7 months and counting

Josh is seven months old today!!  It is hard to believe what seemed like the worse possible thing has turned out so well!!  We are very thankful for all the God has done in Josh's life and how far our little guy had come.

Josh continues to gain weight at a good rate. He weighed in yesterday at 16lbs 5oz!!  Mommy and Daddy are going to need back braces to carry him around soon (not that we mind at all!).  He is doing quite well on the new formula.  The only complaint we have is that he seems to spit up a lot more with the new formula, but it could be worse.  His favorite thing remains his daily dose of frozen breast milk. 

Josh is also doing quite well with his solid foods.  So far we haven't found anything that he doesn't like.  He has tried peas, green beans, summer squash, winter squash, carrots, pears, apples, and a pear/raspberry mix.  He had a slight rash on his forehead this afternoon, which Mommy thinks might be from the apples... but is is hard to tell since he has had so many changes recently.  We have been very impressed with his progress at eating solids in the last week or so.  He now opens his mouth for bits and has gotten quite good at keeping most of the food in his mouth.  (If you will remember, our OT thought he might have problems eating because of the different way he sucks.)  He continues to be a helper during meal times, which often means either Mommy or Daddy is digging baby food out of his nose after his meals.  We are hoping to begin introducing whole grains soon and continuing to give Josh a variety of fruits and veggies to taste.  We want him to enjoy a large variety of foods.

It appears that Josh has started the teething process.  We say process because from what we have read, it continues off and on from now until about age 2.  Then picks back up around 5 or 6 and last for who knows how long.  Josh has all the symptoms, drooling, chewing on everything, drooling, fussiness, chewing on everything, and did we mention drooling. :-)  We have tried some baby orajel when he is at his fussiest and that seems to give him some relief, for which we are thankful.  Teething has interrupted his nap schedule during the day, often resulting in short cat naps or no naps at all.  We are hoping to get him back on schedule soon.

Josh also reached a new milestone this last week. He rolled over for the first several times at playgroup!  Mommy and Daddy think he was trying to impress the boys at playgroup because he has only done it one other time since.  Oh well, there is plenty of time for him to become mobile, in the mean time, Mommy and Daddy are working on baby proofing the house.  Josh has learned to switch toys from one hand to the other and is especially good at his when it impairs his ability to suck his thumb.  We have also started working on sitting up, although we haven't made much progress here.  He can sit propped up really well but he slumps over when you try to help him do it himself. We will keep working on this.

Josh has accumulated quite the following at Publix.  The cashiers and bag boys/girls know him by name and stop by to see him when we are there.  They all try their best to get a smile out of him, which isn't hard most of the time.  Today one of the baggers walked me to the car and stood there talking to Josh while I unloaded the groceries!  Josh has also developed an affinity for being scared.  He loves for you to walk up to him and say Boo.  He thinks this is quite funny, especially when you pretend to look away and then surprise him by saying it.  You can get quite the belly laugh out of him.

Prayer Request:

• Josh would not get sick, especially now that he is receiving less breast milk
• Josh would continue to develop a good sleep pattern (particularly a long afternoon nap) and get the rest he needs
• Josh would continue to do well with his developmental milestones and not have any setbacks
• Josh would not be too uncomfortable from teething

Praises

• Josh is up to 16lbs 5oz!!
• Josh is tolerating solid foods well and is very interested in eating
• Josh rolled over on his own several times
• Josh, Mommy and Daddy are excited to not have doctors appointments every other week!!

(Daddy, Mommy and Josh with family after Noah's dedication)

(Family swim time - Josh was really sleepy)

(Big boy in his exersaucer - he is starting to play by himself some)

(Granddad spending some quality time with Josh)

(Yummy Peas!  I love peas, as you can tell by my face and shirt)

(Here let me help you with that Mommy)

(Nevermind, I can do it myself)

(Josh and Noah playing together - yes Josh is now bigger than Noah)

(Sweet sleeping baby who kept shaking his rattle even in his sleep)

(Handsome man playing with his toys while Mommy and Daddy eat lunch)

(So pleased with himself!!)

(Yeah lunch time!!)

A clean bill of health

So we have been negligent in updating the blog for the last two weeks...our sincere apologies!! We have been a bit busy with a sick baby but he is doing much better. so we thought we would sneak in an update.

Let's begin by going back two weeks ago when Josh had his 6 month check up. He weighed in at 14lbs 4oz (50th percentile for his adjusted age)!!! He was 23.5 inches long (10th percentile) and his head was in the 60th percentile. We were a little concerned about his length being in such a low percentile, but he has grown 2.5 inches from his last visit, (at four months), so our doctor said it wasn't anything to be concerned about right now. Our doctor also evaluated Josh to see how he was doing with his developmental milestones. She said he appears to be on target or ahead for his adjusted age for milestones and that his muscle strength is equal to a 5 or 6 month old baby! We were very excited to hear that he is doing so well and she doesn't think he will need to have any therapy at this time. We also got permission for Josh to start attempting to eat solid foods (more on this later).

Last week we returned to the doctors office with a sick baby. Josh started running at 101.9 degree temp at 4:30pm, right before the doctor's office closed of course! He was a very fussy, drooly baby who was not interested in eating. After a long night with lots of tylenol, motrin and wakefulness, we saw our doctor. She diagnosed him with a viral infection that had caused ulcerations in his throat. (He weighed in at 15lbs 4oz.) There wasn't anything they could do for him, so we were sent home with instructions on what to watch for. After going almost 18 hours without eating (and making Mommy and Daddy very nervous) Josh started to eat again in small amounts. Just 2 days and a 6 oz weight loss later, he was back to his old eating habits and seems to be doing much better.

Josh has been having eating issues that last several weeks, refusing to take any bottle nipple except for two random latex nipples we had left over from the NICU. Every feeding was a fight to get him to eat from a bottle. We tried about 10 different kinds of bottles and nipples without much success. During this time frame, we also attempted to feed Josh some rice cereal. He opened his mouth up, took the spoon fine and then gagged. So we waited 5 days and tried again with the same result, except he threw up this time. Needless to say Mommy and Daddy were getting very concerned that we were on the verge of a major problem. On Monday, Mommy called and spoke to the occupational therapist from the NICU. She wasa very encouraging and helpful!!! After her advice, we found a bottle that he takes every time (Playtex's VentAire Advanced). She also told us that preemies are very sensitive to texture changes and that is why he is vomiting. So tonight we let Josh play with some sweet potatoes, and discover them when he stuck his fingers in his mouth. After a few moments and some slight gagging faces, Josh started sticking his sweet potato covered fingers as far into his mouth as he could. Amazingly enough there was no stopping him once he got started!

Speaking of feeding issues, we have made some changes to his formula and breastfeeding routine. He will switch over to regular baby formula once we use up what we have left of the preemie formula. This should help to slow his weight gain a little bit and help keep him on target. Also, after 6 months of struggles and triumphs, Josh has weaned himself from nursing. He has been slowly weaning himself over the last several weeks, but when he became sick, he stopped nursing entirely. Mommy is a little saddened by this, but both Mommy and Daddy feel good that Josh was about to nurse for 6 months (most preemies who stay in the hospital for over a week do not even make it out of the hospital without being 100% bottle fed). Even though he won't be nursing any longer, Josh will still be receiving some breast milk everyday. We were able to store up quite a bit over the last 6 months, and combined with donated breast milk (thanks Carrie and Anita!), should hopefully keep him with some everyday for the next several months. We feel it is helpful for him to receive some breast milk and antibodies for as long as we are able.

Josh continues to do well with his milestones. He is becoming quite good at sucking on his fingers, especially his thumb, which he seems to have a affinity for. For those who might frown on finger sucking, the American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends finger sucking as a milestone achievement and as a self-comforting technique so that babies can sooth themselves without needing to have a pacifier given to them. The only time when finger sucking starts to become a problem is after about age 4 when children start getting their adult teeth.

He is also starting to grasp and shake a rattle. He has begun turning on his side from his back and if he is propped up, he can role on to or off of his tummy. He especially likes to do this when laying tummy to tummy with Daddy. We are very impressed with our little guy and how well he is progressing developmentally. He has also started playing peak-a-boo and has a sense of anticipation (he likes games like "I'm gonna get you") now.

Josh is also becoming quite the social butterfly!! When we have company over, he likes to sit propped up on the couch and be a part of the conversation. He will sit there playing with his toys and periodically interject comments into the conversation. Mommy recently took him to run errands and every where we went, people would stop to say hello to him and he would smile and talk back to them. He has become so social in fact, it is hard to feed him when we are out in public because he is too busy talking to everyone around him!

Josh had an eye appointment today. His eyes are PERFECT!!!! They have fully matured and he will not have to go back to the eye doctor for one year!!! We are very proud of our little man and thankful his eyes are done developing!!

Prayer Request:

• Josh would not becoming sick, especially now that he is receiving less breast milk
• Josh would continue to do well with the new bottle and tolerate solid foods well
• Josh would continue to develop a good sleep pattern (particularly a long afternoon nap) and get the rest he needs
• Josh would continue to do well with his developmental milestones and not have any setbacks

Praises:

• Josh's eyes are fully mature!!!!
• Josh is doing well with his developmental milestones (even our doctor thinks so!)
• Josh has found a bottle he likes and seems to be overcoming his texture issues with solid foods
• Josh is doing better with napping and sleeping at night

(Josh with his first taste of rice cereal... he's not so sure about it)

(Josh sucking his thumb like a big boy!)

(Josh playing with and sucking on his rattle)

(It is a bath time burrito baby!... we just love that clean baby smell!)

(Josh sitting unassisted in his excersaucer for the first time)

(Josh having a good time with is sweet potatoes)

(Mmm... these are yummy!)

Formal Photography by Coffey Shots (www.coffeyshots.com)

(Handsome man!)

(What a beautiful family!)

(Josh in Daddy's arms)

(Josh loving on his Daddy)

(Josh and Mommy enjoying each other)

(Peak a Boo)

Quick Update/Prayer Request

We know we are due for a real update, complete with the inside scoop of his 6 month appointment.  We promise that will come in the next day or two. 

In the mean time, we wanted to ask you to pray for Josh.  He came down with a fever yesterday along with fussiness, tiredness and drooling.  Mommy took him to the doctor today and he was diagnosed with a viral infection that has caused ulcers on this throat.  Needless to say he is a pretty uncomfortable little guy.  After spending most of the day crying or sleeping we were finally able to get him to start drinking again (much to Mommy and Daddy's relief).  He is more playful this evening, so we are hoping this will pass quickly.

Please pray for quick healing to Josh from these ulcers and that he can eat well.  Pray for Mommy and Daddy that they get some rest with a sick baby in the house (we slept a total of about 3 hours last night).

When half a year seems like half a lifetime

Josh is officially 6 months old today!!! It is hard to believe our little man is already so old and so big! We are very proud of him and the progress he has made over the last 6 months. We are also very thankful to God for being with us and walking our family through such a difficult beginning to an amazing milestone.

Josh will go to the pediatrician on Tuesday for his 6 month check up and shots. We are looking foward to getting an officall reading on is weight, height and head circumference. One thing we know for sure, he has come a long way from his 2lb 2oz beginning. Our home scale today said he weighed in at 14lbs 8oz - it is almost unbelievable!! Josh had been doing really well with his feedings until about three days ago. He started to refuse to eat from his primary bottle. We have been able to use the old bottles from the NICU and he will eat from those. We are a little concerned at this change in his eating habits. He has also become so interested in the world around him that it often takes an hour to get him to eat.

Josh will see the eye doctor on Friday of next week as well. As we said last time, his retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is completely gone. He is still being followed closely to make sure his eyes finish maturing over the next several weeks to months. Once his eyes are mature, he will go back in one year to be sure that he doesn't have any sight deficietes.

Josh continued to amaze us with how well he is doing developmentally. Although is not up to the skill level of a 6 month old baby, we estimate that he is at or around the 4 month level developmentally. It seems like he is learning something new everyday. Just this week he learned to stick his fingers in his mouth (and leave them there), he started grabbing toys with both hands and bringing them to his mouth, and he has started rolling up on his side when he is laying on his back. Mommy and Daddy are savoring each new milestone and hoping he doesn't progress too fast.

Josh is also becoming increasingly social. He loves to participate in conversations and even start some of his own. He always seems to have a ready smile and his laughs are just sweet. A few days ago, Mommy was visiting with an old friend and they were enjoying a good laugh. Josh looked over at them, smiled really big and started to laugh. Everyone looked at him and he stopped then started laughing again. He didn't want to miss out on the fun. Josh now also has a playgroup made up of some babies who were premature and some who were not. We are looking foward to building relationships with these moms and babies over the coming months.

Speaking of being social, Josh decided about a week ago that his social time needed to extend into the night. He woke up every night for about a week at 1:30am, fussying. Mommy would get up to feed him, he would eat, but not be really interested. But once back in bed, he wanted to smile, laugh, talk and play with Mommy. As cute as this was, after a week, Mommy was very tired and in need of several naps! Josh seems to have worked out his night time sleeping schedule. We are continuing to work on his daytime schedule. Mommy has started to be very consistent about naps and Josh seems to be doing much better with naptime.

Prayer Requests:

• Josh's eyes would mature quickly and that his eye sight would not be affected by being premature
• Josh would continue to do well with his developmental milestones and not have any set backs
• Josh would find a bottle that he likes to eat from and would be less distracted while eating
• Josh would not get sick
• Josh would continue to develop healthy sleep patterns and get the rest he needs
• Mommy and Daddy would also get the rest they need

Praises:

• Josh is 6 months old!!
• Josh now weighs 14lbs 8oz!! What a chunker!
• Josh is doing well with his developmental milestones
• Josh is becoming quite the social butterfly and loves to be around people
• Josh is beginning to have good sleeping patterns

From an early beginning...

(Josh on one of his first days in the NICU)

(Josh during his first tub bath at home)

We have come so far...

(Josh in his tub a few days ago)

(Handsome (and smart :-) man!)

(Josh at a playdate with his cousin Noah and his buddy Gavin)

(Rock on!)

(Josh meeting his Grandpappy for the first time - the beard was a little scary)

(Josh with his Aunt Amy (who had him asleep in about 10 seconds)

(Josh and his cousin Brittany)

(Everyone needs a shelf for their pacey)

(Big boy holding one of his favorite toys - he prompt started eating it after this picture)

(Mmmm beef)

(Why do my parents insist on tummy time and what is that thing hanging above my head?)

(Josh sucking his fingers while Grammie holds him)

(First time in the exersaucer...he isn't sure what to do next)

Bright blue eyed boy

So in an effort to keep everyone up to date, there is now two updates in a week!

Josh had his eye doctor appointment on Friday. After looking very carefully at Josh's eyes for a long time, our eye doctor announced that the retinopathy of prematuity (ROP) is completely gone!!! His eyes are still immature, but he is no longer in danger of needing laser surgery to correct his eyes. We will see her again in 3 weeks to continue tracking his eyes until his eyes are mature. The technologist also checked him out and said that his eyes focus well, he has no vision loss right now and that his eyes are centered like they should be. We are very thankful that his eyes have progressed so well!!

Josh's weight is up to 13lbs even today. He is developing into quite the chunky baby. He has several fat rolls on his arms and legs. He even has two dimples in his elbows. We have been told by several people that he doesn't look like he was every a preemie. We are quite proud of the progress he has made.

Since our last update, Josh has developed two new habits, one good and one not so good. The not so good one would be scratching his face when he gets upset in the car. He will clamp his hands on his face and pull, which leaves large scratches on his sweet little face. He even scratched his eye, leaving a red scratch on the white of his eye. The good habit would be rubbing his eyes with his little fist when he is tired. We no longer have to guess if he is tired or not, we just wait for the eye rubbing to begin.

We will end this blog with a cute story from tonight. We had stripped Josh down to weigh him prior to his bath, like we do every night. After the scale registered his weight, Daddy leaned down to pick him up and there was this pattering noise on the floors. When Mommy looked around there was a little fountain coming from Josh. Daddy didn't know what to do, do you put your hand up to stop it, or just let it go... what do you do? Mommy threw the dirty diaper she was carrying over the fountain. Daddy went to get some paper towels to clean things up. As soon as he left the room, Josh looked at Mommy and started laughing. He gave Mommy this huge grin and continued to coo and laugh until Daddy came back in the room. Who says babies don't have a sense of humor?

Prayer Request:

• Josh stay healthy and not get sick again
• Josh's eyes finish maturing
• Josh's reflux go away completely
• Josh learn to sleep well through the whole night (we have been up several times a night the last few nights), and have good nap times
• Mommy and Daddy continue to get good rest, and take advantage of sleep opportunities during nap time

Praises:

• Josh's ROP is completely gone!!
• Josh is up to 13 lbs and has some pretty adorable fat rolls!!
• Josh is developing quite the personality and has a good sense of humor.

(Josh during his first bath at home in late February - we used to think this little boy was chunky)

(Josh in April modeling his new diapers)

(Josh modeling the same diapers just a few days ago - now that is a chunky baby!)

(Josh sitting in Mommy's lap "worrying" his hands)

A late, late update

So Mommy and Daddy feel very repentant that they have not updated Josh's blog in 3 weeks.  We would like to plea sickness, which should give us grace for at least a week.  Since it has been so long, we will try to be succinct.

Josh is doing well as far as medical issues are concerned.  He continues to have reflux, but is able to cope much better with it, even though it is unpleasant for him.  His medications are making a difference however and the reflux seems to be causing him less pain.  We do still have episodes were here arches his back and can projectile some spit up, but those times are becoming less and less frequent. 

All this reflux is not effecting his appetite.  Josh is up to a whooping 12lbs 10oz!!!  Even we are amazed that he has gotten so big.  Mommy is working on transitioning him to 3-6 month size clothes, even though it seems like we just got him into his 0-3 month clothes. Josh continues to be partially breast fed and partially bottle fed.

Josh continues to see the eye doctor every 2 weeks.  At our last appointment she said that his right eye continues to show an immature retina.  The left eye has finally started to show signs of regression of his retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) although it remains a stage 1.  We are hopefully the ROP will be gone at his appointment on Friday.

Josh had his first real illness since being discharged from the NICU.  We are thankful that it wasn't too severe.  Daddy came home with a "24 hour" vomit bug, which both Josh and Mommy got.  The virus lasted almost a week for little Josh.  He threw up once a day for that week and was not eating as well.  Thanks to some pediasure and lots of laundry we were able to make it through ok.  We are hoping this will be the only illness he gets for a while.

Josh was evaluated to see if he needs help meeting his developmental milestones. Based on the preliminary evaluation, he is meeting all the milestones for a 3 month old baby (he is 2 months, 1 week, adjusted age). His head control is actually good enough that we can begin sitting him up using props to help him learn to sit on his own. He is also started rolling on his side, especially during diaper changes, so we might have a rolling baby soon!

Josh as gone from a very sleepy baby to a non-sleeping baby to a sleeping baby in the last 3 weeks.  After not napping during the day for about a week, he has settled down into a routine.  He now is up for 1-1.5 hours in the morning, then naps, eats, is awake 2-3 hours, eats, naps, is awake until bed time except for an occasional nap in the evenings.  He is consistent about going to bed between 7:30-8:30pm each night.  He is a very fussy baby if this part of his routine isn't kept.

Josh attended his first wedding about a week and half ago.  This was our first trip outside of Gainesville as a family.  Overall it was successful, we had a great time watching Michelle and Jon get married.  Mommy and Daddy did decide that we will do our best to not travel with a sick baby again.   Josh did well sleeping in an environment other than home and was able to stay in his routine despite the change in environment.

Josh has blossomed in the last three weeks.  He is consistently smiling now and has started to laugh.  He especially likes to smile and laugh in the morning.  He is also ticklish and will give you a good grin when you tickle his belly.  We have attempted to get a picture of his award winning smile, but he hides it when the camera is present. Josh is also quite the talker and enjoys having conversations whenever he can.  He continues to be quite the extrovert, enjoying spending time with other people.  He recently spent a whole evening being entertained by his friend Annalise, so much so, he forgot he was hungry until she left.  Josh also continues to enjoy spending time with his best buddy, his cousin Noah.  They make quite the pair when they are together.  Josh is now over a pound heavier than Noah, although Noah is longer.

Josh has started to show interest in food in the last few days.  He focuses in on what you are eating and moves his mouth as if he is chewing when you take a bit.  It is fascinating to watch him when there is food around.  We are going to ask if we can start feeding him soon.  It will break your heart when he looks at you with his big blue eyes, just begging for a taste of your salad.

Josh continues to enjoy his bath time.  He has recently started splashing water with his legs and finds this shocking, since he can't figure out how it happens.  He also tries to run off when he is stood up to wash is back.  He would take off if we let him.  He did not enjoy swimming as much we thought he might.  This might be because the water was colder than his tub water. 

After counting the votes, it has been decided that Josh looks just like his Mommy....just kidding, we all know he looks like Daddy.  Mommy didn't even have a chance. :-)

Prayer Requests:

• Josh stay healthy and not get sick again
• Josh's ROP in his left eye regress completely
• Josh's reflux go away completely
• Josh learn to sleep well through the whole night, and have good nap times
• Mommy and Daddy continue to get good rest, and take advantage of sleep opportunities during nap time

Praises:

• Josh is up to 12 pounds 10 ounces!  That is 10 pounds 8 ounces more than when he was born!
• Josh is settling nicely into a routine and does well when that is followed
• Josh is smiling and giggling, which absolutely makes Mommy and Daddy's day
• Josh is meeting his milestones for a 3 month old baby (which is he is less than in adjusted age).

(Daddy dressed Josh in overalls after a particularly bad night when Mommy got little sleep...Mommy has a weakness for overalls and Josh)

(Need we say more?)

(Josh holding up his own bottle with one arm - he is so talented!)

(Contented baby sleeping after nursing)

(Big, full mouth grin!)

(Josh making good use of the sink at our hotel - he won't be able to do this much longer!)

(This is the life!  King size bed to myself.)

(Josh doing some tummy time on the boppy, gotta love the froggy tushy)

(Look at that head control - he is so focused his eyes are crossed.)

(Smiling baby in overalls, doesn't get any better than this!)

(Except maybe for the tongue and smile, while in overalls!)

(Josh making good use of his bumbo - thinking he wishes Mommy wouldn't mess with is foot)

(Josh with his Grandpa Bill, his great Grandpa)

(Josh not so sure about this whole swimming things.  Noah looks on very concerned.)

(Mimi and Josh after going swimming)

(Isn't he a handsome little swimmer)