Temper Tantrums Already?!?

We went in to see the dentist today. We didn't learn all that much, but he seems to be knowlegdable. It's another one of those "wait and see" situations. It is hard living in the world of the unknown, but I guess we all live in that place to some extent. Molly has gotten some good naps in today and is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY as a result :). Hopefully this good mood will come with us to the hospital tomorrow.

She has started to have an opinion of what should be happening (or not happening). If I put her in her high chair and she doesn't want to be there, she lets me know! We have entered a new phase. She has started arching her back and throwing herself backwards or rocking side to side when she is unhappy with something. It is terrifying and exhausting. I hope that this is a short-lived phase. She learned the sign for fan while we were in MA and seems to be working on more now that we're home. I think she showed the sign for drink during lunch today and is eager to communicate every time she sees the dog. I think there is a lot more going on "upstairs" than she is able to communicate at this time. I can't wait until we either get more signs into the mix, or she starts talking!

If all goes well, we will be at the hospital tomorrow for her infusion (I think this is #7). We will be spreading out the infusions to 8 weeks after this, which should be a nice break for all of us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I can't believe it's going to be December tomorrow. Molly is almost 1 - YIKES!

Home Sweet Home!!

Whew! We have been gone for 10 days and it feels great to be home. Molly was so tired and got a bit cranky on the trip home, but who can blame her! She's upstairs sleeping and hopefully enjoying being back in her crib.

Jim is on his way home with Howie, our pug, and I can't wait to see him!

We had such a great trip. Molly became even more social, if that is possible, on this trip. It has made me realize that I need to create more opportunities for her to be in a social environment with other kids.

I am so glad we made the trip up to New England. We had some nice down time, family time, time with friends and Jim and I went out for dinner one night as well.

We had scheduled Molly's infusion for Wednesday, but after talking with her doctor decided to put it off until Friday. I am so glad we don't have to ship off tomorrow for another night away from home. We have an appointment with a Metabolic Dentist on Thursday to look at Molly's teeth and give us some advice for how to care for brittle teeth. Hopefully we will get more good news than bad. I always dread looking into something new like this, sometimes I find out more than I want. Hopefully we will like the dentist and feel confident with his advice.

I am looking forward to a good night's sleep back in our own bed!

Thanks to everyone who hosted us on our trip. It was nice to see everyone and to spend some time in New England.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We are having a nice visit here in MA with the family. There were 16 of us for dinner tonight and everything was delicious!! Molly had some butternut squash to celebrate the big day - next year she be able to enjoy it all!

It has been hard to be out of our comfort zone with her. There are so many things to think about when we are in a new place with her. She has loved visiting so many new places and has been very responsive to all of the new stimulus.

It's 10:30 here and it is time to head up to bed. I hope you all had a great holiday. I know Molly had a good first Thanksgiving :).

The Grand Tour

We're here in New England and trying to make the most of our trip - maybe a bit too much!

We flew in on Saturday to Boston and my Mom came and picked us up. Molly was a perfect traveler and we arrived in Maine with very little fussing :). She is quite the little champ! We tried out my parents hot tub with Molly (they dropped it to 96 degrees) and she loved it. She put some pressure on her feet in there for the first time anywhere. A big, but very scary, step!

We drove down to my old co-workers on Sunday and met up with Jim's old co-workers for dinner. Molly was a trooper until her bedtime (6 pm) rolled around and we had to pack up and put her down for the night. I had the chance to get together with teachers from my old school for lunch on Monday. It was so nice to be back in Chelmsford. Jim and I drove by our old house - it hasn't changed much. It was half the size of our house now, but we miss it in many ways :).

In some ways it feels like we haven't been away at all and in others we have forgotten a lot. We do love New England. There is a lot that we miss about the area, but there is also a lot that we would miss about North Carolina if we moved as well.

We are now at our cousins and settled in for a couple of days. Molly has done extremely well with all of our location changes and has stayed on her sleep schedule more or less. She is waving at everyone we meet and charming them with her happy and fun personality.

We are really looking forward to the rest of the family arriving and for the big feast. Hooray for pumpkin pie!!

I am glad to have such good stuff to report. We had a busy week last week and are enjoying our vacation thus far.

Videos Galore....

We have had a wonderful weekend with our little cutie. Jim was "Super Dad" and gave me a lot of time out of the house. I love our baby, but it is VERY nice to have a break. I love being able to go to the bathroom when I need to and eat when I'm hungry etc. These are the times when you know you have a great husband!

She is starting to copy our actions more. Yesterday's trick was the tongue. She would stick hers out and move it side to side and wanted us to do the same. She then would stick it out on command - adorable. But, today is a new day and she is no longer doing her tongue tricks - that is SO yesterday Mom...

One of her new favorite activities is to "dance". We hold her facing out and move side to side and she kicks like CRAZY. She has the biggest grin on her face every time - it's adorable!

We had our first water therapy appointment on Friday and had a wonderful time. The pool was 94 degrees and she loved it. We were in there for a full hour and she was happy as can be. It was so nice to get suggestions and to have someone in the pool to do activities with. I am already looking forward to our next visit :)

Guess that's all for now. We will be busy all this week getting ready for our big trip North.

Video #1 - Dee Dee Dee CLICK HERE

Video #2 - Molly Playing with her tray CLICK HERE

Video #3 - Molly Learns to Nod CLICK HERE

Ah-choo!

Sorry I haven't been as active with my posts, but my brother gives me a hard time when I post without new pictures. It is often hard to find time to take pictures and even harder to find time to get them off the camera.

I was feeding Molly dinner tonight, she opened her mouth for the next bite (or so I thought) and just as I brought the spoon of food to her mouth she sneezed and sent food all over me. A nice "dusting" of zucchini, pears, and rice cereal covered most of my front. Too funny.

We went in to see the orthopedist today for a check up and had a great visit. We took X-Rays of her spine and legs and he was happy with what he saw. There is still quite a bit of bowing in her legs, especially her right femur and both tibias, but he thought that some of that might get better as she grows. I always like to hear good news! We also got the go-ahead to start putting her in a more upright position. Yahoo!! The first step towards sitting :).

Lately, my days have been filled with an overwhelmingly long list of "To Do" items, so the visit today was a nice surprise. I had been fretting about today's appointment and what it might reveal, so I'm glad it's over and that the news was good.

We are heading to New England for Thanksgiving this year. I'm getting really excited - we leave on Saturday.

Molly Through The "Years" Photo Collection

Molly is upstairs "sleeping" right now and all I can hear is the sound of her kicking so hard the springs are making noise. She is a character! Molly is a great sleeper at night, but naps have been virtually non-existant these days (30 minutes tops). Oh well, at least she isn't up at night.

Jim's Mom was in town this weekend and got a lot of quality Molly time. Molly has been babbling away and is now making a two sylable sound that sounds like "I do", but I'm not sure what she thinks she is saying.

Jim has created a website with folders for 3 month periods. Enjoy!

She has mastered feeding herself Cheerios and we are going to try giving her a spoon soon - we will of course take pictures...

Splish Splash

Molly and I went to the pool again today and she had a ball. She learned how to splash with her arms and couldn't get enough. There was water all over her face, but she was happy, happy, happy.

I'm so glad it has been working out so well there.

She is continuing to babble up a storm, but so far none of it has meant anything to us yet. Hopefully that breakthrough will happen soon.

She is getting more and more consistent with her waving. She waved to the mother and daughter who were swimming at the pool today. I'm sure in another week or so I won't be able to stop her from waving to everyone!!

I took some pictures and video yesterday, but haven't had the chance to get them on to my computer yet - we'll get them up soon!

Swimming and Talking

Molly continues to get "chattier" by the minute. She has been making lots of different D sounds. We think we have caught her calling Jim Dada, but we'll wait for more consistency before calling it officially.

She is loving her books and flips them over and over and over to look at the front and back and talk to them.

We went to the local pool last week and things went quite well. I tried it once when she was a few months old and things weren't going so well and hadn't wanted to go back. I decided to give it another chance and I'm really glad I did. She had a good time looking at all of the people and enjoyed the warm water. We went straight to pool side and I changed her in an inflatable bathtub, which worked quite well. I'm going to try and make this a weekly activity - it is so good for her muscles and bones. I will try and take some pictures one of these days.

Jim and I carved pumpkins last night and I have included a picture for your entertainment. I hope you all had a great weekend!

Kisses for Mom

Molly had her 9 month check up today and is continuing to hug the third percentile growth chart - hooray for being on the growth chart :) She now is weighing in at 15 lbs. 6 oz. She has been eating more lately, so I think she is starting to hit a little growth spirt... we'll see. The pediatrician noted that all 4 top teeth are almost through - I knew that 2 were on the way, but 4 is even better :)

Molly's new trick is that she has started "kissing" me. I wasn't sure what she was doing last night, but Jim noted that she was trying to give me a kiss. She will now do it on command (if the spirit moves her). It is ADORABLE and definitely a nice milestone for me.

It was nice to get reassurance from the pediatrician that she is on target for her milestones in the verbal/social department.

We will work on downloading the pictures from the pumpkin party.

Pumpkin Party and A New Video

We had a nice weekend here in NC. Yesterday was gorgeous. We went for a nice walk and got the house in order for a party today. We had some neighbors and some of Jim's coworkers over for a pumpkin carving party and it was a big success. I even had time to carve a pumpkin, which is a big accomplishment being the host and having a baby to boot.

It is hard that Molly is, in some ways, a "bubble baby". There needs to be a barrier to prevent kids from getting too close. I know that this is a problem that is going to get worse before it gets better, but hopefully with some direction we will have some kids that will be able to get close without causing harm. I know when Molly and her peers are older this will be less of an issue, but it will be a major challenge in the next few years. We put her in her chair and put her tray in front of her, which worked perfectly to allow kids to get close without being within reach. Molly had a ball at the party and loved having so many kids around, as well as all of the attention she received.

There is a new video of Molly in her seat "chatting" and playing.

A cool new chair

Good morning, I hope you all had a nice weekend. It is finally starting to cool off down here - we are loving the crisp Fall air. :)

Jim's parents picked up a special chair/stroller for us in Kentucky that someone was donating. The seat itself is a lot like that of a wheelchair. It provides great positioning and support for Molly's spine and she seems to be quite happy in it. It also came with a tray that allows her to play with toys and books in a new way. I am very excited about our new gear. It is called a kid-kart and apparently they can run as much as $6,000 new - YIKES!! A vendor came on Thursday and adjusted it to fit her exactly.

There is a new video (CLICK HERE) of Molly up in her crib on her stomach. She is getting to be quite active with her rolling. She rolls/wiggles around to get to various toys on the floor. So much for being able to turn our back for a minute or two!

She is getting more and more "verbal" these days with lots of "dee dee dee" and "da da da" etc. It is adorable. I think we are close to her understanding waving and saying hi. We are having trouble differentiating what she is doing on purpose, vs. what is merely a coincidence. She is getting stronger and "smarter" by the minute. It is fun to show off her new tricks to Jim when he comes home from work :)

Home again, Home Again... Jiggity Jig

We are home and all is well. We had a rather uneventful hospitalization and other than being a bit sleep deprived we are all doing well. Molly was a trooper as usual :). She wore a hat to keep the IV from her busy little hands, which worked quite well.

There are 3 new videos:
Click Here for a video of her on the floor playing,
Click Here for a video of her sitting for the first time,
and Click Here for a video of her in her highchair banging cups.

She is developing so rapidly these days. She is doing something new almost everyday. Such a busy little cutie :). She is now rolling completely over from her back to her stomach, which I have been eagerly waiting for her to do - hooray for Molly!

Infusion #6

If all goes according to plan, we will be heading to the hospital today for Molly's infusion. We shaved her head this morning in preparation for the IV and it went much better than it does in the hospital. We also got some Emla cream, which numbs the area, and I'm hoping that will make the IV less of an ordeal for her as well. We are working hard to improve this experience each time. Hopefully we will have less tears with each infusion. She is a very good patient and once the IV is in she is pretty much unfazed by it. What a little champ! Here's to an uneventful night.

Everything is OK

Hey, some of you might have been watching/reading the news and seen that there is a chemical fire in Apex, NC. The fire is at a chemical storage facility and has caused them to evacuate 17,000 people from the area. We are only a few miles from the evacuation zone and decided to pack up and get out of the area, at least for the day.

It is raining, which should help with air quality, but we would rather be safe than sorry. We are staying at our friends several miles away and may or may not stay the night with them - THANKS JEFF AND CASEY!!

It seems that there is nothing to be worried about, but with Molly being so young we wanted to play it safe. We will keep you posted if things change.

On another front... Molly has finally grown a little and is in 3-6 month clothing - way to go Molly!!

New Video

Some photos for the fans :). There is also a new video. CLICK HERE

Things are continuing to go well. She is happy and looking so good. Her legs are looking SO much better than what they were like in January. She has come so far. We are scheduled for her infusion next week. Thank goodness for that Pamidronate!

Caught on Film

Here are some pictures. Sorry it has been a little while!

She is continuing to do well and seems to have new "tricks" everyday. She is continuing to work towards waving and has started grabbing things with her index finger and thumb. According to the books she is on track or beyond with everything except sitting and standing. What a little Champ!

Smart, Happy, and Strong :)

It's been a while since I have written, but things have been going well. Molly is getting stronger by the day and is starting to have new tricks. She is rolling from her back to her stomach by kicking herself over, mostly in an attempt to get a toy out of reach. Yesterday, she learned to open and close her hand in a waving motion, so it probably won't be long before she will be waving hello and good-bye. She has started shaking all of her toys and seems quite proud of herself. Books seem to be her new favorite toy. She is definitely cutting teeth up top, but nothing has broken through yet.

Jim's parents were here this past weekend for a visit and we all had a nice time. Molly was on her best behavior. Jan, Jim's Mom, got the chance to hold Molly for the first time and it was a special moment for everyone.

Jim compiled a DVD of all of the videos we have taken over the past 8 months. It was emotional to look back at the video from the first few months. It was such a difficult time back then. I am so appreciative that Molly is doing so well right now. She has far exceeded what we had envisioned and I hope that she continues to do better than we expected. As my Dad would say... "stay tuned".

I am continuing to house hunt, but we aren't planning on putting our house on the market unless we find the perfect house. We will reevaluate in the Spring.

Sorry for the delay in postings. I will try and be more consistent.

Hanz or Franz?

She is here to Pump You Up! (from SNL)

Molly is getting quite strong! Yesterday she repeatedly rolled from her back to her stomach in both directions. She is also putting a little bit of pressure on her feet and "bouncing", which is quite scary, but also great for her development.

She is babbling up a storm and has been quite happy lately. I think she is cutting teeth up top, which has given her trouble now and again. She has also learned that if she reaches out for something we will take her over to touch it - a very fun game :).

Jim is away for the weekend racing his car. My Mom is here to keep me sane and make sure I have someone to help out if something happens.

Welcome to Separation Anxiety...

Molly has entered the world of separation anxiety today. It came on all of a sudden and from what I've heard it's here for the next few months - ugh! It is strange to think that up until this point she has not realized that she and I are not the same person! She will be 8 months tomorrow and I think this has hit when the book predicted.

No other big news for now...