My Favorite Pasttime...

Blowing Raspberries and singing! Mommy doesn't know how to get the videos off of the good camera, but we just got a little video camera that's dummy proof, so here's a preview...



I saw the orthopedist yesterday and I'm well on the road to recovery. He is not overly concerned about my torticolis and we don't have to do physical therapy as of now. He gave mom yet another stretch to do with me (I wouldn't let the doctor do the stretches to me, so he showed mom how to do them and that was fine). The "tilt" at this point could just be out of habit, not a mechanical problem, and now that I sit upright more and lay down less, it should start to straighten itself out. My head and face are symmetrical (torticolis can cause misshapen heads because of how the head is held while lying down). I have to go back to the orthopedist next month to get an x-ray of my hips, then we will continue to follow up with him for the next couple of years to make sure I'm growing properly. The most exciting part of the visit was that he said I could use my exersaucer again! I had fun in it last night and startled myself when I turned the whole way around. I'm almost tall enough now to not need the pillow under my feet, but not quite yet...

Mommy and daddy gave me some cereal this week! The pediatrician said that it would help with the incredible amount of spit up and so far so good. I seem to like it pretty well, but still don't get much more than 1 tablespoon a day. We have pictures and videos, but we'll post them later - I don't think mom can transfer them to her computer. It certainly didn't involve the funny expressions that mom was expecting, but it was a bit messy.

On that note, we need to finish getting ready for school / work. TGIF!

I'm FREE!!!!!

That's right - no more harness!!! Mom talked to the doctor this evening and got the good news that she didn't have to put the harness on me tonight! It's nice to wear PJ's that aren't HUGE on me :) I'm so happy to not have it on that I decided I don't want to go to bed and am laughing at mom in the family room. We're going to the orthopedist next week to have him evaluate my torticolis and then we have to go back again in March for an x-ray to see how the bones have formed. OK, maybe I am getting a little tired. Hope everyone is well and we'll post more pictures when we have a chance.

I am my father's daughter...

Not only do I look like dad (he doesn't think so, but everyone else does...), but I've started SNORING like him too! Poor mom - she can't get away from it! This past week or so I've been REALLY good about napping in either my crib or pack and play (instead of my bouncy seat, on mom, or in the swing at school). Mom made them put me in the crib at school too and I've realized it's not all that bad. Of course she bought me this really silly mobile to put in the crib at school and I like to look at it while I go to sleep. I've started sleeping in the bassinet at night, but usually only make it 20 minutes in there before I wake up. Hopefully it will be easier without the harness.

I'm not going to school today because it's really icy outside. Mom's office isn't opening until noon, but she's working at home and I got to talk to a few people on the phone this morning :)

Even though I don't get "food" for another couple of months, mom put my high chair together last night. I got to sit in it and watch her get dinner ready - it was kind of fun to sit up and be able to see everything! But you can see how small I am compared to the chair :)



We had a great, but short visit with Jennifer on Sunday. Her flight was on time if not a little early and we were able to grab a quick bite to eat before we took her to her hotel. I did really well for my first restaurant experience :) It seems like she had a great trip even if there were some transportation troubles along the way. It sounds like I may get to meet Uncle Jeff, Aunt Lee Ann, and Cousin Christine this summer - I'm looking forward to that!

TGIF!

I had my 4 month check-up yesterday and the doctor says I'm a tall, lean girl, chubby where I should be chubby. I'm 12 lbs 8 oz and 24.5 inches - 25% for weight and 75% for height - right on track from where I have been. The doctor said I look "perfect." Of course except for my hips and neck. The torticolis is still there and she gave mom a few more exercises to do with me. We have to follow up on that with the orthopedist and if it's not better in a month, we'll have to start physical therapy. I have a feeling that's where we'll end up, but we'll do the exercises diligently in the mean time! I got more shots yesterday and they made mom hold me while they gave them to me - we both cried :( Dad had to be in New Jersey for work - I don't think mom will let him be out of town for my 6 month shots!

Mom's getting ready for work and I'm sitting here talking up a storm trying to keep myself awake. That's my new trick - a very high pitched squeal when I don't want to sleep. It works quite well. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Only 2 more days till I get to meet my cousin Jennifer!

Pittsburgh's Going to The Super Bowl!!!

We went to Uncle Joe's house to watch the Eagles-Cardinals game and the Steelers-Ravens on Sunday. Uncle Steve even got dad to wear a Steelers jersey (and I have photographic evidence...you can see he's less than thrilled). Dad said he did it for me :) I even have my own Polamalu jersey that will hopefully still fit me next year. We're having a Superbowl Party at our house - it will be a Black and Gold frenzy for sure!

I also got a new exersaucer at home, but mom thought better of it after she put it together and now I'm not going in it until she can talk to the orthopedist. I'm probably not supposed to be "weight bearing" on my legs until we get cleared from the orthopedist, so I'll have to wait a little longer. I did enjoy it the few times I used it though - you can definitely see how expressive I am.



I had another ultrasound on my hips yesterday and was very good again. I slept right until they started the ultrasound, woke up happy and smiling, peed on the table (again), and went right back to sleep. I guess I'm getting to be a pro at this.

Guess we should go to school soon. Mom's been home this week because of the inauguration, so I've been able to sleep in a little.

Brrrrr!!!

It is COLD outside! A lot of schools are delayed this morning and the roads look slippery, so mom and I are going to school a bit late this morning. I hope everyone is staying warm!

Mom and dad told me that I'm going to get to meet my cousin Jennifer in a few weeks! Turns out she is flying back from London to Dulles Airport and has an overnight stay there! She gets in around dinner time, so hopefully her flight is not delayed and we can go meet her :)

Back to my nap, but I wanted to say hi!

I'm a growing girl!

I'm a whopping 12 lbs 1 oz now and have almost outgrown most of my 0-3 month clothes! I went through those VERY quickly. All of a sudden, my legs are too long! "Average" weight gain is a pound a month, so at a minimum, I should have been 11 lbs 2 oz at my 4 month appointment in 2 weeks. As you can tell, I'm way ahead of that which is good. I have a feeling I've grown in length too given how small my clothes are, but I don't know how tall I am right now - we'll find out in a few weeks.

Mom and I went to the orthopedist and pediatrician yesterday. We went to get my harness adjusted because I've grown so much. Because I was so small to begin with, they didn't have to give me a whole new harness, they were able to just adjust the straps on mine. The nurse said hopefully only 3-4 more weeks of half time wear, let's keep our fingers crossed! I have an ultrasound the week of the inauguration to see how my hips are growing (mom says she's not going to DC that week, so might as well schedule ALL the doctors appointments that week...).

After the orthopedist, we went to the pediatrician - it's in the same building, so we wanted to see what was up with my congestion. It's been going on for so long now and just isn't getting better. Mom's called and talked with the nurses 3 times now, so we didn't want to do that again and wanted to actually see the doctor. With the cough and trouble sleeping at night, it was definitely time to go. It is still just a head cold, but at least we know my lungs are clear and there's nothing more that we can be doing (we already do saline, suction, vapor bath, steam from the shower, humidifier, keep my head elevated to sleep). The doctor thought this was probably the peak of it and told mom to stop using the suction - it can sometimes just irritate the nose more and not actually help the congestion. Yay - I HATE the nose sucker as mom and dad call it!

Last night was a rough one and I had a tough time breathing after I fell asleep. My nose was so congested I had to breathe through my mouth a lot :( I woke up crying at 3:30 which I usually don't do. I ate and went back to sleep, but got up around 6 again. We came downstairs and I'm sleeping in my bouncy seat now after getting more saline drops in my nose. I sound a little better and have been asleep there for a couple of hours. Let's hope this is near the end of this yucky stuff!

I hope everyone else is having a good start to 2009. More pictures to come soon...