Talking to Mommy!

Here is a video clip of Callie "talking" with Mommy. She is getting really talkative! We had a great weekend at home with the family! We thought in honor of the Eagles first win, we would do a comparison of Callie with her bib. The first picture was taken March 22 and the second one was taken today! What a difference 5 1/2 months make...we thank God for our miracle every day!

What a week!

Callie has had a great week! She passed the 13 pound mark and has officially made the baby growth chart for weight! (she has only been on the preemie chart up until now!) She had grown two inches since her last pediatrician appointment, but still hasn't hit the "normal" growth chart (that may be partly Mommy's genes!) Her pediatrician was very happy with Chubby Callie and doesn't need to see her again for three months! We did discuss the upcoming flu season and have decided, along with her Pediatrician, that we really need to keep her in a bubble this fall/winter season. So, we will be pretty much hiding out and only visiting with those healthy people that have had the flu shot. We just can't be too safe with our Callie!

We had a small outing this week to St. Joe's. We wanted to bring Callie back to the NICU before flu season and this week seemed like a good opportunity! It was so great to see our NICU family...they took such great care of Callie and it was so nice for them to see how far she has come!

Infants and Toddlers also came out this week for an evaluation. Callie had been working with a summer teacher, and her full time teacher started back this week after the summer and came to work with her for the first time. She was extremely pleased with Callie. She evaluated Callie to be between 4 and 5 months (she is still only 3 months adjusted age) on most things. She is actually testing at 6 months for her social and emotional abilities!!

Hopkins Update

Callie has had another good week. Today she had her follow up with Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and they were very pleased. They thought Callie looked great and don't need to see her again for three months. It is nice that her appointments are finally starting to spread out! A bonus of our visit to Johns Hopkins today was that we got to see some friendly faces at the NICU. Everyone was so excited to see Callie and they were impressed with how much she has grown! And we were so happy to see many of the people that took such great care of her there!

In other Callie news, she is starting to have a lot more awake time where she wants to be entertained. She still loves to read, she is getting better at floor time and is actually starting to enjoy her toys.

12 Pounds!

Callie passed the 12 lb mark this week! She is now on straight breast milk (vs. the fortified breastmilk she has been on), hopefully she continues to grow without the extra calories. The pictures below are Callie with her stuffed dog, the first one was taken back in March when she was about 2 lbs and the other is a new picture of chunky Callie. Infants and Toddlers had another visit this week, with her main teacher who does her evaluations (monthly). They work with her for about an hour and at the end, her teacher placed her between 3 and 4 months developmentally. We are extremely pleased with this, since this week she was considered 11 weeks Adjusted Age at the time. Obviously, she still has a long road ahead of her, but we choose to celebrate each accomplishment! She is truly our miracle!

Big Girl!

Callie had a great weekend! She officially outgrew her 0-3 month clothes and her size 1 diapers...what a big girl!! We had other exciting news this week, Callie's friend Haley came home from the hospital on Friday and is adjusting well!

6 Months Old!

Callie is 6 months old today (10 1/2 weeks Adjusted Age)! She is a happy, growing girl. The first picture is of Callie doing "tummy time". We try to have a lot of tummy time so that she can strengthen her neck muscles.

We had a visit this week with a Developmental Pediatrician. Overall, the visit was positive. They were very pleased with Callie's cognitive ability, she loves to coo and smile! The one area we really need to focus on is her ability to track objects. Callie is pretty good with tracking people, she just doesn't do so well with the toys. The doctor wasn't sure if it was her inability to track them or an attention issue. We will continue to work on this daily. They want to follow up with her in three months. In the meantime, Infants & Toddlers will continue to support her development.

11 Pounds!!

Callie has been having a good week! A physical therapist with Infants and Toddlers came out on Monday to evaluate Callie. Callie is hitting most of her 0 - 2 month goals and working on her 3-5 month ones (she is considered 9 weeks). They gave us a few exercises to help strengthen some of her muscles, which will help her to achieve her goals on time. We weighed Callie today and she passed the 11 pound mark at 11 lbs 4 oz!!