Just a Swanging

New Things

In the life of a mom things seem to be every changing especially with a 19 month old walking (starting to run) & talking up a storm. She seems to pick up a new word every few days this past week it was "seesee" = silly and "I don't know" (can't remember how she says it). She has also changed over to calling my Mommy instead of Mama, not sure why, but okay.

She has a new little hair du with a small side ponytail which I think is just precious. It makes her look so much older.

One of her favorite things right now is to wear everyone's shoes, including her Build-A-Bear's (a gift from Chris' fellow co-workers after one of her heart surgeries) slippers which are almost too small.

She also has a new "fimming fool" = swimming pool with a slide & giraffe who squirts water but she doesn't like the squirting at all, too noisy.

Then the most recent addition is her new swing set Chris & Bob (my brother-in-law) put up for her this weekend. We got her a baby swing for her birthday in November & had all intentions on putting it on the tree in our front yard, but it wouldn't work. Luckily we found a swing set pretty cheap at Wal-mart & quickly purchased it. Needless to say she loves it & would "wing" all day/night if we would let her.

New Du

Pink Hello Kitty Build-a-Bear slippers

Enjoying her new swing set

Cardio Update

Yesterday Emma went for her 6 month post-op cardio check-up & Dr. O thought she looked great. He didn't even see any reason to do a echo or EKG. He didn't hear anything that concerned him when he listened to her & thought her murmur sounded really quiet.

He has now moved Emma's check-up to annually, YAY. He said normally with a child who has a VSD repair he will see them 6 months post-op, then 1 year & then every 2-3 years, but he wants to keep an eye on our Emma. Since she did have 3 surgeries & one of them included a PA band, he wants to make sure no scar tissue forms around the artery which would restrict the flow of blood. He also wants to test her heart rhythms with a holter monitor when she gets older which will be several years from now.

She did really great in the office with no crying, only a little fussing at first & constantly saying bye, bye to the staff which is her way of saying she is ready to go. I think this was the first time anyone has ever listened to her heart since her first surgery where she didn't cry. Could we be turning the corner of learning to not be scared at the doctor? Time will tell...

I almost forgot to mention that Emma weighs 22 lbs now, grow little Emma grow.

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day weekend we headed to my Mom's beach house & had a great time as always. Emma is still not quite sure about the whole beach thing yet, or at least the sand part of it, but she loved the water. Once we introduced her to the ocean she was constantly asking for more water either to go play in it or to have some in her sand bucket or watering can.

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend.

Playing in the water with Daddy

Going to get water with Daddy

She loved playing in the water in her bucket.

Loving her PB&J, we love that face.

Sitting in cousin Morgan's chair showing us the sand on her feet. Emma is such a girl.

She's walking!!!

Emma's newest trick as of Monday, she is actually walking. She has been taking steps here & there, pushing toys, furniture, laundry baskets but now she is actually walking from one thing to another. She does still crawl some but there is definitely a lot more walking.


Not real sure why I am shaking my head "no" in the background

A Sad Day

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Deebs family today with the loss of their precious 10 month old baby girl, Maia, who lost her battle with HLHS today. We actually meet little Maia & her mother when we were at MUSC in Decemeber & have been following their blog ever since. Please keep this family in your prayers.

18 months & growing

Everyone said she would grow up fast & they were definitely right. I took Emma for her 18 month old pictures this morning & the proofs look like a 3 year old little girl with a silly (sometimes fake) grin.

She went for her 18 month check-up last week & she is still in the 10% for weight at 20 lbs, 15 oz (she is probably over 21 lbs by now) and 50% for height at 31". Dr. K wants to see Emma back in 3 months to do a weight check & if she is happy with her gain we may be able to start her on regular whole milk & discontinue the Pediasure. Emma really loves her milk so we have to wean her off slowly. As for her eating, Dr. K says she is right in line with all the other 18 months who are trying to figure out what they like. She will not eat meat at least not yet, but I will keep trying. Her favorites right now are waffles (plain, we haven't introduced condiments yet), grapes, strawberries, broccoli, PB & J & cheese.

She still hasn't taken the plunge on walking independently yet but she is taking more & more steps on her own. She is pushing her toys, laundry baskets & whatever else she can find around the house. She loves to go outside with the dog & walk in the yard holding our hands so hopefully she will just let go & take off soon.

Playing ball in the yard

Look at me go

On the slide, her favorite thing at the park

On the swing looking like a big girl