There you go... Our little boo in a Pooh bear outfit for Halloween. Just like her brother when he was a baby, she won't last in this costume for long today. So when I tested the outfit out, I took some pictures just in case we don't get many more later today. Unlike her brother, Jordan swims in this costume. She's so skinny, the Pooh bear kind of eats her up. Either way, it's cute.
Happy Halloween everyone!
I didn't mention that Jordan turned 10 months yesterday... And accomplished something new on our long, 8 hour trip home from Kentucky: She drank from a sippy cup all by herself. I was so proud, I snapped this picture of her in her car seat. I'm proud.
So, as part of that, we started getting Jordan to drink from a sippy cup at school today. And we tested out drinking formula for the first time as well... I've been overworked and exhausted -- so pumping hasn't been a priority. So I will run out of my frozen storage this week. We tested Jordan's reaction today at school... And it was like she didn't care at all. Maybe it's because she just thinks drinking from a sippy cup is just so cool. Maybe it's because food is food is food... But I watched her and she didn't seem to mind. That eases my mind... But I'm a little sad that I couldn't exclusively provide her milk all the way up to 12 months. I fully weaned Cam by 11 months because we were going to the big job interview for our current jobs. I probably will continue being the majority of Jordan's milk feedings up to or just a little after 12 months. Who knows what will happen. I'm just kind of sad to think that Jordan turns a year old in only 2 months. That's shocking.
So Jordan doesn't seem to mind her new prosthetic at all except when I put it on or take it off. She's pissed off about anything that involves her laying down or being restrained in any way. She throws an all out fit: If it's getting a diaper changed or a new shirt... So her reaction to the arm isn't any different.
Overall, I'm glad we made this trip. The folks at Pediatric Prosthetics treated us really well and gave Jordan a lot of care. They put a lot of time, focus and effort into her challenging arm. It will be interesting to see how we can integrate this prosthetic in her life and see if it helps or hinders. I'm certainly hoping it helps.
I'm coming down with something... It figures after all of the travel and craziness of the last week.
We're finally back in town, I finally have web access again and I promise to write more details about last week as soon as I catch up at work. But the good news is Jordan has a prosthetic that she wears, the moves and she is paying attention to. Jordan has two teeth, two arms (one myoelectric, one passive) and a new love for cheese crackers.
On the technical side of things, my final video blog is stuck on a storage drive that crashed during the trip... So blog 5 will show up eventually, I promise.
| We got right to business when we got to Houston. Here's a look at Jordan's silliness in the plane and all the work we got done on our first day at Pediatric Prosthetics. | |
We're in Houston and I have a great 4 and a half minute video that's processing through Google video... After I spent all kinds of time dealing with spotty internet access on my Mac. So I've moved to borrowing my kind host's computer... And waiting on Google approval to post the second blog online.
So a review of yesterday: We flew, we arrived and we went right to work on Jordan's new prosthetic. The two lead prosthetists think Jordan has a very small amount of elbow... Today a therapist who saw Jordan thought that might be the case or there's a ball of muscle that can do some similar motions like an elbow. Who knows. We can only wait and see as Jordan grows.
Today's big event today was a therapy session. Jordan was getting tired and cranky by the time we started, but we did get some tips on neck exercises we can do with Jordan. If things go better in the video department, I'll try to upload that later tonight.
So that's the scoop for now... If we're lucky, we could have a new prosthetic tomorrow. Our tricky and challenging little girl will be able to give this prosthetic thing a really good try.
Jordan and Cam were up late last night getting a chance to hang out with alumni and walking around campus. So the kids actually woke up a little late this morning... And we rushed to campus for the big homecoming parade. Jordan got to wear her new team outfit... And she smiled and stared at this loud, clapping event. She took a couple of small naps. But on the whole, she watched everything.
It's been awesome to let more of our former students meet the girl... And show off how big our boy has grown. Hopefully Jordan will get enough naps to recover from this morning's events so we can take her to one more spot and show her off.
I took the kids to get their pictures taken today... And almost immediately after I set Jordan up in a chair, she fell off it and landed on her face. She was fine. But upset... And that was kind of a symbol of the rest of my day. I think I got one, maybe two pictures out of the entire exhausting event.
I've noticed that the longer this year goes... The more emotional I react when things don't go well. I'm emotionally drained, and I'm not rebounding as well as I usually can. Today, things at work didn't go well at all. I ended up verbally sparring with Randy... And I hate doing that. I ended up angry, drained and an emotional wreck. I feel better now. But I know I have to change something about the way I'm conducting life or else I'm going to go off the deep end.
I think my Mom and Randy are right: I need an activity. I always felt like my blogging and constant photo taking was my hobby. But I get the point. I need to distance myself from the kids from time to time. I was able to do that better when it was just Cam -- Even when he was a baby. But I think Jordan's extra needs has kind of kept me from giving myself "me" time. And I know I have to work on that. The lack of me time has prevented me from losing all that baby weight. The lack of me time has prevented me from relaxing. Heck, last night I went to bed and couldn't sleep for a good hour and a half because my brain just wouldn't turn off.
Houston, Homecoming, Halloween... all kinds of other events and work items. My head kept churning. No fun.
Things have to change. I realize this. The next step: Deciding what I want to commit to. My friend Liz and I have committed to walking every Saturday morning. It's good for us, it's a good time to reconnect. Who knows. I need to keep working on things like that.
So I took Jordan and Cam to church on Sunday. Jordan was drippy, but nothing too bad. Later that day, she started another fever. I felt bad for her, she was sleepy but not acting too strange. I put her to bed a bit early... But once again, no big deal. So around midnight I went in to check her and she felt like she was on fire. I took her temperature and it was way too high for my comfort zone. I ripped her out of her PJs and called a nurse. Randy and I were pretty worried... The funny thing was how Jordan was just talking and waving and being sweet. I was amazed by her positive attitude. So I just fed her and fed her and fed her. There wasn't a lot of sleep for her or I. But at some point in the haze of tired feeding, I picked Jordan up and she was soaked in sweat, her body felt cool. I knew we'd gotten past it.
But in the morning, my happy girl was cranky. So I scheduled a doctor's appointment. Of course they just said she has a virus. But we wanted to be sure she didn't have an ear infection. Poor Randy took Jordan to the appointment... She cried and cried and he didn't have the mommy food system to help calm her. So they had a rough run. After I taught my class, we traded baby care... After I took Jordan to campus for a campus presentation, Jordan slept and slept and slept -- in the car, in her bed. She's still sleeping. I fed her one more time... But other than that, she's just resting and rebuilding. Poor baby.
But the up side -- at the campus presentation, she just kept waving at people. It was so sweet. I swear I thought I heard her say hi and bye. This little one is going to be talking very early. I'm pretty sure of it.
I'm sure my discussion of snot is relatively non-stop when I write about Jordan. Poor kid is battling this cold. I was hoping it was going away so I could take the kids to see their uncle... But she woke up with a low-grade fever and it didn't want to go away all day. She took about 6 hours of naps during the day -- about 4 and a half hours more than on a school day. Hopefully that rest will help.
During one of her two awake times today, I plopped her outside and took some pictures of her in an outfit that was Cam's. I thought that was kind of cool... The funny thing is how I put her in a brown corduroy hat that fit Cam's head so well at 6 months -- and it's WAY too big on Jordan at 9 months. It's so funny how different kids can be.
I don't try to go out of my way to stress out... but I think there's something in the Mommy brain that is always on the lookout for something to be worried about. I asked our PT if we'll be starting over in many ways once we acquire this new prosthetic in Texas. And she told me that in a way -- Yes. And I know Jordan will be aggravated if she is not able to move around. Once you get the taste of motion, you don't want to stop. So I'm feeling bad for Jordan in advance. There are so many unknowns that come with this trip: Are we doing the right thing? Will insurance pay the 80% it is supposed to pay? Am I ever going to feel like my life is under control? The answer to that last question is totally up to me. I'll work on it. I have to work on it.
Poor baby.
The little cold that Jordan seemed to have yesterday turned into an all around snotfest today. It wasn't pretty. And as usual, she put up with it pretty well except for: THE NOSE WIPE. It's like we're killing her.
She had a great PT session. You should see her try to pull up on me. She actually gets onto her knees... She just hasn't figure out how to pull her torso up. The only recommendation we have: find shoes that have a little bit of traction. That's a new project for me to embark.
Also, Jordan just keeps amazing us with her eating abilities. Tonight before bed, she had dinner with us. She tried to eat carrots that I didn't quite cook long enough, so she threw up a little. Cam immediately goes: "Ewww! She's throwing up! I'm going to tell all my friends how Jordan threw up at dinner!" Jordan wasn't phased. I cooked the carrots some more, and she chowed down on the carrots (I cooked them longer), sausage and macaroni and cheese. Man did she love the carrots!! It was so fun to watch that I put her to bed a little late. Bad Mommy.
We're getting close to just a week away from the big trip to Houston. I'm nervous. I hope this prosthetic will be able to offer her assistance that she hasn't had before. I worry that we're going to go through this huge trip and we end up learning that there really isn't any type of technology that will help her. Only time will tell. Here's the really cool thing: Jordan's physical therapist is going to meet us in Houston. She needs clinical hours I'm happy to have found her an environment where she can benefit as much as Jordan will. Pretty cool.
I don't know why picture day is such drama for us in the Reeves family. But yesterday didn't work out for us on Cam's picture day. And today didn't go perfectly for Jordan. I tried so hard to make it work for her.
Here's the story: Jordan woke up early with a little cold. No fun for her. So I fed her and got her back to bed early so she would be fully rested for her picture at school. I took her to school in her PJ's so her dress wouldn't be wrinkled. So we get to school, I put her in a very sweet little red dress, add tights, a bow and her shoes. Very sweet. Adorable actually. It was awesome. I left the room to go hang out with Cam before his field trip. 5 minutes later Jordan comes in with a teacher. The baby is naked. Why? Because the teacher left her cup of coffee on the table and Jordan spilled it all over her new red dress. Outfit ruined. Luckly I brought a secondary dress and it happened to be a dress I wore when I was a baby. And my Grandma sewed it, so that makes it very special. But what a bummer. Really. No luck. I think I make a big deal about it all because I have NEVER done a professional picture with Jordan. So this was kind of cool.
So I got to be there when Jordan had her picture taken. She was hungry by the time we finally got to take pictures. But of the two shots they got before Jordan wanted to scoot away weren't bad. The second one was great. So my sweet little girl will have her first school picture. Yahoo! But man, it was drama to get there.
Jordan had her 9 month old check up today... and it turns out that she isn't gaining much wieght lately. She's holding at 18 pounds... And that moves her down from the 50th percentile to the 30th. But her height went from 50th to 70th! So she's tall and skinny. That's not quite worrisome, but the doctor wants a recheck on weight in 6 weeks. In that time, we're going to up her carbs and I'm going to try to boost that weight.
She's obviously doing really well.
Funniest thing that I haven't caught on camera yet: When Jordan sees me, she starts scooting after me. Then she'll pound her hand into her chest like she's saying: PLEASE!! So I let her move even closer to me (with more chest pounding pleases)... And help guide her into standing up. It's going to be a slow, but methodical process in teaching her how to get up on her own. But wow... She's actually mobile. It isn't efficient, but she's going places and I'm proud of that.
So Randy wanted to mulch up the leaves in the yard... So I told him to hold off on doing the leaves in the front yard. I wanted to get the kids' pictures with the leaves and why not do it before it gets too cold outside? So I exhaustedly piled up the leaves into piles. Cam and I ran through them MANY times before I actually cleaned them up. After Jordan's nap I put her in a sweet new dress and plopped her in front of the leaves. ADORABLE. She was much more willing to try and eat the leaves than her brother ever was when he was little. I pulled leaves out of her mouth multiple times. Cam came out to play with her -- posed a little. But I caught some awesome moments of the two naturally enjoying the day. We played and played (not caught on camera). It was wonderful.
So just when the night was winding down I hooked the digital card into my computer...
And the pictures weren't there.
They were deleted.
How?
I have no idea. And I'm so bummed. Technology strikes again.
I wanted to share my fun time with the kids with everyone else. And I LOVED the pictures I captured today.
Did I mention how sore I am from raking all those leaves?
What a bummer.
So that's the update here. The crazy picture-taking mommy lost many sweet pictures. But I'll tell you what. Now I have an excuse to play in the leaves and take the time to rake instead of use the lawnmower and/or the blower. It's hard work, but Cam's smiles are worth it.
The other big news is how I'm working on taking Jordan to Houston to get her a new prosthetic. It's a big deal and I'm exhausted just thinking of it. So for the time being, I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get my class covered, how I'm going to be able to get work done while I'm away... How we're going to do this financially. Say some prayers that insurance will pay for the percentage it's supposed to pay for.
I'm not exactly sure when my baby turned into a big eating kind of kid... but yesterday she was snarfing down peas and chicken pieces all by herself. She chowed down on cheerios and peaches this morning... And at lunch she LOVED her veggie soup. She loved it so much, it was all over her clothes. Very cute. Of course, I think now that she wants to eat is stuff she can pick up. I think she isn't eating as much as she usually does, so that leads to her wanting to drink more milk. And since I haven't pumped in a couple of weeks... the extra milk storage is running low. I think the weaning process will probably start sometime between the 10th and 11th month -- very similar to Cameron's experience. He turned out okay. I figure Jordan will be just fine as well.
