Walking . . . with assistance

Brenna has discovered walking - as long as she has her little mower toy to push around. She's not quite stable enough to stand on her own let alone walk on her own. But, she's loved to stand at this toy for awhile now, but it was always too light to push around and walk - she would tip right over. Well, we decided to add a little weight to it to see what would happen and the 5 extra pounds helps! We stood her behind the mower and she took off! I wish we could put some video clips on the blog, but until that is a possibility, here are the still pictures of the event. Now, she loves to push that thing everywhere. If only she could figure out how to turn . . .
We are getting ready for her big surgery on Friday - 5/26 - when her cleft palate will be repaired at Phoenix Children's Hospital. She is attending "Grandpa Dave's daycare" this week so that she can be healthy and ready for the surgery. However - she still managed to get what her doctor thinks is roseola - a rash caused by a virus. She has little red dots all over her body - but the doctor thinks that it will not interfere with the surgery - which we were relieved to hear! Hopefully it'll be all better by the time Friday is here. Meanwhile, she is enjoying her time with Grandpa Dave and her mower.

Mother's Day weekend

We took a trip up to Show Low to spend time with family over Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday, we spent the day at the city park where Grandpa Rick organized a BBQ for his employees. We ate some good food, visited with friends and watched people climb the rock wall (including daddy!). Brenna had a great time - she got to try small pieces of hot dog and hamburger and really like it! It was a beautiful day to spend time outside - thank goodness for that cool mountain weather. That evening, we ate dinner with the Pearsons and Brenna tried out some cantelope, had some chicken and enjoyed a biter biscuit. She discovered that she can keep it in her mouth without holding it and liked entertaining us with her "stogie" biter biscuit. She was entertaining us most of the weekend with the many activities she enjoyed. She was crawling all around grandma and grandpa's house, played the piano and giggled all the time.
On Sunday, we spent part of the morning visiting with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Dave. Then went to see Grandma Ann and Grandpa Rick. Then, it was time to come home to the hot valley, but she slept the whole way - making the ride peaceful for mom and dad.

Unfortunately, I cannot post the pictures we took this weekend because of the format used when they were uploaded (something we won't do again!). I hope to mess with them some and try to get them online, but if not, we'll post some more after this weekend.

First tooth!

Brenna cut her first tooth this weekend! I've been trying to get a good shot of it for the last two days, but this is the best I could do. I'm sure it'll show up in later pictures anyway. It is the bottom left (I know it's hard to see the little white dot, but trust me - it's there!) She's handled it pretty well, was a little fussy while she was sick (which we just attributed to her being sick) and now we understand why! She has definitely been gnawing on everything in sight, but if it helps, we don't mind.
She has been bringing all sorts of joy to our days. She giggles much more freely now and even makes herself laugh. It is the best sound we've ever heard and love to make her laugh. She also learned to clap this weekend and will cheer herself on with the help of mom and dad!

Take me out to the ballgame . . .

. . . take me out with the MCAO employees to the Diamondback's game.

Brenna attended her first baseball game at Chase Field (formerly known as BOB - Bank One Ballpark) to watch the D-backs play the L.A. Dodgers. Maricopa County offers deals on tickets to employees, so lots of mommy's co-workers bought tickets and attended the game. Brenna got all dressed up in her d-backs outfit - and matching headband (so she was clearly a girl baseball fan). Although we left in the middle of the game, the d-backs did win 3-2. Looks like Brenna was a good luck charm! Along with seeing her first baseball game, she was able to visit with her buddy Jason and meet a new friend named Owen (Mommy's boss' grandson). Owen, who is a few months older, was holding Brenna's hand and blowing her kisses. It was very cute! She was also held by some of mommy's co-workers who hadn't seen her for many months. It was a good time. It was definitely different than any other game we'd ever gone to - we can't remember seeing much baseball, but that's ok, we still had fun!
Brenna is now officially 9 months old! We have her well check on Thursday, so measurements will be in then. She is doing so well and we are having so much fun. Although she's been fighting a little illness this week (possibly a stomach flu), she is doing great!

Fruit puffs & dancing

Brenna has mastered the art of feeding herself - well, fruit puffs anyway. Fruit puffs are little cheerio-like pieces of food that are made specially for toothless babies (meaning they dissolve quickly, so it's ok if you don't have teeth). Brenna has been trying to eat them for the last few weeks and always made a funny face. Well, this weekend, she really figured them out. She can grab one between her fingers (more if you give her more than one at a time), put it into her mouth, chew it up and swallow it! Sometimes little pieces make it back out of her mouth, but generally she does great with them. Not to mention that they hold her attention while mom and dad eat dinner! We've started to give her a small handful after she eats her dinner (at which she is doing very well these days - actually ate 2 containers of applesauce tonight!) so that she is distracted while we finish our meal and it's working out great. They are also great snacks while out on the town. In addition to the fruit puff fun - Brenna has been entertaining us with her dancing. Unfortunately, I can't display any video of her lovely dancing on the blog, but picture a little bit of bouncing leg action with some back and forth motion of the hips and head - you've got the idea. She will pull herself up to the table or her big block toy and just dance away - with or without music. When we tell her "dancy, dancy" she gets a big grin and keeps dancing. It is so funny! She's also becoming VERY talkative (wonder where she gets that from) and is talking to us all the time - in her own little language of course. She shakes her head from side to side (like a "no" motion) and just blabs away. We are having a blast watching her learn these new things and playing with her - we couldn't ask for a more fun baby!

Happy Easter!

Brenna celebrated her 1st Easter this weekend with a trip to Show Low - Grandma and Grandpa Pearson's house. Aunt Jamie was there for a visit too! She got lots of cuddles and attention, played with lots of plastic eggs, and got 2 baskets of goodies. Grandma and Grandpa just about out-did the Easter Bunny, but I'm sure he'll catch on by next year. She also got to play on a big piano - it's a lot more fun than the little piano that she got a week or so ago. She played some beautiful music! She got to go on trips around the yard with Grandpa Dave, had a visit with Sean and Colton and took lots of naps. She also enjoyed eating pears - and even opened wide for them! Maybe it was the highchair (the same one that mommy and Aunt Jamie used when they were babies) that made the food so good! On Sunday, she watched the annual Easter traditions. First, we colored some eggs and then had an egg hunt. Grandpa Dave got some plastic eggs, loaded them up with goodies and hid them in the backyard. Then, mommy and Aunt Jamie hunted them while Brenna and Grandma Diane watched from the deck (she'll get to join in next year). Overall, it was a very fun first Easter! On the way home, we stopped to see Great Grandad Alvin and Great Aunt Sandy. It was a lot of fun to visit with them and watch Brenna play. She put on a show for them - and they'd enjoyed getting to see her. Best of all, the news on Sunday night was that the nasal conformer is finally out! After a weekend of sneezing (and having trouble wiping her nose) we decided to get that thing out. We'd been told that she'd kept it in longer than most kids (it could've fallen out on it's own starting 2 weeks ago, but hadn't). The doctor's office told us how we could help get it out, so we tried it. It was torture to Brenna, but when we got it out, we were all very relieved. Now we can see her beautiful face without a plastic thing in the way. It is a little irritated from all the sneezing and wiping, but she does look gorgeous anyway!

Brenna's new friends

This weekend Brenna got to meet some new friends. Actually, mommy is old friends with their mommies, but hadn't seen them for a long time. All pregnant together and having babies around the same time will keep everyone busy enough that getting together is hard! Anyway, on Saturday, we had lunch with Andrea and Benjamin. He was born in November, just about 3 1/2 months younger than Brenna. He is a cutie - and seemed to enjoy eating outside with us. Brenna had a good time using her new placemat at the restaurant too. Then, on Sunday, we went to visit Alison, Mason and Ireland at their new house. Ireland is also only about 3 months younger than Brenna. Brenna is lucky to have so many friends close to her age. Brenna got to play with all sorts of new toys (Ireland's) and Mason had a new playmate. Mason played ball, we watched him ride his bike, and he really wanted to see Brenna walk, but he is the only big boy that can do that right now, so maybe next time! We had a great visit with everyone this weekend and even got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Harvey at their house. It was a nice warm weekend that allowed us to spend lots of time out and about.

8 months!

Today is Brenna's 8 month birthday (if that's what you call it). Since her next checkup isn't for another month, we aren't completely sure about her weight and height, but estimate that she is about 20 pounds. As we mentioned in the previous post, she is crawing up a storm now and it is so fun to watch her discover new things. She is getting more brave and discovering new areas of the house - venturing from her normal play spot in the living room. She has gotten much better about eating solid food too - to our surprise, she really enjoys peas! Who knew that they'd be so good? We are still trying with other foods too, but the peas seem to be the favorite. She has recently discovered how to wave goodbye (sort of a Karate Kid wax-on, wax-off motion), but we're not completely sure that she is aware of what goodbye is. Regardless, it is very cute! She is still wearing the nasal conformer, as you can see. She seems to do really well with it - doesn't bother it at all. Cleaning it is difficult for all of us since she absolutely hates it and lets us know. Since it is staying clean and not bothering her much, we expect that she'll wear it for another couple of weeks and then it'll be out. Her next surgery - to repair the palate - is schedueld for May 26th, so we'll keep everyone updated as that time approaches!

Major Developments!

Tonight Brenna hit some MAJOR milestones in her development. In chronological order (because mom is kinda nerdy): she ate some squash, held her own bottle, CRAWLED, and pulled herself into standing position by climbing mommy! We finally got her to eat some squash by dipping one of the nipples from her bottle into the food and letting her put it in her mouth, so we may do that for awhile until the spoon is more of a friend. Then, we went to eat a bottle after making a mess with squash and she held it all by herself - and continues to do so with her bedtime bottle. After dinner, we were playing with the book that Jason loaned us (his favorite bee puppet book) and Brenna decided to crawl around. We put the book just out of reach and made the bee buzz and she went right for it!! We were so excited and took video after video. After the big crawling show, she crawled over to mommy who was sitting on the floor and climbed up into a standing position. We could not believe how many milestones were hit all in one night! Guess we better baby-proof before she takes off walking tomorrow =)

Big new toy!

As you can see, Brenna continues to recover very well! She went back to daycare this week and is making the adjustment to being on a schedule again. Her sleep patterns got a little bit messed up, so we are paying the price, but hoping she'll get back on track soon. The glue came off of her lip on Sunday night revealing the scar - which is still healing, but looks great. I don't have a great picture of it just yet, but will try to get one online soon. She still has the nasal conformer in, we hope it is doing it's job and that it'll come out soon.

We've started giving her food (spoon fed food) again, but she doesn't seem to be a big fan. The sweet potatoes aren't going over really well, but the applesauce is better. Her eating pattern seems to be disturbed lately too, so we are just trying to adjust altogether.

Mom and dad bought her a new toy this weekend and she really likes it. She can play standing or sitting - it plays music and has fun peek-a-blocks with it too.

12 days later . . .

Brenna is still recovering extremely well and we couldn't be more thankful. The arm restraints are off and she seems pretty happy about that. We still have to clean out the nasal conformer, which she REALLY doesn't like, but that will only be for a few more weeks. We went for her follow-up appointment with Dr. Beals today (that's him in the picture) and he said that she looks great. We think he is amazing and have been very happy with the wonderful job that he did! We go back to check the nasal conformer again in 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Brenna has been hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Pearson at home. She has been so lucky to stay at home with family the past 6 weeks. Before the surgery (to keep her healthy) she was home with Grandpa Dave, thenGrandma Diane, then Grandma Ann and mommy and daddy off and on. It has been so much fun! We are all looking forward to getting back into the old routine, but are so thankful to have family and friends that help us out so much.

A New Smile

Brenna is doing wonderfully following her surgery. Almost immediately, her personality came back and she is behaving very normally. She is eating well, and wants to play all the time. She is making noises (baba, mama) with her new full lip and is trying to figure out why her tongue doesn't come right out of her lip like it used to. Although the arm restraints cause her some trouble when trying to reach her toys, they aren't stopping her too much and she is doing so much better with them than we anticipated. Her smile and giggle have also returned and we are so grateful that she is handling this so well.

One down . . .

Brenna had her cleft lip repair surgery today - after 2 cancellations/postponements, we were relieved that it could happen. Grandpa Dave, Grandma Diane and Grandma Ann were all with us at the hospital. She weighed in at 18 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 27 inches long - pretty good sized for a 7 month old! She went into the OR at about noon and around 2:00, Dr. Beals and his partner Dr. Sing (sp?) came into the waiting room to tell us that she had done perfectly and that it had all gone well - there wasn't really anything significant to report it had gone so well. Of course, we were very relieved! After she woke up, Justin and I got to go in to see her in recovery and the picture below is what she looked like at that moment. We had been so anxious to see how different she would look. She was very groggy and drugged, but looked beautiful to us! She had her lip repaired, surgical glue is what you see on the lip, and a nasal conformer in her nostrils - to help reshape her right nostril after repair. We got to leave for home about 30 minutes later and are now adjusting to the recovery period. She seems to be doing ok - just groggy. We haven't had her eat yet, she's just not quite ready, but we'll start with water and see where we go from there. We'll keep you all posted as we travel down the road to recovery! She will also have her cleft palate repaired in a few months - we don't know any details yet. Now that we've been through one, we definitely have a better idea of what to expect. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, they really have meant a lot to all of us!

Surgery update

March 3rd - we are hoping that is the day. We are scheduled for surgery at St. Joseph's hospital that afternoon and are keeping our fingers crossed that it will happen. Brenna has a cough still, but will be getting on antibiotics this weekend and hopefully improving quickly! We are doing the best we can to get her healthy - keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery Postponed - Again

As many of you already know, Brenna's surgery did not take place on Tuesday. Due to a cough and runny nose, the doctors wanted to play it safe and postpone the procedure. There are risks with anesthesia in children with colds and the runny nose could complicate the healing process of the lip itself. So, after a period of time at the hospital - we got the frustrating news that we had to wait about 3 weeks. We are still waiting to get a date for the surgery and will let everyone know once we know! Meanwhile, we are all pitching in to keep Brenna out of day care and healthy. It is difficult to figure out everyone's schedules, but we are fortunate to have family that are willing and able to help out. On another note, Brenna is growing like crazy and doing new and exciting things. After giving up on the cereal - figuring we'd have to reestablish the process after surgery anyway - we tried again after the postponement. She is doing very well now! We mixed the cereal with water instead of yucky soy formula and she eats it right up! She is also perfecting her "army crawl" which is not quite a crawl, but she definitely gets around quickly and can get to something if she wants it bad enough. Thank you all for your support as we wait for more surgery news. We'll keep everyone updated!

6 months!

Today is Brenna's half-birthday! We can hardly believe how fast time has gone by. She is getting so big. She had her appointment last week (so she could get her shots far enough away from her surgery) and weighed in at 16.8 pounds (75th percentile) and was 27 inches long (95th percentile). She is developing right on track and we are so proud of her! She has just started to sit up - with some help. She can stay in the sitting position for awhile, but usually she starts bouncing and throws herself back onto her back. We are getting ready for her surgery - only about 2 weeks away. She will out of day care starting next week in an attempt to keep her healthy for surgery. We are looking forward to getting one surgery behind us, although we don't look forward to Brenna being in any pain whatsoever! But, she's a strong little girl and we know she'll be just fine. Stay tuned for more updates - including pre and post surgery pictures!

Birthday parties and standing

It might not seem like those two things have anything in common, but in Brenna's world they do. Both were big events in her life this week! Last weekend, we attended two 1st birthday parties. One was for our friend Sydney (her daddy is Justin's friend from college) - we had fun watching the other little kids play and watching Sydney eat her special cupcake with lots of frosting. Then, we left that party to go to our friend Maya's party (she goes to daycare with Brenna) near our house. We got there just in time to wear a princess hat that we personalized for Brenna, get a special blow-up wand, and watch Maya tear into her cake, and dance in it too. Brenna is learning new things every day and standing is one of them. She has had strong legs from birth, but now can hold herself up for short periods of time without any support from us. This picture was taken tonight when daddy let her stand at the table while he was close behind. She is definitely more of a wiggle worm than ever before. It is getting more difficult to change her diapers since she squirms around so much, she doesn't want to sit still in our arms, she rolls all over the place when she is put on her floor mat, and her baths are soaking mommy - so much splashing and kicking! But we are having so much fun with her - we can't wait for more!

First snow

Brenna saw her first snow this weekend when we took a trip up to the mountains to see Grandma and Grandpa Pearson. It was very COLD there so we spend all of our time inside, but she got to see it from the windows - in nice warm grandparent arms. Brenna spent the long weekend entertaining everyone with her babbling, funny facial expressions, giggles and rolls. She played peek-a-boo, tickled Grandpa's beard and tried to eat whatever letters/pictures she could find on someone's shirt. She even got a bracelet that mommy wore when she was a baby. We got to visit with Meghan, Sean and Colton too - it was lots of fun! Tonight was our first adventure into the world of oatmeal. Since the rice cereal didn't seem to be making it into her belly, we tried the oatmeal cereal and it went very well. We think she actually ate it instead of rubbing it all over her face. After she ate, we gave her the spoon to play with and she chewed on it for awhile. Maybe tomorrow it'll be more familiar and the food will go down easier.

Another surgery update

We've just been rescheduled - again. But, this time it is moved up a week - to February 14th, Valentine's day! We are still working to get our little angel healthy, she can't seem to get rid of this yucky cough that caused her surgery to be postponed in the first place. She's back on antibiotics and we're hoping it'll work. We might have to take some extra time off with her to get her healthy, but whatever it takes will be worth it! Even sick, Brenna is a pretty happy baby. She is becoming more mobile - rolling around all over the place. Sometimes we'll find that she's rolled from her floor mat/toy to under the coffee table or next to her swing (both about a foot away from the edge of her mat). She continues to wiggle in her sleep and we find her in all sorts of funny positions. She is much easier to get a laugh out of now. Sometimes just talking to her in a silly voice elicits a squeal or giggle. Since our last post, we've stopped trying the rice cereal. She just wasn't doing really great with it and would get pretty mad when we came close with that spoon. So, we took a short break (continuing to let her play in the high chair while we ate) and starting early next week, we'll try out the oatmeal. She is sleeping well - she almost always sleeps through the night for us, which is a great relief (then nobody is cranky due to lack of sleep). Check back soon for more updates!

5 months old

Brenna is now 5 months old! Based on the home scale she weighs about 15 pounds (her next checkup isn't until next month). She is growing and changing so much every day and we can't believe that our baby is almost half a year old. As we've mentioned in earlier posts, she is learning new things each day and has recently started making new noises and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth so we think that teeth are on the horizon. She really seems to enjoy paper and books - those are almost always what she reaches for first (and of course brings them straight to her mouth). I hope she likes books this much when she learns to read! Now that she is 5 months old, we decided to introduce rice cereal to her diet. She was giving us signs that she was ready for food (eating A LOT, eyeballing our food, reaching for our cups, etc.) so we thought we'd try it out. So far, we've tried it 4 times and most of the cereal ends up on her chin, cheek, nose, hands, bib, etc. But, we figure the longer we try, it will become a part of her routine and she'll learn to eat it. It is also an attempt to get her used to the new high chair (and attached toys) that she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandad Pearson. She has moved into a bigger car seat and has been sleeping through the night most nights (hope I didn't just jinx it) and it is nice for us to get some rest!