Sunday, January 16, 2011

Happy New Year!

As a perfect example of how I have become a slacker blogger, I wrote the text below on 1/16/10, couldn't get my photos to upload, so haven't returned to it until today. I swear I am going to hit the "Publish Post" button today - even if the pics don't upload!

Well, I have gone from being an avid blogger with frequent posts carefully crafted to relay the details of my life to an infrequent poster who just throw up some pictures every few months and doesn't even bother to turn the right side up for the viewers. This is due to a combination of facts including being too busy, not interested, and having nothing especially controversial or horrific going on in my life right now. Facebook probably also reduces my need to make announcements via blog and instead posting them there.

If you haven't heard, Nora is expecting a little brother due on May 18. So far the pregnancy is going well with no indications of any problems. We are cautiously optimistic that everything will go smoothly, however, at this same time in my preganancy with Nora I had no problems either. So, we have learned that whatever is going to happen will happen and just to not worry too much about it.


So, here is the scope on Nora. She just turned 2 in December! Hard to believe it. She is tall for her age (about 35 inches), but not off the charts or anything. She has really cute longer hair with little curls on the ends. She continues to develop at her own pace but is making advancements every day.

On the PT front (physical therapy for those of you who aren't into all the acronyms involved with a delayed child) she is doing great! She started walking in October (at 22 months). She is really getting around well now. Once she started walking, we cut back her private PT sessions from once a week to once per month. The next milestones she is working on is walking up and down stairs independently (which she has done a couple of steps up on her own so far), running (which I really have no idea how to teach her - I am sure it will just come someday), and walking on uneven or new surfaces (which she is pretty good at - but is still a little freaked out by snow).


We have stepped up her speech therapy to 6 times per month. This is the area she is most delayed in now and seems to be trying hard to learn. She knows many signs and is understanding more and more words every day. She can say a few well, and quite a few not so well, and maybe even some more that we just can't decipher. She can manage between her signs and few words to tell us when she needs help, when she is hungry, when she is going to take a bath; and, most recently, to confirm that she has indeed made a "po-po" in her diaper. Her best words are "b-" words including "Ba-ba!" = Buster, "Bo" = Blanket, "Ba" = Ball, "Ba" accompanying by the sign for bath = Bath, "Boo" = Book. She is also good with some C or K words like "Ki-Ka" = Kitty Cat, "Ko-Ko" = Cookie, and "Ka-Ka-Ka" = Cracker. Her most clear words that strangers can even understand are "Bye - Bye" - which is used not only to say good bye, but to indicate a flushing toilet, a car driving by, a person running, a tractor, a bus, a toy going into a box, or any other activity where an object vanishes, and "Up, Up, Up!" - Almost always repeated several times for emphasis.
She is understanding a lot more of what we say to her. For example, we can ask her some questions and she will respond appropriately. She will give kisses upon request and come into the bathroom when I announce it is time for her to brush her teeth. However, to explain more complicated things gets tricky. She has several books about becoming a Big Sister and welcoming a New Baby. She can now identify a baby in pictures and seems interested. However, when I point to my belly and say "Baby" she is just confused and points to my belly button and says "Be-Boo" (Which is another B-word she knows = Belly Button). I have to admit, it is a confusing idea even to me and I am the one who is pregnant!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Saturday, June 12, 2010

18 month stats

26.9 lbs (75th percentile)
33.5 inches (95th percentile)

large head but not increasing percentiles (which is good).

Still no talking or walking, but lots of laughing and fun!

MRI and neurosurgeon next week. Not expecting any surprises.

I will post more with some 18 months pics once I get them taken (soon). .

Friday, May 7, 2010

Some Videos!

I have a cool video recorder - but slow internet.

Taking advantage of a few minutes of downtime and a fast connection.... Enjoy!

Some from January 2010:

Jumping:

Crawling:

Sippy Cup:

Playing with Buster:

Pasta Dinner:

Sunday, April 25, 2010

I'm back!

After being too busy to update the blog during tax season, a week has gone by and I can stand to open my computer for recreational purposes again.


Now that it is over, I can say that tax season went well. Andy was able to minimize his travel during his time which really helped. He also doesn't give me too hard of a time when I have to work late. During March both sets of grandparents decided to head to Florida, so we had a little less help during this time, but Nora was well taken care of between Andy, Stacie (our nanny) and my flexible work schedule (as flexible as you can be and still work 60 hours per week)!


Nora is now 16 months old. She is weighing in around 25 lbs and ~32 inches. Just about average for her age. She has had a very healthy winter which we are so thankful for. Besides a little brain surgery and some meningitis, she has been super healthy so far! She has never had an ear infection or a cold! Maybe her chromosome disorder gives her some sort of super-immunity or something. I am sure that it helps that she is not in daycare; but she does spend about 3 hours per week at therapy where there are lots of other kids. We also take her out rather frequently. she likes to grocery shop - so I am sure to take her each week. She also likes to eat out at restaurants (and so do we!), so we go out to eat a couple times per week. She has had a bunch of doctors appointments since my last posting, but noting too notable to even mention. She is doing well.


Nora development is chugging along. Her level of delay is different in different areas. However, she does seem to make progress in most areas - which is good because then it gives us confidence that she will get to her goal - just a little later than most kids. She is currently working on learning to stand & walk. She does well pulling herself up, crawling up and down stairs, and cruising along even surfaces. She is working on cruising on more complicated surfaces and hopefully getting the balance and confidence to take a step. It is hard to say when this may be - could be a month, could be a year or more. Sometimes stuff happens fast, sometimes it seems to stall.


Her most difficult area right now seems to be understanding and manipulating toys. She is physically getting good coordination with her fingers and has good strength; but has difficulty understanding (or even caring!) about some things that "typical" babies do (putting objects in a bucket (I am sure we have said "Put it IN, Nora, Put it IN!" at least 2 million times), pressing buttons on toys to make something else happen, imitating others, etc.). She has also started Speech Therapy recently. She has not said any words so far and does not appear to understand too many besides her name and "Buster!" We have been working for some time to teach her the sign for "More" (clapping hands together).


She has become a great eater - not too picky. She has given up her bottle with really no problem and just started to drink out of a baby cup with a straw. She loves to drink out of a regular cup too, but has not yet earned that privilege due to her tendency to fling her cup onto the floor when she is finished drinking. Same treatment goes for plates & utensils. (We have been leaving some larger than normal tips at local restaurants to compensate for the mess!)


She likes to laugh a lot. Particularly at Andy. But I can sometimes earn a laugh or two myself. Tonight it was a special performance of allowing her to hold out her rubber duck in the bath tub and grabbing it with my teeth, then letting her pull it out. This was particularly hilarious to her.
Here is Nora in February reading a book. She really likes books. Particularly those with things to touch. One new skill she has developed in the last couple months is pointing!

Nora really likes her wagon that she got for her birthday. Buster likes it too!





Nora climbing the stairs and happy at the top:

Reading again:
Post Chocolate Easter Bunny face:





Forgot to mention the storm! We had a big hail storm in April that did some pretty significant damage to our siding and roof. Here are some photos after the storm. It is still not fixed as we have been waiting for the insurance company to settle our claim.



Bits of siding on the ground:


Holes in the siding:




Buster - investigating the damage to the barbecue grills:


Nora enjoying breakfast by candlelight while we waited for the power to come back on (it was only off for about 15 hours).



Nora dying Easter eggs. I gave her the egg, snapped the picture, then realized that I shouldn't have given her the egg after she smashed it on her tray. Oh well.





Nora having a snack at the counter:




Nora getting ready for a walk outside with Andy!



Sunday, March 14, 2010

Tax Season Hiatus

Everything is going fine. Nora is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up even!

The blog is on tax season break and will return after April 15! See you then!
Nora & her new cousin Hannah!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Christmas

Nora had a busy holiday season. Christmas Eve day was spent at home. Nora got to try out her new sled and snowpants she got for her birthday.







Christmas Eve she stayed up past her 8 pm bedtime to go to church.



Christmas morning Nora got up just after 6, so we all got up and opened presents. Andy got slippers, I got a purse, and Nora got some toys.