Monmouth NICU Big Steps for Little Feet walk

Last Sunday Stu, Brandon, my parents, Stu's parents, and I did the Big Steps for Little Feet Walk to help raise money for Monmouth Medical Center where Brandon spent the first 12 weeks of his life. This is a walk that we will do every year as long as they continue to have it because if it wasn't for the wonderful nurses and doctors Brandon would not be where he is today. The nurses and doctors at Monmouth will always have a special place in our hearts. I really can't say enough good things about them.

The walk was really nice. It was a beautiful day after several days of rain and it was so nice to see all of the families (some who were at the NICU with us, others who weren't), nurses, and doctors that were there.

We did the walk and after the walk there was a presentation of the check to the doctors. Over $60,000 was raised. A few parents spoke about their experiences and then they had all of the NICU graduates come on the stage and they took a picture of them.

After the picture was taken a father came up to Stu, Brandon, and I with his 7 year old daughter because he saw the shirts we were wearing that said Proud Parent of a 26 weeker and former 26 weeker and told us his daughter was a 24 weeker. You couldn't tell at all by looking at her.

Busy Saturday

We had a busy day today. We went out to breakfast this morning at Amy's Omelette House with Bob, Sommer, and Sydney. Sydney is so cute with Brandon. She kept telling him to come over wherever she went and saying his name a lot. She will be 2 in November. It is so neat seeing how much more she can do then Brandon and knowing that in a few months he will be where she is now. Brandon had fun sitting on the lion at the restaurant (it is the kind you put money in and it rides only he didn't ride) and sitting next to Sydney on the shoe shine chair and sitting next to her in a high chair at the restaurant.

This afternoon Brandon went to get his first pair of real shoes. He is cruising so much now and so close to walking and now that it is getting cold out there have been some mornings where he has needed socks on his feet only he slips on the floor with socks so it was time to get him shoes. His feet were measured and he is between a size 4 and 5. Grandma Newman came with us and bought him his first pair of shoes. Stu and I also bought him a pair of Uggs for when it gets a little colder. He is one stylish baby.

Brandon had a bath tonight. He still LOVES the bath. He cries most nights when we take him out of the bath.

Big Boy

Brandon is starting to look more and more like a toddler now. Where did my baby go?

Ready for the Steelers Game

Brandon's Steelers jersey came yesterday so I dressed him in it after being at Becky's house for the day for the big game. He didn't make it up to see any of the game but he looked cute in his jersey.

Brandon had another good week at the babysitters although he definitely seems to be missing me more. He is okay when he is there but when he gets home he has been crying a lot more than usual, especially if I walk out of the room or if I try to hand him off to Stu at times. We had a really difficult time taking a picture of Brandon and Stu last night in their Steelers jerseys because everytime I handed Brandon to Stu he started to cry. He just wanted to be with me. I am sure in another few weeks he will be okay at home again.

Brandon said "mom" clear as can be yesterday. This morning when he woke up I changed his diaper and got him dressed and then he said "ba ba" for his bottle which he has never done before.

I am looking forward to spending the next two days with Brandon now that the weekend is here. On Sunday we have the NICU walk which I am looking forward to. Last year Brandon got out of the hospital six days after the walk so he was not able to do it with us so this year it will be really neat having him there with us.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a good Labor Day weekend. Yesterday we met Sara, her husband Evan, and their baby Marino. I know Sara from a preemie message board that I am part of and they were in NJ yesterday visiting some friends of theirs. We met them and their friends at the beach in Asbury Park. It wasn't a good beach day but it was really nice meeting them. Marino is 2 days older than Brandon but wasn't born quite as early as Brandon was.

We went to my parents beach house in Point Pleasant last night to see them, Brian, Laura, and Laura's parents who were visiting from California. All of us then went out to dinner. Brandon was really good at dinner, especially considering the fact that we didn't go to dinner until 6:30 and were there until 8:30.

Today we went to a barbeque at our friend Stephanie's parents' house. Brandon had a lot of fun swimming in the pool at their house and tried chocolate pudding for the first time which he loved. I put the plate down for a second when I was feeding him some pudding and he started to cry.

Pictures from this week

I fell behind this week on the blog since I went back to work. Here are some pictures of Brandon from this week.

14 Months Old

Brandon is 14 months old today (11 months adjusted). He was at the pediatrician yesterday for his flu shot and weighed 19 pounds, 15 ounces (1 more ounce and we can finally put him in his new car seat forward facing). Brandon started going to the babysitters this week and so far has adjusted well. He has been eating and napping well. He is tired when he gets home from playing all day and has been sleeping really well at night too. I started back at work as well and so far things are going well. My class this year seems good so far although it is very boy heavy (12 boys, 7 girls) which really makes a huge difference in kindergarten. It is hard only seeing Brandon for 3-4 hours before he goes to sleep for the night but I know I will enjoy my time with him on the weekends much more than before and I will have the weekends to look forward to.

At 14 months old, Brandon:
- is finally sleeping through the night
- has 7 teeth (4 on the top, 3 on the bottom)
- weighs 19 pounds, 15 ounces- I am not sure how long he is
- is wearing 12 month or 12-18 month clothes
- loves to eat table food but still eats baby cereal, fruit, and vegetables to supplement the table food
- crawls quickly and really well
- pulls to stand all the time and cruises all the time
- is drinking four bottles of whole milk a day
- still will not drink out of a sippy cup- he chews on it like it is a teething ring
- loves to play with his toys
- waves hi and bye