Sick Again

Rebecca came down with another cold this week. We are thankful that it has not gotten as bad as last time. She has a cough and is very stuffy. She has been much fussier than usual. But overall she's in good spirits. She's intently playing with her John Deere tractor and her piano right now :) Mary had to cancel a doctor's appt. and we had to cancel plans with some friends to keep Rebecca home yesterday. And Mary and Rebecca will stay home from church tomorrow. Rebecca doesn't have her normal appetite yet and struggled a bit with nursing yesterday. She did pretty well over night, so hopefully the cold will be over soon.

Rebecca is learning all sorts of stuff this week. She is starting to "walk" when you hold her hands. We bought her a doll stroller/walk behind toy. She's getting good at that after just one day. She is really getting good at going from her tummy to sitting. So she's up and down constantly and moving all over the place. Not content to just sit in one spot any more. Rebecca is a smart little girl. She has figured out how to make her piano play music. There is one small button that makes it play songs. She pushes it over and over and claps and bounces along to the music (check out the latest video to see her in action :). She has also figured out how to make her John Deere tractor play "Old McDonald." She's starting to say "ma ma" and "da da" a lot more. She calls for "ma ma" when she leaves the room sometimes :)

Rebecca cut her 6th tooth about a week ago. She now has 4 on top and 2 on bottom. She's working on 2 more on top. She enjoys using her teeth to chew cheerios and cheese. She tried chicken this week. She seemed to like the taste but was a little unsure of the texture. Once her normal appetite returns we'll try bananas. Rebecca likes foods that she can pick up and "chew."

Hopefully this coming Friday Mary and Rebecca will be going to MOPS. And we're looking forward to celebrating Grandpa Holleboom's birthday on Saturday by going to a Calvin basketball game and having dinner at our house.

Rebecca and Carson

Kevin, Sara and Carson visited yesterday. It was fun to visit with them and see Rebecca and Carson interact. Rebecca is fascinated with Carson :) I think she was jealous that he was running around. We'll see if it gives her any ideas. They had fun sharing their food and toys and sliding around on the wood floor. We always enjoy our visits with them. Seems like there is never enough time to talk! We're looking forward to seeing them again on Feb. 7 for Grandpa Holleboom's birthday and Feb. 14 for Carson's 1st birthday!!!

9 Months Old/Check Ups

Rebecca is now 9 months old. Time is just flying by. She'll be turning 1 before we know it! She had her 9 month check up yesterday. She's still a smart, healthy little girl :) She weighs 20 lbs. (50-75th %) and is 26 1/2" long (15-25th %). Her pediatrician said she's gonna take after Mommy with her size :) Her head is 17 1/2" (60th%). Rebecca has 5 teeth...that she loves to use...on everything :) And she's working on 3 more on top.

Rebecca continues to display her love of music. She bounces and shakes her head. So far she likes all kinds of music. And she loves to play it herself. Anything can be an instrument. She's starting to play her piano that she got from Grandma Voogt. And she's already figured out which button turns the music on. Her drum is still one of her favorite toys. She is gradually eating more finger foods and quickly learning that it's fun to feed herself. We just have to make sure she doesn't put too much in her mouth at once. So far her favorite thing to eat is Cheerios. But she's really getting a taste for cheese too. We're hoping to introduce some meat soon. She's showing signs of being just like her Daddy...shaking her legs the whole time she eats :)

Rebecca is starting to cruise along her toys and the furniture. She is already showing signs of independance/stubborness. She doesn't want any help :p She has figured out how to get from her tummy to sitting. And she's getting faster with her crawling/creeping. She also loves her animals and farmer from Grandpa Voogt. She carries them around the house. Rebecca's personality is really starting to show. She loves to laugh and can be such a goofball. She loves to get your attention. She likes to play "so big" and waves hi and bye. She is also a little daredevil...always needing to stand on the seat of her bike instead of sitting on it. We are having so much fun watching her grow and develop. Rebecca is such a joy and a blessing.

Grandpa and Grandma Holleboom stopped by for a quick visit yesterday on the way to the Calvin game. It's always fun to see them even if it's just for a few minutes. We're looking forward to celebrating Grandpa's birthday with the whole family on Feb. 7 by going to a Calvin game and then having dinner at our house. We're also looking forward to a visit from Uncle Kevin, Aunt Sara and Carson this Saturday.

Mary also had some good health reports this week. She had her yearly check up with her colon surgeon. He said everything looks good. She doesn't need to go back for a while. She also had some bloodwork done last week. Her thyroid levels have improved and her CBC and iron levels were all normal.

We praise God for good health reports and pray for continued health through the winter.

Calvin Basketball

We went to a Calvin basketball game yesterday afternoon. Grandpa and Grandma Holleboom were there too...since they are now season ticket holders :) It was Rebecca's first basketball game :) She enjoyed seeing all the people. As usual she took it all in. She is back to her happy, playful, smiley self. We enjoyed visiting the new sports complex at Calvin. Very impressive. Although it hardly felt like we were at Calvin. We all wore our Calvin gear in support of our alma mater :) It was fun to go to a sporting event again. It's rare (especially for Mary) since we can't go to evening events these days. We're hoping to go to another game in February. Hopefully the weather will be a little better that day.

Rebecca cut another tooth this week. 1 down, 3 to go! She now has 3 on top and 2 on the bottom. She's really enjoying "chewing" her Cheerios with the few teeth she has. She gets a big smile on her face when she bites into one. She also tried yogurt bites today. Those are fun to chew/gum too.

Rebecca's latest thing is "so big." If you say "How big is Rebecca?" she'll put her hands up for "so big." So cute :) She'll do it over and over. Gotta keep practicing :)

Rebecca and Mary stayed home from church again today. She still has a cough, so she could be contagious yet. Don't want to get anyone in the nursery sick. Hopefully the cough and remaining congestion will be done soon. Other than that she's totally back to her normal self. It's great to see her smile and play so much again. And to hear her little laugh...even if it is a big hoarse right now :)

Look What I Can Do

Rebecca is becoming more and more independent. She likes to stand on her own and get her hands on whatever she can. Even though she can't walk or stand without holding onto something she tries :p She doesn't want you to hold her hands when she's standing/walking...or any time for that matter.

Rebecca loves music. She likes to dance, bounce and shake her head. It's so much fun to watch. She turns everything into a drum. Maybe she'll be a percussionist like Daddy :)

It's nice to have Rebecca mostly back to normal now. She really came to life yesterday evening. We just need to get rid of the cough and some congestion. And we're still waiting on 4 teeth to come through. Not sure Mommy and Daddy are ready for such a big girl toothy grin ;)

We're looking forward to going to the Calvin basketball game on Saturday. Hopefully Grandpa and Grandma Holleboom will make it too despite the weather. Rebecca got a Calvin sweatshirt for Christmas. She can wear it to the game and cheer on the Knights :) It will be fun to see the new arena at Calvin.

The End is in Sight

Yesterday seemed to be the turn around day for Rebecca (at least we hope!). The morning was still quite bad. But mid-afternoon she showed signs of improvement. The biggest thing was that she is getting her appetite back!! She ate almost a whole container of fruit mid-afternoon. That was the first solid food she's had in a week. She ate some oatmeal with fruit at dinner time. And she nursed a lot in the afternoon and evening. She's playing catch up now. It was so good to see her eat again! It really helped give her some energy. She also started playing in the evening. She was wiggling, dancing and waving. She took her medicine well instead of putting up a fight. She seemed to be back on her normal schedule for eating, sleeping, etc. And her temperature was down the whole day. She still slept in the swing last night becuase of congestion, but she slept quite well...only got up once. We're hoping she can sleep in her crib again tonight. Mary is especially anxious so she can sleep in her bed again instead on the couch! Rebecca still has quite a cough, but from what we hear that is the last thing to go. She still has eye and nose drainage. But not too bad. Today is day 9 of the sickness. Seems to be the magic number. Her cousin Carson really perked up on day 9 as well. And our ped had told us 3 days getting worse, 3 days bad, 3 days getting better. It's so nice to have her on the mend. Hopefully she continues to eat well and play well. And hopefully she'll start to look like our healthy little girl again. Those sucken puppy dog eyes are heart breaking. Now Mary just needs to get through this bug and we'll have a healthy household again :) I'm sure we'll be extra cautious as the season for RSV approaches. We don't want to go through this again!

Be sure to check out the latest video of Rebecca playing with Justin...still sick but showing signs of life. She's our little musical girl :)

Still Sick

We thought Rebecca was really perking up on Sunday, but yesterday was another rough day. I took her to the pediatrician again. One of her ears looks a little red and has a little fluid in it. The doctor said if her fever doesn't go down in the next day to call back to get an antibiotic for that. Last night her temp spiked again...103.5. That was scary. Thankfully it's back down this morning. Hopefully it doesn't go up again. She is struggling with eating. I've figured out how to trick her into nursing :P She has to be almost asleep before I even try. At least most of the time I can get her to nurse some. Still no interest in solids and not much luck with the pedialyte.

We realized yesterday that Rebecca is working on cutting 4 teeth! Not just 1. Poor thing. 4 new teeth on top of a bad cold. No wonder she's drooling like crazy and is having such a rough time with nursing. And with such loose stools her whole back side is so red/raw. Plus she still gets bad gas build up/pains. Her eyes are still oozing a ton, and her cough can get pretty bad. She has pain in so many areas. It's no wonder she never seems comfortable or playful. Hopefully now that we've found the source of at least most of her pain we can manage it better. It's quite a bit of work to give her all of her medications and ointments. But hopefully they will make her more comfortable.

We're praying for some noticeable improvement today. We want our happy little girl back. Especially Mommy since she has caught the bug now :( Hopefully no more trips the pediatrician.

Forgot to mention yesterday that they weighed her at the hospital...20.2lbs. I'm sure it was higher than that before she got sick. We're thankful she has a little extra meat on her bones right now while she's struggling with eating :)

Sick Little Girl

Rebecca has been quite sick for the past week. She's been to the pediatrician twice and the ER once. Poor thing. So much coughing and congestion. She went a whole day without eating because her nose was so plugged up. It's been about a week now since she's had anything solid. Today she is finally starting to perk up a bit. I think we're past the worst of it. She's still taking regular doses of cough syrup, Tylenol, antibiotic eye ointment, saline nose drops and gas drops. And she is still very tired and sleeps in the swing for all her naps and at night. We are thankful that she seems to be on the mend and starting to play a bit now. It's so good to see signs of our usual happy, playful little girl. I'm sure it doesn't help that she is working on another tooth now. It doesn't help with her constant drooling. Here are a few pics from our trip to the ER. Rebecca was such a trooper even with such a rough time getting a needle in because of her chubby arms :) And yes, that is blood all over her arm. They managed to get some blood to test, but we didn't get the IV for fluids. The vein blew by the time they started it.

Justin is pretty much over his cold too. Mary might be just starting hers...we'll see what the next few days bring.