Funny stuff

Today was kind of a crazy day.  On Sunday I was chasing Ozzie in the yard and managed to step on a rusty wire that punctured my foot.  I am doing okay, just walking a little slower.  So Callie and I went to the doctor today so I could get a tetanus shot, yeah :)  While we were in the waiting room I was playing peek-a-boo with Callie and at first she started smiling real big, and then she laughed!!!!!!  I did peek-a-boo about five or six more times and she laughed, then she got tired of the game and started fussing.  I was so excited I almost cried, I have been waiting for her to laugh for so long.  And for those of you that are familiar with my signature laugh you will be happy to know that Callie has inherited it :)

Today was also our second day without Scott.  I've been pretty busy, not too much down time, but Callie and I are doing great.  I'm sure you will all be happy to know that he is already a "SuperStar" in Japan.  He flew in with another American player and after they landed and got off the plane there were TV cameras waiting and then they did a press conference.  I'll see if I can find some pictures online and post the link.

Pictures

Callie in her new toy from Grandma & Grandpa Kohn.  She's still a little small for it, but I think she liked it :)

Callie's new favorite thing to do is sucking on her fingers :)

Not much has been going on lately, so I thought I would just post some pictures.  Scott left on Sunday and has arrived in Japan safely.  Callie gets her first shots tomorrow, so wish me luck with that  :)

Busy week

Well, we have had a couple of appointments since my last post, so it has been a pretty busy week.

First of all, last weekend was our first night away from Miss Callie. Scott and I celebrated our third anniversary at the Four Seasons in Arlington and Scott's parents were so great to come stay at our house with Callie. Since she was still getting over her ear infection I thought they might have a tough time, but they said she did great. At least they offered to babysit again, so that is good :)

Monday we had a visit from the Physical Therapist from Early Childhood Intervention, which is a state run program that comes to your home. Callie was evaluated by the PT and will receive twice monthly physical therapy. We will work mostly on weight bearing in her legs and trunk strengthening for now. Callie still struggles with lifting her head up, but the PT gave us some good ideas to help with tummy time and she is already improving. The program works with the children until they are 3 years old, so that is great.

Tuesday was another visit to the Hematology clinic and Callie surprised us again. Her platelet count was at 35,000!!!!!! So, what we thought may have been a miss count on Friday was most likely correct and we were so excited. She has been doing so well that our next appointment isn't for two weeks, the longest we have gone without getting a check.

Today we met with the Geneticist that saw Callie in the hospital. She did a general evaluation of Callie and told us all her chromosomes were correct. She also told us that TAR is a genetic disorder that means both Scott and I have to have the TAR gene to pass it on, which is why it is so rare. She also told us there is a 1 in 4 chance of any additional children having TAR.

Scott leaves this Sunday to go to Japan, so we are slowly getting him ready. Callie and I turned in our passport applications yesterday so we will be prepared to join him in a couple of months. It will definitely be tough to adjust to life without Scott and we will miss him tons, but we will survive. That's the life of a baseball wife :)

Well baby check-up

Callie had her two month well-baby check yesterday. She did really well. She weighs about 10 lbs. 5 oz. and is 23 inches long. So that puts her in the 12th percentile for her weight and 45th percentile for the length. The doctor said she looks like she is doing well, and her ear infection is getting better. Callie was going to get her two month immunization shots, but when we arrived at the pediatrician's office she had a lot more petechiae (little red dots that look like broken blood vessels). Sometimes this is a sign of a lower platelet level, and since she still had the ear infection we didn't do the shots. Our pediatrician actually had us go to Cook Children's to get a platelet count to make sure she was okay, and her count was 37,000, which is up 10,000 from Monday. This seemed like a huge jump to me, especially with her being sick. The doctor said sometimes the counts can be wrong, but that he wasn't worried about her and she looked okay. So, Callie will start getting her shots on Jan. 28th. She will get the four shots over four days, so that should be interesting.

Oh poor baby . . .

We took Callie to the Pediatrician today because she had been sneezing and seemed pretty congested. The doctor checked her out and she has an ear infection in her left ear, so sad :( Callie had been fussing during most of her feeds the past couple of days and hadn't been eating as much, which apparently can be signs of an ear infection. We did catch it pretty early though, so that is good. She will be on antibiotics for the next ten days. Hopefully she is a fast healer :)

Platelet girl

We had our latest Hematology appointment today and Callie was at 27,000 platelets! That's up 4,000 platelets from last Monday. So we have now gone 25 days since her last transfusion. Her next appointment is Tuesday of next week. Hopefully she keeps building those platelets!!

Scottish Rite Hospital visit

Today we went to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Dallas for a follow up appointment for Callie's hands. First, the team of doctors examined her and went over her treatment plan again, which is to do splinting of her hands and stretching for the next couple of years, and then some soft tissue manipulation after that. Then, we visited with her Physical Therapist and she fitted Callie with splints to help keep her thumb out of her palm and stretch out her wrists. Let's just say that Callie did not enjoy this part of the visit. Not only was she hungry and tired while the PT was trying to form the splints, but the PT was pulling and tugging at her hands. We finally got Callie some food and she fell straight asleep. It was quite a busy day for her. Our next visit with them will be in March.

Jan. 8th

Callie continues to amaze us! We visited the Hemotology Clinic yesterday to receive another platelet count, which was 23,000. Her last count, which was four days before, was 21,000. This is great news! It doesn't necesarilly mean she produced 2,000 more platelets, but it does mean that she is maintianing her platelets, which is just as important. So, Callie has not had a transfusion since Dec. 20th, which puts us at a record breaking 18 days!!

Callie also now weighs 10 lbs!! She is starting to get a cute little belly and little chunky legs. She has been eating great and we are so happy she is gaining weight at such a great pace.

Callie is now officially out of her hip harness all together. She has taken full advantage of this and is moving her legs and arms so much. Last night she even managed to turn herself completly sideways in her crib. On Monday she even got her fingers into her mouth all on her own. She has also started batting at toys we hold for her and even grabbing for them.

We visit Scottish Rite Hospital on Thursday to have the doctors look at her arms and hands again. We think they may put her arms in splints to help with her wrists and to help get her to move her thumbs more.