Friday, April 25th

We received half of the blood test results back this week, and so far so good. Her TSH was elevated last time, but it was normal this time. We are still waiting on the rest to see if Addison has issues with her thyroid. Addison found her toes this week, and has started to pull her feet up to her face to grab them. I wish I were that flexible. I mean really, how cool would it be to pull your feet up to your face and start sucking on your big toe? See what I mean...awesome...

She's still gaining weight and is getting much better at holding her head up. We can hold her up for several minutes, and she can keep that head straight for the most part. I pick her up over my head and she stretches out like superman. I will admit that I don't keep her there for long, since she's gained the unique ability to spit up without notice or fair warning. It can happen at any time, so you have to be on your toes (assuming you're not sucking on them.)

I am pleased to say that as Rach works on Saturday, Addison and I get to spend the ENTIRE day together, which is going to be wonderful. I feel like I haven't seen her much over the past few weeks, so this will be some much needed daddy time with the kid. I thinking we'll play a round of golf together and then I'll teach her how to shoot a pistol. I'm sure both of her grandmothers completely approve... We've included an extra picture of her playing with her feet today. Enjoy!

Sunday, April 20

First of all, I want to let all of you know that I am extraordinarily impressed with all of you reading this page. The fact that you are still checking the page, and bugging us when it isn't updated regularly, shows us that you really care. We feel loved.

The test results came back from the first round of blood that Addison gave, and they showed some inconsistent results, so we had to go back for more. This past Monday, Rach took Addison in to give more blood, and it didn't work out too well. After sticking her a few times, they couldn't get any blood, so we had to reschedule yet again for this past Saturday when I could be around to help. After trying for this a couple of times, we weren't taking any more chances. So, we took her to ERgent Care on Riverside, where the caring hands of Mona and Kristy made it happen. Strong work ladies. Strong work.

Last week, Sooner Start came and was very impressed with Addison's progress. Her movements are more coordinated, she is able to hold her head up much more easily and she spends much more time talking to us. Not only that, but she's getting to the point where she interacts with us more. I'm sure she will be speaking in full sentences by the end of the summer. Addison has also been gaining weight as well. She is up to 11 lbs. which is pretty good for her, and we are still waking her up in the middle of the night to feed her. Hopefuly, that won't last forever.

It really is incredible to see how she is growing. I picked her up after being gone all week, and I could tell that she was thicker and longer. It's so weird to see her grow like she is, and to see her develop. One day, she just decided to start holding her head up on her own when I pick her up, as if she could have been doing it all along. Amazing.

Grammy Alana dropped in for a visit for a couple of days. She was able to take care of Addison while Rach worked. Perfect timing. It's always a pleasure to see Addison spend time with her grandparents and other relatives. To know that there are other people out there who love Addison every bit as much as we do is very comforting, and we look forward to the next time we have a visitor.

If you are interested in saying a little prayer for our little girl, please pray that the blood results, which should come back sometime this week, come back with no problems. The reason we started this in the first place was that there might be a problem with her thyroid. If the results come back normal, that's one more thing we don't have to deal with for now. Enjoy seeing the pictures. We sure enjoyed taking them.

Monday, April 7

Sorry it's been a while since the last update. I'll bring you up to speed. Last Tuesday, Rach and Addison saw the developmental pediatrician to measure Addison's progress. We asked him about Addison not gaining any weight and he responded by telling us to wake her up twice in the middle of the night to feed her and help her gain weight. We did, and she is.

We have also noticed that Addison's hands and feet turn blue and cold several times a day. While this happens with babies from time to time, it seems to be getting worse. On Wednesday, we called the pediatrician and he said he wanted us to see the cardiologist by the end of the week. Since we don't hear that very often, we were a bit concerned. We saw the cardiologist on Thursday, and discovered the problem is not her heart, and she suggested that we check her thyroid level. Today, we had blood taken from Addison.

A little side note here for those of you who have never held your baby down to a table while two, yes two, nurses try to hold down and draw blood from your four month old child; it's not a fun experience. You may recall a story from the Bible in Genesis when God calls Abraham to take his son to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him. While not exactly the same, I was holding Addison firmly down on a table, and a woman was holding a very sharp object next to her arm, while Rach is in the corner hoping the situation doesn't turn south. The first of many uncomfortable situations, I'm sure.

Apparently the blood-taking situation was harder on Rach and me than it was on Addison. The nurse was smooth as ice. In...Draw...Out...Done. I wanted to give her a high five for being so good at it, but she was still holding the needle. You should know that Addison didn't cry at all. No tears. She's hardcore! We find out the test results tomorrow.

In other news, we met with a woman today about keeping Addison on a regular basis when Rach is working. Her name is Peggy in Broken Arrow, OK. Retired kindergarten teacher, and mother of three older children (additional info provided upon request for our law enforcement friends), she's looking for a summer job as a nanny. We like her and you should too. She's starting on Wednesday.

Rach went back to work last week, which is good because there's no reason for that brilliant gift of hers to go to waste. Talk to you soon.

Sunday, March 23

Today is Easter Sunday. Considering all of the clothing that people have given us over the past few months, we think she wore an Easter dress that Rach got her not long ago, but it may be a dress that someone else bought for her. Either way, she was really cute. There are some interesting updates since the last time we checked in.

Addison, officially, can roll over on her tummy and also roll back over onto her back without assistance. Last time, she was propped up on a pillow and rolled off the side, but this time was legit. She is also grabbing at things much more and talking like crazy. She also seems to study things more often. If she gets her tractor beam set on you, she'll stare a hole right through you. Addison loves the outdoors too. We spent most of the day on Friday sitting in the front yard enjoying the beautiful weather, and Friday and Saturday, we went hiking in a park nearby.

Over the next week, we have some big appointments coming up. We have Sooner Start tomorrow to help us measure her progress. We've noticed that anytime her head falls, it always falls to the right, which probably means we need to work on her muscle tone over there. Next week, we meet with the developmental pediatrician at the hospital, who is also going to help measure her progress. Kids with Down Syndrome typically have some level of mental retardation, and we're not sure when that starts, so we are kind of waiting to hear a doctor say that she's falling behind a little for that to become a reality. However, if you really think about it, if she get's Rachel's brain, and is a little mentally retarded, that would mean that she's a retarded genius, which makes her about like anyone else. I'll take that! If she gets my brain, we'll have a long, long road ahead, so pray for the former.

There are a couple of items that you can certainly be praying for:

1. Addison is not gaining weight right now. She's getting longer, but she's been the same weight for almost a month. Pray for more weight.

2. We see the cardiologist in May. Pray for a healthy heart and good test results there.

3. She has a great night time sleep schedule, but she's not getting the daytime naps in. Pray for much needed daytime rest.

This weekend we are going to Waco, TX to see the family. Grans Jumper is hosting a Sip and See on Saturday. If you don't know what that is, it means people come to the house, sip on a beverage and see the baby. Brilliant! If you are a woman, you'll love it. If you are a dude, you'll love playing golf with me, so enjoy. We've included a few extra pics and a nice little video for your viewing pleasure.

Thursday, March 13

Today was 3/13/2008. Interesting how Addison is 3 months old and she is also 13 weeks old today. We should have bought a lottery ticket or something. Although, we did go for a walk this evening and didn't get struck by lightning, so I'll settle for that as my good luck for the day.

This past week, we've taken some big steps as parents. Last weekend, we hired a baby sitter for the first time to take care of Addison while we went to dinner and Home Depot. What better way to finish off a romantic night away than to make a stop for materials for the honey-do list. We came to the realization that we'll have to get used to the sitter situation since Rach is going back to work soon.

We also finally started to teach Addison how to fall asleep without us holding or rocking her to sleep. For those of you who haven't had children yet, or it's been so long ago that you just don't remember, this task is pretty much the most horrible and cruel thing in the world. Our daughter is in the other room screaming bloody murder, and we're just hanging out in the living room, having a great time relaxing and not thinking about the fact that our child is lying in a pool of her own tears just hoping that mommy or daddy will come save her from such a traumatizing event. I would imagine that most guys will try to be macho and say it's not a big deal. It's a big deal. However, I usually just step in and give her a pat on the behind and tell her to suck it up and go to sleep.

Addison discovered that she can suck on her entire hand instead of just her thumb. In fact, I anticipate that her right hand will be 30% larger than her left from sucking on it constantly. She is learning that she can suck on her toys too, so we're taking her to her first ever crawfish boil this weekend to see how she does with them crawfish heads.

It is also very clear that she follows us around the room when we are passing through and she definitely recognizes our voices, which is just plain cool. My first moments back from El Paso today, and Addison welcomed me back with an atomic explosion in her diaper. I documented the event with pictures that I will not be sharing with you all today. I also re-discovered a love for golf this week. Enjoy the pics!

Big Day

Addison had a big day yesterday. She reached one of the first of many milestones- she rolled over! Now, her arms were over a little pillow, so she did have some extra leverage, but she still did it. (We've read that babies with Downs typically start rolling over around 8 months- so we're thrilled!)

We had a little bit of a rough start with the "sleep training," but it gets better each night. In fact, last night she slept from 9pm to 5am. (I only checked to see if she was breathing twice.) Of course, she was wide awake after she ate, but with a combination of Grammy's songs and an old trick from Grans, she let me sleep another couple hours.

We're missing Daddy, but he'll be home tomorrow. I'm sure he's missing us too. I know those nights of uninterrupted sleep have got to be hard on him.

Sunday, March 2

Last week, Grammy Alana paid a visit to Tulsa and got some much needed time with the baby. We had a great time with her. While she was here, we made a few new discoveries. Addison figured out how to smile and laugh out loud, which is pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me. She certainly talks to us, but can't quite make out any words yet. I have her working on "daddy", and we'll get there soon enough. However, some of the words she can say are "bbbbbbbbb" and "gu". Every now and then, she will change the pitch of her voice and squeal, but not too often. She's pretty laid back, which isn't too much of a suprise taking into consideration who her parents are, but we're glad she is. Just the past few days, she has started to sleep longer at night and her feedings are a little more spread out during the day. We aren't quite sure if this is going to stick, but we are, I mean Rachel is happy that she gets more sleep at night. Frankly, I just don't even hear anything at night anymore. If it does stick, we are going to start with the tough love in the evenings, and make her cry herself to sleep. This, of course, is the most horrible thing on the face of the planet, but we have to set some rules around here and make our little Addison go to bed at a more reasonable time. This whole staying up late situation just isn't going to cut it, so tough love it is. Ha, wrapped around her little finger they say!