A Girl and Her Feet

We've made a surprising discovery ... Emma is a monkey. She has to be! I've never seen a child use her feet more than Emma. Her feet are a second set of hands. If she's sitting up, she uses them to kick toys away from her. If she's laying down, she uses them to balance toys, hold toys, grab toys and bring them to her, etc. I'm afraid she may grow up and eat with her feet! How shocked she will be when she discovers her feet are really for walking. I think she really has developed so many uses for her feet to do everything in her power to avoid rolling back to tummy and crawling. Here are some of her newest demonstrations of transition from baby to monkey!

Look, Mom! No hands!

Fighting with her elephant

Reading a magazine

Playing with Daddy's giant slipper (sorry it's upside down ... silly Blogger)

Playing with her new ball

Told you she'd try to eat with her feet!

Shaking a rattle while her hands are busy with another toy! (She put the rattle on her ankle, not me!)

Feet are an excellent tool when trying to collapse your activity mat.

Holding the bag steady with her feet so her hands are free to bat it around!

Two Thirds of a Year

Emma is now big enough to sit with Winnie instead of laying on top of him!

Emma is 8 months today. Two thirds of a year. Thirty -five weeks. She has been home from the hospital for 6 months. 3 times longer than she was there. She has been in our lives for as many weeks as I was pregnant with her. Only 4 months until we celebrate her first birthday. I know every month I say that I can't believe how quickly time as gone by, but for some reason, this month seems to have gone by even faster (maybe because February only has 28 days). 8 months seems so much older than 7 months. I don't know why. I guess it's similar to the feeling I had all through my 20's. Every year I couldn't believe how old I was, but by the end of that year, I felt like I was still so young. That is until I hit 30. Now I actually feel like a grown up. I'm sure by April 15th, I feel like 8 months isn't such a big deal, but 9 months is momumental. (Hmmm ... Emma will be 9 months on Tax Day.)

Jeremy was proud to show Emma where he spends the day when he's away from her. She seemed excited to see MIT. Or maybe it was just the silly face I was making to get her to smile.

Emma makes strides every month, but this month has seemed like a biggie. Actually this week alone has brought lots of new things! Emma is sitting up for long periods now. She still tips, but I don't have to sit behind her with my hands ready to stop her. Today she sat on my bed playing with her little music/ activity table while I folded laundry. I think she only tipped once in the time that it took me to fold a whole load. She even rode sitting up in the shopping cart at the grocery store (although it didn't last long) for the first itme. She continues to roll whenever placed on her tummy. She prefers to roll to her right, but we're working on rolling to the left. She's not crawling yet, but she has started pulling her legs up under her and pushing herself over to the left that way.

Emma enjoying her first biter biscuit

When her Early Intervention therapist came on Friday, I was so excited to show her Emma's new tricks. We hadn't seen her for two weeks so sitting and rolling were BIG news to her. Of course, as soon as she got there, I said, "Emma has tricks to show you!" She was very excited to see what Emma had in store. I placed Emma on her tummy knowing she would just roll right over like she had everytime I put her tummy in the previous 3 days. Of course, Emma being Emma, what do you think she did? Oh she just layed there as if she LOVED tummy time! She finally rolled over, but had to be coaxed. Then I said she could sit for a long time. I sat her up and let go. She proceeded to topple over almost immediately. I don't know why she is bent on making me a liar, but apparently she is! Anyway, she finally did show her therapist just what a big girl she is and how long she can sit up all by herself. She also noticed her pulling her legs up under her and asked if she'd been doing that a lot. I said that she had in the last few days. She was very pleased with all her progress.

As if the rolling and sitting wasn't enough for this week, today my sweet angel, my little lovebug made me the happiest mommy! She said, 'Mama'! I'm always trying to get her to say Mama and Emma, but she usually responds with 'Bababa', a growl or a raspberry sound. Today was different though. I slowly said, 'Mama' emphasizing the mmmm sounds and she responded with the sweetest little 'Mama' I've ever heard! Now I know she probably didn't realize exactly what she was saying, but I will admit that it brought a tear to my eye and I've continued to try to get her to say it all day. She did repeat it several times, but is being a little stingy with it. Jeremy, although crushed that she didn't say 'Dada' first, was also very proud of her.

Daddy and his little girl spending the day in Boston

She has become quite a funny little girl. She seems to do many things with the intent of getting us to laugh or cheer for us. We are predicting that when she gets a bit older, she will be the kid who's always dressed in a costume and putting on 'shows' for anyone who is willing to watch. I imagine that she will be quite the entertainer. Perhaps she got a bit of a dramatic streak that tends to run in the Birnie family. She seems very pleased with herself when we provide the response she is seeking. She is in constant motion, using both her hands and feet to play with her toys. Watching her play is so amusing!

Making one of her funny faces

I'm looking forward to see what the next month brings. I have a feeling it will be another big one! In the meantime, here is a video of one of Emma's finest and funniest moments of this month.

Emma Discovers a New 'Toy'

Big News!

Emma is as excited about everything as we are!

We have big news in more areas than one! It's an exciting time in the Leghorn house. (No, no. Emma is not going to be a sister yet. The news isn't that big.)

First, Emma rolled over today!!!! Finally, after thinking she may never do it and worrying more and more as the weeks ticked by, I put her on her tummy in her crib this morning and she rolled over. I thought it was a fluke so I put her back, but she did it again. By the end of the day, she'd done it 10 times! I'd say that's not a fluke. We were bummed when she stopped rolling after her last surgery, but always thought it might have been by accident back then anyway. Now we are so excited that it's clearly on purpose. She really tried to roll from her back to her tummy too, but couldn't quite push herself over. I suspect that will come in the next few days. Sitting is also going really well. I still can't plop her down and leave her, but we're getting close. When she starts to tip, she's able to balance herself. She really only tips over when she gets too excited or tilts her head up too far. It's all happening so fast. One day she couldn't sit or roll and now all of a sudden she can do both! We're so proud of her!

Emma is apparently surprisingly strong. Jeremy lifted her up and she brought the big pillow with her!

Our second area of big news is that we're moving! After almost 3 years renting a condo in Somerville that we have really loved, we bought our first house!

Our new house ... in a few months

Although this condo holds a lot of memories, both good and bad, and has meant a lot to us, we're ready to be in a home of our own. I couldn't have imagined when we moved in that we'd need more space, but even with only one tiny little girl, we're starting to outgrow this house.

Jeremy will graduate from MIT in June and start work at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in July. We took a few day trips up to the area to scout out towns and neighborhoods in the area. We thought we'd move to Portsmouth, but couldn't find much of what we were looking for. Now that we have Emma, our ideas of a perfect home have changed. We really wanted a newer house in a subdivision with a yard and lots of other kids around. Portsmouth seemed to be consist mostly of older homes close to the downtown area. No yards. No garages. No driveways. Not that appealing to us. So we settled on Dover. We actually just ended up at an open house one day in Dover while we were driving around looking at listings from the outside. We loved the house and the neighborhood. The realtor said Dover was great for young families and that we'd easily find a place that we loved.

The next weekend we went back up and saw several houses with our realtor. We could've been happy in any of the houses we saw, all of which were in nice subdivisions. After that trip, we thought we'd decided to build a house in a new subdivision that was using geothermal heating. It seemed like a good investment since the 'green' thing is becoming more and more popular plus we'd save some money on our heating bill. In the end though, we decided that the house we really wanted was just too much for us right now since we know we'll be selling it in 3 years. We decided to bid on a home we'd seen, but not really considered at the time. It was bank owned so was a bit of a risk, but if we could get it for a good price, we knew it would be a great deal. We put in an offer and after a few back and forth counter offers, the bank accepted and so did we!

We had the inspection last week and all went well. A few minor things to fix, but all in all, a great house! It's a 4 bedroom colonial with an open layout kitchen, family room, formal living room, dining room, finished basement, two car garage, a deck and even a little room off the kitchen that will be perfect for a playroom for Emma. It needs a little love - paint (the old owners really loved beige and wallpaper), some new light fixtures and a little carpet cleaning - but it's only 7 years old so it's in pretty good shape. The yard is huge so Emma will have plenty of room to play. We close at the end of April and will probably move in the middle of May. It's all happening so fast, but we're so excited!

Our new family room

A partial view of the kitchen and the dining room in the distance

My parents were in town this past weekend, their last trip to our condo. Emma and I took them up to see the house and the town.

Emma decided to put her feet up and relax while we were at lunch in Dover. I actually put her in the stroller so she'd have room to stretch out instead of sitting in her car seat where she'd be in ... well, this position. Silly, Emma!

They liked it and saw the potential that we do. Everyone is excited about the new house and all the fun things we will experience in it, but it was sad knowing this was my parents' last stay in this house. We've been so lucky that they've been able to come visit so many times while we've lived here especially since Emma was born. It seems like just yesterday that they were here giving the place a good scrub down in preparation for Emma's arrival, not knowing that she would be born two days after they left. It doesn't seem too long ago though they drove all the up here from Virginia with me to help us get settled or that my mom and I got lost trying to find Mass. Ave on our way home from Linens and Things with new curtains for our living room.

Grandma took Emma shopping at our favorite store - Janie and Jack - and oufitted her in this adorable bathing suit. I bought her the hat and a matching cover up. She'll be the cutest baby on the beach this summer! The bag is, of course, Emma's favorite part.

We are all going to miss Boston. There are important pieces of us all over the city. At least, we'll only be an hour or so away so we can visit those places frequently. I'm desperately hoping the weather gets nicer soon though so I can take Emma down Newbury Street or for a picnic on Boston Common just like I wanted to do last summer, but didn't get to. We'll be trying to make the best of our time left here, but I know the weeks will fly by just as the past 3 years have!

The Results Are In ...

I finally called the hospital on Monday to get the results of MRI. I figured waiting a week to hear something was reasonable and a phone call wasn't out of place. Our surgeon's assistant said she couldn't give us the results since she wasn't a clinician, but that the doctor would be in and out of the office the rest of the day and she'd have her call me back that afternoon or the next day. I was sure I'd be calling again today, but only an hour or two later, I received a call!

The surgeon started by asking how Emma was, checking to make there hadn't been anymore swelling (not even a little since surgery!), and continued by telling me that 'Everything looked fine,' and 'There is nothing of concern on the MRI.' There was a little tiny 'but'. She has 'asymmetry of the ventricles' as a result of her shunt. One ventricle has collapsed and the other hasn't. It isn't something to worry about, but could look concerning if I'd seen the MRI report without an explanation. She said it's a very common occurrence in shunted children. The smaller ventricle is usually, as in Emma's case, the ventricle in which the ventricular catheter is placed. It causes that ventricle to drain a little more than the other. I don't know the extent of the asymmetry, but a suspect some of it, if only a little, may be just the way Emma was built. Thinking back to all her spinal taps, when the ventricles were measured after each tap, they were never exactly the same size. One was always slightly larger than the other. It was only 2 millimeters or so, but it was still a difference. Her surgeon said they might even out as she grows, but if they don't, it doesn't matter. So, I would have preferred if the result was, 'Oh they are both perfect and exactly the right size!', but the important thing is that the shunt is working and her ventricles aren't continuing to grow! Mission: accomplished. For now, anyway.

A new view of her shunt -- It now has a lot of very blonde hair growing in over it.

A side view -- definitely a bump, but soon it will be completely hidden.

On the topic of our new concerns: teeth, food and a rash, we had a visit with Dr. Sullivan today. Aside from some apparent anxiety over the exam table (She screamed every time I put her down on it and stopped when I picked her up.) which didn't exist before, we had a good visit. I guess getting 3 shots and having a terrible experience trying to have an IV placed in 10 days has had a negative effect on her feelings about exam tables. Despite a tiny weight loss (less than an ounce), Dr. Sullivan was happy with Emma's growth. She continues to be at the 25th - 30th percentile for weight. The weight loss was really a result of me feeding her right before she was weighed at her last weigh-in. She was 15 lbs 15 oz 10 days ago and 15 lbs 14.2 oz today.

Our skinny little thing practicing her sitting (Ignore the mess! I'm trying to purge junk!)

As far as the rash goes, she suspects it might be a strep rash. Apparently, a baby can get it from his/her diaper. She did a strep culture from her diaper, which of course Emma HATED! She wasn't convinced it was strep so until the culture comes back, she prescribed another cream to treat a yeast rash. The Lotramin hasn't been doing much so hopefully this will help. There is still a small possibility that it's just eczema, but that doesn't show up in the diaper area usually. The other red spotty rash everywhere else actually is eczema so we'll continue to put Aquaphor on -which feels delightful (ugh!)- until it goes away.

The food issue is a little less of a mystery. She didn't think it sounded like allergies which made me feel better because I was beginning to think she'd have to drink formula and eat applesauce for the rest of her life. She suspects that her digestive system is just having a hard time adjusting to the new bulk in her diet. We'll start over and go a little bit more slowly this time while trying to work out the issues. I'm going to introduce each food one at a time all over again and look for any of the signs I suspected were clues to a reaction. (I even made an official fod journal to keep track of each new food, the amount and any reactions to it.) She also suggested giving her a little prune juice and/or water after she eats solids to help with digestion. I'm now ready to tackle solids anew!

The bib says it all especially if feeding her continues to go the way it has been.


It's a rare occurence, but Emma is now sometimes able to feed herself!

Finally, the teeth .... "Are we getting any teeth?" she asked. I told her of the joke my mom and I had about teething and that I really hoped she saw something in there. What did she see?? Teeth! She said she definitely has them. She can see the clear part which I guess is how they appear from the top before they fully push through. She couldn't give me a date for the arrival, but it could be in the next few days or sometime in the next month. She said she made the mistake of saying that she saw another baby's and they'd pop through in a week only to have them come back at their next appointment still toothless. She's seen them come up within a few days though. The important thing is that I'M NOT CRAZY! She said she is probably feeling the pressure of the teeth pushing their way up causing her discomfort. So some of her whining has been her teeth after all!

She will have to go back in about 3 weeks to get her second flu shot (Babies need a booster.) and her last RSV vaccine! I'm not looking forward to it, but it should be over quickly. I was hoping they would be her last shots for awhile, but a month later she'll be going in for her 9 month appointment and will need shots then. After that though, we'll be done for awhile. I feel like we can breathe easy a little bit now. Nothing really to be anxious for in the next few months. I'm sure Emma will find something to make my mind and heart race, but hopefully nothing earth shattering. Let's be honest though, I'll be on pins and needles this week just waiting to hear if the strep test came back positive. Will I ever get to put my worries to rest?

It looks like Emma's not so sure about me putting my worries to rest either.