Swim For Melissa

Well who would have thought at this time last year that I would have a second story to share regarding the NICU. This past year since we participated in Swim for Melissa has been a struggle of ups and downs. Last year was great to see Alvin have a great time at the event and share his story with others. This year we now have a second story to share that most of you know all about. Elliot I guess wanted to make her mark on the event and now this year she too has a page of her own.

 

I am doing the swim with the kids again this year for a number of reasons but one really sticks out in my mind. This year the funds will not only be used to buy state of the art beds but also to provide for a family counselor. This is someitng that I really believe that they need. When Butters was born W and I only really had each other. No one else could relate to what we were going through. When the same thing happened to Elli we once again retreated back and relied on each other for support. We remembered how it was the first time which made it slightly more bearable. Having a family counselor on staff could really help out so many families like we were when Butters was born.

So this year both kids will be participating in a fund raiser called Swim For Melissa. You can read more about the basics of the program here. Butters and Elliot both are not old enough to actually swim this year but he is participating as what is called a paddler. He will be there getting to play with other kids his age and just helping out with any money we raise. The really nice thing is they have so many activities for all the kids and the shallow end of the pool will be open as well.

Since both of them are participating this year and I was hoping to get some people that I work with to also join I created the Splash Hawks team. From this link both Elliot and Alvin's pages are accessible. This past Friday we had our company picnic and did a dunk-a-boss booth to raise money for the team. As of this morning we raised $207! This far exceeded my expectations!

Also if anyone is interested a local salon is having a golden ticket event. When you buy a box of chocolates for $20 you get a golden ticket that is valued between $30 and $1000! I got one a couple of weeks ago and it was about a $50 value and doesn't expire til the end of November. For more information here is a link to the flyer.

 

 

9 months

Wow its been really nothing going on here. I've been absent for a while due to things just being crazier than normal. I really don't see how some people do it. With working full time, having Mac here for the summer plus trying to keep up with the other 2, its been busy.

There was also the small issue of a job I applied for out of state. I ended up not getting it but I had to keep quiet for a while.

Elliot is now 9 months old and she has grown a ton. Around 8 months old she started kind of rolling then scooting a little until she gets where she wanted to go. Just a couple of weeks ago she finally got the idea of crawling and has been really working on that more and more. Also in about the past week she has started crusing a little. She can pull herself up on almost anything she can find be it person or object. Also she even had her first hair cut. Her bangs were getting far too long and I was able to get someone to trim them for us.

With all of this activity eating has become a challenge with her. Nursing in particular and even bottles are seemingly far too boring for her and sitting still to do either one is something she wants to do much of. Lately this has shown itself by her wanting to nurse all night long. During the day she will only take one bottle and snack a little. So what she has been doing is called reverse cycling. I've found out its fairly common for babies of working moms to do this. She is growing and developing normally she just choosing to get the bulk of calories at night rather than during the day.

Her official 9 month stats are she is 27.5 inches long which is right around average and she weighed in at 21.5 lbs which is in the 87%. Our pediatrician was happy that she is eating all table food now. The only thing that he is concerned with is she is slightly anemic. He recommended giving her something called poly-vi-sol but we have tried that in the past and the smell is horrible and I'm sure it tastes about the same. So instead we are going to try and just give her more iron rich foods for a while and see if that helps. The first night she had watermelon, avocado, some broccoli and cheerios. Luckily we also have plain rolled oats that I made oatmeal out of and she eats on during the week. Our pediatrician said the cheerios were a great source and that her iron levels would also start to rise as she started eating meat more.

And now for a few pictures from the last 2 months!

Good morning!

Supporting her team in the championship game.

Loving the ball pit at an indoor play ground.

Look what I can do!

Happy baby girl!