Quick update

What a great summer it has been!  Full of BBQ, camping, walks around the river and trips to the park.  Brenya has been busy running around discovering everything summer has to offer.  She loves going for walks and will ask to go almost every day.  I don't know what she is going to do once it's cold!  She also likes playing at the park and climbing up the toys and back down.. She has even taken to going down the slide all by herself although she has to go on her tummy because she is too short to step up onto the slide and go down on her bum. We have had visits to SLC to monitor her progress and every visit is a happy one with a clean bill of health.  She amazes the doctors every time.  We are so very proud of her and are so lucky to have such a strong little girl. 

Working hard

 There has been lots of work and practicing being done by Brenya.  She is now sitting up like a pro and can do so for quite awhile with no help or support.  She is working hard to figure out how to crawl.  With some help getting up there, she is able to hold herself on her hands and knees for several minutes.  She is still trying to figure out how to move forward.  Most of her concentration at this point is to try to keep herself up since she isn't quite strong enough to move.   Brenya is doing very well foodwise.  So far she has had zucchini and apple juice along with her rice cereal.  All three of these she didn't like at first, but after some determination from mom and dad to get her to try it, she grew to like them. She is so funny when she eats.  Instead of just opening her mouth, she opens and sticks her tongue out as far as she can.  This creates quite a challenge to feed her, but it's also very cute.  She also likes to chase the spoon with her tongue and try to lick it.  Brenya is able to hold her bottle of apple juice by herself only she hasn't figured out yet that she needs to tip it to get juice out!

Sleeping with daddy

What a messy eater

November fun

Brenya is doing well on solids.  She has been eating them for a week and has only had rice cereal so far but she loves it.  She is up to eating about 2 tablespoons and then nurses right after.  She is a big eater!  That would be hard to guess by looking at her size.  She is only 11 lbs 9 oz so still pretty small for her age but she is growing which is all that matters.  She was going to start getting veggies in her diet yesterday but she had two messy diapers with blood in them.  We took her to the doctor and found that she may have had an allergic reaction from too much dairy in Mom's diet.  Brenya had a follow up appointment this morning and there are no more traces of blood in her poop.  Mom just has to limit the dairy she eats which should be easy now that Thanksgiving is over.   The doctor says it's common for babies to have such a problem and it will resolve when she turns a year old.  So, even though the introduction of veggies was delayed, she will be able to start them at the end of this week.  Other than that Brenya is doing very well and moving right along.  It's so much fun to see her experience new things every day.  We are so excited for Christmas!

6 months old

Another month as flown by and Brenya is growing quickly!  She still loves to talk and can say mama and dada.  She can sit up for several minutes now and has started trying to scoot on her belly.  Shouldn't be long and we will have a crawler! She gets to start eating solids next week which we are very excited for.  It's going to be fun to have her try all the new foods.  She loves playing with her toys and laughs at many things. Her personality is really starting to show.  She is curious about everything but very cautious of strangers.  She is a mama's girl and gets upset if she is not around and she loves play time with daddy.  We love every new development she makes and are amazing with her more and more each day!

Daddy and his little kitty

It's a pumpkin! That's a bright flash mom.

Posing in the dress mommy wore when she was a baby.

Sitting up all by herself!

5 months old!

 Brenya turned 5 months yesterday! Time has flown by.  It seems like just last month she was brought into this world ready to face the tough problems she had ahead of her.  Looking at her now, you would never know what she had to overcome.  She is progressing very quickly and we could not be prouder or ask for more from her.  She is eager to crawl and explore and is working hard to develope the muscles needed to do so.  She even loves to stand and can do so with just a little support.  She is able to sit on her own for a couple of seconds but is still a little wobbly and rolls over like a pro.  She is even showing intrest in eating solids although we haven't quite started them yet.  She giggles, talks a lot and loves to play.  She is very fond of our dog Rufus and enjoyes petting and watching him.  She is still small, at her last weight check a week ago she weighed 10 lbs 6 oz but she is still healthy and chubby.  Naps are not something she likes and fights sleep almost every time she needs to take one.  I guess there is just too much for her to miss out on and she doesn't want that! We love our little girl and all the exciting and challenging moments she brings us!

This was taken a couple of days ago.  She is just so worn out from tummy time.

Brenya and a spaghetti squash

More and More Progress

Brenya is doing amazing! She is working on sitting up, rolling over, and crawling.  She is getting very strong and exercises everyday to get even stronger. She is able to sit up for a couple of seconds by herself and she pushes off the floor with her elbows when on her tummy.   Her growth has slowed a little but she is still doing great.  She is in the 2nd percentile, so she is small but healthy.  She giggles a lot and is very curious about everything she sees.  Mom and dad have to watch her and not let her grab things she shouldn't.  We are all very proud of her and the accomplishments she has made. 

A month of growing!

I was told I need to update the blog again so here it goes. :) Brenya is doing absolutely amazing! She is now three months old and by looking at her you would never know she was in the hospital. She is a little small for her age, being in the 5th percentile, but is healthy. She got to come off her oxygen on August 9th so now she is a wireless baby. Since she was in the hospital for 8 weeks her development was a little delayed but she is catching up quick. She can sit up with support, she holds her head up, and she has just started pushing up off the floor. She tries to pick up toys but is still a little too weak. You can tell she really wants to get down and play and get frustrated because she can't. We are working on it. She smiles a lot and is starting to laugh. She is also VERY talkative. She eats well and all from mom too. No bottle! We are getting into the routine of all the normal baby stuff. We all really love being home. We are very lucky to have such a tough and special little girl. I will keep the blog updated more regularly with her achievements and pictures.