Tiny Beast is two months!  TWO!  The time has been flying by, and I’m already 2/3 through my leave. There really isn’t enough time that I could spend with her.

She’s getting so big, so fast. At her 8 week appointment, she was just over 24 inches tall, and almost 11.5 pounds. She’s happiest when she’s standing, and has found her hands and the art on the walls to be much more exciting than eating. She plays and coos and smiles at us and is just an amazing kid. She screams like a howler monkey and farts like a trucker, and she’s everything I could ever want in a daughter.

We sit together and snuggle between naps, and we read books together. She sits on my lap while I write and on Nick while he plays video games. She’s always interested in what we’re doing and what the animals are doing. Much like her momma she doesn’t sit still, fidgeting during feedings and playing with anything she can get her hands on. Her dreams are sweet, and we catch her smiling and laughing while she sleeps.  We’re lucky in that she sleeps pretty well, mostly through the night these days.

This month we’ve had a wonderful photo shoot with a friend and local photographer, Michelle Smith-Lewis, whose work you can check out here. We loved working with her and I highly recommend her when you need a talented, patient photographer. We’re also getting out more, and have been having fun between the feeds and the pumping sessions.  It’s been nice to bring her out, to see friends and to get a routine in place for at least one day a week that isn’t breast milk oriented. I took Izzy to the Veteran’s Cemetery so I could visit my Dad. It’s still strange to me that they won’t ever meet. Next week, we’re taking out first road trip to Cama Beach to stay in a cabin by the water. I can’t wait to hike along the beach with her and sit under a blanket and watch the waves crash.

We continue to work with the specialists at Children’s to get her off the feeding tube. There are good days and less good days. She’s getting about one-third to half of her feed by bottle consistently, which is where she’s been for some time. The goal is to have her at 100% of her 4 ounce feeds by bottle before we can let go of the tube feed process. It’s been a slower road than I had hoped, but if this is the worst thing we have to deal with, so be it. We have an appointment next Friday to see what we can do to increase her bottle feeds. One step at a time. A related goal is to get her weight up. She’s not gaining as fast as the pediatrician would like, despite adding extra calories with formula to her full breast milk feeds, we’ll be working with the dietitian at Children’s early next week on that part, along with her Specialist and the nurses. I can’t say enough how amazing Children’s has been. Their knowledge, empathy and coordination of care has been remarkable. We are so lucky to have them working with Izzy.

Her test results continue to come back strong, her CO2 and her oxygen levels are right where they should be, her developmental targets are still being hit on time, if not earlier. She continues to amaze me as well her doctors. Again, we’re still so lucky.

I hope you all are doing well, and that life is full of good updates for you all as well!

Best,
Raina, Izzy and Nick.