Hannah Updates!

Gross Motor Skills:

Well Hannah is straight up sitting now - before her first birthday! Yaaaayyy! Reaching this milestone is so awesome! I can’t sit her down and leave the room just yet, but girlfriend can stay up for a long time. 

We’re now working: 1. having her reach for toys at her sides to work her lateral core strength [check!] and 2. arm strength. Hannah can’t yet support herself with her arms while on her tummy, so we help her out and do exercises on adult exercise balls. 

I can tell she’s starting to support herself, but, again, it could be a bit of a long road. Arm strength is the next step to crawling. Hannah already pulls her knees up underneath her, we just need to put the pieces together. Today I had her arms up and she pulled her knees below and got MAD! I’m not sure which part hurt or was just too much work - ??

Fine Motor Skills/Eating:

Hannah had already started to grab and eat Baby Mum Mums which are awesome - just large, flat rice crackers that are easy to grip and melt in her mouth. She is now grabbing puffs and eats them whole. She can’t do a pincher grip, but rather palms them : )  Her chewing actions are really good. The bits of fruit/veggies seem to do well and the purees are still pushed out... I’ll be talking to Speech Therapy about these strange differences...

We continue to have speech therapy appointments... no one seems overly concerned - still - and this lesson in patience is a long one. How long will my baby get her nutrition through a tube? I imagine a year down the road if she’s still tube-fed and we can’t hire a babysitter because she’s tube-fed ... : (

Nutrition:

Lordy me. Typically babies would be off bottles and eating food by now. We have not achieved that. Yet formula is now behind us... Next step? We’re starting on Pediasure... First, it’s more expensive per serving than formula. Second, it’s a straight up milkshake with added nutrients. Granted, I know formula isn’t awesome. The first ingredient is brown rice syrup [sugar]. Pediasure is: water, sugar, etc. Ugh. I know my baby can’t eat, but I’m tired of giving her yucky nutrients. 

First, the Cardiology Nutritionist asked HOW we were getting our formula. “Um, Kroger?” She said she thinks we could have had some of it covered by insurance since it’s a medical need. GREAT - thanks for letting me know that eleven months ago! This Nutritionalist is new, so now she’s going to look into getting our Pediasure covered... fingers crossed: a 6-pack is $12 and Hannah would “consume” about 3 a day - !! 

On the side, I’ve asked about a whole-food option. There is; we have to be referred to the Feeding Team at Children’s. It’s a recipe of whole foods plus sugar, oil, etc. It’s obviously more work, but I just want Hannah to get real food. On top of this, I need to call our insurance to see if they’ll cover a blender - ! We don’t have one and if formula could HAVE been covered, I’d think a blender could be for medical purposes. 

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So things are going very well here... Hannah is doing great and it’s just continuing her therapies... She’s doing great!

Nora’s 1st Birthday in Photos

11 Months, Week 4

The morning of my party!

Family...

family....

and more family!

Nora digging on Benny.

Multi-tasking!

Hanging out with Papa

Grampy checks me out in my tunnel!

Warm fuzzies!

Cousin Bobby always lends a hand.

Nora with her cousins! And holdin’ onto Bobby - awww!

One more ride on Benny before bedtime!

Few More Thanksgiving...

11 Months, Week 4

Nora & Cousin Izzie

Good ol’ Bobby

Amy & Dottie

Cousin Alex!

Photo Catch Up!

11 Months, Week 4, 2 hours, 29 minutes

Messy dinner!

Not sure about all the padding needed for a run.

Thankful it was so warm on Dec 1st - we could go for a walk during our  house showings!

Even Ailo was happy!

Tim’s early Xmas gift!

Birthday Sneak Peek

11 Months, Week 4

Nora’s birthday was a lovely one - our families came over and helped Nora celebrate one year on this planet! She’s so lucky she has so many people who care for her. 

She seemed very pleased with all her gifts - most of all, probably Benny the Bull - an inflatable riding toy! It’s such a hoot! 

Nora slightly enjoyed most of her cupcake but offered up half to Aunt Katherine, then dropped the second half and Ailo promptly inhaled it. 

Here are a few pics, will upload more from Tim!

Home made cream cheese icing - heaven in a bowl!

All ready with Pinot to ice the pumpkin cupcakes!

Pendant decorations.

Benny the Bull!

Just a note...

11 Months, Week 4

It’s 7:35am and Nora and Tim are still asleep. What is happening?? This quiet time is unheard of! 

I think she’s making it up to Daddy for waking HIM up at 5:15am yesterday when I was gone for the night!

Good job Nora!

The Great Milk Debate

11 Months, Week 4

I’ve been having an internal battle lately around milk.

Those who know me know I believe in the power of veggies and clean, whole food, pasture-raised meats, organic options, etc. I read up a lot on nutrition and how food lobbyists and marketing makes us believe nutrition claims that aren’t true - milk is one of them. 

I won’t get into the thick of it, but the bottom line is - humans don’t need dairy and aren’t truly built to process it [lactose intolerance anyone?]. It’s constructed to feed baby cows. Dairy has been linked to numerous health problems [allergies, acne, ear infections, etc] and I don’t want to push it onto Nora, not to mention I’m considering cutting out a lot more for myself [maybe I’ll stop having zits at age 32?]. Tim can decide for himself, but I always try to educate my lovies : )

I’m not eliminating ALL dairy from our household, I still use butter and give Nora some hard cheese and cottage cheese [organic if I can]. But I don’t want it to be a major source of calories for her. 

I’m continually doing research on this because there’s still a part of me that thinks maybe I should at least give her some organic whole milk - which is my back up - but from what I’ve read, she can get all the nutrition she needs in other food forms and I’m not harming her development. Soy milk is not good for females, so I’ll probably try almond milk for half the time.

I’m nervous about bringing it up with the Pediatrician - I’ll probably get a tongue lashing, but Pediatricians don’t necessarily have Nutritionalist training. I’m going to have to put on my brave face when we have our 1-yr check up on Tuesday. [I’d rather have a holistic doctor but that’s for another post.]

The subject is similar to when someone asks why I’ve cut out most meat. It’s too long of an answer so I simply say “health and ecological reasons.” 

Call me anal or a little health-nutty, but food nutrition and it’s effects on us is a passion of mine. So that’s why I’ll probably steer [ha] Nora away from drinking solely cow’s milk: health reasons. It’s a personal choice that I hope is accepted  : )

Clingin’

11 Months, Week 4

Along with the milestone of walking has come another one - separation anxiety. Or so we think. Twice this week when either of us have dropped Nora off at the sitter’s house, as we try to leave and say “Bye” Nora clings to our legs. It’s endearing and a little heart-breaking, but a reality that it starting to show its face! Hopefully it does’t get too bad! 

She had a rough morning - she nearly stuck some of Ailo’s food in her mouth so I gated off the kitchen which set her off. She was very frustrated this morning not being able to communicate what she wanted [or what she couldn’t have] and plugged her thumb into her mouth constantly while twiddling her hair - he soothing mechanism. 

Toddler Times!

Thanksgiving

11 Months, Week 3

What a great 4 day weekend! We had a good balance of extended family and quiet time at home. I’m trying to find the photo of me from Thanksgiving last year - I’m hugely preggers at my parents. 

Grammy Batty pulled out some more oldie-but-goodie toys from our childhood for Nora. Nora had such fun with all her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! I wish I’d gotten more photos of Nora with her cousins, but it was a bit much with all the people and bustle. I think Amy got at least one good one in there : ) 

Nora ate most thanksgiving food well, but not a fan of mashed potatoes - booo! Texture is my guess. 

Grammy Batty must have turned a “blind ear” to me when I said no to baby cell phone toys. Thanks Mom - love ya ; )

Saturday and Sunday were so nice and relaxing, lots of family time with the frigid temps outside. Got our few decorations up for Xmas - don’t want to go overboard with [hopefully] more showings plus a toddler getting into everything! 

Tech Baby

You know, just hanging in my toy box.

Grampy made me a paper hat!

Crawling around with Grammy.

Beautiful Thanksgiving Day!

Heeeyyyy!

The one photo I was able to get at Krons - lots going on!

Nora did this the ENTIRE grocery trip. Really?

Nora + Caterpillar

Meeting Yukon Cornelius and the Abominable Snow Monster

Ailo sitting pretty with the tree

More Bopping Around

11 Months, Week 3

Watch out world!

11 Months, Week 3

Nora is on the move! Over Thanksgiving break she’s really upped her game and has nearly given up crawling - go Nora go!

Hangin’ with Mama

11 Months, Week 3

Our office closed early today, as we typically do the day before a holiday. I was excited to spend a little extra time with Nora, but realized I should only pick her up after her PM nap - extra ME time!!

I drove in [as opposed to the usual bus ride] and left at 1:40, home at 2:15 and started my 4-mile run at 2:30. Got home and rinsed off, got a load of laundry started and vacuumed a bit. Took off to get Nora from the sitter at 3:45. I tell you what - that 1.5 hrs of alone time was pretty awesome [I love you family, but ME time is always precious : ) ]*

Nora had just woken up from her nap when I got her just before 4pm. We headed home and went straight into a neighborhood walk - Nora and Ailo both needed fresh air and exercise! I’m thankful this Thanksgiving for mild weather to open the windows and get fresh air! 

Nora had dinner and then playtime where I captured a few photos... It really is true that every month you say “This is the best age!” And then the next month you say the same thing... these babies [toddlers!] just evolve and grow and it’s amazing to watch them develop. 

Nora points at everything now so I try and tell her everything she’s pointing to so she learns the words. These are the captures:

When I picked her up from the sitter, her hair was all rooster-ed out. Amazing.

*I also redeemed my Mothers’ Day gift [!] on Monday - a gift card to Aveda for a 1-hr massage. Dudes - it was 
O-mazing. Who knew you could have knots in your neck??

Yo Gabba Gabba

11 Months, Week 3

So there is one current children’s show I’m familiar with - Yo Gabba Gabba. It’s pretty modern with guest bands/musicians that I listen to and visually awesome. I let Nora watch a 5 minute video here and there because the tunes are so kicken.’

Who Needs Toys?

11 Months, Week 3

An acquaintance posted this video on Facebook and I think it’s lovely... I think all kids are creative enough that they really don’t need toys. 

I remember as a child, my sisters and I would play “beauty pageant” [wow], play with the fridge boxes in the basement, play dress up with my Mom’s 70s clothes and build forts in the backyard with wood palettes and oil drums [Dude, my Dad constructed our house, we had a lot of junkyard-type items laying around]. 

I hope I can steer Nora to unleash her own creative mind despite all the marketing that pushes her to “need” all the other gear. 

http://www.wlbz2.com/news/watercooler/article/222335/109/Preschool-replaces-toys-with-cardboard-boxes-kids-love-it

No Rest Yet...

11 Months, Week 3

Nora is still giving it her all with the walking... I think her farthest so far has been about 10 feet. She falls on her bum a lot, but gets back up on her feet and tries again! Love the baby determination. 

She also says “ball” now which comes out as “baw!” 

Nora woke up this past Wednesday with sniffles and a runny nose - ack! Today is day 6 of it. No fever, a cough here and there, so every night we run the humidifier and continue to wipe her nose which is the equivalent of trying to cut her nails; writhing and thrashing and crying. It’s awful. I’ve been putting some lotion under her nose at nights to ease the irritation. We actually tried vapor rub on her feet with socks to ease her stuffiness, but it resulted in two hours of coughing - it just irritated her passages more. 

I’ve been under the weather too, I can’t seem to kick this “blah” feeling - funny enough it started kicking up once I stopped running so much. Interesting.

I was really looking forward to a relaxing Sunday yesterday... Nora woke up at 5:20am. My Lord. In the middle of running errands I got a call from the Showing Department - a realtor wanted to show from 1:30-3pm. Awesome - smack dab in the middle of my relaxing Sunday. 

Nora fell asleep on the way home at 11:35am. We left her IN the car in the garage with 700WLW on; you know, background noise. [Multiple people have said they do it too, so I don’t feel crazy] Tim and I went through the house and prepared it while checking on Nora every 1-2 minutes. We finished the house and left in the car and Nora was still sleeping! Amazing. She woke up at 1:15 on our way to Amy’s [thanks again Amy for letting us crash!]

I’m trying to stay positive and optimistic but I’m just getting tired... keeping the house in tip-top shape is exhausting and I just want to leave it be... I hope that day comes soon!

Sunday morning “jam-hair.”

Playing with an empty box - because those are always more fun!