Singing Out Of Tune!

August has been a wonderful month for the Johnsons!  Edward has been growing like a weed!  Last week at his 7 month visit at the pediatrician, he weighed 11lbs 14 oz!  He has been drinking 4 ounces consistently and is enjoying his oatmeal cereal each day.  We received the green light from the pediatrician to go ahead and try other foods and today he tried bananas.  I cut a banana in half and mashed it until my arm hurt, and finally it looked similar to store bought baby food.  I am not sure if he liked it, or if he was just smiling because I kept singing, "It's bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!" This is Katie by the way, although Mike does his fair share of singing weird things to the baby.  Michael called home from the hospital one day and said, " I have that stupid Raffi song stuck in my head!"  Yes the singing in this house has reached new levels.

Michael, Edward and I were able to meet up with two of Eddie's NICU friends.  Eddie didn't even know he had these friends, but I became close with two other NICU moms during our hospital stay, and we vowed to have lunch one day and hang out OUTSIDE of the NICU.  And so Eddie was able to meet Sam, a former 26 weeker, and Gretchen, a former 23 weeker.  They enjoyed each other's company and I think Eddie and Sam will one day fight over who will date the adorable Gretchen.  We talked about what crazy baby music we all used at home.  Laura said that Sam really likes AC/DC.  We said we wished Edward liked other artists but he is really hooked on Raffi!  We talked and laughed until all three babies were crying and ready to leave.  It was a great experience all around for our three families as we shared stories as crazy new parents, and reminisced over our NICU memories.  We all decided that we definitely do not miss the NICU, but we did miss our NICU friends.

Edward starts physical therapy tomorrow but is making great progress already.  He is sitting nicely in his high chair and is working on sitting up in his Bumpo chair.   He is getting awfully close to rolling over and loves kicking and squealing during playtime on his jungle mat!  Most of all though, he LOVES his bath! 

Here is a video of a few of our favorite moments from the past few weeks.  It is of course accompanied by the critically acclaimed Raffi.  I don't think Raffi was nominated for any video music awards this year, but there is always next year, right?

Katie

P.S. Eddie survived his first earthquake and his first hurricane!  What a week!

A Month of Firsts

After a somewhat tumultuous June, we finally entered the month of July.  Simply put, it was a month of firsts.  As you might recall, Edward was having significant difficulty with feeding and subsequently weight gain.  We had tried various combinations of medicines, bottles, nipples, formula, positions, etc, to no avail.  Several pediatrician visits, a barium swallow, a change in our medications and a pediatric gastroenterologist appointment later, I think we might have finally made some progress.  Gone is the constant fussing and fighting with every bottle and in its place is a happy, calm baby taking a solid 4 ounces with every feed, five times a day.  Don't get me wrong, he still fusses and cries during feeds, but nothing when compared to the previous extent.  His weight gain has been steady as well.  In fact, he is nearly eleven pounds (10 lbs, 13 ounces to be exact)!

So on to Edward's firsts.....

We started out the month venturing out of the state of Virginia for the first time.  We visited my family down in Augusta!  Edward had a great time meeting his great-grandmother, aunts and uncles and cousins.

                                                          Edward with his Papa Johnson

                                                      Edward with Mom and his Granga


Edward also now sits quietly for our regular book readings.

                                                        10 Minutes till Bedtime!!


Edward is also finally nearly as big as his hungry caterpillar!

                                              As you can see, he has come a long way.


Edward also received his first Notre Dame onesie!

                                                                         Go Irish!

Edward also visited Katie's family in Ocean City, New Jersey and got to meet even more aunts, uncles and cousins!  He even made it to the beach!

Even this past week, he got to ride on his Daddy's shoulders for the first time.

                                                  Katie was barely able to breathe for this


Edward even got to try rice cereal for this first time.  He liked....having it on his face.

And yesterday, he walked!!!  Haha, just kidding, he can't even roll over yet.....  Overall, July was much more enjoyable than June and we can't wait to see what August will bring us.