Just the Facts

We are back from a great doctors appointment and all is well with Little E. We just had her EI eval so we just breezed by her developmental milestone stuff. She is behind in most areas but not by much. The exception of expressive language but we know that already. She is healthy as a horse and charmed the pants off the doctor. She weighed in at 18lbs 4oz (the 31st percentile), is 26.5 inches long (the 20th percentile), and her head circumference is 18.5 cm (my baby has a big noggin at 60th percentile). She had to get one shot and barely cried just a little yelp and then nothing. It is always great to get a good check up. In 9 months Little E has gained almost 16 pounds, pretty impressive for a baby who for the first few months we measured her growth in grams. Good thing we just ordered the convertible car seat...her bucket only goes to 20 lbs!

Have a great weekend everyone!

PS There is a great deal on amaz.on for the Britax Boulevard. The moonstone pattern is 21% off with an additional 15% off at checkout! If you are in the market for a great seat I would check it out!

Fun

This week has been so much fun. It makes me so excited about my summer vacation and weeks of spending all day everyday with my girl! We have been so busy with exciting adventures every day, it has been heaven.

The big news of the week is that Little E has moved into her own room. We decided to move her prior to the official end of RSV season (May 1st) so that we could sleep train her and transition her to her crib while I didn't have to go into work. It has gone so well! The first night she was up about 6 times but she was able to be soothed back to sleep without having to pick her up or bring her back to our room. The next nights she has either slept throughout he night or has woken up once or twice and put herself back to sleep. While I miss having my bumble bee right next to me in bed I know all of us are sleeping better. E is even napping better and has been in a super mood all week. Because of this we have been able to follow through on all the exciting things we had planned.

Saturday we left the house early for NH to pick up Mimi (Shazam's mom) and continue on to Great Mimi (Big E) and Great Buba's house. We had not been since my last vacation and it was great to see them enjoying Little E and all her cuteness. She played on the floor, smiled, and showed them all her new tricks. She was happy and sociable the whole time. We returned to Shazam's parents in the afternoon and stayed through dinner. E was able to sleep during all our drives so she was very well rested.




We had planned on going for a visit to the NICU on Monday but since the Boston Marathon was being run straight through our route to the hospital we decided to go on Sunday. It was a great visit. Our primary nurse Traci was there and it is always great to see her. I swear E totally recognizes her voice and went right to her and was all smiles. While some people find it really stressful to go back and visit the nicu I have the totally opposite reaction. I love going. I feel so connected to the place that made it possible to be a mom, which saved Little E's life, the place we became a family. It also helps remind me of how lucky we are to have our wonderful Little E strong and growing with us.




While we were waiting for Traci to come out to the waiting room Little E started making eyes at a group in the waiting room. They were surprised to hear that she was a NICU graduate. They were shocked to hear that E was a 30 weeker and only weighed 2 pounds 5 ounces at birth. The group was there to visit their 32 week grandchildren/nieces that were born that weekend. They all had that fresh to the NICU glaze on their faces. It felt good to be able to see some relief on their faces to see that those tiny (3 and 4 pound babies) that they were peering at in plastic boxes would hopefully grow and become chubby healthy babies like Little E. When E was in the hospital I can't tell you how many times I looked at the before and after photo collages hanging on the walls of the nicu. It gave me hope on even the darkest days that those babies made it and so would E. I hope seeing Little E helped that family like the photo collages helped me.

Monday we took a walk to our favorite coffee shop and grabbed lunch and iced lattes. Little E loved watching the people come in and out and I think she smiled and flirted with every person who passed her by.

Wednesday I got my hair cut and colored. I have not colored my hair since my wedding and have only gotten 2 haircuts since E was born. It was so nice to be pampered and I do say I look pretty cute too.

Today we took Little E to her playgroup. She had one moment where she was a little unsure of being there and stuck her bottom lip out momentarily but she settled in quite well and played with the toys and had a good time. She loved the music part as usual and was very vocal. It was so great to put faces to the names that Shazam talks about every week.

After playgroup we went for a quick bite to eat and E did wonderfully. She is really liking sitting in a high chair and checking out everything around her. It doesn't hurt to supply her with puffs either.

Tomorrow Grammie is coming to watch Little E and Shazam and I are going to get pedicures. I am so excited about this as my feet need some pampering. With my new hair and my new toes I will be all set for summer. Later in in the day Little E has her 9 month doctors appointment. I can not wait to see how much the little porker weighs. Saturday we are going to the sheep sheering festival that is happening in town. Sunday wraps up my vacation with a birthday party for a friend's child.

I am sad to see my vacation ending but I am looking forward to getting back to work. Only 35 more school days until summer vacation begins. The sooner I get back the sooner it will be Little E, Shazam, and Super Sammy G back together for the whole summer! Since we totally missed last summer while Little E was in the hospital I am so looking forward to 4th of July celebrations, P-town, and the Lake!

Vacation!!!

Two years ago today Shazam and I were on a plane sipping champagne on the way to our honeymoon in Curacao. We frolicked in the sun, saw the sights, ate yummy food, sipped on fruity mixed drinks, relaxed and had dreamed of getting pregnant and start our family.

Last year we were on a plane on our way to Puerto Rico for our babymoon! We frolicked in the sun, saw the sights, ate fancy resort food, sipped on fruity mixed drinks (well at least Shazam did), relaxed and dreamed about how our lives would change with the birth of our first child.

This year we are staying home. It is supposed to rain on and off all week and only reach the low 60s on our warmest day, we had pasta and sauce for dinner with a glass of milk, our days of relaxing are over, but our dreams have come true in our wonderful Little E!

Seems to me that the next 9 days will be the best April vacation that I have ever had! We have lots of little adventures planned and some appointments scheduled so our week is pretty booked. Tomorrow we are off the Great Mimi and Great Buba's house for a visit. Monday we are going to go to the hospital for a visit with our favorite NICU nurses. Thursday I have an appointment to get my hair cut and colored. Friday Little E has her 9 month doctor's appointment. Nothing special, nothing tropical, but I am looking forward to every wonderful minute with my Little E!

Two Years!

Today is our second anniversary. This last year together has truly shown me that Shazam is my soul mate and that I couldn't ask for a better wife, best friend, and partner. We have been through the best of times and the worst this past year. Pregnancy, job loss, premature birth, and parenting and I we have come out the other side with our relationship stronger than ever. Last year we celebrated our anniversary with a fancy romantic dinner this year it was a table for three with shift eating and a high chair. It was the best. I have everything I have ever wanted my wife and my daughter. There are no words to really express how much I love Shazam. She is my world. Here is to many more years of being a family. Kisses my love.

Busy Saturday

What was going to be a chill Saturday actually turned into a crazy Saturday. A good Saturday but busy. We did have a lazy morning but we decided to go to the mall mainly to hit the Hannah. Anderson store. If you are not familiar with their clothes you should be! The clothes are adorable and we love a pair of pjs that were handed down to us that we wanted to get a couple more. This was also a significant trip because it was actually our first trip to a mall with E. I know it sounds nuts but when it's RSV season, you have a preemie, and your pediatrician tells you to avoid places with a lot of people/germs well you just don't go to malls. So we had a nice afternoon strolling around the mall and then we hit Babies. R Us on the way home because we needed diapers and a few other things. We went home, fed E, and put E down for a nap because we had such a busy afternoon.

The day didn't actually end there. SSG and I must have been feeling a bit cocky and felt like we could push it a bit because we decided we really wanted to go out to eat to celebrate E's 9-month milestone. Plus, truth be told, SSG really wanted lobster. The poor woman didn't get to have one last summer because well E arrived early. Just as a side-note SSG LOVES lobster and she can rip one apart and devour in the most efficient way. It's disturbing and impressive at the same time. So we went to this casual-type place that is very well known for it's seafood. We packed up the girl and off we went. The food was great though SSG and I didn't actually eat together. While one was eating the other one was basically walking E around. One thing about Little E. She NEVER stops moving which is scary considering she's not officially crawling (though she drags her body around so who needs crawling?) or walking. She is one squirmy kid and just wants to move. It was fine and you just deal with it. As I said "It is what it is". We had a great time, E didn't have a meltdown, and overall it was a great day.

At one point SSG and I decided that we should just consider it our 2nd Anniversary dinner as well. We had planned on going out just the two of us but it's an expense that we just can't take on right now. I just found out today I have exhausted my unemployment and may be able to get an extension come May 15th. Great. My stress level has shot up today. Thanks to Congress like taking a freakin break and going on their big, expensive vacations benefits are kind of on hold. I'm not quite sure how it's going to work out but I do know there won't be any lobster any time soon.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Speech

We decided to stay in EI. I was just not ready to give it up. I guess I am still a bit worried about E falling further behind in speach and in the areas she was scoring at 7 months at. I guess I would rather be safe than sorry and not let things fall through the cracks. I am going to talk with the speech path at work to see if she has any ideas about boosting her expressive language. Any insight you guys may have is welcome.

We have a pretty laid back weekend planned. A friend is coming over tonight for dinner and a visit. Sat I will probably go to yoga and do some errands. Ella turns 9 months tomorrow. How the hell is that possible. Seems like tomorrow it will be a year. Where the hell did my baby go???? Sunday we have no plans but I am thinking of asking my parents to come and watch Ella so we can get pedis! Monday is our aniversary so watch out for some mush of a post.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm Back

It has been a busy few weeks here and I have been so neglecting the blog. Sorry dear readers. Little E has been keeping us pretty busy and the job is kicking my ass. In the past weeks when ever I am not playing with little E I am pretty much in a sleep deprived stupor not able to blog or carry on an adult conversation for that matter.

Little E is still sleeping like crap ok that may be a bit of an over dramatization but she is still getting up at least one time each night and often will not settle back down until we put her in bed with us. I know that we could probably get her back down in the pack n play but at 4 am I am willing to go anything just to get back to sleep. Truth be told I also enjoy getting to snuggle up with her for a few hours. I got gypped out of 2.5 months of snuggle time and am still trying to make up for it. Our doctor wanted us to wait until the end of RSV season before moving her out of our room and I am happy to report that we only have a little over 3 weeks left. I am thinking of asking at her 9 month appointment if we can move her during my April vacation that is coming up. I think it will be better to make the transition when I don't have to go to work the next morning. I have a feeling that we all will sleep better when she is in her crib.

Last week E had her Early Intervention evaluation. I was really nervous about how E would do. Since she had been having some really bad stranger anxiety we were a little worried about how she would do with the evaluators. E did fantastic though and was her charming cute self with the two women who did the eval. We have not gotten the written report yet but we did get her scores and there were no real surprises in how Little E did. For the most part she scored at 7 months which is a one month delay ( I can't remember all the categories and will post the details when we get the report). She scored at 6 months (2 month delay)in expressive language since she isn't making consonant sounds. Excitedly she scored at 9 months (one month ahead) in two categories one was receptive language (I can't remember the other one). The evaluators also needed to check on one of the tests for gross motor since she was not putting her arm out when they tried to push her over from a sitting position which may put her at 6 months for gross motor. Over all I am really pleased with E's progress. She is scoring between her actual and adjusted age which is pretty awesome for a 30 weeker at this point. She seems to be closing the the gap which makes me very happy.

What all this means is that she still qualifies for E.I. since you need a delay of 2 months in one category (for E it is expressive language and possibly gross motor). We need to decide whether or not to keep having services though since they don't do speech therapy on 9 month olds. Since we don't get any other therapies (pt or ot) we would just continue with our weekly visits with our E.I. case worker. Although we love her we just don't know if it is worth our time or hers. One question we need answered is if they will automatically re evaluate her in 6 months if we don't accept services at this time. I would really like to see her get another eval to make sure she is still progressing and catching up.

I am pretty amazed at how fast E has been able to hit some of her milestones. Our case worker about a month ago said that she really wanted to see E sitting by herself by the end of 8 months and as of last week she is really sitting all by herself. She is so steady now that I have no problem letting her sit and play with her toys for long periods of time without worrying about her tipping over. She is even getting smoother at getting from sitting to her belly. She still is doing a bit of a face plant but it is getting much better. She is also rocking so much on her hands and knees, she looks like she is getting ready to take off in a full crawl soon. She has been pulling herself around in an army crawl for a while now and if she really wants to get going she can move pretty fast.

This weekend was wonderful weather and since I had Friday off we had a busy three days. We went to the zoo on Friday, hung out in Davis Sq in Sommerville on Sat, and celebrated Easter with my family on Sunday. We are slowly trying to get E out of her isolation and back into the real world. I don't think our RSV hibernation did good things for E's social development. Since she will be going to daycare in September we need her socialized so we are all not traumatized by the experience. I will leave you with some pictures of Ella on her adventures.