Sierra Update

In Sierra news, she had two doctor's appointments recently.  The first was with the orthopedic surgeon.  She had X-rays of her feet, which showed that each of her big toes has a bone in the top, with the bottom part of the bones being fused.  The surgeon plans to remove the inside toe so that there will be no scar on the outside of her foot.  It might also require another surgery to straighten the remaining big toes.  Her first surgery is scheduled for August 16th.  She will be in casts for 2 weeks afterwards.

Her second appointment was with the neurosurgeon.  She had another cranial ultrasound which showed no change in the amount of fluid in her brain.  Praise the Lord!  Her doctor does want her to see an ophthalmologist to make sure that pressure in her brain is not damaging the back of her eyes.  That appointment is in mid-August.  He also wants her to see a geneticist to see if her head and toes are connected and the result of a syndrome of some sort.  I made that appointment for April 24.  Yes, you read that right; they had no appointments open until April.

In another news, she is sitting up fairly well.  She's still not 100%, so I don't leave her sitting by herself, but she is getting there.  And she can sit up in the high chair, the grocery cart, and the bath seat.  I also switched her from the infant car seat to the convertible seat which sits a bit more upright.

Sierra LOVES her brother and sisters.  And they love her.

Reading to my Little Bookworms

Caleb the Seven Year Old

Caleb turned seven on our last day at the beach.  We celebrated with donuts for breakfast.

Blowing out his candle

The sleepy partygoers

And he got to open his presents from us - a new DS game and a comic book.  Grammy and Grandma also gave him cards and money, which he promptly spent at Cracker Barrel on the way home.

Then on Monday, we had his party at an indoor pirate playground.  Audrey had fun crawling around.

And Caleb played with his classmates, Mackenzie and Ella.

Sweet Alexa

What are you looking at?

I think I'll eat a sandy ball.  Yum!

Sierra took a little nap.

Jordanna played in the baby area.

And crawled after Audrey

Then it was time for pizza.

And cake

And swords - balloon ones, of course

And presents

And cards

And then they played some more.

The end

Beach: Part 2

More fun at the beach -

Caleb playing Wii - something he did a lot of

Our wifi was down from when we arrived on Saturday until late afternoon on Tuesday.  Everyone grabbed their computers and tablets once it was fixed.  Even Sierra got in on the action.

Jordana playing with blocks

The kids (and Dave) in the "hot pool"

Gramps entertaining Sierra

Beach: Part 1

We had a great week at the beach with my family last week.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and only a few rain showers, mostly at night.  My cousin Kyle brought his fancy schmancy again and got some great pictures.

Jordanna did not want to put on her swimming "soup" the first night.

Caleb and Alexa did, though.

Jordanna did play in the wet sand.

Here's the house where we stayed.

Jordanna waving at the waves.  She warmed up to the water as the week went on.

And the one picture of Sierra on the beach.  Despite the happy smile in this picture, she did not really love the beach and spent most of her time at the house.

Seven Months

My sweet Sierra turned seven months old while we were at the beach last week.  I finally got a smile out of her for her picture, but then she decided to eat the sign.

Here's what Sierra is up to at seven months -
-Weighs approximately 14.5 pounds.
 -Wears a mix of 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothes.   Still wears size 2 diapers when she's wearing disposables, but I probably will switch her to size 3 next time I buy some.
-Still spits up.  The child makes so much laundry.
- Is very drooly.
-Has 2 bottom teeth.
-Has had a variety of fruits, vegetables, cereals, and even chicken.  She never eats more than a few tablespoons and often not even that much.  She seems to like acorn squash the best.
-Nurses every three hours.
-Still sleeps with her paci and her lovey.
-Has started to play happily in the exersaucer for several minutes at a time.
 -Plays with toys.  Puts them in her mouth, but she also bats and shakes them around.
-Still takes 3-4 naps a day.  Has taken some longer naps lately.
-Is doing better at sleeping in the evenings.  While she was cutting her teeth, she was awake and fussy in the evenings.
 -Wakes 1 or 2 times most nights.
-Rolls both ways often while playing on the floor.
-Can sit up by herself for 30-45 seconds.
-Did really well in the car seat on our recent trip to the beach.
-Babbles, growls, coos, and smiles.
-Loves sticking her tongue out.  Also likes to chew on her toes.
-Is a complete Mommy's girl.

On the Road

On Saturday, we loaded up the vans and headed to the beach.  Caleb and Alexa rode with my parents, and I sat in the back of our van with Jordanna and Sierra.  They were both very good; the drive actually went way better than I expected.

We ate some snacks,

watched some Dora (okay lots of Dora),

and slept (but not very much).