Not Feeling Well

Brandon has been pretty miserable the past few days. He has been very cranky and crying a lot and wants to pretty much be held all day. I brought him back to the pediatrician yesterday because he started coughing and is congested when he is sleeping. We saw Dr. Lichtenberg again. She listened to his chest and said his lungs sound clear and his ears are still clear too. She said he probably has something viral on top of teething. She said a lot of time when babies are teething they get viral infections because their hands are in and out of their mouths so much and same with their toys. Brandon's cough is worse today. It has been keeping him up during his naps. The good news is it sounds like it is phlegm from his throat so it is still not in his chest. I did call the pediatrician to see if he can have cough medicine but you can't give babies cough medicine. She said usually colds get worse before they get better so that is probably what is happening. He has not had much of an appetite. I am sure it goes along with him not feeling well. Grandma and Grandpa Jacobs sent Brandon get well balloons and a stuffed dinosaur (it was supposed to be a teddy bear but the florist gave him a dinosaur instead). He really liked the balloons and dinosaur. They seemed to cheer him up for a little while.

Fever and BBQ

Brandon woke up at 4:30 am this morning. I went into his room and picked him up and he put his head on my shoulder with his eyes closed and went back to sleep. Every time I tried to put him back into his crib he started to cry. Finally at 5:30 I got up with him. I started to bring him into the living room and realized that he felt warm. So I brought him back to his room and took his temperature and it was 100.9 rectal. He was very clingy and kept crying. I called the pediatrician's office and was able to get an appointment for 10:15 this morning. They are open 7 days a week which is great. We saw Dr. Lichtenberger and she looked at him and said his ears were clear (he had been pulling on them the night before) and his chest sounded clear. She looked in his mouth and said it looked like one of his top teeth was getting ready to push through. She thought the fever was teething related. I told her we were supposed to go to a barbeque this afternoon and asked if she still thought it would be okay for us to go and she said yes.

We went to a barbeque this afternoon at my friend Nicole's parents' house. I have know Nicole since first grade. Her baby, McKenzie, was born the same day that Brandon was due. It was our first time meeting her since Nicole now lives in DC. Brandon enjoyed meeting McKenzie. He also met Colin and Zack, my friend Kim's baby and 3 year old and Jason, Allison's baby. There was a baby wading pool that Brandon went in. It was his first time in a wading pool and he LOVED it. He didn't want to get out.

I was feeding Brandon his bottle tonight and after was looking in his mouth since he was giving me big open mouth smiles. I saw a tooth about the cut through on the top. The line of the tooth is at the gum's surface.

I checked Brandon's temperature before bed and he still has a low grade fever of 100.7 even with tylenol 2 hours before I checked it. Hopefully it will be gone in the morning.

Pictures from this week

We had a playdate on Tuesday with Becky and Logan and Kim and Lila. I forgot to take my camera so I don't have pictures. Brandon and Logan both loved Lila. It was really cute.

Brandon is army crawling all over the place now and getting fast at it. His favorite place to crawl to is Hershey's water bowl.

Brandon is now in 12 month pajamas and starting to switch to 12 month clothes. It has been hard to find 12 month pajamas with feet. I have managed to find a few but most are pants and shirts. He looks like such a big boy in his pajamas.

Here are some pictures from this week. He is getting harder and harder to take pictures of with him looking at the camera since all he wants to do is be on the move.

Trip to the Aquarium and Dinner at Our Friends' House

Brandon and I went to Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant this morning with some other moms and babies from Stroller Strides. We had a tour guide who was with us. After the tour we went out to lunch together. Brandon enjoyed his second trip to the aquarium. We were there a little over a month ago. It is a small aquarium and is the perfect size for him. He really notices the fish and sharks and other animals.

We went to dinner tonight at Sommer, Bob, and Sydney's. Sydney is 1 1/2. It is hard to believe that Brandon will be in the same grade as her. She just misses the cut off and he just makes it. The two of them were really cute together. Sydney just loves Brandon because he is a baby. And he couldn't stop smiling at her. It will be cute when he is a little older and they can actually play together.

Father's Day

This morning when Stu woke up Brandon gave him a present that he had for him. It was a picture frame with three 5x7 openings. In one opening was a poem called walk alongside me daddy. In the middle opening was a picture of Brandon and Stu. And in the last opening was Brandon's footprints. We had my parents and Stu's parents over for dinner. My mom made ribs that were grilled and chicken and Stu's mom made pasta salad and dessert. I made and bought some appetizers. It was a really nice day.

Stu is an amazing dad to Brandon. Brandon just adores him. He gives Stu the biggest smiles when he comes home from work and in the morning when he sees him. Stu can make him laugh huge belly laughs. It is really cute seeing the two of them together. Stu was an unbelievable father when Brandon was in the NICU too. He made sure he visited him everyday after work or at night when Brandon was in the NICU and was just as hands on as I was in the NICU. It melts my heart to see the two of them together. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father for Brandon.

Army Crawling

Brandon is getting really good at army crawling. Between that and rolling he can get wherever he wants to go. He even turns himself around if he wants to go a different direction. He can get up on all fours in a crawling position but then gets onto his belly and starts to army crawl.

Yankees Fan

In Crawling Position

Brandon keeps getting himself in crawling position on all fours but then he goes down to his belly. He is army crawling all over the place and rolling to get where he wants.

Thanks Grandma

I woke up yesterday morning with my stmach hurting. It kept me up most of the night before. My mom took the day off to come play with Brandon so that I could rest. He had a good time playing with her. He also had fun typing on her computer.

GI Specialist Appointment

Brandon had an appointment this morning with Dr. Teitelbaum. He hadn't been in 3 months. He was weighed and only gained 1 ounce according to their scale in a month. It is a different scale than at the pediatrician's office so he may have gained more. He has been much more active and last week was on somewhat of a bottle strike. We were away, his schedule was off, and he was getting two teeth. Since we got back from our vacation he is back on track with drinking the minimum amount of formula that the pediatrician wants. The GI specialist told me to try Brandon off of his axid in the mornings for 2 weeks. If he does well off of the axid in the morning then I can stop the night dose in 2 weeks. If his reflux seems to bother him more than I need to start the morning dose again. He will stay on his usual dose of prevacid. Brandon goes back in 4 months.

Brandon has not been sleeping great at night since we came home from our trip. It started the last 4 nights of vacation and has continued the past 4 nights that we have been home. He goes to sleep okay but a half hour later wakes up crying hysterically. I get him back to sleep and then 15 minutes later the hysterical crying starts again. This has been continuing for 2 hours each night with the sleep, wake up crying, sleep, wake up crying. Then he finally falls asleep. Last night he was also up crying hysterically at 12:15 and then again at 3:15. Hopefully this will stop soon since he had finally started to sleep through the night before we went away.

Bath Time in the Bath Tub with the tub seat

Brandon loved taking baths on vacation in the regular bath tub so the day after we got home I got his bathroom ready for him to start taking baths in the regular bath tub. Hershey's (our dog)crate has been in Brandon's bathroom but Hershey only goes in the crate now if we are going to be gone for a long time. Otherwise he is okay just being in the house. I had a tub seat that I got for my shower for Brandon to use so I put that in the bathtub for him. Tonight he had his first bath in it and loved it. It is great because it keeps him from slipping. He is able to play with all of his toys which he loves. He would stay in the bath for hours if we would let him. He kept smiling at the camera when I was taking pictures. It is really cute. If you look really carefully you can see his two bottom teeth that cut through the gums. They need to grow up more but you can see them when he opens his mouth and smiles.

Last Night of Vacation

We are in San Francisco tonight. We spent the last 3 nights in Yosemite. It was beautiful there. The waterfalls and rock formations are amazing. We saw a baby bear within minutes of enterning the park. Unfortunately Brandon did not sleep well there. We rented a house in Yosemite.

Brandon is coming back from his vacation with two teeth cut through on the bottom. He is able to get himself into crawling position on all fours but when he tries to move forward he winds up rolling over. I am sure he will be moving in no time.

Napa Valley, Rehearsal Dinner, and Brian and Laura's Wedding

On Friday we had Brian and Laura's rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at a restaurant in San Francisco. Brandon got to meet my Uncle Alan and Aunt Donna and cousins Brooke and Scott. Saturday was Brian and Laura's wedding. The ceremony was outside overlooking the San Francisco Bay. The reception was at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. The view was beautiful. Brian and Laura's wedding was a lot of fun. Brandon came to the ceremony and part of the cocktail hour and then went back to the hotel with a babysitter. The next morning we went to a brunch for the wedding and then to Laura's parents to see Brian and Laura before they left for their honeymoon. We then came to Napa Valley. Today we went to some wineries in Napa with my aunt and uncle, Jill, Dave, Mike, Jenny, Avery, and my parents. The wineries were great. We had to ride on a tram to get to one of the wineries. Brandon and Avery were really interacting a lot with eachother. Brandon even kissed her. It was really cute. When we got back from the wineries Brandon went swimming for the first time. At first he wasn't too sure what to make of the pool but he seemed to like it after a little while.