Friday Update...

Hello all...I realized today that it has been a while since my last blog post. Shame on me...:D We have been very busy over this time and I'll tell you about that now.



Brendan went in on Monday March 2 for his 9 month appointment. It was a pretty eventful, crazy appointment to say the least. While we were in the waiting room, B sat on my lap for a while, then decided he wanted to get down and stand up. He was holding onto a table and I was holding on to him. Before I knew it he was falling backwards and bonked his head on the hard floor (I thought that I was holding onto him enough...I so do not know how it happened?!!!). So I scooped him up and he was crying bloody murder....I was trying to sooth him and then looked at his head. He had a pretty big bump on the back of his head...it really freaked me out. So I told the nurses in the front and they got me into a room and B was still crying...so they ordered an X-ray (which he probably would have gotten done anyway because we are concerned at how his head is growing....there's a flat spot). B did calm down and was all snuggly...until we had to get the x-ray done. He was bawling and bawling again. My heart was just breaking.They got the x-ray's done and we went back for his appointment. The doctor came in and said it was good news and good news. I started crying...(B has fallen off the bed and bumped his head so many times over the last week that I just lost it!) No skull fracture and the skull still has not fully sealed or whatever. B was fine during the rest of the appointment and the Dr. said I didn't have to worry about a concusion or anything...but I still felt soooo bad that it happened.


So, he did not have a skull fracture, but we were still concerned that his head was not growing out as much as we think it should have by now. I asked Dr. Becker, "Ok, what should we do about his head if we are still concerned about the shape of it?" He said he would refer us to Gillette's Children's hospital to have it checked out.



We were very lucky and got an appointment right away...it was on Tuesday of last week. It was a full day kinda thing...our first appointment was at 11 a.m. It was with a nurse practioner...she checked B out and told us that he has slight torticollis (tight muscle) in his neck, which caused a flattening of one side of his head. She told us that he would do some PT for the neck muscle and then said we COULD do a CranioCap (helmet) to help change the shape of B's head. But that decision was up to us. DH asked her what she would do if it was her child and she proceeded to give us a 3 minute run around. We were not very happy with this situation as both of us had no idea what we should do...the PT *might* help the shape on it's own, but if we wanted to...the helmet *might* help it along faster...After the first appointment, we had 1 hour until our next appointment with the physical therapist. We decided to go and have lunch and talk about the helmet. We read over the info that we had received about it...called to see what the cost of the helmet would be...called our insurance about how much was covered...then called my MIL to see what her advice was (she was the eaisest parent to get ahold of...); we were both on the fence about doing or not doing it...then my MIL gave us good advice and told us to ask the PT person what her thoughts on the helmet were because she has seen the difference between doing it and not doing it! Well, we felt good about doing that, so we finished our lunch and then went to the PT appointment. She discussed what she would do for B, showed us stretches to do at home and overall assessed the little man. (Who to this point had been an absolute angel the whole day). We then asked her what her thoughts on the helmet were and she said that if we were on the fence about it, we SHOULD do it. She said that it is amazing what a difference the helmet makes...so, we decided then and there that we would go the helmet route.



After our PT appointment, we got in with the assistive technology department to have B's head scanned for the helmet to be made. Ok, what the helmet does is pushes on the side that is grown out well and leaves an open spot of the side that is flat to grow into. B will get his first helmet (they change them periodically over the course of treatment, which is 2-4 months) on the 27th.



We had his 2nd PT appointment on Monday and the Phsycial Therapist said that she could already see improvement in his range of motion! Yay!!! His next PT will also be on the 27th. After that he goes in every 2 weeks for PT and helmet fittings. All of the appointments are in St. Paul, so we will be doing some driving over the next few months...but we totally know that it is worth it!!! We would not feel right if we didn't do something...KWIM?!? Could you imagine the poor guy when he was older going...hmmmm...what's wrong with my head. Or if he wanted to shave his head when he got older and we would have to say...Ummmm you might not want to do that, you see, you have a flat spot and we decided not to fix it for you. We totally confident in our decision to go this route with B and will update you all on the progess as we go along!

Brendan at 9 months...

9 MONTHS?!?! I can't believe he is 9 MONTHS old right now...9 MONTHS has gone by since this wonderful little man came into our lives and graced us with his effervescent personality. Our lives have truly been blessed tremendously by him. Even when he doesn't sleep through the night and then decides that he is done sleeping at 4 a.m....even then we love him oh so much! I mean...look at his beautiful, happy face! Who couldn't melt at the sight of his chubby, dimpled cheeks??? Oy...I love this kid way too much!!!

So, Brendan at 9 months...

*has both the top 2 teeth and bottom 2 teeth...he loves to feel them constantly with his tongue!

*is wearing 9 month, 12 month and now even some 18 month clothing; size 2 shoes, size 3 diapers, 18-36 month socks

*continues to have some issues sleeping, but we are working on remedying this...he does not, however, have any issues napping during the day, which this momma is very grateful for!

*independently plays with his toys for long periods of time (sometimes up to an hour) while sitting up.

*He does not crawl at all...he is still scooting and rolling to get around; he can push up onto his knees and hands and looks like he'll crawl, but quickly pushes back down to his belly.

*LOVES to walk around the house...both in his walker and hanging onto our hands. We did have to buy a gate in order to save Mr. Pibb's sanity as B figured out how to go and explore Pibb's food bowls. Anyone who know Mr. Pibb knows that he guards his food with a vengeance!

*Continuing on the subject of Mr. Pibb...Brendan LOVES his puppy so much and especially enjoys climbing over his back and petting him. They are sometimes impossible to get apart...Mr. Pibb showers B with kisses and B in turn grasps his hair and does not let go. They have started to play outside together this week and Brendan infectious laugh sounds loudly as Pibb jumps at thrown snow.

*His language skills are heard throughout the day in gaahs, babababas, mamamamamas, sssssssss, lalalalalas, and high pitched squeals.

*has started to show his independence from us in pushing off of us to get at things that look interesting. Case in point...he has fallen a few times over the last couple of weeks...1 time resulting in a head x-ray (we were already at the doctors office waiting for his 9 month appointment when he fell and hit the back of his head hard on the ground) and a brightly color bruise on his forehead when he bumped his head on his exersaucer. Oh and he fell off of our bed onto the ground as well...this has been the most scary time for me, but he is weathering it pretty well.

*eats "big boy" food. No more baby food for this one...he enjoys feeding himself toast, waffles, small pieces of cut up fruit (blueberries, mangoes, bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines, cantalope) and veggies (peas, corn, broccoli, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, soy beans), gerber baby fruit puffs and cheese puffs, and Japanese rice crackers. He sometimes still likes to eat oatmeal cereal and has even tried some yougart with fruit mixed in...but let me tell ya, this boy loves to eat!

Well, I think that that is about it for right now...I just love writing down what he's up to each month and am planning to add this to a baby scrapbook in the future!

I leave you now with a little video that I shot this morning showing you Brendan eating and talking!

IT'S A BOY!!!

My sister-in-law Anna just had a baby boy today!! Yay!!! She did not find out prior to the baby being born what she was having...and the nurses/doctors today were talking about the baby in "she/her's"...but it was a BOY!!! Arturo Jose came out weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 inches long. Anna had a C-section, so we have not heard how she is doing, but daddy Arturo is beyond excited!!!!! And so are we up here in Minnesota (oh...Anna lives in Florida). The other exciting thing about the baby being born today is that it is Auntie Jenni's 21st birthday today. Talk about a birthday present, huh?! She and her fiance Chris are actually down in Florida right now visiting the Florida contingent. Lucky them that they get to see the baby right away. How I wish we could go down and meet our new family member right away, but we will get to see him soon enough! Well, that's all for today...be safe out in that snow!!!

Rubber Ducky You're the One

A Brendan Update

He's on the move...well, in his walker that is. He usually is fine and dandy cruising and exploring the kitchen area, but the other day he decided to get a change of scenery. While I was doing some household chores, B was enjoying his usual walk around the kitchen. All of a sudden I realized that it had gotten awfully quiet and went to find out what he was up to. I didn't find him right away and was completely surprised to find him in the sun room. He had never crossed over from the kitchen to any of the carpeted areas before...but I guess he was ready! Here is Mr. Pibb guarding B from danger :D B was so excited about his new exploring territory! He is just getting so big...

In this picture, you will see one of B's fav things to do now...play with the coffee table! We used to house magazines and our books in the cubbies that make up our coffee table, but B started to explore them forcefully and in the process destroyed some mags, so they are all now safely tucked away elsewhere. He loves to peak through the cubbies now!

He has become such a messy eater, well I guess because he likes to feed himself now! Cheerios were added to the mix and now chunkier bits of fruits and veggies occupy his eating time as he tries to pick them up and put them in his mouth. So cute!

Toys, toys, toys...this is the mess that is his toy playing area in the living room. He really hasn't picked up crawling yet, but he sure gets around by rolling and scooting just fine! He's a busy guy...and actually more recently (the last couple of days) he doesn't really want to sit and play, he would rather stand up (with my help) and grab at other things or walk around the house holding my hands. Silly boy!

Another picture evidence of his fascination with the coffee table...

And....drum roll please...his teeth are coming in! Ok, I'm not really sure if I should be rejoicing or crying, because he's getting ALL 4 (two top and two bottom) first teeth right now. He is miserable at nighttime or really whenever the pain meds wear off. We had a very long night Monday night with a long screaming, crying, inconsolable time from 9 p.m. til midnight. Last night was much better, but I was proactive in calming the pain before it even got a chance to get out of hand!

Well, that's it from us right now...Lots of Love and Hugs to all our friends and fam out in blogland :D

8 months...or Where does the time go...

We took Brendan to get pictures taken yesterday at Wal-Mart. He started out the session in a very serious mood, but after a little walk around the "studio" he warmed up and we got some very cute photos (if you ask me :D). Two of the outfits are items that we picked up for B in Tokyo; the items being the Totoro Hat and Bib and the "Ninja" outfit. LOVE IT!!! I can't wait for him to fit into some of the other clothing items we picked up for him in Tokyo...we have a really cute Mickey Mouse outfit that will be super duper cute!!!

So, at 8 months Brendan:

*scoots all around the house by rolling and "shuffling", but has yet to really crawl.

*loves to walk while someone is holding his hands

*loves to walk in his walker...chasing Pibb and opening drawers

*wears 9 month, 12 month and 12-18 month clothing

*wears size 3 diapers

*wears size 1 and 2 shoes

*has turned into a complete momma's boy...gotta love that seperation anxiety, huh!

*had a little "accident" and is no longer allowed to sit on the couch by himself...

*is sleeping through the night again...whew...

*grabs at anything and everything that catches his eye...he especially loves remotes

*has started to use a high pitch squeal when he's having fun and wants to let us know about it...he is also making more sounds; ba, ma, mmmmmm, ow, awww, ya

*enjoys a whole menagerie of food...blueberries, peaches, mangos, corn, sugar snap peas, peas, broccoli, cherries, sweet potatoes, sqaush, cereal, and rice crackers that we got at the Japanese Mall in Chicago

*is most ticklish under his chin :D

*likes to stick out his tongue and aslo rub his tongue on his bottom teeth...which have yet to show up, but are just under the surface waiting to make their debut

*is now 27" long and roughly 22-24 pounds

I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I will update if/when I think of others to include.

Oh January, we barely knew thee...

Wow...where oh where did January go? Life is moving at the speed of light it seems. I wish I had a magical remote so that I could slow it down a bit. Yeah, that would be nice!


It is the first Monday of the month and as promised, I am going to "blog" about how my healthier lifestyle is going. It's amazing how quickly you can move back into old habits...and that is what January did to me. Oh, ok, I did it to myself, but what can ya do? The first week of working out went really well, I made it on the treadmill 4 or 5 times that week. The next couple of weeks was a different story...B decided to change up his sleeping schedule, so my life kinda got out of whack. Last week was a good working out week for me, so I'm back on track. As for eating better, that too is going as well as I'm letting it, but I am definately making more wise choices of stuff to eat. I know that I said that I was going to post my current weight on the first Monday of the month in accordance with Cathy Z, but we still have not found a Wii Fit and I refuse to keep a "real" scale in the house...so no weight in here this month.


In other more entertaining Lindberg Family news...tune in tomorrow for B's 8 month old post and a recap of our weekend!