We've had a busy summer and haven't posted much lately, but it is time to update the blog!  Here are some happenings from the past month.

The Fourth of July was on a Wednesday this year, sort of a bummer to have one day off in the middle of the week versus a long weekend, but glad to have a day off anyway!  It was about 100 degrees and Brody had a great time floating in the lake at Roger and Anne's!

 We are taking Brody to speech therapy twice a week to help him transition from baby food to solids.  He gags and throws up often while eating solids. The therapist recommended letting him get dirty, so here we are...

Grandpa Kenny and his Brody Boy.

Everything goes in the mouth right now, including rocks.  Nummy.

He's just getting so big.  He's pulling himself up and walking along furniture.  He'll let go for a couple of seconds before grabbing on again.  It won't be long for his first steps!

He was sick for a week with a virus and was in the hospital from a Thursday through a Tuesday.  He had a high fever, wasn't eating, cough, and was laying around (not himself).  His oxygen saturations were in the high 80s to low 90s, so he was sent home on oxygen again for a while.  We have a follow up with his pediatrician on Tuesday and a visit to the lung specialist in Minneapolis at the end of August. 

Mom caught what Brody had and is laid up also.  It is a pretty bad virus with an extreme sore throat I wouldn't wish on anybody. 

Cousins

Brooke, Avery, Brody, Natalie, and Collin

Me and Chelsea

1st Birthday Party for Mr. Avery and Miss Emma

Today was Avery and Emma's first birthday party in Glenwood.  They are our friends from the NICU.

Emma and Brody

Mr. Avery and Miss Emma eating their first piece of birthday cake with Brody, Addi, and Mari.  Moms are Jenny and Becca (Mom of Addi and Mari)

Emma with Mom Amy and Dad Dean

Avery with Mom and Dad

Brody Stories

Brody climbed the stairs all by himself today (with Mom right behind him).

14 steps is a lot for a 29 inch tall person

Then he crawled straight into the bathroom to play with the vanity drawer, proceeded back into the hallway to play with Daddy's hat, crawled into Mom and Dad's bedroom and checked himself out in the mirror.

Baby Brody is growing up so fast.  But he's still small enough to fit in here...



Brody's First Camping Trip

This Memorial Day weekend, we went camping in Staples at Dower Lake.  Brody had a lot of fun!

Playing in the Jump-A-Roo

Pulling himself up in his Pack-n-Play

Having fun with the girls

No more oxygen! (During the day)

We are able to remove the oxygen for Brody during the day.  We are putting it back on at night, but we are monitoring his saturations and will re-evaluate with the lung specialist in a week.  Now that he is not "tethered", he has no limits.  He is crawling all around.  He is trying to climb the steps and gets into the pet food.  He picks up every little speck, fuzz, dirt, and anything else from the floor.  He is discovering new foods, although he still gags on most solids.  We are sticking to the puffs and Cheerios, mostly.  He ate some watermelon yesterday, loves little tastes of ice cream from Daddy and mashed potatoes.  Every once in a while, he will say "Mom", but we aren't sure he knows what it means.  He likes to growl and has recently been repeating "ROAR!" when we say it.  He likes to rub noses as a way of snuggling, but he isn't much of a cuddler any more.  When he gets really tired he will still snuggle, but those days are coming to an end.  He loves to go, go, and go!

Just today, he decided to wear his hat and sunglasses.  Normally he pulls them off immediately when we try to put them on.  Russ took him for a walk in the stroller and he fell asleep.

And here's a picture of Mr. Handsome in his suit for Kari's wedding.

And, its kinda blurry, but here he is with his watermelon.