Spring is in the Air

Well with the wonderful weather we have been having the last few days, we definitely feel like spring is in the air around the house. We just hope that it sticks around and old man winter does not reappear. Addison's new favorite past time is to sit in her Rainforest swing in front of the big living room window with the sun shining in, while she watches the animals go round and round.

We have had a busy few weeks around the house, with Addison's visits from the Pathways Teams and mom just getting out and getting some things done. Addison continues to be improving daily and growing right before our eyes. Last Thursday we ventured out to the Best Start/Early Years center in town and met with the Public Health Nurse. This is a great little center with programs for infants, toddlers and children; along with several resources from books and DVDS, as well as a Public Health Nurse that visits every Thursday. Addison got a weigh in and came in at 10lbs and 3 oz, way to go. I have been concerned about her weight gain lately, as I have lost the comfort of having a scale at home, so it is nice with the Center in town, we can go and get her weighed weekly now. If the problem arises that she is not gaining enough weight, then we will catch it early, instead of waiting for our monthly doctor visit. Addison continues to eat well, the concern is just that she works so hard at breastfeeding and bottle, that she may be burning more calories than she is taking in. The feeding team from Pathways came back for a secondary assessment but we cannot seem to come up with a solution that will stop Addison from working so hard at the bottle and breast. Thankfully our choking episodes have subsided a great deal, we just have to be patient and let her grow and get stronger as she does. We also ran out of our normal breastmilk Supplement formula from the hospital and were given a sample from Dr. Stare to try. Unfortunately Addison's body reacted to it and she broke out on her face with baby acne and a rash around her eyes and a bad case of gas pains. I stopped supplementing the formula (until we could obtain some of the original kind we had been using) and I could see the rash and acne settle down. Her gas pains have subsided a little but she seems to be in some pain at night, which keeps her up and very tired. Although it is a blessing she is sleeping well through the night when she settles, it is really hard to wake her in the morning and she almost misses two feeds. So a little trial and error, we are back on our regular supplemental formula and hopefully we will be on track again soon. You just feel so bad for the little girl when she cries and just cannot get the pain to go away for her. Cross our fingers that we can solve the problem and it is not something worse that will cause an unexpected visit to the doctors.

We have been working daily on Addison's use of her neck, shoulder, arm and chest muscles on her left side, and though she seems to be a bit better at turning without alot of stiffness, she still reverts back to her right side. The Occupational and Physiotherapist return at the end of the month and hopefully they will see some improvement and offer some more exercise suggestions. I have taken the intiative and ordered a book on my own called "Itsy Bitsy Yoga" that provides exercises to assists infants in their body and muscle development, so hopefully this will help as well. Addison has become quite strong with her little legs and has begun to stand up quite often while we are holding her and push against us to pull herself up straight. It is wonderful to see. Dad believes she will skip the crawling stage and go right to walking!!! We shall see.

She continues to be a happy, content little baby (minus her gassy episodes) and travels out and about very well. Addy enjoys our new Ford Flex, as there is tons of room for her in the back and a cool sunroof that she can look out of while driving. She has been to visit Mim and Aunt Danielle, and has gone out shopping and to her first birthday party. We are taking baby steps and trying to maintain a germ free environment as best as we can, while trying to get her out and socialized to the outside world. Here is a pic of her meeting her cousin Zak for the first time!! He was so gentle and excited to see her, he jumped right on the couch to hold her. Logan though excited to see her thought that maybe another time would be better to hold her. Ha Ha. Over the next few weeks Granny, Grandpa, Taylor and some Addison's "Aunties" from Ottawa will be visiting and then we hope to go down to Granny and Grandpa's for Easter so Addy can meet Aunt Steph, Uncle Rick, cousin Sydney and the rest of the family.

It is hard to believe that almost two months have gone by with Addy at home!! We cannot believe that she is already 5 months!!! About a week ago, we had a friend Sonja come and take some great pics of Addy ( who decided that she did not want to sleep that day, sorry Sonja) We cannot wait to see the outcome of the shots, so excited. It is so amazing to see her grow up before our very eyes, we never thought back in the hospital that we would ever get to wonderful days like this. We treasure each moment with our little miracle and are thankful to the powers that be that she is home with us and making us smile everyday. God Bless the Child!!