Crawling ... sort of

Last weekend Elizabeth finally decided to give crawling a try. She was trying to stand up on her own from sitting position -- put her hands down on the floor, straightened legs, on all fours -- but propelled herself forward instead and realized she could crawl! But crawling is still her second preference to walking. Crawling is a means to move herself towards a place where she can pull up, stand and walk by holding on to something. If there is something across the room that she wants, instead of crawling directly over to it, she'll crawl to the nearest object (chair, wall, furniture, etc.), pull herself up, and figure out a way to walk to the object by holding on to something, of course.

Last Sunday, Mother's Day, she was trying to crawl and fell face forward on the hardwood floor. Poor little thing had a boo boo - her top teeth cut the inside of her top lip. There was so much blood that we thought she had lost a tooth in the incident. Ed had to help hold her down so I could put an icy paper towel on the cut to slow the bleeding. Ed turned out the "Little Red" music video she loves so much, and that quieted her down. We watched it over and over so she would stay calm while we got the bleeding under control.

This morning she cruised around the bottom floor of the house all by herself. She held onto walls, furniture, whatever she could to make her way through the rooms. Ed and I had a hard time keeping up with where she had moved. One minute she's in the living room, the next minute she's in the kitchen pulling out all the items from her bag and scattering them all over the floor. She had a ball.

Elizabeth's taken a few unassisted steps at a time. She's just working up the courage to completely let go!

Why'd the Duck Cross the Road?

Answer: to get away from Elizabeth's reckless driving

Baby Steps

Elizabeth's taking baby steps to becoming a stepping baby!

Little over two weeks ago she started pulling herself up in her crib, and now she's obsessed with standing up whenever, wherever (assisted, of course).  She always wants to grab my hands, sleeves, pants legs, and try pulling herself up.  And she doesn't much allow you to sit her down; little girl stiffens those legs and insists on standing!  And the little daredevil has no qualms about letting go of her support to bend over and pick up a desired object (toy cell phone, Curious George, my iphone), which usually involves some quick response on my part so she doesn't land on her head.

Yesterday evening she was in one of her "I'm absolutely thrilled with life" moods: laughing and happy screaming, smiling from ear to ear, doing her little dance (shaking her head from side to side and moving her little body). Last night she added a few new moves -- stomping her little feet up and down (almost like a little jump). And lo and behold she actually took a few little steps ... backwards.  Yep, one foot behind the other. The kiddo definitely has her own way of doing things. She did her moonwalk twice last night.

Which leads to tonite's milestone: she took about 5 steps (supported, of course) forward! She and I had just finished playing together while she sat in her rocking chair when Ed came home from work.  I stood her up on the floor, and he came over to greet her and took her by her hands to see if she would walk to him. And by golly she did!! Proud moment for all 3 of us.  She did it two more times this evening. I think she was pretty pleased with herself.  I know I was!  I do believe we're skipping the evolutionary step of crawling and heading straight to the walking.

Pretty soon this gal's going to be all over the place. Ay caramba, not ready for that just yet. Gotta get those gates up.

Thumb-Sucking Yum

Elizabeth has unofficially declared herself a thumb sucker. In the last few days her position of preference for drifting off into dreamland is with that cute little digit shoved lovingly between her pouty lips. But in the ongoing battle of paci vs. thumb/fingers, she's remains a Switzerland and diplomatically accepts both offers to pacify herself. Can't say that I blame her. Why turn down a perfectly good silicone nipple when it's shoved in your mouth? And when the paci lands on the floor, why not substitute a finger? Heck, I'm game for whatever keeps her happy, at least until I see an astronomic orthodontic bill in my future.

Splish Splash

Elizabeth's second pool visit was a success. Once again she didn't mind the water and seemed to enjoy relaxing in the warm bathwater pool. This time she had a nice new baby floaty thingy so she could be more independent in the water (i.e. so ma and pa didn't have to hold her the entire time). It's still a little big for her, but with some help from mom and dad she did just fine. She just laid back, shoved her hand in her mouth, and floated along as if she was a rafting pro. (Takes after her mom, ... er, at least in regard to the rafting part). This time she donned her green and pink suit that was a gift from her great grandmother.

Now if the weather would only cooperate and not be so blazing hot, we could actually enjoy more pool visits.

Sittin' Pretty

Time for something new.

Elizabeth was bored. After several months of playing with the same toys and sitting/lying on the same baby gear (bouncy seat, activity mat, etc.), Elizabeth was ready for a new form of entertainment. She whines quickly after lying down on her activity mat: it's old news now. The bouncy seat is often too restrictive: she wants to move around. The swing is acceptable for a short time. She's been engaging her ab muscles lately and showing interest in learning to sit up. And since her neck muscles are strong now, and since she's mastered the art of keeping her noggin up high, the therapist gave us her blessing yesterday to introduce Miss Eliza Beth to Bumbo.

And boy does she think she's hot stuff in her new Bumbo seat. She can sit up all by herself (with the help of Bumbo, of course) and view the world from a whole new perspective.

She's still a bit wobbly in it, but she enjoyed taking her brand new Bumbo for a test drive today.

Hmm, decisions decisions.

Keys. Or rattle.  

Keys. Or rattle.

The Call

It came. Yesterday. Finally.

The phone call with the news that we'd been waiting to hear for months. 15 weeks and 5 days to be exact. Since she was less than a week old. The news that dictates Elizabeth's dietary needs and feeding habits for the rest of her life. The news that decides how long she can sleep at one stretch. The news that determines how long we can sleep, too. And how we care for her when she's ill. And the heightened anxiety for us as her parents of the potential health crises looming just above our heads if she eats just a few seconds too late.

The wait is over. Finally.

One abnormal newborn screen result and three rounds of tests later, and we finally have a definitive answer: she's a carrier. Just a carrier. She has the VLCAD gene, but she doesn't have the actual disorder. Her skin biopsy test results came back normal. We can breathe easy. And sleep; we can all three sleep. Finally. Amen with joy! Praise God. At this point any news - whether affirmative or not - is praiseworthy. Thank you God for resting our anxieties and answering our prayers. Elizabeth is just a VLCAD carrier and nothing more ... except that she's everything to us.