Fortuitous

Bennett is sick ... again. It started with a runny nose on Sunday that I thought was related to teething (he's been acting like a vampire biting us lately!). He had seemed to be getting better but when I got home from work last night, he was starting to wheeze and cough some.

It is indeed very fortuitous that Bennett's pulmonologist gave us that new prescription last week for an oral steriod to keep on hand for when Bennett starts to experience respiratory distress. It came in quite handy last night when around 8 p.m., Bennett started to wheeze heavily and the albuterol treatments were only helping for a short period of time. Without the steriods on hand to help pop his lungs open, we'd have spent yet another night in the ER!

He's doing better today but still has a cough and needs some albuterol to keep his chest clear. Please send prayers for swift healing and health for our little buddy!!!!

Little Lungs!

Bennett had a pulmonology appointment yesterday. There is some bad news and some good news.

Good news first - He's doing reaaaaaally well!!! His lungs sound great, his baseline respiration rate has lowered into normal range and he has much fewer wheezing episodes!

Bad news - Our pediatrician's suspicion was correct - Bennett's illness in March caused new scarring in both lobes of his lungs that were not present when he was discharged from the NICU. This means his lungs will be all the more fragile and susceptible to further damage. And it "restarts" the clock on healing.

Neutral news - Bennett's tiny - what's new? He weighed in at 18 lbs 1 oz fully clothed a diapered (so he probably is about 4 ounces less) and was 27.25'' (that comes to less than 1/2 a lb weight gain in two months and no height gain). That places him under the 3rd percentile for his actual age of 14 months and almost exactly at the 5th percentile for his adjusted age of 1 year (tomorrow is his due date!) for his weight. For his length, he is under 3rd percentile for both actual and adjusted ages. But - the good news is that he's 50th percentile for weight to height ratio - meaning he is perfectly proportioned! He's just miniscule all over. What to do? He eats really well, still is breastfeeding and drinking 10+ ounces of whole milk a day. Even on the preemie charts, he's super tiny. The Pulmonologist would like to see him get to the 10th percentile by his second birthday, but that is more aspirational the a criteria. He's clearly healthy, so we shall not worry too much about it.

The FABULOUS news is, since he's pretty stable with his asthma meds (she gave us a new oral steriod to use when he starts wheezing), we don't need to go back for six months barring any major episodes!!!!!!

Bennett's Homecoming Anniversary!

Yesterday marked one full year since Bennett came home from the NICU! What a sentimental day it was indeed! It was almost like a second-first birthday :)

I remember as if it were yesterday, getting that call from his nursing asking "when are you coming to get your kid already??" They didn't have to ask us twice!! After nine loooooooooong and difficult weeks, we were more than ready to bring our little bundle home and to finally be complete together as a family of four!

July 6, 2008 - 6 lbs, 18'' long

July 6, 2009 - guessing he's about 18 lbs and 28'' long!!!

Our little man has come SOOOOOO far!!!

Also, check out Bennett's first official 4th of July here!!

My Little Yogi

Here is Bennett executing a near-perfect downward facing dog pose :)


Actually, what this crazy dude is trying to do is stand up!!!!!!!! Yesterday, he started getting on his hands and feet, but with knees bent, shaking his booty in the air. Today, straight legs! Knowing this kid, it won't be long until he figures out how to get his upper body straight up too! He's starting to let go of things for a few timid seconds at a time to stand unassisted!!!!

Standing may seem pretty mundane to you ... but to this preemie momma - standing is HUGE!!!!

Operation Crayon was a Failure

Bennett's developmental nurse encouraged us last week to start introducing Bennett to crayons so he can work on fine motor development. For the obvious reasons (i.e. not thrilled about the idea of picking the wax out of his teeth), I've shied away from this venture.

Tonight, inspired by my BFF's allowing her 4 month old to color with markers (seriously), I decided to give Bennett a chance with crayons. The little toddler kind that are big and stuck in these plastic animals.

And what to my surprise (not) should occur?? Bennett had absolutely NO interest in coloring. He was content to do nothing more than chew on the crayons. Nice. Envision the scene - Bennett puts in mouth, I say "no no, yuck yuck" and he takes it out, gives me a longing look with those deep puppy dog eyes, and his little lip quivers, and he sticks it back in. Rinse, repeat.

Oh, how I wish I could buy more patience just for occasions such as this! No coloring occurred. Only lip quivering. Yep, big, fat failure!

Developmental Review

Yes folks, its that time again. Bennett had a visit from his favorite nurse this morning!

She was very impressed with his improvement in gross motor skills! He is doing everything appropriate for his adjusted age of 11 months. He is crawling on hands and knees, trasitioning to sitting, pulling up and able to transition back down, and even making a few wary attempts at cruising along the furniture! His pelvis is very weak so standing and walking are probably still far off in the future. She gave us some exercises to help with that and she scheduled him for a consult with the physical therapist in August. The nurse said he will most likely be in the 16-18 month range before he starts walking, but he's surprised us before!

His speech skills are still delayed, but we still aren't too worried about it. The nurse said that oftentimes when a baby excels rapidly in one area of development, like gross motor, all other areas are put on hold. We think he says "da" and "ma" appropriately, and possibly "ba" (for bottle). Its hard to tell if he is just repeating our words. He rarely (as in once every three weeks) ever does the rolling consonants "da, da, da, da, da," etc. BUT, he can follow directions, so its clear that he is picking up language, he just isn't able yet to get it out. This also goes hand in hand with his lung issues, which makes it more difficult for him to talk. So, we'll reassess this area in August and see where to go from there.

All in all, he is doing FABULOUS!!! He's very obviously a healthy and happy boy. He's very alert and sharp! We just have to stay on top of things with these preemies, because if they start to lag behind in one area, it can cause amplified effects later on down the road, since it is all building blocks.

YAY BENNETT!!!

Don't Blink!

Because if you do, you are apt to find this crazy little monkey at the top of the stairs....

I guess the lure of mommy's bracelet was just too much!

It was cute - I hear Ace say "Bennett!! How did you get up there!? Well, if you're gonna get up on your own, you'll have to learn to get down on your own too!" What a good daddy :)