Sunday, December 29, 2013

Whoops.  So I just realized that it's been a while since I updated anything here.  The holidays, work, being a married-single-mom...life, you know? Anyway, we're all doing fine.  Aubrey is still trying to walk and still not quite there yet.  She's doing a lot more cruising on the furniture and is lifting and moving her legs so much better when we hold her hands to walk.  She got a new walker toy for Christmas and started using it today without us hanging on to her.  I have a feeling she'll start walking like she started with the bottle--one day she'll just decide that's what she wants to do and will do it.

Her shirt was a gift from our friends who went through the NICU with us; it says "My first Christmas at home."

We were able to do a few normal Christmas things this year that we didn't do last year, like going to the gardens where Adam and I got engaged to see the Christmas light display.  We couldn't really tell if Aubrey was overwhelmed or underwhelmed...either way, she was her happy-baby self the whole time.

At the gardens to see the lights

 We had a pretty good Christmas.  Adam had to work, of course, and as a policewife (PW) I know that this happens all the time (as in Adam worked every single holiday there was last year).  And we PWs often have to move holidays to a different day.  That doesn't always work seeing as the rest of the entire family has already had their holiday on the actual day and can't all get back together 2 days later to have it again for the cop that was working.  It's tough being the only person in the entire family who is at every holiday gathering without their spouse; on the flip side, it's tough for Adam to miss all the gatherings too. And I learned this year that being a "single mom" on Christmas is exhausting.  Whew.  Adam and I exchanged a few presents on Christmas Eve and got to spend a little time together.

Using her new walker toy

Anyway, we got Aubrey an outside swing for Christmas, and Adam put it up a few days before.  She LOVES it.  I try to take her outside for a little while every day, and this gives us something fun to do.  She can see the dog (whom she laughs at) and doesn't seem to mind going high (but just for a second).  She got lots of other fun presents from family too. Aubrey really just enjoyed playing with my nephews all day on Christmas and wasn't worried about unwrapping things.  I'm thinking this might be different next year. :)

Yep, I think she likes it.

We don't have to go back to PT/OT until January 15 since they are closed for all the holidays.  I think they're sort of expecting Aubrey to be walking by then, but we'll see.  She's always done things in her own time, as we are all aware of.  Today she has a little bit of a runny nose and a even littler bit of a fever (like a degree high), so I'm not sure if she's getting a cold or is having teething issues (she hasn't had either symptom with teething before, but I know some kids have those problems).  I hate to think that she's getting sick, but, if she is, no doubt she can handle it like a pro. Mama, on the other hand, might need a valium or something. ;)

-Keli

To blave.

Inigo: "'True love,' you heard him? You could not ask for a more noble cause than that."

Miracle Max: "Yeah, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a nice MLT--mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, when the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe.  They're so perky.  I love that.  But that's not what he said: he distinctly said "to blave," and as we all know "to blave" means to bluff, heh? So you were probably playing cards and he cheated..."

In case you didn't know, that's a scene from one of my favorite movies of all time, "The Princess Bride." If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP.  It's full of action, adventure, and comedy, but ultimately it's a love story.  Once upon a time, I was the girl who curled her lip and rolled her eyes at the mention of "true love." But, alas, as usually happens, my mother turned out to be right when she said something like, "one day a certain guy will come along and you won't roll your eyes at it anymore."

Thanks to Sharpest Image Photography

I thought I was in love once, years before I even knew Adam existed.  I had a boyfriend that I was pretty sure I was in love with, even though I was young and wasn't really sure what that entailed.  But, things ended badly between us and I was horribly cynical about guys and dating and love for a while afterward.  On Christmas Eve 2005, I met Adam on a blind date.  I didn't think he liked me.  At all.  Not even a little.  Turns out he liked me more than I thought, and we kept seeing each other which led to getting engaged in 2008 and getting married in 2009.  Looking back at that previous relationship, I now know it wasn't true love, at least not love as I see it now.  That boyfriend was a good guy overall, don't get me wrong, but there's no comparison between how I felt about him and how I feel about Adam.  Adam is my true love, and after feeling that way about him for almost eight years, I couldn't imagine being in a relationship where I felt anything less.

Now I have another true love in my life: the minute I found out I was pregnant, I was simultaneously terrified and awe-struck.  The first time we saw our little alien-looking-peanut-sized baby on the ultrasound screen at the doctor's office, I fell head over heels.  When I laid eyes on Aubrey 16 weeks too early, a little red shadow of a baby, I was terrified and awe-struck all over again; I also realized that I would give my own life to save hers if I needed to.  That was the truest, most pure form of love I had ever felt.  Different from how I love Adam, but just as strong.

Wonderful, scary, life-altering love.
Protective, hopeful, life-long love.

It's tough to wrap my head around the fact that my parents have loved me (and continue to love me) like that for 33 years (I know myself and fully realize that I am, in fact, not always lovable).  Now knowing first hand what it's like to love a child of my own, a piece of my heart that lives outside of my body, it's nearly impossible for me to understand how God could have let His son be born onto this planet just to know that he was going to suffer and die.  He knew what was going to happen to His child, and He sent him here anyway.  My heart just can't take it.  Think about that true love, that love that's bigger than anything we can imagine: God loves US so much that He sacrificed His child on our behalf. Could any human parents worth their salt ever do that willingly? As we approach Christmas, I'm reminded again that that's what the season is about--the love of the Father for us, His children.

So, as we celebrate this time of year, remember, whatever your particular beliefs might be, to make this season all about love--for your family, your friends, and for people you may not even know.  Cherish the loves of your life, because, as Westley, the hero in "The Princess Bride" said to his fair lady, "This is true love--you think this happens every day?"

-Keli

(Pssst, Keli is only 25)

- Adam 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Christmas tree shopping

It's finally Christmas time!  Woot woot!  It's my favorite time of year, and I have to say that Christmas stunk it up good fashion last year.  It was a bust.  Aubrey was in the hospital, Adam had to work and was sick, and I was just bummed.  We didn't do anything Christmas-like--no decorations, no light tour, no tree, nothing. So, this year, we had our tree up by December 2!  We went tree shopping last weekend and decorated the same day.  We put the tree up on a table so destructo-baby can't reach it to pull ornaments off or pull the whole thing down.  She can reach the tree skirt, and that's already been pulled off an uncountable number of times.  That's ok.  She likes touching the tree, and I'm just glad she's here to wreak her own special brand of cute Aubrey-havoc.  Adam is working Christmas day ("what a surprise!" Keli says, sarcastically), but Aubrey doesn't know which day is which; we'll just have Christmas another day.

Helping get the ornaments out

 

I had to take her to the hospital Tuesday for her barium swallow study.  She's still aspirating with the regular thin liquid, and they think she aspirated with the next thickness up. So, the speech therapist said to stick with the thickness of milk that she's been getting; it's obvious she doesn't aspirate with that because she hasn't had any respiratory problems or illnesses.  We want to keep it that way through the winter months when all of that is being passed around; we don't want her lungs compromised in any way so she's more susceptible to what's out there.  The therapist said we could thin applesauce down with some juice to make it the correct thickness and see if she likes that to drink.  She also wants us to try to get Aubrey to learn to use a straw in a cup. She said sippy cups aren't good for babies like her because children tend to tip their heads back when they use them and that opens the airway even more; her airway already doesn't close quickly enough, so we don't need that added to it.

Mischievous pirate Aubrey with her straw-sword

PT/OT is still going...ok.  Aubrey still cries during it, but she's doing what the therapists are asking of her.  We're still working on that fine motor skill of picking food up with two fingers and actually getting it to her mouth; she's doing better, but not quite there yet. We're also working on making her shift weight from foot to foot while standing...she doesn't really like that too much.  She's standing straight up on her own now, not holding on to anything, but she doesn't go anywhere yet.

The wonderful banana: fruit snack inside, super awesome toy outside

One year ago today, Aubrey weighed 2lb 10oz.  I still can't believe how awesome she is.

-Keli

Thankful.

This Thanksgiving could not be more different from last year (well, Adam IS working again...some things don't change).  On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving last year, one of Aubrey's doctors called me at work (I already had the number memorized and knew it couldn't be good to see it appear on my phone) and told me that they were going to put her back on the ventilator to give her tiny body a rest from her breathing struggles.  The rest of that week was tough as we watched her sort of take a step backwards, and Thanksgiving was just weird considering I spent the day at the practically deserted hospital.  My wonderful family brought food for the nurses and doctors, so we at least got to be together.  Adam was able to come long enough to eat and to see Aubrey for a few minutes between sleeping and going to work for the night.

A video of Aubrey clapping.  It's cute.

Looking back, I realize that I have more to be thankful for this year than I could ever have asked for.  This time last year, Aubrey hadn't even hit 2 pounds yet; now she's about 15 pounds or so.  She is healthy, happy (most of the time), and still developing right on track for her adjusted age.  The progress she has made in the 12 months since last Thanksgiving is pretty unreal, and I could not be more thankful; if I let myself think about it too much when I'm sitting in the dark, rocking her before I put her down to sleep, I still tear up.

Working on a apple core.  Now she sits in front of me and stares and me and grunts until I finish the apple and hand her the core.

I'm thankful for my husband, who still loves me so good.  He puts up with all my insecurities and neuroses about Aubrey--is she eating enough? Sleeping enough-or too much? Should she be doing that? Why is she crying? He calms me down and takes her from me when he can to give me a break.  I'm thankful that he has a job that he loves and is very good at, even though it means he misses holidays and sleeps weird hours.  I'm more than thankful when he comes home safely after a shift. He's a good husband and a good dad, and those are not a dime a dozen these days.

Daddy at home=happy baby

I'm thankful that I have a job that is flexible and a boss (aka friend and second mom) who loves Aubrey and lets me bring her to work with me. I can't imagine leaving Aubrey with someone else every day, and thankfully I don't have to.

I'm thankful for family. Aubrey is blessed to have grandparents that adore her and want to spend time with her, even if it's difficult to get everyone to see her between their schedules and ours.  My nephews love Aubrey, and the feeling is mutual; she lights up when she sees them and thinks she's as big as they are.  We're blessed to have lots of family not too far away that we see fairly often. 

If I were to list every single thing I'm thankful for, this post would be way too long.  Suffice it to say that this Thanksgiving finds me more whole and at peace than last year.  I can only hope that I remember to thank God every day for all my blessings, and not only on Thanksgiving.

-Keli

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

So, what's new?  Oh.  You want to know what's new with Aubrey?  Oh, ok.  Well, let's think about this for a minute...she's growing and I'm trying to keep up.  That about sums it up.

She's still not very interested in the feeding herself thing.  She mushes up some banana or avocado in her hand, but not much makes it to her mouth.  We're still working on the pinching motion it takes to get the food to it's proper destination.  It's become a struggle to get her to take her bottle at all sometimes.  She usually takes it no problem first thing in the morning but will only take a couple of ounces the rest of the day.  The bedtime bottle is a toss up--some nights she sucks the whole thing down and some nights she takes half then pitches a fit and won't take any more. I guess she'd rather have solid food.  I fudge a little and put some of her formula into her oatmeal. :)

The pediatrician told us at the last appointment to work on getting her to take a sippy cup; we can't do that until we find out if she still aspirates on thin liquids.  We finally got a call last week about a swallow test at the hospital: "How does December 3rd sound?"  Considering that's the first available appointment and that if I said no it would probably be months before we got another one, we'll take it!

We're also still working on shifting weight from foot to foot and moving forward so walking will come easier in the future.  I think it frustrates her right now because she knows she can just get wherever she wants to go so much faster if she crawls.

I'm sort of blah about Thanksgiving next week since, naturally, Adam has to work.  He's worked every Thanksgiving since we've known each other (this will be the 8th...I think).  Oh well.  I'll just have to bring him leftovers and we'll have another Thanksgiving the next day.

-Keli

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Snippets from the last week in our house:

I turned another year older and got to spend the day with my two favorite people.

Aubrey's hands are in her mouth almost all the time.  When they aren't, she's crawling.  Therefore, we have slobber trails all over our hardwood floors that make it look like a giant slug comes through every day.

She's not crazy about the whole "feeding herself" thing.  She hasn't gotten the hang of it and would much rather pull my hand to her mouth and suck the food off of that.

"You seriously want me to put the food in my mouth MYSELF?"

Her favorite toy at work is a plastic squeaky dog toy shaped like a bone.  She carries it everywhere, even when crawling.  All I hear is thump-SQUEAK-thump-SQUEAK-thump-SQUEAK.

A friend of mine featured Aubrey (and Adam and I, by association) on her blog (that lots of people read).  The links follow:

Premature Births, Part 1

Premature Births, Part 2

Aubrey is Human of the Week!

We're even getting smiles while taking baths now. :)

-Keli

Monday, November 4, 2013

Let's see...what has gone on in the last week...uh...hmm.

In her new winter hat playing with one of her favorite toys.

 My brain isn't working correctly lately.  I've heard it's called "mommy brain" when your child sucks all of your common sense and reasoning and ability to remember things directly out of your cranium.  This seems to have come about as of late (who am I kidding? This happened the minute she was born.).  Example: I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription a few days ago.  They asked for date of birth.  I gave them Aubrey's and then couldn't figure out why the whole exchange wasn't working out.  Mommy brain-1, Keli-0. 

Aubrey, on the other hand, doesn't seem negatively affected by "mommy brain" in the least.  That's because she has sucked out all my brain power and is using it for herself.  Example: she can now climb the entire flight of stairs in our house.  We watched her do it yesterday (and stayed directly behind her while she did it).  She grabbed the carpet with her hands, hiked that little leg up and planted her foot on the step, gave a heave, and up she went.  To the second floor of the house.  By herself.  We are in SO much trouble.  Baby gates are being purchased tomorrow. 

I think we have finally gotten past Aubrey's previous pure hatred of baths.  She cried with every kind of bath I tried to give her.  I've bathed her in the kitchen sink for the past 2 weeks and she seems to tolerate it pretty well now.  She even almost smiled a little.  I have to leave a trickle of water running from the faucet though, so she can play in that while I do the scrubbing.

Adam and I went out on...what do you call those things?  Where the guy and girl go out and do stuff, away from home, without the baby?  Like dinner?  And a movie?  Oh yeah!  A date!  Yeah, we did that last week.  We left Aubrey for more than an hour and went out.  We had an actual face to face real conversation for the first time in a week!  And we went to a movie for the first time in a year!  It was lovely!

I think that's pretty much it for now...as far as this brain can recall, anyway.

-Keli

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Baby girl had a busy week (therefore baby girl's mama had a busy week).  Baby girl's daddy was working nights, so I got to take Aubrey to PT/OT on Wednesday and to the pediatrician on Friday.  She did fine at therapy, and they want her to work on shifting her weight from foot to foot while she's standing so she will get used to that feeling.  They also want us to work on her being able to grasp things with just her "pinching" fingers instead of raking the object up with her entire hand.  Yesterday Aubrey stood straight up in the middle of the floor completely unassisted.  She did it again today.  They asked me at therapy if she had been "cruising" around the furniture--holding on and walking--and she hadn't; I saw her do it on the fireplace today.  Movin' on up!

Worn out after therapy

 We took Aubrey to visit her first pumpkin patch on Thursday.  She wasn't overly impressed.  She liked to smack the pumpkins to hear the noise and she wanted to touch the big blow-up jack-o-lanterns.  And we got some cute pictures, so really it was worth it.

Her doctor's appointment went well.  She weighs 14lb 6oz and is 27.5 inches long.  Still not on the charts when it comes to weight, but in the 5th percentile in height (they're measuring that as if she's an actual one year old; if they were measuring her as a 9 month old, she'd be in the 50 something percentile for height).  She got her one year vaccinations and her flu shot booster (no reaction this time, thankfully).  The doctor thought she looked great and was surprised at how well she's doing (I don't know why she was surprised!).  She did want to check her hemoglobin just to make sure it was ok (she said sometimes preemies have issues with that), so they stuck her toe to get some blood.  Well, the first stick wouldn't bleed, so they had to stick her again; that one wouldn't stop bleeding.  Aubrey was a trooper through it all and her hemoglobin checked out fine.  The doctor is going to order another swallow test so we can see if she'll be ready to use a cup and drink regular milk in a few months.

Today we went to a special party.  Every year the NICU we were in for over 3 months has a "baby come back" party--they invite all the "graduates" from the NICU to come back to see the nurses, doctors, and other families they were there with.  It was so good to see those special people that took such good care of Aubrey (and us), and to see how much the other babies we were there with have grown.  Aubrey's still a might-mini compared to most of the other babies, but it was heartwarming to see them doing so well. 

Of course seeing all those people made you remember everything about being in the NICU, good and bad.  One of our favorite nurses held Aubrey and told us about a moment she would never forget with us: the week back in December when I was sick and couldn't go into the unit to see Aubrey was awful.  She was the one taking care of her the day Aubrey was to be moved to another room, and she told Adam to bring me up there and she would let me see her.  So she let Adam carry Aubrey to the back of the unit where the sliding glass doors were, and she carried the oxygen tank and kept the tubes up to Aubrey's face.  She said she would always remember me standing on the other side of the doors, tears streaming down my face as I got to see my baby for a minute.  This, of course, made me cry today, but that's ok.  It's a moment I won't ever forget either, and I'm just thankful that the people that work there are awesome enough to take care of us parents so well too.

This is what happens when I try to take pictures these days.

This one turned out pretty cute.

-Keli

The party of the year...

...well, at least OUR year, anyway.  We had Aubrey's birthday party at our house Saturday night, and after 2 days of preparing food and decorating I stood outside under the sprinkling rain and prayed for it to stop!  Thankfully it did, because the almost 50 people that came fit much better outside on our deck and in our yard than they would have in the house.  I wish I could have invited everyone that has prayed for us over the past year, but I don't think our 3 acres would have held them all!

Ready for her party!

I think Aubrey was a little overwhelmed at all the people that appeared on her deck, and she got a little fussy as it got closer to her bedtime (I can't complain because I do that too), but she was a trooper.  I got the birthday cake from a certain grocery store, and when you buy a cake for a first birthday they give you a "smash" cake for the baby to play in for free.  We put the cake down in front of Aubrey and she promptly slapped it with her right hand...and then she decided that was gross.  She snatched that hand back like the cake was hot and looked at me like, "ew!  get it off!"  I pinched a bite of cake off for her to taste, and, true to form, she gagged and spit up after she got it in her mouth.  *sigh*  At least she's consistent. :)  She got lots of wonderful gifts of books--we've already started reading them and will read them for years to come, I'm sure.

Why are these crazy people singing??

Thank you to everyone who came to the party, who wished her a happy birthday in person or through a phone call or email or online.  She is so loved, and therefore very blessed.

Now here are some cute pictures. (Photo credits to my dad--Adam and I were too busy to take any!)

Ew!  I don't like this!

After puking cake up on Adam's hand...there was some washing to do.

Everyone else enjoyed the cake. :)

Beautiful girl.

 -Keli

Happy birthday, Aubrey.

At midnight exactly one year ago, I was lying in a hospital bed, rubbing my hand across my small bump of a belly, my "baby protrusion," as Adam so eloquently called it, listening to the swish-swish of a tiny heart beating, sweating from the magnesium sulfate they'd given me to stop contractions, and praying.  These were not the prayers of the person for whom everything is hunky-dory; these were the desperate, pleading, clipped, pieces of prayers that only God understood...prayers of the terrified.  These were the prayers of a mother for her child, a mother who hadn't even really gotten to be a mother yet, hadn't held her baby, hadn't seen her sweet turned up nose, hadn't smelled her baby smell.  I was scared, the worst kind of scared a parent can be, wondering if her child is going to live or die, already blaming herself should the child die, but trying her hardest not to even let her mind go in that direction.

The prayers began as, "God just let me stay pregnant.  Let the baby stay put, even if it's for just another month.  I promise I won't complain about being on bedrest.  I'll lie day in and day out with my head at the floor and my feet in the air if it will help her."  They continued on to be, "Please, God, just let me stay pregnant, even if it's for just another week or two.  I won't complain about being in the hospital that long.  She needs more time."

Around 3:15 or 3:30a.m., when my water broke, the prayers broke down into their basest form: "My baby. Don't let her die."  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

There is no doubt, after Aubrey's 122 days in two different NICUs, that God hears our prayers and answers them.  Sometimes He doesn't give us the answer we want, but sometimes He does...usually though, He gives us the answer that we didn't even know was possible.  Did He let me stay pregnant? No.  Did He give Aubrey even another week, another day with me before being thrust into the world? Nope.  But He gave us a team of doctors and nurses who knew what was best for her, how to care for her tiny, fragile body; they loved her like extra sets of parents, and they loved us like family.

You might remember the blog I wrote before Christmas last year titled "Miracle."  I explained some of the things preemies go through while in the hospital and some of the survival statistics.  The word "miracle" is used too lightly and too often in my opinion, about everything from "our team won the game, it's a miracle," to "it's a miracle my car started this morning."  Those aren't miracles.  A miracle is when something that just isn't supposed to be, something that the odds are completely and totally against happens, and only with divine intervention.  It leaves us awed and baffled.

 Aubrey's still a miracle, just in case you were wondering.  She is one of the 30-40% of babies born at 24 weeks gestation that survive.  She is developing as if she were born at full-term, or 40 weeks gestation; she is right where she should be for her adjusted age.  She's crawling, eating solids, has teeth, standing on her own, babbling, etc.  Every time she goes to physical and occupational therapy they are amazed that she was a 24 weeker because she hasn't fallen behind in any of her development.

I know every parent thinks their child is amazing, but Aubrey continues to show us how strong and feisty she is.  She has a sweet spirit, a super sense of humor, and goes 90 to nothing until she's exhausted.  There is nothing better in this world than seeing her wake up, a broad smile on her face, and reach her arms out for me to pick her up.  A piece of heaven on earth.  Our miracle child.

Happy first birthday, sugar baby.

-Keli

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

This week is making me think a whole lot of "this time last year..." thoughts.  This time last year, I barely had a speed bump of a belly that you could only see if I showed it off.  This time last year, I was reveling in the kickboxing that was going on in that little belly.  This time last year, Adam and I had only known for 3 weeks that our little one was a girl; we were still bandying baby names about and physically I felt amazing.  Things were just about as perfect as they could be.  So that was the point in the movie when the music usually takes a dark turn and everything is just too good and you know that something bad is about to happen...

Aubrey's sweet profile, 9/25/12

Sorry to be morose.  I wonder if this time of year will always be tough from now on.  I'm cutting myself some slack since it's not even a year since this crazy preemie-baby-journey began.  Just like the rest of the year, I'm going to take it one day at a time.

my speed bump, Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 3 days before Aubrey was born

-Keli

Friday, October 11, 2013

Aubrey is pulling up on things more and more...see example below.  She pulled up on the coffee table and immediately reached for my laptop.  Must've needed to check her email.

She did well at therapy again on Wednesday.  They told us just to keep on keeping on with what we're doing at home, so I guess we're doing ok.

Talking to her buddy Murphy through the screen door.

 

 

She had an appointment today with the surgeon that did her eye surgery when she was still in the NICU.  We hadn't been in 6 months, so I was a bit worried about what would happen.  Last time, they had to swaddle her to hold her down so they could pry her eyes open with those metal tongs.  It was traumatizing to all of us.  I was wondering what army they had that could hold her down this time.  Thankfully, it didn't come to that.  It was, however, still painful but in a different way.

Our appointment was at 9:40a.m.  At 10:50 we saw the doctor who then decided Aubrey needed to have her eyes dilated.  That takes 45 minutes.  So, they put eye drops in and we had to wait almost another hour to be seen again.  Aubrey was SO good.  She played with the toys I took, she helped me eat a banana, she took a nap, and finally I found an empty corner of the cafeteria where I could put her down for a little bit to crawl (I washed her afterwards, don't worry).

So after all of that, the doctor declared her eyes perfect.  She doesn't need glasses, she tracks things and has great alignment, even with her eyes dilated.  We don't have to go back for a year.  Yay.

Rather proud of herself after pulling up on the moving glider footstool.

We're looking forward to Aubrey's birthday party next weekend.  Maybe it will keep my mind off of all the things that happened that night/day...but I doubt it.  I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it when every time I stop and think about the night she was born I start to have a little bit of a panic attack.  How can one day be the most terrifying and the most beautiful of your life?  I still find it all rather unbelievable.  *Deep breaths.  Look at that precious baby you love who loves you back.  Experience the emotions and realize that you'll probably feel them on each and every birthday, at least for a few years.  You don't have to completely hold it together, but just thank the Lord that all those fears are now memories.*

-Keli

Saturday, October 5, 2013

We've had a rather uneventful week (thankfully) since the flu shot debacle of last week.  The doctor's office did call and say that Aubrey qualified for one Synagis shot, but she had to get it before her first birthday.  Synagis is an injection of antibodies that boosts the immune system to try and keep the baby from getting RSV (a respiratory virus that can be bad for preemies and babies with bad lungs).  She got 3 doses of it last winter when we came home from the hospital. So, we had to make another trip to the pediatrician's office for her to get that shot; she didn't have a reaction to this one.  She won't qualify for insurance to pay for another dose (they'll only pay for it up until the 24 weeker hits 12 months old), so if respiratory sicknesses get bad this winter we might have to do some staying home.

This is what happens when daddy and Aubrey play unsupervised.  Daddy wraps the slinky around Aubrey on purpose.  Pest. ;)

Little miss is still scooting all over the house army-style, but she pulls up on stuff (chairs, people, whatever) and wants to stand up.  She's been eating really well and is still liking every solid food she's tried.

Lookit my 2 little teefs!

-Keli

Friday, September 27, 2013

Well, at least now we know that Aubrey and the flu shot don't get along.  My grandmother was in the hospital all week with the flu, so I called the pediatrician's office to get a flu shot set up for Aubrey (I don't usually get a flu shot, but I'm guessing I will this year--I can't stand the thought of her getting sick).  So we went Wednesday morning, and Aubrey was a trooper like always and got her shot.  Then we went to PT/OT, then we came home and she ate and took her afternoon nap.

 When she ate again around 5:30, she threw up.  She still acted hungry, so I waited a little while and then gave her some mashed bananas.  She waited about 45 minutes and threw that up.  I felt her head and it was hot; took her temp and it was 101 degrees.  Yikes!  She was lethargic and sleepy--she just laid in Adam's lap (and then my lap when Adam had to pass her off because he got too hot holding her).  No wiggling and trying to flip over and get down.  That was the scary part!  We tried giving her some Tylenol, but she gagged on it.  I finally got some down her around 8:30, and by about 9:15 she was super hungry.  She drank her entire bottle and then fell asleep and slept all night.  By morning, she was cool as a cucumber and hungry again.  She had no more fever and ate like a champ all day yesterday.  Whew.

The only bad thing is, she has to have a booster in a month.  At least we know how she'll react!

that's her "I feel better" silly face

The therapists continue to think she's doing well.  We'll go back every 2 weeks for a while.

very please with herself after yanking on dad's hair

 Aubrey is getting stronger and braver about standing up.  She still has blisters on the insides of her feet from her super-fast sniper crawl that she does all around the house. 

This is what happens when she throws up all over her clothes and her mama hasn't replenished the clothes supply in the diaper bag.  You wear what you have.

-Keli

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Sometimes, when I get aggravated with Aubrey for pitching a fit and not wanting to eat (several times in a row), or overwhelmed with tiredness and she doesn't want to go to sleep and is sitting in her crib crying, or my legs are worn out from running up and down the stairs at work 500 times to check on her, I try to stop my tired brain for a minute and think about the positives...

...how far she's come...
...how well she's growing...
...that she's getting very close to going to size 3 diapers...
...that she likes every single solid food she's tried so far...
...that she can even eat from a spoon at all...
...that she can sit up and pull herself up and crawl like crazy...
...how she reaches for me to pick her up...
...how she buries her head on my shoulder when she's sleepy...
...how she uses her little teeth to gnaw on whatever I'm trying to eat at the time...
...the noises that she makes when she tries to talk...
...the way she likes to bang different toys together to hear the noises they make...
...how she smiles and squeals at Adam when he gets home from work...
...how she laughs at random things when we're in the store...
...the way she giggles at everything her cousins do...
...the way her hair curls into a mohawk on the top of her head...

I could go on for days, but I won't.  She's a super amazing kid. 

I think I might have mentioned that previously.

I just have to remind myself how awesome she is when I've had her all to myself for 72 straight hours and I need a break. :)

-Keli

Thursday, September 13, 2013

I realized today that it's been a while since I wrote an update on us...we're still boring. :) 

My cute little Bulldog

But really, Aubrey is doing great.  She had to go to PT/OT for 4 weeks in a row; they wanted to see how much progress she made not skipping weeks.  She did really well and has improved her techniques somewhat--she now sits very well on her own and can catch herself pretty well if she starts to topple over.  We still have some bumps on the head, but we'll have those for a while to come.  She still likes to stand up as much as we'll let her, and she's pulling up on stuff in the house now.  Adam caught her pulling up on something in the living room and then she let go and stood for a second by herself. 

Such a smiley baby.

 She has a set of wooden boxes with wooden shapes and numbers that go with them--she likes to bang them on the floor and on each other, and occasionally (accidentally) on her head.  Loud noises don't seem to bother her--on the contrary, she tends to laugh.  She laughs when Adam shoots in the backyard; she laughs when I take her downstairs to see the noisy birds at work; she laughs when she pulls my hair and I tell her "no."  (I think we're going to have some trouble in the future if that last one's any indication.) 

Not sure that's proper bouncer usage, but it's cute.

One thing has improved--she now takes about a 2 hour nap every afternoon.  Much better than her little 30 minute cat naps that she was taking.  This also gives mama a chance to get things done and not spend half the day fighting with the baby to get her to sleep.

She loves her pacifier when she gets sleepy, and she makes weird little talking noises when she has it in.

She loves to gnaw on my apple cores and scrape little bits off with her two bottom barracuda-sharp teeth.

Nom, nom, nom.

She crawls really fast around the bottom floor of the house and laughs when you sneak up on her and scare her.

Always remember that when you're eating pureed carrots, if you laugh really hard carrots will come flying out of your mouth. :)

She belly laughs at the strangest things, and it's pretty much the best sound ever.

-Keli