Thursday, April 30, 2009

March for Babies update and other info

Our March for Babies team in memory of little Patrick.

This past Saturday we participated in the March of Dimes, March for Babies in memory of little Patrick. In short, it was a huge success. We set a team goal to raise $5,000 and we actually raised a little over $6,300. We had a nice size group walking with us, 18 adults and 6 babies and we all wore team t-shirts that said "Walking in memory of Patrick" and it had little Patrick's picture on the front. We also attached some home made signs to the front of Savannah's stroller that included a collage of Patrick's pictures as well as a note from Savannah letting everyone know that she was walking "strolling" in memory of her twin brother. The signs and Savannah were a big hit with the other participants.

We have decided that this event will be an annual event for us, so hopefully next year our team will be even bigger and we can raise another impressive amount. The March of Dimes is a great organization and we were happy to participate in their event.

Savannah goes back to the doctor on Wednesday, May 6th (which is her 6 month birthday). We are excited to see how much she weighs and how long she is...it has been 1 month since her last appointment. Savannah is doing well and everyday she seems to be doing something new. She now rolls over from her belly to her back with ease and is almost rolling from her back to her belly. We also practice sitting up and I know any day now she will be sitting up on her own. This past Saturday I decided to see if Savannah would eat from a spoon, so I opened a jar of organic baby food (bananas) which she loved and she did very well with the spoon. I am not sure if the pediatrician will be happy with this, but I felt she was ready. Savannah had bananas on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and today I gave her peas, which she liked as well.

We can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring us!

Here are some pictures from the March for Babies event as well as some recent pictures of Savannah.
Love to all,
April
The t-shirt we had made and wore for the walk.
At the beginning of the walk.

One of the signs I made.


Savannah in her bouncy for the first time. April 27, 2009
Tummy time!! April 25, 2009


Eating bananas for the first time. April 25, 2009



Practicing sitting in her bumbo. April 26, 2009

Tummy time!! April 28, 2009

Monday, April 13, 2009

Savannah's first Easter

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebration, we certainly did. We attended Church as a family for the first time, what a glorious day to introduce Savannah to our Church. I was a little nervous as to how Savannah's first Catholic mass would go...you never know with a 5 month old. We decided it would be best to attend the 7:30AM mass since this is a little early for most people. We got there around 7:05 and so did Patrick's parents, we found a pew that would accommodate the 4 adults and Savannah in her car seat. Patrick sat on the outside and Savannah was between us, we needed to make sure we could get out fast just in case. Upon arriving Savannah was fast asleep in her car seat, however she did wake up about 15 minutes into the service. Before mass started Patrick and I noticed her pediatrician, Dr. Yee, walk in...we were nervous not knowing if we really should have brought her due to all the people...remember she has been on lock down. Anyways, about half-way through the mass Savannah started to get fidgety in her car seat so I decided to hold her. She was a good baby and never made a peep:) She was all smiles and just a very happy baby. I took her up with me when I went to receive communion and she received a blessing at that time. Right after communion Father Ken called all the children up to receive a special blessing so I took her up to the altar and she had Holy water sprinkled on her and was blessed...it was very special. After the mass was over a lady a couple rows behind us told us we had the "best behaved baby and we should be proud of her". I agreed with this kind woman and told her we are very blessed to have Savannah. As we were walking out Dr. Yee spotted us and smiled our way. We told Dr. Yee this was Savannah's first time at Church and that we were nervous if he would approve of this. Dr. Yee told us this was not a problem since Savannah is doing so well....of course this made us happy.

Below is a link with pictures from Easter day.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22326&id=1300783496&l=6cae231fbe

Love to all,
April

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Savannah March 12-April 6, 2009

Click on the link below to view recent pictures of Savannah. As you will see our little girl is growing up so fast!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21818&id=1300783496&l=c961bb3e36

Love,
April

Monday, April 6, 2009

Catching Up

Below is a picture of Savannah today, celebrating her fifth month!



A lot has happened since our last post on March 15 so let me get started.

On the 23rd of March, Savannah had a doctors appointment and weighted in at 9 Lb 8 Oz so we were knocking on the door of the much anticipated 10 Lb mark. We are proud to say that today, a mere two weeks later, Savannah has gained 27 Oz to put her at 11 Lb 3 Oz. We are completely pumped as well is the doctor. She has definitely turned the corner in the eating and weight gaining department which is a very good sign. The doctor is so pleased and confident with Savannah, that we do not need to bring her back for another month.

Today, also marks her fifth month with us and time has really been flying by. Savannah still spends most of her day eating and sleeping, however, she is now getting a good amount of extra play time as well as tummy time. Some of Savannah's highlights of the day (besides eating) are sitting in mommy's lap and getting read to or listening to mom recite the alphabet. Savannah is also becoming quite the talker. While she is not actually saying any kind of words she is definitely becoming more animated and speaking out to us in her own little language.

A few other exciting things that have happened over the past two weeks is that the doctor finally gave the OK for Savannah to be held by our parents. They were all very excited to hold Savannah for the first time and it was about time after 4 and a half months.

Finally, Savannah had an appointment last week with a program called Early Steps which is primarily used for premature babies or for infants and toddlers with special needs. The appointment was with about six different specialist ranging from physical therapist to speech therapy to a psychologist. They evaluated Savannah on a number of tasks including physical ability, cognitive skills, gross and fine motor skills, communication, social/emotional skills and adaptive development. Needless to say, this was a pretty intense appointment especially considering that we were really not sure what to expect.

The appointment could not have been better. They were all very pleased and amazed at Savannah's progress up to this point. She is acting and behaving like a four/five month old should even though her adjusted age is just over 2 months. They do not see any need for her to come back, however, the service is available to us until she turns three in the event that we see issues or challenges that concern us. It was a very proud moment from both April and myself and we could not be happier with the way that Savannah is developing.

April will post some recent pictures in the next day or two so stay tuned.