The Frosts: Stinker Bell

I love my monkey!

Helping with the laundry!

Bria has had numerous names before and since her birth... Peanut for the first nine months and 24 hours of her life before we settled on Bria, but we frequently call her Bria Anne (NOT Bre), Spanky, Sweet Baby, Stink Pot, Fuss Bucket, Sweat Pea, Little Bug, Buggy Baby, Little Monkey, Spunky Monkey, and Stinker Bell. I am sure there are many more, but these names are what we most often refer to her as. She does not seem to mind now, but I keep reminding Ryan she may not appreciate our nicknames for her forever! I must admit, sometimes I wonder how we are ever going to get her to actually learn her own name if we never use it!

Spunky Monkey... Bria was as big as this stuffed monkey when she was born.

At her four month check-up she weighed in at 15 pounds 3 ounces and was 24.5 inches long. The staff at the office is quite taken with her as she always coos and plays with whoever is seeing her. She is surpassing the developmental milestones that are expected at this age, making Ryan and I even more proud. She also received another set of vaccinations at this appointment. Unfortunately, Thursday night following her appointment Ryan came home and was changing her diaper while I was finishing dinner. As usual, it was a major explosion and he called me in to help clean her up. At the tail end of the blow out she had a small amount of blood in her stool. Trying to stay calm amidst all the fears resounding in my head from my education as a nurse, we called the pediatrician's office. They suggested we take her to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, as Knox Community Hospital is not equipped to handle this type of issue. After the one hour drive and a long three hour wait, in which Bria had another bowel movement with a small amount of blood, we finally were able to see the emergency room physician. Thankfully, she had another bowel movement while we were back in the treatment room which was normal---this baby is always pooping! The emergency room physician talked to us and felt that the small amount of blood we were seeing was irritation from the oral rotovirus vaccination she received earlier in the day. That night we realized how deeply our feelings for Bria extend. Ryan and I both would have given anything to hear that nothing was wrong with our precious daughter, and thankfully, nothing was. We are so thankfuly for God's protection over our little family!

So mellow!

Bria is working both on her upper and lower front teeth. She has been going through periods of fussiness followed by her usual self. It is difficult to see her and know that her little mouth is hurting her so yet be able to do very little about it. I am thankful from a nursing standpoint though that those teeth are holding off, although I am sure not for long!