Venturing Out

Now that we have clearance from our doctors, we have started venturing out in public a bit with our sweet girl.  Casey has now been to not one, but two restaurants, and was the perfect little angel at both.  Despite two rowdy renditions of "Happy Birthday" at nearby tables during her first dining out experience, Casey slept through almost the entire meal and was content in her car seat the entire time.  Unfortunately my camera was dead, and the attempt on my cell phone didn't turn out so I don't have any pictures to document the experience.  The Doodlebug also got her very first shopping trip in last week at none other than Mommy's favorite, Target, although it was less than a thrilling experience after I  discovered the pharmacy managed to mess up one of my prescriptions again (Seriously, don't become an insulin dependent diabetic...it is a real pain, both literally and figuratively!)  After the pharmacy debacle, I wanted to grab the loaf of bread I needed and get out of there, and it completely slipped my mind to snap a picture. 

Casey had all three of her ECI appointments this week, and we were all quite shocked that she gained 14 ounces in two weeks, for a whopping total of 15 pounds even!  With such great weight gain, our Dietitian encouraged us to stop waking her up for the 6 am feed and let her cue us when she is hungry. Since Daddy takes care of the early morning feeds on week days, he did not have to be told twice, and I think both Casey and Brian have enjoyed a little extra sleep in the mornings.  So far, she is lettng us know she is hungry almost like clock work every four hours during the day time hours, and it is a huge relief to know that the hunger urge may have finally kicked in for this girl after so many months!  She has continued to eat baby food pretty well, and we have increased foods to twice a day before she takes her bottle.  We have also been very relieved that there has not been a recurrence of the Eczema bumps this week.  On Thursday, Casey had her 9 month well visit (6 months adjusted) with our Pediatrician, and he was extremely encouraged with her progress. He expects she may be on the charts for her actual age for both weight and height at her next visit (pretty incredible to be catching up so quickly)!

Our homework from both the Pediatrician and our SST appointment is continue to encourage her to roll during tummy time (she is rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy more often, but is still inconsistent and she sometimes goes for several days without rolling at all).  She has discovered how much she loves to be in the standing position, and is quite a fan of jumping and bouncing on our legs when we hold her up. One of the biggest changes lately is that Casey has become quite clingy and attached to her Mommy.  She is fine when I drop her off at Gigi's, but when we are at home and she knows I am there, she wants to be hanging out in my arms at all times, and she is not shy about letting me know how she feels about me putting her down.  It is really quite sweet, but does make me a little worried about how she will handle separation since summer is just around the corner, and we will be spending a whole lot more time together!  Not that I'm complaining because I am eagerly anticipating our relaxing summer ahead!

Enjoy the latest pics of our girl:

This grin melts my heart every single time!

 It's hard work being a baby!

 So stinkin' cute

Another cute outfit from Aunt Kristen!

Seriously, could you say "No" to this face?  This is what she has been doing almost every time I put her down.  She is pretty convincing isn't she?

 "Hey Mom, look at this cool toy!"

 She was having quite a good time with the remote control!

Mother's Day 2012!  The best part of every day is being this girl's mommy.  I could not be more blessed!

Just for a little comparison, here is Casey's 2 month picture, taken just a couple of days before she moved from the NICU to Special Care.

And now in the same outfit, but a much bigger size.  Look how far she has come in 7 months!