Cardio News

Yesterday Emma had a follow-up appointment with her cardiologist, Dr. O & he thought she looked really good. Her breathing was good, her heart rate was good & according t0 the echo her PA band is still in place & doing its job. He was a little disappointed with her weight 16 lbs, 2 oz which is the same response we got from her pedi Dr. K two weeks ago. Dr. O was really hoping she would weigh more than she does but he doesn't think her lack of gaining is heart related he thinks its just Emma rate of growth. We discussed how at this age babies growth starts to slow down & if we should consider doing Emma's next surgery soon or wait till spring. He is guessing that Emma will only weigh 19 lbs by April & wondering if its worth waiting until spring if she will only gain 3 more pounds at the most. He also mentioned there still is a lot of holes in her heart but he couldn't tell if any had closed on their own or not. So he is going to contact the surgeon Dr. B at MUSC Children's Hospital & discuss Emma's case with his partner to see what they think. If the surgery is going to be sooner it would hopefully be between now & November to avoid having Emma in the hospital during flu & RSV season. Chris & I are perfectly fine with doing the surgery sooner instead of later. We want Emma to be a healthy happy baby & for us to all move on with our lives without constantly wondering about her heart, her growth rate & her eating habits.

Short Trip

We took a quick trip to the beach over the weekend with my family & we all had a great time. I was really hoping Emma would learn to crawl while we were there but no such luck. Although Emma did learn to clap & it is jus precious. She claps when I get her up in the mornings, when I am changing her diaper, when she is eating & she clapped when Chris came in from work last night while made his day of course.

Emma is her swimsuit coverup waiting her turn to take a bath & playing with the table Nana brought. (Note the curls peeking out of the hood)

Playing in the sand

Chewing on one of her favorite beach toys, her boat.

Counsins playing in the sand

Visiting Granny Ruth (Chris' grandmother) who lives at the beach

9 months old

Yes, Emma turned 9 months old this past Friday & I am a little behind on my blogs. She had her check-up on Friday & she is now 16 lbs, 2 oz, we are so proud of our little girl. Dr. K wasn't 100% pleased with her growth but at least she is still gaining. She is still in the 10% but that is okay. She has gained 2 lbs in 2 months which is great for her. Dr. K is a little concerned that Emma may be behind in her motor skills & developmentally so she has referred Emma to be evaluated for therapy. She is slightly behind & thankfully the therapist will be the one to determine whether or not she actually needs therapy & not Dr. K. Dr. K also wants Emma to start taking vitamins & eating baby food meats. We have been putting the vitamins in her cereal which she eats just fine but the meat is another story. The first night I gave her baby food ham & she gaged & cried. The next night she actually threw up, bless her heart. Then the past 2 nights I have been mixing the ham with whatever veggie I am feeding her & that seems to be working.

Emma is still trying to scooting on her bottom but she isn't making it very far. She would be much happier if she move farther & faster but it will come with time. I sure wish we could teach her patience, she just gets so frustrated. We are going to the beach this weekend with my family & maybe she will pick up crawling by watching Morgan (who by the way is pulling up on everything & crawling everywhere, soon to be walking). If you remember the last time we were at the beach she learned to sit on her own so she just might learn to crawl.

We had Emma's 9 months old portraits made on Saturday & the new picture to the right is my favorite. She didn't do very well this time, she seemed to be scared of the photographer (fear of strangers has begun).

Sweet baby

This was this morning before I feed her breakfast & some how she ended up under the table. She has been trying for a long time to do this & she was quite proud of herself.

New Tricks

Emma is trying to figure out how to start moving around, but I wouldn't calling it crawling. She will sit with her legs spread out (like in a split position) & place her hands on the floor (we call it her yoga pose) & scoot along the floor on her bottom. Now she doesn't get very far while she scoots but she is moving. You can't even see her move that is how small of a movement it is. I just noticed on Thursday that when I would put her on the floor to play she would suddenly not be on the quilt anymore where I put her so I started watching her. I will have to post a picture of her so you can see her yoga/scooting pose.

She still hasn't gotten the hang of her cup yet. Most of the time she will either push it away telling us she doesn't want it or will quickly throw it on the floor. We are trying to teach her the word "NO" and "NOT IN YOUR MOUTH" and she understands but is putting up a little fight to obey. She has learned how to disagree with us which we are working on as well. Her little temper shows up from time to time which I remember seeing when she was a newborn & we were still in the hospital. Most of the time she is a sweet little girl with a smile on her face, right now she is just testing her bountries.

Family Fun

We got back from the beach early Thursday morning & we all had a great time. Emma & Morgan spent a lot of time playing in the floor & on the beach with their big cousins. Kaylee & Caroline really had a great time with the babies & were a great help in entertaining them so we could take showers, fix meals or whatever.

While we were at the beach Emma turned 8 months old & she can now sit up on her own & sort small obects. She is such a busy little baby now. I have started giving her a cup (water only for now), but she still isn't quite sure what to do with it yet. She also tried peas for the first time & she wasn't very fond of them. At first the made her gag as if she was going to throw up but the next feeding when she at them she did much better. Morgan is almost 10 months old & she just started pulling up to a standing position, which she is very proud of. Morgan is also saying "bye, bye" now. These babies are growing up so fast & what a joy they bring to our lives.

Morgan & Emma playing. Notice Morgan pointing, its one of her new tricks.

Emma playing in the sand

Me & my sweet baby girl

Morgan checking out Emma after she finished breakfast

Emma on the beach chewing on her boat

Beach Bound

We are heading to the beach tomorrow after Chris gets home from work & we will be staying at Mama's beach house again. Both of my sisters, Mama & 3 neices will be coming as well, not sure if my brother will be there or not. Chris only has Friday off so he will be coming back Sunday night but Emma & I will be riding back with either Mama (on Monday) or Karen & her girls (on Tues or Wed). I am sure we will have many pictures to share.

Emma is doing much better with her baby food. So far she really likes carrots & squash. She has also started to make a sweet little noise every time she sees one of the cats or our dog Spencer. Our oldest cat, Zoie, is the only one who will really let her pet her & Emma loves it. We are still working with the rest of the animals & hopefully they will learn to relax around her soon.

More Firsts

I totally forgot to mention that Emma has been going to the cradle roll class on Sunday mornings for 3 weeks now & she is doing really good. I know I waited a while before I took her but I wanted her to be able to sit in the seat by herself + I wanted her post up period to over before I took her too. Also they have been remodeling the church building & the class room wasn't set up until right before Memorial Day. Last night she went to Wednesday night class for the first time & guess who is the teacher, me. Its been a long time since I taught cradle role & Morgan came for the first time last night too. We had a great time.

Emma started eating baby food over the weekend for the first time & she didn't really like it, or it may have been what I gave her. I fed her green beans & looking back on it now I probably should have started off with something like applesauce, but I didn't. She never liked the green beans but she did better a few days later when she tried peaches. Today I gave her applesauce & she loved it.

Emma is also close to waving & sitting up on her own. When you wave she will raise her arm with her hand open but her hand & fingers don't move yet. As for her sitting up, she does really good as long as she has her boppy to support her but occassionally still falls on her face.

Here is Uncle Shawn holding Emma for the first time. Yes you read that correctly, the first time. He has been scared to hold her & he lives in the DC area so he isn't here but every few months.

Look at this face. I am feeding her green beans & she doesn't like them at all. I am hoping she will warm up to them next time.