10 Months Old

K man is 10 months old as of Saturday! Our unofficial weight is a little over 14 lbs. The basketball pictures are getting harder and harder to take..he won't be still. He kicks and rolls and tries to lick the ball.

In honor of Kanyon's 10 months, here are 10 of his favorite things:

1. His bouncy seat. His first love remains at the top of his list. He plays, sleeps, eats, and settles his food (reflux--can't lay him down) in his bouncy seat. He loves it!!

2. This mirror toy. He really looks at it and tries to play with all the things on it. Maybe he's vain and just like to look at himself in the mirror..who knows.
3. Bath Time!

4. PEACHES!! Like any good East Texas boy, he LOVES peaches. It is the one food he will eat every time. And I can trick him into eating other stuff with the peaches.
5. Staying up late. He comes from a long line of night owls, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He COMES ALIVE about 9:30 and is up until at least midnight. This works fine with me because I'd rather stay up late myself. We have some fun times during those hours.

6. Twirling my hair. This is new just within the last couple of weeks. He reaches up for my hair and twirls it while he eats. Since my hair is short, I have to bend my head over which sometimes gives me a crick and the twirling can give me headaches when he pulls it, but it is worth it. He seems to eat better when he twirls and his hand looks cute. That is what he's doing in this picture even though you can't see it that well. This might be genetic too...it is a Spencer thing. 7. Sucking on a rag. He is OBSESSED! He doesn't care about sucking his thummy or a toy, but he goes to town on a burp rag! His hands come in a close second to the rags.
8. Picking his nose. Ok, so maybe it is not really a favorite, but he somehow got his finger in his nose and left it there just chillin' for a LONG time. This picture was too funny not to share.

9. Vitamins. Yes those nasty brown ones. He sucks them down like its candy. Nasty.

10. Talking. If there has been one big change in the last month, I'd say it is his talking. He is non stop and we LOVE it!

Can't wait to see what the 11th month holds!

Hanging out at home and Girls Weekend

It has been a whole week since I posted...wow! I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats to see what Kanyon has been doing....or not. Either way, here is our latest happenings:

Dads do weird things sometimes....the other night I heard "Mom" (in Kory's "Kanyon" voice) and I turned around to see this. Not sure what possessed Kory to do this, but it was a good laugh.

For some reason, Kanyon thinks Kory is hilarious. Kory will lay there and make noises and Kanyon giggles and laughs the whole time. In this picture, they are trading noises...Kory would make a noise, then Kanyon. It went on for a long time...sweet sounds.
I can't believe I'm putting this picture of myself on the blog...I looked TERRIBLE. But oh well. I got so tickled because Kanyon was trying to slow dance with me. His little arms were over my shoulder. Really he was trying to play with my hair, but it sure looks like a good ol' Jr. High slow dance.
Friday before I left, Kanyon re-found his thumb. A long time ago he found it but couldn't figure out what to do with his other fingers so he gave up. This time he got it all figured out. He went to town on it Friday night, but since then hasn't done it a whole lot more. I'm Ok with a thumb sucker. I know a good orthodontist.
Speaking of Friday night, that is when I left my sweet baby boy for a WHOLE WEEKEND! That was the longest I've ever been away from him since the day they were born. It was our anual MLK weekend with my girlfriends from college. There was no way I could take Kanyon so it was either don't go or take advantage of my great parents, sweet husband, and gallons upon gallons of frozen breast milk (you think I'm exaggerating..I'm not). Kory had to work part of the weekend, so my parents came to help. I was not the least bit worried. I was a little sad, but at the same time, I'm kind of used to other people taking care of my kid..that was the first 100 days of his life. Anyways, I am SOOOOO thankful to my parents (especially my mom) and to Kory for letting me go and taking such good care of Kanyon.

Here I am about to leave. Luckily Mindi was with me or I think I might've gotten a little teary....she was leaving her baby too. That was a recipe for lots of tears, but we both held it together.

Here are the girls. We were missing several, but this crew had a blast. The only boys allowed were Truitt and Sam. SOOO FUN!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my friends and it is so fun to love their kids too! I could go on and on about the weekend. Bed times: Friday night 4:30 am Saturday night: 1:45 So great!!
People always ask "What do y'all do?" Mostly nothing mixed with a chick flick, maybe a meal out, lots of laughing, but always ALWAYS ALWAYS a trip to Target. Here are a few of us with our purchases.
It was a great weekend with the greatest girls in the universe. And I came home to the greatest baby boy and the greatest husband in the universe.

The Missing Link

Since Kanyon was born, everyone talks about how much he looks like Kory. I see it, but not that much. Kory's mom always says she could kind of see it, but not as much as everyone said. Well, we think we found the link between Kory and Kanyon.....UNCLE TYE!! It makes sense...Kory and Tye look alike, but not exactly alike. Susan found this picture last week (Clint on the left, Tye in the middle and Kory on the right). I FOR SURE see our little Kan Man in little Tye. Well, I just think that is great because if he turns out to be as good of a man as his Uncle Tye is, we'll have lots to be proud of. :)

Preemie Clinic Update

We went to the Clinic at Children's on Friday and things went really really well. We were very pleased with everything. For one, we were there for 2 and a half hours...no, not waiting (we only waited about 10 minutes) we were with the Dr. that long. We started out with a Child Development specialist who did a few tests and then the Dr. came in. Both the CDS and the Dr. were so nice and helpful. It was a long ordeal so it is kind of hard to recap, but I'll do the best I can. It has taken me a few days because I've kind of had to process it all myself.

1). He is developmentally delayed, but they felt like he was doing about what they would expect him to do. They said we could take 3 weeks off his age per surgery to get a more accurate picture of what we could expect. He had 3 (4 if you count his eye surgery) so if you take that off of his adjusted at (July 7) then he's about 2-3 months behind that (Sept./Oct). SOOO...based on that little math trick he's doing things about like they would expect. His tone is lowest (weakest) in his trunk, but his legs and arms and head/neck looked pretty good. Thankfully we have great PT here so they're already on top of these things and I know that is why he go such a good "gross motor" report. They are careful not to promise anything in the future, because "you never know" but we are pleased right now.

2.) They were very very pleased with his "expressive language" meaning how much he interacts and "talks". The CDS particularly said that is a major thing that she looks for..how well babies interact and respond to their environment which is kind of an indication of his ability to soak things up and learn. This area was what he scored the highest in on his "test"

3.) His eyes are obviously a problem. He doesn't track well and doesn't always look at things when you're trying to get his attention. They suggested their eye Dr. that sees all their preemies. SOOO add that Dr. to our roster. We'll be heading to see him sometime in the near future. He just wants someone to see him that sees preemies who had the ROP surgery they're so different from "normal". We are seeing improvements in this area, but it is definitely behind and not normal, and they're still crossing so we're wanting to get on top of it. The things he scored the lowest on were the things that had to do with his eyes. We're praying they're just behind..not anything permanent. In connection with this they want us to have another hearing test just to make sure he can hear. We feel like that is not going to be a problem, but they just want to make sure.

4.) They LISTENED TO ME ABOUT HIS EATING!!!!!!!!! The referred us for a feeding evaluation there to check and make sure there is nothing mechanical and if it is just an aversion, they have a specialist to help with that. Not sure when we'll go, but I'm hoping this will help us!!!

5.) He is a little on the lean side so we're still trying to gain weight a little faster. He's still in the normal range, but we need to start packing on the pounds (hopefully we can get help with that with the feeding people).

6.) They talked to us about his CT scans he's had so far and without getting to medical-y we felt like there were obvious things that he said that pointed to GOD's hand in this situation. Thank you. With all of this comes a new request. I am saying this with limited knowledge myself, so work with me here. His head measured a little bit small (ironic since always before we were afraid it was too big). That doesn't necessarily mean anything since all he as to go on is this one measurement, but he said we want to see that grow over time so insure that the brain is growing the way it should. If this measurement were to stay like this over a period of time it would indicate no brain growth, but he couldn't say that sine he only has one measurement. SOOO if you still have Kanyon on your prayer list, this gives us something specific to pray for.... His brain to grow! :) All the head stuff is scary to me, but we feel confident (and have evidence already) that GOD is healing him and will continue to do that.

7.) He looked at his foot and didn't know right then and there what the cause was. He had a few guesses, but basically said the MRI is a good idea (we'll do that in a couple of months) and we'll just go from there. He's pretty confident (as is everyone else that looks at it) that it is not a positional thing...its either a nerve, muscle, or neurological thing. We'll wait and see.

Overall we felt like it was really positive and we were thrilled with the Dr. and the resources they made available to us. On top of our great Dr.s and therapists we already have, we just added a few more! Soo..i hope that wasn't too much (I feel like I didn't even tell you the half of it) information, but I wanted to give y'all an update. Thanks for hanging in there with us through all of this.

Now to reward you for making it this far...some pictures of us playing with Kanyon the other night.


This makes him giggle..he only giggles if its Kory doing it...not me! Thanks a lot Kanyon!

He was making sweet cooing sounds when I took this..I wish the picture had sound!

Giving mommy dirty looks for taking too many pictures
Little smiley boy
Have a great day!!

Kanyon's Progress

Before I get to the main part of the post, I just had to show this picture. My in-laws got me new boots for Christmas. They are so very nice and I love them! Maybe when I'm not on house arrest and can get out of the house I can wear them with something besides jogging pants! :)

Before I even start, let me remind you that Kanyon is on is own time line so we might be celebrating over something that doesn't seem like a big deal....to us it is!! Just in the last couple of weeks, Kanyon seems to have taken some big strides. Here are a few:

1. Holding his head up on his tummy. This picture isn't even a good one. We have to help him get his arms in the right spot, but then he pushes up and holds his head up. Not for long, but much longer than he used to! (You'll also notice a brace on his left hand. He's starting to show some tightness in his left side-this will probably be his "affected side" from all of the yuckiness in his head. The brace helps him keep his hand, particularly his thumb, from balling up and being tight. )
1. b). I think we should note the progress on hair growth....see all that fuzziness!? He's working on it!

2. Sitting in his Bumbo. Maybe you remember the first time we put him in it..he SCREAMED instantly. Now look at him go! I put the tray on there so he can play with his toys. I think he looks like a little student sitting at his desk.
3. His Exersaucer. He is starting to hate it less!!! All of these things are pretty much signs that he's gaining that upper body as well as head and neck strength/control. He will play in this and as you can see, he has also learned to read...see him reading the book? (If you've been around much, you'll know that the fact that he's LOOKING at stuff and PLAYING with stuff is a HUGE improvement) His eyes are getting better and because of that, he's interacting a lot more. GO KANYON!
4. Baby food. As you can see, we're a far cry from professional, but we're better than we were. So far, he's obsessed with peaches (I guess that's his East Texas side) and pretty fond of bananas. Not so much green beans or carrots, but we'll keep working on it. He still hasn't mastered the whole opening his mouth thing, I have to help him, but he is SO much better than he was! This was big progress almost overnight. YIPEE!!
5. Chubs. Well, actually he's not gaining weight super fast- we can't seem to hit that 14 lb. mark, but he's climbing a little at a time. But this picture does accentuate his chubby cheeks and full tummy.

We go tomorrow to the Children's Hospital Preemie Follow-up Clinic. This will be our first visit, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. I think they'll just look him over and kind of see where we are. We'll go there every 6 months until he turns 3. We'll let you know how that goes.
I should win an award for being such a dedicated blogger this week. Because of that, I will NOT win an award for laundry girl! I better go work on that.... I've got lots of clothes to fold!

Montana Christmas Part 4

This picture got left out and I COULD NOT post without it! It is out of order, but oh well. This is Kory's cousin Isabel (Great Aunt Julie's daughter). She is a miracle herself with quite a story to tell. This picture here is pretty special...we are so thankful to have both of these precious ones.

OK this is it:

A couple of days after Christmas, Tye and Kory gave me a great present....they took me skiing!!! They could care less about skiing, but they know I love it so we went and it was a lot of fun. After the first or second run, my face was quite frozen..then someone told me it was 7 degrees!!!!!! There is NO TELLING what the wind chill was. We put on face masks and luckily I wore lots of layers, so it was fine. It lightly snowed all day....great conditions! SO FUN!

Here are the goofy brothers before we started

Tye and Kory on the first ride up
The 3 skiers after a long, cold, but wonderful day!
The place we went was called Showdown..just a small local kind of place about 2 hours from Kory's house. Perfect for a great day of skiing.
Gram and Chief kept Kanyon for the day...I think it was fun for everyone. I love that I have the best in-laws in the world. Apparently Kanyon and Wes got to be big buddies because later on he was sitting on the couch by Chief and he decided to put his arm up on Wes's shoulder!! For real, he really did that on his own!! Big buddies!

Hangin' with Uncle Tye
We were trying to capture the side spike on a particularly tall day. This was the best shot we could get!
Not to brag too much on my own baby, but is he not so cute in this outfit????!!! I feel like I can say that because I did not buy a stitch of these clothes and he looks like his daddy so maybe I'm not bragging too much. Thanks Mom for the shirt and Auntie Nancye for the warm jeans!
A big Thank you to Cousin Isabel for helping with the photo shoot. She helped me get Kanyon in a good spot and though this picture doesn't show it, she helped make him smile.

These two were trading stories like this all week!

Kanyon got to meet his great grandparents. I've lost the picture with Kory's Grandma in it, but here is the one of the 4 generations of Phillips boys (Great Grandpa is a twin). I am so so so happy that Kanyon got to meet Bob and Fae, they are so great.
Think they like him???
I'm pretty sure he's crazy about them too. This picture made me laugh because it looks like Kanyon is rolling his eyes at Tye.

I bought 2 of these snow suit thingies last year at an after Christmas clearance. I knew we would be going to MT for Christmas so I knew they would need to stay warm. I think it was the first thing I bought 2 of.


It did snow at the house the last few days we were there. It was beautiful. I took this as we left early Tuesday Morning. I like it when the cows are snowy.
So ends the Christmas in Montana series. I hope you enjoyed....or at least survived it! We had the best time and were reminded again of how thankful we are for our families.

Montana Christmas Part 3

Christmas Day!

This was his present that Santa brought. He was so excited he could hardly stand it..can't you tell??
Gram and Chief gave Kanyon this puppy. He cuddled with it while he slept through the craziness of Christmas Morning. He slept on the ottoman right in the middle of all of us opening presents and having fun.

I got this so fun hat from Susan...Sayler wanted to try it on...or maybe I just thought it would be funny to put it on her...either way, she's SOO CUTE!
His opened present from Santa. He loved it. Don'tcha think?

Sayler got a hat too!!!!
All the girls got one!!
The boys ended their Christmas gift opening with a "grab bag" It was a big box full of all kinds of things, they took turns picking something out. It was a fun way to end the festivities.
Aunt Sydni finally got to hold him!!! He was so happy in her arms. I seriously don't think he could possibly have better aunts!!


Or uncles for that matter...Tye loved to make him laugh and was so good with him........

...until things got poopy and Tye was instantly ready to hand him off...not at all interested in changing him. As you can see we all got a kick out of this.
This is his great Aunt Julie (Wes's sister). We haven't seen her family in so long so I was so happy that Kanyon got to meet them. FUN FUN FUN!!!
His face cracked me up in this picture...a little Michael Jordan-ish.
Sweet cuddle bug


I have one more set of pictures to post and then you will be fully updated!