Delightful Finch & Strong Bear

Grandma & Grandpa took the little ones outside to ride tricycles.  They did well until they decided to wander into the dirt pile next door. We're not big on shoes.  Soon their poor feet were full of slivers!

Nothing that a pair of tweezers, a tub of warm water, and a pack of popcycles can't fix :)

Ya, we're all pretty excited for this summer weather !

Angel

Angel flies up the stairs without hesitation.  Down is another story.  She'll cry at the top of the stairs until someone rescues her.  Her favorite is when someone leaves a bedroom door open - then she can go exploring.

She's also picked up Finch's knack for getting Beautiful Rabbit to scoop her up and just hold her.

She loves to fall asleep in someone's loving arms.  Gulping down a bottle is her other favorite way of falling asleep. She sleeps as little as possible--always on the go.

Haqon distictly heard her say, "Hi, Dad."  I missed it, but the next morning she saw me and said, "Hi, Mawm...."

She loves eating "real" food.  She's my first baby to like green foods best - peas and green beans.  Yams and squash and carrots are only OK.  Peaches are tolerable.  Beets were flatly rejected. Oatmeal is good. Wheat crackers are really good.

Today she had heavily-watered-down apple juice in a sippy cup.  Finch and Bear delighted in helping her learn how to position the cup so the yummy juice would come out.  

Super Seraph!

Seraph keeps rolling onto her tummy.  On purpose.  Twice she's even rolled back all by herself.  Her tummy must not hurt like it did after the surgeries.

I'm so proud of her!  ...and I worry about the future tangled mess of cords...but mostly I'm just happy :)

Beautiful Rabbit

Our newest neighbors (from Phoenix!) teach piano.  So, when their daughters were called in for piano lessons, Rabbit decided she wanted a piano lesson, too.

A few lessons later, she's showing real talent with the piano. (no surprise there, since her mom is cool that way, too...) She's learning how to read music.  She can play the theme from "I like to Move it, Move it" and she's learning "Pocketful of Sunshine."  Besides these fun songs, she's working on some pieces I learned when I was starting out.  Music theory comes pretty naturally for her, too.

My favorite part is that she's learning that making a mistake doesn't mean she can't do it right...as long as she doesn't give up.  Yay!

A New Tooth!!

Angel & Seraph's cold is all but gone.  They're both doing much better.  Seraph's oxygen is still on 1.25 L (.5-.75L is normal), but we expect that to come down soon.

Seraph has a new tooth!  I'm crazy happy about it.  When Angel's first teeth came in, the doctors told me that Seraph's teeth weren't coming in because her body was soooo busy taking care of healing her that it had nothing left over for building teeth. Seraph ended up getting her 2 bottom teeth 2 months after Angel got hers.

I'm not worried about Angel - she's busy crawling everywhere and trying to figure out the walking thing.  She spends her calories like crazy!

I am dancing happy for Seraph getting her first top tooth.  She loves feeling her teeth.  Her oral aversions have gone way, way down since she got teeth.  I'm so happy for her :) 

Ya & Hoo!

Sister time

Angel & Seraph

Yard Work?

With all this sunshine, Strong Bear needed a smiling wheel barrow!  Angel's cold is all but gone.  Seraph is still congested, but the cold seems to be on its way out!

Yay :)

Table Toy

This musical table was a Christmas present for Seraph & Angel.  At the time, they were too little to use it.  (Seraph wasn't even home!).  Strong Bear and Delightful finch LOVE it.

They're so used to playing with it, some days they have a hard time sharing it....with Angel or even with each other.  Sometimes the musical table has to go in "time out" (under the kitchen table) because they wouldn't share.  

Normally the kids run off and play something else.  Angel spied it under the table.  She willed herself to stand just right so she could reach through and make the music play.  She bends her knees and "jumps" up and down while the music is playing.

Gamer Girl

Beautiful Rabbit and I like to read books together.  I usually read mystery/suspense, but she's getting me into YA fiction.  We read a book last weekend, trading off every other chapter.  Half way through, Haqon decided he wanted in on the story and read fast to catch up.  I struggled towards the end of the book with only reading one chapter.  The last few, Rabbit sat  next to me so we could read them at the same time.

The book referenced some games Haqon and I played together when Rabbit was a baby.  It was a fun read.  Funner to read it with Rabbit.  She was amazed that she read a whole book in 2 days.  ...hmmm...sounds like something I would do ;)

Beautiful Rabbit's Toy

Hoping it was worth the expense.....9 years ago, we bought this toy saucer ("the toy") for Beautiful Rabbit.  Barely 3 months old, she held her head up well enough but didn't have much control over her hands yet.  Rabbit loved the toy.  She especially loved staring at the shiney butterfly.

All of our kids have played in it (and one of our fun cousins).

Seraph loves the butterfly, too.  She's getting better with her hands and likes to grab at all the toys.

Angel bounces up and down in it as if it's a trampoline....as long as no one is watching her.  If she see you watching, she stops and beams a HUGE smile at you.  Then bounces more once you look away.

Future Skateboarders..?

Haqon took the girls on a tour of the skateboard ramp sculptures on our way to the park 2 weeks ago.  I finally dug out the picture :)   I think he wants to start teaching them math next week.  The kids love playing with him.  What a good daddy :)

Angel Learns to Share!

..Angel shared her cold with baby Seraph.  Awwwww....

Seraph is having a hard time.  Her monitor is driving us crazy.  She's keeping Haqon up too much during the night and waking me up too early in the morning.  Poor lil girlie.  We almost had to take her to the hospital this weekend.  I talked them into letting me watch her closely at home.  They set me up with a deep suction machine so I can clean out her nose at home.  I'm almost tempted to try it on my poor allergy-aflicted nose.  But...no.

Seraph's mood has been amazing.  I am a total wimp when I'm sick.  She's full of smiles unless something is really bothering her.

Angel gets tired more easily; takes longer naps. I don't think she knows she's sick.

It's just a tiny cold.  I hope it goes away soon.

Graco Nasal Aspirator

Wow!  I used this for the first time today.  I expected Seraph to scream and turn her head.  Instead, she smiled!  It sucked out tons of snot and Seraph just sat there like I was telling her a story. She even let me suck out the side with the NJ tube. (Usually that's impossible)

It's battery operated and easy to clean. I'm amazed!

http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Nasal-Clear-Nasel-Aspirator/dp/B001PBFWMO

Orange you glad......

Baby Angel knows that the best place to scavenge for food is right under Delightful Finch's chair!  Today the kids had orange rings.  They like to eat out the orange and then wear the rinds as bracelets.  Angel quickly discovered which part tasted the best.  I hadn't planned on introducing citrus so soon, but it's all good.  She was so happy, I had to grab the camera instead of taking them away!

Happy Easter :)

Easter Eggs

Beautiful Rabbit's grown up a lot in the past year...

Talking about new foods

last year:  "Ewwwwww....that's disgusting.  I don't want to have any.  *sobs and collapses into a heap*

This year:  "I guess that's one of those things that I'll like when I'm older, Mom."

Beautiful Rabbit's Field Trip

Beautiful Rabbit has been pushing for a day at the new park.(She finished an amazing amount of homework so we could go!) Spring finally showed up long enough that we could go. Rabbit ran into a couple friends while we were there.

Strong Bear made a few new friends.  He was very brave--maybe too brave for mommy.

Delightful Finch also made a new friend.  She mostly played on the slide.  She fell off the bottom of the slide every time...but she just didn't care.

Seraph always loves being outside. She was happier laying on a blanket on the grass than in the stroller.

Angel was all over the place.

Can't wait to invite the cousins over to play this summer ;)

Day Trip

Just to mix things up a bit, Baby Seraph pulled out her NJ tube this morning while I was still asleep.  Grandma and Grandpa rescued me so I could take Seraph to the hospital to get it replaced - thanks!

Seraph had a great time.  She was all smiles right up to the point they inserted the tube.  They wrapped her legs together this time so she couldn't kick so much - she looked like a pale, screaming mermaid!

Soon after the NJ was in, she was all smiles again.

I have to say, though, it was creepy being at the hospital during RSV season.  We sat by a family for 20 minutes before it came up in conversation that they thought their youngest had RSV.  She told me all about how upset she was that she'd caught it at the hospital the week before.  Her baby was in only baby w/out RSV in the icu last week.  ...and now she's sick and very full of snot.  

It was all I could do to not jump up and run out of the waiting room screaming.  Instead I bluntly pointed out that she'd better not give it to me.  She assured me that we weren't close enough in the room to catch it.  .....huh...isn't it airborne?  I'll have to think of a polite yet clever exit strategy for next time.  Honestly, I didn't think we'd be any safer standing in the hallway by the people wearing masks....

Physical Therapy

Seraph was a riot today.  She let us know that she is not a stuffed animal.  She has her own ideas about where she wants to move her body.  Each time the therapist tried to encourage her into a position, she'd strongly push the other way.  She babbled the whole time, too.

When I blow her kisses, she sucks on her tongue to make a kissing sound.  She likes to snuggle with her papa.  Her skin used to be really dry.  Thanks to coconut oil, it's getting smoother all the time.  She's sitting up better.

We're losing Seraph's home nurse.  For weeks, the nurse has been hinting that she won't be able to keep coming because Seraph doesn't have enough problems.  It's finally happened.  We can still call her if we have problems.  (Like a missing NJ tube!) ...but she's stopping her weekly visits.

The physical therapist will keep seeing her once a week.

Fasting and Prayers for Baby Seraph (May 3, 2009)

Please join us in fasting/praying for Baby Seraph on  May 3, 2009.  She has important testing that week.

They'll be re-testing her heart on May 8th.  

Two months ago, they sent her home because there was nothing more they could do for her.  She's been surprising everyone with how well she's doing.  Her color, her respiration rate, her temperment, holding her temperature,....she looks so good.  But it's what's inside that really counts. 

We're hoping for our little miracle - that her pulminary veins will be big enough and her heart function will be good enough that they'll let her have the third heart surgery she needs.

We also hope she'll be well enough to have her intestinal surgeries - to help her reflux, fix her intestinal malrotation, and replace her NJ tube with a G tube.

It's a big day....and we'd really appreciate it if you'd join us in fasting/praying for her that Sunday (May 3rd).  

     Thanks :)

Beatiful Rabbit

Beautiful Rabbit.  Happy.  Always dancing.  The only time she is still is when she's (nope, not sleeping...she kicks!) showing off her yoga standing tree pose!  Man, she could stand there all day!

She has two weeks off for Spring Break!  If only someone would tell the snow to go away.  Tonight we watched Highschool Musical 2 twice!  She loves the "Hey batter batter Swing" song.  I loved all the songs about Summer and how wonderful Summer is and how it's time for Summer.  :)

Seraph

Seraph impressed her doctor again :)  He said he's never seen her looking so well....and happy.  We didn't have to change any of her meds or food.

We thought she might be retaining too much water again.  Doc said her liver is higher in her chest than last month.  No clue what that means, but he said it was very good. 

The shot wasn't fun, but it didn't last long and she forgave me quickly.

It's nice to have good news :)