Tube Surgery Day

Kimber had surgery to get tubes in her ears on March 11. It was a long and exhausting day that started at 4:00am. I got up before everyone else in the house to pump, since Kimber couldn't eat before her surgery. We had to check into the hospital at 6:00am and her surgery was scheduled to start at 7:30.

 

She slept on the way to the hospital, in the waiting room and in her post op room until we finally woke her up around 7:00 so they could weigh her and give her Tylenol before she went into surgery.

 

We were a little concerned that she would want to eat when she woke up, since she's used to eating right away in the morning but she didn't fuss at all. She played with her toys and watched cartoons until it as time for surgery.

 



 

 

 

The nurses came in to take Kimber and she went right to them with a big smile on her face. I thought it was going to be hard when they took her from me, but since she had a smile on her face and was clapping her hands - it was hard to be upset.

 

Nick & I were starving, so he ran down to the gift shop to get us muffins & something to drink. We took a couple pictures of us waiting and the doctor walked in the room to tell us the surgery went great! He said her right ear was a little "angry", which is the ear that had the most recent ear infection but he was able to cleaned it out and the surgery went well.  It had been less than 10 minutes. I couldn't believe it was already over! She went to a recovery room until she started opening her eyes and then they brought her back to our room.

 

 

She cried/fussed/whined for about an hour after she got back to the room. There was nothing we could do to console her. They warned us that she would be like this coming off of the anesthesia {and so did my SIL that just went thru the same surgery a couple of months ago}, so we were prepared for it. We let her cry, taking turns holding her and trying to comfort her. After she calmed down, I was able to nurse her and she kept everything down so they let us go home.





 



She fell asleep on the way home and took a 2 hour nap when we go home. A good nap is exactly what she needed!

 

 

After she woke up, she ate lunch and played for awhile but within an hour she was ready to nurse and take another nap. She took a little cat nap and when she woke up - she was {mostly} back to her normal happy self! She had a huge smile on her face & was ready to play!!

 

 

Overall, the surgery went well and the recovery didn't take long. There were times over the next 2-3 days that her ears seemed to bother her. I think she could sense that the tubes were in them. We'd give her Tylenol and it seemed to ease the fussiness. And on the 4th night after surgery, she slept from 7:00pm - 6:00am. That was a first! So I'd say it was a success!!

To Stand or Not To Stand? That is the question...

At Kimber's 9 month appointment, our pediatrician was concerned that Kimber wasn't rolling over, crawling or standing yet. Honestly, we aren't very concerned because she's such a laid back baby but I wanted to be pro-active in case there is something wrong with her development that we are unaware of. We set up an appointment with AEA to come to our house to do an assessment on Kimber. They came to our house on March 10 and determined that she is behind in some area and will need to do some physical therapy. She ranges from 6-10 months on different skills. Her fine motor skills are great and there are no concerns, but her gross motor skills are lacking. They said most of it is probably due to her laid-back temperament, but it's always good to work on these items earlier and not let her get behind more.

 

We have a follow up appointment with them in April to review the assessment and to go over what physical therapy moves we will have to work on with Kimber.

 

Since her 9 month appointment, we've been working on her standing and she's improved so much in just 2 weeks time! She will stand by herself against the ottoman and activity table now. She will go for items that are out of her reach. And she has started sitting down instead of just plopping down on her bottom. It's amazing how far she's come in such a short time period.

 

Now if she's in a sitting position, she will whine because she wants to stand up. She hasn't figured out how to pull herself up yet. But she will pull up if she grabs our fingers and we help her.

 

She loves to dance when she's standing up. The girl will rock her booty to any kind of music that we play. It's just too cute!

 

I have a feeling by the time they come back for her follow up appointment, she'll be doing even more and it'll be even less of a concern.

 

These picture were taken on Sunday, March 9 - the first day she wore 12 month clothes!! I was holding off as long as possible, but after I couldn't get her 9 month dress buttoned for church - I decided it was time to move her up to the next time. If she's wearing 12 month clothes...that means she's almost 12 months old!! NO!! Say it ain't so! I swear she has gone thru a growth spurt in the last 2 weeks - she looks so much older lately and has learned so many new tricks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimber is as unique as a four-leaf clover

I recently saw a Facebook post entitled 10 Unbelievable Facts about Redheads.

 

Fact #4: Red hair and blue eyes is the rarest combination in the world

The majority of natural redheads have brown eyes, with others likely to have hazel or green shades. But like red hair, blue eye color is a recessive trait, meaning that both parents must carry the gene for a child to be blessed with it. This makes those with red hair and blue eyes the rarest minority in the world, with only 1% having both. So, each one is about as rare as a four-leaf clover.

 

I love that Kimber has such a unique hair/eye color combination.

 

 

 

 

 

Kimber: Nine Months Old

 

 

 Oh Kimber Sue...how we love you! Mommy & Daddy are so smitten. You are such a happy smiley girl that it's hard not to love you so!

You are 9 months old. How can you be turning one in 3 months?!? I cannot believe how fast the time is going. It seems like you are learning something new every day! This month you have started clapping, waving bye-bye, 'talking' non-stop, saying dada {but not sure if you know what you're saying} and started moving towards the end of the month.

Sometimes I want you to start moving, so I can witness this milestone. While other times, I like the fact that you're not mobile because I can sit you in one place and I know you'll stay there!

You are so ticklish and I love to hear you laugh. I can get giggled out of you, but Daddy has a way of getting bigger louder laughs out of you! He'll always be the fun one to you.

You are not a snuggler. You would rather lay across me when you go to sleep,  but sometimes you will lay your head on my shoulder and it melts my heart. I will leave you there as long as you want to lay that way. Daddy never gets snuggles like that, so it makes up for the fact that you don't laugh as loud for me!

You are still the most chill content baby ever. You will sit in one place and play with a toy for 30-60 minutes at a time. We can take you anywhere with us because we know you'll do great!  

Weight: 20 pounds {80%}
 

Height: 27.5 inches {50%}

 

Diaper Size: Size 3.  

Clothing Size: 6-9 month. We'll be moving her up to 9-12 months soon. Her bottoms are starting to get tight on her chunky thighs!

 

Sleeping:  Sleep has been so much better than prior months!! Don't get me wrong, there are still some nights that she is up  - sometimes for a couple of hours & we have to be up with her and sometimes just long enough for her to find the paci and go back to sleep.  But she's waking up less & less at night. She was sleeping really well the first 2 weeks of the month, until she got another ear infection. We could tell something was wrong when she was up several times over the weekend and was super fussy. But since getting on the antibiotics, she's been sleeping better again.

Her nap schedule remains the same. A nap to & from daycare, a 30-45 minute nap at 10am and a 1.5-2 hour nap at 1pm.

 

Food: Breast milk & Baby food & Table food. She takes a bottle every 4-5 hours. She drinks a 5oz bottle at 6am, 11am and 3pm and I nurse her at 8pm before bedtime. We put 1 oz of water and 1oz of prune juice with every bottle to help her be more regular. She eats all 3 meals and snacks through out the day. She has been eating more & more table food. Some of her favorite foods so far are toast, cheerios, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, chocolate pudding and ribs. She tried ribs at the super bowl and couldn't get enough of them!

Health: Another month, another ear infection. At her 9 month appointment, we found out that she had another ear infection in her right ear. This is her 3rd ear infection this winter and it's less than a month after her last ear infection, so we decided it was time to get tubes. We set up an appointment with the ENT and he agreed that she would benefit from getting tubes. Her surgery is scheduled for March 11. Right now, I'm not very emotional about it because I know she won't be in pain anymore & will sleep thru the night feel better, but I'm sure I'll be a mess the morning of the surgery. 

Antibiotics are great to clear up the ear infections, but they also have not so great side effects. Including loosey goosey BMs, blowouts and yeast infections.  Luckily, all her blowouts have happened at daycare {sorry Traci!} but we've had to deal with plenty of dirty diapers! I noticed a rash after her last round of antibiotics, so I called first nurse and they believed it was a yeast infection. I picked up some yeast infection cream at the store {and made sure to tell the pharmacist is was for my baby & not me!} and it cleared up within a couple days.

Kimber had her first 'sick day' from daycare this month. Now, knowing that she has an ear infection - I'm sure the coughing & running nose was due to the ear infection and not a cold.

Nicknames: Kimber Sue. Kibber. Kimbee Cole. Sissy {by mom}

Likes: {new} Music/Dancing. Jayde. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Love to Play Sis' Puppy. Vtech Sit to Stand Walker

{same as last month}: Fisher-Price Crawl Around Car. Eating. Bath time. "Getting Mommy & Daddy". Jumperoo. Puffs. Any musical toy.   

She's always liked musical toys, but she's really started to 'dance' when she hears music now.

Jayde has been in the house since November when the weather started to get colder. They didn't really pay too much attention to each other until this month. It might be due to the fact that Kimber is now eating table food and likes to feed Jayde from her high chair? Or because there is always a trail of puff or cheerios for Jayde to enjoy? But whatever the reason, they are really starting to play together more.

Like the Fisher-Price Crawl Around Car, she also received the Fischer-Price Puppy and Vtech walker for Christmas. She loves these 3 toys. Definitely the toys that get played with the most in our house these days.

Disikes: Getting Dressed. Standing.

Kimber hates putting her arms in the sleeve of her shirt when we're getting her dressed. She doesn't mind the rest of the process, but the second you put her arms in the sleeve she starts whining.

We try to have Kimber stand for 10 minutes a day to get used to it and maybe motivate her to start moving. But she is not a fan of it at all. We usually stand her in front of the activity table so she has something to play with while standing, but it lasts a couple minutes before she wants to sit down.

 

Things to note:
Kimber celebrated her first Valentine's Day this month. I put her in a heart themed outfit everyday, made a valentine's box and valentine's day cards - you know all the things a crazy first time mom does. I was able to take the afternoon off and go to her daycare party to help the kiddos decorate cookies. It was fun to spend the afternoon with her and celebrate the holiday. She wasn't so much into the decorating the cookies, but she ate an entire sugar cookie during the party!!

Kimber has really started to pinch, claw me, pull my hair and bite this month. I feel like I'm getting beat up every day! I know she doesn't understand yet, but I tell her no and to use her nice touches. Sometimes she laughs at me because she thinks I'm playing, but I hope if I teach her early she won't be the kid at daycare that is biting everyone.

Oh...and she has started the dreaded biting while nursing. It only happens when she's done eating and is messing around, so we're all business these days. I don't let her linger around after she's done eating!!

At Kimber's 9 month appointment, her pediatrician was a little concerned that she's not standing or moving yet. She did a couple tests on her and doesn't feel there is anything wrong with her but suggested we have AEA come to the house to access her. Part of me knows that this is Kimber's temperament and she's completely content just sitting & playing for long periods of time. But I'm also not the type of person to be in denial that it might be something more. I'd rather catch a developmental delay early and have time to work on it before it gets worse. We have set up an appointment for next month for them to come into our home to access her development.

But of course, we had her appointment on Monday morning and by Wednesday, she had scooted backwards twice and rolled over in her crib. So she might be finally ready to start moving?

Kimber has started clapping and waving good-bye this month! It's so cute!