Nearly 8 Mos Old!

Hello Everyone
It feels like FOREVER since we have updated!

I think we are long overdue for an update....

Things have been busy here with the daily activities..work..home..church life. But Madeline has stayed busy... She is VERY vocal now and has found her 'sassy' side. She is learning how to express what she likes and more interestingly what she DOESN'T like.. But overall still a very happy baby!!

 She does a lot of imitating and talking..baba.ma, da,ga's.. We sing the beach boys 'Barbara ann' and she mimics the 'ba ba ba's' back to us in the same key ! Music seems to be a favorite thing of hers.. and she is often 'Drumming.' She continues to excite us with her learning and expression.

Since her surgery we have had some difficulty in reconvening/reconnecting with her physical/occupational therapy but we were able to get a short visit in today (it ended quickly as she was very crabby- ) but it seems she is not where the physical therapist would like to see her .. to date she still cannot roll over from back to belly..she has a handful of times but other than that cannot seem to deliberately. She rolls from belly to back, and sits up on her own but according to the physical therapist she should be able to bring herself to a sitting position and we should be able to leave her without fear of her falling over while in a sitting position. Hopefully with some more practice she can get there.. .

We struggle  a bit with her feeding too..she is getting better about not gagging as much while eating but she will not eat fruits/veggies alone- she prefers when we blend 'meals' -she loves beef and barley stew, chicken noodle soup and mac and cheese soup! Not sure how to get her to eat fruits and veggies ..but she often gags on those alone and ends up puking..we are going to take her to a feeding clinic to work on her feeding issues soon.

She still remains in the 25th percentile for height and weight which we are told is very good for a baby like her.. her head is still a bit teeny (5th % ) but she is trending on the growth curve so that is positive....

With most things..she can improve with our time and assistance.. which can be challenging with all the other demands of our life. We are doing the best that we can to make sure she gets everything she needs in all areas.

She recently changed meds, adding an 'activated form' of Vitamin D which will assist in preventing her bones from releasing calcium into the blood. Her PTH hormone is on the higher side..if it remains that way too long she could develop rickets in the long term..which is bowing of the legs due to weakened bones.

She has been awfully sick lately. .a constant cold -including a bit of a stomach flu.. the cold has persisted over weeks..but over the last week she has had a cough which causes her to gag and puke more often than we would like to see.. it has kept her up the last several nights. we are hoping she feels better soon...the dr prescribed some antibiotics so we will see if that helps..

Mom and Dad are tired. But grateful for everything and every day with lovely Madeline. She is a true Joy. Thank God for her and for him allowing her to be in our life.

Thanks for listening..