6 Months Old

Look who is 6 months old. I can't get over it. And to make the day even more special, I watched Jordan roll over from her belly onto her back for the first time after her morning nap. I was very proud. So proud that I had to rush her downstairs and plop her into the bumbo for 6 month old pictures. She was happy to oblige. Anything with mommy is a happy thing these days.

We're gearing up for Jordan's next incredible experience in her life: Maine. We look forward to putting her up on the rock for her first official Maine picture. And we can start a new tradition - pictures of the two kids at the rocky cove. I'm looking forward to that. The hard part: Packing. Luckily for Jordan, she doesn't have to worry about that part. That's mommy's challenge. Wish me luck. I'm a notorious over-packer.

Testing out a new tool

On Tuesday, Jordan, her daddy and mommy spent a long, long time at the prosthetic office working on creating a new prosthetic that includes a hand and moves with her body better than the previous chest strap. This one gives her more ability to move, but after we put it to test during today's (Wednesday's) OT appointment, we have more work to do before I'm happy with her mobility.

The tool is also a little too long... But hell, it's a start. I'm not going to complain. And as usual, Jordan was incredibly calm and understanding with her "arm extention" (that's my term) once I got it on her. I'll have to post the pictures of her sleeping in her daddy's arms during yesterday's appointment... It was so sweet. She was exhausted from all of the tinkering of straps. I think we were all kind of spent from it all.

Oh... Today I took Jordan to a presentation I needed to do before her OT appointment. She was fantastic. But anytime someone else held her, she had to be close to me so she could smile at me. In my arms, she cooed, chewed on her feet and fell asleep as I talked to the group. She's so darn flexible. If only that could last forever.

Proof she can sit

I've been talking about how Jordan is getting better at sitting up. So today I took her outside to get some shots of her growing skill. She was so cheery after her afternoon nap, so I had to get some grins while she sat up. With her ability to sit, she's been able to play with more toys and she's really enjoying trips to stores in the grocery carts. I guess her giggle time outside and time she spent talking (actually she was babbling with gusto) to her Grandpa over the phone took all of her energy.

That's because when I put her to bed, she was EXHAUSTED. She was so exhausted, she fell asleep on her side and got her feet stuck in the slots of her crib. It really is amazing to see the difference in her naps when she's at home all day compared to at school. She takes one or two (three if we're lucky) naps at school that last 20 minutes. At home, she sleeps an hour an a half if not two and a half each time. Today she took three long naps. I wish I had the chance to take three long naps.

Feeling better

After her day of total sleep, Jordan is recovering pretty quickly. She still has a cough, but she has life again in her eyes.

Cam was asking questions about Jordan's arm again today. He asked if her hand was hiding inside her arm. I told him that it wasn't, that she just doesn't have one on that side. He asked if she would grow one, and I told him that wasn't possible. Then he announced that we were going to get her a robot hand. And we might someday. But I told him that she doesn't have to have a robot arm... She will be able to do everything. And if she needs help, hopefully, he can help out. Cam seemed to like that idea and moved on.

You know, we're had Jordan for almost 6 months. I'm totally okay with her difference. I'm used to it and it doesn't surprise me. I'm not uncomfortable or even confused when I look at her. But I wonder how long it takes the average person to stop staring. Here's a beautiful little girl... Oh! And where is her arm? It's kind of hard to get your brain around that. What a wild ride we're on with such a sweet and cuddly little girl.

She's starting to get a little more cranky here and there... it could be because she isn't feeling well. But maybe it's because we're headed into a more hard-core teething period of life. Wish us luck.

200th Post -- With Snot

Yeah. I caught a moment when Jordan looked snotty, miserable and goopy. She was awake a total of 3 hours all day long. We'll see how tonight goes.

I should probably go to bed and not post anymore for today.

But -- This is amazingly, the 200th post about my girl. It proves I'm crazy and obsessive. But I'm also happy that I keep track of her life like this. I'm also happy to be able to share her with so many people.

Oh. One other thing: Jordan was 16 pounds 4 ounces at the doctor's office today. She also turned 25 weeks old. She's such a big girl... And I look forward to when she gets over this case of the gunks. She is so damned pitiful.

The big snots are back

Jordan has a cold. I took her to her PM&R appointment and saw the new hand the prosthetist ordered. We all talked about how we need a different way to fit her arm into the prosthetic and I think we're moving forward. The doctors all had to go through this meeting with Jordan bawling. She waited for them too long as she sneezed and coughed and needed Mommy's help clearing her nose.

When she sneezes, her eyes water up... Her eyes are red and bloodshot. It's so sad. I just want to hold and cuddle her. Poor thing.

She took a great nap after the appointment. Randy said he'd never seen her look so tired. I was going to take her to school while I attended a technology session on campus, but she was so drippy and gross, Randy decided to keep her at home to keep resting. Why is Randy home? Cam ended up getting sick at school. He's doing a lot better, so Randy figured he could handle two kids at home.

Good luck to him.

That's no fun

So Jordan was strangely cranky today. She slept really strange last night -- Needed turning over on a regular basis. Sometimes she'd wake up to fuss, but she was just laying there on her side, so I didn't bother her. So when she got up this morning, she was just not her very happy self. I figure it was the lack of consistent sleep. So she did okay at school today... But was obviously tired.

So she went to bed when I brought her home.

But Cam had a loud outburst and woke her up. My overly tired little girl took an hour and a half to recover and get back to sleep. The poor little girl.

Tomorrow we visit our team of doctors and therapists for an update on her care. I'm hoping we can all discuss her prosthetic and how it's not working. She does a lot better without it at this point. So tomorrow is really just a check for all of my team members to meet up and say hi. I have mellowed over my desire to fit Jordan with a prosthetic immediately. As she gains milestone after milestone, I relax more knowing she's going to be fine.

New challenge

I forgot to post the biggest change and I guess development in Jordan's and my world.

She's rolling over in bed for the first time... And she gets stuck on her belly. I think she tries as hard as she can to roll back over... But she hasn't figured that out yet. So at least a couple of times a night, I have to get up and roll her back over. I wait a little while, to give her a chance to try on her own. But we just aren't there yet. I am encouraged that she's rolling in bed. That means she's getting more comfortable at rolling and it may encourage her to work on the belly to back movement.

I'm pretty tired these days. I actually took a 10 minute nap this morning just because I had 10 minutes where I didn't have to work and I didn't have to get ready for work. It was a wonderful 10 minutes.

Showing more personality

Jordan is starting to act a little shy around people... even family members and little kids. When someone starts paying attention to her, she'll bury her head into my shoulder. It's very sweet.

She is so happy when she sees children. She's bound to smile so much faster with kids than adults. It's so interesting. Cam was so into grown ups... Jordan is so into kids. It just shows you how different things can be for the first child compared to the second.

Grocery trip

Jordan got to sit in the cart and smile at everyone during her first real shopping trip at the grocery store. Sure, she's been there in her baby car seat. But today was the first time I took her with her almost-figured out skill in sitting up. I have a cart cover that includes a pillow that helped her sit comfortably.

Jordan grinned at every person we walked by... Many said hi and cooed over her beautiful smile. I think Jordan had the most fun just looking at all of the colors on the boxes and cans. Her eyes were big the whole time.

The one thing she didn't like - the sound of the carts crashed when we first got there. I usually would get her set into her cart in the parking lot, but it was raining... And those crashing carts were LOUD. She was very upset. But fortunately, she got over it pretty quick.

I'll be honest. I've kind of avoided going to the grocery store with Jordan because of some stories I've heard from other amputee parents... I've heard so many stories of strange and uncomfortable incidents with people asking strange questions or making innapropriate comments about missing limbs. Of course, nothing happened today. And I've quickly learned that most people will say hi to Jordan, probably notice her arm late into their conversation with her and move on without saying anything. So our visit to the grocery store was uneventful and I'm very happy about that.

24 Weeks Old!

My how big she's getting. Today she actually opened her mouth a little and seemed a bit excited as I prepared her cereal. She's so sweet. I just want to bury my face into her chubby cheeks and kiss her for hours. But I restrain myself.

Jordan and Cam got to meet a new little boy today -- His name is James! He is just perfect and sweet... And slept almost the entire time we were there.

Better day

Jordan slept better at school -- one hour. Not good. But better. She also got to have her morning nap at home this morning - an hour and 40 minutes. So she has to feel better.

I didn't get to put Jordan to bed tonight. I had a dinner to go to. I don't know why one missed bed time got me all sad. I'll live.

I did come home to new wristbands I ordered not long after Jordan was born. They're bracelets that are similar to the Livestrong bracelet. My new ones are white and orange. It says: "Differences Inspire" and "ABS Awareness"
I'm not sure if Jordan's amputation was truly caused by Amniotic Band Syndrome, but either way, I think it's cool to have something on my wrist in her honor. I don't know why.

30 Minutes

Yeah. 30 minutes. That's how long she slept at school today. That's so sad. They said she was pretty fussy this afternoon. I wonder why. Maybe she hasn't slept enough? To make it worse, I had class to teach at 9am, so she missed her morning nap that she takes at home. I wish I could do something to help.

Movie babies

I originally posted this picture with my discussion about Jordan's stinky poop. It just didn't seem right.

So anyway here's the picture of Jordan and Carter after their first movie. The things we'll do to get pictures of our babies. We lifted the kids up pretty darn high to get that shot with the poster on the wall.

Stinky stinky stinky

Yup. It happened. Jordan actually ate her cereal this morning. I bought this strange spoon-like stick thing and she ate better with it. Anyway. She ate well enough that the big change happened today: Stinky poop.

I try really hard not to talk too much about poop in my mommy blogs... But this is one of those developments you have to talk about. The glory of breastfeeding is how poops aren't that offensive. But eventually you add in extra food and the poop starts to stink. That's what happened today.

I'll never have a non-stinky baby again.

I'll get over it.

Busy day!

Jordan had a REALLY busy day... And I didn't document it well with photos. But I have the stories.

Today she got to go to the pool for the first time -- It was a wading pool so she didn't really get the chance to swim. But she hung onto me for dear life as we followed Cam and his friend Patrick around the pool. The sun was bright and she buried her head into my shoulder. Of course she had sun screen, a hat and sun glasses on. I'm sad that none of my pictures turned out. I'm including the one picture that almost shows her outfit. There will be other times to catch a better glimpse of her in her pool outfit. She fell asleep once while we were at the pool, but not a real good rest. But once we got home, she ate and passed out for 3 hours.

I ended up waking her up and taking her to her first movie - Cars!!!! She met up with her friend Carter (Cam's friend Camryn's 7 month old brother). She was very interested in the action on the screen for a while. It didn't last the entire show... I fed her a lot. I did try to capture some images of her watching the movite -- It was very dark and using a flash is pretty darn rude. By the end of the movie Jordan was ready to go to bed for the night. But she enjoyed her time with Carter. In the middle of the movie, they noticed each other and Jordan just giggled at him. It was so sweet. They held hands. Carter grabbed her bow and tried to rip it off her head. It was very funny.

After we went to the movie, Carter's dad and I lifted the babies up high near a poster for the Cars movie to help document their first movie experience. It was very sweet and I can't wait to get a copy of that picture. Carter's family joined us at our house for dinner. Jordan wasn't very social. She was ready for bed the moment we got home. It was a day full of firsts. Her first pool visit, her first movie and her first dinner party. I think tomorrow we'll do a little less just to even out the balance of this weekend.

We took the plunge

I went for it. I was feeding Jordan this morning and I realized we have a perfect moment to try cereal. So I decided to do it. And I'd have to say, Jordan wasn't that excited. But of course, she didn't all out turn it away, but she didn't really gobble it down like it was a fantastic experience. So after all of my knowledge about if a baby is or isn't ready for solids... She was rather indifferent. She swallowed some, she spit some of it out, So if I get the nerve, I'll try again tomorrow morning.

She likes me!

Randy was working on dinner while I was giving Jordan a bath. After I had her wrapped up in her towel, I started playing peek-a-boo with her. We were so loud (my yelling and her squealing), Randy thought something was wrong upstairs.

Nope. We were having an amazing time. When Jordan is laughing hard, her mouth opens so wide with funny high pitched squeals. It was awesome.

She fell asleep on me when I fed her right before bed time. I'm already feeling a little nostalgic about the times I have with her during feedings. She's just days or weeks away from starting cereal. I bought some... I just have to get my nerve up to do it. She was waking up in the middle of the night for about 4 straight days... I figured it was time. But she's slept through the last couple of nights. It gives me a little more time to stall. Being her sole food source is SO much easier than solid foods. When we make the move, I know it will be okay. But for now, the convenience of it all is too hard to let go.

Our physical therapist met up with me at Jordan's school today. She was swinging in a swing when I got there and she flashed me the BIGGEST smile and was obviously happy to see me. It's fun to see her move into the phase where she can show off emotions and can start showing opinions.

Special day for a special girl

Jordan was baptised today... But instead of doing it at church, we did it at a local garden. Our church holds outside service a few times in the summer. So it was pretty special to me. Jordan was introduced to the congregation and I thought it was really sweet to let everyone know how God made her special and a little different than the average kid. For sure, everyone will know who she is! Our minister said some really nice things about Jordan how why she is special. It was nice. I just feel like an outside service is so special. And the fact I got to do that for both kids is even more special.

The really cool thing? Both sets of Jordan's grandparents were there for the ceremony and her Uncle Barry was able to come into town (he took pictures). Plus, my good friend Liz came to the service. It was also really cool of Shelly to come to the service with Camryn and Carter when Gene was out of town. We took some family pictures after the service and then had a great brunch.

So now Grandma and Poppy went home, Uncle Barry is still here along with Grandma and Grandpa. Cam already really messed up his clothes in the sandbox and took a nap. Jordan fell asleep during brunch and is taking a massive nap after this action-packed day.

Happy little girl

Jordan enjoyed another day at home with her grandparents. In between the massive naps and eating, she got to swing in her swing. She is so happy in there. When she isn't swinging back and forth, she starts kicking her feet into the air and tries to get things moving. It's cute.

On a developmental note, our occupational therapist was sick this week, so we didn't get a chance to work with her. But I've been trying to show Jordan how to feel her balance when she sits. For some reason, she really doesn't like the feeling of sitting. But tonight, I held her on her changing table, and for a few seconds, she held herself up at a 45 degree angloe without falling over. It was the first sign to me that she's figuring it out. I'm not surprised. She's figured everything else out. She still hasn't even tried to roll from her stomach to her back. It's apparently something babies usually do first before they can roll onto their stomach. One of my co-worker's babies did that the first week he was born. I'm not dwelling. But I do think it's interesting what she can and can't do. I realize in her own time, she'll figure it out. She's a smart kid. And cute too.

A new place to play

Jordan's Poppy and Daddy built a fantastic treehouse for Jordan and Cam. And it includes a new swing for Jordan to enjoy her favorite place: Outside. Her grandparents tell me that she was starting to get fussy and hungry when she sat in the swing... And all she did was smile and giggle until I got home to feed her.

We're so excited to have this new play space for the kids. And the amazing thing is, by putting a swing set around a tree, we still have a ton of space left in our yard for running around and playing. It's so cool.

Today Jordan is officially 22 weeks old. She spent it sleeping a lot... AND she officially moved into size 3 diapers. I ran out of size 2 and tried out the size 3... And it fits! I remember doing this with Cam -- I have a hard time accepting it when my baby moves to a larger size for some reason. I usually stuff my child into smaller outfits until I can mentally accept that my child is growing.

Right now I was about to get ready to pump before bed, but Jordan is talking to herself in bed. I'm waiting to see if she gets upset and wants to eat... Or if she's going to fall back asleep. It's a waiting game I'm willing to play... Since she slept 14 hour straight last night and 12 the night before. Waking up around midnight seems a little unusual for her.