Back in the swing of things

After all the Christmas business, things are finally back to normal again. Brooklyn had another ear infection the beginning of January. A few days later she had her appointment with the ENT in Sioux Falls. We had been anxiously waiting for this appointment to see if Brooklyn needed tubes or not to help with all her ear infections (she's had 6 in the last 9 months). The ENT told us that tubes, in her case, will not be beneficial. He said 9 out of 10 kids have pain from ear infections because of the fluid on their eardrum. Even though she had an ear infection at her appointment, the Dr. could see little to no fluid which even if she didn't have an infection, was unusual. So, she is the 1 out of 10 that suffers from a pulsating ear drum and tubes will not help with that. He also agreed that her infections are probably due in part to allergies so we are keeping her on the Singulair for now and in the future, he suggested adding Claritin also. We are not having her tested for what allergies she has because a) it's a lot of money insurance doesn't pay for and b) at her age the treatment is the same regardless of the allergy. The Singulair has helped clear out some of the mucous in her sinuses/throat....she doesn't sound like a percolating coffee pot anymore when she breathes :)

She is also sleeping better at nights. Not sure if this is due to the allergy medicine or the fact that she is a year old and should have been sleeping through the night a long time ago! She still has her nights where she gets up 3 times (I think b/c of her cold or her molars or a bad dream) but they are becoming fewer and farther between. Some nights when she does sleep through I find myself awake at 2:30, 3:45, etc. just because my body is so used to that. I am not going to complain though as long as I don't have to get out of my warm bed to calm a crying baby :)

She still eats like a champ. Some days she eats the same portion size as I do. It amazes me how much the girl can eat. She loves about any and every food. A few of her favorites are bananas, any kind of noodle/meat hotdish, yogurt, raisins, and oatmeal. She is on whole milk now too. For the first 2 weeks I had to mix half soy milk and half whole milk to see if she still had a milk allergy but now she is on all whole milk and doing fine. She is getting weaned from her bottles which she really doesn't mind too much. She doesn't really care how she gets her food, just as long as she gets it! :)

She is not walking yet. Today I found her standing in the middle of the living room for about 10 seconds and then she drops to the floor. She cruises along furniture without a problem but doesn't seem too interested in walking by herself. I guess I can't blame her....she can speed crawl to about anywhere in the house in a few seconds. I am constantly looking for her b/c I literally will set her down, go get the phone, and then come back to an empty room. She is into everything too. She can unload any drawer, cupboard, purse, diaper bag, etc. in no time. I am realizing my house is no longer going to be "picked up." While I am cleaning one room, she is destroying another :)

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Brooklyn is quite the talker (hmmm...wonder where she gets that from???). Just recently she started having a gibberish conversation with herself or on her play cell phone. It's so funny to listen to! Her favorite word by far is "Emma." She is madly in love with her cousin Emma. She crawls to our fridge, points to Emma's picture, says "Emma! Emma!" and then blows her a kiss. She also says "all done", "hi", "uh oh", "momma", "dada". "papa", and "owww" (out). We have been working with her to say Addie and today she did repeat it once but I think it was by mistake.

She recently has been a pill in the car....usually crying most of the trip, trying to squirm and arch her way out of her buckles. My morning drive to Hills is no longer a peaceful start to my day. No long car trips in our future...that is for sure!

I will leave you with a few pictures of Brooklyn. Have a great week!

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