Milwaukee

Well today was the Milwaukee appointment we have been waiting for, but we only learned about a half of what we wanted to know. We met the neurosurgeons and his PA and they answered our list of questions. The answers were mostly good, it helps to know a lot more about the process. Unfortunetaly they work together with a cranial reconstructive surgeon (plastic surgeon) to work on the overall shape of his head and how it will look afterwards so we need to go back down to meet with him and then find a time before the end of June that they both have half a day open for Brode!

Brode was very well-behaved and just played with his toys and smiled at the doctors. The Children's Hospital was colorful and fun for the kids. We really liked it.

Once we got home Brode needed a nap after messing up his schedule, then we got out his new toy! He is pretty good at it now that he can stand a little more and loves all the different toys on it! It keeps him occupied for a while.

We don't have much planned for this weekend. Tiff came to see Brode tonight and Matt hung out with his friends. Tomorrow is a usual hockey, work, nap time, routine day. Brode may be staying at Grandma Beth's (she wants her Brode fix) tomorrow night while we go to my aunt and uncles for my cousins birthday and then I'll get to sleep in a little bit! This next week is my Spring Break but there isn't anything going on because everyone else was off this past week so I'll just have to study and workout and play with Brode (oh darn)!

Brode now has two teeth! This past week he was very fussy again and ran a little bit of a temperature but sure enough that second tooth came poking through. Everything is always is in his mouth now! They look very funny when he laughs now that they're are peeking through a little more. He still has his darn cold though. Between teething and day care I dont think he is ever going to get rid of that cold until he is 2!

Everyone have a good week!

Update

Well we're very overdue for an update but not much has been going on. We stick with our routine of school, work, and day care then mix in lots of other things that come up.

Brode still has his cold but it's starting to loosen up and hopefully go away. We finally figured out his spiked temperatures were from teething when he chomped on grandpas fingers and it felt a little more sharp than usual. Sure enough there was his first tooth peeking right through! He was pretty crabby for a few days from that but he has been doing a lot better.

We started his physical therapy for his tight neck muscles (Torticollis) yesterday. It isn't too extensive, nothing more that one main stretch. Brode won't have to go back too many times, we just need to do some things at home so he develops more strength.

We also started green beans and carrots with Brode. He has been doing well with them. It's impossible to keep him clean and scrub it all of afterwards! The carrots weren't the most exciting thing for him, he didn't really know what to think of the taste but he has been doing better! Hopefully we can start another new thing tonight!
That's about all that is going on. School is school, more tests to get done before spring break but nothing else exciting. The weekends have been pretty uneventful as well!

Have a good Spring Break!

5 Months!

Brode turned 5 months last week! It has been going so fast! Here are a couple pictures... he is getting so big!This weekend I went to LaCrosse once again to see everyone there and it was a lot of fun! I love seeing everyone and being back there. We had a house full so it was a good girls weekend! While I was gone Brode stayed at Matt's and had a boys weekend. From what I heard they talked and played a lot!

Nothing is really planned for this week except for work and school but somethings always comes up! Right away this morning I got a call from day care that Brode's temp was 105. He has been spiking a lot lately and has had a terrible cold for almost two weeks. He has been doing well since I picked him up but we're still going to go to the doctor this afternoon because we dont want to risk anything like that pneumonia he already had!

Have a good week!

Update

Just a few pictures and updates!

My roses from Matt for Valentine's Day all opened up and beautiful!

Today we had Brode's 5 month pictures with Sarah Celine. He did well, even with his horrible cold! We got some cute smiles! Here are a few from her website.

Matt got his tattoo yesterday of Brode's footprints and initials on his shoulder blade and it turned out well!


Here is Brode after his bath last night. He hates the part of putting clothes back on, so we just hang out for a while!

Well thats about it going on right now. Not too much going on this weekend just going to see some family, they haven't seen Brode in a while! Have a good week!

Eating!

Ok, I promised Tiff I would update on some things because I havent in a while and that I would get some new videos.

We've gotten into our routine pretty well, but then things get messed up on the weekend when everything changes again! School has been going well, I really like my classes so far, but I still don't know if this is the right major and I need to decide soon. The girls in LaCrosse say I need to pick something they have there so I can come back... we'll see. Brode has been doing well at Day Care! I've gotten a few calls but nothing too serious, all he does is sleep so they don't mind having him! Today was his first "field trip" the New Zoo's Zoomobile was coming and they were all going to the gym to see all the animals that they bring! We'll see how he did when I pick him up today!

We've been doing really well with cereal. He has now mastered the rice and the oatmeal so he is getting some other flavors instead of that darn formula. Here is a little video of Matt feeding him. He makes the same noise every time the spoon gets to his mouth and his hands are always in the way but its been going well. Filling him up a little more helps him to sleep from 8:15 until 6:30 though!

We've haven't been making much progress on things with his doctors in Milwaukee. They were suppose to call last week but didn't then I forgot to call back. I called today and they said they haven't gotten anything yet so we'll see when we can get some of these things figured out.

Brode officially has gotten his toes in his mouth all the time! His pictures are next weekend so there isn't much we can do, hopefully she won't be mad!

The nice weather is really nice, Libby loves it the most out of all of us. We packed Brode up in the stroller a couple times for a walk with Libby around the neighborhood, but he always falls asleep! The fresh air is really nice though..

This week isn't too eventful. I'm going to Wicked with my parents on Wednesday and I'm really really excited everyone said it was really good so we'll see! Brode is going to hang out with Matt that night, and then this weekend he is going to Minneapolis for a Wild game so he'll be gone for Brode's pictures.

Well I think that is all we have to update on, I thought I had a couple more pictures to put on here but I guess not! Have a good week!

Busy!

Well the chaos has started! Monday morning we started our routine off right away. Brode has been waking up at 6 so my mom dresses him and feeds him while I shower and get my things ready, then grandpa takes him to day care and I start my commute to Oshkosh. Classes have been going well, they're going pretty fast so it isn't too bad sitting through them. I haven't gotten too much homework but I'm trying to stay on top of it so I dont end up cramming because I dont have time for that. Day Care is going very well for Brode. He really likes it and the girls there really like him. It is nice that he is right at the Y so I can get a workout in, then run downstairs and pick up the little guy. I am definetaly tired and sore from the workouts but I like being able to get more done and I'll get used to the routine eventually.

Here is a little video. Brode loves the big frog he got some Auntie Sam and giggles unstoppably.

LaCrosse!

This weekend was great, and a perfect relaxer before the chaos begins.

I secretely talked to Tiff and surprised everyone in LaCrosse. They each had their own reaction and they were all quite entertaining. It was great to catch up with the girls and see a lot of people again. It definetaly made me really wish the gap wasn't so big and I think they agree. By the end of the week Brode and I will have 16 houses there because everyone is looking. It was pretty hard to leave this morning because I have no idea when I'm going to get back now with everything going on.

I came home very excited to see the little guy. I hadn't even been away from him for 24 hours so the 72 was a little much! He was just as excited to see me and had his huge smiles as always. He does look three times the size now though. We hung out for a while tonight, he got a bath, we tried some more cereal and he didn't make one peep at bed time. We'll see how long he sleeps though because he gave daddy a very hard time this weekend!

Tomorrow is Brode's first official day in daycare and my first day of school, all on my 20th birthday! We have been visiting daycare for a couple days and are very very happy with it so leaving him won't be hard. Grandpa will be dropping him off to save me some time and gas so they will bond in the mornings. I don't know if im excited for classes or not. I definetaly need something to do, until I have WAY to many and I'm too stressed out! On top of school and daycare tomorrow Brode has another doctors appointment and I plan on talking to her about a lot because nothing is getting solved and Brode is uncomfortable. I'll be so busy I probably will even forget I'm turning 20!

I'll be sure to write again tomorrow about how everything went! Have a great week, and Happy Groundhogs Day tomorrow, lets hope for Spring because this weekend was gorgeous!

4 Months

Well Brode was 4 months yesterday! It seems to be going so fast, I feel like he was just 3 months. They're only going to get faster from here!

We went to the doctor today for his check-up. I knew he would have to get shots so it wasn't going to be a good day, but we ended up getting a whole list of things. We went on a little trip before his appointment to visit Grandpa at worked which he found very interesting. We finally got to the doctor and found out that he is 13lbs 13 oz, and 25 and 3/4 inches long! He is still extremely tall for his age. After that we had to sit down and talk about many things. He seems very healthy, but we can't get to the bottom of the diarrhea issue so they may need to check for infections. He got a prescription to put on his cheeks and forehead and hands because he has very dry and irritated skin from drooling and scratching. We got some suggestions to help with his diaper rash from all those dirty diapers and some new soap to use to help that dry skin on his hands and things. He got 3 shots today and seems to be doing a lot better than last time, he isn't in as much pain and is still playing and things, but still extremely tired. Lastly, she suggested he get a CT Scan for his weird forehead. They figure it is just how he is and how it was inside, and just needs to pop into place, but they want to look at it to make sure it isn't something wrong with the growth. I didn't really mind this because then we'll know, but it turned into chaos when they scheduled it for my 3rd day in the morning because they dont do them in the afternoons. Lucky for me all my classes are in the morning. He also needs to be listened to by his doctor a couple days before hand so that they know he is healthy for sedation so we have that appointment too. With all this going on it is not a good week to start day care and having to be pulled out already!

The good news is that we get to start some mushy food (rice cereal) so we'll see how he likes that. It could be entertaining!

Don't you just love his blue eyes and eyelashes!

Toes

I recieved a picture package from the neighborhood for Brode called the Premiere Year. The second session of this year is to be done around 5 months, so we scheduled it for February 21st, right before that age. She said she wants it to be about when he starts playing with his toes, but before they get in his mouth or she won't be able to get them out. She said he would probably be early to do this, but I walked in Brode's room this morning and this is what I found. Now added to my to do list for the day will be to call and move Brode's session so we can get some good pictures before those toes get in his mouth.

Been Better

Well, we've been better, or at least the little guy has.

We didn't do much last weekend. Friday Brode went to Grandma Beth's while I went to work and Matt did some other things, then him and I hung out for a while, then we both went to the Neenah hockey game and my parents put Brode to bed. Saturday Brode decided everyone should be ready to play at 7 am which is not like him at all, so we played then I got to work and Matt came over after hockey and played. Saturday is when we noticed Brode starting to get sick with some very dirty diapers. So Saturday night we put Brode to bed after his warm bath and Matt and I went to see Mall Cop while my parents sat with the baby. It was good to get out just the two of us, we haven't in a long time. Matt and Brode had a slumber party that night, then Sunday we all hung out a bit and then did our own things. I had to pack up all of Brode's clothes that he has grown out of. You wouldn't think its very much because he isnt very big yet, but he sure has quite a lot of stuff. Some of the outfits were too cute to give up yet!

Brode's sickness carried through Sunday and Monday, then we started having him eat some other things but it didnt help at all. The doctor figures he has some type of flu bug, so hopefully it goes away and none of us get anything. Well it continued on and we called the doctor again last night, then it carried through today. I feel so bad for the little guy because we can't really do anything except constantly change his diaper. He is happy and plays a lot still, but other times he just cries because his stomach hurts so much. Due to this constant diaper changing he developed a diaper rash. We have always been really good at putting cream on him (more than you need to know), but it still happened, his first one. Everything just keeps ganging up on him.

On the bright side of things it is wearing him out and he is sleeping a lot so we're all getting a lot more sleep. Well everyone have a good end of the week!