Another Month Goes By

Today, Suzie is nine months old! I know we say this every month, but we can hardly believe how big she is getting. Here are her stats for her adjusted age of 6 months:

Weight: 13 lbs 14 ounces (9th percentile)
Height: 26.5 inches (67th percentile)
She's long and skinny just like her Daddy!

In honor of Suzie’s 9 month birthday, I decided to post 9 of Suzie’s favorite things:

1. Baby Einstein
This one can be a lifesaver at times. When I really need to get something done and she is crying unless I am holding her, I just pop in a Baby Einstein video for her and she is immediately mesmerized by it. This video is of Daddy using Baby Einstein to appease her.


2. Her Hands and Feet
She loves her hands because they assist her in putting many things into her mouth. And even if she doesn't have an object, just putting her fingers in her mouth will do. She can also be entertained by just watching them. She also loves to play with her feet and has finally started using her right hand to play with them! You can see her playing with her feet in the video above.

3. Daddy
Every day when daddy comes home, Suzie has a special Daddy smile for him. It is so precious! He is definitely one of her two favorite people! Here’s a little video of her have a nice little chat with Daddy.


4. Sweets!
Suzie is a fabulous eater! I am so encouraged. Ever since I introduced fruit to her, she can’t seem to get the food into her mouth fast enough. She’ll even grab the spoon and shove it into her mouth. I guess she has a sweet tooth like mommy:) I give her half a jar of veggies and half a jar of fruit, two times a day. She eats it up within minutes!


5. Her Reflection
Just recently, Suzie has started to notice her reflection in the mirror. We’ll go up to the mirror and she’ll look at me in the mirror and smile and then notice herself in the mirror and just start laughing!


6. Burrito Girl
Suzie is very dependent on being swaddled in order to sleep. The hospital swaddled her nonstop so I kept it up when we got home, and now she cannot sleep unless she is very tightly swaddled. Once she gets her arms and legs out, she rolls over and is all done sleeping. It has become very tricky now that she rolls so much. We have to double swaddle her and try to wedge her into her bed so she can’t squirm so much! Here she is getting ready for a nap. We call her Burrito Girl!

7. Jungle Tunnel
This continues to be one of her favorite toys. I can bust out the Jungle Tunnel and she’ll grab at the toys and gab while I make dinner. She really squirms around in there too. Sometimes when I glance over, she’ll be halfway in the tunnel!


8. Mobile
Another lifesaver! Suzie just loves to watch the little animals go around and around. All of her babysitters take advantage of this one. They can distract her for a little while and make her forget that Mommy isn’t around.


9. Mommy
That brings us to probably her favorite thing…Mommy! And it is such a joy to my heart to have such a special bond with her. She loves to study Mom’s face, play peek-a-boo, be tickled, and just sit with and be held by Mommy. She is getting better at being held by other people, which is very good, but she’s still a Momma’s girl. I don't care for this pic of me, but her expression is so cute, I had to post it!

In this pic, I had just jumped out from around the door and yelled, "Boo!" She always laughs and squirms with glee when I do that.

She's has many other favorite things, but I just stuck with these nine for now. I guess that was a lot:) We’re doing great and praising God every day for His incredible kindness to us!

Easter

We had such a nice first Easter together. Suzie still can't go to church (hopefully by the end of the month!), but Kyle and I got to go to the Good Friday service together at our church which was such a blessing. Then on Easter Sunday, we went to my parents' house for a wonderful meal and a great time with family. Here is a video of Suzie's precious Easter outfit:

Kyle's mom was able to come into town last week and it was wonderful to have her here! By the end of the week, Suzie had completely warmed up to her and was sad to see her go:( Here are some pics of her time with Nana.


Also, Suzie can now sit by herself for a few seconds before toppling over. She doesn't know quite how to catch herself when she starts to fall, so we have to be there to soften her fall...or we let her sit on the bed where there's a nice soft landing:)


One really good piece of news is that we will be having less doctor appointments as of now! She no longer has to see her pulmonary specialist and she received her last RSV vaccination. Her pediatrician will also go a couple of months without seeing her now, so we will be traveling to Pasadena a few times less each month. We go to our NICU reunion in May and are very excited to see some of the babies that were in the NICU with Suzie. That's all for now!

Fun with Suzie

Suzie has just been so much fun lately. She smiles, laughs, talks, and wiggles all the time. She is usually in a good mood as long as she gets her naps in. She still is overwhelmed by other people, but will warm up to them after a little bit. She is getting stronger and closer to sitting up on her own. Her arms are still pretty weak so we're working on her being able to put weight on her arms to help her sit up. She loves to play with her toes and loves playing peek-a-boo with mommy. We have two big appointments this month, one for her eyes and one with the Neurosurgeon. So I'll be sure to post an update with any info. Here are some recent pics of our big girl.

Getting better with her right hand!

Just about to roll off the couch:)

Hi mom!

Suzie's new big girl bath tub

So tired!

Her funny "morning hair."

Yummy, Sweet Potatoes!

Here is a sweet video of Suzie eating her sweet potatoes. She has become such a good little eater. She doesn't care for the rice cereal, but seems to really enjoy her vegetables. She is getting faster at eating and is now taking 1/2 a jar twice a day. She looks like such a big girl in her high chair! Also, her new favorite thing to do is to blow raspberries. You can see her blowing a couple of them in the video. Click here to see the video on You Tube.

A Day in the Life of Suzie

This is Suzie’s schedule on a day we are home all day:

8:30am Wake up & eat
9:00am Play time!
10:00am Nap time
12:00pm Wake up & eat
12:30pm Hang out with mommy while I get things done
1:30pm Go for a walk and take a nap
3:30pm Wake up & eat
4:00pm Bath and play time
5:00pm Nap time!
7:00pm Wake up and eat
7:30pm Special Daddy time
8:30pm Bed time
10:30pm Last feeding
11:00pm Down for the night

Wouldn’t it be nice if she really stuck to this schedule? She usually takes one or two really good naps every day, and two shorter naps. So she’ll wake up earlier than she’s supposed to and we have to try to get her to go back to sleep or put on Baby Einstein for her. She loves Baby Einstein! Also, ever since she started rolling, she squirms right out of her swaddle and wakes up earlier in the morning than she is supposed to. Silly girl. Sometimes I bring her into bed with me and she'll go back to sleep. When she gets good sleep, she is just as happy as can be:)

Just how many days a week are we home all day to stick to this wonderful schedule? Not many! Here is the list of all the other things we have on our plate that throw off our day:

-Physical Therapy (every Wednesday at 10:30am—we go to Valencia)
-Occupational Therapy (every Friday at 9:45am—she comes to us)
-Child Development (every Tuesday at 1:00pm—she comes to us)
-RSV Shot (once a month in Pasadena)
-Pediatrician Visit (once a month in Pasadena)
-Pulmonary Specialist (once ever three weeks in Pasadena)
-Ophthalmologist (once every two months in Pasadena)
-Neurosurgeon (once every two to three months in Pasadena)
-Hunting Hospital Follow up (once every several months)
-Visit Auntie Deece in Palmdale (every other week)
-Visit Auntie Joy in Valencia (once a week)
-Run errands with Mommy (once a week)
-Bible Study (every other week)
-Random events like Weddings, baby showers, Juniors events, getting together with friends etc. (once a week)

So you can see, we are rarely home all day for Suzie to have her perfect little schedule. I do my best to stay home when I can or put her down for a nap if we are at someone’s home. We have to be careful that she isn’t around anyone who is sick, but it is good for her to be around other people and to not be too sheltered so we can build up her immune system even in a small way.

Her new thing is to cry as soon as she sees her therapist. She doesn't want to work at all! But if I hold her for the first part of it, we can usually get her to calm down a little. She is doing great with the therapy. Her right side is still very tight. Still not sure if this is neurological or just muscular. But the Lord knows, and we pray every day for her continual development and for us to trust Him and be grateful to Him no matter what happens.

Here are our most recent family pictures (courtesy of Kim Small:)

Pray for the Nelsons

Our friend Victoria sent us the following email this morning. Our hearts go out to them as they endure this very long and painful trial with their sweet daughter, Moriah. Please join us in praying that God would heal Moriah if He wills. Pray for strength and encouragement for Justin and Victoria, that they would cling to God, honor Him, be a light to those around them, and through His Holy Spirit, would be able to experience joy even in this time.

Here is the email Victoria sent:

A while back, our family friend, Gina, emailed me about doing a prayer vigil for Moriah. After Moriah almost stopped breathing this morning, I really felt led to do this now.

Please join me in purposeful prayer this weekend in praying for my little girl. In whichever way you feel led, let us lift Moriah up to the Lord together, and pray for the source of this infection to be found, and for it to be resolved. For guidance and wisdom for the Nurses and Doctors...if any other tests need to be done or repeated...that they would know what to do to help Moriah get better.

In Jesus' name I pray for my daughter to be healed, and that this infection would be done - once and for all.

Email, text, call anyone you think would join us in this. Thank you all so much for your love and support. Will continue to update.

Love,
Victoria
www.momentswithmoriah.blogspot.com

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

Suzie is eight months old today, five months adjusted. Her appointment on Monday was so good! She did cry when I undressed her to get weighed, but since she didn't need any shots, I was able to get her to calm down fairly quickly. Our doctor recommended we do have her get the RSV shot next month since the cold and flu season hit late this year. She also suggested we wait another month before taking her to church. This was a little sad, since we really look forward to being able to go to church as a family. But we really haven't had to limit her activities all that much, so we are very thankful for that.

One fun new thing is that we get to start her on solid foods! The past few days we have been giving her rice cereal with her morning feeding. She always has a puzzled look on her face and it seems like her little tongue pushes out everything I try to put in her mouth. She doesn't quite know what to make of it. She must be eating more than I think though because she will only take about half of what she normally eats from her bottle. If she does well with the cereal for the next week, we will add a veggie and then a fruit. Everything else looked great! She is growing and developing so nicely and we praise God.

Here are her 8 month stats (percentiles are for her adjusted age of 5 months old):
Weight: 13 lbs. 6 oz (16th percentile)
Height: 25.5 inches (55th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.3 inches (29th percentile)

She's still not quite on the charts for her actual age, but she's getting closer! All of the sudden she looks SO big to us! Since we have a portable crib for her, she is starting to fill it up. And her feet now hang off her swing. She is starting to wear 3-6 month clothes, but still in a lot of 0-3 month stuff as well. Since her torso is long and her legs are short, she is able to wear 0-3 month pants and sleepers but needs 3-6 month onesies.

Lately, Suzie has become quite a momma's girl. Sometimes she does okay with other people. But her new thing is to get really fussy when someone else tries to hold her. The other day she was in such a sweet mood. Then her therapist came over and the minute she touched her she became quite fussy. She struggled the whole time the therapist was here and the minute she left, Suzie went back to her sweet smiley mood. Her past several therapy sessions were a bit of a struggle. When we went to my sister's house yesterday, she was a mess for part of the time and very sweet for half of the time. The same thing happened last night when Kyle's sister was here. I have had a few friends over and it's the same story. Sometimes she stops crying as soon as I hold her, and other times she doesn't stop until we are alone. Sigh. I am thankful my little girl loves me, but at the same time, I hope she outgrows this phase quickly!

Thank you all for your prayers for Suzie and also for the funding for her therapy. They did end up cutting the budget for her services, but thankfully they are going to continue the program. They are going to be stricter on what children actually need and no new children will be accepted to the program until a current child leaves. So we made it in just in time! Her hours may end up being cut back a little, but she will continue to receive this much needed therapy, so we are so thankful to God for his mercy.

Well, this post ended up being very long! Thanks for following our sweet girl and for continuing to pray for us!