5 Months

We have a sick house.  Bryn has had a cold and cough since the second week of January.  Nick stayed home with her yesterday and she is back at daycare today.  Nick also slept on her floor night before last because she choked when she coughed that night before going to bed.  Thankfully, she (but not Nick) slept great.  Nick and I have also been sick on and off since Bryn went to daycare.  We are very much looking forward to the end of cold season. 

Bryn coughs, then cries a little because it hurts and then immediately smiles.  So sweet.  Here are Bryn's five month pictures.

We also got to go to Ft. Scott to celebrate Poppy Beth's birthday.  We are so glad we brought Kil's hat so Bryn could enjoy being outside on the warm day.  She loved it and showed her appreciation by spitting up on everyone who held her. 

Bryn also tried to eat rice cereal for the first time this weekend.  It was super cute, but she didn't love it.  We are going to try again when she feels better. 

Some other fun pics.

Bryn's smiles sure have been helpful this week.  We found out on Saturday that Miller has a tumor between his shoulder blades.  He has been acting kind of lethargic for a few weeks now and I thought his back felt a little funny.  We took him in to have them talk to us about that and, ironically, to get his vaccines (which did not happen). 

The vet found the tumor during the exam and believes it is a vaccine related fibrosarcoma.  He goes in to get it removed tomorrow.  The recurrence rate for that type of tumor, in that location is 90% and it is aggressive.  Radiation and chemotherapy can help extend the time for recurrence by a small margin.  Before making those type of decisions, first step is to get him through the surgery and the pathology results back.  We've had him on antibiotic all week and he seems to be eating better, so hopefully he'll stay strong post-surgery.  I hate putting him through surgery at all, but the vet said there is no question in his mind that we should do the surgery to make sure it isn't something else that is curable. 

It is unbelievable to me that getting vaccines could cause this.  Hopefully the vet is wrong and it turns out to be something else, but he does think that is what it is.  Please research this terrible disease if you or your family have a cat that is not at a high risk for feline leukemia, etc. and consider whether to get vaccines.  I certainly will never vaccine an indoor cat again except for rabies.  The research I have been reading shows that if you administer the vaccine in the leg, then there is a much higher survival rate if the cat gets this disease because the surgeon can remove all of the tumor through amputation.  As a side note, the chances of getting vaccine related fibrosarcoma are 1/10,000.  Since most of  you who read this are avid dog lovers, research does not show that dogs are at risk for this.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Miller this week.  Understandably, he has a nicer nickname, "buddy." 

For those of you on Team Tegan, she has been in a lot of trouble this week.  Part of getting Miller to gain weight (who would have ever thought I'd say that) is that he is on canned food sprinkled with Tuna juice.  Tegan's eyes dilate from across the house when it is opened.  You can imagine what happens after that.  Coughing baby, Tegan slinking across the house towards the kitchen like we can't see her, Nick yelling, me baby talking Miller and Bryn at the same time, Tegan getting locked in bedroom, Tegan getting on our bed and pushing off all our clothes onto the floor, Nick yelling, me baby talking Tegan, Miller walking away having not eaten the food . . . repeat.  Good times. 

Oh and our house also goes on the market Monday.  Oops. 

We are well aware that all of this can easily be put in perspective very quickly.  But sometimes complaining helps a little, right?  : ) 

We won't complain about KU beating MU in the last border war.  Here is our good friend Ross comforting Nick, who was in shock.  Thank you again Grandma Marilynn and Great Aunt Joyce for babysitting!

Rock Chalk!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from Bryn!  She is wearing a very tacky but appropriately colored outfit today--minus the bow. 

She also took some shampoo and diaper cream treats to her friends at daycare.   Now, I'll admit that I was nervous about preparing our first crafty school treat.  I've convinced myself that I'm not really PTA mom material, but heck, these turned out alright if I do say so myself.  Nowhere near Marsha Bell quality, but they'll do!   

Bryn has really started loving a particularly bad habit, thumb sucking!  We try to discourage it and replace her thumb with a pacifier, but not sure how much that is helping since we can hear her doing it during the night.  It is pretty cute.

She has figured out that if her thumb is taken away she can just suck on her lips.  We'll chalk this one up as brains over beauty.  

Oh, and we keep getting questions about her blue eyes. 

Answer:  The mailman has brown eyes...and I think is a female.

Don't ask about the handyman.

In all seriousness, Grandma Bell and Grandpa Sterner both have blue eyes, so I guess it is possible they are here to stay! 

Her new favorite thing to do...play with her feet!

Daycare sent home Bryn's very first artwork, which is now proudly displayed in my office. 

Taking a nap in our bed after morning snuggle time.

 

This might be (is) a little silly to memorialize, but I'm pretty sure this is Bryn discovering my phone and deciding that the best course of action is to chew on it. 

Some other fun recent pics.  Yes, she has a sparkle head band. 

Tegan and Miller continue to do great with her.  Here is Miller's view of the world and his position in it.

4 Months

What a fun age!  Bryn is really starting to move around more.  She isn't rolling over yet (probably because she kind of flips out when made to do tummy time), but she has discovered her feet and travels the four corners of her crib during the night. She also is laughing more easily, which is so much fun for all of us. 

Here are some pictures from a little photoshoot for her 4 month birthday on January 22nd.

Bryn went to the Doctor last Friday and got measured.  In case the above pictures aren't clear, Bryn is now in the 85th percentile in weight, the 80th percentile in height (up from 50th at 2 months) and the 90th percentile in head circumference.  She is developing right on track and all of the concerns we had about small things (such as a little red birth mark on her tummy) are not concerns for our doctor.  Always a good thing to hear.  BTW, you know you are a first time and obsessive mom if you ask why your child's feet haven't grown since birth.   Turns out that is pretty normal.  Also turns out that if your child's ankles are a little chubby, the feet look smaller.  He he, love them ankles.

She also got her shots at her appointment.  She did better than last time and didn't cry very long.  Good thing the medicine had a lot of space to spread out.

She was a little upset the next 24 hours and Mommy let her watch her first cartoon.  I think it was a dude cartoon--lego men with swords.  Where is Scooby Doo these days?

All in all, she was pretty tired and didn't have a great day.  Miller's day was worse.

Last, there were some requests for some pictures of Bryn in her black sparkle dress from Aunt MeMe. 

She felled over.  Thought about being upset about it, but decided that would take too much energy.