Thursday, April 30, 2009

4 and 5 month updates!

So I'm a bit behind...as usual!

4-month stats as of 3/26:
Weight: 12lbs 5oz
Length: 24.5in
Head: 39cm

We've determined our home scale is a couple of pounds heavy and our previous "guesstimations" at her weight were totally off!

We had to return to the pediatrician on 4/6 for some more constipation issues. Sophie began to have problems in Missouri but we weren't sure of the cause since she had been normal for a couple of months prior to our visit. On 4/5 she had a really hard BM with a bit of blood in her stool. I figured it was likely a tear but wanted some reassurance. I phoned the pedi's office and spoke with the on-call nurse. We discussed all possible scenarios and determined it was most likely a tear but we should bring Miss S in on Monday. As confirmed, it was a tear. Since she was already on cereal and doing well, the pediatrician suggested starting her on high-fiber fruits and vegetables, adding a bottle of half-strength juice, and using some suppositories to clear her out. This seemed to help a bit after the first week but then she was back to hard BMs and unable to go without the aid of a suppository. Fun! Back to the pediatrician AGAIN! Now we're trying Miralax (stool softener) to keep things soft so her rectal muscles have a chance to return to normal. As of now, they're stretched out causing things to build up since she can't push things out as normal.

5 month weight as of 4/29: 13lbs, 15oz.

In her Easter best.
Easter ended up being quite cool so her cute sleeveless number had to be swapped with this outfit.

Milestones and accomplishments from the past two months:
-first audible laugh on March 13th. Grandma was tickling her neck.
-rolls over from back to tummy (and back again). The girl is QUICK!
-scoots when she's on her tummy
-can move objects from hand to hand
-will pick up and maneuver the pacifier to her mouth
-she now laughs in anticipation of being tickled
-she's discovered the dogs. Cutest darn thing EVER! She giggles at them and stares in fascination. (Pictures coming soon!)
-she grabs her feet
-she can sit, unassisted, for 1-2 minutes before falling over
-shes loves, loves, LOVES her food. Since we're avoiding constipating foods she's had: peas, green beans, squash, pears, peaches, and prunes. She seems to love green beans and pears the most but gets excited with all of them.
Yummy! Peas!

She's also learned to drink from a straw and try to grab the food from my fork. Last week, I'd stopped for a milkshake on the way home from running errands. I sat down at home with Little Miss S on my lap. As I took a sip of my milkshake she pulled the drink toward her. She was playing with the straw but I didn't think much of it at the time. Next thing I know, she has the straw in her mouth sucking away!! The little goober ended up drinking some of my milkshake. She was very proud of herself, bearing a giant grin, when I pulled the straw away.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

National Infertility Awareness Week

It's National Infertility Awareness Week. Please take the time to become more aware of infertility and the pain it causes many couples.


While I may be considered a recovering or "cured" infertile, I'm not. Infertility still affects my life and will affect us again as soon as we're ready to try to bring another life into this world. "Relaxing" will not cure infertility. Taking a vacation will not cure infertility. Adoption will not cure infertility. All we ask for is compassion, sensitivity, and common sense. If you've had lots of success becoming pregnant or you sister's neighbor's brother's wife did such and such, good for them but we've likely already tried it.

And with the latest splash of Infertility Specialists making the news thanks to Octomom just know we're NOT trying to be her. We just want to experience the love and joy ONE child could bring us.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

A New Sign?

We're working on sign language with Little Miss S but this one isn't in our repertoire.
I think she was trying to tell me she was fed up with all the photos!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy 5 months!

Happy 5-month Birthday to the best thing to happen to my life in a long time!
I love your smiles and it warms my heart when you give me a big grin the minute you see me walk into a room.
I love you Sophie Grace!

-XOXO Momma

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Hello, Blog World!

This is me, coming up for air, after what seems like weeks of endless time-sucking activities. I'll fill you in and, hopefully, along the way I'll share some pictures.

First up: Our trip:
We had a good time. There were numerous battles over whose turn it was to hold Sophie. Between Grandma, two sets of Aunts and Uncles, four cousins, numerous "honorary Aunts" and the multitude of friends, Y and I stood no chance of spending any time with our daughter. Little Miss S was spoiled rotten, not only with gifts, but the onslaught of attention. She was held, daily, for her naps, entertained constantly by her cousins who were head over heels for her, and the center of everyone's attention. No one cared that Y and I were there, S was the star of the show. And, really, who can blame them? But then again, I'm biased.

Sophie and her Aunt Amanda and Uncle Dave


The Grandkids all together. L to R: Justin (16), Kiana (11), Sophie, Danielle (16) and Mariah (12).

Sophie with Aunt Angie, Uncle Jonathan and cousins Justin, Mariah, and Kiana

Grandma and Sophie.

A note about my Mom. She was released from the hospital just 3 days prior to our arrival. She had pneumonia and was on the mend - she was definitely worn down!



Grumpy, Sleepy, Dopey and Sneezy:
Turns out, not spending much time with my daughter ended up being a good thing. On the second day in Missouri I ended up sick. Sore throat, ear ache, stuffy nose, sneezy...you name it, I had it. I was worried it was turning into strep or something similar so I did my best to not infect everyone. I thought I was doing a good job of this until the Friday before our flight back. Sophie was getting a snotty nose and by Saturday it was full-blown. We didn't have our super snot sucker nasal aspirator with us so I had to rely on whatever was handy to clean out her nose a bit. This included burp cloths, napkins, my shirt, my fingers, etc. The poor bug looked miserable but remained in decent spirits. A few days later, just in time for Y to head back to work, he got it. Just when I thought I was done, I got the sore throat and ear aches a second time. I swear it was the Land of the Germed around here!

Don't let this picture fool you. This was day 2 of Super Cold. I felt miserable!



See Kai Run!

Prior to leaving for Missouri, I had entered a contest on Babble for a pair of Smaller Shoes from See Kai Run. I was SO excited when I found out I'd won! Just a few days after we'd returned home, the shoes had arrived. Sophie is now the proud owner of the Lisa shoe.


Aren't these the cutest shoes?! And the best part is they were FREE! Many thanks to Babble and See Kai Run for this fabulous prize!


The Rest of the Story:

We also had Sophie's 4-month check-up when we returned. All was well. I'll actually do a seperate 4-month update...now that she's days from being 5 months old! We've also been dealing with sleep and more constipation issues. I'll detail those in the 4-month post. In addition to all of this I've had a huge work deadline (have I mentioned I only work when Little Miss naps? Sleep issues = no work time for Momma), I was summoned for jury duty (was excused, thank goodness) and Y got a flat tire while out running errands last week. Ahhh, gotta love those unexpected expenses!

While you await the 4-month update (you're on the edge of your seats..I can tell!), I'll leave you with some of the activities Sophie enjoyed while we visited family and friends:

There were walks with the cousins:

Storytime. Lots of storytime:

And her favorite activity of the week? The Wii, of course!

More updates to come! Have a great weekend!