Sunday, May 27, 2012

Almost 21 months











Still a great eater!  G weighed 22.8 lbs this week, she's getting so big! 







Gwenny got to visit her daddy, brother and paternal family members this week in Las Vegas.  I know she loves them very much, so I'm sure she had a blast.




Gwenny is getting brave in her playing- gotta keep an eye on her!  Its a great 'problem' to have.  I'm very proud of her strength and progress.














Her eyes are looking pretty good too!  They don't look straight all the time, but the are looking SO much better.  We see the eye doctor again this Thursday and will start up again on vision therapy to help her use her eyes together so they stay straight.











Gwenny continues to love baths and all water!  She gets excited just to wash her hands in the sink.  She is still calmed by the sounds of running water or rain to lull her to sleep.












Gwenny loves to empty the diaper bag, and when she finds her snacks she stops for a snack break.  This photo of her on the rug is the furthest she's scooted out of the family room area.  It might be time for the baby gate soon!






Gwenny and Grayson had fun playing on the floor and reaching for each other from their strollers during our walk this week.










Gwenny did pretty good during Auntie Aubree's performance this week.  She made her rounds as the choir mascot after the performance.  :)


















We attended a birthday party this week and Gwenny got a hand-me-down toy that she adores!  Thanks, Kristen!
















G had a big week of visits!  She also got a visit from 'Aunt' Kris and she had a great time playing.  :)






We got a wonderful surprise in the mail.  This is a card Primary Children's sent us after Gwenny's eye surgery.  All the nurses we saw at the hospital took the time to sign it.  Our post-op nurse wrote, "Get feeling better, sweetheart.  It was fun to take care of you."  We are getting good care here in Utah and being treated so kindly.  We are blessed.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

20.75 months





Happy Mother's day to the luckiest Mama in the world!  (that's me)


Gwenny loves playing on the piano, and is more excited about it now than she was just a few short months ago.  She enthusiastically hits her little hands on the keys to make as much "music" as she can.

G is getting more independent everyday, although it is a slow process.  Slower than most other babies.  I recall hearing parents say things like, "It seemed like my baby only crawled for a month and then suddenly was walking everywhere!"  I sometimes need to remind myself that any progress is good and allow Gwen to be herself, and accomplish things at her own speed and in her own time.  It is so great to see how motivated she is.  She WANTS to do things- she wants to crawl, to use a spoon, to drink out of a regular cup.  I truly believe that motivation is key to her progression.  I love watching her learn and figure things out for herself.
She is a smart cookie!





Gwenny still loves bubbles and this week wanted to help Mama blow them.  So, G held the bubble wand while I guided her hand into the bubble bottle and blew the bubbles.




















Gwenny post surgery...


I have been truly amazed at how resilient Gwenny Claire has been the past few days since her eye surgery.  She has continued to be cuddly but smiling.  The day after surgery she was ready to get back on the carpet and scoot around to her toys.  Her eyes are moving together more and are looking more straight than they were pre-surgery.  I am not totally convinced they are "perfectly" straight yet, and she most likely is not using them together this early.  (Which will be the next goal to work on.) There is still discoloration in the "white" of her right eye and I have been told that will take several weeks to heal and go back to white.  As it heals it is going from a bright red to a yellow-bruised color and it is easier to tell if the eyes are straight. 

She does not seem to be bothered by her eye at all.  She's not rubbing it which I am very happy about.  On Saturday morning I noticed what looked like a blister on the "white" part of her right eye.  It concerned me, so I called the surgeon (who had given me her cell phone number for any questions I had...again Primary Children's...wow...thank you!)  The doctor said it was normal and nothing to be concerned about.  As long as the eye is looking straight/straighter, there is no discharge from the eye and she has no fever we are doing ok.  So far so good!








Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Eye Muscle Surgery

4:30am Wake.  Get ready.  Put a sleeping baby in the car to drive to Primary Children's Hospital.









6am Arrive at hospital and wait to check in.  Gwenny had fun playing in the waiting room while we waited for our 'check in' pager to buzz.









6:30am After we get registered and tagged, we get taken back to a room to get vitals and put G in some hospital PJ's.  Mama (being the goofball that she is) asks if they have pink ones, but they only have blue. Sigh. Surprisingly, not one nurse or doctor calls Gwenny a boy the whole day!  (This made Mama VERY happy!)  The nurse that checks us in initially is wearing pink scrubs with froggies on them.  I find this comforting in a silly way as Gwenny's nursery was decorated in froggies.  It was my sign that everything was going to be ok.



 




















7am Moved to a different waiting room.  Dr Young, Gwen's surgeon, comes to see us before the anesthesiologist to see if I have any questions and to explain the procedure again.  ("Tightening" one side of the right eye muscles and "loosening" the other side.)  The Dr makes a purple mark on the right side of Gwen's forehead, indicating the right eye.  Gwenny is giving a "calming" medication since I am not allowed into the operating room with her.  We then meet the anesthesiologist who explains her role, how she will be monitoring G and then takes Gwen out of my arms to the operating room.  Gwenny seemed to like the doctor and gave her a hug.





7:30am Surgery.  My dad and I are sent to a waiting room for families where we spend the next 1.5 hours reading magazines and making small talk.  Dr Young, Gwen's surgeon, comes out after the surgery to tell us that everything went well and we can see Gwenny in about 20 minutes.

9:30am A bit later they take me back to post-op where I find my little sleeping beauty.  With eyes closed I could only tell there was a little swelling on the right eye and it was pink.  When Gwenny finally woke in the recovery room, she was groggy at first but drank her required amount of apple juice and kept it down.  When she was more then half way through the bottle, she took a little break to smile at us.  Prior to the surgery, the hospital staff was very clear that we should expect a cranky and almost inconsolable baby after the anesthesia.  Gwenny didn't cry at all.  A few minutes after the first smiles, she started making noises and wanting to be passed back and forth between Pa-Pop and Mama.  We were released to go home with antibiotic drops for her eye twice a day and alternating over the counter Tylenol and Ibuprofen.  By the time we got to the car, Gwenny was ready to play with her singing book again.
Gwen has been tired all day, but smiley and cuddly.  She takes her meds well, and is eating and drinking well, too.  She hasn't had any problems thus far.
I am extremely happy with how well today went.  I can't begin to describe how wonderful all of the staff at Primary Children's Hospital have been to us.  Everyone was overly kind to the point that I felt not only were we being treated as patients or clients, but almost waited on.  These people truly made a difficult experience the best it could have possibly been.  Thank you to all of them!  You people truly love your jobs and make my mommy job so much easier.
Also, a big thanks to my Daddy for being there for me and his grandbaby today.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Mama's Day

To my sweet children,

There are few things in this world that make me as proud as being your mama.  There is no way I could have ever known how much love and goodness I was even capable of without you.  You make me want to be better than I am, and then you actually make me follow through.

Kyle, you did not come out of my tummy, but you will always be my first baby.  I love you and miss you so much.  You are such a strong, polite, loving boy and I hope you never lose those qualities.  You need to know how wonderful and lovable you are.  You have so many people who love you so much.  I hope you continue to make us proud by listening to your adults, doing good in school, playing kindly with your friends, treated others as you would like to be treated and always having fun while trying your best at everything you do.  You are that same sweet little boy that made me realize I wanted to be a mommy.  Thank you for being a very important part of my life.

Gwenny, you & I have already been through so much together.  I hope you know how proud I am to be your mama. And I will always be.  You have to work atleast twice as hard as most other babies to accomplish all the things you have, and you do it with a smile. You are strong. You are intelligent. You are a fighter. And you are so beautiful.  If I work to take care of you the rest of my life, I will never repay all the love, goodness and happiness you have brought to it.  Thank you for being my baby girl.

I know I am truly blessed.  And I am grateful for all I have.

All my love to my kiddos,

Mama Nenny


Saturday, May 12, 2012

20.5 months

G loves to "help" with the laundry.  She is still enjoying putting items in and out of any container, and the laundry basket is a good one!





















Gramsy A bought some watermelon this week and Gwenny LOVED it!  She also had a lot of fun practicing with her fork.
















Gwenny is very confident scooting around now, and loves to explore whatever is around her.  She is learn more about cause and effect and had some fun opening and closing the bedroom door the other day.  She can now scoot over to her diaper bag and help herself to whatever snacks are in there.























Gwenny loves bubbles!  We went outside to blow bubbles for her to practice "asking" for them, and for her to practice tracking with her eyes.  She "asks" by reaching for the bottle of bubbles, looking at the bottle then at me and making some kind of vocalization. "Uh!" with the reach and eye contact means, "More bubbles, Mama!" 





G continues to love Toby dog and he provides a good tracking exercise for her eyes as he walks away.











                                                                      Gwenny playing in the waiting room for PT.





We're working on standing a little everyday with the braces.  We finally found some little pink sandals that were not too expensive to go over the braces since they are very slick on the bottom. 





 Gwenny is working hard on handling her own bottle and feeding herself.  Its so interesting to watch the process of her wanting to bring the bottle to her mouth and then trying to get it there with a combination of arms working together and open mouth patiently waiting for it to get there.  Its funny to watch her get the sippy spout to her mouth no matter what...even if its the most complicated way to drink out of it!













 



    This is the beautiful face I see after
                                                          I get smacked in the face every morning.