Brooklyn and I were out of town for a few days and I had no internet access (gasp!!!). So I am terribly behind on both blog reading and posting. Google Reader says I have 460 posts to catch up on??? Oh my. Not good. So...I'm going to try to catch you up on what has been going on around here....
9 month well check
******************
Brooklyn saw Dr. A on Friday the 19th. She weighed 14 pounds, 9.5 ounces (still on that 3rd percentile line! Woohoo!). She was 27 inches long (25th percentile). Get this...that means that she has grown 2 inches in 2 1/2 weeks...how crazy is that? 2 1/2 weeks ago at her appointment with Dr. R, Brooklyn was barely 25 inches, which was 3rd percentile. A week and a half later, at Dr. G's, she was nearly 26 1/2. Now...another week later...27! She is growing!
Dr. A's nurse listed off a bunch of milestones and asked whether Brooklyn had met them yet. The answer was "no" for most of the motor milestones. I think the only 2 that we could say "yes" to were sitting up and pincer grasp. No creeping, no crawling, no pulling up to stand, no standing unassisted. However, she is doing great on all of the verbal milestones. Basically Dr. A said that we are just going to have to watch her closely. If she isn't crawling by 10 or 11 months, not standing by 11 or 12 months, then she may need some therapy to help her catch up. He said that her motor development is below average at this point, but "on the cusp of what's considered okay." This worries me. But we'll wait and see what happens. She has been through a lot and there are obviously medical reasons why she is behind.
Brooklyn also does not have any teeth yet. Dr. A said that studies have recently been published that show that babies who are have both slow dental development and slow motor development eventually catch up 100%. They don't know why yet, but there seems to be some kind of correlation. He said that based on this study, the fact that she hasn't cut any teeth is actually reassuring.
The only shot she had to get was her monthly Synagis (RSV vaccine). No other immunizations. I'm sure she appreciated that.
Dr. A also thought that Brooklyn's breathing was starting to sound better! Yay!
Houston Pre-Christmas
***********************
Brooklyn, my mom, and I went to Houston to visit family from Saturday until Tuesday. Dave couldn't get off work to go with us. Boo!
Anyway, my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins all live in Houston. My grandparents are the only ones who had met Brooklyn before. Everyone else was dying to see her. She did GREAT on Saturday and Sunday...she let my grandmother, aunt, cousins, and my cousin's daughter hold her and she didn't scream at all! For the past month or two, she will scream her head off if anyone besides me, Dave, or her grandmothers hold her. But we were having a Christmas miracle or something on those two days...she was in an amazingly good mood and would allow anyone to hold her! The nearly five hour car ride down there was also relatively painless!
Monday and Tuesday were not as wonderful. Brooklyn wanted me and only me and was doing her typical scream-bloody-murder-if-mom-puts-me-down-for-one-second. She did not sleep much at all during the nights...which makes for a grumpy, fussy, screaming baby and a grumpy mommy who is short on patience. The ride back home took six hours (damn Houston traffic) and was not so much fun. She did finally take a 2 1/2 hour nap, and we were all ready for it by then. I basically played single parent during the four-day trip and it was TOUGH.
All in all though, we had a great visit in Houston. I had not seen most of my relatives since last Christmas and I had missed them so much! We got to spend every day with them and it was good times :)
Christmas plans
*****************
The presents are wrapped and under the tree. We will celebrate Christmas with just the three of us here at our house in the morning. We will go to my parent's house to have Christmas with them in the afternoon. My baby brother is on leave from the Army for two weeks and it's always good to have him around. On Friday, we will do Christmas Part 3 with my hubby's family.
I am excited about it all. :)
I'm off to bed...big day tomorrow! Google Reader will have to wait some more.
Showing posts with label traveling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traveling. Show all posts
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Back in one piece
We had planned to return home on Saturday because my brother was scheduled to ship out to Fort Leonard Wood at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Late Friday, the Army changed his departure time to 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. My grandparents headed back to Houston as planned on Saturday morning. But my parents, Brooklyn, and I ended up staying another day.
We didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. Jordan was released on his pass that morning and just hung out with us all day. He and my dad went to see a movie and my mom, Brooklyn and I went to the salon so I could get a much-needed haircut. The last time I had one was when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant! Anyways, I had about 5 or 6 inches cut off. It looks better and is much lighter and cooler in the 100 degree heat.
When we took Jordan back to Fort Sill on Saturday night, we were sitting around outside the barracks with him until he had to go inside. This other soldier's wife was sitting near us and had a baby girl in her lap.
"How old is your baby?," she asked me.
"Four months," I replied. "Yours?"
"Seven months." HOLY CRAP. This baby's thigh was at least as big as Brooklyn's waist. I know babies are like the rest of us...they come in all shapes and sizes, but whoa!!!
"How much does she weigh?," the girl inquired.
"10 pounds. What about her?"
"35 pounds." OMG!!!
Now, I'm not one to criticize other people's parenting methods. After all, I'm new to this too. But then the little girl started spitting up something brown. Her dad said, "That's because you gave her that whole damn bottle of Dr. Pepper!" as he pointed at an empty 20 ounce soda bottle sitting next to a sippy cup. Poor kid. All things considered, I think it is probably better for Brooklyn to have weight gain problems than to be in the shape that baby girl was in. Maybe some people just don't know any better.
Eventually the time came for us to tell Jordan goodbye. It was kinda tough. I hated seeing he and my mom cry :( But his AIT school is only 7 weeks long, and he will be home for 2 weeks after that. I think the next goodbye will be harder, because he will be leaving for his permanent duty station, wherever that may be.
Brooklyn did pretty well on the ride home. I was very impressed with her for the entire trip...she slept through the night all 4 nights we were there! I am very thankful for that!
We stopped for lunch in Denton, where I went to college. It has only been 4 years since I graduated, and I was getting sooooooo lost trying to direct my dad to one of my favorite restaurants there. We finally found it and it was no longer Bari's, it was now called Fera's. And they were closed on Sundays. All that for nothing!
We didn't get back to my house until 9:30 at night and I still had to do laundry and some unpacking. Hubby was at work and had left the house quite messy. I got frustrated while cleaning up behind him. He was off for 3 damn days, but uses his off days as play time and doesn't get anything done around the house that needs to be done. Grrrrr. So needless to say, I am a zombie at work today. And I have waaaay too much to get done here. Blah.
Our trip was good, though. I'm glad we went.
We didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. Jordan was released on his pass that morning and just hung out with us all day. He and my dad went to see a movie and my mom, Brooklyn and I went to the salon so I could get a much-needed haircut. The last time I had one was when I was 7 or 8 months pregnant! Anyways, I had about 5 or 6 inches cut off. It looks better and is much lighter and cooler in the 100 degree heat.
When we took Jordan back to Fort Sill on Saturday night, we were sitting around outside the barracks with him until he had to go inside. This other soldier's wife was sitting near us and had a baby girl in her lap.
"How old is your baby?," she asked me.
"Four months," I replied. "Yours?"
"Seven months." HOLY CRAP. This baby's thigh was at least as big as Brooklyn's waist. I know babies are like the rest of us...they come in all shapes and sizes, but whoa!!!
"How much does she weigh?," the girl inquired.
"10 pounds. What about her?"
"35 pounds." OMG!!!
Now, I'm not one to criticize other people's parenting methods. After all, I'm new to this too. But then the little girl started spitting up something brown. Her dad said, "That's because you gave her that whole damn bottle of Dr. Pepper!" as he pointed at an empty 20 ounce soda bottle sitting next to a sippy cup. Poor kid. All things considered, I think it is probably better for Brooklyn to have weight gain problems than to be in the shape that baby girl was in. Maybe some people just don't know any better.
Eventually the time came for us to tell Jordan goodbye. It was kinda tough. I hated seeing he and my mom cry :( But his AIT school is only 7 weeks long, and he will be home for 2 weeks after that. I think the next goodbye will be harder, because he will be leaving for his permanent duty station, wherever that may be.
Brooklyn did pretty well on the ride home. I was very impressed with her for the entire trip...she slept through the night all 4 nights we were there! I am very thankful for that!
We stopped for lunch in Denton, where I went to college. It has only been 4 years since I graduated, and I was getting sooooooo lost trying to direct my dad to one of my favorite restaurants there. We finally found it and it was no longer Bari's, it was now called Fera's. And they were closed on Sundays. All that for nothing!
We didn't get back to my house until 9:30 at night and I still had to do laundry and some unpacking. Hubby was at work and had left the house quite messy. I got frustrated while cleaning up behind him. He was off for 3 damn days, but uses his off days as play time and doesn't get anything done around the house that needs to be done. Grrrrr. So needless to say, I am a zombie at work today. And I have waaaay too much to get done here. Blah.
Our trip was good, though. I'm glad we went.
Friday, July 18, 2008
All is well
We are here in Oklahoma, and things are going just fine! Do I sound shocked? I kinda am, to be honest.
Brooklyn did great during the car ride to Oklahoma. We only stopped twice, once to eat and another to get gas and change and feed the baby. We got here in just over six hours...a little past midnight. She had two screaming fits in the car, and they weren't that bad...maybe 20 minutes each. One was during the time she has to wait between taking one of her medicines and eating. The rest of the time she was either asleep or playing happily.
Then Brooklyn let me sleep from about 2:30 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. We went and watched demonstrations of what my brother, Jordan, has been learning in Army boot camp. It was pretty neat to see what a lot of their physical training has consisted of. It was HOT on that field...but fortunately, the sun stayed behind the clouds throughout the demonstration. I got a little sunburned, but Brooklyn did not, thankfully.
Jordan was released to us and got to spend the day with us. He looks great...so muscular and trim, and so mature. My baby brother is all grown up and a SOLDIER now! I am so proud. It's great to see him. He has made incredible changes in his life this year. He now clearly has confidence in himself and pride in serving his country. Amazing. We went out to eat and hung out back at the hotel until he had to return to the Army base.
This morning was Jordan's graduation. Brooklyn had slept through the night again, this time from 11 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.!!! Wow! So I was feeling good, and I could tell she was happy too. I wore her in her sling to the graduation. She was so nice and quiet during the ceremony! She slept through most of it. She woke up a couple of times and started to fuss when loud noises scared her, but I just bounced her a little and she calmed down. The graduation was really cool...I had never been to a military ceremony before. Jordan was so serious and professional-looking, dressed up so sharp in his class A uniform. He is official now!
I'm back at the hotel now. We went to eat lunch, and Jordan wanted to go buy some CD's. Brooklyn has been fussy at lunch and finally went to sleep, so we are staying here for a bit so she can rest and I can pump. We will drive back home tomorrow afternoon. I hope that car ride is as good as the other one!
Brooklyn did great during the car ride to Oklahoma. We only stopped twice, once to eat and another to get gas and change and feed the baby. We got here in just over six hours...a little past midnight. She had two screaming fits in the car, and they weren't that bad...maybe 20 minutes each. One was during the time she has to wait between taking one of her medicines and eating. The rest of the time she was either asleep or playing happily.
Then Brooklyn let me sleep from about 2:30 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. We went and watched demonstrations of what my brother, Jordan, has been learning in Army boot camp. It was pretty neat to see what a lot of their physical training has consisted of. It was HOT on that field...but fortunately, the sun stayed behind the clouds throughout the demonstration. I got a little sunburned, but Brooklyn did not, thankfully.
Jordan was released to us and got to spend the day with us. He looks great...so muscular and trim, and so mature. My baby brother is all grown up and a SOLDIER now! I am so proud. It's great to see him. He has made incredible changes in his life this year. He now clearly has confidence in himself and pride in serving his country. Amazing. We went out to eat and hung out back at the hotel until he had to return to the Army base.
This morning was Jordan's graduation. Brooklyn had slept through the night again, this time from 11 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.!!! Wow! So I was feeling good, and I could tell she was happy too. I wore her in her sling to the graduation. She was so nice and quiet during the ceremony! She slept through most of it. She woke up a couple of times and started to fuss when loud noises scared her, but I just bounced her a little and she calmed down. The graduation was really cool...I had never been to a military ceremony before. Jordan was so serious and professional-looking, dressed up so sharp in his class A uniform. He is official now!
I'm back at the hotel now. We went to eat lunch, and Jordan wanted to go buy some CD's. Brooklyn has been fussy at lunch and finally went to sleep, so we are staying here for a bit so she can rest and I can pump. We will drive back home tomorrow afternoon. I hope that car ride is as good as the other one!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Road trippin'
Tomorrow Brooklyn will have her first road trip ever. We are going to Fort Sill, Oklahoma to see my baby brother graduate from Army boot camp!
I am excited to see my brother and I really want to see him graduate. However, the whole road trip thing has me pretty stressed out. My hubby is not going with us because he has a training class for work that he has to attend all week. So it will be Brooklyn, my mom and dad, and myself. My grandparents on my mom's side will be meeting us in Oklahoma. We will leave on Wednesday evening and be back Saturday afternoon.
The first thing that I am freaking out about is packing. I cannot believe all the stuff I am bringing for Brooklyn! The tiniest little person...with waaaaay more stuff than anyone else! Suitcase with her clothes, lap pads, burp cloths, blankets, and tolietries, diaper bag, pack of Huggies, wipes, formula can, breast pump, Boppy, swing, car seat, medicines and syringes, bottles, dish soap and bottle brush, bottle drying tree, sling...what else do I need? I'm sure I am forgetting something really important!!!
I hate travelling with my dad. He always made family trips so miserable when I was growing up by just being an asshole. He gets all stressed out and grumpy and makes everyone miserable. Then we throw in the possibility that Brooklyn will have one of her nighttime multi-hour screaming marathons in the car. Not fun for anyone!!!! And I don't really know how my dad will react to the shrieking. Not well, I would imagine.
It's a six-hour trip. We will leave as soon as I get home from work tomorrow. That would put us in Oklahoma around midnight only if we didn't make any stops, which of course won't happen with a newborn baby. And stops for gas and peeing. Who knows what time we will actually make it there. Did I mention that when I was a kid, I had a ridiculously small bladder, and my dad would hardly ever stop when I needed to pee? So I would get so stressed out about it that I would only drink a few sips of water for a 2 or 3 day trip out of state. That still makes me nervous!!! But I digress.
Then we will get to the hotel. Brooklyn has been doing pretty good on the sleeping at night for the past couple of weeks, except for the last two nights, when she has slept about 2 hours. But I still can't really sleep when it is me and her alone. And we will be alone in our hotel room for 3 nights. I am freaked out by that. What if something happens to her???
SIGH.
I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a good thing...I get to see my baby brother. I get to see him as a soldier. He is super excited to see all of us. I am so proud of him. He has really turned his life around over the past few months. He made a very mature and responsible decision to enlist in the Army. I want him to know that we support him and love him and show him how proud we are of him.
So...keep us in your thoughts, I am going to remind myself to take deep breaths and calm down. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. I hate to sound negative. I know it sounds like I am just stressing myself out needlessly by expecting the worst. But that just seems to be the way my brain works lately.
Can anyone tell me about your experiences traveling with babies? How do you keep your sanity? Any tricks for keeping baby calm in the car? I always appreciate your words of wisdom and experience :)
I am excited to see my brother and I really want to see him graduate. However, the whole road trip thing has me pretty stressed out. My hubby is not going with us because he has a training class for work that he has to attend all week. So it will be Brooklyn, my mom and dad, and myself. My grandparents on my mom's side will be meeting us in Oklahoma. We will leave on Wednesday evening and be back Saturday afternoon.
The first thing that I am freaking out about is packing. I cannot believe all the stuff I am bringing for Brooklyn! The tiniest little person...with waaaaay more stuff than anyone else! Suitcase with her clothes, lap pads, burp cloths, blankets, and tolietries, diaper bag, pack of Huggies, wipes, formula can, breast pump, Boppy, swing, car seat, medicines and syringes, bottles, dish soap and bottle brush, bottle drying tree, sling...what else do I need? I'm sure I am forgetting something really important!!!
I hate travelling with my dad. He always made family trips so miserable when I was growing up by just being an asshole. He gets all stressed out and grumpy and makes everyone miserable. Then we throw in the possibility that Brooklyn will have one of her nighttime multi-hour screaming marathons in the car. Not fun for anyone!!!! And I don't really know how my dad will react to the shrieking. Not well, I would imagine.
It's a six-hour trip. We will leave as soon as I get home from work tomorrow. That would put us in Oklahoma around midnight only if we didn't make any stops, which of course won't happen with a newborn baby. And stops for gas and peeing. Who knows what time we will actually make it there. Did I mention that when I was a kid, I had a ridiculously small bladder, and my dad would hardly ever stop when I needed to pee? So I would get so stressed out about it that I would only drink a few sips of water for a 2 or 3 day trip out of state. That still makes me nervous!!! But I digress.
Then we will get to the hotel. Brooklyn has been doing pretty good on the sleeping at night for the past couple of weeks, except for the last two nights, when she has slept about 2 hours. But I still can't really sleep when it is me and her alone. And we will be alone in our hotel room for 3 nights. I am freaked out by that. What if something happens to her???
SIGH.
I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a good thing...I get to see my baby brother. I get to see him as a soldier. He is super excited to see all of us. I am so proud of him. He has really turned his life around over the past few months. He made a very mature and responsible decision to enlist in the Army. I want him to know that we support him and love him and show him how proud we are of him.
So...keep us in your thoughts, I am going to remind myself to take deep breaths and calm down. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. I hate to sound negative. I know it sounds like I am just stressing myself out needlessly by expecting the worst. But that just seems to be the way my brain works lately.
Can anyone tell me about your experiences traveling with babies? How do you keep your sanity? Any tricks for keeping baby calm in the car? I always appreciate your words of wisdom and experience :)
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