Slight Eating Success?

Tim took Hannah to a double therapy session on Friday; PT [physical therapy] and ST. [speech therapy]. He said she had a great day!

The PT noticed Hannah is stronger in her core than last visit [she can stretch/bend while sitting all the way to the floor]. 

Hannah did very well with ST, too. The ST actually suggested holding back a feeding per day to make Hannah hungry. My immediate thought was, “Well the doctors will LOVE that [sarcasm].” But it makes sense.

SO - Saturday it just happened that Hannah fell asleep in the car close to 10:30am - when she’d typically have a feeding. When she woke up, she had a snack and her “smoothie” at 11:30 - so basically we pushed her feedings out and she only had two afternoon feedings. 

We had dinner at a friend’s house and Hannah was hungry and we were astonished at how much she ate that didn’t come out; probably 1/4 cup of food in one sitting - that’s crazy for Hannah! Mashed taters for the win!

So maybe this skipping a feeding is the key?

I tried it again today... it seems to work. At dinner she was shoving bread pieces in her mouth and kept opening her mouth for beans. 

If she’s getting her calories from this extra food that’s staying in, it should balance out calories she’s “missing” from her smoothies. 

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Tim and I reviewed the reports from Hannah’s Thomas Center evaluation... it’s hard reading about your delayed child... especially when she’s even delayed among her peers. [And they report that way to make sure insurance covers therapies!]

There are little ones younger than Hannah with Ds who are even standing on their own. It’s not easy. You can tell me “Hannah will get there in her own time” until you’re blue in the face - it doesn’t make it any easier for me. 

I truly don’t think of her Ds on a daily basis. When I get sad about her delays, I “blame” it more on her stomach and heart defects - I feel like those are the hurdles that have made it more difficult for her at this point. 

But darn it, she’s still the cutest 14-month old I know!

Hannah’s Neurology Appointment

Just to get it out of the way: we are in the clear with Neurology - which my gut had told me.

Hannah’s tongue had started quivering in the beginning of October... we thought it was involuntary. Then we observed she did it when she was happy/content. We’d seen 3 different speech therapists and an ENT who all dismissed it as a developmental “thing.” One pediatrician suggested we just go to Neurology to check all the boxes. 

They asked a lot of questions about behavior and development, when her tongue quivers happened. I even had video to show. 

The Neurologist was an older gentleman and after poking her and observing her, said “I don’t know what this is.” - !! For real?? I can’t believe he’d never seen something like this. Since she has no other symptoms/signs/behaviors linked to a neurological anomaly, he basically let us go and said to contact them if anything evolves! 

So I left happy knowing it’s one more appointment OFF our list and taken care of. 

:: thumbs up ::

“Toys”

14 Months, Week 4

Nora proves the theory right; she doesn’t need store-bought toys. Most days she typically goes through the towel drawer, cooking utensil drawer, or lower pantry [all with supervision]. We tried putting a latch on the pantry, but I don’t even want to try to explain why it didn’t work... we still want to get one on there so she doesn’t bite through the rice bag. *eyeroll*

[When will she stop putting stuff in her mouth?? When those darn teeth come in??]

Like most kids, she loves tupperware and any dishware. So we had a leftover oatmeal cylinder and an egg carton so I got the bright idea to buy some plastic Easter eggs for her to put in and out of the egg carton and oatmeal canister. Thank you Big Lots! ¢¢ She spent at least an hour playing with those plastic eggs, in and out of the oatmeal container and egg carton. Oh, and the Blue Moon case. Ha!

Wow, her post-dinner belly is HUGE.

Easter Egg fun!

Such a rough liiiiife.

Yeah buddy.

Just Photos!

14 Months, Week 4

Nora rocking her birthday Owl hat from Aunt Amy!

I love kiwis!

Mamaaaa!

Post dinner belly - compliments of Grammy Batty.

Eating lunch downtown at Taqueria Mercado - beans & rice hit the spot!

Looking at “babies” on Facebook.

I look awesome.

Miss Nora

14 Months, Week 3

Our little girl is becoming quite the character. The babbling has become fuller this past weekend - “talking” to us and herself in mirrors. Dancing at herself in mirrors too. 

She loves climbing into the armchairs with help from the ottomans. 

She hates when Ailo licks her face. When Ailo is in her way, she boxes him out like a basketball player. “No!” But when Ailo is being quiet and trying to rest, Nora gets in his face and sits on him and buries her face in his fur. What a relationship.

She’s very communicative now which can be frustrating on both ends. I tried sign language with her early on with hand motions for “food” and “drink” but it hasn’t really worked. If she wants to see something, she lifts her arms for a looky-loo. If she’s incessantly whining, it’s usually food or drink based. So that must mean she’s hungry a lot. Which she is. Girl likes to eat constantly... I wonder where she gets that from? 

This past weekend I finally popped open the 4-5 bags of clothes from Cousin Izzie - jackpot! Thanks again, Kathy : ) I’m pretty sure we won’t have to buy any clothes this year. Nora is already rocking the 2T shirts and pants easily - ! 

Such a static-filled house!

Bothering a resting Ailo.

Sweeping

Oddly warm February day!

Batty Visit

14 Months, Week 1

My family came down today to visit us and see the new house - I made soup and we enjoyed visiting for a little while. 

Nora had a tricky morning. She was pretty restless all night and coughing a lot. Again, we didn’t get her out of the crib until 7am [not bad] but she was super whiney all morning and was really testing Tim and I. Breakfast concluded with a head full of jam. So we had to fit in this morning. 

She actually slept 2 hrs this morning which is rare - I’m guessing because she didn’t sleep well. When she woke up and my parents were here, she clung to Tim for a long time and took a long time to warm up to Mom & Dad. Thankfully she came around and was her usually goofy self for everyone. 

After they all left around 2pm, Nora went down again and has been sleeping 1hr so far... all this visiting wears a girl out I suppose! 

Nora enjoys standing in her new chairs.

Nora & Grandpa!

1st Weekend

14 Months, Week 1

We considered this our first real weekend at the new house. Moving weekend doesn’t count and last weekend we were away. So it has been awesome really hunkering down.

I had a pretty intense week at work; put on a new team with a really big, really fast project - to the point we were planning on all coming in Saturday for a full work day. Thankfully we all decided to divide and conquer on Friday which worked and I was incredibly thankful I didn’t have to go in yesterday. 

We had an awesome Saturday - despite making peeps and a few hollers, we didn’t get Nora out of her crib until 7am and she was awake but being quiet and chill which was great. We hit IKEA for some bar stools and a little table set for Nora. Target and groceries. During Nora’s nap, Tim and I organized the garage to a decent degree. Just this cleanup felt like a great accomplishment. 

Tim met an older neighbor from 2 doors down. She was extremely sweet and gave Tim both her neighbors and said to ask for anything. She told Tim the Noons [previous owners] didn’t maintain the landscaping very well - no pressure, right? She also graduated from DAAP fashion design back in the 70s - ! 

At 3:30 after Nora’s nap, we went to return the cookie plate to the neighbors across the street. Mom Michelle told us to keep the plate - it was for us! Her daughter Lauren will be going into high school next year. The two younger boys might be in middle school? She’s also a grandma to a 2-yr old - not sure where that older daughter fits in. Husband Chris wasn’t there. She said we’d have to grill out when the weather turns warmer. Seems very nice. 

William, Emma & Evelyn came to visit as well to see the new digs, then it was dinner time and bathtime. 

Saturday evening Tim and I assembled Nora’s table, the two bar stools and hung most of the first floor artwork. 

A good, comfortable day in the new house!

Saturday sweetness!

I see Dada and Doggie!

Again, playing on IKEA boxes is way more fun than my own toys.

Baby Cabin!

14 Months old today!

My sense of time is cosmic. Months ago we scheduled to go to a cabin with a few friends and their babies. I was very hesitant since our house was on the market/what if we had to move that weekend? Well, I was nearly right on. We agreed to go and found we had to move just one week before. Blergh!

Tim and I are home bodies, so after an exhausting non-stop weekend with moving, we just want to stay put. However, we took off right after Tim got home from work on Friday for Hocking Hills. 

Overall, it was very fun to spend time with friends and be forced to relax. The road trip home from Hocking Hills was very pretty along route 50. I never stayed up past 12am because I physically couldn’t. We ate great food and had laughs. I never did get in the hot tub like I’d planned - oh well. 

Nora had a great time and the space was basically one big room for her to walk around which worked well. I sat in the back with her on the ride home which helped her wiggles. 

Ailo spent the weekend with his girlfriend, Maggie Barker - a lovely lady retriever. He was pleasantly worn out which is always good. Nora must have missed him something fierce because she’s been snuggling on him all day yesterday and this morning - so cute!

Evelyn & Nora gnawing carrots!

Nora takes a ride in the clothes basket.

Carrot gnawing.

Nora photobombs the Cowans - ha!