We learn two new tricks.

I have just discovered how to add pictures to the posts. I choose this one as everyone is amazed how much Evy looks like me and not like her did. This is a pic of Evy and her Aunt Wendy (Nate's sister). As you can see she has a little bit of his family in her too.

This post is about two tricks I learned that are making our life together even better. First is the use of one of those plastic bracelets to mark which side Evy nursed on last. My memory was not working and the diaper pin on the bra was too 1970's. I got some advise to switch my wedding ring from hand to hand. Tried it. My wedding ring only fits on my left index finger (lucky for Nate). Anyway at about 2am this morning I remembered the orange "cause" bracelet I got at some "cause" benefit. It is perfect. I can were it while cooking and showering. Lastly I am promoting some "cause". Hooray for me.

The second trick is even better. When I lay Evy down for a nap I take my shirt off and lay it down with her. This has helped her a lot. It seems the smell of me is enough, in her sleepy state, to lull her back to sleep after the transfer. I read about this trick in a book I got from my sister Janet entitled "I Heard It Through the Playground." It is full of great little parenting nuggets. Now here is my twist in it that keeps me from doing laundry everyday (ok I still have to do laundry everyday), I put her down with the shirt I am wearing and take the shirt that is in her crib from last nap and put it back on (as long is it is not covered in spit-up). Way cool!!

Evy shares the luck of the preemie

Again a team that Evelyn is rooting for wins. Of course by rooting I mean mommy dressing her up in the teams logo. But this kid is 4-0. Twice Evelyn cheered the University of Utah to victories, once over rival BYU and once as the two time BCS buster over Alabama. She also helped daddy's beloved University of Arizona win its first bowl game in this century. Then she turned her sights on the pros, donning her stylish Steeler bib/onesie set for each victorious play-off game.

As you can see Evelyn gets her Steeler fandom from her dad. I am a Raider Fan myslef, but I am happy to let Evelyn grow up a Steeler fan like her dad (if she chooses to be so). In fact, I have forbidden her from becomeing a Raider fan. I do not wish this heartach on my worst enemy, well ok maybe on a Bronce fan, but certinatly not my daughter. The Steelers are a good team, they are steady and stable over time, just like Evy's dad. I concider his Steeler fandom to be a gift he is offering to her. And why not. Evelyn made it through preemiehood with grit and determination. She approaches any challenge with a fire in her belly, steel in her eyes and a little bit luck. This is the gift she is offering to us, and the teams we root for. As for the Raiders, there is always next year.

Evelyn's first report card

Last week we had a development team come and evaluate Evelyn. Even though she is six months she was being tested against a two month old, as she would be two months if she had been born on her due date. Her results are as follows:

Gross motor skills: 1 month
Fine motor skills: 1 month
Cognitive: 2 months
Expressive language: 3 months
Receptive language: 3 months
Social: 3 months
Self-Help: 3 months

As you can see we have a chatterbox on our hands. Nate is thrilled there will be two of us talking his ears off one day. No one in the team is too concerned with her slight delay in motor skills. Also, it was expected due to a brain bleed in her cerebellum. She will be visited every month to make sure she continues to show improvement. Already in the week since the eval she has started to grab at things and hold on to them. And of course she is chatting away.

Evy's New Years Resolution

Before I begin I want to update a previous post. Evy now sleeps at night and plays during the day. Her one very consistent sleep period is between 11 pm and 3 am. I followed my sister Sandy's advise on this. She advised me to not talk to Evy when she woke at night. She said to leave the room dark and only change and feed her, no other contact. As she is the mother of 5 and a NICU nurse as well I thought I would give it a try. She was right, soon Evy learned that night was to sleep and day was to play. Hooray!

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Now is the time of year we all sit down and try to make ourselves better, get a new start; we call it resolution season. I have a few myself. First, I want to make better lifestyle choices. Evy was born to two older parents. I want to make sure we are around to help her through all phases of her life. Second, I want to start investing in our future. We will be lucky to have Evy through college by the time we retire. Lastly, I want to be less sarcastic. I read once that sarcasm is the death of childhood. I want Evy's childhood to last as long as possible. Out of all my resolutions I think this will be the hardest to keep. My sarcasm has help me through many impossible life events, including my own lost childhood and the loss of my child, Leo. But these are not Evy's burdens and she should not have a mother so weighted down by them only sarcasm can lift her up.

It seems Evy too has made a resolution. No more naps. On New Years Days she didn't nap at all. Other days she naps for twenty minutes here half an hour there. It is as if one day she decided she was sleeping her life away. She went from sleeping 17-18 hours a day to 11-12. She seemed to go from a newborn to a six month old over night. She gets very tired and extremely grumpy, but she is just too stubborn to sleep. She wants to stay awake and play. Only problem is she still has the attention span and development of a 2-3 month old. Still she just reaches out to toys, she does not bring them to her mouth. The only places she can be "left" for any amount of time are in her swing looking at the lights or in her bounciung chair in front of the mirror. Neither of these things tire her out. So I have come up with a little exercise routine we do while she is on the floor for tummy time. We stretch her muscles and practice sitting, rolling and crawling. I use her toys and books as props allowing her to interact with them for brief periods between phsyical play. It seems to be working. The last couple of days we have had one nap of 2+ hours. Again, Hooray!

The Christmas tree is staying.

Now that we have a little one, Nate and I decided to buy a Christmas tree and decorate the place up a bit. This is the first time we have done so in our 10+ years together. If you divide the population into two groups: Those who say Ho Ho Ho and those who say Bah Humbug this time of year, well Nate and I have always been in the later. Of course a baby changes your life and this year we actually caught a bit of the Ho Ho Hos. So we started a family tradition of decorating a tree at Christmas time.

Our place is small so we got a 4 ft. pre-lit tree and put it on the computer table. The placement turns out to be perfect . The tree sits just to the right and a bit above Evelyn's swing. As it turns out our little sensation seeker loves Christmas lights. And when I say love, I mean love. No matter her mood the sight of Christmas lights cheer her up. I have caught her sitting in her swing moving her arms and legs about babbling up at them as if their twinkle was created just for her. Those lights have saved my sanity more then once and as I type this now Evy is reaching up to the lights as she drifts in and out of sleep.

So Nate and I have made the only decision two rational adults can make, The Christmas tree is staying...

Extreme Evy is Nursing Exclusively

Evy has had a busy week. Sbe had several doctor appointments and her one social event this season, the family Christmas party. At the party Evy met her cousin Shayla, who is two months younger and twice her size. It was fun to compare the two. For the most part Evy is about a month behind Shayla developmentally, but Evy is the first of the two to roll over. It is nice to have someone in Shayla's mom Sara to talk to about newborn baby stuff. It is also nice that for the most part Evy is a normal newborn. She is so normal that the pediatrician has given his permission to not supplement her breast milk anymore. This means that Evy is free to nurse exclusively. I cannot believe we finally made it to this point. Five months ago when I was waking up at 2 am to pump breast milk for a baby who was not able to digest it, I thought this day would never come. Two months ago when I was waking up at 2 am to drive to the hospital to try and nurse a baby who had no desire to latch on, I thought this day would never come. And two weeks ago when I was waking up at 2 am to go upstairs and warm a bottle for a screaming infant, I thought this day would never come. But come it did.

Needless to say because of the difficulty in keeping your milk and teaching a preemie to latch most preemies never make it to this point. Some even consider it yet another miracle. I don't know one way or another. I do know I was bound and determined to do what was best for Evelyn right from the start and pumping breast milk was what I could do. I have also been blessed with a great mentor and teacher in Evy's Grandma Clausen. She was the one who rented the hospital grade breast pump and she never once believed that a preemie could not learn to nurse. Also, my niece Becky, a great nurser herself, inspired me and planted the thought of the breast milk pie in my head, which made me laugh when times were tough. Also, I can't forget the great nurses and lactation specalist in the NICU. It was amazing but every time I came in and declaired I was going to stop trying to nurse the lactation specailist would show up for a pep talk. Lastly, I must thank Evelyn for being the most totally awesome preemie in the world. She continues to amaze me each day. She greedily slurps up as much milk and she can take in, gives a burp and goes back for more. Gotta love a kid who knows what she likes.

For anyone out there about to give up on nursing, please give it one more try. Search for teacher, mentors, specialists, and inspirations in your own life.

OK enough preaching. My baby just woke up and she is licking her lips. Gotta go nurse!

She is still up all night

Well so far the advise given by the doctor, to keep her awake more during the day so she will sleep at night is not working. You can set off a bomb under her during the day and she sleeps soundly. She can even sleep through a bath. She is, for whatever reason, a night owl. I think I will take the advise of my friend Bethany who recommended to stay awake when she is awake and sleep when she is sleeping. Maybe later I can bribe her with chocolate to stay awake during the day.

Cabin fever is starting to set in. Today is the Monday after Thanksgiving and I actually wish I was returning to work to hear about everybody's holiday. There are several things I miss about work:

1. I miss my coworkers. They laugh at my jokes and never wake me up to play at 2 am.
1a. I miss Danny. He is the best short order cook in town. He makes the best breakfast burritos.
2. I miss being a problem solver. I would talk to people all day long who were grateful for my help.
3. I miss the hustle and bustle of downtown.
4. Did I mention I missed Danny? He makes a killer chicken quesadilla too.

OK, enough with the pity party. Evelyn is pretty cool. And no one at work can claim to be a miracle. We discovered a cool website this week, http://www.wrapyourbaby.com/index.htm. I was in search of instructions on how to use a baby wrap I got at my baby shower. This site is great. It has great pics and directions. Best of all we have discovered a few ways to wrap her that keeps her quiet while I get things done, like write a blog. In short Evelyn is happy to be my main accessory. Check it out.