Happy 2013 everyone! I hope all of our friends and family had a very happy and joyful holiday season. The last 11 days for us have been the craziest, busiest, most hectic we've had in a long time. Last Saturday we spent the day tidying up the house, grocery shopping and doing final Christmas shopping before Ty's sister, brother-in-law and niece came to town. We hosted them all week, which was awesome because they hadn't met Leah yet. It was so much fun seeing Leah meet her 2-year old cousin and getting to spend some good quality time with all 3 of them. Then we hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities. Just as one set of houseguests left, my parents came to town for the weekend. The biggest damper on our holiday was that all 3 of us were sick at some point. Leah picked up a cough and runny nose, then Ty got a cold and I rounded out the trifecta with the stomach flu. Ick!
Sickness aside, we had a very fun and successful Christmas. Leah was totally spoiled! She got lots of new fun toys, books and clothes. This year she was more into everything than last year (when she was just 6 weeks old). She loved the Christmas tree and looking at the lights and ornaments. And she was able to help open some of her presents. Even though we were sick for a part of it, I loved spending lots of time at home with the fireplace going and hanging out with my family.
So now it's back to real life. I am looking forward to getting back into a routine. We really haven't had much of a routine for the past month or so. Leah had her shunt revision and was out of daycare for almost 3 weeks, then picked up a little cold, and finally we had 11 days of company in the house. I don't think she's had the same bedtime 2 nights in a row or napped or ate at the same time. Poor girl, it's hard on her to be without a routine for so long.
Even though we won't be quite as busy as we've been, January will still have lots going on. Leah will have her weekly Physical Therapy appointments, we also have her big MRI in a couple weeks. We had to cancel this during our appointment in December because she had a little cough, so hopefully she'll be totally healthy in 2 weeks. We also have our other monthly appointments like Early Intervention and Cranial Sacral Therapy. And, most exciting, she'll be getting her leg braces and stander soon. I'm cautiously excited for this. I say cautious because this will mean some extra care for her that we're not doing today. It's going to be very important to keep her feet and legs healthy and her skin clear. Since she can't feel pain, she won't be able to tell us when they hurt or if she's getting blisters. This can be a big deal to her overall health if we don't pay attention to this.
Then there's the business of getting her teeth in. She still has only 2 teeth! But just yesterday I could feel 2 more coming in on top and not the 2 front teeth... though I think she's working on those too. I can tell she's in pain because she's chewing on everything she can get in her mouth, including her hands. Sometimes she just wants to sit and snuggle instead of playing with all her toys. So as much as I enjoy my cuddly baby, I would love for those silly teeth to come through and give her some relief.
We have a lot to look forward to in 2013. I hope we will continue to be as blessed as we were in 2012. Happy New Year!!
Ben says to tell you that you really need to set a timer when Leah is in her prone stander. Also, to entertain her with something in front of her to make the time pass more quickly. When he was in grade school and high school, he'd play video games, or work on his computer (with a wireless keyboard) while he had to stand. His concern is that she won't know when she's been in the stander too long. His legs would actually fall asleep while he was standing. He would need help stepping off and going to sit down. He has other hints on her AFOs down the road too. I told him you weren't quite there yet. :D
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year,
Roz