Updates from the Brink Household

So it’s March 1^st today. March! Already! (This blog post was not completed until Monday, March 4^th)

I didn’t think that I had too much to talk about, but I definitely think I need to log some time and update everyone on the happenings in the Brink household.

The biggest update by far is Emma’s mobility. She is crawling great now, and is picking up speed. I can no longer set her on the floor while I bop around the house getting ready for work. Just this week alone she has gotten her hands on an open bag of potting soil, a bag of empty baby food containers, a stand mixer IN a kitchen cabinet, the standing air purifier, Daddy’s electronic box and all the wires in it, her soiled clothes before they made it downstairs, and I’m sure much more that Mommy isn’t aware of. She has also learned not to eat Kleenexes the hard way. Over and over I underestimate her abilities and I get schooled. I now put her in her walker that she can still only move backwards in.

Update: Emma is now trying to climb too. She got a new bath toy in the mail on Saturday. I had set it on the floor to show her (still in the box) and she only wanted to climb on top of it. I don’t know what the deal is with climbing – I guess it’s fun because it’s new? So now she tries to climb on and over everything. Where she gets all this energy I don’t know, but I love when Gene is home because he’s all for it. Me, I can handle it for like an hour, but then I’m like “Please just sit still and play so Momma can rest.” Lol.

I’ve put away Emma’s swing (I’m still choking up over it) and her play mat has been long gone. Right now, still in use is her jumperoo and her walker that we don’t really use for walking. We tried a stand-up walker that she pushes (not sure what it’s really called – it’s like pushing a shopping cart) but that quickly got put up for now since all she does is fall down with it. She isn’t too fond of the jumperoo anymore other than to stand on the outside of it and play. Her Daddy comes along to put her in it when he notices her interest and she throws a fit basically saying “Get me out! Get me out!” We will still keep it out for now since when she does want in it her face just lights up as she jumps higher and harder. Lol. I chuckle just thinking about it. Also, we bought her a play table. It’s this little table that has a few things to play with on top. She will stand at it for so long, and when she gets bored she starts pushing it all over. Gene is so worried that she will trip over a toy that goes under it and fall and hurt herself.



This was taken on Day 2 of the stomache bug.



Emma had her first stomache bug. She was so miserable. It wasn't the vomiting kind, it was the "in the diaper" kind. She would go like every hour or so at some points, and it lasted for two and a half days. At night she'd wake up and go and we'd hear her so I'd get up and change her. By the time she was almost back to sleep she'd go again. It was so awful. The second night I had to change her four times before she finally went back to sleep clean. I felt so awful that I couldn't help. We basically just forced fluids into her as often as we could and stopped solid foods. She made it through it, and so did we!

My Mom had decided to rid herself of some older furniture since she had to make room for Emma’s crib and changing table. I called dibs on her bench. I’m not sure what it really is (I call it a bench), but it matches the other items she gave me and it’s in excellent condition. Instead of using it as a bench to sit on though it’s in our living room filled with Emma’s toys. It has two drawers as well but at the moment those are still bare. I’m sure I will find something soon to fill them with.

As most of you saw Okie had some foot trouble last month. After three visits, X-rays, a “cast” and $200+ later the problem hasn’t gone away and we still have no idea what is wrong. I’ve been forcing her to wear a sock daily, which we tape on, and we have to cover it with plastic every time she has to go outside. Ugh. Needless to say it is a pain in the butt. I keep telling my Mom that this isn’t working and I should take her back, but she persuades me to give it more time each time I bring it up. She keeps making the point that the vet doesn’t have a clue what’s wrong. Her middle “finger” is a little swollen, and the nail sticks up and it’s crooked. She also won’t quit licking at it, hence the sock. We did x-rays of both “hands” so that we could compare and it was noticeable that there was something wrong with it, but the vet hasn’t a clue what it is. On the x-ray, whatever is in there, it looked white, but not dark enough to be a bone spur, and it had a halo around it which could just be inflammation but it could also be infection. After that appointment she had to take antibiotics for 10 days. Well it didn’t help, and the cast did nothing but keep her from licking. I don’t know what to do.

                Update: I got home Friday night and took off Okie’s sock to check and clean and her “finger” was so swollen that her nail was sticking straight up. There was also something coming out around the nail. I cleaned it, put Neosporin on it and wrapped it up again. I called the vet to get her in right away, but all I could do is go in on Saturday and sit in the office all day until they could get me in. I instead booked an appointment at 8am Monday morning and said a prayer for her. She went this morning and she now has a cone to keep her from licking at it, and she’s on some high dose antibiotics specifically designed for infection. If this doesn’t work, we will need to biopsy it, and she could ultimately end up losing that that “finger” and possibly her whole foot if it has spread somehow. I’m worried for her. Not that I’d have her put down, because I will NEVER do that, but because I don’t want anything to affect her quality of life. FYI – Emma loves the cone Okie has on. Lol.

 

Oh! You’ll be shocked to know that my seven month old baby is in 12 month clothes. Yes. I typed that right. 12 month clothes. Lol. She can still wear some 9 month onesies, but I’m telling you, one night she grew like two inches or something and BAM! They fit no more. We are actually having problems with her 12 month sleepers too. They are too tight on her legs and feet. And another thing I’m having an issue with but I never have before, is consistency. Meaning 2 of her 5 sleepers are smaller than the others. Same style, same cut, same everything but color/print, yet they are too small in the arms and legs. I don’t know what that’s about. Actually I bought a pack of tank-top onesies for summer and I noticed that each are different lengths (after washing). I was shocked. It was not noticeable when buying because at Carter’s they “tier” their bundles so that you can see each color. Nevertheless, it was all free from winning that gift card so I will make due. I will probably have to cut the feet off of the sleepers.

Gene got a promotion! I probably should have put that higher in the list. He has been working at Schnuck Markets for almost 13 years now. He’s been transferred and he’s gotten raises, but he’s such a key person in the warehouses that it was a constant bummer for him to go in each day to be just an average worker. So, after we had Emma, things started to change for some reason (I think they realized how vital he was when he took a couple weeks off). He got employee of the quarter, he had a big celebratory lunch and cake thing with one of the Schnuck brothers (Todd I think), he got his photo taken and put on the wall at HQ, and he was in the newsletter. Then, he was forced to transfer to the refrigerator warehouse. He hated it and thought he was doomed to be a peon forever, but he was a key person there so he suffered through it. Then, he had his annual review and got a bonus! Then a couple weeks later, when he came back from a week of vacation, they promoted him to Inventory Control Supervisor of the Fresh Warehouse. So he’s still in the cold, but he loves his new position. I’m not really since he’s working 50 hours a week instead of 40, but at least his (and my) wallet is fatter. J

Emma is much better with her Puffs. For those of you not familiar with Puffs, they are basically flavored cheerios that are geared towards infants learning to eat solids. She choked on the first one (or so I thought) so I was terrified to try more. However, with help from my Mom she is now a pro. I still break them up for her though.  We have also tried the yogurt bites, but she’s not into those. Oh well, we will stick with the Puffs for now. J Next step is mastering the pincher grab!

Well, that’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll have more to report soon since Emma changes and grows every day. I cannot wait for her next check-up with the doctor. I love to see how much she grows. J

And be sure to keep an eye out for pictures and updates on Facebook and Twitter!

Jenni