10 Months!!

Oh, Miss Laiken, you are growing up way too fast! You have really perked up this past month and are always talking and making the us laugh with all your new expressions!

You are eating mostly stage 2 baby foods still but you like a few stage 3 and just the other day you had some rotisserie chicken and a third of my sweet potato mixed with yogurt...you gobbled it up! You have been eating yogurt everyday due for the past couple months thanks to being on antibiotics and your poo issues so thank heavens for your pedi. suggesting some Activia!! Your therapist wants you to start eating soft cubed food and you will but you are pretty stubborn about feeding yourself...I think you like to feel like royalty and have someone else do it.

You are wearing six-nine month clothes although you are starting to get too long for your six month jammies now. As far as diapers, size 3's are still fitting nicely and I don't think we will be stepping up in size anytime soon.

I have started planning your Birthday party which makes me both happy and sad. Sad because I can't believe you are almost a year old and I feel like every time I blink it's time to roll the calendar again. Oh, so happy though because Baby, we had a rough start and lots to overcome and you came through everything like a champ! You inspire me everyday to enjoy life and not to sit around waiting for the bad to happen but rolling around in the good and trying to make every day go by as slowly as possible. I figure the bad tends to find you if you are looking for it so lets try to run in the sunshine as long as possible...btw, I am talking to you sunshine...could you come back real soon...I don't think I have had warm feet in like 6 months. Thanks.

Laiken, I about to take you in for a x-ray cause you still have no chompers, and as much as I love a gummy smile...this is getting a little silly! =) Don't worry though, you still get birthday cake and ice cream...teeth or no teeth!

As for activity, you love to roll around on the floor, in the bed and anywhere else you may be but crawling is something you simply are not interested in. Your therapist is going to be bring you some hip helpers to make your hips a little more stable. I think you could do it if you really wanted to but I think you roll faster and you know it! We are supposed to place your toys out of reach to intice you to crawl to them and it does intice but if you are sitting up you gently knock yourself over and...you guessed it...roll to it. We will have to see what these hip helpers can do for you.

Words are another thing, you only say the bad one...Dada and mmm when we eat. =) We are working on Mama, ba-ba, and Nana. You also like to spit and blow raspberries...all cute until dinner time. Now we have been on a hunt for larger bibs. Luckily, bath time is one of your absolute favorite things in the whole wide world! Love you Laiken! Thanks for making life so much fun!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Updates and Toobies

First off, Jace made it home on Sunday, the 7th so he was only in the hospital from Feb 3-7th...surely that must be some sort of record! So, thank you all for the prayers and well wishes, they obviously helped!

Now for the bad news...Laiken has to get toobies in her ears. =( I feel bad for her but I know this will help tremendously and apparently this is like a rite of passage for our chromosomally enhanced children. Dr. Palmer will be performing her surgery March 5th and we are thankful once again to not have to travel far for the best children's hospital I have ever been to! At our first appointment with Dr. Palmer back in October he told me that Laiken would probably get tubes before the 18 month mark and now that she has had two ear infections in two months he says with our special kiddos we don't sit around a wait for it to clear up, we fix it so there is no hearing loss. Speaking of hearing loss...my BIG baby, Roddy, was also checked out by Dr. Palmer and told he had significant hearing loss and was recommended to get musicians hearing aides for now with the possibility of real hearing aides in the near future. =( So now I am supposed to feel bad when I get mad at Roddy for not hearing me I guess...Man, that is going to take some getting used too!!

Prayers for Jace!

One of Laiken's buddies, Jace, who is also chromosomally enhanced and has the same heart defect Laiken, is undergoing his repair today. His big sister, LC also went through the same surgery about a year ago. Although their Mom and Dad are old pros at all this surgery business I am sure they would appreciate any extra thoughts and prayers from Laiken's fans. Nicknamed Zippy (Jace) and Pudge (LC) , they have quickly become our friends and we wish them a speedy recovery and safe return home! LOVE YOU JACE!!

Jace~Laiken wanted to personally thank you for the last zipper-free picture and to remind you that chicks dig scars!