December 8, 2011 - 9 months old

Well, there has been so much going on and so much to update, but I never seem to have a minute alone when I have the energy to post. So here I am (it's not really Dec. 8 any more!) in a hotel room at 9:00 and everyone is asleep so I thought I would use my time wisely (TV is off, it's quiet - except for snores and coughs!).

Brennan turned 9 months old on December 8. Holy moly! I better start planning her first birthday party! No really, I have no idea what we are going to do for it. I am so in love with this girl but I hate that she is growing up so fast. I know I say that every month, but it really is getting me down. She passed right through that baby-phase so fast. From the time she was little bitty, I have had a hard time getting pictures of her sitting still. She's a wild child!! But she is perfect and doing great and we love her so much.

At 9 months, here are the stats:
Weight: 20 lbs, 15 oz - 75th percentile
Height: 28 inches - 75th percentile
Head circumference - can't remember (I have it written down at home!) but it was 75th percentile too.

So overall, Brennan is consistent. She actually weighed 20 lbs a month or so so she hasn't gained much lately. People think she is older than 9 months still. It's the hair! It just grows and grows. Brennan is still crawling around and cruising the furniture. She's been doing this for a few months now so we are just waiting for her to take off. My grandma bought her a little stroller to push so she is doing a little moving with that. A few times, we have noticed her letting go and standing by herself for a bit. I saw her do it for a few seconds. David thinks she did it for at least 30 seconds (I think he might be exaggerating!!). She is babbling all the time and "talking" back and forth with us (more like yelling). She also started waving which is super cute and I swear she is mouthing "hi" although nothing comes out of her mouth!

She is still toothless, although the doctor said she saw no less than 6 teeth trying to come out. You can't tell this baby is teething. She is mostly all smiles (except at naptime!) and isn't nearly as drooly as I expected her to be. I used to have to change Conner's shirt a few times a day but Brennan is nowhere near as wet! She is still eating mostly baby food and formula. She likes all the stage 2 and stage 3 stuff I have given her. She also likes rice crackers, puffs and bunnie-o's. (She is getting a great pincer grasp!). She has had some tofu from my soup at the sushi place we like and seemed to like that and she likes bananas too. We tried yogurt but she got some eczema patches on her legs so the pediatrician wants us to wait another month before trying dairy again. I'm pretty sure she's fine with it because she has been on regular formula all along, but she just wants us to wait a bit which is okay with me. We were trying to get her on a good breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule but it didn't work well for her. The doctor said that is fine and we can continue things how they are working. There are no set rules and we really didn't want to mess with her good schedule until after the holidays. I'm a little hesitant about solids because she has no teeth, but when we are home for a good stretch of time, I'll try a few more things.

It really is amazing and a totally different experience to see how easily things are coming to Brennan. The pincer grasp is something Conner has struggled with and continues to struggle with since he was an infant. Brennan gets better at it every day with no therapy or help from anyone. Same with the babbling, waving, etc. She's got a great personality too!

In the last month, we went on a 2 week road trip and did a few other things which will come in a different post. Brennan did really well most of our vacation but since we got home, sleeping has been a little bit of an issue. We are working on "crying it out" and she "gets it" after a few days, but then inevitably we have a day when we have something to do and she sleeps in the car or something which take us back to starting over with it all. Hopefully once things calm down and we get in to a new schedule in January, things will get better on that front.

A few weeks ago, some people that I knew in grad school (who married each other) had a bad car accident. Their two kids and one of their parents were in the car. The two sons had the worst injuries. One of them is doing great and making a speedy recovery. The other one had a much worse injury and is not expected to live. Although these are not people who I have really kept in touch with over the years (except on facebook), it has been eating away at me since I heard about it. I'm not sure if it's my nursing background or because I'm a parent or because I have lost a child but I am just so devastated for them and devastated that these things happen. It reminds me of how precious life is and how I should be happy for every day that I have with Conner and Brennan. All kids lives are so precious and it kills me knowing that another one is lost. I know the pain that I felt losing Braedon but it is a pain that never goes away. We think about him every day and what our life may have been like if he was here. He was a baby so I didn't get the chance to see him learn how to walk or talk or play games or be creative like Conner. I never got to see him together with Conner playing and becoming the best of friends. We missed out and continue to miss out on so many things. Conner's life will never be what it might have been. As he has gotten older, it is very clear that he notices something missing. David and I talk about it all the time. He is missing a part of him. I can only hope that Brennan fills a little of that hole although his brother can never be replaced.

I am pretty sure that we got through Braedon's death because we had to for Conner. I know that I never fully dealt with losing him. I just went on and continue to move on because I have to. Before Brennan, I just focused on Conner and what he needed to reach his fullest potential. I research and take him wherever I can find that is the best for him. I probably piss off a ton of people in my way just to get him where he needs to be. I drive him all over the world taking him to appointments. I kept busy worrying and panicking about Conner's future, his schooling, if he'll have friends, if he'll be able to learn, will he ever talk, etc. etc. Then Brennan came and changed everything. I focus on her while Conner is at school, but when she naps or things are quiet, I have time to really think about all that has happened to us and how our life is. I don't know why it is all coming up now but I'm glad it is. It's not healthy to keep things inside so I'm trying to deal with life as it goes. Maybe it's because Conner is doing so well that now I have a minute to think about where we came from. I don't know. Maybe it's all the rude and thoughtless comments people make. I don't know. But I'm learning to deal with it and I'll probably need years of therapy to recover. I'll do what I need to do for my kids, but for me too. At least when I have a few free moments!

Anyway, what I really want to say in all of this is that life is so precious and I will hug and love my kids more each day and remember to live each day to its fullest. My heart breaks for this family and any family that loses a child. It is the worst thing that can happen and I pray that they can get through this very terrible loss.

November 8, 2011 - Brennan at 8 months

Well since this is pretty late (it's not November any more), I'll just give some quick stats about Brennan...

B turned 8 months old. We didn't have an exact weight (no doctor until next month for well visit) but she is over 20 pounds. She is HUGE!! She's tall and "healthy" looking! She is often mistaken for much older, because of her size, but mostly because of the hair!

Brennnan is babbling (yeah!) and making all kinds of mouth sounds. She is very happy and social but getting some stranger anxiety. She definitely does not like to be left alone, even for a second. It's hard to get to the bathroom! She is still cruising the furniture and she is a very fast crawler. She does not stop!!

She is still eating baby food and oatmeal twice a day and 3 bottles a day. She has also tried puffs and is getting better with those so maybe some day we will move past those. She likes most foods we have tried. The only bad ones are some of the really thick looking (dog food-esque) jarred foods. I even tried some stage 3 packets and I returned the rest. They looked and smelled so vile.

Brennan is still a toothless wonder! She doesn't drool too much yet (a little) and we aren't really experiencing any really bad teething symptoms yet. Conner was a super late teether so we're thinking it's just a family thing! She wants to be with Conner all the time and likes to do just what he does!!

Otherwise, things are good. Brennan did get another cold/sinus infection that lasted forever and did get to take amoxicillin again. She handled it great (even though there was constant snot in her hair!). She is the best baby and we love her so much!

November 3, 2011 - Babbling

Brennan started babbling today. It has been coming on for a few weeks now, but today she started really babbling. A few weeks ago, she started becoming a little more vocal. She will have a little yelling contest with whoever will participate with her (Conner!) but a lot of times she is quiet. Today, I could really hear her babbling. I think David and I both had tears in our eyes at the sound of it. To most people, this may not be a momentous occasion. I mean, it's our second child and it's just babbling. Conner first syllable sound came when he was just over 15 months old. We were in the car driving home on a long road trip. Maybe one or two consonants repeated (ex. bababa). We were so happy to finally hear it and we thought things would just take off...but it never did. We waited until Conner was 2 before he had any words at all and when he went to camp as a 3 year old, he was still labeling and only ever said one word at a time. He knew a few signs (which he doesn't remember any more!) but that was it. Thankfully, over the past year, Conner has become a little talking superstar and we are so proud but this has been the result of a TON of hard work from him and hours and hours of therapy.

So to us, this is huge and to people who know us in real life, you know that this has been a concern of mine for a long time.

When Conner was little, everyone used to tell us what a good baby he was because he was pretty much silent. I didn't know any better and I agreed...Conner was a great baby and so quiet and well behaved. I could even take him to the library. So, now when people say the same thing about Brennan, I cringe. Knowing what I know now, I want my kid to be the chatty verbal one because I know that "late" babbling is a sign of apraxia which we have struggled with with Conner for 4 years. As I'm sure I mentioned before, apraxia can be hereditary, or it could also be a result of one of the other things that have happened during Conner's life, or just as a result of his severe prematurity. In fact, although he is "officially" diagnosed with apraxia, I'm not sure if that is what it is. Conner definitely exhibits some characteristics, but who knows, really? Conner's brain was affected by being born so early so that could be the reason for his speech difficulties.

So, the momentous thing happened. We've been hearing more sounds for a few weeks. I keep telling Conner that Brennan is talking to him and he should start teaching her stuff. He is mostly interested in taking stuff away from her. It's funny how he is with her. He loves her so much and wants to hug her and kiss her, but since she has become much more mobile and takes his toys, he is reconsidering. I'm hoping that he will start to share better with her...there are so many toys but he always wants the thing that is in her hand. And, Brennan has her own toys, but somehow she knows that she wants Conner's stuff more than her own!

At dinner tonight, I was getting her food ready and she was babbling away. I kept looking at David and saying "do you hear that?" over and over again. It is such a totally different experience watching her learn things. She doesn't have to work as hard as Conner ever did and things are coming to her naturally. I don't have to do therapy with her to teach her the pincer grasp or how to chew. She is figuring out how to move food around in her mouth all by herself. It's pretty amazing to watch and something I'm not sure I would appreciate if we hadn't been in therapy with Conner his whole life.

Anyway, it was a momentous day and one I will not forget. Brennan's "talking" was music to our ears!

Here are a few photos just for fun!

Anyway, just wanted to record our day so I would know that this happened...Brennan is now just shy of 8 months and we are loving every minute of it! More Halloween and other pics coming soon!

November 3, 2011 - Babbling

Brennan started babbling today. It has been coming on for a few weeks now, but today she started really babbling. A few weeks ago, she started becoming a little more vocal. She will have a little yelling contest with whoever will participate with her (Conner!) but a lot of times she is quiet. Today, I could really hear her babbling. I think David and I both had tears in our eyes at the sound of it. To most people, this may not be a momentous occasion. I mean, it's our second child and it's just babbling. Conner first syllable sound came when he was just over 15 months old. We were in the car driving home on a long road trip. Maybe one or two consonants repeated (ex. bababa). We were so happy to finally hear it and we thought things would just take off...but it never did. We waited until Conner was 2 before he had any words at all and when he went to camp as a 3 year old, he was still labeling and only ever said one word at a time. He knew a few signs (which he doesn't remember any more!) but that was it. Thankfully, over the past year, Conner has become a little talking superstar and we are so proud but this has been the result of a TON of hard work from him and hours and hours of therapy.

So to us, this is huge and to people who know us in real life, you know that this has been a concern of mine for a long time.

When Conner was little, everyone used to tell us what a good baby he was because he was pretty much silent. I didn't know any better and I agreed...Conner was a great baby and so quiet and well behaved. I could even take him to the library. So, now when people say the same thing about Brennan, I cringe. Knowing what I know now, I want my kid to be the chatty verbal one because I know that "late" babbling is a sign of apraxia which we have struggled with with Conner for 4 years. As I'm sure I mentioned before, apraxia can be hereditary, or it could also be a result of one of the other things that have happened during Conner's life, or just as a result of his severe prematurity. In fact, although he is "officially" diagnosed with apraxia, I'm not sure if that is what it is. Conner definitely exhibits some characteristics, but who knows, really? Conner's brain was affected by being born so early so that could be the reason for his speech difficulties.

So, the momentous thing happened. We've been hearing more sounds for a few weeks. I keep telling Conner that Brennan is talking to him and he should start teaching her stuff. He is mostly interested in taking stuff away from her. It's funny how he is with her. He loves her so much and wants to hug her and kiss her, but since she has become much more mobile and takes his toys, he is reconsidering. I'm hoping that he will start to share better with her...there are so many toys but he always wants the thing that is in her hand. And, Brennan has her own toys, but somehow she knows that she wants Conner's stuff more than her own!

At dinner tonight, I was getting her food ready and she was babbling away. I kept looking at David and saying "do you hear that?" over and over again. It is such a totally different experience watching her learn things. She doesn't have to work as hard as Conner ever did and things are coming to her naturally. I don't have to do therapy with her to teach her the pincer grasp or how to chew. She is figuring out how to move food around in her mouth all by herself. It's pretty amazing to watch and something I'm not sure I would appreciate if we hadn't been in therapy with Conner his whole life.

Anyway, it was a momentous day and one I will not forget. Brennan's "talking" was music to our ears!

Here are a few photos just for fun!

Anyway, just wanted to record our day so I would know that this happened...Brennan is now just shy of 8 months and we are loving every minute of it! More Halloween and other pics coming soon!

October 13, 2011 - School, Speech and Stuff (finished 10/25)

Well, it is already October and I have yet to write anything about Conner's new school (which started at the end of August). I don't know why. I'm not sure why I have been holding back! There has just been so much going on, I have been feeling so much stress related to school and therapy for Conner and I know he has too. Maybe I'm waiting to figure out what I want to say. I don't know why I care, but I care how my words come out. I don't want anyone to think that we are anything but so proud of Conner and how much progress he has made over his life and over the last few months. But it has been a rough few months. Honestly, with his sleep problems, it has been a rough (almost) year and we are no closer to reaching a solution. So, here I am, today, sitting here in Starbucks all by myself (B is home with David because she was sleeping and neither of us wanted to wake her up) thinking that I should really do a good post.  I'm sure it won't happen over this little time I have...it will be a process of getting the information out of my head...

Okay, so it's been 2 weeks since I started this post. Ironically (or not!), I am sitting in Starbucks again and Brennan is home again with David. This time she is home because she is sick. She has been sick for 2 weeks straight and it is so frustrating. She can't seem to kick whatever this is (terrible cough and runny nose) and she isn't sleeping great or feeling great, so David is taking her back to the pediatrician (we were there 2 weeks ago and they said it will go away on it's own, then I talked to the peds office a week ago and got the same response...frustrating).

So, back to Conner. Here is how the school situation went...
At the end of last school year, we had decided Conner would go to a new school. In case you weren't following, the school wasn't really that exciting about accommodating Conner. He doesn't have a ton of special needs at school, but anything seemed to be too much. So since they weren't excited about Conner and how much progress he is making on a daily basis, we weren't all that excited about keeping him there. When we had Conner's IEP at the public school at the end of last school year, we thought we had come up with a great plan. It was for Conner to be in the regular preschool class from 9-1 and then in the special education preschool class (PAL) from 1-3:20. Our biggest concern about putting him in that class was that he learns by modeling behaviors/speech, etc and we were concerned because the majority of the class needed help with speech. But we thought if he was in general ed all morning, the extra help and therapy would be great in the afternoon. The only problem is that it is 5 days a week and we really didn't want Conner in school 5 full days and if we put in him 3 full and 2 half days, the half would be in the afternoon and get in the way of us really doing anything fun or relaxing. It didn't turn out to matter because we never got off the waiting list for the 3 day general ed class.

So with about a week before camp was over and a few weeks before schools started, we were scrambling to find something appropriate for Conner. Well, we lucked out (at least I feel that way!). Conner went to a fully inclusive camp and they have a full inclusion program in their preschool. Conner gets to go to typical school with "typical" kids and he has an "advocate" who spends the day looking after him. She doesn't go with him to everything, but does help him with things that he needs help with (i.e. going to the bathroom, fine motor skills - art projects, writing, drawing, cutting, etc.). She also goes in the pool for swimming (they get swim lessons once a week) which takes a lot of worry off of my mind. We signed Conner up for school on a Friday and the school started the following Wednesday. We are very happy with our decision and thankfully it has turned out great so far. It's not perfect, but I don't think anything would be perfect for any child, but it's as good as I think it's going to get. My only regret...we didn't know about it sooner.

The things that we really LOVE about the school: Conner's teachers. They are fantastic and I am SO appreciative of how they are with Conner. They actually really like him, really want him to learn, and don't see him as "unteachable" which is how we felt last year. They care about him. They make a ton of effort to help him even though it's not always easy. There are a lot of kids in the class, but Conner is not just an extra kid in the room, they really include him in all the activities and want him to succeed. It is night and day from how we felt last year. Conner seems happy in his classroom. He has had a few bad days when he didn't listen or didn't participate in everything, but overall, he has had mostly good days. He is slowly making some new friends. This has been the hardest part for all of us. He loved some of the boys he has been in class with for the last 2 years and now he is with all new kids. It's so different this year because he has had so many boys in his previous classes and this year it is primarily girls. He likes to play with a few of the boys but when I ask him who he played with, he always tells me a name from his class last year. I'm hoping over the year, it will get better. We have already been invited to 2 school birthday parties this year and Conner played with a bunch of the kids, so I am hopeful. He still is happy and easy-going, just not having any playdates with any of them just yet.

The biggest difficulty with all this new stuff is that as of the first day of school, August 23 (the date is burned in to my brain), Conner started stuttering terribly. He has stuttered on and off before but it was very mild and usually came when he was learning something new and left in a week or so. This time, it came on strong and seemed very uncomfortable for him. It caused many tears for us (not for Conner) because it lasted for so long. Last week, it seemed to disappear as quickly as it appeared and this week it has come back. It's funny because for so long (3 years), Conner hardly made a peep, never made words and I was worried about it. But I'm not sure if I was ever so upset about it like I am with the stuttering. I think it's because when Conner didn't talk, he just wasn't talking. He wasn't struggling to find a word, he just couldn't make any words. The stuttering is a struggle for him. He's uncomfortable, the veins pop out of his neck, and he can't get the thought out of his mouth. So there are a lot of theories about this (Conner has a private speech therapist, a speech therapist at speech preschool and speech therapist at the public school). The therapists (his 3, plus he was evaluated by a stutter specialist) believe that the stuttering could have been triggered by a stressful situation (i.e. starting a new school) or that he is just learning so many things that all these new thoughts are trying to come out all at once and he can't them out fast enough. I think it's probably a combination of the two things. The stutter specialist was great and if it continues to be a problem, we will try to get in to see him. He thought Conner sounded great (it was during that week that the stuttering magically disappeared) but we are going to keep an eye (ear) on things and reevaluate in January. Some of the therapists want us to ignore the stuttering, which as a parent is very difficult (how do I hide/explain the tears in my eyes?). Some of the therapists want us to try to help him pace himself when he talks (smooth, bumpy, etc.). My conclusion, too many therapists, too many techniques, too confusing for me, so how should I expect my 4 year old with special needs to handle it?

The solution...scale it back. Conner very rarely gets to participate in fun activities. He doesn't get to take soccer or karate or swim lessons because he is busy with OT, speech and horseback riding. Not only does it take up every minute of his day, it also adds up financially too. So 2012 is going to be a year of change (at least that is the goal). We are almost done with our 60 visits of allotted therapy. We have about 5 sessions of speech and OT left and then we plan to take the rest of the year off. Then, in 2012, we are going to try to do private therapy just one day a week. Conner will continue to get speech at the public school (it's inconsistent, but we love the therapist) and he may also continue to go to speech preschool. Another change we are planning is to streamline things. If Conner continues at speech preschool, we will do all of his therapy in the same building so that they are all on the same page, using the same techniques and not confusing Conner, David and me with all these different methods of therapy. Conner has also had some challenges with his occupational therapist. He has some great days, but he also has some not so great days and the therapist has some not so great days too. Maybe it's just time for a change. We also want to eliminate all of the crazy driving and rushing that we do on a regular basis and try to just do more fun stuff. Conner's therapy has been VERY inconsistent lately with absences, vacations, sicknesses from his therapists and so we hope these changes will make things more consistent too. We have high hopes for 2012!!

Conner has also been doing hippotherapy on the weekends. The problem has been that Conner's therapist has had a lot of health problems over the last year and a half. She had breast cancer and was out for a long time recovering. Thank goodness she is okay. We absolutely love her and all that she has done for Conner. Conner LOVES going to the barn, riding the horses and cleaning poop! But after she came back, she broke her ankle and needed surgery and she is still recovering. This time she has someone helping her out. She does sessions every other weekend which is okay, but we don't really care for the therapist. She has not challenged Conner at all and it's not that fun for him. The reason why we drive an hour each way and pay so much money is for the therapist. So we have also decided that until she comes back, we are taking another break from hippotherapy. Lots of changes, hopefully for good for the little man.

Overall, Conner is doing great. We find ourselves in a position that we never expected to be in. Conner is doing awesome and doing things we never expected him to do. But that doesn't mean that we stop here. We keep raising our expectations of what he will do and what he can accomplish. We hope that he will be able to keep making progress in the right direction and that some day, he will come close to "catching up" (a phrase I hate). It's hard because when strangers meet Conner (before he talks) they don't think that anything is "wrong" with him. We met a woman this weekend whose child has cerebral palsy. She is a Zumba instructor and was doing a demonstration class and Conner absolutely LOVED it. She could not believe that Conner has cerebral palsy too, that he was born at 23 weeks, that we were told he would never walk. Disabilities have a lot of different faces.  Even when he talks, people look at me as if I'm a bad parent because my 4 year old doesn't talk like a 4 year old. I want to speak up and say something but then why do I have to explain to every stranger that I come across that my incredible miracle child has come so far and he is talking, which to me is a miracle in itself. I wonder if I will ever feel like I don't have to explain.  I had a teenager suggest "early intervention" to me. Ummmm...yeah, we are doing that already. The same teenager asked me "What does he have?" as if having a disability is like having a cold. We do everything for our children. It's exhausting and sometimes seems like it isn't helping, but we continue to try to get Conner to do everything that is possible.

Okay, well enough deep thoughts for me for today. I'm tired, mentally and physically. David is tired mentally and physically. We are all feeling a little less than 100%. We are drained. We need a vacation. We need to win the lottery. We need so many things. At the same time, we know we are beyond lucky. We are blessed. Whatever word you can use to describe lucky, we are it. Conner is alive. He is walking and talking. He was born 17 weeks early. He had a bleed in his brain. His MRI looks like crap, but he is defying the odds. He is doing things the doctors said he would never do and hopefully will keep doing. We will just keep searching for the right things for him and surround him with the best things possible.

U R Some 1 CD Giveaway

Check out Thrifty Nifty Mommy's blog to enter this giveaway for this great kids' compilation CD.

http://thriftyniftymommy.blogspot.com/2011/10/u-r-some-1-cd-review-and-giveaway.html

October 13, 2011

A few weekends ago, we went to a really great kids concert. They had 4 bands playing all for kids and before (and during) the show, they had an instrument "petting zoo" set up. I wasn't sure how Conner would do. He LOVES music, but he HATES loud noises. We got there (early) and he went right for the instruments. He got to try out drums, a xylophone, a bass, cello, and guitar. He absolutely loved it. I don't know if he'll ever have a long enough attention span to play an instrument, take lessons, practice, etc. but I know he loves music. He plays our piano at home all the time. He kept going back to try out something else! I keep asking him what instrument he wants to play and he says guitar...I don't know though, he seems pretty happy playing those drums!

Then the LOUD concert started. First up, Mr. Seley and the Troublemakers. They play great music that is kid friendly, but not annoying to listen too!! We have seen the group a few times at the zoo. I think they were Conner's favorite. He got right out on the dance floor with a bunch of kids he doesn't know and started dancing. He came to get me a few times to dance with him, but most of the time, he was just up there shaking his tushy!! He had a blast.

After Mr. Seley played, a few of Conner's friends came so he got to play with them for a bit. CandyBand was next and then a few other groups (that we didn't like as much). He outlasted everyone! He had such a good time so when we found out that the Laurie Berkner Band will be playing in Grand Rapids in March we decided this is a definite road trip for us! Laurie Berkner has been one of Conner's favorites for a few years already and I'm sure Brennan will love her too.

October 8, 2011 - 7 months

This year is going so fast. Brennan is already 7 months old. She has grown up so fast. She looks like a toddler already (to me anyway!). I'm glad to see her accomplishing milestones because I am always worried about everything (because of our experiences with Conner) but I'm also sad to see how fast she is growing.

Anyway, little girl has been growing and doing so much these days. At 7 months, she crawls all over and sits up most of the time. She gets a little antsy in her carseat (until she falls asleep!) because she is leaned back a little more than she would like. I still have her in her infant carrier, mostly for the convenience. When we are on the go with Conner and she falls asleep and is trying to nap while we are out for the day, it's easier to keep her asleep when I can just bring her in her seat. I know those days are limited. Brennan is pretty long and heavy. Before too long, we will have to switch her in to a bigger seat. That will be a big adjustment and I'm sure I will spend a lot more time sitting in the car waiting for her to wake up!

Brennan has been pulling up for a few weeks now. She loves to stand up and look all around. She falls down a lot still. At first, she was falling pretty quickly and was crying a little, but now she pretty much just plops on to her tush to get down (because she hasn't figured out how to get down gracefully yet!) and get moving again. She is starting to take a few steps (a little cruising) but not too much. She picks up all of Conner's toys now. She's not really interested in all the little baby stuff (except for her play table to pull up on!), mostly she wants whatever Conner is playing with. Conner isn't loving sharing so it has been a little challenging. He is learning and it is getting better about gently taking things instead of snatching them out of her hands. He has definitely changed with her since she was a tiny baby and wants to play with his stuff! He still is a great big brother and now every time they are sitting near each other he asks where the camera is for a picture! The photos never turn out so good though!! She is a moving target these days...hard to catch her on camera sometimes!

B eats very well now. It only took a few weeks on baby food and cereal before she really started to like it. She now is eating oatmeal and stage 2 baby foods twice a day. She has added lots of new stuff to her diet. She likes pretty much everything and opens her mouth wide for food! She is eating mangos, pears, apples, peaches, apricots, peas, squash, spinach, sweet potatoes and carrots. I'm sure there are a few more, but I can't remember. The only food that wasn't great for her was green beans and only because it made her SUPER gassy! I'm sure it will be fine mixed with other stuff, but on it's own...NOT SO MUCH! I can't really remember what we did next with Conner. He ate baby food forever. So I really don't know what to do next with Brennan with food. We are going on vacation soon so I don't want to change too much before then. And she doesn't have any teeth yet, so I'm in no hurry to add anything. She has tried puffs, which she is so-so about. I have to feed them to her, so I'm thinking she isn't ready for them...and she has tried a baby rice cracker thing (can't remember the name) but she wasn't that interested. She picks everything up okay, just won't put it in her mouth! So for now, we are just keeping things how they are because she seems okay with it.

Brennan has been a little more vocal (although I still worry about it). She mostly makes a lot of mouth/nose noises. Raspberries and blowing air out of her nose all the time! She is still a super happy and really good baby. She goes along with our schedule, no matter what it is. Things change on a daily basis and she just goes along with it. She doesn't nap great when we aren't home, but when we are home for a day, she usually takes one good long nap and a few little cat naps. She just crawls up to one of us, gets comfy and falls asleep for a little (maybe 30 minutes or so). She has been waking up super early lately so we are trying to figure out how to get that backed up a little. It's been before 6 on a lot of occasions...too early!

That's about it for this month. We love little B a ton and can't wait to see what she does next!

This is our attempt at 7 month photos...this is what I got, didn't go so well!!

September 26 - Backtracking

So over the past month or so, we have had so much going on. I don't get much time to post because when we aren't going all over the place for appointments, we are home and the kids are requiring all of our attention. B has developed big time separation anxiety. She doesn't like to be left alone for even a minute (don't even get to go to the bathroom sometimes!). Dropping Conner off at speech school used to be my time to get a few things done (like catch up on blogging, writing thank you notes, keeping up with everything) but the baby is no longer a newborn and doesn't want to sit around. I try to get her to nap a little, but she isn't interested unless we are moving around. So the last few weeks have been a little difficult and we have had a few rough days. It's only rough for me because it's rough for the kids. I hope that some day, life isn't quite this hectic, but for now, we deal with it because we think we are doing the best thing for Conner.

A few weeks ago, Conner and I went on a trip with the mom's club that I am in. We went to Grand Rapids to the Children's Gardens at Meijer Gardens (I don't know the official name, something like this though). I highly recommend that if you haven't been there, that you check it out. We had a great time. I was so glad that things went smoothly and Conner behaved all day. (We have been having some behavior problems lately). I was a little worried about Conner staying dry (because we are still working on potty training) but he did great in the car for the 2 1/2 hours - stopping once. We had lunch when we got there and then walked around this giant sculpture park. We took a tram ride to look around at the whole place and then spent HOURS in the water feature for kids. Conner had the best time and I just let him play as long as he wanted. He was soaked...thank goodness I had a change of clothes. The place closed before we even had a chance to finish looking around. This will definitely be on our list of places to go to next summer (hopefully with the whole family next time). We went to dinner with our great friend that Conner absolutely adores and got to see her new apartment before heading back home. Conner fell sound asleep in the car and stayed asleep until the next morning.

Anyway, like I said earlier, we went on our "test run" road trip (because in a few months, we are going on a much longer trip). We drove to the Wisconsin Dells. It's about an 8 hour trip for us. We actually left on Saturday (the day after our trip to Grand Rapids) but didn't need to be there until Sunday. So we stopped outside of Chicago so we could go to the Lego Discovery Center. Total flop. Conner loves legos so we thought he would think this was so cool...but it was dark and loud and crowded and Conner hated it. Just when we think we can do something normal, we have an experience like this that tosses us back in to reality. We woke up the next morning and finished our trip to Wisconsin. Conner loved the water parks. Our hotel was humongous, with 4 indoor and 3 outdoor waterparks. Conner visited all of them and had a great time with new friends. It was so great for us to see old friends that I have known for so long. I wish we lived closer so we wouldn't have to catch up on years and years. Both the kids loved all the extra attention.

The next day, Conner started at his new school...which has to be a post all in itself.