Thursday, August 29, 2013

I've been thinking for the last week, "boy, I really should update the blog," and then Aubrey wakes up, or needs to eat, or there's laundry to do, or errands to run, or I'm at work, or we're spending a smidge of time with Adam before he goes to work, or, or, or...  So, needless to say, I haven't updated in a while.  Here goes:

She's working on that whole standing up thing.

Went to PT/OT last week, and they want Aubrey to come every week for 4 weeks instead of skipping weeks like we'd been doing.  They say she's doing well, but there are some things that she's doing in a weird way that they'd like to try to correct.  For example: when she's sitting on her hiney and starts to fall over, she doesn't just put her hand out to stop herself; she flips all the way around onto her hands and knees.  Or, when she wants to stand up, she either pulls with her arms or leans forward and stands on both feet at once instead of reaching one foot out into a kneeling position before pushing herself up with her butt and leg muscles. 

Her hair after a bath when mama doesn't brush it right away--either she has my curls or Adam's cowlick, or, heaven forbid, both.

 Now, I would think that she's just being innovative and getting up any way she can, and the therapists say that she's not doing things that will hurt her exactly, but she's just doing things atypically or different than most babies do it.  Well, now we all know that Feisty is not most babies.  The therapists said that they don't see anything that's a red flag in her development; they just want to try and teach her the correct way to do things now so they don't cause any issues in the future.  Oh, and she cried through the entire therapy appointments the last several times, so they're hoping seeing them more often will make things easier for her.  She only cried through half of the appointment yesterday, so I guess that's an improvement.

Aubrey is doing her best to stand up, but can only do it with some help.  I had to lower the pack 'n play and take her crib apart and lower it because she can pull up on them.  She is crawling all over; she's not sitting up very well yet, but she has done it and is getting better.  I'm currently watching her chase a plastic cup all over the living room floor--dang thing keeps getting away. :) Eating solid food is still going pretty well, though she can spit that up just as easily as she can spit formula up, it seems. 

-Keli

Saturday, August 17, 2013

We're still here, just worn out from trying to keep up with Aubrey!  She's very mobile now, half hands-and-knees half army-style crawling all over the house.  She's almost sitting up by herself, and can stand up on her knees and hold herself up for a few seconds.  She loves to take your hand and pull herself up on her feet (with a little help)--the look on her face is pure triumph when she gets fully upright.  Along with all the moving comes the falls and conks on the head--those make mom and dad hurt too.  She's usually pretty good about getting over it quickly, but boy can she squeeze out a couple of fat tears within a few seconds.

Adam and his mini-me crawling around the house after a get-away tennis ball can.

We knew all this fussy drooly-ness was leading to something--I felt a tooth coming through her bottom gum for the first time today.  You can't see it yet, but you can feel the sharp little edges when she chomps down on your finger, the little cannibal. 

 up on her knees all by herself

Feisty is expanding her squealing repertoire by leaps and bounds.  I'm pretty sure she could perform an entire opera in just squeals.  My mother says this is payback for all the high-pitched shrieks I let rip as a child.  She stands in her command center (aka the bouncer) and plays and squeals and hollers and has a grand time.  I've come to the conclusion that she likes to be just a teensy bit scared--she likes to be taken up in the air (to a certain point), and she likes to play a pretty hard-core game of peek-a-boo (she'll jump at the "boo" part and then giggle). 

-Keli

Thursday, August 8, 2013

It was a two appointment week for the Feisty One.  We went to the plastic surgeon on Tuesday.  A different doctor that we'd never met came in first and apparently had read nothing about Aubrey.  She asked why we had been in the NICU, why the plastic surgeon saw her, and then said that we had never been to the clinic (where we were) before. 
Um, yes, we came to the clinic in April to be rechecked. 

Well, the computer doesn't say you were here. 

Ok, but I don't care what the computer says--we were here for about 2 hours waiting on the doctor to get out of surgery and Aubrey was cranky and hungry because we had to wait so long.  Look, I have the paperwork from that visit right here.  (So neener neener neener.)

Sheesh.  Anyway, the doctor we knew finally came in and proclaimed that the hemangioma on her nose looked great and was responding to the treatment well.  We have to keep putting the cream on both hemangiomas and go back in 6 months.  I can handle that.

Quite comfy lying on daddy's arm on the couch.

Adam took Aubrey to PT/OT yesterday.  They like the way she's pushing up on her hands and scooting and trying to crawl.  They made the discovery that her left leg is a little bit shorter than her right leg; they are worried about her trying to walk on her toes to compensate, but they also think that there is a chance they will even out as she grows.  She cried almost the entire time she was there, so they want to have her come back in 2 weeks instead of 3 or 4 weeks to see if that helps her with recognizing the therapists and being more comfortable with them.  We'll see!

She surprised herself with being able to pull her top half up!

-Keli

Sunday, August 4, 2013

The other day, I looked at a magazine that had the newest royal baby on the cover--you know, the now third-in-line to the throne in England.  On the inside, they had a spread of  pictures of the princess and all the things she had worn as she went through her pregnancy.  Those magazines are always looking at the fashion aspect, but as I looked at those pages I didn't even notice her clothes; all I could see was her expanding belly, from tiny little speed bump all the way to this-baby-could-come-anytime roundness. 

working on the hands-and-knees-crawling thing

I started to cry.  I've seen pregnant women since Aubrey arrived; I've watched good friends get bigger and have their precious babies.  I don't know why this hit me like it did.  I guess I'm still not over not getting to go through an entire pregnancy...I hadn't realized that it still makes me sad that I didn't carry Aubrey as long as I should have, that I didn't get all round and have people feel her kicking.  It seems stupid now, looking at my beautiful daughter and how well she's doing and how far she's come, but I guess I'll always mourn the fact that she didn't stay with me as long as she needed to, that she didn't get an easier start to life. 

stuck in "baby jail" while at work with me

I want to give her the best life possible.  I just...I can't even explain how much I love this baby.  There aren't enough words.

such a silly baby. :)

-Keli

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Aubrey is allllllmost crawling.  She's trying her darndest.  She gets up on her hands and knees and does a lot of rocking back and forth, but she can't quite get her knees and hands to move forward with any coordination yet.  She's also working on sitting up.  When down on her elbows and knees, she turns to her side and pushes up with one hand...most of the time she just ends up turning herself over, sometimes all the way with a bump of her head on the floor.  She can, however, spin around on her belly like a break dancer when she wants to change direction. :)

We're still working on eating solids once a day.  We've had carrots, applesauce, peas, sweet potato, avocado, and pears.  The only one she didn't seem too keen on was, oddly enough, the sweet potato.  She seemed to like the avocado a lot--she really is my kid.  :)

Avocado face :)

We have to go see the plastic surgeon again this week for him to check the hemangiomas on her nose and neck.  The one on her nose looks really great--I almost wish they could just take the one on her neck off with some sort of easy, one day, inpatient procedure (don't know if that's possible, but I'm going to ask).  The straps on the car seat rub right on that one, even though I try to keep something in between her and the seat belt.

Local people--don't forget to keep buying Aiken Standard papers and voting for "Aubrey S, October 2012" for baby of the year!  Ballots will be in the paper on the 4th, 5th, and 6th and are due by the 14th.

-Keli