Some recent photos and a video!

Grabbing Mommy's glasses and putting them on her head

 

 

 Photo shoot on September 8 - the day she turned 1 year old corrected

 

 

What lovely babies!

Halloween photo shoot at home, with her cousin Marru.

Update (that is long overdue)

I have been too tired and too lazy to post on this blog since September. Not that I have nothing to talk about Emilia but it was so hard to make myself sit in front of the computer.

Emilia's bed time is around 7 pm, which gives me only about a 2 hour window to get out of the office and pick her up, make dinner, play with her, bathe her, read stories, and put her down in the crib. The good thing about early bedtime is I get to have some quiet, free time to myself after 7:30pm.

She really enjoys the day care. I can see that she likes the care provider and the other kids. These days, even after we get ready to leave the day care centre, she often goes back to play with the toys or other babies.

She does not walk yet, although she cruises and stands unsupported. She is now 14 months corrected so I try not to be concerned but I often wish she could walk so that I don't need to carry her when we are outside. She weighs over 25 pounds and is getting too heavy for me. She walks well when I hold her hands.

These days she does not spend much time playing with her toys. Her biggest interest is observing what grown-ups do and imitating the actions. For example, she like combing her hair in the morning while I blow dry my hair. When I put on make-up, she also picks up a body lotion tube and pretends she squeezes cream out of it and rub it on her face. She likes to open drawers and take everything out just to put it back in the drawer and close it. It is amazing how fast babies pick up and mimic. Also watch this video of her playing in the kitchen.

Since starting the day care, she's been having a runny nose, almost non-stop for two and a half months. I am really tired of seeing her with a constant runny nose (yellow, gooey stuff0. Her upper respiratory system is a little bit congested as well. We took her to her doctor but he was not half concerned. He said it's a very typical story of a baby who just started day care. We are visiting again next Thursday for immunization, so I will ask him to listen to her chest. I cannot understand how she can be sick coninuously for over 2 months - shouldn't her immune system start working by now?

BONUS: Funny poses

Captures of Emilia in funny poses while sleeping. We have an IP camera installed above her crib (in place of a baby video monitor) and anytime I see something funny, I capture the video. Well, the recurring theme is: she loves sleeping with one leg up sticking out.

Almost 13 months: Update

Emilia is doing great at the day care. I wish I had more pictures and videos of her but now that I get to play with her only 1-2 hours a day, I don't have stories to even post on this blog. How SAD!

Whatever the reason, she is able to take only 1 nap at the day care and that makes her extremely tired by the time I pick her up (around 5:20pm). As soon as we arrive home, I start cooking dinner for her (again, no time to play with her) and as soon as her dinner is done, I need to bathe her and by 7:15pm, she's zonked out. I decided to cook batches of food and freeze, so that I can have more quality time with her during the week. I don't want to spend the evening in the kitchen while she clings on my legs and wants to play with me.

She does not walk yet. In fact, it seems to have regressed. About a month ago, she was walking assisted. Now when I hold her hands and try to walk her, she just sits down right away. Doesn't even want to take a step with me. However she loves standing up (holding on something), cruising, and doing a downward dog pose. She LOVES crawling on the stairs, up and down. She does it so flawlessly. She literally spends the whole day climbing up and down the staircase. All of these, but not walking. Why...? It beats me.

She seems to have grown taller, although every time we measure her thinking she has grown, her height is exactly the same as the last. Her weight has been stuck at 10.8-10.9kg. Just above 24 lb. but does not go over that mark. She has 3 molars breaking in now, so that makes a total of 9 teeth. We didn't even know her molars were coming in. She has always been quite easy with teething.

The day care takes some pictures of her for me (I leave a digital camera with them for the day).
Here are a few from last few weeks.

(She loves riding these cars. So good at it now)

 

(Finger painting with chocolate pudding)

Emilia is now 1 year old corrected

She is finally 1 year old corrected (Sep 8). She is not yet walking unsupported but she stands and walks holding on to things. She loves crawling up the stairs. She loves standing up and reaching for things that used to be completely out of her reach before. She can put toys back into the bins and drawers.  She likes pointing at pictures in the book. She can do the actions when we sing some songs.

Check out how she crawls up stairs (taken a while ago,so she does it much faster now)

 

Day care!

Emilia started day care full time two weeks ago. She had no problem transitioning, perhaps because we had gone there almost everyday during the summer. I am not going back to work until next Monday but I started her 2 weeks earlier just in case she needed more time to adjust.

It is sad to leave my darling with someone else all day long but surprisingly she is doing very well. Aside from not being able to nap very long, she eats and plays well. She is very sociable and does not have stranger anxiety (yet). She's such a trooper and I am so proud of her.

I asked the teacher in the infant room to take some pictures of Emilia during the day. Here are some:

12 month follow up clinic

As expected, the 12 month NICU follow-up clinic said Emilia was progressing nicely and as long as she made progress, there was no concern. Emilia played well with the PT at the clinic. She put toys in a cup, took them out of the cup, tried to stand up and climb up onto the toddler table, and so on. I knew she was doing well, but it's also comforting when someone else validates my thoughts.
Growth-wise, she's above average in head circumference, length, and of course weight! Yesterday's measurements showed 47cm of HC, 75.5cm of length, and 10.9kg of weight.

After the clinic, we visited the NICU and said hello to her nurses. Her primary nurse Tina was on day shift fortunately so she and Emilia got to cuddle too.

 A side note... my husband and I must have put our NICU memory waaaayyy back in our mind because 1) my husband couldn't even find the entrance to the parking lot where we used to park almost every single day of our 142 days in NICU, and 2) I pressed 6th floor on the elevetor and actually got off to realize it was a wrong floor. How could I forget the 7th floor!!?? I was in "7 South" for a week before Emilia was born. (7 South is the ward for preterm risk pregnancies)

Pulling to stand

Emilia started to pull to stand few weeks ago. First she did this while she was in the bath tub. She would hold onto the tub and stand up, and next she did it in the crib. I hear and see a lot of babies at this stage do actually stand up unsupported and cruise alone holding onto furniture.  Her gross motor skills may be a bit delayed but I am glad she is making progress each day and week. She also now kneels down, unsupported. She can take several steps forward as I hold her hands and ask her to walk too. In about a week, we have a follow up appointment with the NICU. I am already anxious about what they are going to say about her progress. Every time I feel like she's on track, the NICU follow-up seems to throw us back.

My baby's independence... sorry, it's not so welcome

Well, Emilia has shown me some independence past few weeks. I started to let her feed herself (whenever possible), meaning that she gets to choose what she wants to eat off the plate. She has experimented and tried different foods and has discovered her love for cheese (marble/cheddar). At the same time, she started to spit out half-chewed food if she doesn't want to eat it. She also shakes her head and clams her mouth to show me she doesn't want to eat certain food. Of course, being an 11-month-old girl, she is not very consistent in what she likes and dislikes. One day she spat out all the steamed carrots and two days laters, she gladly chomped down the same carrots I had kept in the fridge. So, what does she do if there is something she likes on the plate like marble cheese? She literally swipes it, using two hands, that is. She will finish what's in her right hand first and then move onto her left hand. If I drop more (and bigger) pieces on the plate for her, she will just drop what's in her hands and grab the new ones.

By the way, she can eat the whole kid's breakfast served at Ikea restaurant, minus some little pieces dropped on the floor. One full dollar worth of food, with 2 pancakes and scrambled eggs. Incredible.

This is Emilia eating corn off cob. Turn up the volume and you can hear her bite the kernels off the cob. Sounds so delicous I can imagine how sweet it must have been.

양머리

목욕후 양머리 타월 감아주는건 기본 서비스

This week in action

Emilia can crawl very fast now. She also started to kneel and reach for things that used to be too high up and out of reach. She can change position from crawling to sitting. She is becoming more and more interested in the surroundings.... like the spice pantry, the dishwasher, and the refrigerator. She likes looking out the back yard too.

A friend told me that babies this age amaze you with a new trick every day and it really is true.
She is becoming quite clever too.

Emilia... doing all kinds of things!

Clearly she remembers the things I show her and also understands the words when I tell her to do those.

I have been naming and showing her gestures, like clapping hands, lifting arms for hurray, opening/fisting a hand (a Korean thing called "jam jam"), etc. Even if she doesn't immediately mimic my gestures, she seems to process the information and keeps the piece of information in her brain. For example, I have been showing her "jam jam" for some time but she never repeated the gestures I showed her. She just watched me and that was all. One day, without showing her the actions, I just said the words only, and she showed me the correct actions for those words.

It's amazing what babies learn and do...!

Peeling skin on soles of feet

It's already been more than 15 days since she got over the Hand Foot and Mouth Disease but I still notice her toes and heel area skin peeling. I think what she has is small white-ish/clear colour blisters that eventually burst and peel. I don't see too many of these blisters though. Mostly all I see is peeled skin around her toes (soles). I feel nervous: I think she completely recovered from HFMD but is she still contagious? We've been playing at the Early Years Centre and the day care centre she will be attending starting September. Hopefully she's not contagious because I haven't kept socks on her feet due to the extremely hot weather in Toronto.

Crawling - recent development

Emilia is able to crawl a bit faster these days. Her crawling is getting better and faster each day. She is much faster when there is an object lying on the floor that she really wants to get her hands on (and usuaully it's something she is not supposed to have).

These days she doesn't play with toys much. For the better part of the day, she just roams around the whole floor, including the kitchen where she tries to pull out the drawers if she can reach the knobs. Luckily for me, the drawers are still too heavy for her to pull out. She loves the dishwasher and the wall oven, I guess, because they are shiny and she sees a distored and blurry reflection of herself, which must be quite interesting for her.

Teething

I took this picture a while ago when Emilia started showing some upper teeth. Here you can see she is having FOUR new teeth breaking through. It's funny how she had only one tooth for a long time and then suddenly four new teeth started showing up and now she's got five teeth. She certainly will love eating her corn with the help of her upper teeth.

Honk honk!

Emilia got a brand new pink buggy! She loves riding it. She figured out the horn on the wheel too and kept honking while we went for a spin around the neighbourhood. The downside of this buggy is that it does not have a shade but at the same time having no canopy/shade allows Emilia to really look around and enjoy the view. She loved watching dogs (walking with their owners) this morning.

Preemie vs Micro-Preemie

The day Emilia was born, after some hours of slumber in my hospital room, I got myself out of bed and went to a NICU parent group with my husband. It was merely 11 hours after Emilia was born and perhaps I should have stayed in bed but I felt that was the least thing I could do. The title of the seminar that day was "How to cope with your baby's hospitalization" and it was exactly what I needed to listen to.

The guest speaker was a couple whose baby was in the NICU for a LONG time (and who knew Emilia would be staying there as long). The mom had an emergency c-section and sadly lost a twin. I believe their babies were somewhere around 23-24 weeks. At that time, I remember them saying that people generally didn't understand what it was like to have a "micro-preemie". People's concept of a preemie was a 32 or 34 weeker who didn't need any respiratory assistance and had to just "feed and grow" for a couple of weeks in the NICU before going home.

I could understand what they meant by that. Those 32,33 weekers who freshly arrived in the NICU looked like giants compared to some babies in the unit. True, they were still 8 weeks early... But those babies usually got transferred out or discharged so soon. I guess that couple was frustrated by those people who, after a 3 week stay in NICU, assumed they knew what the couple was going through.

I am a member of an online preemie parent forum and I understand the couple's feelings. I read a lot of posts written by moms who had a 30-something week baby and stayed in NICU for 2-3 weeks and they announce with such pride that their babies have caught up with term babies by 6 months of age. They have met all the milestones on time and their growth is on target, or above average... I understand that they also had trauma and anxiety when their babies were born early and their pregnacy ended abruptly. However I cannot relate 100% to their experience, because as a mom to a 25 weeker, I feel a 34 weeker is almost expected to grow up "normally." Do they know that some babies need physiotherapy and occupational therapy? Do they know some babies are still on oxygen support even at home?

I do realize that I sometimes discount their experience just because I had to endure almost 5 month stay in NICU. I do discount their feelings because Emilia had a lot more health complications than their babies. And it's wrong, I know, because I really don't know what they went through. I don't know them and I don't know their circumstances. Perhaps they have other complicating matters that I do not know of.

I did join a "micro-preemie" online support group. I thought perhaps this is the group where I could exchange information more relevant to Emilia's situation. However, I felt we didn't belong there either. I did not realize that there were so many babies who still needed feeding tubes into toddler years. I did not know there were lots of preemies still who needed physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy even when they started kindergarten. Compared to them, Emilia seems to be have no problems at all. We have our own set of challenges but to them, I probably sound like the 34 weeker mom I came to hate. It was a humbling experience, I would say. I was so grateful that  Emilia was everything she was.

So, right now, I am a member of both communities but have not actively participated. I do agree with micro preemies moms' need for a distinction between a regular preemie and a micro-preemie, because not all preemies will go home after a month and catch up with term babies by 6 months of age. Not all preemies "just needed a feeding tube" during their NICU stay.

Some development past few days

Now Emilia can ride the little car a bit better. She is still too short for it and only one foot reaches the floor. I don't think it is age appropriate (it is designed for 12 months +) but she loves riding it so much...




Another development is Emilia started crawling on her knees and hands. Just a few steps at a time for now but I know she will be crawling like a pro before I know it.

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

On top of teething, Emilia is suffering from the terrible Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. It certainly is as horrible as the name sounds, in that it gives bad sores in the mouth (back of the mouth, tongue, inside the cheeks, and lips) and the little one can barely drink, let alone eat any solids. It feels so sad to see Emilia not able to drink.... especially because I know how much she enjoys eating food. All she can take in now, if at all, is juice, formula, and breastmilk when she is able to latch. Her temperature went down but we are giving her tylenol and advil round the clock to relieve the sore throat pains.
I am worried that she might have spread this to other babies at the day care when we were visiting on Thursday. I had no idea she was sick because there is no visible symptom during the incubation period. I hope Emilia will overcome this one and get stronger.
Thank God it is the long weekend and daddy's home taking care of her. I don't know if I could have stayed sane seeing Emilia so miserable and crying almost all day long.

Teething fever??

I am so confused. Different sources say different things about teething fever, from no fever to high temperatre. Well, Emilia has been having a fever of 38.5 degrees since last night around 1 am.  First we thought she caught a cold from the day care centre where she played for an hour yesterday. However she is not showing any other symptoms. I do know there are 4 teeth that are erupting right now.. yes, 4 of them all at once. I wonder if her gum has an infection. Unfortunately the long weekend is here and if she needs to be seen by a doctor, we need to go to emergency, which I hope won't be necessary.

Few recent video clips

Finally broke 10 kg mark

It took such a looooong time to step up from the 9 kg to 10 kg. I know at this stage, growth starts to taper off but I feel like she was in the 9 kg range forever. Yesterday she finally weighed 22lb (10 kg). It might drop back by few hundred grams today because she didn't poop yestrday but had a big one this morning. : )

She still loves eating but since she started crawling, she's moving constantly so she might even slim down a bit next few months!

(picture: she is trying to eat the plate after she finished 1/2 of a banana)

Falling asleep while eating

Emilia falling asleep while eating corn.

She wanted to continue eating even as her eye lids were too heavy to keep up.
By the way she has only one tooth but still loves biting/eating corn on cob. She actually manages to eat some off of it.

Rash has almost disappeared

Well... Finally the rash on Emilia's face and body has almost disappeared. I can still see faint marks on her face but I am sure they are not permanent.
Nobody I have spoken with has experienced this type of reaction to the MMR vaccine. I guess it is one more thing to add to the list of unusual things Emilia decided to do, including the neonatal tooth.

Fever and rash after MMR shot

Emilia had a moderate to high fever last 4 days. It started 6 days after her 12 month immunization. Her doctor had told me about 10-15% of babies experience a fever or rashes after the MMR shot but I didn't expect to see  39.5degrees on the thermometer. Emilia was  feeling really miserable (and irritable). She didn't sleep well either and that made all three of us sleep deprived over the weekend. Fortunately this morning the fever is gone and she is happily babbling "mamamama bambamba." but now she has developed rashes on her face and body!! So much for a vaccine...

Emilia finally learns to crawl

On Sunday morning, all of a sudden, Emilia started to crawl - but like a little worm. She would put her hands forward and lift her tummy and bum and then fall, moving inches at a time. That was the first time she really crawled forward, besides a few occasions when she was "belly-crawling". In the evening of the same day, after her birthday party, she did something more advanced. She lifted up her torso, got on her knees and then rocked back and forth a bit then moved forward. I don't know what suddenly made her realize that she had to get on her knees and move her hands forward. I know she is not yet able to coordinate her left & right hands and legs but doing this much is already very impressive, to my standards at least! She's 9 months old corrected so I really don't think she is too far behind in terms of her motor skills.

1st Birthday Party

So, finally, we had Emilia's first birthday celebration on Sunday. I think it was a good party but of course there are few things we missed - like video recording the event and a nice formal picture of Emilia at the head table. Well, it's all in our memory so we will have to verbally pass down the story to Emilia instead of showing her the whole video of it.

As for the Doljabi, she picked MONEY. It's funny, because at home, when I tried a mock Doljabi, she chose Pencils 4 times out of 5. For some reason, for the real Doljabi, the little purse attracted her and she chose money. So, she will hopefully live a wealthy life. : )

We had 36 guests including 6 babies and toddlers in a small banquet room at a Korean restaurant. It wasn't a huge party compared to other Korean 1st birthday parties but we were so grateful this many friends came to see  Emilia.

I don't have too many pictures of her.... but here are a few. By the way, she was such a trooper. During the 3 hour party, she didn't cry at all. Didn't fuss. She was in the arms of so many different people. She seemed to enjoy the time too. She really was a good baby!

Mmmmm. Tasty magazine!

Well. I know we haven't baby-proofed the house because Emilia is not exactly crawling yet but I have to now remember not to leave things on the floor within her reach. She can turn 360 degrees so fast and also belly crawl inches forward and backward. Well... This morning I was reading a magazine beside her playmat and then went to the bathroom leaving the magazine behind me without even thinking. While in the bathroom, I heard the sound of  paper being ripped, and when I ran back to her, she had already ripped out a page and eaten a part of it. I could see the paper all wet and crumpled, partly dissolved in her mouth but when I tried to make her spit it out, she wouldn't let it go.

Was she that starving??

Emilia turned one year old today!

Look who's one year old now!

We are so grateful that Emilia has been incredibly healthy despite her rough start in life.
She weighs over 9.5kg and is about 70cm tall. What a transformation from a tiny 870g baby.

Happy birthday, Emilia!

(And the official party will be this Sunday with lots of family and friends)

"Trying" to crawl

Emilia is not yet crawling. She's 8 months and 2 weeks old corrected today. I don't expect her to crawl like a champ too soon, being a preemie and also because not all babies crawl by 8 months of age. I try to keep challenging her though, putting her toys far away from her.

Recently I noitce she tries to crawl when she's on her tummy. Not really crawl but you know belly-crawl. Sometimes she would do commando-crawl too. When she tries to crawl, she ends up moving backward but people tell me that is what they do at the beginning. She would keep sliding backward, intentionally or unintentionally, and yesterday she ended up under the chest of drawers in her room. It was funny how she was looking at me under the furniture.

Open wide~

It is so funny how she anticipates food as soon as she sees me with her bowl and spoon.
She opens her mouth really wide, sometimes with her eyes squeezed shut because she opens her mouth so big.

(I thought I published this video more than a week ago... had no idea it was still in Draft)

This time last year

Emilia's turning one on May 31 - that's only a week away. We are going to celebrate it on June 3rd, which is Sunday so that people working on Saturdays can attend. Lots of things to prepare.... the full birthday coverage will be posted after the party.

Like so many moms of preemies, I keep saying my child's birth is a bittersweet memory and it truly is.

On May 25 last year, I went into have my second trimester anatomy ultrasound and then found that I was dilated and was sent to the hospital. My OB/GYN was on call in L&D at North York General at the time. After she checked me, she declared I was 3cm dilated and had to be on bed rest thereafter. However, because NYG didn't have Level 3 NICU, they were going to transfer me to the next available hospital with Level 3 NICU. There are three Level 3 NICUs in the city but only two of them have L&D (the third one is Sick Kids Hospital). If not available in Toronto, they would transport me to any hospital in Ontario and as far as Buffalo. Now looking back, I was so fortunate that a bed space at Mount Sinai Hospital freed up the next day. It's one of the best hospitals and it's downtown, only 5 minute walk from my husband's office.

Well, I was on bed rest only for 6 days. At least I passed the 24 week mark. I was praying I would be able to make it to 28 weeks but I couldn't even make it 26 weeks. And the rest is history.

Finger Food

I introduced Emilia some finger foods to encourage self-feeding. So far she's been quite successful. Some of the best finger foods she had: English muffin (strips), Baby Mum-Mums, Nutrios, and steamed carrot strips. I tried pear, banana, avocado, and some other veggies but they were not good. Not that she didn't want to eat but either they were too mushy and slippery for her to hold or they kind of went limp (bent) or broke in pieces so she had a hard time putting them into her mouth.

Lots of food end up being on the floor but I am trying to not worry about it. The baby is supposed to learn it that way, I read. Sigh.

8 months corrected

Emilia is 8 months corrected and 11 months and a week old actual. Yup it has been almost a year since the bitter sweet day she was born.
We went to the 8-month follow up clinic on May 3 and got to visit the NICU to say hello.Luckily one of her primary nurses was on duty this time. She was holding Emilia and pinching her chubby cheeks.

There was a family of a 25 weeker whose birth weight was about the same as Emilia's. They came to peek at Emilia and were amazed to see a "normal" looking baby. I once was in their shoes. I remember seeing a former 24 weeker being discharged and he was HUGE compared to all the babies around us. That gave us some hope in knowing that ours would one day grow and come home too.

The follow-up clinic told us Emilia needs to work on her ab muscles. Strengthening those muscles will better enable her to crawl. Emilia does not get onto her knees when reaching over while seated. She just bends her back, which doesn't help her to get into a crawling position. Other than that she was progressing nicely.

I need to work on transitional poses/movements: sitting up from the lying down, lying down from sitting, side sitting to crawling, etc.  We had a visit by Early Intervention this morning and the EI does not think there is any sign that warrants physiotherapy right now. She was very content with Emilia's progress. I don't know if I should be content also or push for physio. We will have to watch how she develops in the next month so that we can resume the therapy before she falls too far behind.

Emilia, on the piano

Few days ago when we visited her grandparents (my parents) she saw a piano for the first time. I let her play on it and she was amazed that it was making sound every time she hit it, and then finally this is what she ended up doing.

I don't own a piano, as I don't know how to play (I can play very very basic songs as I took lessons when I was in Gr. 2 or 3). I always wanted Emilia to take music lessons - likely piano or guitar, so I am now considering buying a digital piano. I know it's still early for her to learn but I just want her to have fun and get familiar with it.

Just an update

Emilia is becoming more and more active... and mischievous. Each day I can see that she is growing, not just physically but also in her inteliigence.

#1.I honestly looked away just for 2 seconds and this is what she did with her snack.

She was licking the bowl when I saw her. I guess she couldn't wait for me to spoon it into her mouth.


#2. Now she wants to take her bath sitting up. She used to love lying down in the tub and kicking her feet in the water but now she likes sitting and playing with the duckies.

#3. She has mastered using a sippy cup. She's been using the sippy cup for a while now. Using a straw cup seems a bit harder, although I haven't tried giving it to her recently. I should teach her to drink from a straw now.

This is her after tasting apple juice for the first time. Obviously she didn't quite like it.


  #4. I made a tutu for her yesterday and today I took some pictures. Here is one of them.

#5. Her birthday is about a month away (May 31) and we decided to host her first birthday party at a restaurant (in a little banquet room). I've started planning things and sent out invitations. I don't think we will have too many guests but my house is too small for 12-15 people any way.

#6. She rarely falls/topples when she's sitting now. I stopped laying the pillows around her when she's sitting. I actually make her sit on top of a cushion as her PT suggested before he discharged her.

Any way, a few days ago, she fell and when she did, she happened to land her head on some 1" cube wooden blocks that were scattered around her. She now has a scratch on her scalp -it's so visible because she's got so little hair. Well...Mommy learned her lesson, and she's now good at tidying up the toys after play.

Sleep regression is back

Since the last time I posted, I've been really tied up with Emilia. She has been very difficult to put down for sleep. Good naps are very rare now and just to make her go to sleep takes a long 30-40 minutes sometimes. She hasn't acted like this since 6 months. It could be due to her teething. I don't see any other teeth breaking out just yet but she's been gnawing at things a lot and of course there is lots of drooling. She becomes a monster when it's her nap time and bedtime. She screams like she has never done before.... it is so loud that I can feel my eardrums vibrate. Also she definitely prefers our bed in the master bedroom over her crib. When she throws crying fits, I sometimes move her to the middle of our Queen size bed with a pillow on each side of her head. She quickly becomes peaceful and falls asleep within minutes. I don't know what the deal is. Does she want a larger bed already? Does she like the scent of mommy on the bedding? I know it's not about co-sleeping because I don't have to lie down next to her to make her sleep. She doesn't even need me there; she just likes our bed. Hopefully this sleep regression too will pass like the last one at 4 months.

Rolling all around the floor

Just as I was doing activities that could help Emilia to crawl {or get ready to crawl), she suddenly showed an interest in rolling from tummy to back, which she had done only a few times before. Past few days she tried many times to roll to her back with only several successes and finally it must have clicked on her, because this morning she has been rolling all around on the floor, back to tummy and tummy to back. She is now able to move to different spots on the playmat, and off the playmat sometimes, to get closer to her toys.

Searching for a Day Care

My mat leave is over at the end of next month but I decided to take a leave until Emilia is one year old corrected. I've got only 5 months left to be with Emilia at home all day long. I know eventually I am going to send her to preschool programs and then school but I feel so reluctant and anxious about leaving Emilia with others. I am convincing myself and my husband that she will probably benefit from interacting with her peers.

Any way suddenly realizing I got only 5 months,  I started contacting some nurseries around my house in panic last week. Thank God I live only 13 minutes away from work because it narrows down my search area and I have found 3 centres.  I have visited one of them (it was so-so) and I will tour another one next Monday. The third said they didn't have an open space for September so I decided to skip the tour.

Our main concern with sending her to a day care is 1) she will now get sick really often and  2) if she turns out to be delayed, she might be left out by kids and teachers. I am willing to even sacrifice my career for Emilia's well-being but honestly making her stay at home with me all day everyday cannot be too good for her.

Only 5 months left to enjoy our lazy days together... I will enjoy and appreciate every day of it.

Finally something has emerged....

Emilia and her second tooth! First I could see a raised bump and a darker line on her lower gum and today when I rub my finger pad on it, I can feel something sharp. But it is too small to be seen with eyes, I think. So far this is the only one that is emerging. I guess the upper ones will be cutting at a later stage. By the way, she's already lost her first tooth (lower incisor) so until she gets permanent teeth, she will be missing a tooth in that spot. :-(

Emilia is 10 months old (actual)

** I didn't mean to write an epic post on the 10 month milestone but because I haven't been able to update regularly, this post ended up being really long with lots of pics/videos. **

Emilia is already 10 months old... though in adjusted age, she is 6 months and 3 weeks. She hasn't gained much weight past ten days or so but today she finally passed the 19 lb mark. I have so much pain in joints - knees especially - from scooping her up from the floor all the time. Now that I am washing her bum in the bathtub whenever she poops (5 times a day, that is), it's more straining on my back and legs.

She's already outgrown size 12 months pants. Lengthwise she's just average but her waist (or her belly) may be too large for age. Yes, she has a pot belly like a middle aged man. Clothes are not the only things she outgrew. She got a new car seat too because the infant car seat was too tight around her shoulders.

She can now sit on the floor for a long time with more stability. This has enabled her to enjoy her toys more and to have a better view of the world around her.

She loves shaking and banging her toys and has learned to spin some of them but best of all, she loves sticking out her tongue to feel them. She's been putting anything and everything in her mouth and has been drooling non-stop. I still can't feel anything on her gumline but the way she's biting and drooling looks like she's ready to cut a tooth pretty soon. (Mind you, it won't be her first tooth since she already had her first tooth (neonatal tooth) when she was in NICU)

Her hands are pretty good at finding her mouth now - she can feed herself mango and milk in a sippy cup (though I need to help her tilt her head back). She can now pick up a soother and put it in her mouth... Ahh, the joy of not having to pick it up for her everytime she spit it out.

Check out the videos below for what she's been up to lately.

Early Intervention service screening

We were visited by our Early Interventionist and a physiotherapist yesterday. The appointment was for a screening assessment to see what EI services Emilia would be eligible for because our CCAC physiotherapist had recently discharged her. The first reaction from the EI and PT was a big wow in amazement that Emilia was so chubby and in good complexion. It made me so proud when they said she didn't look like a preemie born 15 weeks early.

The PT assessed her and said Emilia was at where she should be as a 6 month old baby. She was not concerned about her progress and informed me that we didn't need any service except the EI itself, which would continue to follow Emilia on a regular basis. I wasn't sure whether I should be happy that Emilia is doing well or upset that we didn't qualify for the "free" program. All in all, I knew it was great news that Emilia was doing well: sitting and playing with toys by herself for an extended period of time, strong grips, good muscle tones, etc.

So, one less thing in my calendar that used to be filled with all these appointments with various health care providers: physiotherapist, home nurse, respiratory clinic, RSV clinic, etc. etc. Now all of these are done with! For now, at least.

Emilia rolled over from tummy to back

After all these months, Emilia finally rolled over from tummy to back, THREE times today. I don't know if they were just accidents or she was actually experimenting. Her PT told me not to worry about rolling from tummy to back since she was already rolling from back to tummy, which is supposed to be harder, and is now sitting. Once she starts to crawl, he said, she won't even roll any more. But "I" need her to master this new skill because now she rolls over in the crib before falling asleep or after waking up and when she gets tired on her tummy, she plants her face and falls asleep... or she spits up, plants her face in her spit-up, and then wails. I am hoping that she will be able to get out of the tummy position without my rescue each time.

Any way, she did finally roll over from tummy to back, whether accidentally or not. Maybe she will "get it" in the next few days. How exciting!

Emilia's reaction to steamed pear

No, I am not talking about an allergic reaction here.
This is the first time I have ever seen her making a funny face and refusing to eat. So, after all, there is something even Emilia doesn't want to eat and it's steamed pear.




I tasted it myself and I found it sweet at first but a teeny tiny bit of sour taste at the end, and Emilia must have felt really strange tasting something sour for the first time.

Emilia visits Niagara Falls!

We went to Niagara Falls on Sunday because the weather was so warm and sunny. But when we got to the falls, it was so windy and cool. I also did some shopping at OshKosh outlet... and we went to a restaurant with Emilia for the first time (and decided that we would not go to a restaurant with her again until she was at least 1 year old).

Emilia is 6 months old, adjusted

Emilia is 6 months old, adjusted, today. In chronological age, she is a little bit over 9 months. Yesterday I took her to work to say hi to all my colleagues and oh yeah, I had fun explaining her age every time somebody popped the question "how old is she?". When strangers ask, I always answer she is 6 months old because to me, that is what she is. However her pediatrician, of all people, goes by her actual age. I guess because immunization has to go by chronological age.

I think she just went through a growth spurt this past month. I had to empty her wardrobe and fill it with bigger clothes. When I first received clothes gifts from family and friends, I wondered if Emilia would ever grow big enough to fit into those clothes, but oh boy, babies do grow fast. Accoding to her ped doctor, Emilia has caught up with babies her actual age and we don't need to adjust her age on the growth chart any more.

So, some of her stats:
Weight: 8.16kg (almost 18 pounds)
Length: 67cm (26.3 inches)
Head Circumference: 44cm (17.3 inches)

Developmentally, she might not be exactly at where she is supposed to be but she's now rolling over effortlessly (but still only from back to tummy) and she is sitting up for few minutes at a time. She clasps her hands, grabs at things, babbles, laughs and smiles. Eventually things will come along and hopefully there won't be a need to adjust her age any more... I know that's still far far away - they say usually after age 2, their age won't need to be adjusted.

Here are some photos I took of her for her 6 month milestone: