Fuddruckers and Such

Here she is at Fuddruckers! She is so good at sitting in a high chair these days. It makes it a lot of fun to take her out to eat. She usually gnaws on the table a bit, smacks her hands around and spends most of her time looking at other people. On this occasion there was another little baby girl (about 12 mos) at the booth next to us. They had a great time reaching for each other and making faces at each other. I gave her her first saltine cracker that night. She mostly waved it around, but did end up breaking off some pieces in her mouth. Now begins the incorporation of table foods into her diet. This is fun! Last night she palmed a piece of bread and WOULD NOT let it go. She wasn't interested in eating it and when given another piece, she palmed it in her other hand. That one finally escaped to the floor, but only as we were leaving the restaurant did she give up the first piece. She is slowly getting better at drinking water through a straw, meaning that not every ounce of it falls back out of her mouth once she releases the straw. We went to Jason's Deli yesterday and as I was holding the straw to her mouth I noticed she was blowing bubbles! It startled me and I laughed out loud. I put the straw back to her mouth and she blew them again. Blowing out is a new skill she has picked up. It is pretty cute.




Poor Bear Bear gets it again. After struggling with the first brace she was in (the foam pads moving and leaving the Velcro straps rubbing on her thighs), Autumn and I went back to the orthotics and prosthetics place for an "adjustment". After looking at it, the certified orthotist said that he could fix it, but that her doctor had prescribed another brace (the first place we went to didn't have one in stock) and that he knew the doctor would prefer her to have that brace. He said he prescribed it for a reason. So he came back in with this thing. As much as we didn't like the Blue Beast, this one is even more intimidating. On the plus side, there is nothing under her bottom, so that makes carrying her around in it much easier. But the bad side is that it is hard to get on her. The other one was molded and you'd just put legs in and Velcro her up. But this one has moving parts and we seem to end up with her lopsided. We're working on it though. Her appointment with the doctor is November 5th. So, as far away as that sounds, I can mentally tell myself that August is pretty much done, so that leaves September and October and only 5 days of November. There is no guarantee that she will be out of it at that time, but at least we will be able to see if there is any progress.


The one thing that has made this SOOOO much easier is that she is learning to put herself to sleep. For the past 4ish days, each time I've put her down for her naps she has been awake. She will babble a bit, or occasionally get a tad upset, but she has always managed to fall asleep on her own. It varies from 1 min after I leave the room up to 15 min, but she does do it, and with minimal outbursts. This has given us confidence in bed time as well. After a few really, really difficult nights with the brace and teething, we decided that we just can't continue fighting her. So for the past few nights we've (and when I say "we" I mean Richard) been letting her figure out going to sleep on her own. If she wakes up crying, Richard will go to her and comfort her for a bit and then wait 5 min. Sometimes he doesn't have to go in again, and sometimes he will go in and come back out and say "10 minutes". Most times he doesn't have to go back in. It makes so much of a difference to be able to do this. The stress it was creating in us was just overwhelming. But she's doing really well, and we're really thankful!


Fuddruckers! from Deb on Vimeo.


Fuddruckers, Part III from Deb on Vimeo.