October 26, 2014

Yes, yes, I know.  It's been, what, three months since my last post? I'm sufficiently ashamed of myself.  But really, cut me a little slack--I have a job, a 2 year old, and a husband who works weird hours that Aubrey and I sometimes don't really see for a couple of days at a time.  Life, you know? Anyway, I'm here now with an update.

Nothing new to report. See you next time!

-Keli

Oh, you know, just taking the car for a spin, mom.

 HAHA! Just kidding.  Something big to report--Aubrey turned two last week!  Two years old! Can you believe it? Two years since she burst onto the scene much too early, two years since she turned our lives topsy-turvy, two years since the most terrifying day of my life. Two years we've had to love her and watch her grow. Two years we've had to be scared and amazed and awed.  She's a pretty cool little kid, and we love her a whole heap.

Some things about her: she runs everywhere, climbs all over couches and chairs and steps, still loves balls of all kinds, eats pretty constantly and is doing well feeding herself with a fork/spoon, has a little temper sometimes, gets in trouble a LOT for throwing things in the house, loves to be outside, draws all over everything outside of our house with sidewalk chalk (including the dog), loves belly buttons, wants to drive the car, blows kisses and waves to everyone she sees, and still has the best laugh I've ever heard.  WHEW.  She's not saying a bunch of words yet, but she knows exactly what you're saying to her, and we've had to start spelling some things in front of her. Yup, she's a smarty.

The birthday girl on her new tricycle

Her eye exam with the surgeon went great last week--the doctor said her eyes look great and she doesn't have to go back for a year.  Her 2 year check up with the pediatrician went well too: she weighs 18 pounds, 8 ounces, and is 31.25 inches tall.  Still not hitting the charts for weight, but the doctor asked if she eats well; I told her Aubrey eats all the time. The doctor saw that Aubrey never stopped moving or slowed down, so she just figures Aubrey burns lots of her calories off.

Sweetest pumpkin in the patch

Aubrey's doing remarkably well.  We saw a couple of her NICU doctors and nurses today at a NICU "graduate" party the hospital has every year.  They all just shake their heads and smile because they can't believe she's the same baby as the tiny, red, slip of a thing they met two years ago last week. She's a preemie super hero!

-Keli

July 29, 2014

Aubrey had her barium swallow test a couple of weeks ago, and, after much crying (hers) and much struggling (mine) to get the stuff in her mouth (she of course wouldn't drink from a straw since it wasn't her idea--finally got it down with a spoon), the speech therapist decided that she did fine swallowing regular thin liquids.  She said to thin them down slowly over time though since Aubrey will take in more liquid at a faster rate with the straw.  I've been thinning stuff down since then, and she seems to be doing fine with it. The therapist said to watch her for any respiratory issues, and if she starts having trouble to thicken her drinks up a little.

I sort of imagined a daughter of mine being like this--cute dress and shoes but can chunk a football.

I asked the speech therapist about Aubrey's talking, or rather her not talking.  She says a few words, but not on a regular basis.  The therapist said not to worry since Aubrey understands the majority of what we say; she said now that Aubrey has her motor skills under control, she will more than likely start working on her words.  She should have 10-15 down on a regular basis by the time she's 2ish, but if she hasn't increased her vocabulary by a month or two after her second birthday, we might have to have her evaluated by the speech therapist again.

We went to the beach for a few days with my family, and Aubrey wasn't really sure what to think about all that sand and water at the beginning.  She warmed up to the sand pretty quickly since she likes dirt in general, but I think the swirling of the water and the way it pulled the sand out from under her feet disoriented her.  By the second day she did better, splashing in the little waves and digging holes in the sand and trying to do everything her cousins did.  When she saw other people playing with a ball of some kind, she wanted to steal it.  She pointed and grunted at two college-age guys tossing a football until one of them brought it to her and let her throw it a few times. Charming the boys already. :)

Cutest beach baby ever

She played so hard that she had to stop for a snack.

We saw Aubrey's pediatrician yesterday for a weight check.  She now weighs 17lb 15oz (so close to 18lbs!) and gained 14oz since April.  While the doctor wasn't thrilled that Aubrey isn't a little bigger, she's not worried about her since she grew taller.  She said that if Aubrey stops gaining all together or gains very little and doesn't get taller, then we'll worry.  The way Aubrey has eaten the past week, though, makes me think she's working on a growth spurt.  She has eaten everything I've fed her plus whatever else she could get her hands on, and that's fine by me.

With her buddy Murphy

-Keli

July 5, 2014

I was gently reminded by a very sweet friend that I haven't updated the blog in a while.  Now that I look at it, I realize just how long it's been--too long! My sincere apologies to all of Aubrey's faithful stalkers, uh, followers. :) These days, I'm following right behind a full-steam-ahead toddler all hours of the day.

Picking flowers in the park

Aubrey is doing very well--she weighed about 17.5 lbs the last time we went to the pediatrician (the very end of April), and we have to go back at the end of July to check her weight again. She's still on all of her weight and height curves that she's been on since the NICU.  She's going to have another barium swallow study done this Wednesday, so hopefully her dysphagia (trouble swallowing thin liquids) has corrected itself (I'm tired of having to thicken her milk, and I'd love for her to be able to drink water. Right now, I'm putting fruit purees in her cup and thinning it down with water, and that's usually what she drinks.).

I love, love, love being silly with my girl.

Some of Aubrey's current favorite things: balls of any shape or size--basketballs, bouncy balls, footballs, beach balls, tennis balls...  She has several and is usually carrying one around at any given time. She has a little splash pool that she plays in on the deck--she mostly likes scooping water up in a measuring cup and flinging it everywhere.  She's not too keen on getting all the way in my parents' big pool yet, but she's warming up to it. She loves her cousins and squeals very loud, very happy squeals when she sees them (she also thinks she's as big as they are and can do everything they do).  And she's very proud of herself when she goes and throws her dirty diapers in the trash after a diaper change.

One of her many bouncy balls.

Splash!!

She's still not saying many words.  We've heard her say some, but she won't say them when you ask her to and she rarely says them at all.  She jabbers constantly, and she knows exactly what you're saying when you talk to her; in fact, it really amazes me that she knows what so many things are and what I mean when I tell her something.  When we go for the swallow test next week, I'm going to ask the speech therapist for her take on the situation. I know all babies are different--some talk early, some don't bother talking for a while because they get what they need by pointing and grunting.  And I realize that Aubrey's still a preemie and it might take her a little longer.  Or maybe talking will be like most everything else for her; one day she'll just decide to do it and say, "Hey, mom, can you give me my juice please?"

Coolest baby girl EVAH.

Can I just mention for a minute how freakin' awesome our kid is? I just love being with her, watching her play, playing with her, watching her learn, hearing her giggle...everything about her.  Ok, I might have overstated that--I don't love her picky eating and how she loves one food one day but calmly pushes it aside and ignores it like it's poisoned the next day.  That's not cute.  Anyway, aside from that...oh, and apparently she has a bit of a temper when she doesn't get her way.  That's not cute either.  All right, aside from those two things, she's the best.  When I read the story about the father in Georgia leaving his toddler son in the hot car all day to die a couple of weeks ago, I was, like most people, absolutely appalled and sickened.  I still cry when I think about that little boy suffering in that car seat until he died.  I just can't fathom the mindset of a parent that would do that intentionally.  I look at Aubrey and see the sweetness, the innocence, the zest for life she has, and though I'm sure that little boy had all of that too it didn't keep his own father from purposefully leaving him to die.  Every child deserves to be loved and cherished, and there are many people who would have gladly adopted that boy if his parents didn't want him.  It's such an honor to be Aubrey's mama, and I just hope I can care for her in such a way that she knows, every second of every day of her life, how very much she is loved.

Sitting in her shoebox with her ball.  One happy girl.

-Keli

April 22, 2014

It would appear that I am woefully behind on updating this blog, and therefore on updating some of Aubrey's biggest fans.  I apologize.  My laptop is on the fritz and I just haven't had enough time at another computer to download pictures fill everyone in.  I'm going to attempt to do that now, if Aubrey will continue napping for a little while longer. :)

Poor Murphy gets baby fingers up his nose, but he doesn't mind.

Aubrey is now pretty much running everywhere, full speed, all the time.  She loves balls (tennis, basket, raquet, whiffle, soccer, pretty much any kind), and we frequently fish her tennis ball out from underneath our couch.  She's not talking much yet, but she babbles a lot.  She does say "daa-dee," and I'm pretty sure she has said "dog" and "ball" at least once each.

She thought she was as big as her cousins who were playing basketball.

She has conquered drinking from a straw!  She started out by sucking on those pouches of fruit and veggie purees, and finally transferred that talent over to a cup with a straw in it.  We still have to thicken her liquids since we're not sure if she can handle them at a regular thin consistency.  She'll probably have another swallow test in the next month or so.  She's eating anything and everything, and for lunch she likes to have deli-sliced turkey and cheese with avocado and strawberries on the side.

We're done with physical and occupational therapy for the near future.  Both therapists thought she was doing wonderfully, but wanted to continue to see her; we were ok with that...until we got our first bill in the mail.  Insurance paid for everything last year, but in March we received a bill for February; we tried contacting the billing department and never heard back from them.  At the beginning of April, we received a bill for March.  We finally got in touch with someone and found out that insurance would no longer cover everything (it would have been nice if we had been notified of that before getting a bill!).  The therapists agreed that because Aubrey was doing so well, and because we work with her so much at home, that they're ok with her not coming.  That's good, because that bill adds up to a little more than we'd like to handle per month.  The OT said for us to please bring Aubrey by occasionally because they're going to have withdrawals. :)

This past weekend, Adam and I left Aubrey overnight for the first time since she came home from the hospital.  It was our 5th anniversary; we didn't go out of town, but it was good for us to be able to have complete conversations and spend some adult time together without a pretty toddler attached to my leg.  Aubrey did fine and we did fine, but I think she was glad to see us when we picked her up (and yes, I was glad to see her too). :)

Left: Aubrey taking a "selfie" with my phone; right: showing off her blue jeans

Left: the face I get when I won't give her my phone; right: she forgives me. :)

I mentioned to my friends on Facebook that they would have to bear with me in celebrating all the seemingly mundane things that Aubrey accomplishes.  I don't know how many parents whoop and holler and post a picture of their kid using a straw for the first time, but I did.  Before we left NICU #1, one of Aubrey's doctors sat us down and gave us "the talk," aka "as a 24 weeker these are all the things that could still be wrong with your baby." The list was long and terrifying, ranging from small delays to things that could leave her in a wheelchair, or mentally incapacitated, or both. Feeding issues have seemed to be the worst of it (praise the Lord), some of which we still struggle with (she gags SO much). So, when she does something "normal," that any kid her age would do, I can't help but tell everyone.  She's still a miracle.

Cheesin' in her Easter dress

Gosh, she's sweet.

At church together on Easter

-Keli

March 24, 2014

Maybe spring is finally here...just maybe.  Aubrey sure does like to play outside, so I hope it stays nice for a while before we have to suffer through the 100 degree/99% humidity days of summer. 

Smiling in the back yard swing

Like I said, Aubrey is an outside girl right now.  Or maybe it's just that she likes to walk walk walk walk walk everywhere, and the outdoors gives her the most ramblin' space.  She wanders around the yard, babbling away, to see our dog, Murphy, who resignedly endures baby fingers up his nostrils with stoic grace.  She sits in the driveway and examines rocks, then hurls them backwards over her head with flair.  She picks bark off of the trees and scatters pine straw to the wind.  We must go up and down the steps to our deck a minimum of 15 times a day--she loves steps.  She goes up on her hands and knees and we have to hold her hands for her to walk down.  She'll immediately turn around and want to go up when she gets to the bottom.  Good extra exercise for mom.  Though she'll let me hold her hands on steps, she doesn't want me to help her much anywhere else.  She'll snatch her hands away and put them behind her back, the stinker.  There's a slight possibility she got her mother's independent streak.

"I can do it myself!"

Therapy went well last week.  They let me stay back in the gym area with her, and, while she got upset a time or two at first, overall she cried very little and did what they asked of her.  She did have to step away and get a mama snuggle a couple of times, but I always put her back and made her finish what she was supposed to do.  She loves a good ball right now, and she took a bunch out of the ball pit and threw them everywhere. They wanted her to step over a small rubber speed-bump-looking-thing to see how she does with her balance and walking, and after crawling over it the first time and putting both feet on top of it the second time, she stepped back and forth over it like a pro.  Her pinching is getting better as well.  The OT said that next week she and the PT will do their official assessments (they have a guide that specifies what she should be doing and how at her age) to see if she can be done with therapy for a while.  They both think she's doing really well, so hopefully she'll graduate.

Therapy is SO exhausting.

Aubrey likes to ride in the cart when I go grocery shopping, so after wiping it down with 2 germ-killing wipes I put her in.  She smiles happily when I go over bumps and watches all the people and holds onto Adam's bagels for me.  When we were checking out last week, the cashier looked at Aubrey and said to me, "was she a preemie?" I was a little taken aback; what would make her ask that? So I said, yes, and she said that her son was born at 29 weeks and weighed about 2.5 pounds.  I told her about Aubrey, and then she said that her son was 8 years old now and doing just fine.  There was a line behind me, so I didn't get to ask her what made her think that Aubrey was a preemie; she doesn't look different from any other baby as far as I can tell, besides being small.  I thought it was strange, but then I don't really mind having a chance to tell anyone who'll listen how amazing my kid is. :)

Aubrey's first "selfie," taken with my phone. I was holding it and she pushed the button!

 -Keli

March 7, 2014

Still kickboxing after all this time.

So, how's everyone doing?  It's been a while, I know.  See, when our power came back on after the ice storm, our internet worked.  The cable line was down, but it worked.  Well, the cable people came to "fix" the line, and when they left our internet didn't work anymore.  We got the runaround from them for 12 days until someone finally showed up to actually fix it--took all of about 5 minutes.  Gah!  Anyway, we have internet again, so here I am to give y'all the low down on Feisty Pants.  Oh, and is she ever feisty.

Turn away for a second and suddenly your kid's not wearing pants.

She's walking like a pro now.  She doesn't want you to hold her hands (she'll snatch them away and tuck them so you can't get them), and she wants to go up and down steps by herself.  Um, no.  Her legs aren't even long enough to get up a step.  But, headstrong girl that she is, she wants to try.  She also likes to step on things while she's walking--toys, pinecones, other people's feet...whatever happens to lie in her path.  Godzilla baby.

"I know you aren't thinking about taking my blankie away, mama."

She did better at therapy this week--not nearly as much crying.  They like how she's walking, but she's still doing some little things that they don't like.  She's not picking things (food, small items) up with two fingers yet like most 16 month-olds would (and they know she's only technically 16 months old); they just want her to be caught up to her actual age and not her adjusted age.  The therapists say she'll get there though.  She's still not saying any actual words...we don't think.  She has said "dada," and it sounds like she's saying "bye-bye" on occasion.  When she's walking and falls on her tush, she'll get right back up and, we swear it sounds like this, say "it'sok, it'sok." It's pretty cute.

She's learning to brush her teeth, but obviously she already knows how since she's helping her mama.

 

I took this video of Aubrey walking around the house over a week ago, I guess.  She's even better now.  And yes, she's brandishing her weapon of choice, a big, red, plastic spoon. :)

-Keli

February 19, 2014

I know it's been a while, but the last couple of weeks have been crazy! Let's see...as far as Aubrey goes, she's doing great.  Went to the plastic surgeon so he could re-check her hemangiomas, and he's very pleased with how the one on her nose is doing.  He wants us to keep putting the cream on both of them and come back in a year.  He said by then, the one on her nose should be almost gone and they can laser the rest of it off.  He said they'd also take whatever was left of the one on her neck off then too.

playing at the park with dad

We went back to PT/OT today, and Aubrey cried for the first half of the hour.  Again, she was doing what they asked of her, but she wasn't happy about it.  The OT said they were going to try putting her up on a shoulder to comfort her for 30 seconds when she got upset, then get back to work.  She said that goes against every book she's read--they don't want to reinforce her when she's mad/upset by holding her in her favorite position.  But she also said that every child is different, and if this helps her calm down enough to do what they need to do with her, they'll try it.  They were very proud of her walking skills--she's gotten a lot better in the last week.

Leading the music at church

Our family adventure began, like it did for most people, last Tuesday night.  Adam had to work that night, so I was worried about him coming home Wednesday morning in the freezing rain.  Thankfully he got home fine, and Aubrey and I stayed home since the weather was bad and getting worse.  We watched the ice accumulate on the 1000 pine trees around our house; then we started to hear them crack.  We had power up until about 8pm Wednesday when a limb fell on the line from the road to our house. The power only partially went out, but neither the heat nor the refrigerator would run.  That meant we had to wake Aubrey up and to to the neighbors' house to spend the night (they still had power and have a wood-burning stove).  We had a nice warm place to stay, but since Aubrey had to be woken up, she thought she'd had a nice nap and would stay up a while.  She didn't go to sleep until about 1:30a.m., which means we didn't either.

Hanging on to her mama for dear life

Trees cracked all night and morning, and we surveyed the damage that afternoon. The house and my car were fine, praise the Lord, but Adam's patrol car wasn't so lucky.  A tree fell right across the top of it, crushing the roof and light bar and smashing the windshield.  It had to be towed away. We were without power until yesterday afternoon--the rest of the street got it back on Sunday, but the power company had to come put the line back into the side of our house and it took them awhile to get to us.  Poor Adam had to work nights all last weekend, so he slept in the cold house all day while Aubrey and I stayed warm at my parents' house. Thankfully we're all back together at home now; however, our yard looks like a tornado came through, so there will be many more days of cleanup.

She now knows how to turn lights off, and tries as often as possible.

Most importantly, out of everything, is this: today marks one year since Aubrey came home from the hospital! As Adam has said about things before, this year crawled by so fast.  We are blessed that she has been so healthy; the majority of babies born as early as she was are readmitted to the hospital at least once within a year of being discharged.  She's doing so well, and we couldn't ask for a more awesome baby.

Left: one year ago, the day she came home.  Right: today!

-Keli

February 5, 2014

The last blog post says that Aubrey had taken several steps--she's now up to about 10 or 12  as her top number of steps at a time.  We went back to therapy today (we were supposed to go last week but it was canceled because of the bad weather), and she only cried on and off this time, not half an hour straight.  She also did the things they asked her to, unlike last time when she flat out refused.  The OT said that she thought Aubrey COULD walk further than she does because she doesn't fall--she just stops and sits down like she's just done with it all.  She also said that she thinks Aubrey's fussing during therapy has to do with sensory overload; she thinks Aubrey doesn't like all that change at once.  New people, new toys making noise, other children making noise, the therapists asking her to do tough things that she hasn't done before...it's just a little too much sometimes.  We're going back next week so we can get back on our regular day and schedule, so hopefully going back so soon will make it easier.

She knows what the remote does and points it at the tv, the stinker.

Aubrey wasn't particularly impressed with the snow last week.  Thankfully that Wednesday and Thursday were Adam's normal days off, so he didn't have to work in all that mess.  I stayed home on Wednesday, so we all stayed snug and warm in our house most of the day.  We did bundle up that morning and take a walk around our neighborhood and let Aubrey touch the snow and stomp around in it a little.  She smacked her hand down into it them promptly shook it all off and gave me a look that said, "Are you kidding me with this stuff?" We got some cute pictures though. :)

Aubrey had her 15 month check up with the pediatrician last Monday: she weighs 15lb 13oz (so close to 16!) and is 28.5 inches long.  She's still on the charts for height at the 5th percentile, and still hasn't hit the chart for weight.  She's still growing just fine though according to the pediatrician, because her weight is still on the same curve as it has been since she was in the NICU.  The doctor was impressed with all her teeth and her almost-walking.  Aubrey took everything like a champ until the 2 shots came around (though she didn't appreciate having her ears looked in, either).  

Thankfully Adam's coat is big enough for two. :)

-Keli

January 22, 2014

 Aubrey is finally feeling better.  We got done with the 10 days of antibiotic this past Sunday, and her cough and runny nose are gone (yay!).  The antibiotic also gave her diarrhea (TMI, I know), so thankfully that's gone too.  She's up to eight teeth now--eight! AND...she has taken a few little steps several times over the last couple of days.  That's steps without holding on to anything.  She's still wobbly and unsure, but I have a feeling she's going to take off running before we know it.

Cutie in her hat, coat and shoes after swinging outside.

 Hopefully she'll be walking better by the time we go to therapy again next week.  We went last week, and the one word that best describes it is...DISASTER.  She hadn't been in about a month because they were closed for the holidays.  She cried for the first 30 minutes straight.  She wouldn't do anything they wanted her to do, so they put her in the swing to calm her down.  She still wasn't thrilled, but they did what they could. There were several times I almost went in and stopped the whole thing, but I knew that wouldn't help matters.  I was crying too by the time the hour was up and I got to hold Aubrey again.  Hopefully next week will be better!

To completely change the subject:

When Adam and I got married, neither one of us was so sure about doing the baby thing.  We both thought it was more fun to play with my nephew (just one was here at the time) and then send him home with his parents.  We thought we'd always want it to only be the two of us, to be able to go away for a weekend or two weeks easily, to not have to worry about fitting a baby's schedule around our schedule.  Obviously, time changed our minds, and, looking back, I'm glad.  As I sat rocking Aubrey to sleep a couple of nights ago, her head on my chest, her fingers scrunching her blankie over and over, her big brown eyes slipping under her heavy eyelids for longer periods of time, I realized that we would have missed so very much if we'd kept it to just the two of us.  There's nothing quite like having Aubrey lay her head on my shoulder or reach her hand up to pat my face.

I made it back to Sunday school at church this week for the first time since Aubrey was born.  It's just tough to get there in time between getting her fed and ready and us fed and ready and then making the 40 minute drive.  But, circumstances worked out today and what did the lesson happen to be about? The value of human life, from unborn children to the elderly.  It talked about how God knows each person from the moment they're conceived and pieces them together in the womb.  

I saw some friends get into a debate about abortion on Facebook (that bastion of common sense *insert sarcasm*). Now I'm not one to get into a debate over abortion laws in this country; for one thing, debating makes me ill. Nauseously ill. Secondly, I don't like to get into politics and make it about what the government makes it legal or illegal to do.  The fact is, in some states abortions can be performed up until 24 weeks gestation.  If someone would like to argue with me that a baby is not really a baby at 24 weeks, that it's just a "clump of cells" or a "fetus," I'd be glad to have a go with them.  I have a ton of physical evidence to the contrary. See the above pictures.

Okie dokie.  Jumping down from the soapbox. :)

-Keli

 P.S. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th pictures were taken by my boss, Sue.  She's been wanting Aubrey to be a model for a while now, and we finally got around to it.  I call these her 15.5-month-old-almost-12-month-old-portraits. :)

January 13, 2014

 Happy 2014!

This is her serious "don't bother me, I'm watching the evening news" face.

I can't believe it's 2014 already! And the 13th day of 2014 already!  Cripes!

Watch this video of Aubrey laughing her head off.  This is the only circumstance under which it is acceptable for her to not be able to breathe. ;)

Well, 2014 brought Aubrey's first sickness...she has a sinus infection.  It started out as a runny nose with a little fever (that came and went quickly) and cough...worry wart mama took her to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something serious.  Well, it was just a cold then, but it hung around and the cough got a lot worse.  We went back to the doctor this past Friday and ended up on an antibiotic.  That's just been REALLY so much FUN to try and get her to take the past few days...and we have 6 more days of it (10 in all).  I try to sneak it into her food, but she somehow uses her Spidey-sense and knows which spoonful it's in.  Plus all the coughing triggers her uber-sensitive gag reflex and that makes her throw up.  It's been an interesting week.  I'm just ready for the cough to vamoose.  She's still generally been her happy go-lucky self, but you can tell she's sick to death of me wiping her nose (I'm sick of it too, not to mention tired of being thrown up on). 

Reading a book with dad on a cold day.

Nothing else too exciting, I don't think.  We're still making laps around the house with her walker-toy--she hasn't  made the transition to walking yet, though when she's standing up it looks like she's going to take that step any second.  We head back to PT/OT on Wednesday, so we'll see what they have to say about her then.

-Keli