Therapy and more therapy

On Monday, Miss Judy was here to play with me, and she had a neat toy. It's all soft and feels nice on my hands, and it makes a fun noise, too. She put me a bunch of pillows around me so I could see things better and play a little, but I don't like that so much. Mommy says if I learn how to do it, they call it sitting, then I'll like it. I'm not sure she knows about that though.


On Tuesday, Miss Robin came. She made me do some sitting too. She was telling Mommy how she wants me to practice this, and I just kept wondering why she wants me to do this so much. But then when I tried to do it with this ball to help me, it wasn't so bad.

Church friends, pictures, and silliness

Today after church, lots of people came up to see me and Grandma C. Miss Jo came over to give me hugs. She's tough like me when it comes to hospitals and doctors and stuff, so we had stuff to talk about. Everyone is always so nice at Grandpa John's church.... Hi South Side friends!

After we left church, the whole family put on shirts with my name on them that Grandma C and Miss Karen got for all of us, and we took a picture. I can't show it to you yet, because it's going to be used later by Grandma C and Grandpa J... so you'll have to wait. But here's our little family part of it. I was pretty tired of smiling.

For some reason, somebody thought I should sit on Cooper. He didn't seem to mind, so that's good, but I thought my hand was still the better entertainment.

We went to Miss Cindy's again after the pictures, and we had lunch and played over there. I didn't get in the pool this time, but we sat and watched the others play for a while before we came home. It's always nice to be over there. Thanks Miss Cindy!!! Hi Snugs and Dudley! (That's her cute doggies.)

When we got home from the long trip, I played with Pop a bit. It was really fun.

Tonight Grammy Jan, Papa Beagle, and Auntie Julia come to visit for the whole week! They're gonna help Mommy do alot of things and they're gonna play with me a whole bunch. I'll tell you more about that later.

Miss Karen's the best!

This weekend we went back to St. Louis. I know! It's been alot of driving lately. But this time it was to see Miss Karen, and that's really worth the trip. She moved back to Kansas, and we miss her alot, but we know she'll be having a good time with all her old friends. Mommy says I should say "old" friends, but I think she knows what I mean.

We got to play, and we talked about some stuff. I showed her my new tricks and she was pretty impressed I think.

I also spent plenty of time playing with the rest of the gang. They had just seen me, though, so they didn't seem as impressed with my tricks this time. Grandma C fed me some yummy bananas, and Uncle Levi makes a great comfy chair!

Tonight we played some games, and Uncle Levi played with my yellow bunny too. I didn't know it could do these tricks, but I think it's going to teach me how to do them too. Won't everyone be impressed!?!

Grandma C is always ready to play with me, and I just don't get tired of it very often. I was showing her how I can pull myself up with only a little help. I even got to chew on her hand a little, which is one of my favorite things.

Retropost: Almost caught up

07/25 and 07/26/07

I'm almost done with doing these stories from this last week. Me and Mommy were so busy that I didn't have time to keep up. I'm sorry about that! I'll try to do better.

On Wednesday, I went to see Miss Luann. She tries to get me to eat better. This time, she played with me alot with weird things on my mouth. One of them was a funny looking little green thing that shook back and forth really, really fast. It felt kind of neat on my tongue. Miss Luann said most kids don't let her do it so much, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Miss Luann told Mommy I like foods with stronger flavor. I'm not sure what that means. But Mommy says I get to start trying new things, better than regular baby food. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Thursday we went to Toro with Connor and his mom and dad. Miss Martha wasn't there, so that was sad. Soon I'll get to try beans, but not quite yet.

Retropost:St. Louis trip #24

07/22 and 07/23/07

We go to St. Louis alot so I can see doctors and stuff, and we get to see Grandma C and Grandpa J most of the trips too. This time we got to have some extra fun times.

On Sunday, I started by taking an early nap with Pop.

Then Grandma C got me dressed and ready for church.

After church, we went to Miss Cindy's house to play in the pool.

I hung out most of the time with Grandma C, but I did get in the pool for a little bit with Mommy. The water was pretty cold for me though. I napped for a while by the pool too.

On Monday, I had to go back to the hospital for a test or something. It wasn't so bad at all. I didn't hardly notice they were doing anything. Here's what they used on me.

Pop talked to me while we were waiting.

We parked on the Zebra this time.

It didn't rain as much as it did on Thursday when we were here before. Here's what Pop looked like on that day when he went to get the car.

Retropost: Fun with the F family

7/20 and 7/21/2007

While Pop went with his brothers and Grandpa J for a getaway, Mommy and me picked up Auntie Rachel and went to see Grammy Jan and Papa Beagle and the Squeaks. (That's what Mommy and the older ones call Aunties Julia and Joy and Uncle Ryan, because they are alot younger...but they don't look young to me. They're big kids, 18, 16, and 12 by the end of this year.) These are just some pictures of us playing and stuff at their house.

Papa Beagle got down on the floor with me while I was napping. Auntie Joy likes to talk to her friends on the computer alot!

Auntie Julia played with me some while Mommy was making me practice my exercises.

I didn't like being on the Boppy that way, so I figured out how to roll even on it! Mommy was surprised that I could do it.

Mommy makes me practice sitting up, and I don't much like it. But I did try a little, and she was happy about that.

After all that work, I took a bath with Grammy Jan in the kitchen! I even practiced sitting in there. All that warm water felt so good!

We didn't get to stay very long, but it was nice to see them. Grammy Jan also worked with me on eating, and she made me some yummy carrots and let me eat a real banana that she mushed, and I liked it! I'm sure I'll practice some more when Grammy, Papa Beagle, and Auntie Julia come to spend the week with us next week.

Mommy report: Long weekend, short biopsy

We're home, and I apologize for the long break in posts. Braska's been busy being a curious little one, and I've been trying not to drown in my to-do list. The weekend went pretty well overall...lots of family visiting, some laughs, alot of driving for me and Braska.

The biopsy on Monday morning went well too. Super quick, and she didn't even flinch. She's such a tough little cookie. We'll get the results later this week, I think.

Alot of tough decisions to make right now, so that's the foremost priority at present. Prayers for wisdom in all things would be appreciated. I don't really think a win-win situation is so much one of our options anymore, so it's time to decide what's most important.

I promise lots of pics in the next day or so... today, I'm not feeling the greatest, so I'll probably be sneaking in mini-naps whenever a free minute presents itself.

Mommy report: Good GI appointment

We met Dr. R, the pediatric gastroenterologist, today for consulation regarding the G-tube. My issues with it are really just trying to determine how to decide when it's time to look that direction. He was very informative about what it entails and it's risks and benefits. But the good news is that he said, although she would be a candidate, she is not at the point where she NEEDS to go that route. That's good, as far as I'm concerned. Since she is not having any necrosis concerns in the nose or throat, and since she doesn't seem to eat or nurse any differently when the tube is in or out, we are not at the point where we need to get the NG out for good right away.

She has eaten (breastfed) much better the last few days, so that is encouraging. She was going to spend this upcoming week with Grammy Jan so I could get some much-procrastinated work done, but since she's doing better and being more consistent, I'm not going to give up on her yet. Dr. R agreed that we should continue to work with her on this and other oral therapy helps and touch base with him in a couple weeks. He did order some blood work, and we had it drawn after the appointment.

On a separate topic, but still GI related, he is concerned about her constipation history along with the DS diagnosis, so he recommended that we do a biopsy of her rectal tissue (ewww and ouch!), and we've scheduled this for Monday since we're already down here. We've made arrangements to stay the extra day (Thanks tech group for being so darn flexible!!) so we'll be able to get that taken care of Monday morning. He's looking for Hirschsprung's disease, or hopefully ruling it out, but I hope it's not too traumatic. They don't sedate for it, but it's supposed to be very minimally uncomfortable. I have to say that after researching this quite a bit, I really don't think she has HD, but since the procedure to verify that is minimally invasive and quick, we'll go ahead with it.

Thanks for all prayers and well wishes. I am praying hard that she continues to feed well and even better all the time. I'm optimistic that she can overcome this feeding stuff without resorting to the G-tube, but I'm aware that it might be necessary at some point. For now, we'll keep working on the progress we've started.

And now, it's feeding time again.

Another new doctor

I met Dr. R today, and he was really nice. Mommy tell you more information tomorrow, but I wanted to tell you that things went pretty good today. Mommy seemed pleased with the stuff the doctor said.

Here's a few pictures....

Me waiting for the doctor. (We didn't wait long, it was just a few seconds!)

Here's what I was looking at while I was waiting in the room on the table. (I played with the paper again!!)

And we parked on the Kangaroo!

I'm tired, so it's bedtime. Mommy will tell you more tomorrow.

Mommy report: GI consult

We're headed to St. Louis again today for a consult with a GI about a G-tube. Just to get info and see what he thinks. Hope to see a nutritionist as well. We'll be visiting with family over the weekend, but I'll try to update after the appointment tonight. I'm really feeling like we should wait to do the g-tube itself. I can't say why, but it's a very strong feeling. Prayers for guidance and a clear idea of what we should do would be appreciated.

Have a great day!!

Lunchtime and showtime

Most days when Pop comes home from work for lunch, Mr. Tom comes too. They watch shows and eat lunch, and I usually get to hang out with Pop for a little while since Mommy is fixing lunch....and that's what I did today.

Tonight Mr. Randy, Miss Karen, Maddy and Gracie came over to watch our shows. They watch singing shows with Mommy and Pop. Mr. Curt and Miss Sara might come sometimes too.

Fun-nancy-all planning

This morning Miss Robin came and worked me alot! She made me do stuff I don't like, but Mommy says it will help me grow big and strong. (That's what she always says, but I just don't know.) We worked on sitting up with a bench again, like I did with Miss Judy yesterday. It's kind of neat. They put toys on a little tiny table thing that I can sit at and if I put my hands on the table, I can kind of hold myself up. Maybe it will be a fun thing sometimes. I also spent a little bit of time playing with my legs and feet. Everyone seems to want me to do that for some reason.

This afternoon, Mommy, Pop, and I went to see Mr. Jim. Mommy and Pop say he is the smartest guy when it comes to how to take care of our money and make good plans for when I'm bigger. He is really nice, and Mommy said I'm going to get to go and play with his family sometime soon. I'm sure that will be fun times!

Check out Pop's post about our visit with Mr. Jim.

My first ballgame and a new friend!!

This morning Miss Judy came to see me. She asked Mommy lots of questions and tried to get me to do all kinds of things. I think it was one of those evaluashuns again. Mommy says I did good. And I heard Miss Judy say that I was a whole different baby than two weeks ago. I don't know how I did that, I thought I was just me still, but Mommy says it's a good thing. Our pictures from this morning didn't look very good, so no pictures of Miss Judy's visit today.

Tonight Mommy, Pop, and me went to a big place with dirt on it and a bunch of guys were throwing a little ball at each other. Mommy says it's called softball, but the ball didn't look soft to me. Mr. Skip was playing. He works with Pop, so we went to watch him play.

(That's Mr. Skip if you can see him.)

While we were watching the game, there was a nice girl there looking at me and smiling at me. She was very cute. Her name is Addy.

Her mommy was there, and I think her grandma was there to see her grandpa play ball too. They were all very friendly to Mommy and Pop. Maybe we'll see them again sometime at a game.

At the place where the games were, we saw some very pretty flowers, too.

Simple Saturday

Before I talk about today, I have to say thank you to Miss Laura who took us to dinner last night at a very nice place. She is Mr. Bip's friend, but she always makes sure to visit with Mommy and Pop too, which is nice. So now, she gets to see me too!




Today I spent the morning with Pop while Mommy and Miss Laura went to a place they called the Farmer's Market. Then Mommy and I worked around the house to get things cleaned up. Seems like we have to do that alot! It was a pretty simple day, since Pop was gone most of the day to Miss De's card shop for some game stuff. We did get in the pool, me and Mommy, for a while, but we didn't take any pictures. Mommy said it's not good to get the camera wet. We did take some other pictures later, but they were on a different camera, and Mommy says she can't find the thing she needs to get the pictures onto the computer. So I'll have to show you the pictures later.

Mommy life: Sweet baby girl

On the move

Finally I'm showing Mommy all about how I can roll around.


I can go from the couch to Mommy's chair in her room really quick. In Pop's room, I can go from the couch to the TV before he even notices! That is...if they put me the right way. I only like to go one way. If they put me the wrong way, I just run into the couch and have to tell them that I don't like that very much at all. If I get turned around, I roll under Mommy's chair really quick. Today she had to climb out the side of the chair because she said she would smash me if she put the foot down to get out of it.


This morning, we went on the bank run, and we went shopping at a store we don't usually go to. Mommy's friends are telling her alot that she should go to this place and save money. Let's play a game! Can any of you tell which place it is? Miss Mindy? Miss Karen K? Miss Sara?


When we got back from the store, Mommy gave me some big people applesauce, and I really like it! She says I never do this for other food.

I even opened my mouth before she was ready with more food! So she says we'll be having more applesauce whenever I want. Yummy!

Mommy life: Color change

After some interesting research, green print in Times New Roman italic on yellow background was determined (by some scientific people) to be the easiest to read for web pages. I'm not so sure how valid that is, but I thought it was time for a change, so we'll give it a shot. I'm working on finding something that fits us more, but who has time?!?

Just thought I'd let you know how this color scheme was conceived. :o)

Friends next door

Today I went to see Miss Yolande and Kahlilah next door while Mommy did some work. We walked around outside and Miss Yolande sang to me, which I like alot. They are so nice when I go see them. And Mommy is always happy to see me when she comes back, too.

Thanks for letting me come visit!!

BIG learning

Sometimes I watch things on the TV that Mommy says help me learn. I like Baby Einstein shows and I have a new show that teaches me letters. Mommy calls it Love and Learning. I like that one the best! Mommy loves how much I watch the letters so close when they're on. There's a book that goes with it and we read that every day too. I like it alot, which makes Mommy surprised since it's so simple, she says.

Today I got to watch my shows on Pop's TV for the first time. And it is a BIG TV! The pictures were really big, and I thought that was neat!


See how big it is?!


This afternoon we went to the store for food shopping. The lady who helped us at the place where they cut the turkey that we get for Pop's sandwiches was really nice. And there was another lady there who was getting turkey too, and she was talking to me while I was waiting with Mommy. Then another lady came over and talked to us too. Mommy says they just came to see me, and I think that's nice. I hope the lady is there again when we go next week!

More exercise

Miss Robin came today, and she had alot of stuff for me to do. I did show her how I could roll over. Mommy was surprised since I had only showed Pop how I like to roll all over. But I thought Miss Robin would want to see how good I was doing. And she got all excited and said I was doing really good! I thought it was funny that I played a little trick on Mommy. But I will be nice and not tease her anymore.

Miss Robin made me sit up for a while, and I don't like it so much. Then she put me in this new pillow thing that Mommy got from Miss Janet called a Boppy, and I like sitting up with that around me a little better. I can lean forward some and play with toys, but it's better because I don't fall on my nose!

She had a neat new musical toy too, and I liked it alot.

Miss Robin also told Mommy that I was doing so much better with my eyes and not playing with my hands so much. I still like them, but since I can roll around so much, I found out that there's alot of other stuff to see!

Kickin' it with Pop

This weekend I got to spend alot of time with my Pop, and that was pretty fun. I don't get to play with him as much as I'd like to, so it was lots of good times!

Saturday
Mommy and I worked around the house again and ran to some different places. While we were waiting, I played with my toys, and Mommy thought it was funny.


Then she got ready to go to Miss Angie's wedding, and she and Miss Janet went without us kids.


So I stayed to play with Pop for the rest of the day. I even showed him I could roll all the way from the couch to the TV in his room. He thought I'd stay put, but he turned around while I was on the couch with him, and I rolled over, but the couch wasn't as big as I thought, so I landed on the floor. When Mommy called to see if I was being good, he told her about it and she got excited that I was rolling so much. I bet she's gonna want me to show her all about it when she gets back.

Sunday
We slept in a little today, or at least Pop and I did, so we went to church later today. I was in a pretty good mood during church, so I was telling Pop all about what I wanted to do today and he decided we needed to go out of the big room while we were talking. We went out where some of the friends were and chatted with them a while. I got to see Miss Debbie, and she's the one that gave me my outfit that I was wearing today!

(I had to sneeze...excuse me.)

After church we got to see my friend Olivia and her mommy Miss Jennifer.


We all decided to go to lunch at Toro, and Maddy and Grace came too with their parents. Miss Martha wasn't at Toro, so that was sad. I got a little tired of sitting after the parents were done eating, so Pop took me out to the water place by Toro. It's very nice and I felt better. He was practicing Pop and Braska with me. That's where he puts my hand on me and says "Braska" and then puts my hand on his nose and says "Pop." It's a pretty fun game.


When we got home from lunch, we got in the pool for a while. And I mean all of us, Mommy, Pop, me, and even Belle!


Pop put her in the boat, and she didn't seem to mind too much until she got a little hot in the sun. It was pretty fun. The water was warm, and I figured out that if I hit the water with my hand or my foot then it makes the water jump and make noise. That's fun to do! Mommy called it splashing, and we did alot of it.


Sometimes we just float and rest, and that's nice too. Mommy tried to keep me in the little part where the sun didn't get in my eyes so bad, but when the tree moves sometimes the sun gets me.


After we're done, it's nice to sit in the sun for a bit and dry off. Mommy always reminds me after we get done in the pool that we are supposed to be thankful that we have it to play in. We share it with lots of people since God has let us use it, not just for us.


Later in the afternoon, Grace, Maddy, and Ali P came over to swim with their parents, but I was busy getting food in my tummy, so I didn't get to go in again. Maybe next time they come...

Hot circus

This morning we went to see Miss Laurie at Dr. Y's office, and she put me on the silly scale again.

I was up to 12 lbs 4.5 oz. That's a little better than last time. Miss Laurie had a chat with me about making the scale wet when my diaper is off. I listened to her pretty good.

This afternoon Mommy and I went to someplace called "the circus." It's a place with alot of people, mostly kids and more kids, and there are animals there and people who jump high and fly around. It was really, really hot today, so it wasn't much fun to be outside under a big thing that kept the wind away from us.


Miss Karen and Grace went too, along with Maddy, Miss Sara, and Ali P. Mr. Randy came later too.


There were some people that were on big high swings and stuff. I thought that was pretty fun to watch.


There was alot of loud music and flashing lights that I liked for a while, but later it started to make me upset, so I went to sleep on Mommy's lap. I woke up and my shirt was all wet. I didn't even do it! Mommy said it was because it was so hot that I was sweating through my clothes.


Maddy and Grace rode on the elephants, but Mommy and I left early to go home. It was fun, but I was pretty ready to not be hot anymore.

Crazy boys!

Tonight we went to see Mr. Marc, Miss Ann, and Ben and Mathias... oh, and Kaylee! She's a little teeny tiny new baby. Mommy says I was that little not long ago, but I think she's not good at remembering, because I haven't been a little baby for a long time.

Pop played with Ben and Mathias alot, and they got very silly and loud. I just stayed out of the way.

Later, Pop was poking me with a big thing... he is like that sometimes. I'm used to it.

Thanks Mr. Marc and Miss Ann for having us for dinner! It was a fun time!

Fireworks day

What a day...we'll just jump right in to the pictures, since that's what you want anyway, right?!?


This morning I tried out a new thing Mommy got to try to help me stay busy and not look at my hands so much. It lets me hang out with her while she's working. I don't think Mommy or me are either one sure about it yet though.


Pop spent the morning enjoying his day off from work. It doesn't seem fair, does it?


We went to by Miss Marci and Mr. Tim's new house tonight, and I got to meet some nice people. Then we went to Mr. Randy and Miss Karen's house for a while, too. Mommy put me in a new toy thing. It took some getting used to.


All the daddies said they wanted to make things blow up, so they were outside a while. Then it got dark and we watched some neat lights and noisy things. We even got to see some great big fireworks through the trees. I sat with Miss Sara and went to sleep because she was so comfortable.

Eval-you-ashun

That's how Mommy said why Miss Robin came today. It was her regular time, but we didn't do the regular stuff. She said it was time for an eval-you-ashun. All I know is that they wanted me to do stuff, but they didn't help me this time. Usually when Mommy says it's time to practice rolling, she tries to get me to watch a toy or something to get me going. I know this is what she wants, but I don't like being on my belly, so I just play where I am and don't roll over. Then Miss Robin or Mommy will help me by starting to put my leg over me to tell me to go. I try to make my back hard and my legs straight to not go over, but they always win in the end, and I flop over.


Today, though, they didn't help me. They just talked to me and asked me to do it. They tried to make me look at toys to get me started, but I don't really care that much about toys. So I just did what I like to do.



Mommy wasn't very happy that I was being difficult, she said. But I just like what I like, and I guess I get that from Pop too. When where you are is ok, why work hard for somewhere else? Mommy says it is because there are even better places and things that I will like so much more, but I don't know if I want to work that much for it.


Miss Robin did make me work a little, and I really don't like this one at all.


I hope next time we go back to doing fun stuff when Miss Robin comes. I did hear her tell Mommy that I need to stop looking at my hands so much. Something about that it's making my eyes strong in the wrong place. I don't know about that, but I guess Miss Robin has never looked at her hands!

More therapy, more friends

This morning Miss Judy came to see me. She had a new fun toy that moves around. She said she wants me to reach out for things, but I like to just watch them most of the time.

But she also had a really cushy, soft thing that I though was nice. She told Mommy that we have to work on my using my hands for feeling things instead of always just looking at them. I don't know why that is, I mean, it's plenty fun to just look at my hands.

I also played with a new toy that Miss Karen in Kansas gave to me. She gives the funnest stuff!

Tonight we went to dinner with Mr. Rob. He's a fun guy! He and Pop talk about stuff I don't understand. Mommy says we're supposed to just smile and entertain ourselves. I can do that!

Pop can tell you more about it at his page.

Rock with me!

Miss Melissa at Banana Migraine says I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger!

She said such nice things about our stories!

Braska (with a little help from mom) at Braska Bear is so cute, and keeps everyone up to date about life from her point of view. She's learning and growing so quickly - and always seems to have such a full social calendar! ;)

Thanks Miss Melissa!

I'm supposed to pick 5 friends to name as Rockin' Girls too, Mommy says. I think everyone who comes to see me is rockin', but since I have to pick 5...here ya go...

Rockin' Girl Bloggers:

1. Miss Cate at I Don't Know What to Say

2. Miss Amy at Life According to Emma and Joe

3. Miss Jen at I Never Thought...

4. Miss Kacey at Ella Grace with the Pretty Face

5. Miss Leslie at Joyful Mother of 6

Pudding is yummy

We went to church at Grandpa J's church today. There was a whole bunch of music time, and I like music, so that was good. I sat with Grandma C today. She and Uncle Ethon had to work on my feeding stuff at church because it was being difficult for them.


After church, Mommy and me went with Grandma and Grandpa to Miss Cindy's house. And it is a really, really nice house. She had everyone from church over to swim and eat lots of yummy food, at least Mommy and Grandma C said it was yummy. Grandma C decided to try to give me some bananas, but they were different than my normal ones. This was called pudding, and I liked it alot. Grandma gave me enough to make my tummy full, and it was so yummy!


Everyone played games for a while in the evening, so I sat with Mommy so I could watch.


Then I got all sleepy and took a nap on Pop.

We finally left to go home about 9:30 tonight, so it's going to be very late when we get home!