What a GREAT B-day Present!

Leona is getting over some Croop & early Pneumonia.  Her cough is finally beginning to die-down!  Thank Heavens!  She spent several nights waking up everytime to coughed...needless to say I was a worn out Mommy!  The coughing came on really suddenly.  She was on some antibiotics & got a steriod injection...not fun!?!?!?  Leona hasn't had too many colds, mild chicken pox, some fevers, but I think this was her real one that sent us to the dr's office, so we have been blessed.

Earlier this week, Leona had another dr's check-up.  I can't tell you how excited I am writing this....

Leona is now

drum roll please!

10% for her weight

and 25% for her height!

That's incredible.  She had just made it onto the chart for weight at the end of October.  She has soared since September when she went on the Bright Beginnings Soy Pediatric drink & the Duocal!  We are just thrilled. What a great early birthday present!

FINALLY we don't have to trapse to the dr's office every month! Sigh  The dr joked that she needs to go on a diet :)  We are going to cut out her Duocal staring in March and see how things go.  She will continue the Bright Beginnings until at least 24 mos. and then the joy of figuring out her dairy allergy will set-in as we look at milk. 

Leona is still scheduled to see a Pediatric GI Specialist in April. We are tracking her vomitting patterns & wondering if it is an allergy related.  We are down to only 2x a month for the past 2 months! YAY!  If she shows no stomach pains, good eating & no vomitting, we might just cancel this appt. We'll see, though!

Hitting the 15 lb. mark at 14 months!

We are so thrilled to report that Leona has had her biggest weight gain month EVER! I am sure you could tell from my last posting that I was pretty frustrated by everything! The Lord is so good! He doesn't always give us positive situations to deal with in life, but He is ALWAYS GOOD!

I took Leona to get her weight checked & the scale said 15# 12oz. I had to think back to her appt with the specialist. I was thinking she was 14# 10oz, but that couldn't be right...over a # in one month!??!?! When I got home I checked the dr. sheet from Riley's...it was 14# 5oz.!!!!! I couldn't believe it! That's 1# 7 oz! I was SHOCKED! She hasn't gained over a few onces a month since like 10 mos.!!

What helped? She was switched from her 25 calories per oz. formula to a 30 calories per oz. Pediasure equivalent only with soy, called Bright Beginnings. She has also had a fat supplement called Duocal! It seems to boost her drive to eat, plus adds a lot of calories per day to her diet. These changes, plus lots of bologna, grapes & green beans!!

Our 14 mos. old is all over the place. She is learning to pick up her bath toys so Mommy can put them away & how to put her dirty clothes in the laundry. She is still working on the "Bring it to Mommy" or "Bring it to Daddy" when she has something she wants to play with!

I am really working on my tone with her. It is so easy for us to raise our voice to get obedience! She likes to test the waters; she has since a very young age, so it is sometimes difficult to keep a quiet, firm tone! LORD change me!

These are some pictures of our trip to St. Joseph Michigan!





Here is Leona playing in the back yard!



Thanks for keeping up-to-date with us!