7 Months Old

Fiona is 7 months old today! We celebrated a little early with an A+ day of doctor appointments yesterday. We had the shunt scare in February, so were a little nervous going to the neurosurgeon. But not only had the fluid build not increased, it was back to a perfect level. "Uncle Pete" (doesn't that sound more fun than Dr. Clarine!) was shocked and thrilled. He had expected that we would at least need to do a tap to check her shunt, but all is well for now.

She also had to do a bladder test to check her kidney health. Often kids with spina bifida don't completely empty their bladder because they don't have the sensation of it being full due to the nerve damage. If the bladder doesn't empty, it can overflow and reflux back into the kidneys, damaging them. Fiona had very mild reflux when she was 2 weeks old. Yesterday's test showed that the reflux was totally gone.

And finally her SB doctor was pleased with how she is looking and the strength in her legs. The in-utero assault on my ribs gave us a clue that this was going to be a strong, determined child!

More exciting than SB updates, here are some of the things that the little bug has been working on in the last month:

• Feeding herself: she is quite good at puffs and cheerios. Cheese is fun, but messy. Pasta is sticky. Yogi LOVES this new found talent as he benefits greatly from mouth misses.
• Expanding her food repertoire: She ate a grilled cheese sandwich with us for dinner on Monday and had cut up chicken today at day care. There is still a lot of puree in her solid food options, but she's beginning to have more recognizable meals.
• Chatter: I know we have said she is talkative many times, but my goodness, this child chatters! She is starting to try to associate sounds with things. Yogi is "pah-pah" (puppy) and bottle is "bah-bah". We also hear a lot of mamamama and dadadada.
• Standing; She loves to stand and will grab your hands and pull so you will help her pull up. Last night, she held herself up using the couch. Tonight, not so much. We're just starting on that skill mastery.
• "Scrawling": She does a scoot/crawl (scrawl) across the floor - except she only goes backwards. Since Yogi often walks backwards too, Mike and I may need an objective observer to ensure that we actually are modelling forward motion.
• Big girl baths: She is out of the baby tub and is enjoying the freedom of the big girl bath. However, the stupid rubber ducks float out of reach in this new ocean of splashing opportunity.
• Peekaboo: She loves to play peekaboo with us and will hold up a blanket or the burp cloth over her eyes until we say "where's Fiona?" Then she'll drop it so we can say "peekaboo." You'll get a little squawk if you stop playing too soon.
• Tooth: There is a tooth! A single pearly white is peeking out of her bottom gum. She bit Daddy with it last weekend.
• Startles: She loves being startled - if she knows it is coming. Get in her face and make a random loud sound - she will likely burst out laughing. Silly girl!

She is just under 17 lbs and is 26 inches long. She still fits into 3-6 month onesies, but we have to do 6-9 month pants ... unless we call them capris!

And finally, here are the pictures of the 7 month bday girl:

Standing up

Standing up is HARD WORK

Any requests?

I'll just compose my own

952 Gang

We feel very lucky to have a lot of friends with great kids who are Fiona's age. And we are especially excited that in the course of 6 months, the S-town group of friends went from no babies to 4 babies! Ellie arrived in July, Fiona in September, and Jackson and Cooper in December! Our S-town dinners have changed a little in focus, but not in level of fun.

At our dinner last weekend, we did a photo shoot of the babies. These pictures happened because of A&B. B bought matching onesies for the babies when we were all pregnant and A's fast-action camera ensured that the split second that all four babies were looking was actually captured. Yay Ellie's parents!

I do wish we had video of all the parents trying to get the babies to look/smile at the camera (and Mike and I saying constantly - "Fiona, put down your skirt"). Enjoy a few pictures of the 952 baby gang!

L to R: Fiona, Cooper, Jackson, Ellie

Cooper - stop pulling on Fiona's skirt

Fiona playing on the floor

Ellie and Fiona - diaper models

One of the Cool Kids

Who says you can't be both smart and styling?!? Check out Fiona rocking her new shades! She's ready to hit the beach!

College Hockey

(Go Bulldogs ... I hate overtime, especially in championship games.) UPDATE: I hate overtime, but I LOVE an OT win!! Congrats to my hubby whose team just won the national hockey championship. I guess that "once in a lifetime opportunity" argument he used on me to justify spending all that money on a ticket was valid!

Newest Fan

It's Opening Day! A holiday for our family!! Fiona is sporting her gear to celebrate the day and to honor the legacy of her Grandpa J and Great Grandpa J - who passed the love of the Minnesota Twins through the family. She promises to cheer hard and make them proud.

Grandpa (and Great Grandpa's memory) - these are for you!