Lots of Updates and Pictures!

Even though Kinsey wasn't eating well last week, she still had plenty of energy and was in a good mood. Which is a good thing, because we've had a lot going on.. . . but first, let's address the eating thing.

Kinsey really seems to have a week or so of eating well followed by several days of hardly eating at all. She's been doing this for a few months now and it's really frustrating. I worry that behavior like this may eventually cause the Dr to say she needs a Gtube (a tube that would be placed in her belly and put foods - liquid only- directly into her stomach). This is something we don't want because we know she CAN eat and it would open her up to lots of potential issues. No one has suggested it to us yet, but it's just something that could happen that we don't want to happen. Anyway, she's eating well again this week so we'll see how long it lasts.

She is really interested in feeding herself though, which is great, but it's a challenge because she needs solid things that she can pick up, but then she doesn't chew it. So we need things that are solid enough, but that will still sort of dissolve in her mouth. Also, it can't be too slippery. Challenging, but we're trying lots of different things. So far it seems like green beans, mac n cheese, small pieces of meat and bread are the winners. Some friends also suggested we try the baby food pouches and boy have those been a HIT! She'll put them in her mouth, hold onto them and suck them dry in no time!

Now on the fun stuff . . . Last Sunday, we went to a pumpkin patch. We had fun exploring the pumpkins, checking out the animals, playing with hay and Kinsey even rode a Teater Totter for the first time - she really liked that! http://youtu.be/aq-E2RaLv0U

Last Monday we did a photo shoot here at the house. I wanted some pictures to celebrate and announce her upcoming birthday and some new family pictures too. I took a couple with my own camera and look forward to getting the rest from the photographer. You'll have to wait to see them until her birthday though :)

On Saturday we had another photo shoot - this was a mini session for Halloween by the same photographers who did the July 4th pictures. Kinsey was out of sorts that morning for some reason so we didn't get that many good pictures, but we got a few.

Speaking of Halloween, if you don't already know Kinsey is going as Minnie Mouse. I made most of her costume and purchased a few parts of it. I think it turned out really cute. And she's going to wear it a few times. This Sunday we're going to The Farm (where we're going to have her birthday party) for Treatsvlyvania for trick-or-treating. And we happen to have Music class on Halloween, so they've encouraged the kids to come in their costumes and we're going to have a special Halloween class. Should be fun! 

 

We got Kinsey's new foot splints last week and they are working out well. The shoes we got to go with them fit really well too, so that's good. I've been trying to find other shoes too though - a girl can't wear sneakers with everything! So far I've found a pair of pink converse sneakers that will work and I'm hoping I found a pair of boots online. We'll see when they get here.

Wearing her new converse sneakers over her splints.
The sneaks match her pink Gator gear perfectly!

Kinsey's been making a lot of progress with standing on her own and walking lately! The therapist has decided to turn her around in her walker, which is more difficult for her. The way it was before, she could lean a little to help move it, but now she has to "pull" it with her. So far, she only goes backwards, like when she first started in her baby walker so long ago. She will walk forward in it if you hold her hands so she's starting to get it. I'm sure she'll pick it up in no time.

These pictures are from before the walker was turned around.
She loves trying to get into trouble!

She's also working on walking with a push toy - her shopping cart. This is a huge step for her because it requires her to hold onto the handles, which she wouldn't do until recently. It also requires her to get her balance. I've been holding onto the cart to prevent it from moving away from her too quickly. I've been trying to get this on video, but of course she does it better when the camera's not out! http://youtu.be/-SE3mDHL9Us

She's also been standing against furniture better and is able to play with things on a table or couch while standing in front of it. Here are a couple of videos: http://youtu.be/IjdDdPm3yrg and http://youtu.be/ZKNitk8zxts She also really likes scooting around the house on her ride-on car and is getting better at moving it around. http://youtu.be/VmpxToBK1hY

And she's even trying to cruise around the furniture a little bit. When she's standing in front of the couch, she will try to move over to where Bailey is laying to mess with him. (I have to say he's a troublemaker, but he is really great with Kinsey!).

Kinsey's also been learning new skills with her toys lately. She will take the stick and hit the keys on her xylephone, can put together and take apart lego-type blocks, can take apart pop-beads, pushes little cars around, will hit a drum with her hand, and she absolutely loves playing with her fabric scraps still! http://youtu.be/g2u1teE10Yg

Hitting the drum at music class.

Another first was her recent first sucker. After she got her flu shot a few weeks ago, the nurse gave her a sucker and she liked it!

Our latest adventure was the first snowfall at our new house! I couldn't wait to get Kinsey up to go play in it, but unfortunately she did not share my excitement for the snow. She cried the whole time we were outside.

Whew! That was a lot. Guess that's what I get for skipping a week! Only 2 weeks till Kinsey's 2nd Birthday!!!!!

Another Eating Strike

Kinsey's been on another eating strike this week. I'm beyond frustrated and upset about it. Don't feel like writing the blog tonight. Maybe I'll write it later or just catch up next week.

23 Months!

This week Kinsey turned 23 months old, so we're now in the countdown to her 2nd birthday! How unbelievable and exciting!!! As I mentioned before, we're having her party at a local Farm where they have lots of friendly animals to feed and pet. They have a private room for the party and I'm busy planning all kinds of farm-themed decorations and food. And we've even made some kid friends here to come to the party. It's going to be so much fun!

With the colder weather here lately, Kinsey got to wear the super cute Gator outfit Pop-Pop bought her last Saturday:

Kinsey has continued to eat very well lately and I'm pretty convinced it's related to the Zantac. Today I forgot to give it to her this morning and she ate well for breakfast and lunch, but then would hardly eat for dinner and was doing her old trick of putting her thumb in her mouth between bites for a long time. And that was even though we were giving her refried beans at our favorite mexican restaurant! She got the Zantac tonight, so here's hoping she goes back to eating well again tomorrow. (Although she's getting her flu shot tomorrow so that might throw things off a bit too.)

But Kinsey's also been doing better and better about eating "solid" foods. She's still not chewing, but she is mashing foods, which the speech therapist said is a step in the right direction. She said babies start by sucking their foods, then move on to mashing, then chewing. So it's great that she's finally moved on to the next step! So we've started giving her more and more types of foods - bigger and more solid baby puffs, something called "toddler meat sticks" (they're like baby hot dogs) in small pieces, canned peaches, teddy graham crackers, and even some tiny pieces of steak!

This week we pulled out another one of Kinsey's birthday toys from last year that she couldn't quite use before we moved - this time it's a little ride-on car thing that Gramma bought her. Last time she tried to ride it she still couldn't touch the ground with both feet, but she's grown since then and she can touch now. She's even figured out how to "drive" it around the house!! Here are some pictures and videos: http://youtu.be/UFvKBPvegiU and http://youtu.be/QIOoqCG1P3U

She likes to try to stand up in it too!

Kinsey's new foot splints came in this week and we have an appointment to get them on Tuesday. We're also getting some sneakers from the orthotics place that will fit over the splints so she'll be able to walk around in them easily. I hope she'll be ok with the new splints - she's had them before so these hopefully won't be any different to her.

That's it for this week. I'm hoping to go to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend (if the weather cooperates), so we should have some cute pictures next week.

Great Heart News!

We had our appointment with the cardiologist on Monday and aside from me thinking the appointment was at 10:30 am, but it really being at 1:30 pm (first time I've done that), the appointment was great! They did an EKG and an Echo and the doctor said he's pretty confident her Wolffe-Parkinson-White syndrome has repaired itself!! This condition is the extra electrical signal of her heartbeat. He explained that he knows the extra signal going one direction is gone, but that it could be going back the other direction and he can't tell whether it's still doing that or not without watching her heart for a longer period of time. So, we're cutting her medicine down to almost nothing (in half again from her previous dose) and he's going to send us a Holter Monitor for her to wear for 24 hours in about a month. If that looks clear, he's going to have us discontinue her medicine and we will do another Holter Monitor a month later to be sure. If that looks clear, then we're done and the condition is gone!!! I really hope that turns out to be the case!

He also checked on the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (the thickening of her heart wall) and said that looks about the same. It may have gotten the tiniest bit thicker (he said he was actually arguing with the Echo technician over whether it was thicker or not, but he didn't think it was). Even if it did, it was so miniscule and that would be the first time it changed since it was detected at 6 months old, so it's not a big deal. The doctor said he doesn't need to see her again for a full year!!!

Kinsey's been doing better every day with getting around in her walker. We spent last weekend in our Guest Suite in the workshop building since Jamie was finishing the floors in the house. Kinsey had fun getting into everything in the workshop while we were there and since we've been back in the house she's been getting into things here too. She'd be a real troublemaker if she could get around without the walker. Fortunately for us, the walker gets in her way of opening doors and reaching most things! Here are some pictures and video of her trying to get into trouble: http://youtu.be/BdcCtsgxrcA

And here's a video of her playing with a toy while standing in her walker: http://youtu.be/KzMu6VCalww

Kinsey really likes the new floors in the house - she can get around really well in her walker:

 

She's also starting to take steps when you hold her hands again. Since getting the casts off, she's been standing well with assistance, but wouldn't take any steps unless she was in the walker, but just last night she started taking steps again too!

Kinsey's also been doing great eating! I'm assuming the reflux medicine is helping her and that's why she wasn't eating well before, but it's possible that it was the casts bothering her since she got them removed at the same time that I started giving her the medicine. Who knows, but she's eating great and that's all that matters to me! She's put on more than 1/2 a pound in a week (up to 19 lbs 7 oz now - that's 2nd percentile - for a few months now she hasn't even been on the chart so this is good). I really hope that she continues to eat well and put on weight. She's also grown another 1/4 inch - up to 31.5" (that's 5th percentile). Oh and she has a new favorite snack: Cheez Its!

It's been cold here the last couple of days - I even saw some snow flurries this morning and more are expected tonight, but nothing's supposed to stick. Here's a cute picture of Kinsey all bundled up for the cold weather - aren't her boots cute? Oh and look at her standing leaning against the couch too!

Finally, here's a sweet picture of Kinsey sleeping with a blanket that my mom made for me when I was a baby: