June-tastic

What a difference a year makes! That's true for all babies, of course, but it's hard to believe that the tiny baby who spent every moment of last June on the cusp of life and death is the same baby who's spent this June hitting one milestone after another.

Bryce had his "one year" (nine month, by our count) check-up last week, and I think the pediatrician was as dumbfounded as we are. After a cursory exam, he asked Christie if Bryce could sit unassisted. "Ummm... yeaah," she replied. Before he could move to the next question on the list, Bryce crawled over to Christie, pulled himself to standing, and proceeded to walk while holding on to Christie's fingers. Physical development? A++. (Yes, he climbed up on the step in the picture by himself. He was trying to climb over the gate.)


We're still waiting for Bryce to make his first sound that isn't a cry, a squeak, or a growl, but given how well he's progressing in other areas, no one seems concerned. It's probably imitation at this stage, but he's started waving to the two of us and he'll even give out kisses. Now that he's sitting, crawling and standing, he's perfectly content to spend long stretches of time exploring the world on his own, which has made our lives much easier (assuming we've done a good job of baby-proofing the place he's exploring, that is). Logan and Bryce get along great together, and it's heartwarming to see the two of them playing.


Bryce has started eating a wider variety of table foods, including some meat and even the dreaded dairy (cheddar cheese). So far, we haven't had any problems with allergies, aversions or choking. More importantly, he's been growing like a weed: 18.75 lbs (17th percentile) and 28 inches (32nd percentile) at 9 months adjusted.

The little guy had a follow-up appointment at the ENT a few weeks back, and the doc decided that he will not need surgery for the cleft palate. Better yet, I noticed early last week that he's not wheezing anymore! We're not really sure when it stopped, but I think it's been at least a month, which bodes well for the condition of his lungs/windpipe.


So, it seems that Bryce has officially conquered all of his preemie challenges. My heart quails at the audacity of such a statement, because after all that we've seen, I simply cannot believe that our 24-weeker escaped the NICU with nothing more than a pair of glasses and a few scars. Either he won the micro-preemie lottery, or he really does have an angel on his shoulder. One way or the other, we're grateful for a happy, healthy June.

The Anniversary

It's funny how a number on a calendar can evoke a torrent of memories which have been oh-so-carefully repressed. I doubt a day has passed in which my daughter has not crossed my mind, but her presence today is almost palpable.


This is the only picture we have of Chloe with her eyes open. It's not a particularly good picture; I hate to look at all the tubes and wires, but the little daisy always makes me smile.

Rest in peace, Princess.

We're back!

If the two weeks of silence were starting to worry Bryce's fans, let me put your fears to rest: the little guy is doing fantastic. We spent the past week enjoying, and the preceding week preparing for, our first long vacation in close to two years. After a long Memorial Day weekend followed by the past seven days at the lake, everyone except Bryce is a little less pale and a lot more relaxed.





Someone forgot to give Bryce the memo about our week of idleness, because he's been working hard on all sorts of new things. He's crawling on all fours now, spends a lot of time standing, and is starting to figure out cruising. His first tooth (bottom) popped through last Saturday night, and although he was unusually fussy on Sunday, he was cheery as always for the rest of the week in spite of the fact that he cut his second tooth (right next to the first) a few days later. He loved playing with his family both inside and out, and best of all, he hasn't had so much as the sniffles for the entire month.





The only drama of the week occurred during our attempts to visit the Alexandria YMCA, which has a new zero-depth pool. On our first try, we didn't even set foot in the water, as we were asked to shelter in the men's locker room for forty-five minutes due to dangerous tornadoes in the area. The next day was a lot better; both kids loved the pool, but we're a bit concerned about Bryce's apparent lack of a self-preservation gene. When placed in water a few inches deep, he would resolutely crawl towards the deeper end of the pool. When the water reached his shoulders, he didn't stop. When the water reached his chin, he didn't stop. When the water reached his nose, he didn't stop. I'm not sure what would've happened if we'd allowed this to continue, but we're starting to think that maybe our water baby loves the pool a little too much.

Road trip

Bryce and family spent Memorial Day weekend in paradise!



Ok, maybe I'm overselling it a bit, but it was a lot of fun. We had planned for Logan and I to go fishing up north for quite some time, but Christie decided at the last minute that she wanted to come with too. The car was a little cramped, but Bryce endured four hours on the road with hardly any complaining. We didn't think he was ready for the boat yet, but he had a great time exploring the cabin and the beach. Two days of sun, sand and the serene beauty of the north woods was a welcome (albeit all too short) escape for everyone.






As you can see in the video, Bryce is becoming a lot more mobile. He recently started climbing over short stairs and even pulling himself up to standing. His increased independence has been a blessing as he'll entertain himself for short periods, but we've also reached the stage where we can't even really turn our back for a second, because like most babies, he seems to have a gift for finding the one thing within his reach that shouldn't go in his mouth.

Happy Birthday Bryce & Chloe!

Songs were sung, cake was eaten, candles were extinguished, gifts were exchanged and tears were shed. We had all the elements of a perfect birthday, but it's hard to think of anything other than that empty chair.



Bryce visited the NICU on Monday to celebrate the anniversary of this portentous day. It was great to see several of the nurses, therapists and social workers who cared for him, and I think they were genuinely astonished and excited to see how well he's doing. "This is the best part of our job," one of the nurses said, and another told us that Bryce's story will bring hope to a lot of families.

Mission accomplished.

Little growler

Bryce has recently abandoned his trademark squeak for a low-throated growl that reminds me of a dangerous cat on the prowl. It's a fitting sound for this age, because on the prowl he is! He still hasn't mastered the traditional up-on-all-fours crawl, but he can pull himself across the room using just his arms with surprising speed. And of course, everything he discovers goes into his mouth first. The video (below) doesn't really do the growl justice, but you get the idea.





The introduction of table food has been a success so far. He's still eating breads and crackers primarily, but Bryce rarely gags or chokes anymore. Still no sign of the teeth we've been expecting, though I suspect they can't be too far off.



The last week has been quiet -- when Bryce is healthy, everyone is happy. Incredibly, Bryce will be one year old next Wednesday! For those who are wondering if their party invitation was lost in the mail, we're planning to celebrate his adjusted birthday this year. If we wait until September, he'll hopefully be able to enjoy stuffing his face with a bite of birthday cake, and maybe he'll even be able to impress you all with those first tottering steps.

Weight watchers

After six consecutive sleepless nights, we begged Bryce to give us at least four hours of uninterrupted rest last night. It seems our plea did not fall on deaf ears, because he woke for the first time at 5 this morning, after nearly 8 hours without so much as a whimper. The worst of the cold appears to have passed, and he finished up with the steroids (which were causing his hands to shake piteously) yesterday, so I'm guessing he was as eager for a good's night sleep as we were.

Not long after he was a born, I referred to Bryce as our "pint-sized progeny." One year later, that appellation still has a ring of truth to it. After his first check-up at the NICU clinic, I bragged that Bryce was in the 90th percentile for weight on the micro-preemie charts, and approaching the 50th percentile for his adjusted age on the normal infant charts. However, I've since discovered that the latter claim was based on an erroneous online percentile calculator. After pulling the latest charts from the CDC and running the numbers myself, here's what I found:



In the graph, the horizontal axis lists Bryce's adjusted age (in months), and the vertical axis displays weight (in pounds) and also his percentile on the infant charts. As you can see, while he has been steadily moving up on the charts since month one (with the exception of the last month, which was hopefully a fluke caused by illness), Bryce has never been in any danger of being described as average-sized.

Despite his small size, we're still hopeful that he'll catch up eventually. He's not a great eater, but he hasn't exhibited any of the feeding problems that we've been anxiously anticipating. In fact, he seemed thrilled when we gave him his first taste of table food this morning, but I'll let you be the judge of that:



Perhaps the new big boy food will help him chunk up a bit!