So Advanced!

Did I mention how advanced she is? I’ll get to her momentous achievement in a moment. smile wink

Earlier this month I was traveling to Winnipeg, Canada on business. Yes, Winnipeg in November. Brrrr. Gene and Amelia smartly stayed home while I wondered if she would notice I was gone for four days. A few nights into my trip, Gene told me she dropped a toy that made a loud crashing noise. This tripped the glass break alarm on our home alarm system. It’s just a quick ‘beep beep’ and is the same sound each door makes when it’s opened. After hearing the two beeps from dropping her toy, Amelia ran toward the front door looking for me to walk through it. Yep, she missed me. smile wink

OK, now for her two firsts for the day.

1) After 15 months, she finally got her first ear infection. This diagnosis followed a weekend full of fevers, runny nose, and SIX new teeth. Thanksgiving this year was not fun at our house.

2) You already heard a few weeks ago about peeing in her new toilet just a few days after we bought it. Well, tonight, I’m proud to say she pooped in it! Now that’s cool!

smile wink

Time?

First Birthday at Green Lake
Long Beach Kite Festival
Picking Tomatos in Mom's Garden
Running Through the Pumpkin Patch
One Happy Pink Octopus for Halloween

Not sure what happened to the past few months? Since Amelia’s first birthday, we’ve been at a constant sprint. It seems even busier than the first year. Here are a few pics of what we’ve been up to.

She walks 100% of the time, except when she throws herself on the department store floor while throwing a tantrum.

Last night she opened the lid to her new potty AND actually peed in it. We’ve only had it two days. We were amazed and are convinced that our almost-15-month-old is the most advanced child in the world.

She eats all table food; basically whatever we’re eating. No special meals are prepared in our house.

She’s read every board book in her library at least 100 times. She’ll just sit down in the middle of the floor, grab four books, and look intently and laugh at each page. She also does this in her crib in the morning while I’m getting ready for work. Did I mention how advanced she is?

First Birthday

The birthday girl enjoying her first bite of cake,

after neatly eating all the frosting.

Yum!

Want some?

Less than four hours later!

And Now She Walks!

Grandma Jean's back yard

Beach at Malibu

Vacation? Well, it was anything but that. Amelia kept us on our toes the entire twelve days. The second day of our trip she decided to walk. Her first steps were in her Great Grandma Jean’s living room for all to see. She’s still a weeble wobble, but in the past week has made it up to about twenty steps at a time.

We had a delightful time celebrating Grandma Jean’s 90th birthday in Monrovia. It was great to see everyone for what turned out to be a terrific family reunion. We also enjoyed a visit with Grandpa John and family in Phoenix.

This new mom and dad are tired. We now need a vacation from the vacation. Amelia’s even tired. She took a 90 minute nap today on her first day back at school.

Before, During, & After

It was well past the time for a first haircut when we arrived at the salon on Saturday.

Pics

And Now She Sleeps!

Since starting "school" on March 1, the most Amelia has slept there is about 30 minutes in a day. It doesn't matter if she's there for a three hour day or a six hour day; she just doesn't sleep at school. My theory is that since she's my daughter she's a very social being. There's simply no time to sleep when she has the option to play with her friends.

Today she slept for 2 1/2 HOURS! I sure hope she's not getting sick. For the moment we'll chalk it up to a growth spurt.

She Stands!

Yep, Amelia decided to stand all by herself last Saturday afternoon. It just so happened that she was trying out her brand new wading pool for the first time, it was 90 degrees in Seattle, and she was wearing a polka-dot bikini! Nice! She just stood up out of the inch of water she was sitting in like it was nothing. Now she's practicing her new trick non-stop.

Photos to come :)

Time Flies!

Where has the month gone? Our family was sick for nearly an entire month. Then my dad joined us for a quick weekend visit; very fun! Amelia is now over eight months old and we can’t even believe it. I’m already thinking of ideas for her birthday party. Actually, I think we’ll have more than one party. Doesn’t everyone do that?

Last week she was exposed to Chicken Pox at her school. Two days later we’re still pox-free. Keep your fingers crossed. Thursday, May 10th we head to Children’s Hospital to meet her team of hematologists. The responsible parent in me says to call ahead to ensure she’s safe to be up there with her recent exposure. There are a lot of very sick children there who certainly don’t need chicken pox. I feel fortunate that we’re only going in for a consultation and a blood draw.

Enjoy the pics. I love the Easter dress and hat!

Definition of Hereditary Spherocytosis

Yep, it's official: mom passed it on to baby.

Hereditary spherocytosis: A genetic disorder of the red blood cell membrane clinically characterized by anemia (Kirsten's entire life), jaundice (yellowing) (Amelia had this at birth) and splenomegaly (enlargement of the spleen) (Kirsten had an ultrasound last month confirming an enlarged spleen).

In HS the red cells are smaller, rounder, and more fragile than normal. The red cells have a spherical rather than the biconcave-disk shape of the normal red cell. These rotund red cells (spherocytes) are osmotically fragile and less flexible than normal red cells and tend to get trapped in narrow blood passages, particularly in the spleen, and there they break up (hemolyze) leading to hemolytic anemia.

The clogging of the spleen with red cells almost invariably causes splenomegaly. The breakup of the red cells releases hemoglobin and the heme part gives rise to bilirubin, the pigment of jaundice. The excess bilirubin leads to the formation of gallstones, even in childhood, There is also often iron overload due to the excess destruction of iron-rich red cells.

Hereditary spherocytosis is most common in people of northern European ancestry. It often shows up in infancy or early childhood, causing anemia and jaundice. The bone marrow has to work extra hard to make more red cells. So, if in the course of an ordinary viral illness, the bone marrow stops making red cells, the anemia can quickly become profound. This is termed an aplastic crisis.

Laboratory studies show evidence not only of many spherocytes but also increased numbers of reticulocytes (young red blood cells), hyperbilirubinemia (increased blood levels of the jaundice pigment bilirubin due to the breakup of the red cells) and increased osmotic fragility of the red cells.

HS is due to a deficiency of a protein called ankyrin. Ankyrins are cell membrane proteins (thought to interconnect integral proteins with the spectrin-based membrane skeleton.) The ankyrin of red blood cells (erythrocytic ankyrin) is called ankyrin-R or ankyrin-1. It is represented by the symbol ANK1.

The HS gene, that for ANK1, has been mapped to chromosome 8 and, specifically, to chromosome band 8p11.2. HS is inherited as a dominant trait so, if a person with HS reproduces, their child (irrespective of whether it is a boy or girl) has a 50:50 chance to have HS (At least Amelia got Gene's blue eyes).

The treatment of hereditary spherocytosis is to remove the spleen (splenectomy). Although the red cell defect persists, the breakup of the red cells (hemolysis) ceases. Splenectomy, however, is a hazard in young children. Young children without a spleen are at increased risk for overwhelming sepsis (bloodstream infection), particularly with the pneumococcus bacteria. Splenectomy is therefore usually postponed if possible until the age of 3 years. Before having a splenectomy, anyone with HS should have the pneumococcal vaccine. Persons with HS (or another cause of brisk ongoing hemolysis) should take supplemental folic acid.

The prognosis (outlook) after splenectomy is for a normal life and a normal life expectancy.

Source: http://www.medterms.com

Oh well; I've lived up to this point undiagonosed. This way she'll have an explanation instead of all the mystery.

I'm Not Napping!

Amelia is now standing in her crib. She pulls up and chews the paint off the railing. Yuck!

Sick Sick Sick

Amelia finally got sick. First it was a fever of 103 for three days, followed by a rash on her upper body for several more days. She was diagnosed with a common (and completely unheard of to us) childhood illness called Roseola. Who knew?

Just as she was feeling better and Mom got to go back to work, green gunk started collecting in her eyes. Now she’s on antibiotic drops to cure her eye infection.

This was her first month at school, and likely where she got all these bugs. I hope the second month finds Amelia feeling much better. Besides her illness, she also got her first two teeth this last month. She’s growing!

New Mom - Healthy Baby

Well, today didn't go as planned. I dressed up Amelia for her school pictures today. Yes, we call it school instead of day care. It's easier on our hearts. We're certainly not worried about her care as the place is fabulous; we simply feel guilty. So we'll call it school.

This is only her second week and she LOVES it. She hasn't shed a tear yet and the only downside is that she's having so much fun she doesn't want to nap. We get a very tired and sometimes cranky kid to play with for the evening.

So I dressed her up for her pictures this morning and then thought we would just swing by Children's Hospital real quick for her blood draw. Am I dense? Apparently. Three hours later with one screaming baby with three needle pokes in her arms, I'm on my way home to start the peace treaty!

She's napping now and has been for over two hours. She did not have a good time this morning.

Now don't panic about the Children's Hospital visit as she was probably the healthiest kid there today. Remember my diagnosis during pregnancy of Hereditary Spherocytosis (June 14, 2006 blog post)? We're checking to see if Amelia inherited it. There's nothing really to it other than a bit of anemia and possibly an enlarged spleen. Better to know now rather than a surprise diagnosis during pregnancy.

Good thing the photographer at school has a two day gig. We'll catch them tomorrow.

Six Months Old Already?

February was a big month for Amelia. After reading the blog, my father promptly purchased an airline ticket and came to visit for the weekend. We had a fabulous time just relaxing and laughing with Amelia. She’s so very happy. I’m pleased to report that she has now met every one of her grandparents. Next we’ll focus on meeting cousins.

She ate her first food, winter squash, in the presence of Papa. She has now moved on to peas and sweet potatoes. Fruit is next on the list. She prefers to take the spoon from you and feed herself with it. What a mess!

Last Friday, February 23, Gene proudly announced that we have a tooth. I ran downstairs, inspected her gums myself, and confirmed that a tooth was breaking through. That’s when I began to sob. My baby has a tooth!?!? How can this be? The time is going by just too fast. You couldn’t really see it for several days, but now it’s a beautiful pearly white getting taller each day. It’s official – I’m the mother of a baby with a tooth.

Our dear little baby is resting at the moment; recovering from her series of four immunizations today. It was her six month well baby visit. Here are her official stats.

Birth - 8 lb. 1 oz. weight & 21 1/4 in. long

2 months – 10 lb. 12 oz. weight (50%) & 22 3/4 in. long (75%) & 15 1/8 in. head (40%)

4 months – 13 lb. 3 oz. weight (45%) & 24 7/8 in. long (85%) & 15 7/8 in. head (35%)

6 months – 14 lb. 9 oz. weight (25%) & 25 7/8 in. long (70%) & 16 1/2 in. head (40%)

As you can see, we have a tall yet petite little gal on our hands!!!

The Kid can Travel

Amelia is now a pro at air travel. We recently made a very special trip to Arizona and California to introduce her to her Grandfather and Great Grandmother. She’s now met all her grandparents except one – my Dad! We had a great time with family and enjoyed a bit of sunny weather in Monrovia, CA.

She’s a big girl now as she rides in her stroller sitting up. No more baby here. This kid can also move across rooms like it’s nothing. We’re definitely entering a new stage. The full crawl is only weeks away and we’re not ready.

Besides sifting through rental receipts to complete our taxes, we’re diving into our home remodel/update head first. After two years of getting nothing done, we’re hiring out for it. We’re simply too busy enjoying Amelia. The yard is well underway and the contractors will be showing up soon to rehab both bathrooms and the kitchen. It’s all very exciting.

Enjoy the pics!

Winter in Seattle

Second snow? Third snow? Who’s counting. Amelia has enjoyed lots of snow during her first winter.

How else has Miss Lowry been spending her time? She’s rolling over in all directions. She’s also crawling around the living room; the early crawling which could be better described as a caterpillar move. Each morning you never know which area of her crib she’ll be occupying. She turns her head to her name and constantly laughs when talked to. She’s such a delight. I didn’t want to put her to bed last night because we were having so much fun playing.

Her next adventure will be her first airplane flight to visit lots of grandparents and great grandparents in two different states.