Life Is Good: 9 Months

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

9 Months

I can't believe I'm getting ready to write this...

Evan is now 9 MONTHS OLD!

Ugh...how time flies. With all that has been going on around here I really can't remember what I've talked about on here and what I haven't. So...here's the highlights about my dear sweet Evan.

He has 2 teeth on the bottom and he's getting another...his top canine of all things. Usually it goes in the order of bottom front - top front. Hmmmm.
He is walking quite well while holding on to the furniture. He has even started holding on to the walls and the back of the couch. That's quite a site to see.
He army crawls and is quick when he is motivated by something like a piece of paper or a toy that his brother has, but he would rather forget the crawling and get on with the walking.
He eats great! He is now eating most fruits and vegetables. I've only introduced turkey and chicken for the meats but sometimes I'll add beans to a puree for a little extra protein. I've been given the okay to start egg yolks so that is the next protein I'll add. He loves to eat anything we are eating. He eats quite a few finger foods too...cheerios, infant snacks, crackers, cheetohs, green beans, etc. Today he snatched a muffin from a grocery sack and proceeded to scarf it down before I could do anything more than pull the paper out of his mouth.
At his WCC his weight was 19lb7oz (30%), head circumference was 18 1/4" (85%), and length was 27 1/8" (15%). So basically he's short, stalky with a big head!
He is very, very vocal and although he doesn't have any "words" yet he "talks" a lot. He grunts when he wants more. He yells when we walk into a new place as if to say "hi I'm here". He also yells to "talk" to us when he's in a room by himself.
He is already showing pretty intense separation anxiety which according to the doctor is something that only begins at 9 months at the earliest. She said it will probably last until his 1st birthday but can last a month or 2 beyond.
He has the most precious smile ever!

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RYAN-ISMS:

Your shirt still looks good. (This was after he just finished wiping his greasy, buttery hands all down my front.)
Momma, when I'm really bigger I can drive you to the doctor. (Such a sweet...sad truth. I just hope he remembers this when I actually do need him to drive me to the doctor.)
Baby brother needs to be quiet. He's waking me up and I need a nap! (Oh really?!?)
Maybe tomorrow at 16 o'clock. (hehehe)
Now you have to get a spankin' 'cause I told you the other day not to eat poprcorn until you eat real food. (Real food is synonymous with healthy food around here and on this occasion Ryan was wanting popcorn before dinner. After being told he couldn't have any until after he ate "real food" he told this to Evan when the innocent little guy was running into the popcorn tin with his walker.)
Now you have to get a spankin' 'cause I told you baby brother is crying. (On this particular occasion Ryan came up to me and swatted me on the behind because Evan was crying and apparently it offended him.)
I want to tickle the fishies. (Let's not.)
You can't eat fish out of the water. It has too much dirt and grass and sticks and leaves. (I fixed fish tonight and because the kid knows that fish live in the lake and fishsticks out of the bag are our usual "fish" he reasoned that fish that comes out of that dirty lake surely can't be eaten.)
I lub that pink house. Maybe someday I can lib there. (He saw a pink house while we were driving out of Guthrie. He still really, really, really likes pink so someday he hopes to live in that pink house.)

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander