale at 15 pounds!  Brian is starting to be so much fun.  He is smiling and interacting.  He'll have little conversations and is definitely more expressive.  It makes all the long days go a little faster!  

Smiles are hard to get pictures of! 

Our Dr gave us the go ahead to try adding some food to his diet.  He is still struggling to eat.  That is really our biggest issue right now.  We've got maybe a month before we seriously talk surgery for our little man.  It is really hard and gets frustrating.  We know that he knows how to eat, but Brian's just very selective about it.  Sometimes he will take a whole bottle (4oz) and then other times only half an ounce.  He needs a full bottle 7 times a day to get the needed calories to grow and heal.  We are hoping that by introducing solids early he might be able to take off and do well with that.  Who knows!  We went to see a feeding therapist and they pretty much had no input.  Said that I was doing well and to continue what we are doing and hopefully he will just figure it out.  Gee, Thanks! 

The weather has been so nice lately!  We have been going on our daily walks in the afternoon.  Brian takes a little nap and I get some sunshine and exercise.

Win - Win. 

Look at this chunker in the tub!  Bathtime is still his favorite. 

Our tube free baby.  I switch our his feeding tube and nasal cannula every weekend for new ones.  And of course take lots of pictures with his cute, clean face.  This weekend he was off oxygen for over two hours!  He did SO good.  Even while eating his oxygen saturation was in the 90s.  He is getting closer and closer to not needing it any more.  We have an appointment with the lung Dr in two weeks and I will be very interested to hear his thoughts on weaning the oxygen!  You can do it Buddy! 

My handsome boys. 

We had some friends over to watch March Madness.  It was pretty intense.  :)  And this is Brian's girlfriend Juliet.  She is modeling some new baby leggings I made! 

I've been doing some sewing at nights when Carl is home.  It is so nice to just get away a little bit and do something different.  I made this whole little set for Baby Weston including a swaddle blanket, leggings, burp cloth and a hat!  Then I made a little romper for Brian to wear up at the lake this summer.  It's the perfect "fishing with Grandpa" outfit. 

He's been throwing up more too.  The joys of motherhood.  :) 

Carl and Brian like to play catch at night.  

Brian and I are best friends.  We spend every day together.  Doing a lot of tummy time, reading books, going for walks and hanging out in the Bjorn.  He smiles whenever he sees me and so far I'm the only one he will really make eye contact with.  I just love it.  Carl in the mean time is trying to teach him to say "da da". 

I promise I'm a good mom.  This little stinker managed to throw up, pull his feeding tube out and almost fall out of his swing while I was blow drying my hair!  I checked on him after the shower and he was cool, then I walked into this about 5 minutes later...

More pictures of eating, but we think a messy baby face is adorable.  Hopefully he catches on to the whole eating concept. 

Carl is traveling for work next week, so I am planning my first solo outing with Brian.  We are driving to MI and spending the week at the lake with my family!  I am SO excited to get out and do something new.  We have been tethered to our house for the past three months, only going out for doctor visits or walks in our neighborhood.  A change of scenery is desperately needed.  I'm betting this little buddy will be getting LOTS of extra snuggles this week.  :) 

A lot of the same

We have been doing a lot of the same around here.  Our normal day revolves around Brian and his eating/pooping.  Sad but true.  But look how cute he is! 

We went to see our doctor last week for his 2.5/6 month check up.  He needed his 6 month shots, so that was sad.  Poor buddy did the most pathetic little cry...but really just needed a hug and he was all better.  We found out that Brian is now in the 60% percentile for a normal baby his size.  YAY!  His last weight was 14 lbs and he continues to grow like a champ. 

Because of how well he is growing, our Doctor encouraged us to give Brian a "tube free trial."  Meaning, we took out his feeding tube and let him decide how much he wanted to eat and how often, kinda like a normal baby!  It went great for a few days...  I was doing daily weights and recording every teaspoon he ate.  But after about five days our little man got too tired.  He lost about 6 oz and his urine out put even dropped off.   Back in went the tube.  

So now we know he IS able to eat well at times, but just not quite ready to tackle everything on his own.   Feeding is such a big deal for our little guy.  Feeding means nutrition and nutrition means he is growing and healing.  We have another 4 weeks or so before we can try and introduce some solids and get him really going on the bottle.  If he still can't take in enough calories to grow, it would mean he would need surgery to place a more permanent feeding tube into his stomach.  We really hope we don't need that!

Brian is getting was more active these days.  He is smiling like crazy and only takes a few cat naps during the day.  

He loves to sit up with some help and look around at all the lights.  He is tracking his toys and loves going out for walks.  (It might really be his mom loving the walks, but we pretend he likes them too) 

Brian's girlfriend Juliet came over.  It is really hard to get a good picture of two 3 month olds! 

This is how he likes to sleep.  Silly boy. 

Hi Buddy!! Look at the smile :) 

These boys love each other.  Brian was doing tummy time and Carl figured he could get a little neck rub out of it.  They were both having fun!  It's a nightly occurrence now.  

He is outgrowing his cute plaid shirts.  I'm probably sadder about this than I should be.  

I think he likes me.  I really like him! 

Carl's mom came to visit this weekend.  So Brian got a LOT of extra snuggles over the past few days. 

Brian is not always thrilled with our weekly tube free photo shoots.  But we love them!  

Tons of pictures, I know.  But those are really the best part anyways!  We have no doctors visits or therapies this week.  Last week we have physical and speech therapy.  He is meeting all his milestones for a 2.5/3 month baby, so that is great news!  Brian continues to struggle with feeding, but we are planning on meeting with the speech therapists at least twice a month.  I was hoping they would be able to magically fix him, but they said to continue on with what we are doing.  Offering the bottle first then putting the rest down his tube.  Nothing can fix our issue but time.  Time to heal his reflux problems and time to get his muscles stronger and more coordinated.  

Patience Lauren, Patience!