Catchin' Up

I know I have been slacking these past few weeks. I will do my best to keep it as short as possible and catch everyone up on things. Well lets go back to Aug. 30th. Ben & Brooke both had there check ups at the pediatrician. Dr. Dudgeon (Brian) was very impressed with Brooke and her development. He said she was right on track for a 6mth old. She weighed 14lbs 13oz and was 26 1/2 in long. She is 25th percentile for weight, 75th for length, and 5th for her head circumference. Her head finally made it on the growth chart. Yeah!!! The only concern is her thumb tucking. That is a sign of possible cerebral palsy. However, Kristi Brooke's physical therapist, says it is possible but she thinks it is just an issue with under developed muscles. We would see how it looked in the next few weeks when she starts doing a little more weight bearing while in the crawling position. Back to the MD visit. She got her normal shots and labs. Her labs were all within normal range. So no more labs. YEAH! We did need to schedule an ABD US, to F/U on the sludge in her gallbladder while she was in the hospital.As for Ben, we thought he was just getting his 3yr check-up (No shots). Well we found out differently. He got a Hepatitis vaccination. He was upset at first but did pretty well. That was a rather long visit. But we made it.

We left for the beach on Aug. 31st. A long needed vacation for all of us. We had not all been on vacation together since before Brooke was born. Me, MeMe (Tim's mom) and the kids have gone several times but Tim always stayed behind. Ben loves going to the beach house. The weather was wonderful with the typical thunderstorms. Tim, Todd, Brandon, Buster, Tripp and Tanner went fishing Saturday the 1st. They had a great trip.

Sunday, Tim took Ben out on "Daddy's BIG boat" as he calls it. They went to Pirate's Cove and had a famous cheeseburger. Me, Brooke and MeMe stayed home. We had a big fish fry from all the fish the boys had caught the previous day.

The rest of the week was filled full your normal beach activities: going to the beach, swimming in the pool, fishing off the pier etc... Tim & I decided to take the bikes out for a ride one day. We thought we would go to the end of west beach approx 4miles one way. Going down was nice and easy but coming back was pure you know what. We had the wind in our face. Let's just say it was much much tougher coming back.

On Saturday the 8th we went to visit our friends Steve, Dyan, Wesley and Ethan at there condo. We let the boys play on the beach and swim in the pool. And of course we had to watch Bama and Vandy. This is a picture of Ethan, Wesley and Ben. They had on there Bama shirts.

Ben is almost swimming now. He can swim under water about 3-4 feet without his floaties. He is so excited and we are to.

We came back home on Sunday the 9th. Back to reality.

Monday Sept. 10th Ben started moms morning out at Hunter Street Baptist. He will be going MWF from 9 til 1. He loved his first day. He was such a big boy. With him being 3 now he can be dropped off and picked up in the carpool lane. It was a little scary for me. I wanted to cry. My little Ben is growing up so fast.

Brooke also had a PT session today. It went really good. Kristi is very pleased with Brooke's progress.

Wednesday Sept. 12th Brooke had her follow up ABD US at Children's South. It came back normal.

Saturday Sept. 15th We tailgated for the Alabama vs. Arkansas game. Ben had a blast. ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!! Ben spent the night with MeMe and PawPaw. Uncle Todd and Aunt Allison brought him home in Uncle Todd's "Big Green Truck". Ben is totally fascinated with trucks, boats, and motorcycles/4-wheelers.

Sunday Sept. 16th After Ben came home from MeMe's house Tim thought he was going to take the Harley out for a quick ride. But Ben had other plans for him, He said "Daddy you ride me on the green motorcycle(Tim's dirt bike) and you ride the red one(the Harley) another day. So what did Tim and Ben do they rode the dirt bike around. When they got back he said "you see those hot pipes mommy they'll burn you". And off they went again. Ben then had to settle for his 4-wheeler. Brooke observed all the action from the stroller.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. I love this time of year. The kids and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. We played outside until about lunch, then came in and ate, then Ben took is afternoon nap. After his nap we went back outside. The afternoon was rather rough for Ben. He fell out of the swing and landed face first. He was bit by fire ants. Then he was telling Ms. Ashley, Will and Lily Kate bye and fell about 4 steps high landing on his butt and back. He cryed for a short while after each incident but continued to play. At bath time Tim and I assessed the battle wounds. He had a scratch and small bruise on his nose, a pretty big scrap on his back and several ant bites on his feet. All in all I would say he got very lucky. Boys will be boys.

Today Brooke had her PT session. Kristi is even more pleased this week than last. Brooke's sitting abilities are so much better. She can sit at the activity gym and play without much bobbling now. Way to go Brooke!! You are such a determined little thing. As of right now Kristi said Brooke is functioning like a typical 6 mth old. That was so wonderful to hear. I wanted to cry.

Finally, I think I have caught up for now.