10 Months!

hippie chick

Happy 10 month birthday baby bug! The weeks are just flying by and before we know it you'll be one. Baby girl this month you have decided to be a mover and shaker! You are rolling all over the place and I can see the crawling stage just around the corner. You are sitting on your own so well. Your favorite activities are still reading your board books and just playing and babbling. You have been saying bay-bee and I think you'll say buggy before mama. You've made it clear you prefer an audience and love to entertain us all. Your favorite place to relax is cuddling with grandpa and even though grandma is working on your tummy time you still are fighting it and aren't too interested in the ladybug tummy toy she got for you. You will kick and roll all day but you do not like to be on your tummy.

Lucy, you are so fun and special! We are so lucky to have such a good baby. You love to have fun and be a baby but you can also appreciate a good gossip session where you will quietly eavesdrop and give your baby girl smiles. You have also decided to develop a fake coughing trick. Whenever we look away or are not including you in conversation you start your acting routine and suddenly develop a terrible cough. Baby girl, mommy can tell you that I've tried acting before to get attention and everyone sees right through it!

One minor issue we're having baby girl is your crazy hair! It's getting longer and you're getting more of it, but would it curl already?! Honestly, daddy is calling you alfalfa and I'm looking for baby product to tame this wild child hair.

Buggy, we love you so much and we are so proud of what a big girl you are becoming. Although your adjusted age is 7 1/2 months you are proving to be such a mature, strong girl and are making progress every day.

We love you Lucy! Happy 10 months!

A Busy Bug!

So this little bug has been pretty rambunctious the past couple of weeks. Lucy seems to be into so much more lately. I didn't think I'd be saying "no, no Luce" so often and so soon. I mean I guess this is age appropriate but this little stink bug is showing her personality more and more each day. Lucy wants remotes, phones, mommy's cup, jewelry and everything she shouldn't have. Not too long ago she was easily entertained by her own things but now she seems to want all of my things! The mornings I'm home during the week I usually feed Lucy after she's up and then let her play with her toys and babble in bed with me while I drink my coffee and read the paper - today that proved to be a challenge. Lucy isn't crawling but from her sitting position she maneuvers from her boppy onto me and wants to reach for my cup. She is obsessed with paper and no matter where I positioned myself this sweet bug seemed to grab ahold of the newspaper. The picture up above was this afternoon. I left her alone for two minutes and she ripped this from a magazine and had it in her mouth. When I took it away she literally cried for ten minutes until she fell asleep. Dra-ma! She's very entertaining and I don't know how serious she takes my "no, no"'s when I have a big fat smile on my face.

playing peek a boo



she's sitting independently for a few minutes at a time if she positions herself well -

ahh the sweet sound of pounding drums (not to mention the toy's voice counting in Spanish - why did I pick some of these toys)!


no longer my little poser - now SHE wants the camera

my sweet girl (in a 3-6 month outfit, thankyouverymuch!)

my "juicy" girl.
this was taken last week one morning before going to grandma's - she just looked like such a little diva girl in her Juicy suit and sleek yoga slippers!

"She's very social, isn't she?!"

Today we went to the Neonatal Follow-up Program given by the Department of Health at Primary Children's. The title of the post was asked by one of the doctor's who saw her and it just struck me funny because Lucy is such a social bug. The Neonatal Follow-up Program (NFP) is a program created for premature babies to come back and be evaluated by a number of specialists to observe and study their development and progress. This program is offered for babies at about 4-6 months and continues every 6 months to a year until a child is school-aged. When Lucy was discharged from the hospital her information was never sent to NFP so I called on my own and set it up; because of this she missed the first visit and this was our first experience at the NFP. This morning I had my usual pre-appointment anxiety but because of what we went through I don't expect to ever get over that. But once we walked into the building I felt much better. This was a very welcoming clinic and we were very excited for the experience. Luckily Blake came with us so we both could ask questions and watch our bug go through the program.

Lucy was first weighed and measured and she is 22 1/2 inches long and 9 pounds 11 ounces - we are so close to ten!! Tomorrow she sees her regular pediatrician so it will be interesting to see how the scales compare. She had her blood pressure, temp and heart rate checked and then we hung out in a big waiting room and one by one doctors and specialists would call us to their rooms - all within the same area. Lucy was seen by a dietitian, audiologist (hearing), pediatrician, neurologist, psychologist and physical therapist. Every doctor said Lucy is doing amazing. Her only real issue is her size, and that isn't really and issue considering her small beginning. She obviously isn't on the "average" growth charts but she's following her own and she always steadily gains. She's doing well with solids and today she even tried some puff cereals that she loved. Her hearing is perfect. She needs a little help with her gross motor development (sitting, rolling) but we knew that and are currently working with a PT. When we met with the psychologist she said that she usually doesn't see babies until 9 months adjusted (Lucy is 7 months adjusted) but we'd see her anyway. Well by the end of that session Lucy was testing cognitively at 12 months. She is very engaged and figures things out fast - so pretty much as Blake announced "she's gifted". It is very good to know she socializes and interacts well and can make sense of things so well. In all of those areas she's very ahead, she just needs some help making her tiny body do big things. The pediatrician who saw her was wonderful. He was an older doctor who I had been told practiced for over 40 years and had a lot of experience with preemies. He was so entertained by Lucy and kept calling her "remarkable". He went through a series of questions asking if Lucy could... and after each question she started exhibiting what he asked. "Is she babbling and making a consonant-vowel sound?" Lucy started in with "ba, ba, ba". "Does she laugh?" Lucy would start to giggle. "Does she transfer objects from one hand to the next?" Lucy pulled out her binkie and moved it between her two hands. We all were laughing and he just seemed very happy with her.

We had a very good appointment and I'm just so happy that this type of program is offered. The results from the program will be sent to her pediatrician and to us and then she will go back in the next 4-6 months and do it all over again. As she progresses she will be seen by more doctors in other fields. We left feeling very well informed and that our sweet girl is amazing everyone, most importantly us. The appointment was very long (over four hours) and that sweet bug stayed awake the whole time to perform for everyone.

It was also nice for us to see that there are other parents out there who have gone through what we have. We are very fortunate because I think some babies aren't doing as well as Lucy but it's so great so see these strong little fighters alive and well. We overheard a few of their stories and a lot of them had really rough starts. It's nice to know that other people get obsessed with ounces, and are familiar with the terms we use: EI, PT, etc., and just are so grateful for these miracle babies and are so proud of every tiny achievement they make. Lately I've been feeling kind of selfish and "woe is me" about what we've had to gone through - which comparatively is nothing. But then you're in a room with so many NICU graduates and parents who all know how hard it was (and all carry Purell) and you don't feel so alone.

So yes, Lucy is the most social, beautiful, funny, smart, amazing baby we know and if we can continue to have such great visits and reports as this we're very blessed.

With her favorite toy, spidey

Lucy put on a show for everyone but at the end of the day she was dunzo - what a good girl!