Another first

Another first for Luca's books.  First dentist appointment was today.  She was so excited!  And she even said the word "dentist" over and over again perfectly.  One of the few words she says apparently.

We will look for a new dentist after today's visit.  I had trouble understanding him, he did not read her file prior to coming over to look at her teeth (wearing latex gloves, to which she is allergic), and it was crowded and not particularly kid friendly for a kids dental office.  When I had called to make the appointment, I specifically mentioned that she has a gtube and is prone to gagging, that she had a liver transplant and will have had her antibiotic prior to the visit, and that she is latex sensitive.  I got to the office and had to reiterate all of those things.  Exhausting to do when her history is so long.

It makes me realize how spoiled we are with her care normally.  Our doctors normally prep other providers when we go to visit them for the first time so that they are in the know as to what Luca's needs are.  Not so for this dentist which meant her case was completely new to him.  She has such a long history that you could tell he was nervous to really even touch her - which then made me nervous to have him as her dentist.

After switching to latex free gloves and supplies, she opened her mouth willingly and he took a look.  No cavities.  He did not attempt to do a cleaning today and said it was not necessary.  Although I am wondering if he just did not want to mess with her much on this first visit.  Recheck in 6 months.  Question:  Did your child(ren) have a cleaning or anything at the first appointment?

At least the visit was so uneventful for Luca, painless, easy, that she left smiling and clapping that she had gone to the dentist.  Silly girl.

A side story.  While there at the dentist, I put her on my lap in the chair and leaned back for the dentist to look at her teeth.  As he was getting ready, she held out her arm and pointed to which arm she wanted stuck for blood.  Poor thing saw all the supplies and thought it was blood-draw time.  It broke my heart just a bit to know that she sees supplies and automatically thinks it is for an ouchie.

The move

We moved on Friday.  Thursday night, we found ourselves still packing and organizing for the move at 2am, expecting family to arrive at 7:30am to help with Luca and expecting the movers to arrive around 9am.

Everything went smoothly on the day of the move, minus Luca not napping well and getting a bit cranky.  The movers moved quickly and were very nice, and left our new house a little after 6.

Yesterday, we spent the day with family unpacking and getting everything organized.  We still have a lot more to go, but the kitchen is about complete, and Luca's room is close as well.  Everything else will fall into place in the coming days.

Today, we got cable and internet hooked up and it feels good to have access to reading blogs, facebook, and my email.

I was worried that Luca would not adjust well to being in a new house.  But she has been sleeping beautifully at night and we feel so lucky about that because by the end of the day, Ian and I are exhausted.  So grateful she is sleeping well so that we, too, can get some good rest.

Last night, we had our first experience with a family of deer in our backyard.  I quietly lifted Luca into my arms and stepped onto the deck with her.  I pointed the deer out to her.  And as two baby deer came bounding across the yard, she took notice of them.  Then, she promptly blew a raspberry.  She seemed generally unimpressed!

Our new house is all one level, except it has three steps separating our kitchen from the family room.  Our old house had two huge flights of steps.  Luca took no interest in the steps at our old house.  But in the two days we have lived here, she has been generally obsessed with those three steps.  And she has learned to climb them with very little help.  It is truly amazing to watch how quickly she is progressing since she began crawling just a couple weeks ago.  She is also now pulling up on us to stand, and is loving walking while holding our hands.

We are loving things so far.  I promise to post some pictures soon.  I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Crawling

She has been going backwards for weeks.  She has been rocking back and forth on hands and kneews for weeks.  And I captured this yesterday.

Sure, she is 13 months old and people start announcing proudly that their child started crawling at 6, 7 , 8 months.  But our girl has spent about 7 months in a hospital bed.  Her therapists are ecstatic with how quickly she has progressed at home.   She went from hating tummy time, to tolerating it, pushing up on her hands, pushing up on knees and hands, to crawling in about 10 weeks.  Amazing!!

And other tricks she currently loves - giving open, slobbery kisses.  Totally in love over here.

11 months old

Luca,

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that we are around the corner from your first birthday.  This upcoming birthday marks a lot of things.  I am sure those first moments, first days, will replay in my mind more than they typically do.

But one thing is for certain - this birthday, as all of your birthdays shall be, is an incredible celebration of your life. 

So 11 months has kind of caught me off-guard, simply because of how close we are to that number 1.

You have been home from the hospital for 16 days.  This is officially the longest time spent at home since your transplant and I am rejoicing for this progress.  It is during these longer spans of time that you make tremendous strides developmentally.  The first thing people say when they learn you have spent the majority of your life in a hospital is "she looks so healthy!"  We are so very proud and blessed at how well you are adjusting to this life of yours.

You say "mama" repeatedly now and it melts my heart every single time.  You stand like a champ, and get the proudest look when you manage to pull yourself up with a bit of help.  You are starting to take a step here and there.  You still hate tummy time and get out of it as soon as you see us trying to get you on your tummy.  You have mastered the pincer milestone, and are maneuvering small objects perfectly.  You are sharing your personality minute by minute, letting us know your likes and dislikes.

You have a complete meltdown if your Daddy imitates you crying.  You have a similar meltdown if I sniff to clear my sinuses.

You love being outside and having your diaper off.  You want to be standing more time than not, and get upset if your legs give out from exhaustion.  You squint your eyes from surprise when the wind hits your face, and smile big.  You are the happiest first thing in the morning.

You just started being scared of new people, especially if they invade your space. 

You now have your first two teeth that came in almost simultaneously.  They are on the bottom in the middle.  We think you have more coming in because holy drool and snot, we cannot keep your face clean.

You are starting to take pureed foods on a daily basis.  I will not go so far as to say you enjoy it, but you know what to do with it and as long as you are distracted, you will take what I give you.  This has been a major accomplishment and has been such work getting this far.  You have certainly made it known that you will not be pushed to do something that you simply are not ready for.  Baby steps for sure!

Most people say you look like your Daddy, which irritates me incredibly.  But your Dada and I think you are the perfect blend of us.  You have my smile, lips and complexion.  You have your Daddy's eye shape, distinct forehead, and shape of the face.  The jury is still out on the nose and we think you have your very own unique hair color.

Luc - you are your own little person and we love every single piece of you.  We were talking the other night and your Dada said "I do not think there is one thing that I do not love about her.  Maybe her poop - but even that I do not mind really." 

You are loved unconditionally, thoroughly, and I hope you always know that.

Love, Mama

2 Months Old

Luca,


Two months ago our lives changed forever when you decided to enter this world.  Well, actually, we kind of evicted you because you were WAY too comfy in Mama's belly.  We spent the next two days soaking you in and realizing what a sweet girl you were - so alert and happy.  Then you got sick and went away for awhile.  But the whole time we were there with you, waiting for you to come back to us.  Thank God you did.

Today, you are two months old.  I am so grateful I was chosen to be your Mama.  Here's a little bit about what your life is like at two months of life.

You love smiling.  Every morning you smile nonstop for the first few hours of the day.  You are on the verge of giggling - and blow a little bit of air through your throat as you smile.  When you smile huge, you crinkle your nose and bat your eyes.  You certainly have the batting of the eyes down - you little flirt.

You track Mama and Daddy like it's your job.  You will find us in the room no matter what. 

You like to sit in your chair or swing and chat.  Your face looks like you're on the verge of crying when you talk a lot - but really we know you're just being vocal.

You love your swing and sitting on our laps at an incline.  You love your baths, and have a look of surprise each time we dip your little tush into the water at the beginning of the bath.  But as we start finishing your bath, you start screaming.  Maybe the water starts getting too cool, or maybe you just realize your bath is about to be over.

You hate your clothes being changed.  When we go to put a onesie over your head, you scream.  But you LOVE when we change your diaper.  Speaking of diapers, when I put you on the changing table to change you, and say "Luca, did you poo poo in your pants?", you immediately smile.  I assume you just like the way I say that phrase to you, or maybe you're just really brilliant and know exactly what I'm saying and are proud of what you've done.

You fight going to sleep.  You act as if you're going to miss something huge if you shut your eyes.  At night, you turn your head from left to right nonstop specifically to fight sleep.

You have started noticing Tessa.  When she comes over to see you, you start staring at her in curiousity. 

You have your Mama's temper.  If we hold your hands down or move them away from where you want them to be, you let us know you are angry.  As soon as the nurse puts the rubber band around your arm, you know what's coming and decide to protest immediately.  It kills your Mama to hear you so angry.  You get so angry, that you start sweating on your nose.

You love going on walks, and especially gazing at trees.  I think it's like one giant mobile for you.  And speaking of mobiles - when my hair is down and I lean over you and move my head around, my hair sways and you LOVE it.  I think, like the tree, my hair is like one giant mobile.

Your eyes are still blue and we're anxious to see what shade they finally settle at.  You have very light blonde hair coming in.  And your cheeks and thighs are the cutest chunks I've ever seen.  I want to eat them.  You still have a heart shaped birth mark on your side.  I'm worried that when you have your big surgery, that heart will be cut through.  They tell me that the birth mark will likely go away - but your Daddy and I think it's so beautiful and will miss it if it does disappear.

You love when we sing to you.  I sing the "this is the the way the ladies ride" song to you and you immediately pay attention, normally responding with a smile.  When I run out of kids songs I know to sing to you, I either sing church songs, or turn on some fun hip-hop and dance with you.  Quite a mix of music you get - classical, church, relaxing, hip-hop, rap.  Music makes you happy.

Luca, we are so very lucky to have you in our lives.  We love you to pieces and cherish everyday we get to be your Mama and Daddy.

Love,
Mama