Slowly but Surely

Not a whole lot of news to report this week.  At her latest weigh-in, Casey gained 4 ounces over the last two weeks.  Slowly but surely she is continuing to gain, and her new weight was 14 pounds 2 ounces.  It isn't the big gain we would like to see, but our Dietitian isn't concerned considering the changes we have made recently by adding baby food to her diet.  Since spoon feeding is now a part of our regular routine, we have tried to be especially cautious about not continuing to feed her when she indicates that she is finished.  Our main concern now would be to create an oral aversion, and hinder her progress with baby food.  Casey has also continued to have more fussy moments than usual, and although it could just be teething, there have been a couple of occasions around meal time where I have actually questioned if our baby was cuing that she was hungry! (My baby actually wanting to eat?)  It would definitely be a step in the right direction!

All the latest Doodle cuteness:

 Baby got a new pair of shoes! (well technically my mom gave her these for Christmas, and  despite being labeled as newborn size, they finally fit her tiny feet!)

 I think purple may be this girl's color!

 Just chillin'

 "Will this woman ever quit taking my picture?"

 Cuteness!

 So happy!

 I was working on a project during nap time and Brian was gone for the day, and I guess Porter was feeling a bit neglected. He decided if we weren't available, he would just curl up next to Casey.

 The Doodle's first masterpiece!  This is the iPad art she created today.  (She really did do it all herself, I just helped change the color a few times)

And because I know you all enjoy "Angela is a natural blonde" stories, Brian informs me when I got home from running errands that he really didn't appreciate my humor with the mac n' cheese he had for lunch. Apparently, I was a bit more thrown off than I realized when I walked in to Kroger the other day to find the store completely rearranged.  In my haste to get in and out quickly as I navigated the new store layout, I somehow managed to grab the "Madagascar" noodles instead of the standard ones.  Oops!  Guess it was good to ease him into the "kiddie" food we will be stocking our pantry with soon.

We're Even

Today marks a pretty big day, as we are now even...It has been 130 days since Casey came home, meaning she has lived at home with us as many days as she spent in the hospital. So after today the numbers are on our side! Just thinking of all that she has accomplished in these last 130 days really reinforces just how long our lives were on hold, and how thankful we are for all she has overcome and that she is home and doing so well.  Speaking of her accomplishments, the Doodle has made some pretty big discoveries lately.  Her newest feat is making all kinds of noises with her mouth.  She is absolutely fascinated by clicks, kissing noises, raspberries, and it is so cute to watch her get so serious about trying to imitate them.  She is vocalizing a lot more, and is always entertaining us with her babbling conversation (I had a pretty cute video of this, but didn't have the energy to edit and upload for this post).  She is also pretty intent these days on trying to rearrange my nose and lips every time I get my face a little to close to her grasp!  Casey has also started to show interest in our pets for the first time, and while she likes to "pet" them, she especially likes to grab chunks of their fur.  So far they have been pretty accommodating, but not sure how much longer that is going to last!  We also bought Casey a jumper/activity center this week as sitting upright seems to be her preferred position these days.  She loves to play with all the attachments and serenade us by banging on the musical parts.  Baby food continues to go well, and she finished off her sweet potatoes like a champ and we are on to bananas.  They haven't been quite as well received, but hopefully another day or so and she will be more accepting of them.  The best part about baby food is that it has seemed to help regulate her a bit, and we haven't had as many issues with constipation lately (and yes, I am fully aware that my child will probably be horrified to read this blog some day in the future and learn of my over sharing in this department.  I'm sure it won't be the last time I completely embarrass her!).  Oh, and we are still waiting on those teeth she is working on to make their appearance, but judging on the increase in her fussiness lately, we can probably expect them any day now.

Here are all the latest pictures:

 

Looking cute in her outfit from Grandma

 Like a true fashion diva, Casey is fascinated by her clothing!

 It was reported that these footie pants were quite the distraction at Gigi's house last week!

 Playing in her new contraption

 She was precious in her "Are you a ladybug or a girl bug?" dress

Our purple princess

 Cheesy grin!

 Blowing raspberries!

 How cute is this little skirt outfit?

Happy to get that giant flower off her head

 I would like to formally apologize if you were the recipient of this picture over the weekend with the caption "And Mommy said she was a fashion major." The real caption should have been "Daddy thinks he is really funny!"  I asked him to get her dressed in the outfit I set out, and apparently it wasn't self-explanatory how this outfit was meant to be worn.

 Casey got to meet my cousin Rachel for the first time when she came in town for the weekend!

 Such a pretty girl

I know it is kind of hard to read the note, but since I can hardly remember my last name most days (thankfully I named my blog after it in case I forget), I often leave myself notes so I don't forget things in the morning.  Apparently this particular morning it fell on the floor, and I guess Grace was just doing her part to ensure I didn't leave without Casey's milk!

"Nobody Puts Baby In a Corner"

Last week was a relatively uneventful week, but since I know you all can't go too long without seeing pics of my cute kid, I thought I better crank out a post!  Casey had her biweekly weigh-in and she gained 6 ounces over the past two weeks.  Not stellar, but it was pretty much what we expected since she hasn't shown a huge interest in completing her full feeds lately.  She is still gaining weight and maintaining her growth curve, so we really aren't too concerned.  Her less than enthusiastic reception to the bottle may just be due to teething discomfort, or that our girl is so alert and aware of what is going on around her all the time that she just can't be bothered to sit still long enough to finish a bottle these days.  For now, we will continue fortifying her milk to boost her weight gain (guess it was wishful thinking that we would be getting rid of it so soon).  Our other news on the eating front is that since we have had two weeks of successful spoon feeding practice with rice cereal, and after talking extensively with our speech therapist and dietitian, we agreed it was a good time to introduce Stage 1 foods. Over the weekend Casey got her first taste of sweet potatoes, and after the initial surprise at a new taste, she has done really well with her first baby food.  It is hard to believe what a big girl she is becoming!

Oh, and in case you need further proof of how micro preemies can overcome even the toughest odds, I caught this story on the news the other day, and have been following it all week. The family of this little girl (also a 26 weeker) was told that their baby died, only to discover her alive after 12 hours in the morgue.  This certainly makes me even more thankful for the incredible team of doctors and nurses who were looking out for our own sweet miracle girl.  We know all too well the uphill battle in front of them, and this little fighter needs lots of prayers: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130482/Luz-Milagros-Veron-Argentinas-miracle-baby-declared-dead-revived-AGAIN-lung-haemorrhage-stops-heart.html

As promised, here is our Doodlebug's latest cuteness:

 How did we get so lucky to end up with such a happy kid

 I may be biased, but isn't she the cutest?

 "Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner!" And then the title of my post becomes clear!  Also, one of the all time Best.Movie.Quotes.Ever! This was the first onesie I bought Casey last summer after we found out she was a girl, and at long last it finally fits!  I had to scour the internet to find it, but I prevailed. (Funny story, when I was in college I found another version of this onesie at Kohl's, but was pretty sure my future unknown husband would find it creepy if I bought it and stashed it away.)

 Rocking her August birthstone color

Such a sweet girl

 Mommy Loves Me!

 "Who needs toys when you've got FEET?!?"

 Ready to eat!

Blissfully unaware of what is in store

 "That is not rice cereal, I repeat NOT rice cereal!"

 Not too sure about it yet

She decided it might not be so bad after all.

Easter Roadtrippin'

This weekend was a pretty big one, as we went out of town for the first time since Casey's birth.  She also celebrated her 8 month birthday on Saturday (5 months adjusted), so this trip has been a long time coming.  For her first time away from home, we went to Houston to visit Brian's parents for Easter.  It was so good to get out of town for a few days, and Grandma and Grandpa were pretty excited to spend some extra snuggle time with their girl.  We quickly learned that our SUV is not so big when you pack it with our luggage, baby gear, baby and of course all three of our dogs were in tow as well.  Our excellent car rider chose this as the first time ever that she wasn't asleep in her car seat before we even turned off of our street, and she was a little bit fussy for most of the ride.  By dinnertime she was in desperate need of a nap, but after some rest she was back to her happy self.  It was a great weekend, and she even rewarded us by sleeping the whole way home today.  She has continued to do well over the past week with her rice cereal, although she must have some sort of sixth sense about when I brag on how well she is doing in certain areas, because the spit-ups have made a return this week. Either that or she has decided to already start proving her mother wrong.  Looking forward to the teenage years! The other news is that Casey is displaying some serious signs of teething, so we expect our girl may not be toothless much longer! She didn't have a weigh in this week, but we are a little nervous for this week's considering she has shown much less interest in completing her bottles lately.  Looks like we may be holding on to that fortifier for a bit longer. Sigh!  We hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday!  Here are the pictures from our weekend away and the past week:

 Happy Easter!

 Not sure what to make of the Paparazzi!

 All smiles (this shirt was supposed to also say "Somebunny Loves Me," however the dollar spot at Target failed me, and only the "S" would iron on, so we were just left with a bunny booty.  It still looked pretty cute with her adorable skirt from Gigi!)

 She discovered that the grass in her basket was pretty exciting

Decided she would be less than cooperative

 Easter family pic (out of about 20 there wasn't a single one where all three of us were looking the same way)

 Kisses from Grandma

Easter cutie!

Checking out the flowers

 Posing with Grandpa

Got one with Daddy

 and Mommy too!

 Waiting for the Easter bunny to arrive

 Ready for her first road trip!

 It was a bit crammed in the backseat

 Sienna was less than thrilled with her riding accommodations, and decided to make a change when we stopped at a gas station

 What Gigi, our Speech and our SST Therapists proclaimed "The Cutest Outfit Ever"

Casey approved as well since it had lots of fun things to play with

 Little cutie

 Such a happy baby

 Little smirk

 Smile!

We got a pretty good kick out of this picture.  I put Casey in one of the sleep sacks we used when she was on her apnea monitor, and she managed to weasel her foot out of the tiny slit that we cut in it for her monitor cords to fit through.  Luckily, she had only been down for a short nap and wasn't like this all night.