GI Follow-up

Last year we started taking Sophie to Cincinnati Children's Hospital to see a cardiologist for her heart murmurs and a GI specialist for her FFT (failure to thrive). With GI, she had many tests run on her, including an unsuccessful upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. There seemed to be no real cause of her small size. At her last appointment it was decided that nothing they have tried (medicine, heart procedure, feeding tube, etc) had made a major impact on her size; she most likely is going to be naturally small. Her doctor, Dr. Campbell, said they were going to leave her alone for six months to see how she does on her own.

I was a little nervous about this appointment. Sophie has been doing great (for her) these past few months with eating and drinking. Still, there was that fear that the doctor would think it wasn't enough. The whole six ounce weight loss from our scale at 15 1/2 months vs the pediatrician's scale at 16 months also made me worried (and curious about what this scale would say). More than anything I had the fear that Dr. Campbell would tell me she needs more tests done or should to be back on the feeding tube. Of course we would refuse to put her back on the tube (it would be a step backward and she doesn't need or want it), but it would still be heart-breaking to hear.

My mom went with us today. Partially because I was nervous (see above) and partially because I wanted to take a few boxes of feeding tube supplies. I still have a few boxes of supplies left at home, but it was so nice to get rid of some of them! After waiting for a little while, the nurse called Sophie back to be weighed and measured. She measured her height first - 70.9cm (or 2 feet 3 inches for we metric system haters); the GI later said that she wasn't on the chart yet for height, which was different than what her pediatrician said. Ah well. Her weight came next - 6.73kg, which is about 14lb 13oz. I was so upset. I had convinced myself that the pediatrician's scale was wrong. All I wanted to do was cry. All of those fears that I had about this visit came rushing back. (**I weighed Sophie on our scale when we got home - 14lb 14oz...she has in fact lost weight.)

When we finally got back to a room I was really on edge. The GI fellow came in, walked us through Sophie's growth charts and asked some questions. I was on the defense, making sure she knew that Sophie had a double ear infection, that she eats well for the most part, and all of the reasons that we no longer use the feeding tube. (She was impressed to hear that Sophie knew how to disconnect the tube from the pump.) She left and came back with Dr. Cambell.

Dr. Campbell seemed pleased with Sophie's growth over the past few months, noting that it followed her own curve (as it always has). Like last time, she mentioned that nothing they tried had a major impact on her growth. She said she probably is just short stature and will grow more slowly than other kids. She said that she has seen many kids like this who hit bigger growth spurts around 3 or 4 years of age and are then a similar size as their peers. Dr. Campbell said to keep feeding her higher calorie foods (we have a big tub of butter in the fridge already for Sophie) and to keep giving her Pediasure to drink (30 calories per ounce). We still have a few cans of formula to use up, so she told us to keep mixing the two things together until all the formula is gone; then we will just give her Pediasure. Then Dr. Campbell said the most wonderful thing - "I don't think we need to see Sophie any more. Her pediatrician can keep track of her growth. You can always call if you have any questions, concerns, or if her feeding drastically changes." I let out a high sigh of relief. No more GI visits! Sophie is fine!

I am so thankful to Dr. Campbell and her nurse, Jennifer, for all that they have done for Sophie. They really were great during everything this past year. While I adored both Dr. Campbell and Jennifer, I am so happy and relieved that we don't have to take Sophie back to visit GI. I am 100% fine with having a small little girl. That just means that we get good use out of all of her clothes (whereas some other children only stay in a clothing size for a month). I may be am sure I am biased, but I find small babies cuter - especially small baby girls. And while Sophie may be petite, she has a super-sized personality.

With this news I am really ready to say good-bye to 2011. Bring on 2012!

Sophie's 2nd Christmas

**I am a behind on posting this entry. Oops!               

                                                                                                       

What a wonderful Christmas we had! Sophie's first Christmas was great, but she didn't do much but lie there while we opened her gifts (lazy 4 month old...just kidding). While that Christmas will always hold a special place in my heart, I was looking forward to the Christmas when she could actually open her gifts and get excited about them. I know I will get even better reactions out of her in future years, but I was pretty darn satisfied with this Christmas and Christmas Eve!

We started our Christmas Eve with Joe's family. Sophie loved spending time with her Paw Paw and Grandma (and her aunts, uncles, and cousins, of course). She also loved her gift from cousin Anna - a ball tent and plastic balls. She loved the plastic balls so much that she tried to run away with them so no one else would touch them! Silly girl.

Crawling away with her bag of balls. I don't think Sophie realizes that she is small. 

We had Christmas Eve dinner at my family's house. Sophie tried a bunch of different things, but wanted to sit on Grandpa's lap and eat off of his plate instead of in her own seat. After dinner, we opened gifts.

I think this sippy cup was her favorite gift. She loves drinking water.

Thinking she can lift the heavy box of blocks. She got very frustrated when the box wouldn't budge.

The funniest moment was when my dad opened one of his gifts - a bag of mini Snickers. As soon as Sophie (who was on the other side of the room) saw the bag she took off towards my dad. (I will never know how she knew that the bag had candy inside.) She pulled herself up on my niece, practically shoving her out of the way, and put her arms up so that my dad would pick her up. He opened up a piece of the candy and held it to her mouth so that she would take a small bite. Nope. My kid grabbed the whole thing and shoved it in her mouth. I told you that she has a sweet tooth!

She refused to spit out the chocolate.

We had a visitor at my parents' house - Santa! Sophie wasn't too impressed. Last year, Sophie stopped crying when Santa held her. She even pushed my niece away from Santa (with her foot) while she was being held (even at a young age she was trouble). This year Sophie seemed afraid of Santa. It took some coaxing, but we finally got her to sit with him for some pictures.

I was so excited on Christmas morning. The stockings were filled and the gifts were under the tree.

Sophie really enjoyed opening up her gifts. She went straight for the school bus (see above) and started playing with it. She ripped open presents (sometimes with assistance), played with gifts, and even 'ohhh'ed a few times. My parents came over to watch her open up presents, and Sophie had fun showing off all of her new things to them. She enjoyed decorating my dad, too.

She hugged these shirts to her chest and then quickly crawled over to show them off to her grandparents.

After opening gifts and having breakfast, we went to church, followed by brunch with Joe's extended family. When we go home Sophie took a nap and then came downstairs to try out all of her new toys. She really liked her gifts and seemed to be happy to have new things to play with.



Sitting in her box of blocks



Christmas was so wonderful this year. I can't wait until next Christmas tops this one!

On the Third Day After Christmas, Santa Brought to Sophie...

 ♩ ♫ ♩....one flu shot....
....a double ear infection....
....and another new toooooooooth...♩ ♩♫

Yup, my Sophie was lucky enough to get/have discovered all of those things today.

Last week when Sophie went for her 15 month check-up, I wouldn't let them give her 3 shots at once. Multiple shots like that have always given Sophie high fevers, so I wanted to give her a break in between shots by taking two that day and one the following week. So, Joe took her in today for her flu shot (the shot she didn't get last week). The nurse took her temperature and it was at 101°. The doctor came in to look at her and discovered her double ear infection....then they gave her the flu shot. Geez, poor kid. I feel a bit dumb though because I had no idea that her ears were even bothering her. She has been laughing and playing happily the past few days with very minimal whining. The only possible clues were that her nose has been runny, she has wanted to nap with/on me the past few days (I have missed that!) and she was crying screaming when we put her to bed last night (which is rare). Joe got her out of bed and she didn't lay down until 9:30 (bedtime is between 7:30-8:00). At least we know what is going on though and have medicine to
help fix it.

Taking a nap on me yesterday....love it!

Now as I mentioned before, Sophie hasn't been really whiny the past few days. Of course this means that when we had some friends and their children over tonight Sophie was a crabby, whiny mess. (I don't blame her though with that double ear infection.) She cried half of the time that they were there. (Sorry again, Ang!) I know those ears had to be bothering her. I also wonder if she is starting to get stranger anxiety. She was doing this with "Santa" the other night. Hmmmm...

When I was chatting with my friends and consoling Sophie, I mentioned how I was surprised that she had ear infections. I would have guessed that she had a new tooth before thinking she had an ear infection. Later on in the night (after my friends left), I put my finger in Sophie's mouth to see if there was anything new. She let me do this, but only so she could bite down as hard as she possibly could. Ouch! So, during the second attempt into her mouth I discovered a new tooth that has broken through! That makes #10! I figured it would be her lower right lateral incisor (the gum is white here), but nope. Her tenth tooth is actually her lower right first molar.

Santa, can you please stop bringing my child not so great things? How about you help her gain a few more ounces these next few days instead? Thanks!

16 Months

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Christmas Photos

As I was going through photos to post for tomorrow's 16 month update, I realized that I forgot to post some of our professional photos! So here is a late post about them:

We went to have our Christmas photos taken at the beginning of the month. While I enjoyed the end results, we had a horrible time. We waited over an hour (we even had an appointment) and then I had to wait another hour to see the photos. It was so busy and chaotic in there. I don't understand why they overbook themselves during such a busy time of the year for them. Annoying. For now on we will always go to Sarah Anne Photography. She does a better job and we won't have to deal with all of the hassle of the other place.

Anyway, enough of my complaining. Click the link below for some of the pictures that I liked:

Sweet Tooth

Sophie has been loving the holidays because of all of the sweets in the house. She loves my buckeyes. Every time I would start making them she would go nuts until I gave her some of the batter (is that what you would even call the mixture? Hmmm....). When I let her try some with the chocolate she was in heaven. She also fell in love with the cookie batter (there were no eggs in it, don't worry) when I made I was making cut-out cookies. I let her have the spatula to lick the dough off of it. She refused to give it back! I've created a monster!

It is a good thing that Sophie is naturally small. If not her sweet tooth would have her gaining a ton of weight. 'Real' food is hit or miss with Sophie...sometimes she wants it, other times it is just a toy to play with. Sophie is always in the mood for sweets though. Part of me feels guilty for letting her eat these unhealthy things, but if it helps her gain weight (it isn't really helping that much though) then so be it. I'm sure I will be cursing myself in the future when she has continues her unhealthy eating habits.

Enjoying a Christmas cookie

Give Me Two Steps

Yesterday Sophie took two steps for me. She took three for me today. I am so proud of her. While she isn't walking all of the time for us, I know that soon enough she will be running around and we won't be able to keep up. I am just going to enjoy these moments until that happens.

Eight and Nine

Sophie has been very clingy for the past few days. If we don't hold her or at least keep her very entertained, she is a crabby. This is especially true when we try to get her to stand on her own or to walk. She throws fits instead. I'm talking full on temper tantrums...throwing herself on the floor while crying and kicking her legs. Joe and I have just been giving each other, "What the...." looks. Eek. Last night she had a fever and I knew something was up. Today though I finally figured out the cause to it all. Teeth number 8 and 9 are coming in at the same time. They are upper teeth and I am about 85% sure they are her first molars (or else they are her canines; she won't let me look close enough to tell for sure.) No wonder this kid has been a crab! Her poor gums have been working overtime!

Drum Roll, Please.....

Look at what Sophie did today:

I am one proud Momma!

**These are her 2nd steps. Sophie's babysitter is the best for catching this video.

A New Paci

Look at what Saint Nick brought for Sophie!

It makes me laugh every single time I see her with it in her mouth!

Standing

When I picked Sophie up from the babysitter's today, I learned that Sophie had been standing on her own. She did it a few times even. I still haven't seen her do it, but hopefully I will in the next few days. This makes me so happy because if she can stand on her own, I know walking is right around the corner. I think it will happen in the next two weeks. I hope my prediction is correct!

My Sweet, Funny Girl

When we got to the babysitter's today, Sophie was so excited to see her buddy, J (a little boy a few months younger than her.) He was excited to see her, too. He was trying to sit up to see her better and he bonked his head. Immediately he started crying. Sophie crawled over to where the babysitter was consoling him, as if she were concerned, too. When J let better, he sat on the floor with Sophie. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around J's neck, hugging him. Adorable! They are so cute together.

Today was Joe's 1/2 day, so he picked Sophie up and brought her home. When I finally got home, Sophie screeched excitedly in greeting. I went over to her (she was sitting next to Joe) and held my hands out so I could pick her up and hug her. She held her hands out and then pulled them back, shaking her head 'no' and grinning. I tried it again and got the same result. The little stinker was playing a game! After doing this a few more times, she finally let me pick her up for a hug.

When I was giving Sophie her bath tonight, she was playing her game of standing up and then sitting down (after telling her bath time is over if she doesn't sit...she loves this game). When bath time was really over, I started to drain the water out of the tub while she was still in it. She scooted closer to the drain and slowly pushed the stopper back down. When the water stopped draining she laughed and clapped, clearly pleased wih herself.

Sophie has such a great personality and it keeps getting better. She is a perfect mixture of sweet, silly and sassy.

My, How She Has Grown

Sophie's babysitter is amazing. Seriously, I could write a list of 1,000 reason why she is so wonderful. One reason she is so great is because she "helps" the kids make sweet personal gifts for different holidays. I couldn't think of a better gift to receive.

When putting up holiday decorations today, I came across the reindeer that she made last year for Christmas. She traced Sophie's teeny, tiny 3 month old hand and foot to make it. I was in awe when I saw it tonight; that hand and foot were so small! I took the reindeer to the fridge to compare it to her Halloween gift - a foot ghost and hand tree. (This was much easier than trying to compare it to Sophie's actual hand and foot...) Wow! I was amazed at the difference. I mean I knew that she has grown in the past year, but sometimes I forget just how much. This little girl never fails to impress me.

15 Months

My little 15 month old weighs 15 pounds and 2 ounces today! Pound party time! (That means take a shot/drink to celebrate Sophie gaining another pound. Gaining a pound is a big deal for kids who gain weight slowly, so go ahead...drink up!) Besides gaining weight, check out things that have been going on in Sophie's life this month:

• We often call Sophie "monkey," and she is really earning that nickname this month. She loves to climb anything and everything. She still loves climbing the stairs (and is very quick now), but she has moved onto bigger, better things. If you lie on the ground, she will act like you are her own personal mountain and climb all over you, laughing when she sits on top of you. If you put your legs out to try to block her path, she will climb over them (in a very focused way, might I add). She tries to climb her slide. If you put something up on top of the slide, she will keep climbing until she reaches it (or at least shakes the slide enough to let the item drop down to her). If you put her on the couch with you, she will try to climb over the arm of the couch so that she can reach anything that we were foolish enough to leave on the end table. The scariest thing that she climbs is her small plastic chair; she is proudest of this. Two weeks ago, Joe looked over and saw her climb her chair, and stand on top of it while holding on to one of our kitchen chairs. She did something very similar at the babysitter's house the following day. We catch her all of the time trying to climb on the chair now. I have a feeling I am going to write a post sometime soon about how she hurt herself by falling off the chair. Knock on wood that this doesn't happen. *pauses to knock on wood*

• Sophie now has 7 teeth. (Which, if you are an avid read of this blog-I'm talking about you, Mom- you already know this.)
• Sophie still isn't walking. She won't even stand on her own without holding onto something. It makes me very antsy, but I am trying to let it go. I know she will walk when she is ready - she does things on her own time line. It is hard to let go and not worry. With her being smaller and her previous heart issues, I just never want her to be behind developmentally. I went looking around online again today to see when I should be worried about kids not walking, which was 18 months, so I am breathing a little easier. On the bright side, Sophie isn't very heavy, so carrying her around doesn't bother me. Plus, I love when she squeezes onto me when I am carrying her somewhere. I suppose I can wait a little longer until I have to chase her around. 
• Sophie is becoming even more affectionate than before. She gives her best buddy (her babysitter's daughter who is in Kindergarten) kisses all of the time, and practically jumps out of my arms to hug her goodbye. She always loves on her baby doll. If you hold it out to her, Sophie will give the doll a huge bear hug and then kiss it. She gives away her kisses to her grandparents and her dad, too, but leaves poor old me without any sugar. At least I still get great hugs from her.

• Yesterday when she was playing with Cosmo, Joe told her to be gentle and pet the kitty. She very clearly said, "Kitty!" That is a new one. She usually says "cat."
• Sophie still loves books. Often times if I get a book out, she will crawl over to me and sit on my lap or right next to me so I can read it to her. Her favorite 'toys' are books. She really loves looking through them and holding them. A girl after my own heart!

• We have started giving Sophie Vitamin D milk mixed in with her formula and Pediasure. She seems to like it so far. There aren't as many calories in whole milk as there are in formula and Pediasure, so we will continue to mix them for awhile. Still, it is pretty exciting that she will drink it.
• Sophie is becoming more adventurous with the food she tries. As long as you let her bite into it, she will try it. Of course that doesn't mean that she will continue to eat it or even keep it in her mouth. Still, she really likes being able to bite into things. She was even eating a stalk of celery tonight (I'm sure she heard it was negative calories and got excited...) Whatever gets her to eat is fine by me!

I am so thankful for my little girl. These past 15 months have been wonderful. Yes, Sophie can be challenging and frustrate me at times, but those things are nothing compared to the joy she brings into my life. I just hope that I think the same thing when she is a teenager and we are fighting all of the time!

Enough of my sappiness...onto pictures! Click the link below.