We meant to write a 4 month update, then a 5 month, then a 6 month, but time got away from us and here we are, all of a sudden Brennan is 7 months old! He is one of the happiest little babies, almost always smiling, and most importantly, he has been HEALTHY!! We have traveled back to Denver 3 times for clinic visits since he was discharged, and the reports have all been positive. His condition can still change drastically any day, but we are so happy with his progress so far. He gets blood drawn to have labs checked roughly every six weeks and has been seeing his local pediatrician pretty frequently. Brennan made it through the entire winter season at the daycare without catching any sicknesses (while Connor was not so lucky), but then somehow managed to catch a virus recently during the time while we’ve been quarantined in our house and haven’t even gone out and or seen anyone. Mysterious….
His last set of labs had some elevated liver numbers that made us nervous, but his doctor said they are likely just related to the virus he caught. We will re-check labs to monitor those numbers in a few weeks. He continues to take multiple medications everyday, but it is so second nature to him, he sucks them down like they’re candy :)

He recently got his first tooth (surprised us all!), and is starting to show interest in wanting to crawl. Connor’s toys are just too tempting! He is still on the small size for his age, but is proving to be very strong, regardless. He seems to be packing on some weight since we started solid foods – so far nothing that he doesn’t like! He is super vocal, constantly shrieking happily and loves watching Connor play, bouncing in his bouncer, and anything that plays music.

We had a great winter season, despite it’s early end. Claire feels so lucky to have a job that she loves, that allows her to bring the boys with her. Connor is spoiled in the fact that he can ski almost everyday if he wants to and Brennan enjoyed greeting all the guests coming into the daycare. Connor mastered a lot of ski skills this season and loved graduating from the magic carpets of last year to getting to go up the big ski lifts. Crazy things happening in the world right now, but the silver lining to both of us being temporarily unemployed, is that we finally get to spend some time together as a family. We had different days off for most of the winter, so we didn’t have the opportunity to spend much time together like this! We are hunkering down in an effort to keep everyone healthy. Hoping for some spring-like weather soon, so we can get outside more. We are lucky to live in a place like Montana with lots of wide-open spaces, so we can still get out and recreate without being near others.

Next steps for Brennan, include just monitoring labs frequently, adjusting medications, an appointment with the GI specialist from Montana Children's at the end of April, and the next clinic visit in Denver will be in July.  We love connecting with people, so if you ever want a smile from Brennan (they’re contagious!), give us a call! We've been doing lots of video chats and waving through windows :) 

-Claire, Matt, Connor, and Brennan