Mira's last gymnastics class/Amelia's crawling!

Mira has been involved in gymnastics every Wednesday night for the past 2 months. She seemed to enjoy it for the most part, but it was hard for me to tell since parents aren't allowed to view the classes except for the first and last session. So imagine my excitement to be able to watch Mira "perform" at her last class this week. Here's a little video of her on the uneven parallel bars:



And a couple of photos for those of you who can't see the videos:




Next we will be doing "Kids in Motion" which is sort of like sports camp where they learn some athletic skills. Mira's done that one twice and really enjoyed it. We're trying a different class every quarter through the park and rec community courses. I think this fall we will try a Jazz, Tap, and Ballet class. We'll see how Mira likes it.

Amelia is officially crawling on her hands and knees now! This past week she really got the hang of it and is now unstoppable . . . and into EVERYTHING! Poor Mira really misses the time when Amelia would stay put when we put her down. Now she is crawling right over to Mira and whatever toy/puzzle/project she is playing with.

Amelia turned 10 months last Thursday. She is growing so fast! She's been teething for about 5 months, but we have yet to see a tooth poke through. The teething seems to have picked up this week, so hopefully soon one will show itself. Yesterday Amelia crawled into the kitchen and somehow got herself underneath her exersaucer. She didn't like it when she realized she couldn't get out again!

Good-bye my sweet cousins

Chesney and Logan are once again off to Australia. In the past three months, Mira and Amelia have gotten to spend lots of extra time with them. It was a sad day on Saturday when Mira saw her cousins for the last time before they move. She already can't wait for September when they will be back for a visit. So, good-bye to Chesney and Logan from Mira and Amelia. They will miss you so!

Goodbye (again!) to the Jahnke Family

Kelly had her official "Good-bye" party on Sunday. She had a really good turnout. In fact, she said that if anyone else had shown up, she would have run out of food! It was delicious food and great company. They are officially leaving on March 9, I believe.

Here are a few photos. All of them my kid in them. Sorry! But, hey, it's my blog!

With aunt Mandy, aunt Kelly, and uncle Justin:

With Grandpa Bob:

With uncle Jeff:


"I love my auntie Kelly. Why does she have to move so far away again?"

On the verge of officially crawling

For about 6 weeks now, Amelia has been able to get wherever she wants by rolling and scooting on her tummy. The other day, she officially got into her hands-and-knees crawling position. She still prefers the other method of moving around, but I think she'll switch to the other way soon.

Update: Amelia had her 9 month doctor appointment last week. She's weighing in at 18 1/2 pounds (50th percentile) and is 28 3/4" tall (80th percentile). Her head is 45 cm (75th percentile), so she's growing just great! We are still waiting for teeth, but she's been teething lately so hopefully one will appear before too long.

She's had her cap for 3 weeks now and is doing so wonderfully with it! She wears it a solid 21 hours a day and doesn't even notice it at all. We have an appointment tomorrow with the therapist to see how it's going, and we expect nothing but good things from it.

Mira is a star!

We always knew Mira would be a star, and today proved it. We went to the Playhouse Disney Live show at the Target Center and during the intermission, a show worker was making the rounds, talking to different kids (we were in the 2nd row, right in front of the stage). The woman who was talking to Mira asked her if she knew the "Hot Dog dance" from the show. Mira has seen it and so the woman asked Mira if she'd like to dance it on stage with her. We said it was okay and when the intermission was over, the woman took Mira and another little boy up on the stage and they danced the "Hot Dog" dance. I was so proud! The video shows you Mira's first stage appearance!

We're getting a rounder head!

Just a quick update: Amelia had an appointment last Thursday with the therapist to take a look at her head and to make sure her cap fit properly. It fits her very well! No red spots or anything. The only thing the therapist did to it was to give her a little more room on the forehead as it was sitting pretty low near her eyebrows. She was very happy to hear that Amelia took to the cap very well and that she is wearing it about 21 hours a day without complaints! She could already see some progress and said that Amelia must have had a growth spurt in the past week because she was feeling a bump on the back of Amelia's head, meaning she was already filling out the cap. We were told that if Amelia continues to wear it like she is, we should see the result we want in about 3 months! So we are hoping she is out of the cap by her first birthday on May 6.

So, all is well with the cap. Thanks to everyone who's been asking. I'll post more photos soon.
Michelle

A conversation in the car

Mira: Mom, can we go to Disney World again soon?
Me: Well, it's going to be a while. We need to save lots of money to go on that trip again.
Mira: You can have all the money in my piggy bank. Then we can go!

Did I mention that Mira's piggy bank contains approximately $35? What a sweet offer!

Oh, you clever girl!

Mira was watching a movie on TV today and Amelia was playing on the floor in front of her, babbling quite a bit. Mira went over, got Amelia's pacifer and said, "Amelia, here is your pacifier." She put it in Amelia's mouth, and I said, "Mira, I don't think Amelia needs her pacifier. She's not fussy." And Mira said, "But, Mom, I can't hear the movie!"

Now, that's smart thinking!

Fun family weekend!

My mom, sister, and her two kids came to spend the weekend with me since Chris had a work trip and Amelia was learning how to use her new cap. We had a great time, despite the weather. We took a trip to the Maple Grove Maze, an indoor playground here in town, then had lunch out. Mom graciously offered to watch all four of the kids while Kelly and I did a little shopping in the afternoon.

News on Amelia's cap: She did so great with it all weekend! I am very impressed with that little baby. She wore it 2 hours at a time on Saturday and during her naps as well, so I tried to see if she'd wear it overnight and she did! She is a trooper. So now we are on the schedule of 3-4 hours on, 1 hour off, wearing during naps and overnight. I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

Here are a few photos of the weekend:
Chesney and Logan enjoying the "Maze"


Mira and Logan at the "Maze"


Me and Amelia. Funny story: One man was looking at Amelia wearing her cap and asked me where I got it. I said, "Gillette's." He looked confused and I said, "Gillette's Children's Hospital." He thought it was a cap I had bought at a store to keep Amelia from bumping her head. He said his son is always getting bruises and bumps on his head and thought it was a good solution! I suggested a hockey helmet.


Mom, Chesney, Mira, and Amelia enjoying time at home:


Mira and Chesney had a true slumber party and slept together in Mira's bed. What a cute sight!


And Logan slept on an air mattress in my room:

Stylin'!

Here are some photos of Amelia's cap. So far she wore it for an hour this morning and did well with it. She primarily forgot she was wearing it most of the time. After her nap, she'll wear it for another hour, off for 1/2 hour, and so on all day. She won't sleep with it on tonight, but we'll see how she naps in it tomorrow and decide if she'll wear it Saturday night. Chris is out of town until Monday, so my mom and sister are staying for the weekend to help me out, so I think we'll try to get her to wear the cap overnight Saturday so that Sunday isn't too tiresome for me. We'll see how she does.

Amelia got her cap

Amelia received her CranioCap today at 2:00. The appointment took an hour as the therapist showed us how to put it on her, then we talked about the care and the schedule of the cap while we waited to see if any of the cap rubbed her head the wrong way. There were a couple of spots so the therapist adjusted it in the office and had Amelia wear it again for a few minutes to make sure it was comfortable.

As expected, Amelia fussed a little when the cap was put on, but forgot about it when distracted with a book or toy. It was right during her nap time, so she was a little fussier than usual. I suspect that she will take to the cap pretty easily and it won't be a big deal.

She needs to wear it 20 hours a day minimum. The therapist said if we stick to that schedule, Amelia will likely only have to wear the cap for 3 months. So 11 hours at night (7:30 pm - 6:30 am) then off for an hour, on for 3 hours, and so on until bedtime. Hopefully we'll get into a good schedule and the time will go quickly.

Since she didn't get the cap until later this afternoon, the therapist said we can start the schedule tomorrow. I took the day off from work to help Amelia adjust to it. We put a few stickers on it to make it girly. I'll post a photo when I can.

Mira visits the Children's Museum

Mira and I had a much-needed "Mommy and Mira Day" recently. We met my friend Marilee and her son John (daughter Audrey is due in 4 weeks!) at the Children's Museum in St. Paul. What a wonderful place! Room after room of new things to discover. Mira couldn't get enough. They had a great Sesame Street exhibit where we spent a bit of our time. It was really fun for her. I'd taken Mira about 1 1/2 years ago, but am not sure if she remembers that. Here are some photos of Mira enjoying our time together:

Just lazin' around

We've been having a nice post-Christmas lull lately. Out and about a little, but lots of quality time at home as well. Amelia recently started using a sippy cup. She's getting used to it but definitely prefers her bottle:


And, Chris and I are terribly sad to say, but Mira seems to be phasing out her naps. Our rule is that if she doesn't nap, she has to have quiet time in her room. In my mind, that means a quiet book on her bed, perhaps coloring or a puzzle. To Mira, it means getting into whatever drawers she has and putting on all her swimsuits or dresses. On this particular day, it meant putting all the barrettes she owns in her hair at once. How pretty! I think this could be a new trend.

And, of course, a photo of the girls together:

Best friends

Mira and Amelia are enjoying each other so much lately! Amelia smiles every time Mira is around, and Mira does her best to make Amelia laugh. Sharing toys is something we are working on, but I can tell they will be best friends. It will be so cute to see how they interact at ages 3 and 6. Here's a cute photo of the girls from today:

Amelia's getting a new . . . hat?

We had Amelia's appointment with Gillette's today. Dr. Wood examined Amelia and, while he doesn't recommend the CranioCap to parents one way or the other, he did tell us that Amelia's head is flatter than most that he sees and that due to her age it was unlikely to resolve itself. Based on that information, and the fact that the doctor said insurance does cover it 95 percent of the time, we decided to go ahead with the cap.

So they took some digital pictures of Amelia's skull and will fit the helmet from that. It was nice that they didn't need to do a plaster mold, which was common up until a year ago. Just a camera that made an outline of her head. The cap will be ready in 2 weeks, so we have an appointment on Feb. 7 to have her fitted for it. She'll wear it 22-23 hours a day for 3-4 months. It seems like a lot, but kids get used to the cap very quickly. They say it just feels like a hockey helmet. Snug, but not tight. It will have a gap in the back for her head to grow into, and there is a hole in the top for ventilation.

We'll decorate it cute with stickers! I saw on a blog a little girl with the same cap and her mom had put stickers on it that said, "What helmet?" I'm looking for a similarly cute saying for Amelia's cap. Any suggestions?

In the end, she should have a nice round head on which to grow her hair! Thanks for all the concern. I think this will go well.

Michelle

Amelia update

Chris and I have been concerned about Amelia's flat head for awhile now, so today we took her to the pediatrician to see if he thought we should see a specialist about it. After examining her, the doctor gave us the number of a specialist with Gillette's Children's hospitals. We're guessing Amelia will be diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly, which isn't as scary as it sounds. It's basically a flat head from lying in one position. We were hoping her head would round out after she started sitting up, but it hasn't quite as much as it should have. Most likely, Amelia will have to wear a CranioCap for a few months to round out her head. It's a painless helmet that helps the head become a rounder shape. We'll give more updates on Friday after her appointment.

Here's a link for more information (provided by Cousin Angie. Thanks, Angie!)
http://www.gillettechildrens.org/default.cfm?PID=1.3.6.4

Michelle

So pretty

Me: Mira, how did you get so pretty?
Mira: Because I look like you, Mommy.

Awww. What a sweet girl! (Okay, I confess I taught her to say that, but still, awwwww.)

Mira goes to gymnastics

Mira had her first gymnastics class tonight. She really enjoyed it! After 2 bathroom breaks and telling the instructor that she didn't want to do somersaults, she tackled the balance beam and the vault with confidence! She wants to go back tomorrow night, but alas, she'll have to wait until next week.






And here's a cute photo of Mira, Chesney, and Logan when Kelly and the kids came over this past weekend. We had a blast!

Amelia is on the move!

Amelia is on the verge of crawling! I've been looking forward to it for awhile, but now I'm not sure I'm quite ready! At least she waited until the Christmas tree was taken down. I figure we have a couple of weeks left until she gets really moving. Amelia is going to be a curious little one, into everything! Mira is already bemoaning the fact that Amelia can roll her way over to Mira's toys. Not a happy day for Mira when her baby sister gets faster.

Christmas at Grandma Adeline's

We had another Christmas a week ago at my Grandma Adeline's house. What a busy place! We counted and there were more than 60 people there this year! Grandma officially has 26 great-grandchildren now, thanks to the addition of Noah in December. And many, many of them were there. Lots of little kids running around the place, it was filled to bursting!

Santa came to Grandma's house this year, as he does every year. I remember when we were kids and we'd have to start singing right after dinner. It felt like we were singing for an hour or more before he finally arrived (which always coincidentally coincided with when the dinner dishes were finished!). Lately, the kids just need to knock out a couple of tunes before Santa comes (probably because now we use paper plates and there are fewer dishes!).

Amelia didn't cry on Santa's lap a mere week after she was terrified on his lap at my parent's house. I guess she considered them old friends at that point.

It was a great Christmas this year. Just one more on the 19th and our holidays will be complete. Then it's my birthday and Valentine's Day right after that. Love the holidays in the thick of winter to keep us out and about. Hope you are all well!

Michelle

A family photo:



Amelia and my aunt/Godmother Bonnie Kaye (Amelia gets her middle name from Aunt Bonnie as well as from her Grandma Diane):



Mira on Santa's lap. She has never cried on his lap!



Amelia remembering an old friend. No crying this week!