Edie is her nick name. It's really starting to stick! She has got to be the sweetest baby I know! She is full of kisses these days. If you ask her for one she just might like you enough to give you one. It's more like a french kiss then anything though since she does it with her mouth wide open. And if you make the sound 'mmmmmwa' she will imitate it.
Eden got her two first teeth this month. She got her bottom left front tooth on 9/16 and her bottom right front tooth on 9/27. Eden started signing more on 9/23. This looks somewhat like she is clapping because she doesn't form her fingers together like the actual sign but she puts her hands together over and over to get her point across! She keeps on amazing me in her abilities! Eden loves to play peek-a-boo (10/5). She will raise a blanket or big up over her eyes and bring it down with a big smile. She sometimes uses her arm and doesn't quite get her eyes covered up but still thinks she is playing! One of the sweetest things that will never get old is hearing Eden say uh-oh (10/6). She will drop a toy and immediately say uh-oh. I wasn't sure how she learned this until she dropped something and Keziah said uh-oh right away. I bet that's not the only thing her big sisters will be teaching her!
Biggest news ever is Eden started crawling (10/6)!!! I am so proud of my sweetie! She only took 4 crawls forward but she is going to get it in no time!
Eden's schedule is still the same as last month so I'm not going to write anything about that.
Next month we will be talking surgery stuff so I will have plenty to say next month!
As always, I have to say, God is so good! What a blessing Eden is to us!
Eden is 9 months old and growing so fast! I love this age! She is learning all the time...here are some of her latest accomplishments:
Says mama (8/30/12)-not sure if it's intentional but she knows that if she has a need unmet that saying that will fulfill it! Eden will sit up for several minutes by herself (9/7/12). She is scooting around a little by moving on her belly in circles and backwards (9/8/12). She doesn't see an object across the room and work to get to it, she just accidently gets places. And the really weird thing is she knows how to roll, but never rolls to get places. I don't think she has figured that one out yet! She says the dadadada syllables (9/9/12)-again not necessarily intentional. Eden started waving bye-bye (9/10/12). She started clapping her hands (9/11/12).
Eden's schedule is pretty much the same as last month except she is more consistent with eating at meal times and is drinking water or breast milk from a sippy cup with her meals. I have even recently tried cutting up cooked veggies like carrots, green beans, peas and broccoli.
Eden is almost always happy unless she is hungry or alone. She rarely cries if she is tired until you are getting ready to put her to bed. For example she can be as happy as can be playing but the second I lay her on the boppy to nurse before a nap or bed, she can hardly focus because she is so tired and crying/rubbing her eyes, etc.!!
Eden LOVES our puppies. I swear she is even making a puppy noise when she sees one of them. Bella is such a good dog. She just sits there and takes it! Every once in a while you will hear a yelp out of her but she likes the attention!
UPDATE:At Eden's 9 month check up on 9/26/12 Eden weighed in at 17lbs. 12.5oz. and was 27.5" long. Her head circumference was 45.5cm. She is developing right on track with a normal 9 month old! The Dr. asked me if we have ever been told her joints are extra mobile and I said, 'well, actually I have hypermobility joint syndrome so that kind of makes sense!' I guess she takes after me in one way at least...not that it's a good thing :(
Here is my baby 8 months old!!! The picture in the bottom corner is from today (I didn't have very much luck getting a smile out of her), the rest are from yesterday (the 13th). Purple is probably my favorite color and she looks adorable in it!
This is one of my favorite so I separated it out from the others to make it bigger! Love her sweet smile!
This month is going to be pretty brief and listed...I have been keeping track of some things but in a list form so it isn't going to flow as nicely!
Eden started sweet potatoes 7/15/12. (not a huge fan but did ok). I kind of feel like they were sour for her tummy...she spit up a lot after.
We tried green beans next and she seemed to love them.
Next we tried bananas, again not a huge fan.
Next we tried sweet peas and she didn't seem to mind them.
We did apples at the same time and she loves apples.
Then we tried carrots with a little oats mixed in and she loves them!
We have also tried putting apple in the mesh bag thing that they chew on and she doesn't like that. I then tried bananas and she didn't like that either. She just sat there and squished it in her hand! I think it's the texture of the mesh bag that she doesn't like. Oh well, she will just eat them mashed.
Eden started sleeping in her crib all night on Friday 7/27/12. Prior to this she was napping in her crib but sleeping next to me in the pack-n-play in my room. And even now that she is sleeping in her crib upstairs I have been putting her to bed in my room after her 7:00 feeding and then when I wake her for a dream feed before I go to bed I take her upstairs and nurse her in the recliner before laying her in her crib. This will soon end as I am sure she is ready to do without the dream feed.
At 7.5 months here is Eden's schedule:
Between 6:30/7 Eden wakes and nurses
Eden goes down for a nap at 9ish and sleeps until 10/10:30
Eden nurses around 10:30/11
Eden sits at the table while the girls and I eat lunch and she eats a half of a container of #1 veggies.
Eden nurses around 1/1:30 and usually almost falls asleep on me.
I have started swaddling just her arms as doing no swaddling was causing her to wake often. So I swaddle her arms and lay her in her crib. When I wasn't swaddling her for a few days I would always lay her in one spot in the crib and she would wiggle herself to another. So now I just lay her in the spot I know she likes. She is pretty particular about this as she will use her legs to adjust herself perfectly if I don't do it just right. She loves to have her head shoved in the far left corner of the crib and the rest of her body coming out at a 45 degree angle! She is sleeping so much better since I started swaddling her arms. I think for the week that we weren't doing any swaddling she was up 3 times in the night and always woke at least once during a nap or would take a much shorter nap. One thing I have noticed about Eden is she doesn't quite have the sense of something dropping and where she might be able to find it. When her paci would fall out she wouldn't think to just grab it from beside her head. It's like she just thinks it disappears. And with her arms out she would grab onto her paci when she was upset and then drop it and not be able to find it. It is just easier to have her arms contained so she doesn't get a hold of her paci.
Eden wakes around 4/4:30 and nurses.
She will sit at the supper table with us and have the other half of her veggie jar around 5:30.
Eden nurses again around 7/7:30.
And then nurses again around 10/10:30 before I go to bed.
Here is a video of her in her exersaucer. We just recently discovered that she loves it in there! But this video is mostly of her interacting with the girls...they make a burp noise and she just laughs hysterically!!
Here is another physical therapy photo. "The Ladies" brought these rice bags this month to help support Eden while she is strengthening her core for sitting up. They have been a tremendous help. I now feel like I can put these around her and leave the room for a couple minutes at a time...and she is getting a work out in the process!
Eden is growing so much! She had some major growth spurts this month in length especially! Eden is able to roll over from her back to her tummy over her left shoulder. She can continue onto her back from tummy rolling over her right shoulder. She can't seem to get it going the other way though. If she tries she just ends up scooting herself and you can tell that frustrates her! She isn't able to sit up yet but definitely has the trunk support needed for it. She doesn't panic when she starts to tip over meaning she doesn't put her hands down to catch herself. We haven't started any other solids yet but are really thinking about it as Eden is not a happy camper if we are sitting at the table eating and she isn't. She is watching our every bite and I can tell she wants to do what we are doing! Eden is sleeping through the night and still getting 6 nursings a day with her last being right before I go to bed (I am still waking her for a dream feed). She wakes between 6 and 7, takes a nap by 9, sleeps for an hour or two and then up until 1ish. She will then sleep sometimes 3-3.5 hours for her afternoon nap. She is able to stay up until bedtime at 7:30. It is so nice to have her on a schedule, especially when you have other little ones in the house. Speaking of the other littles (and big boy), Eden absolutely ADORES her siblings. She squawks and squeals at them with the biggest smile every time. I love it! She will turn her head and instantly stop nursing if she can even hear their voice from anywhere in the house. That can sometimes be a bit frustrating!
Eden continues to be healthy and seizure free. More updates on that in other posts. God is good! Enjoy the pictures!
Eden enjoying a little bouncing at Gma and Gpa Uglum's house! She can't get enough of these bouncers. All smiles!
We started Eden on cereal 6-30-12 She wasn't sure at first but did better as the days went on. Now two weeks later we have backed off as she is showing less interest. I think we are going to try veggies soon.
I don't talk much about Eden's physical therapy, but here goes...
Here is Eden in her fashionable 'hip helpers'. They are basically just shorts that have a seam sewn down the center to keep the hips together. She surprisingly doesn't mind them. They are helpful when she is both on her back and tummy but mostly when she is on her tummy. They help her use other muscles while she is moving around and playing. She is still able to roll in them too. And the obvious is that it helps keep her legs from going into that frog leg position which is a huge problem for her! We love our physical and occupational therapy ladies. Whenever we are scheduled for a visit the girls know them not by their names but by calling them 'the ladies'. They are so good with Eden and always have a positive and uplifting attitude. Not to mention that they are excellent at what they do. They do a great job of teaching me ways to work with her (besides being tolerant of being bombarded by Kez and Adah!). We are currently working on Eden putting weight on her arms, sitting up, tummy time and lifting up on her arms, a side sit position, reaching for things, and of course learning to roll to the other side and not just the one side. We are finding that Eden is comfortable reaching over her body with her right hand and that is why she is able to roll over that way but she doesn't like to reach over with her left. I would be surprised if Eden became a lefty someday! Eden is also more comfortable when she has support. She is very strong but is scared. If she can feel your touch and know you are there to catch her if she falls then she will do so much more then if you have her try to do it herself. Sitting up, for example, feels so scary to her and she will wobble all over if you don't have your hands by her because she is almost shaking with fear but if you put your touch on her hips or under her arms she will reach out for toys and sit up tall and strong. Same with on her belly. She isn't comfortable with voluntarily getting up on her hands but will do it with your hands under her chest or even just on her sides. She is amazing and it is so fun to watch her learn. I think her success will come when we learn how she learns best. For now occupational therapy comes with physical therapy once a month but physical therapy is coming twice a month. I am so thankful that we have these services offered to us as not everyone does. They both come because of the diagnosis of Agenisis of the Corpus Collosum. I will try to post more on her progress as the months go on!
Eden is already a half of a year old. I feel like we should celebrate in some way! It is amazing how far we have come with her and how awesome she is!
Awww...my sweet baby! She loves to be face to face. She will often grab Brian or my face and pull it into hers as if she is giving us a hug!
She loves looking at herself in this big mirror during bath time!
I love every roll of her! So sweet!
We brought this up from the basement today. I could not believe how well she sat up in it and how much she loved all the different toys. And her sisters enjoyed playing with them too so it kept her even more entertained!
UPDATE: Eden had her 6 month check up today (6-19) and she weighed in at 15 lbs. 14.5oz. She was 25.5" and her head was 43.5 cm. She had to have shots but tolerated them very well! She is tracking well with what a normall 6 month old is doing, so we are elated!
Eden is such a sweetie. She is growing so fast and learning all the time! What a little chub she is! I love making her smile and laugh which doesn't take much these days! Especially when her siblings are around!
Eden loves to play on the floor with toys around her. She does a really good job of holding on to her toys and playing for minutes at a time. She continues to enjoy her tummy time but it's still not something she gets a whole lot of as she seems to either be sleeping or have just eaten! She is starting to get on a better schedule as she is coming to the lower doses of her steroid, but it's still not great! She is almost always awake around 3:30am and then again by 6:30. She eats about every 2.5 hours (up from 2 a couple weeks ago!) the last one being right before I go to bed somewhere between 10 and 11. She is still sleeping in our room since she is waking in the night but is getting very close to outgrowing her bassinet. I will have to decide if I am going to make a bed in her room upstairs or possibly use the pack-n-play in our room. I can't believe how big she is...what a great blessing God has given us!
Eden turned 4 months old on the 14th, but today (4-17-12) she had her check up! We decided not to do shots since she is still trying to get established with her steroids. She is looking great with everything else developmentally and growth wise. She is smiling, cooing, laughing, reaching, etc. We will have to come back to get some blood work done as well as to get her shots in a few more days.
Eden weighed in at 11 lbs. 12.5oz. and measured 24" long. Her head was 41.5cm and her chest was 37cm.
UPDATE***I took Eden in yesterday to get her blood work. She had to have her electrolytes checked to see how she was handling the steroid. Her levels looked normal. One thing Dr. Himali (our neurologist fellow in IC) said is that the lab tech must have squeezed it out of her heel (which she did) because her potassium level was very high. It probably should have been drawn out through her arm, but Dr. Himali said it was fine, we didn't need to re-do it.
I took Eden in today (4-24-12) to get her 4 month old shots. She handled them quite well! We also had to get her blood pressure checked since I was supposed to do that yesterday when I got her blood drawn. The steroids can also cause her bp to go way up so they need to check on that as well. It was something like 93/67 or 97/63...I can't remember! All I know is it is pretty normal and nothing to be concerned about for now!
On the 14th (the day before my birthday and the day Eden turned 4 months), Brian took all of the kids to town to pick out a card and gift for me. He left Eden and I home by ourselves. It was HEAVEN! We cuddled in the chair the whole time they were gone (almost an hour). When they got home Adah instantly took to cuddling with us and even brought her babies to fall asleep on her like Eden did on me! She is my little miss mommy!
Austin went to all the effort of setting up our small camping tent in our living room and put all kinds of pillows and blankets in there and then set up a movie for him and the girls. This is in an attempt to keep the girls out of my hair as a gift to me on my birthday! I only liked it for a little while!!! Have I mentioned that Austin is such a sweetie!
Eden is such a little miracle. She is laughing, cooing, smiling, reaching! Doing everything a 3 month old should! It's amazing! Eden has been sleeping through the night practically since she was born. She went through about a two week period after she got over her jaundice at birth that she was wanting to get up in the night, but after holding her off for those two weeks, she sleeps wonderfully. I typically feed her around 10 before I go to bed and she makes it until around 6:30/7. She is eating about every 2.5-3 hours (totaling 6 feedings/day). She is getting on a pretty good schedule. She usually lays down for a nap about 1.5-2 hours after waking in the morning. She will sleep about 1.5 hours and then wake to nurse (around 10). She will stay awake about an hour and then back to bed until she nurses around 12:30/1pm. She will go right back to bed until she wants to nurse between 3 and 4. She then stays awake a couple more hours and then is down for an hour nap before waking to eat around 6/7ish. She will stay awake another hour and then go to bed for the night. I then wake her for a 'dream-feed' right before I go to bed around 10/10:30. This works so well and I am so proud of her for establishing such a great schedule at such a young age! During her awake time we love to play on the floor. She almost always giggles when I grab her hands and raise them above her head and say 'so big'. She also loves it when I use my chin to tickle her under her arms when they are in the air! She particularly loves this bear that she got during her stay at the NICU. It was a 10th anniversary beanie bear that is bright yellow and has specks of sparkling confetti on it. She loves looking at it and practicing her grabbing skills! When we aren't playing we are working hard at her physical therapy that AEA recommends every month. This month Eden seems to have some tightening on her left side (torticollis) so we are working on strengthening and stretching that. They also have us working her on her tummy, trying to get her head/neck stronger. She is doing very well at this but still seems to be slightly behind. We also have to account for the fact that she was born early so I am not too worried about that! Eden is such a joy and we are just enjoying every day we have with her and taking it all one day at a time!
Here is my third little owl! Click here to see my other two! Someday I will get a picture of all of them together!
