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