My baby is 9 months old today. I can't believe it. He's a little person. He has a little personality. He's adorable and cute.

Brennan is eating stage 3 jarred foods and we've also introduced a bunch of 'real' foods. He eats chicken, ground beef, bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.

Brennan still isn't quite crawling just yet. He tries so hard, and gets sooo frustrated. I'm sure it'll be soon, b/c he gets a little better each day.

He will have his 9 month check up next Thursday, so I'll post about that then!

My little Brennan is 8 months old. I can't believe how fast time is flying! Pretty soon I'll be planning his 1st birthday party. I don't even want to think about that!

Brennan is rolling all over the place to get to where he wants to be. He's trying so hard to crawl, but he's just doesn't get that you have to lift your belly up off of the floor. He kicks his legs like crazy, but with the belly on the floor...well, he doesn't move. It's pretty cute watching him.

He's got 2 teeth so far, and is working on the top ones. His temperament has gotten a little better. Just a little. At least now I can put him down on the floor and he will play for a little while without crying. But, God forbid I leave his sight...the tears flow!

We won't have a doctor's appointment until 9 months, so I'll update his weight at that time.

He's eating very well. He loves his solid foods. He's still on stage 2, but that's just because I have a ton left. As soon as they are gone, we are moving to stage 3...where I think he'll be much more satisfied. He's holding his own bottle and it's so cute!

We've been doing some simple signing with him for a couple months now, and he understands what we are doing, but I haven't seen him sign back yet. We do the milk sign and he opens his mouth very wide for a bottle. Can you say ADORABLE!?!

He just loves his big brother Colin. When we can't get Brennan to calm down, Colin will walk over and make a silly face at him, and all of a sudden Brennan is laughing.

I snapped a few pictures today of Brennan standing for the first time. He didn't get up himself, I stood him up...but he stood there for a bit playing with his toys! Go Brennan!

When I woke up a little while later, it dawned on me why Miguel had asked me that. Apparently, when Miguel went to get Brennan this morning he was saying "mama". I have never heard it before. I've tried to get him to say it since the first time, but I've yet to hear it!

This is a big week for Brennan!

A little while later I was feeding him some puffs. I put my finger in his mouth to see if he had eaten all of one, and I felt something sharp. Low and behold, Brennan is cutting his first tooth. It's on the bottom and it's only cut through a little bit...but definitely enough for me to feel it. No wonder he's been cranky. I felt so bad that I didn't know what it was!

My itty bitty Brennan is 7 months old already. I say it each month, but oh, how time flies! He's turning into such a little cutie. He's not sitting up...almost all the way. He still gets a little wobbly when he starts looking around, but he's got it for the most part. He's not even trying to crawl yet...I'm thinking that's a good thing. He's back to eating baby food again, and his mood seems to be much better. He's not crying as much as he was before. 

He's a sweet little boy who just loves watching his big brother. In fact, Colin is one of the few people that can get him to cheer up no matter what. They are going to have so much fun when Brennan is a little older!

I can't wait to see what this next month has in store for us!

 

Today was a special day for Brennan! We dedicated him to the Lord!

We were so blessed to have many many friends & family witness in this special event. We really appreciate everyone's presence there. I know it was a long drive for almost everyone, but it meant a lot to us that everyone was there. Pastor Ritchie Pruehs did his dedication.

After the church service, we all went over to Olive Garden (about 35 of us!!!), and had a yummy lunch. Brennan was passed around to everyone, and finally fell asleep.

After lunch, the boys and I went to my MIL's house to have some studio pictures taken of Brennan in his special outfit. I'll upload some of those when I get them!

All in all, it was a beautiful day, despite the weather!

Brennan had his 6 month check up at his pediatrician's office this afternoon. He weighs 16 lbs. 2 oz. (25%...dropped down from the 50%), and is 26.5 inches long (50-75%).
He is a very social baby. Coos and babbles and smiles...when someone is holding him. Put him down and he's just a screaming mess.
We changed his formula back to Enfamil AR on Monday, and he seems to be doing better, again. The pedi. told us to go ahead and start the solid foods back up again, so we'll do that tomorrow. I'll also try him with a sippy cup soon, though since he's not holding his bottle yet, I don't see how it'll be any good.
The doctor re-checked his ears, and he STILL has fluid behind his right ear. We just finished a round of antibiotics for that last week. He said that it is 75% full, and is surprised that it is not a raging infection. So he perscribed us a broad spectrum antibiotic to see if that helps. I have to bring Brennan back in in 2-3 weeks for a re-check. Honestly, I'm hoping that the screaming fits are due to the fluid in his ear...because, if we can clear that up, then we can stop the screaming!
We are just starting to sign with Brennan. I'm hoping that I can do more with Brennan than I did with Colin.
Brennan is going to be dedicated ot the Lord on Saturday, and I'm so excited. We got a bunch of family and friends that are going to witness in our celebration. We plan to have lunch at a restaurant after. I'll definitely post pictures of that!
We leave for our family vacation in Florida in a week. I'm excited to go, but a little nervous about the car ride. It's only 12 hours to Destin, and I'm pretty sure that it will be ok, but you never know. Beach, here we come!

Happy Easter!
We had a very blessed Easter. The entire family got together at Joel & Valerie's house for brunch. We had a yummy spread of pancakes, quiche, bacon, sandwiches, pastries, doughnuts, fruit, cheese, bread, etc.
After everyone ate, the kids got some Easter baskets and then we had an egg hunt. Actually, 2. We did one for the older girls and then one for all of the little kids!
Miguel read a story about the reason for Easter. The celebration of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection into eternal life with the Father. What a beautiful love story. Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Thank you for taking the burden of all of my sins so I may live forever, with you.
Above are pictures of each of the grand kids (from both side of our family) in age order. More Easter pictures can be found on my smugmug.

My Brennan is 6 months old!

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

He's changed so much in the past 6 months! Isn't he just the cutest little thing you've ever seen? Though he looks like an angel, I can assure you that he is not! He is definitely our diffucult child. He likes to cry...a lot. We love him more than anything though and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. I took him in for his 6 month portraits, and I'll get them back next week, so I'll post them then. Brennan also has his 6 month doctor's appointment next week, so I'll post about that after it!

Brennan is my little miserable baby. He just cries and cries and cries. The only time that he is semi-happy is when he's being held. I love the little boy to death, but man oh man, it can wear you down.

Miguel and I have noticed the crying spells getting worse over the last 6 weeks or so. He's to the point now that he's started waking up several times a night crying and not napping very much or well during the day. He's pushing his bottle away, pulling his hair, scratching up his face. It's not fun to watch or hear.

Brennan's had a cold for about a week. Nothing major...just a runny nose, congestion and a dry cough. When he went into his screaming bloody murder fit this morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I called the pediatrician, and they decided to have us come in.

We saw the nurse practitioner. She listened to his tummy, talked to us about formula and solids, looked into his eyes, ears and throat and determined that he has a little bit of fluid in his right ear. It wasn't red, but she said that it could turn into an infection, so she's treating it as one just in case it was causing pressure. She also is having us stop baby food and only give him formula and rice cereal to see if all of this has something to do with food. If the last two things don't work, then at Brennan's 6 month appointment (in about 2 weeks), they will increase the dose of his Prevacid and chalk it up to his reflux. If that doesn't work, then they will consider a 'behavior problem'. What in the heck is that?

Anyway, after a very frustrating 6 weeks (and getting a little worse each day...), I'm looking forward to the easy-go-lucky Brennan that we used to have! I'm really hoping that the antibiotics work, and that the fluid in his ear was bothering him, though, I don't really believe that to be the case.

I'm going to take Brennan in a little while for an appointment with his pediatrician to determine whether or not he thinks we should take Brennan to be assessed by the cranio specialist.
Over the past month or so, Miguel and I have been very diligent with re-positioning his head, and stretching exercises to help his torticollis (which is what caused the flat head). His ROM (range of motion) in his neck is sooo much better now, and I think the flatness has also gotten better. The question is, is it good enough to not require a helmet? I hope so! At least it hasn't gotten any worse!
I'll update in a bit with the doctor's opinion. I went ahead a few weeks ago and made an appointment with the cranio specialist (since the appointments are so far out), and if he the pedi. thinks we should go, then our appointment is for April 9.

My baby is eating baby food. I can't believe it. Miguel and I gave him peas for the first time this afternoon, and he just loved them! Well, he didn't love them at first. It took a few bites, but now he loves them!

This morning Brennan had his 4 month well baby visit. For the most part everything was ok.
He weighs 14 lbs. 3 oz (50%) and is 25 inches long (75%).
He got 2 shots and handled them really well! What a trooper! He has been sleeping a little more than usual today, but it's due to the shots.
The doctor sais that socially and developmentally he is doing wonderful! He was all smiles for the doctor today!

We have 2 small (but could become a bigger problem...) problems. I noticed (and brought up) and his 2 month appointment that he was turning his head to the right quite a bit and that the right side of his head looked a little flatter than the rest of his head. At that time, the doctor said is was a mild case of case of torticollis. Well, I've been trying to correct it for 2 months by turning his head to the left and holding it there for a minute or so during each diaper change...but it really hasn't seemed to help. In fact, I think it's gotten worse. It is obvious that he favors looking to the right, and because of it, the right side of his head has gotten even flatter...which is causing his forehead to bulge a little bit. The doctor agreed with my observation, and now says that he has moderate torticollis. He told us that we need to be much more diligent with stretching his head to the left and giving him much much more tummy time (he HATES tummy time). He also wants him sitting up more. He wants me to call him back in a month to month and a half to see if things are getting better (or worse :( ). If it doesn't seem to be improving, then he is going to send us to some kind of cranio-specialist to have him fitted for a helmet, which would help re-shape his head. Please keep him in your prayers. I don't want him to have the helmet for 2 reasons...1. he's my little baby, and I don't want anything to be wrong with him. 2. It's really expensive...doctor said about $3000. Granted, insurance would cover some (not all) of the expense, but we would still have to pay a hefty chunk.

Ok, sorry for the really long post, but I wanted to get it out there. We can use some prayers for all of you pray-ers! Thanks!

My little Brennan is 4 months old. Where has the time gone? He has a precious little smile, and such a wonderful personality.
He has been giggling and batting at toys for weeks (just shortly after 3 months), and is so much calmer than Colin was. He is definitely my 'laid back' child.
His reflux is improving greatly. In fact, I think I may start to wean him off of his Prevacid in a month or so. He's a great eater...7 ounces 5 times a day with a large bowl of cereal 3 times per day.
We have his 4 month well baby visit tomorrow, so I'll update after we see the doctor. All in all, we have such a wonderful baby!

I just got back the pictures that were taken a couple of weeks ago. Here is my favorite of the boys. I also posted a 3 month comparison of the boys here

Brennan had his first taste of rice cereal today. He LOVED it, and I couldn't shovel it into his mouth fast enough! The rest of the pictures can be found on my smugmug.

How can it be that my baby boy is 3 months old already? Where has the time gone? His little personality is growing everyday. He is such a pleasure to be around as he is a very good baby. I LOVE taking pictures of him. Brennan will have his 3 month portraits taken on Thursday, so as soon as I get them back I will post a 3 month comparison of Colin & Brennan. Brennan's reflux has improved sooo much since we've started the Prevacid. It's an expensive prescription each month, but it's so worth it now that he's not in pain anymore. His spitting up and also decreased significantly since starting the Prevacid. His reflux is definitely not as bad as Colin's was.