10 Months

Our OHSU biopsy visit in May

It was nap time and we had to wait FOREVER, but Sierra did very well until it came time for the biopsy and they made Jesse and I leave the room:(

A picture with all three of us!  It is rare these days.

Sierra making her fish face

Riding our neighbor's horse, one of her favorite things to do

Celebrating Beatrice's 2nd Birthday.  Myself and Sierra, Joanna hiding behind Faye, and Jenne and Beatrice.  All cousins from the Lee side of the family.

Some seriously chubby cheeks:)

One of Sierra's new games, wearing things on her head

What mom?

Riding around like a princess

A little primping before bed:)

All smiles

Time sure is starting to fly!  It's hard to believe that Sierra is 10 months old.  This month she learned to kick a ball, make a kissy face and smacking sound, blow kisses, make a fish face, and she is walking like a pro!  She took her first couple of steps last month, and it took her several weeks to get to the point where she could take more than 2 or 3 at a time.  But she has mastered the art of walking now, with or without shoes and even on uneven ground.  She LOVES music.  Some of her favorite songs are Joy Joy Down in My Heart, Teddy Bear Teddy Bear Turn Around, and Winnie the Pooh.  She dances to all of them and will slap the ground and reach up high to the Teddy Bear song.  It is sooo cute to watch.  As soon as you say the word teddy bear she starts bopping her head and reaching up high and expects you to sing the song. 

We had her Hirschsprung's biopsy on May 16th.  It was a difficult visit.  It was the first time they made Jesse and I leave the room and she did not handle it well.  It only lasted about 10 minutes but she still has not completely recovered from the separation.  All of a sudden she realized she could be left alone, and is having some separation issues since.  The test ended up being negative but while we were there the Dr told us he wanted to have her tested for cystic fibrosis.  We were shocked and terrified.  Apparently babies with either consistent digestive OR respiratory problems are always tested for CF.  Sometimes a baby won't show respiratory issues but will have a lot of digestive problems and have the disease.  The good news is that 95 percent of the babies they test are negative for CF, but they want to make sure.  It is not an invasive test and we will be able to be with her.  It is scheduled at OHSU on July 9th.  Prayers would be greatly appreciated.  We feel confident that she will be one of the 95 percent, but it is still a terrifying thing to even think about. 

Sierra weighs 17 lbs 6 ounces (after several months of not gaining much she gained over a pound in 30 days).  She drinks whole milk and loves it and we think this has helped her gain weight.  She loves food and eats very well.  She can say several words (she has her own variations of course) ball, all done, hi, bye bye, hot, more, moo, dog, bird, kitty, apple, star, night night, bath, down, shoes, and outside.  She love to be outdoors and requests it many times even on rainy days.  If she doesn't think I get that she is saying outside she walks me over to the door points to my shoes or her coat and then points to the door and says "OUI".  She's her mama's girl and I'm excited to have a garden companion when she gets older.  I guess that's it for now.  Please keep her in your prayers!

9 Months

Sierra's first trip to Papas Pizza and her first time on the slide.  Despite the fact that she's mostly around a few people at a time, she did really well with all the noise and people.

She learned that changing the sheets can be really fun!

 Daddy is having fun too:)

She loves her fake horsey, but she was able to ride our neighbors horse for real this month.  I was clinging to her tightly of course!

Being silly before bedtime

Stealing a kiss through the glass

A little reading session after bathtime

Hello

She has three teeth now!

Daddy can sure make her giggle

Yum!

What a huge month.  I feel like Sierra is learning something new and growing up so much each and every day.  She has a ton of energy and is hard for me to keep up with sometimes.  She learned to clap this month, rode a horse for the first time, learned to go down the stairs (backwards instead of trying to dive down them head first) and also get off of furniture (she still is closely monitored for both!).  She can count to 2 on her fingers (it's actually sort of more like 1, 5 but close), she has 2 new teeth, and she took her first steps.  She is not walking consistently, but she will randomly take steps on her own. 

We saw Sierra's gastro specialist on the 14th of May and he scheduled her for a rectal biopsy.  She is doing much better with her acid reflux but still has a lot of "potty" issues.  After talking over some of the things she has struggled with since birth he decided that we better have her checked for Hirschsprung's disease.  Around the 5th month in the womb, nerve cells travel down to the end of the colon.  In some cases the nerve cells don't travel all the way down and this causes complications when the baby is born.  In severe cases a child can't eliminate waste during the first 48 hours and needs immediate surgery.  In other cases, the babies can go, but have a lot of trouble.  They too need surgery, it's just usually harder to diagnose.  Her biopsy is scheduled for the 16th of June at OHSU.  It's hard to know how to pray.  We don't want her to have to have surgery but we do want to find out what is wrong and find a solution.  Our daily prayer is that she will be out of pain and be free of her digestive issues. 

Despite her ailments she sure is a happy girl.  She is also very brave and has tolerated every test/procedure better than we could have imagined.  We'll hope that her biopsy on the 16th will be the beginning of the end of her tummy ailments.

8 Months

Sierra's first Easter!!!

Mama's "look" in the car to try and keep baby from screaming.  It usually works:)

We enjoyed some beautiful weather this month!  Sierra LOVES being outside. 

My doll baby is all smiles in an outfit from when I was a wee one

She learned to play peek-a-boo this month.  Sometimes she forgets to cover her eyes.

She started teething and so we are practicing "brushy brushy"

Discovering her shadow.....

Sweetest baby girl ever.  I may be slightly biased:)

Some other things Sierra learned to do this month are drink from a straw, wave and say "bye bye" and she uses sign language for "more".  She can walk as long as she is holding onto something.  She also had her first tooth come through about a week before she turned 9 months old.  She's getting to be such a big girl.  She is learning every day and it I'm so glad that I get to be there for every milestone!

7 Months

Sierra's first wedding experience.... 

 She usually makes quite a rucous before she falls asleep.  All the fit throwing makes for one tired baby! 

Grandpa Lee bought her a Sierra Beauty Apple Tree

She helped plant it

Our big girl stands up on absolutely everything!

No clothes=happy baby

Nap time!

Sierra's best bud

What a month it has been!  Sierra can now crawl like a big girl instead of creeping, she can pull herself up on anything and everything and let go for a few seconds without falling over.  She is learning more and more sounds.  She can say a few words: (well mommy and daddy understand them) kitty, baby, mama, and dada.  She has learned to point to things in real life and on the pages of her books.  She plays peek-a-boo and is sleeping through the night (PTL)!!!  She tends to wake up very early (usually 4am) but at least she is not waking every hour all night long.  She is a very good baby and it is a joy to see her personality emerge.  A few things she does not like: riding in the car, having her face washed off after dinner, and having her diaper changed.  She has learned what no means but still likes to see how much she can get away with.  She absolutely loves to be outside and squeals with delight at the neighbors horses.  She loves our cats and dog as well  They don't have quite the same undying devotion for her but I'm sure that will change as she gets older.  Well maybe:) 

Sierra had her upper GI and Stomach UltraSound this month.  She did extremely well for both tests.  She took the barium like it was no big deal.  In fact the Dr that did the test decided to taste the barium herself because Sierra took it so well.  She figured it must taste great for a baby to take it without a fuss.  She tasted it and said it was terrible and she just could not believe that Sierra handled it so well.  We were quite proud of our little trooper.  Even better yet the tests came back showing that there were no abnormalities in her upper system (they wanted to make sure there were no kinks, tumors, or narrowings).  She still struggles with the reflux and muscle control, but we are learning how to make her as comfortable as possible.  She's growing and changing so fast.  It's hard to believe that just 7 months ago we were welcoming her into the world, and already she has become such a mobile little girl!

Six Months Old

Sierra started sitting unsupported about a week before she was six months old

She loves being read to, she really has a fascination with books

She does a lot of creeping, and gets into the crawling stance, but mostly just does a lot of rocking

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Helen came to visit

Sierra had her first trip to the swimming pool.  She handled it so well!  She loves new experiences.

Her first time in her high chair

She started eating solids this month.  One of her favorites: sweet potato

Sitting up like such a big girl!  Sitting also comes hand in hand with squealing:)

She has become quite a little "helper"

After a very good fifth month, Sierra started having really bad bouts of tummy aches again.  We took her to the Dr and they did an X-ray of her stomach/intestines.  They found an irregular gas pattern and scheduled us for an appointment with a pediatric gastorenterologist at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.  After looking at her tests he determined that she has Acid Reflux, Infantile Dyskesia (early colon muscle control), and possibly a lactose intolerance.  He prescribed a medication to protect her esophogus from being damaged, a stool softener to keep her from holding her bm's, and also gave us a lot of other information on how to help with the reflux.  We are also scheduled to have some more testing done (upper GI and stomach ultrasound) just to make sure that there is not something more severe going on.   She's doing better already and we are praying that the test results show a completely normal upper GI system.