Well, again, the time has gone by to fast and we've been very busy, but I MUST update you on the latest with our changing and growing Ellie...in her Ellie-Gram...funny because Ben actually calls her Ellie Gram sometimes!
E - is for 80 degree weather that we had last week and couldn't let the opportunity to take our little princess on her first walk in her stroller! I was more nervous than the rest of Team Gramkow! Ellie loved it. She was looking around for all the new sounds - birds chirping, wind blowing, tree leaves moving - all those things she hasn't gotten to experience yet! I almost felt guilty for sheltering her this long, but well, that's what we needed to do!
L - is for laugh and ehhh sounds - yep, she's becoming more and more vocal! She giggles when her mommy and daddy tickle and blow on her neck and also pat a cake is still a good giggle prompter! She's also increasing her leg muscle speed, she never keeps socks on! Oh, and focusing and grabbing toys! It's so cool to watch her grab stuff!
L - This L is for lighter load! Yep, that's right Ellie's a few pounds lighter during the day because Dr.Duff said she doesn't have to wear the monitor during the day anymore! It's been so nice to not have to cart around too! I only carry the diaper bag and it feels so light! So we only strap her up to the monitor at night time. She has had a couple apneas during the night (little stinker), but we get to call back in a month to the Dr to see if we can discontinue at that point.
I - is for immunizations! Yep, more shots for Ellie at 6 months. I made Ben hold and comfort her because she cries a lot harder these days! She did not like it one bit! We are nearing the end of cold and flu season, PRAISE JESUS! Ellie won't actually get any more synagis shots. So prayers as we go into a season without synagis. Prayers also for our babysitter Lori. Bill, Lori and Bridget have all had Influenza Type A the past two weeks (well, one then the next) and are recovering! It's been a tad stressful as Ben and I have been watching Ellie in our crazy switching routine! Prayers that we'll be able to catch up with school and work stuff! Thanks too for a couple friends who were able to help out when Ben and my classes overlapped! Prayers too as Ellie goes back to Lori's and that all the bad germs would be gone from their place! ;)
E - is for eating! Yep! Ellie eats every three hours now and she's really taking off her her eating! We've almost officially converted over to ounces. I know..shock! She's averaging 4 to 6 ounces per feeding! Wahoo! She still eats sidelying some of the time though. AND Dr.Duff said we could let her sleep as long as she wanted over the night time! He's was so impressed that she's been doing so well staying healthy and gaining weight, that he was comfortable with us trying that! So the she's slept 3 nights in a row - EIGHT HOURS! Last night she only slept 6 hours, but that's ok, she went right back to sleep after that 6 am feeding! Wahoo! Oh, we're also going to wait maybe a month before starting some rice cereal. He wants her to get to eating 35-40 ounces a day before we start trying solids. She's getting there!
G - is for grams! Ellie weights 5800 grams! Ha ha..seems like a lot compared to the 1120 that she started out at! Whoa! At her last Dr. visit for her 6 month well check and shots, she weighed in at 12 lbs. 13 1/2 oz. (1 percentile) Length: 25 1/2 inches (30 percentile) and Head Circumference was 42 cm. (25 percentile) SHE'S ON THE GROWTH CHART FOLKS! But then Dr. Duff compared her with other preemies and she's actually weight: 35 percentile, length: 95 percentile and head circumference: 80 percentile.
R - is for Ready! Yep, we're getting ready for graduation to come! Ben did hear from Lockheed Martin and they want to move forward to the next step (after his first interview that went well). So apparently his info has been forwarded on to hiring managers. We're still waiting to hear back from them. We're praying Lockheed is where he'll be. He's pretty excited about the specific job titles there - he applied for about 6 different and said they'd all be interesting!
A - is for acid reflux. Dr. Duff said we should try next week, which is actually this week, to try her off of prilosec a couple days and see how she does. He said you'll notice if she still needs it!!! We haven't tried it yet!
M - is for Monkeys! Ellie got to go to the Zoo this past Sunday! She only was awake for the monkeys and then she fell asleep! Oh well! It was really windy too, so I had her stroller cover on the whole time anyway! But it was fun to be out in the beautiful sunshine with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Caryn and Uncle Wade and Cousins Cedric, Amelia, Lawton and Josiah!
That's awesome that she's big enough to make it onto the growth charts!! I thought they used different premie growth charts for the first full year or something, altough I really have no idea since I don't have a premie. Sounds like she's doing really well!! :) I want to meet her and Parker has been asking about when he gets to meet his future wife! ;)
ReplyDeleteLove the new pics and the update! I have the same diaper bag, by the way...I love it! Easter is coming...do you have plans? Will Ellie hunt for eggs or see a bunny?
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