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