Merry Christmas!

We have had a very busy, fun, and exciting Christmas in 2008.  It was our first Christmas spent in Texas in two years and it was nice to be home.  The last two years we have been in Vancouver, WA with my parents.  We missed spending the holiday with them, but were very glad that we didn't have to deal with the record amount of snow they received.  Christmas weather of 60+ degrees and sunny was just great!  

We stayed busy with lots of family activities and get togethers.  On Monday we met with Scott's sister and cousin so we could get the yearly great grand kids picture.  We headed to the local Kiddie Kandids and managed, with some creative cropping, to get a good picture of all four kids together.  We have two three year olds, Callie who is 14 months, and the youngest who is eight months old.  After a couple of meltdowns at the picture place we headed to the food court for dinner and all the kids were much happier :)  Then we all took a ride on the carousel.  We also took Callie to see Santa.  We hadn't planned on doing Santa this year since Callie is still very cautious of strangers, but her cousin wanted to go so we tried it out.  She did great standing in line, but once we got to Santa the tears started!  I'll have to scan the picture and upload it in the next couple of days.

Callie excited for the ride to start

Callie and her cousin Haley

Tuesday we made a trip to Dallas to have Callie's Doc Band readjusted.  We go every two weeks and the appointment is really easy and fast, they just make the band a little bigger each time to allow for growth.  The Doc Band has been working really well and we are able to see a big difference so far!  

After the appointment we headed over to the mall in Dallas to waste some time before a family dinner that was also in Dallas.  Callie had a great time playing at the play area and spending some extra time with her Match & Patch (Scott's parents).

Checking out a Christmas tree with Patch

Wednesday was Christmas Eve and we headed over to Scott's Grandma's house for her annual Christmas Eve lunch.  Callie had a great time playing with her cousins and opening presents.  She can't quite tear into presents yet, but she definitely knows what they are and is excited to see what is inside :)

playing with Daddy

Posing with Mommy

Callie's toy was the hit of the party.  All the kids wanted to play with it!

Christmas morning we spent at home and then headed over to Scott's parents house for lunch.  Callie had a great time opening all her presents and playing with her new toys.  Ozzie was a little confused about everything that was going on.  He thought a couple of Callie's toys should be his toys :)

These little stuffed animals were the first thing that Callie opened.  It was tough to get her to put them down to open the other presents.  She played with them all day long!

Callie showing Ozzie one of the many Elmos she got for Christmas.

Ozzie checking out yet another Elmo.  He's not too sure what to think about this one . . .

After all the Christmas activities Callie just want to sit and play with her Little People farm set.  She loved it!

Is the food strike over???

Callie has been on a food strike for over a month now.  About a week before she got sick she stopped eating baby food, which she had been really enjoying.  Then she got sick and since then she was on strike!  We have been offering her baby food at least once a day, but she would just shake her head, turn away and start to fuss.  She still doesn't like to put any sort of table food in her mouth, but that's another hurdle to get over . . .

So tonight at dinner we had some carrots ready for Callie to eat and when I offered her the spoon she turned her head like before and I thought it would be hopeless.  Well, she started to sort of cry and had her mouth open and eyes closed, so I got sneaky and put the spoon in.  She wasn't too sure about it at first, but then it was like she remembered the taste and started opening her mouth for more!  We did some singing and cheering to keep her excited about the food and she ate almost the entire container!!!  Hopefully she will be ready for breakfast tomorrow :)

  

Only in Texas, part two

So the weather in Texas can be kinda crazy . . .  Yesterday it was a beautiful day with a high of 77 degrees and a little bit of wind.  We took a nice walk around the neighborhood and enjoyed the great weather.  We even had to turn on the AC because the house got so warm.  

At about 9pm last night we could hear the wind start to pick up and could tell it was getting colder outside.  When we got up this morning the temperature was around 27 degrees with a wind chill somewhere in the teens!  So, in the short time of about 12 hours the temperature dropped 50 degrees!!!  I guess that means Scott will have to wait another couple of days to put up the rest of the Christmas lights on the house, he's so dissapointed :)

Only in Texas . . .

This morning we did some shopping at Super Target.  We were picking up some Christmas gifts and a couple of other things, plus a few groceries.  Last night I had a craving for beer so we put a six-pack of Corona in the cart.  We went to check out and when the checker got to the beer he informed me that he can not sell alcohol before Noon on Sunday, it was 11:45am!  Only in Texas would there be a rule for when you could buy alcohol on Sunday!  I guess I'll just have to go back to the grocery store later today . . .

The rest of our Thanksgiving week . . .

We also spent some time in Tacoma the weekend after Thanksgiving.  It had been almost a year since I had seen my girlfriends from college and so we made the drive up from Vancouver to visit.  We stayed at a hotel on the Tacoma waterfront and Callie loved it.  We were on the first floor and could see right onto the water and Callie had a great time watching the water and the birds from our window.  

posing with Mommy & Daddy at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, WA

We went to Megan's house on Saturday night and Callie enjoyed meeting her "aunties" again, and her "cousins", Becca's twins Ben & Abby.  It took her a little while to get used to all the people but she calmed down and was right at home gossiping with all of us :)  

On Sunday we were able to have dinner at Scott's cousin Grant's house.  If you remember he is the pastor that married us and his daughter Mckinzie was the flower girl in our wedding.  We had a great time visiting and catching up, as well as a delicious meal.

You would think that after our busy trip things would calm down a little bit, but we will still be busy with holiday events.  We still need to decorate the house for Christmas and even got lights to put on the house this year!  It should be an exciting holiday season and we are excited to share it with Callie.

Busy Thanksgiving week

Well, we have been busy with holiday travels the last week, so I apologize for not posting sooner . . .

We were fortunate enough to be able to travel to Vancouver, WA to visit with my parents for Thanksgiving.  Callie had been out of the hospital for almost a week and was feeling pretty good.  Our flight out wasn't too bad.  Callie was really excited about the airplane and wanted to touch everything, which really made me nervous since I am now a germaphobe mom!  She also enjoyed the attention from the flight attendants who were right across the aisle from us for most of the trip.  She eventually fell asleep for about the last hour of the flight, so that was nice.

On Wednesday we made a trip to the Jantzen Beach Shopping Center, which is right across the river in Portland, OR, to ride the carosel.  According a sign posted at the entrance it is the fastest moving, at 10 mph, and longest ride, 4 minutes, in the world.  I wasn't too sure if Callie would like riding on a horse for that long so we took the safe route and sat on one of the benches.  She loved it!

Callie made sure that we were first in line :)

Testing out the horse . . .

Callie decided the bench would be more fun :)

We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving lunch/dinner with just my parents and it was great.  My Dad smoked the turkey and it was delicious!  Callie had a good time but decided to continue her food strike.  For the last couple of weeks she has decided that she only wants formula and no baby food or table food.  She missed out on a delicious meal, but had a good time sitting at the table playing while we ate.

Waiting for all of us to sit down and eat.

After dinner Scott and I were able to get away for a night.  My parents so nicely agreed to watch Callie and we stayed in a nice hotel in Portland for the night.  It was great to get a good night's sleep and relax.  Callie did great with my parents and even slept the whole night, which was great because she had been waking up in the middle of the night since we arrived.  

Even though we had a busy week we still had time to be thankful.  First of all we were so thankful that Callie was healthy, finally, and we were able to make the trip to visit family and friends.  Not only was she over the stomach virus, but while she was sick her platelets jumped to an amazing 280,000!  We are thankful for all the great care that Callie receives and her amazing doctors and nurses, not to mention the great health insurance coverage that we are fortunate to have.  And above all we are extremely thankful for our family and friends.  We would not be able to do this without you!

We are home, again . . .

Okay, I didn't want to jinx us by writing a post too early, but we came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and Callie seems to be doing pretty well.  She has been eating well today and has only had one dirty diaper, which is great compared to the 15 to 20 she was having before we ended up in the hospital . . .

While we were at Cook Children's we saw their Gastro Intestinal doctors and they conferred that Callie had a stomach virus.  They put her on Zantac, an acid reflux medication, while we were in the hospital and for a week at home, and it already seems to be helping.  She is also on something called pro biotics, which is granuals that we mix into her formula and it's good bacteria that will help her tummy work better.  It's kind of like eating really good yogurt :)

It seems like she is on the mend.  Last night she slept for 13 hours, and I don't think she moved the whole time!  While we were in the hospital it was hard for her to get uninterrupted sleep.  There was always someone coming in to check her blood pressure, take blood, or empty the garbage cans!  She also took a three hour nap today so she is definitely catching up on her sleep!

Tomorrow we are headed out to Granbury to visit with Scott's parents.  Scott and his dad are going golfing and I'm going to do a little shopping while Scott's mom watches Callie.  It should be a nice relaxing day and I know that Match & Patch will be happy to see Callie :)

Back again :(

We are back in the hospital again. Callie came home on Saturday and after her nap things just went downhill. She is back on IV fluids and we are seeing a Gastro Intestinal doctor later today. They did and X-Ray and Ultrasound of her belly and every thing looks fine there. So it seems that it is just a really bad stomach virus that is just kicking her little hiney.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to get this little girl healthy again!

We are home!

We are finally home! Thanks goodness!! Callie is feeling much better, although she is not quite 100% yet, she is at least hydrated!

Even though our stay in the hospital was a long one it was not too bad . . . We were in a new part of the hospital called 5 Pavillion, which is an extension of the Emergency Room. The idea of 5P is that it is for patients that need more care than a couple of hours in the ER, but should be able to go home in under 23 hours. Well, we stayed a little bit longer than 23 hours, actually around 75 hours, but it was still a good experience. 5P only has ten rooms, so there is a lot more personalized care. The nurses we dealt with were all great, and I think they all got a little attached to Callie, since most of their patients aren't there for as long as we were.

The best part of 5P was the "Red Wagon Express". We finally convinced our nurse to let us pull Callie around in the wagon and she loved it. When we first arrived she was considered to be in isolation because of all the diarrhea she was having, but once that got better we got to explore a little bit . . .

playing with her prayer bear the chaplin department brought :)

modeling the new headband I bought at the craft fair that was at the hospital on Friday :)

We are still here

So, we are still in the hospital.  Callie had a great night last night and slept soundly the whole night!  Which was great for both of us.  She had blood drawn this morning and her labs came back great so we thought we would be able to go home this afternoon.  Well, the doctor came by at noon and said she was doing well, but wanted to wait until tomorrow to send us home.  For the past 24 hours she has been on IV fluids that are being pushed twice what she would produce naturally.  The doctor wants the IV fluids to be turned down to "maintenance" (what Callie would produce naturally) and then after that take her off fluids and see how she does.  They will take blood again early tomorrow mornings and if her labs look okay then we will be able to go home, hopefully :)

We also found out today that she had just a plain old stomach virus, not Rotovirus which is a really severe stomach virus or anything else.  Let's just hope that every time she gets a stomach virus we don't have to come to the hospital to get IV fluids.  This is her second one and the second time she has gotten so dehydrated that she needed fluids.  I guess I will have to turn into a total germaphobe mom and make sure everything is super clean and not let her play in the dirt and stuff :)

We are also starting to get really stir crazy.  Callie isn't allowed to leave the room since she could be contagious, so the poor thing is stuck in here all day.  The hospital has these great little red wagons that we could pull her around in, but they won't let us.  So Scott and I have been doing a lot of sitting quietly in the dark while she sleeps :)  Scott brought our laptop from home today and there is wireless internet, so at least we have that to do.  Hopefully we don't go too crazy . . .

Keep us in your thoughts :)

For the past 36 hours we have been in the hospital with Miss Callie. She has had some sort of stomach virus for the past week and early Wednesday morning we came to the ER at Cook Children's hospital to get her some IV fluids. She was so dehydrated that we have had to be here this long getting her fluids. She seems to be doing a little better so that is good. She is very exhausted, as it is pretty tough to get a good night's sleep in a hospital :) I have a feeling that we may be here over night again. She gets her next set of labs drawn at 4pm today and we will see from there.

Scott and I are doing okay, just very sleep deprived and worried.

Milk Allergy??

We have great news, Callie has no milk allergy!!!!!!!!  She is also not allergic to: cod fish, peanuts, wheat, egg whites, walnuts, cat & dog dander, and cockroaches (plus a couple other things I can't remember)!  The doctor ordered a complete allergy screen and who knew a cockroach allergy was included, but it was :)

We are so excited that we don't have to worry about a milk allergy anymore.  Now we can go back to Japan next year and not be worried about everything that she will be eating.  She can now enjoy cheese, which I'm sure our dog Ozzie will appreciate, because he will be getting all the stuff she throws off the highchair!!

Happy Halloween!!

Callie had a very festive Halloween on Friday.  We had Kindermusik in the morning and she got to wear her Halloween dress, which she loved!  After dinner we decided to go to a few of our neighbors' houses to Trick-or-Treat.  Since Callie doesn't really eat candy or understand the meaning of Halloween, we were basically just showing of her pretty dress and visiting with our friends.  She had a good time and really loved once we got back home and the doorbell kept ringing.  

Another picture of Callie in her dress.  It was so cute I had to post another one :)  I will be taking bids for the dress from all of you with little girls :) (it's size 18m)

Getting ready to Trick-or-Treat with Mommy

Showing Daddy the Skittles she got :)

Callie's activities

We have Callie in two different activities each week, swim lessons and Kindermusik.  She loves both of them and this week I actually brought the camera and got some cute pictures.  Tuesday was her first swim class with Daddy.  It took her a little while to get used to being in the pool with him, but once she went underwater she had a blast and really enjoyed it.  

swimming for her duck

swimming underwater with Daddy!

Friday is Kindermusik which is a music program, so we sing, dance, play and interact with other kids.  Callie really loves Kindermusik and usually talks through the whole class.  Today is Halloween so all the kids dressed up in their costumes and had a blast.  I didn't get an actual costume for Callie this year since most of the baby costumes are for cold weather and it is going to be 80 degrees today!  I found this great dress at Kohl's.  Callie loved playing with the ribbons and the little ghost.  I even had two different people ask me if I made the dress!  For those of you that know me, that is not even something that I would think about attempting!!

playing with her shakers at Kindermusik.  She kept losing them underneath her dress :)

playing with scarves!

Milk allergy??

Having an allergy to milk is very common among kids with TAR.  So far we have assumed that Callie has the milk allergy because in the hospital she had some bleeding when the doctors tried her on regular formula.  She was switched to a special formula called Neocate when she was about 10 days old and since that time has done great on it.  

Since Callie is now one we can start taking her off baby formula and we wanted to get her tested for the milk allergy.  So today we had her blood drawn.  We went to the lab at Cook Children's Hosptial and had quite the day.  They needed to draw 10cc of blood, which is quite a bit of blood.  When we go to the Hematology clinic to get platelet counts they only draw 1cc or less of blood and they just prick her heel.  Since we needed so much blood today they needed to draw it out of Callie's arm.  Callie did not appreciate this at all!  It was very hard for the technician to even find a vein in Callie's little arm and on her first try was not able to draw any blood.  So a second technician came in to see if she could find a vein in the other arm.  During all this poor Callie was screaming and crying very loudly and did not want to be there!  We asked if they could draw the blood from her foot/leg which is where she has had IV's and blood drawn from before.  The technicians at the lab can only draw from the arm so we had to have a special nurse from somewhere else in the hospital come to do it.

We were in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, but Callie was having a blast playing with toys and the other kids that were there.  The nurse came and once we got back into the blood draw room it was over and done with in about five minutes!  Callie still wasn't happy, but at least she was still and we got all the blood we needed.  After today I have such a respect for the people that draw blood, do IVs, etc. on little kids.  It has got to be one of the saddest jobs since the kids are always crying and screaming.  Not to mention tough since they are working with such small limbs and veins!

Now all we have to do is wait for the test results which I think will take about a week or so.  Hopefully they come back with no Milk or Soy allergy.  That would definitely make things a lot easier.  I would be so sad if Callie could never enjoy cheese :)

Kickin' it old school . . .

If the New Kids On The Block were still around Callie would be a huge fan.  She's even got the rat tail to prove it :)  Her hair is getting so long, especially in the back, it reaches all the way down her neck.  Scott thought it would be "cute" to make a rat tail during bath time tonight :)

Birthday!

Callie is one year old today!!  I can't believe how fast this first year has gone by!  The first year was definitely a challenge, but I have loved every minute of it.  I can't wait to see what the next year of her life will bring.  I'll post a more mushy retrospective post later, it's getting late and I don't have a lot of time so I'll just post some pictures from the few presents Callie opened today.  We have her birthday party planned for Nov. 1st.  It should be a blast!

Callie enjoying her first birthday present.  She wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so it ended up in her mouth :)

Really liking the present :)  Love those pjs!

Birthday crown

She really liked the horse, but seemed to like the bow on it even better :)

He's coming home!!!

Scott will be home tomorrow!!!!!!  I am so excited I can hardly wait.  His team lost in the first round of the playoffs last night and so now the LONG Japanese baseball season is finally over.  These past five weeks have gone by really fast, but Callie and I will be so excited to finally see Scott.

Good News

Good news, Callie slept through the night last night with her Doc Band on the whole night.  I was so happy that she got a good night's rest and that the band didn't seem to bother her too much.  I only had to go check on her once at 4:30am and give her the pacifier, and she went right back to sleep.

We also had swim lesson #2 this afternoon and Callie did great!  She went underwater for the first time and it didn't really seem to bother her.  She even did a little underwater swim at the end of the lesson.  She definitely is a little waterbaby!

It must be a full moon

Callie and Ozzie have both been acting crazy today!  They are driving me nuts!!  I hope it is because of the full moon and that they will both be back to normal tomorrow :)

Today we had another fun drive to Dallas to Cranial Technologies because Callie's band was still rubbing in the same spot.  Hopefully we have it fixed now.  She seemed a lot more comfortable once the adjustments were made today.  She even fell asleep in the car on the ride home and so far is sleeping tonight with the band on.  I hope that tonight isn't too rough on her, or me.  Our next appointment isn't for two more weeks, thank goodness!

Tomorrow Callie has her second swimming lesson.  There is this great little pool about a half mile from our house and they do lessons for all ages.  I signed Callie up last week and she seemed to really like it.  We started the class a little late so the other kids are already going underwater for about five seconds, but I think Callie will catch on quickly.  Once Scott gets home we'll take some pictures and post them.

Oh, and Callie also has a sixth tooth coming in!  I noticed it tonight and was so excited to see that it is the top right front tooth.  I was getting a little worried that she wasn't going to have any top teeth, since her first four teeth were on the bottom, so I guess I can stop worrying now :)  

Oh, and good news, our fence is now fixed.  The neighbor put it back up today, on his day off, what a trooper.  It was really the first time I met him and he seems like a pretty nice guy.  I'm definitely glad that he is handy because there was no way I was going to be able to do anything with the fence on my own.

She can still wear bows

Callie got her Doc Band yesterday, and good news, she can still wear bows!!  Wearing the Doc Band for the first time went pretty well too.

It was a pretty long afternoon though.  Our appointment was at 3:30pm in Dallas, about 45 minutes away from home.  The only thing is that it is really close to downtown so traffic can get pretty bad.  It took us almost 2 hours to get home last night, and we had to stop halfway home so I could feed Callie.  She was pretty upset by the time we made it home, but I'm pretty sure that was because she had been in the car for so long and not because of the Doc Band.

Callie lucked out and didn't have to wear the Doc Band last night, which usually she will need to wear for 23 hours a day.  There was a spot where the band was rubbing on her head so to protect her skin she didn't wear it last night.  This gave me an opportunity to decorate the band.  A lot of people paint the bands and get super creative.  I can be crafty, but not that crafty :)  So I bought a bunch of stickers and just put them on the band.  I think it turned out pretty good :)

I took these pictures this morning so Callie isn't quite awake yet.  I'll post some cuter ones with bows in the next couple of days :)

Today we had to go back to Cranial Technologies so they could adjust the band where it was rubbing on Callie's skin.  Our appointment today was at 4pm so this meant that we had to drive through rush hour again . . .  

This time we stopped at a mall half way home to have dinner.  So Callie had her first public outing in the Doc Band.  It was interesting to see how people reacted to the band.  There were people that would look and smile and I could hear them say "how cute" as we walked by.  And then there were the people that looked, and then looked away quickly, so that I wouldn't notice them "staring" at Callie.  This is something that I'm pretty sure we have all done.  You see a kid in a wheelchair, or a kid with special needs and you look away quickly, trying your hardest not to look again so you don't make the parents uncomfortable.  Kids are just kids, no matter how different they are.  Having Callie has definitely opened our eyes.  She has helped to make Scott and I more open minded and accepting of all people.  I knew Callie would change our lives even before she was born, but I had no idea it would be to this extent.  She is an amazing girl and I can't wait to see what else her life holds :)

WOW!!

Callie had an appointment at the Hematologist today for a platelet count.  Her last count was in July and was 57,000, her platelet count today was 141,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I could not believe it!  I thought her platelet count would be up a little since she really had no petechiae, but I was not expecting 141,000.  

Callie was also the hit of the office.  Her doctor, the nurses and office staff were so excited to see her and could not believe how much she had changed.  Callie was all smiles for everyone and really seemed to enjoy all the attention.

Tomorrow we go back to Cranial Technologies to get Callie's Doc Band, so hopefully that goes well.  I'll have to get busy decorating the band.  I'm ready with all my stickers!!

Backyard expansion . . .

So this morning I woke up to see that our backyard expansion project was complete . . .  Turns out the wind we had all day yesterday and last night thought it would be a good idea to blow down our back fence!!  We have had problems with our whole fence since the day we moved in, so it is not much of a surprise to me that something finally happened.  The fence posts were so rotted that they broke right off at ground level, and it wasn't even that windy last night.  In March we had a storm with near 100 mph winds and nothing happened to the fence.  

I'm not sure what I am going to do about this.  The neighbors weren't home when I checked earlier and I hear they can be pretty tricky to work with, so we will see how it goes.  Ozzie hasn't been too bad about getting into the other yard, but I don't think that will last.  I will probably have to make a Home Depot trip either today or tomorrow to find some sort of temporary fencing to keep him out of their yard.  

A week of firsts . . .

So I can not believe that it has already been three weeks since we have been back home!  The time has just really flown by.  I have been trying to keep the two of us busy and apparently it has been working :)

This last week has been a sort of exciting one . . .  Callie has her first top tooth coming in, the only thing is that it is not one of her top front teeth.  So that makes five teeth altogether, four on the bottom and one on the top.  Hopefully she gets those top front teeth soon so I can stop worrying about it :)

Callie also said her first word on Friday.  Well, I'm pretty sure it was a word and will continue to think it is the first until I hear something more definitive.  I guess I'm also partial because the word is mama :)  When she says it she looks at me and smiles, so to me it seems as though she knows what she is saying!

Callie also had her first day care experience on Friday.  I went to a Mom's League meeting with my neighbor and they suggest using the day care service they provide for all kids ten months and up.  I was pretty nervous about leaving her, but she did great!  The workers even said that when the other kids were getting fussy and their moms came to pick them up Callie didn't even seem to mind.  This was great news for me since I plan to start going back to our local gym to do some classes and it makes me feel better about leaving her in the Kids Club.

First kisses were also given out by Callie this week.  I have a big teddy bear that was mine as a child and brought it out for Callie to play with the other day.  She got the biggest kick out of it, and when I asked her to give the bear a kiss she leaned forward and planted one right on the nose!  It was so cute!  Here is a picture of Callie with the bear.  She doesn't look very happy in the picture because once I got the camera out she wanted to play with it . . .

And to end the firsts, Callie had her first miniature train ride on Saturday :)  We went with Scott's family to a train in Fort Worth, near the zoo.  Callie and her cousin Haley had so much fun!  The train goes through a big park and over a couple of bridges.  There was lots of nature to see, people to wave at, and birds to watch.

waiting for the train to leave

Callie's famous "ooohhh" face.  I think this one was because she saw some birds

On the train with Cousin Haley

Cranial Technologies

On Wednesday we went back to Cranial Technologies to reevaluate Callie's head shape.  For those of you that are new to reading the blog, or have forgotten, I'll give some history . . .

When Callie was about three months old we noticed she had some flattening on one side of her head.  We talked to the pediatrician and she suggested repositioning.  We tried what we could, but it didn't seem to get better.  By the time we saw the pediatrician again Callie's head shape had not improved so she recommended that we visit with the people at Cranial Technologies.  CT is a company that makes a corrective band called a Doc Band to essentially remold the head back into a more correct shape.  It's a sort of helmet/band that needs to be worn 23 hours a day for multiple months.  

Callie was five months old when we had her head measured and a Doc Band was recommended and we were ready to start treatment.  The only bad thing was that it was two weeks until we left to go to Japan and starting treatment at that point was out of the option.

So, we are back to Wednesday.  We went back to CT, and although Callie has had some slight improvement they are still recommending treatment.  Usually treatment starts around four to five months of age, but older babies are still very treatable.  The only thing that's different is that treatment will last longer to get the same results.  So Callie will most likely have the Doc Band on for most of the off season.

We go back in two weeks to get the Doc Band and then we will see how it goes.  I'm sad that Callie will have to wear this helmet/band thing for so long, but it will be good for her.  The severity of her flattening can lead to possible vision, hearing and/or jaw problems so we are doing the treatment to prevent this, not just so her head will look more round.

I'm sure she will get some interesting looks while we are out and about, but I'm not too worried about it.  A lot of the parents decorate their kids' helmets.  When we were in the office on Wednesday there was a little girl with a Doc Band that was painted pink and said "I Love Romo" (that's Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys' quarterback).  So I am sure I will have fun with personalizing Callie's band.

I'll add some links to the right side of the blog so if you want some more info you can check it out.  The CT website has some great before and after pictures so it is worth checking out.  

So we will enjoy our next two weeks Doc Band free.  Hopefully Callie will still be able to wear bows with the band :)

Callie and I have been having some fun the last couple of days.  We made a second trip to Target :), gone on numerous walks, played in the backyard, and today we went to Red Robin for lunch!!  

And good news, I found the camera so here are some pictures . . .

eating bubbles!!

bubble mustache :)

It's kind of hard to tell, but Callie is drinking out of a straw!!  She figured it out on Wednesday night and loves it!

playing in the backyard with Ozzie

not so sure about the grass :)

What jet lag????

Our little Callie is quite the resilient girl.  We have been home for a week and for the last three nights she has been sleeping through the night again.  Last night she didn't make a sound until 7am this morning, so I also got a great night's sleep.  What's even better is that I went upstairs to give her a pacifier and she has gone back to sleep for another 1 1/2 hours.  She has definitely made the transition home well.  She seems to enjoy sleeping in her room (yeah) and really likes her new more roomy car seat.

We are off to visit with the Atchison family today.  I'm sure Callie will love playing with her two three year old cousins and new five month old cousin, and of course Great Grandma and every one else :)

I have some new pictures to post, but have somehow misplaced the camera.  So once I find it I'll put up some new pictures. 

Best Friends!

Callie and our dog Ozzie are quickly becoming best friends.  They always need to know where the other one is.  Ozzie even helps me wake Callie up in the morning by giving her a little lick between the slats of her crib :)  Here are some pictures from the last couple of days . . .