Mommy report: Words, words, and more words

Braska has taken off with her speech in the last month. She's been mimicking, for the last few months, everything that's said, in person, on TV, in the store, etc. But now she's using the words, identifying what she wants, "labeling" as the ST calls it. We were all excited when she first looked at the TV when there was a cat food commercial and said, "Cat! Meow!" Then in the next 4 days there were another 6 words used, and we just kept looking at each other like, "Holy Cow?!?" We started keeping a list, so we wouldn't forget, and so we could reinforce them. It got to where we were adding new words, sometime 2 or 3, every day. I'm just plain blown away by this, let me tell you. She's cracking us up with the mimicking still, and we really have to watch what we say or what's on the TV, since she doesn't so much have an "appropriate" filter. She just says it if she hears it.

She's come a long way, also, in completing her words clearly. Nose is now nose, not just "no." Sheep has the SH and a clear P on the end. Bottle is plainly two syllables with the appropriate sounds in both. We're to the stage that when she will allow those outside our house to hear her, they can actually understand her. That's pretty fun, I must say.

Her teacher at school has said that she's just talking up a storm at school the last few weeks. She was all shy the first few, so I'm pleased that she's getting comfortable enough to chat with them. Some uses are more inconsistent than others, but all of these on the list have been shown properly more than a few times. Here's what she's got so far... unfortunately, we've not been successful getting much good video yet, as she's not so cooperative at performing, but she uses them as she needs them.

• Cat: Especially when she sees them on TV or a movie. And she yells this one!
• Drum: She requests her water drums when she gets in the bath, and she has an ice cream tub that she uses for a drum as well.
• Bubbles: This has recently been a request from the PT, as Braska found them in her bag and wanted some bubble action. She also identifies them when asked.
• Nose, Ear, Hair: She prefers to identify these on bodies not her own.
• Picture: This is what she calls the camera. She says it when she grabs the camera if it's been left within reach and when she looks up to see it pointed at her.
• Movie: This is said, generally with animation, as soon as she gets in her carseat in my car. There's a DVD screen that she uses on longer trips. She seems to think they are all long enough.
• Bottle: Every time Kinlee gets a bottle (when we're away from home for a feeding), Braska has to get in on the action, come grab the end of the bottle and identify what she has found. She has a tendency to want to take it out of Kinlee's mouth, but we're working on that part. One step at a time!
• Car: One of her puzzles has a car piece, so it gets identified when she plays with it. She will answer, "What is this?" for that piece too. And sometimes when she's looking outside at the front door she'll say car when one goes by. Oh, and of course, when we go to the garage to leave, she lets me know where we're supposed to go.
• Puppy: She doesn't seem to like the word "dog" so it's always "puppy" instead.
• Sweet: This is her word for a hug lately. She'll lean in and cuddle for a second and say "Ohhhhh, sweet." I think we must have said this and not realized it. She also does this to Kinlee in the morning when she comes to say hi.
• Nice: When she pets Kinlee's head, she says, "Niiiiiiice." We have told her repeatedly to "be nice" so I guess that's where she got it.
• Bless you: When someone sneezes, including herself, she greets with this. So funny to hear.
• Wash: This is used whenever she's done with eating, or if I wipe her hands when getting into/out of the shopping cart or something.
• Bouncy: She loves this one, and it's all for Daddy. They have a knee-bouncing good time in the evening, and she hardly lets him sit down after work before she starts insisting, over and over and over... "Bouncy!!!"
• Poop: This one shocked me, but when I get her out of bed in the morning, if she has messed her diaper, *most* of the time she will tell me "Poop." It's not 100%, but it's been pretty consistent.
• Bib, Tray: When it goes on before eating, and when it comes off...she labels them each both times.
• Door: Any door, she goes to it, knocks, and says, "Door."
• TV: This is what she says sometimes when she gets in the car, instead of "movie," and she hands me the remote in the morning after breakfast and says, "TV!" (sometimes TB) as she knows it is time for Sesame Street.
• Makeup: This is what we call her Aquaphor that we use on her face (also arms and legs, but then it's "lotion" which, I know...it's confusing). Anytime she sees the container come out, she yells "makeup!" and occasionally it sounds like "nakeup" for some reason.
• Bath: If we forget to close the bathroom door, she stands at the side of the tub, knocks on it, and says, "Bath" over and over until someone removes her or complies with her request.
• Diaper: Everytime we change her, we ask, and she answers. And if she gets into the diaper bag and empties it, she labels each one as well.
• Brush: A comb or brush gets called a brush. And she will take it and attempt to comb/brush whatever hair is near. She usually tries to do her own RIGHT after I've done pigtails or something nice and neat.
• Shoes/socks: These are favorites of hers. She taps on them and labels them as we put them on her or if they are left on the floor. And if we put them both in front of her and ask her to give us one or the other, she will get it right. I love that!
• Hat: This one almost always is both a sign and spoken at the same time. And it usually comes up when Daddy shows up with one on.
• Pat pat: This one is for Kinlee. She will lay her hand on K's belly and then lift just her fingers and pat, telling us what she's doing. I think it's quite interesting that she doesn't lift her whole hand.
• Glasses: She occasionally will just touch her glasses and label them. Or when she's around Grandma or others with glasses, she'll label them and grab, but she's better about not taking them off of the person. She also says "glasses on" when we put hers on in the morning.
• Mommy: She has taken to patting me on the arm and saying it, just the last few days. She doesn't use it to request my presence yet, like from her crib or anything.

A few other fun things that we do every day are her ABCs, when I say each and she repeats them all. She's now able to give the following letter on about 6 of them. We also work on numbers 1-10 (10 is her fave), and she will do 2 and 3 when given 1 to start with. And she now has a few animals that she knows sounds for: Cow, Sheep, Cat, Bear, and Horse. She can say the word and then answer, "What's a ____ say?" with the right sound. Bear is our favorite, because she says "raaooor" with a very bored and un-scary tone....a very mild bear, for sure.

We are very pleased that she's doing so well. As most of you know, every kid is different, including kids with DS. Every kids has strengths and areas that they struggle with more. Braska's strength is her speech/communication, whereas gross motor (walking, standing) is her area of great struggle. No matter how that changes or evolves, we'll still celebrate all the accomplishments and continue to work on areas that need more help.

I hope to have video to share of some of this soon!

1 Month

Is it true? Can it be? One month old!


That's worth doin' a jig!


Miss KiKi spent some time resting in the big chair with her little protector today.


Highlights this month: Birth! And finding a workable schedule, feeding "alternatives" (see post below), lots of introductions, and her first smiles just in the last few days (pics soon)...fun!

We made it to one month in good shape, and it kinda went quick! Here's to many more...

Finding a groove

**FYI--There is a picture link to Kinlee's blog in the left margin below Braska's picture link. For those of you who wanted a direct connection...there ya go!**

I'm really not keeping up with this blogging stuff like I'd hoped, but hey...what else is new!? Me? Learning something different than I had planned? No way! I know there are a particular few of you who especially enjoy these epiphanies of mine....so go right ahead. The girls are both in their beds sleeping right now, I just got out of the shower, and I've got about 40 minutes to say hello to blogworld and pick up the living room before the PT gets here.

How are we? That is the most popular question. Depending on it's context, there are several answers...

Physically--We are all well. I'm feeling pretty good, much better than I have for months since all that pregnancy aching is gone. The girls have been healthy. M is finally feeling better after having a couple rounds of frustrating symptoms. My net gain for the pregnancy was 8 pounds, and I've lost 22 or so as of the 3-week mark, so I can't complain. Now just to get my appetite in order... I've been famished lately! Breastfeeding is not a topic I'm one to discuss, usually, but it's going well and I'm even storing up a supply in the freezer for later, so that's encouraging. I did learn a valuable lesson about what I eat affecting Kinlee... poor kid.

Mentally--I'm good! Red Raspberry Leaves capsules ROCK! For being such a skeptic about herbal remedies and such, I'm sure a believer in this particular one. If you've got hormone-related symptoms, either with PCOS, pregnancy (morning sickness!!), PMS, postpartum, or whatever, try these. They can't hurt you (according to physician and pharmacist that I consulted) and in my case, and several others that I've now come to hear from, they have been amazing! I've not had any panic since the day I started them, and after the following day, I've not had much of the anxious stuff at all. That's really really really great in my book! The dose on the bottle is 2 capsules per day, but I started with 3 twice a day when I was at my worst, then I've dropped down to 2 twice a day right now, soon to drop to the maintenance 2 per day. Again, this was checked out with the pros. (Now, having worked in medicine for many years, I have to add the disclaimer that I'm not making any guarantees and I'm not a doctor... but if your issues are hormonally driven...I'd say give it a try!)

Maternally--I'm slowly figuring out how to be the mom to two girls, how to have time to be a wife, and how to sleep in small nuggets of time. In all honesty, I think we have been way blessed and fortunate. Kinlee is SO good, and she is much like her sister in ways that many swore wasn't possible. She's very easygoing, rarely cries unless she's hungry, and then it's such a quiet and short-lived cry. She sleeps well in her crib ,and at night she's taken to a 4 hour schedule for the most part, and I'm loving that. Both the girls travel well when we need to go out. Kinlee is happy to have a bottle or the "real thing" either one and does great with both, so what's not to like about that?!? I am sure there will be days when I crumble and want to run away, but thankfully, the last week or so has been quite manageable.

**Ok, both girls just woke up at the same time, so I'll have to adjust... time to wrap up**

Overall, we're just finding our way to figuring out how to be a happy family of four. So far, so good. Again, thanks so much to all of you who have sent cards and gifts and goodies of all kinds. We SO appreciate you all, and one day I might get caught up on my thank-you cards!!

Back from Grammy's

I had a good time at Grammy's. I played with Auntie Joy alot, and I practiced my eating with Grammy. I've been eating some little bits every day that Grammy was at our house and when I was at her house. That's right... eating! I'm still only taking a little bit, but it's pretty yummy and Grammy and Mommy say I'm doing a good job!

Here's some pictures from Grammy's house when she made me some carrots. They were good!

(Mommy note: She is really doing well, and we're cautiously optimistic. If you've followed Miss Stubborn for a while, you know that she tends to do things that are encouraging, when it comes to food, and then she just quits it all. So we usually are a bit skeptical that new things like this will last, but she's been consistent now for close to three weeks. AND she's doing it for me, which is a good sign. She generally eats well in these phases for my mom and occasionally a therapist, but never for me. At this point, she's eating two to three times a day, about 3 tablespoons of food each time, either applesauce, yogurt, or pudding. I'm glad, and I'm doing my best in this new period of busyness and sleeplessness to keep up with very regular feedings. So far so good... we'll see how it goes as we move forward. We're celebrating this progress, though. I'm thrilled that she's taken these steps!)

On Sunday, after church, Grammy and Papa took me to see Mommy and Daddy and Kinlee. I was very glad to see Daddy especially! We had some lunch and then we came home.


Well, we didn't go home right away. First, we went to meet Baby Xander, my new cousin. He's just one week younger than Kinlee. He's pretty cute!


Then we went home because we were having friends come over. Oh, I forgot to tell you about my cute hair. Grammy put little braids in my hair, and Mommy and Daddy thought they were really great when they saw me at the restaurant! They're kind of messy here, but we'll do them again soon and take better pictures.

Our friends Amber and Katelyn came over with their parents to meet Kinlee and they brought us dinner, too! The girls are so funny. They were dancing and we played alot!

Improvement is nice

She's picked up a bit on the feeding, so that's good. She's been performing biological functions consistently, so that's good.

She's still cute, so that's good, too. There's more info on her blog if you feel the need...oh, and pics are there too, of course.

I'm tired, so it's time to attempt one more feeding and off to bed for a bit.

Late-breaking news...we've found a way to wake her to eat. Give her to her Daddy. She seems to not be so fond.

Home sweet home

It's so nice to be home. I love my bed. And I love my recliner. And, well...it's home.

Kinlee is doing well. Yesterday she had a day of almost no eating, and she didn't produce her required number of wet diapers. (You might have seen the post on my blog...I think she decided she didn't want to be talked about like that.) We gave her an ultimatum, and she responded. Good little girl. We were finally able to wake her enough for her to eat before bed, and she had a good feeding. She slept 4 hours, and we got her up and awake enough to feed again. Then back to sleep for 4 more. I cannot complain. I enjoyed the sleep, let me tell ya! (It's partially due to my mom letting Kinlee sleep next to her, as I wake with every coo and noise she makes. Same reason I can't sleep with Braska in my room either.)

Today, she's fed ok and she's napping very well. She had a little bit of a sunbath to try to prevent any jaundice issues. So far, we're in good shape there. Her "output" is getting more in line with where we want it, so I'm feeling good about things.

And by popular request....here's some more pics for you to enjoy.

From Tuesday... little skinny hands with LONG fingers. Everyone in the delivery room commented on her hands right after her feet... maybe we're just used to Braska's cute little short ones.


And wrinkly knees. I just think they're funny.


She was not a big fan of the going home outfit.


Doing a little sunnin' today.

Giving us the indication that we might need to have a particular talk about not smoking, earlier than usual.

Hmmmmm...same deal, different daughter

We're home, with the all clear. How are we??

Let's see, does this sound familiar?

Newborn girl. Content to sleep all day and night. Not interested in food. Won't wake to eat. Doesn't wake crying when hungry at night. Doesn't complain for diaper change. Doesn't cry when getting shots.

Yeah. Good times. At least this time there's no heart issue...

All in all, it wouldn't be a bad deal if it weren't for that nutrition and necessary fluid intake thing. We shall see if things improve on the feeding homefront very soon. Otherwise, we'll have to take the next steps.

I'm totally fine with the contentedness and good demeanor, don't get me wrong! Just need to eat enough to sustain. She's down to 6 lb 12 oz. One super skinny little thing, that's for sure, with the 21.5 inches.

We're employing every type of waking trick. It works enough to see the eyes, make her a little whiny, and then about 60 seconds after she is getting food, g'night and thanks for playing.

So we'll see... she's awfully cuddly with all this sleeping, though. That's not so bad.