Ear tubes are in!

Emma had tubes placed in her ears this morning and it couldn't have gone better! We woke Emma up at 1:30 am to give her a super-sized bottle as she wasn't to have anything past 2 am. She went back to sleep until a few minutes before her surgery at 7:30 am. It took around 15 minutes.  All the nurses and doctors commented on how beautiful she is (proud momma moment). I know they say that to all babies, but it's 100% true in this case! :) I'm so relieved the surgery is over.  I was so worried about this day, but in reality it was a breeze. Seeing an ankle bracelet on her brought back memories of her time in the NICU (the surgery center is across the street from where she was born).   It seems like that was a lifetime ago not just 7 short months!  

This is when we got home, still wearing her ankle bracelet. 

 (she also received many comments on her mohawk)

she weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds today!

For comparison, tiny "lamb" is modeling Emma's ankle bracelet 

from the NICU and her blood pressure cuff (next to a size "d" battery)

Emma knows she is a lucky girl!

At least she doesn't have to wear one of these!  

(poor Daisy trying to eat out of her food bowl)

Emma pics

Peace, love, and tranquilizers

Have you ever wondered what happens when you give a nutty doggy the tranquilizers the vet so generously provided???? Well, our favorite four legged friends is about to educate you.  Just look below.

I fall asleep like this.........

close up..... do you like my pearly whites?

This is the 2nd time I've used my little pink pill arsenal.  The first time I combined it with the steroid.  After drinking all the water out of the toilet that night, Daisy morphed into a drunken frat boy and peed all over our bedroom.  Lesson learned!  

PuPpY lOvE xOxOxO

Emma really loves her Daisy dog. So much so that she is starting to look like a little bully. Here is a video of her admiring her pup. We have to put Daisy in there when she gets too wild so she won't tear her stitches and Emma loves to watch her. As for Daisy's interest in Emma....she's over it!

I call this "home zoo" no admission fee :)

"tickle, tickle"

(pay special attention to her little grin before she gooses Daisy!)

Photo shoot 3-22-09

"peek-a-bo0! I see you behind the camera mommy!"

"hahahahah"

"iDROOL"

"waiting for the punch line.."

"I don't care what daddy says, you ARE funny!"

"sometimes I laugh so hard I fall over"

"that's okay, I'll just cross my legs and take a rest"

"Okay dad, your turn to entertain me!"

Caged Animals!

Both of my kids in cages, just the way I like it!  This won't get me "mother of the year" award but it does allow me to keep a small piece of my sanity!

  

Daisy on the mend

It has been really strange and empty at home without Daisy the last two nights.  I was so happy to pick her up from the vet this morning.  The vet who did the surgery said that Daisy was, "very happy and very wild."  Understatement of the year!  He provided a generous amount of tranquilizers to help with that :)  She has to move as little as possible over the next two weeks which means many hours inside her kennel.  I think I will sign her cute blue cast tomorrow. Stop by and sign it yourself if you are driving by and see Dan standing next to our dog in a blue cast doing her "business" in the front yard :)  What will the neighbors say!? 

licking frozen canned food out of her toy

Tired sore doggy

Shaved right up to her rear!

Sleeping issues....

We are working on getting Emma to sleep through the night.  She doesn't sleep more than 2 hours of naps during the day, she goes to sleep at 8pm on the dot (don't try to delay or things can turn ugly, very ugly).  The problem is that she wakes up around midnight and then she is up every 1-2 hrs until 4-5 am.  We have tried bed time routine, swaddling, pacifier.  NOTHING keeps her asleep.  Emma is 19 pounds now so she should not have to wake up to eat.  So what??

I've read that preemies have more sleep disturbances than full term babies even at 6 months. These sound very familiar.  Emma can get so tired that she will swing her arms and kicks her legs.  It's rare for her to drift off to sleep on her own.  It really seems like she doesn't know HOW to.  FYI-same thing at daycare.  Any suggestions out there?

Inability to self-soothe - They wake and can't calm themselves in order to fall back to sleep. This is due to their immature nervous system.

Wanting to be held often - Is this due to not enough time spent in the womb or the fact that many of them were in the hospital's NICU after birth and not held very often? It could be a combination due to both circumstances.

I just found these videos of Emma when she was in the NICU.  I never realized how loud it was...Maybe she needs more noise to sleep??

Daisy Update

For all of Daisy's loyal fans :)

I dropped Daisy off yesterday for her surgery.  She was not excited about it.  In the exam room she kept picking up the handle part of the leash and putting it in my lap like, "lets get OUT of here!"  The vet called last night to say that she was out of surgery and doing well.  I will call to check on her this afternoon and I'm hoping she will be ready to come home tomorrow!  Then the real work starts.  I'm off to buy throw rugs today to cover the slick floors.  More later.  Thanks for the well wishes!!!!

Such a "sophisticated" palate!

These are two video clips of Emma eating. The first is a new "dish" (chicken and vegetables), she wasn't too sure about it. The second clip shows Emma eating one of her favorites, Hawaiian Delight! She can't get enough of this one or get it fast enough. 

Not too sure about this one...

"YUM!"

F is for fish!

I can't say enough about this product! The swimming fish are so captivating that many times I can lay Emma down in her bed awake and she will watch the fish until she falls asleep! Amazing! These are a few pictures from play time Sunday afternoon.

I hear bubbles!

"oh hello friends!  Wait where are you going??"

"come back! come back!"

"I love these guys mom, but they keep swimming away!"

"I'm EXHAUSTED from fishing!"

"Mom, bring me a bottle!"

laughter is the best medicine!

If only we could pay for Daisy's surgery with baby giggles!!

A day of fun!

Today the weather was great here in Kentuckiana!  As the weather man put it we were "flirting" with 80 degrees.  We decided to run some errands with Emma this afternoon.  We first went to lunch, then Macy's, Best Buy, and Babies R Us.  Emma is so good at restaurants.  She just watches all the people and barely makes a sound.  She also enjoys adventures in shopping.  It is almost time to upgrade Emma's car seat.  She is almost 20 pounds and her car seat only goes up to 22 pounds.  I wish she would stop growing so fast!  My dearest Father Time, SLOW DOWN! 

What mommy learned at daycare

Emma sleeps well at night but has hard time staying soundly asleep during naps (mostly because she wants to be held the entire time).  A couple of months ago I learned this "technique" for getting Emma to take longer naps.  Once Emma is swaddled and drifting off to sleep, I lay her in her Boppy and wrap the "arms" around her.  This makes her think she is being held and she will stay asleep.  The Boppy comes with a warning to NEVER let babies sleep in them unattended, which is why this technique is only for supervised napping :)  Thanks daycare!

  

Today I realized Emma is now 6 1/2 months old.  Those months seemed to have flown at the speed of light!  Emma's development is taking off at a similar pace making me proud and a little sad that my "new, little, preemie" baby is growing up!  This morning she took her fruit covered spoon and stuck it in her own mouth.  She is also quite the comedian these days.  She loves to laugh and squeal at peek-a-boo games, and she LIVES for showing off.  I tell you this kid is a total attention hog!  As soon as she thinks she has done something impressive she stares straight at you for your applause.  She just adores Daisy and enjoys pulling Daisy's fur.  

Daisy is as attention hungry as Emma so she enjoys all the fur pulling.  Daisy likes to lay at our feet and Emma's feet are no exception.  She will lay with her head under the jumperoo even with the occasional "accidental stomping" she gets.  Daisy is awaiting her surgery.  She is currently taking 2 tablespoons of glucosamine and 2 ounces of fish oil on her food daily as well as a daily low dose steroid and pain pills 2x a day (tell me about it).  She loves the fish oil and glucosamine (which also smells like fish).  She especially loves rubbing her stinky beard on the carpet after she is done :)  

        

And Surgery it is!

Looks like Miss Daisy will be getting surgery!  Her hips look good (not great) and her back is good so she will go under the knife (believe me this is something to celebrate because the alternative was pretty grim).  She is scheduled to go in on Friday the 13th at 8am.  The surgery is expensive and she will have a long road to recovery, but I'm told she will likely be as good as new! Of course there is that little statistic that says she is 30% likely to do the same thing to her other leg.  (lets not go there right now)  These injuries are a result of the angle of the knee and nutty behavior.  check and check!  We love Daisy so much we will do what we can for her.  Well I love her and Dan loves me...so he is obligated right?  Dan says it is worth it to get to keep her in the kennel for 2 months :)  Hopefully, Daisy will be able to go for a walk around the block by her 2nd birthday in May.