This sucks!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and BOTH of my kids are sick : (. Brooke started yesterday morning, coughing and sneezing. Today her cough seems worse, but it doesn't seem to be in her chest at all, so that's good! Ryan started coughing and sneezing this morning. Ugh. Why does my baby have to be sick for her first major holiday? Tomorrow was/is going to be crappy enough (for reasons I'm not comfy posting about here right now) and this just adds to it. Not even sure if we'll end up going anywhere. We are supposed to be going to a restaurant with Doug's family (nobody else felt like cooking) at 11am and then to my aunt's house in the afternoon. I guess I'll have to wait and see what they are like in the morning : (.

Ryan or Brooke?

Here's some comparison pics. The pictures of Brooke aren't very recent and the ones of Ryan definitely aren't (obviously, lol).

Set #1

Set #2

Set #3

In case you didn't know, Ryan was on oxygen from March to July 24/7 and then on it just at night until October. And he has the feeding tube in the picture after his bout with pnuemonia that landed him in Children's Hospital. They thought he was aspirating, so they were feeding him by tube and he came home with it, but we were able to get him back on his bottles with no problems in less than 2 weeks and then they took it out : ).

So, what do you think? Do they look like siblings? ; )

My 2nd Baby

I thought it would be fun to post some older pictures of Ryan : ).

6 days old with my hand...I can't even remember him being THAT little. Crazy...

VERY sick old at a month old. This was after his belly surgery where he got an illeostomy. His stoma is under that yellow guaze stuff.

Tiny toes.

One of my favorite NICU pictures of him.

2.5 months old

This was our first look at our baby boy with no tubes or tape on his face! It didn't last long...they were getting ready to put him back on the ventilator, but it was so wonderful to see him like that, even briefly :*).

3 months old

First "real" smile caught on camera!

7 months old

LOL...he was always pulling his cannula down in to his mouth! He was on oxygen at home 24/7 from March until July and then on it only at night until October.

10.5 months old

Trying to go to sleep at his 1st birthday party. LOL.

First haircut!

14 months old

1st glasses! (Which he almost never wore because he wouldn't leave them on.)

14 months old

2nd Halloween

14 months old

I just love this picture : )

17.5 months old

Just starting to walk!

25 months old

At the playground.

2.5 years old

Six days shy of two years old, with his first diaper and hat, both of which were too big at birth!!

Right on track

I almost forgot to update! A couple weeks ago I recieved the questionnaire from Early Intervention for Brooke's developmental tracking. The questions were for a 4 month old which is her adjusted age and what they go by as far as what she should be doing. Out of the 30 things, she was only not doing 2 of them! So she is right on track for her adjusted age and even a little above : ). So so so different from Ryan, who was behind his adjusted age in every area (and he's still behind now). What a difference 4 extra weeks in utero, being a girl, and a complication-free NICU stay makes!

Wordless Wednesday

Brooke had peas for the first time yesterday. Think she liked them?

Call to prayer

One of my fellow bloggers has asked for prayers and urged others to link to her blog to generate *more prayers. Click here to get the scoop!

An update

Life has been interesting lately, to put it mildly. I'm feeling so overwhelmed much of the time. I hate to say this, but Brooke puts me on edge a lot of the time : (. I just feel like I can't figure her out. She keeps switching things up on me. For about a week, she was napping so well in her crib and going down awake even. God FORBID you try to do that now. She screams like you're killing her. Sometimes she will fall asleep while swinging in her swing, but most of the time she needs bounced in her bouncy seat or held and put to sleep. Then she usually only sleeps for 15-20 minutes at a time. She is also back to being more demanding and not liking to be "alone" for any length of time. It's like she needs almost constant attention most of the time. It's exhausting and frustrating at times. Just when I thought things were getting easier, all of a sudden they're harder again.

Ryan is....Ryan. LOL. Most of the time, he's very good and listens well, but sometimes he can be very stubborn and defiant. I guess that comes with the territory of being five! He's talking up a storm lately and I love it most of the time. He's reading soooo many words and loves to try to read books. He's getting some easy reader books for Christmas. He's doing well in school and has made a lot of progress just since the end of last school year (he has all the same therapists, even though he's at a different school and they've all noticed big improvements in lots of areas). He's still our little sports fanatic and loves watching sports on TV (especially bowling and baseball) and playing Wii Sports on the Wii. He plays with his Little Tikes bowling set everyday, too.

I took Brooke today for her first synagis injection today that will help prevent her from getting RSV (or at least reduce the severity if she does get it). She'll get one shot a month until May. (Ryan was so high risk that he got them for 3 winters! That is very rare for them to approve that many years.) She did cry when she got her shot, but not for long. She made sure to give the nurse her little puppy dog look while whimpering with watery eyes afterwards. LOL. The dose goes by weight and next month she'll probably weigh enough that she'll need 2 separate shots (one in each leg) : (. She weighed 13lbs. 12oz. Big girl! She's gained 11lbs. in 7.5 months...not too shabby! I talked to the doctor about increasing her Zantac for her reflux again because she has only been taking 2 ounces at a time at most feedings the past few days, when she had been taking 3.5-4oz. She'll be in the middle of eating and all of a sudden she'll pull away and arch her back and won't let the bottle near her mouth again. He increased her from 0.8mL's to 1.2mL's (two times a day). Hopefully it helps!

I'll try not to go so long without posting again and I'll also try to post some new pictures soon, too!