Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

I had a repeat performance of my grumpy reaction to Michael - but today it was with Karen my occupational therapist. I was unwilling to play with her at all to work on my shoulder and upper arm strength. Finally, we came up with a process of me sitting on my Mommy's lap and Karen holding a tray in front of me. Then, she found a cute little green frog that lit up for me to play with and she would set it on the tray so I would reach for it. This forced me (a little) to put some weight on my forearms as I reached for the frog. The only problem is as soon as I would get it, my Mommy or Karen would take it away and put it back on the tray for me to practice reaching again. That started to get me pretty frustrated!

Later in the evening while we were waiting for Daddy to get home, Mommy put on my Passy Muir speaking valve for the first time in a really long time. She was surprised at how much noise I started making. She left it on for over an hour and I was having a great time "talking". Mommy would put me in front of the mirror so I could "talk" to myself.

Peyton Nicole Smith

Monday, May 12th, 2008

After a pretty tough weekend for my parents, I was in much better spirits for Lucille today. This is despite sleeping only a total of 60 minutes or so during the day. Usually I sleep 3-4 hours but I was much more in the mood to play then sleep. I was happy most of the time but as soon as my Mommy would walk in I would start to cry so she would pick me up. She would try to comfort be for a few minutes until I would calm down and then when my back was turned, Mommy would sneak back to work. It's gotten to the point that Mommy will peek around the corner to see if I am looking or not before she walks into the room since she feels bad getting me all upset and then leaving Lucille to pick up the pieces!

When I was finally ready for a nap it was time for my PT appointment with Michael. Unfortunately, he was 1/2 hour late so by the time he arrived I was not about to do any type of exercises for him. My Mommy told him that they refer to me as a drama queen and he agreed that baby girls are much more emotional than the baby boys. After 45 minutes of whining and crying he cut me a break and let me go take my nap.

Mommy had ordered a memory book for me that is geared towards kids with special needs like me. She paid a little extra so it would be personalized. Unfortunately, the people who made my book assumed I was a boy! Mommy sent off an email to them to see if they could correct it since pages like "Peyton & His Friends" just doesn't make much sense! This book is for age one to age five and it has places to write about my hospitalizations, my early intervention services from the school district and my many doctor's appointments. Although Mommy is most of the way through my first year baby book she is going to order that one and the school years one as well. The books were developed by a mommy who had a little girl with special needs so she did a really good job. It made Mommy cry when she got to the "Peyton's routine section." Not only did it talk about what I eat but HOW I eat. Since no traditional baby book assumes a baby eats other than by mouth it really will be customized to me and how special I am!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there - espescially to mine!

Mother's Day dawned bright and early for my Mommy. Lucille's shift ended at 6 am so Mommy was up by 5:30. Since it was Mother's Day I was anxious to wake up and start the day - so by 5:30 I was wide awake! Mommy got me dressed and I was willing to play in my exersaucer for a little while.

Since I have started on my soy formula my dirty diapers (Mommy calls them "stinkies") have been few and far between. On Similac I would have about one a day. As of today I had gone over 3 days with no stinkies. So Mommy told me this morning what she wanted for Mother's Day was a stinkie. (Ok, I don't really think she wanted one so much but she wanted me to have one since she figured it probably wasn't helping my mood any the last few days). Since I am such a good girl, I produced a little stinkie for Mommy this morning - she was so proud!

In addition, I gave my Mommy a casting of my cute feet (Well, Daddy helped a little). Mommy thinks they are so cute and has them in her office where she can see them every day! Daddy did such a good job that now she is going to have him do a casting of my hands as well.

Even after my diaper, I was still kind of on the grumpy side today. However, my brother Chili seemed to be doing a little better. Although he slept on Daddy's pillow all night last night, this morning he played with Henry a little and ate his breakfast which is a good sign.

In the afternoon, Mommy left my napping with Daddy so she could get my blog updated for me. A little while later, Daddy came in with me and my IV pole (since I was still hooked up to my feeding). Just to show Mommy what an overacheiver I am, I made another stinkie for her - and this one was a doozie! Daddy knew better then to even attempt it - he came straight to Mommy for this one. And how was your Mother's Day????

Peyton Nicole Smith

Friday, May 9th - Saturday, May 10th

As the teething continues, so does my grumpy mood. Since Daddy was my night nurse on Friday night, Mommy and I spent most of the day together Saturday while he slept. At one point, he fell asleep on the chair in the living room and Chili slept with him. It was kind of an off day for Chili and me. Chili just wasn't himself all day - didn't want to eat or play and stuck really close to my Mommy and Daddy all day.

Whether it was my teeth, not having a dirty diaper for a few days or a bout of separation anxiety - I didn't want to be away from Mommy. If I could see her, I wanted her to hold me. And even when she was holding me I wasn't very happy - I whined a lot. She got a couple of pictures of me in the few times I was smiling today. Mommy is certainly hoping that both Chili and I feel better tomorrow!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

From the moment I woke up this morning it was pretty obvious to my parents that I was feeling better. I was much more smiley then I have been the past few days. Lucille commented that I went down for three naps today without a fuss - just turned over and went to sleep. When Daddy got home from work we all had some play time on the floor. I didn't really like sitting on the ball at first, but eventually I got used to it. As the evening wore on, I started to get a little fussy. Mommy sat me on her lap. When Mommy would look at Daddy or the doggies I would get really quiet. As soon as she would turn to look at me I would get all huffy and start whining. Mommy noticed a pattern so she tried this over and over and sure enough - I would start whining as soon as she would look at me. Daddy thought this was pretty funny and tried to get it on film but wasn't able to. With Mother's Day coming up, I think I hurt Mommy's feelings a little. Mommy listened to Grandma Mower and put my teether and a wet washcloth in the freezer. I would only hold my mouth to it just a few seconds at a time, but would always come back for more. Within a few seconds I would get a big smile on my face - relief! I was pretty happy during bathtime so Daddy was able to take a picture of my tooth that is coming in. It's a big one! I went to bed without a fight tonight - no crying - although I did roll around for about 1/2 hour or so with my taggie blanket. It makes a really good teether, too.

Peyton Nicole Smith

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Another day of teething! I am even starting to wonder how long this will go on. You can almost see the tip of my new tooth in the picture above if you look really close. Mommy and Lucille are sure hoping the tooth makes it's way through soon. Lucille rocked me to sleep twice yesterday for naps - in fact one time she held me the whole hour I napped because I was so grumpy.

In the afternoon I got another dose of Tylenol and was feeling a little better. You can see in the picture above my favorite toys - ribbon, a measuring cup, a soft block, a rattle, a ball and a pacifier. Looks kind of like the results of a scavenger hunt!

So that you can learn my new signs at the same time I am I had Mommy take a picture of them.
Hi
Walk
Thank You
Cry
Love

That "cry" sign sure is coming in handy right now!

Peyton Nicole Smith

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

My new tooth is really bothering me. I try to stay in a good mood but I must admit I am pretty cranky and grumpy. I used to go to sleep pretty easily during nap time but because my tooth hurts I have been fighting it the last few days. In fact, for my afternoon nap, Lucille put me in my swing when I refused to sleep in my crib. It doesn't look very comfortable but I did eventually fall asleep. Mommy and Lucille give me Tylenol through my tube to help with the pain a little. Mommy also tries to find things I can chew on. I have tried teething rings, saline bullets that were in the fridge and string cheese packets. In the end, one of my favorites is the little heart slinky you can see above. I chew on one side and pull down the other side at the same time.

Terry my special ed teacher and Kirsten my hard of hearing teacher came by together today. While I played with Terry and Mommy, Kirsten would make the signs. Kirsten taught us blanket, push, aunt and uncle. Kirsten and Terry will be out on summer vacation soon so Mommy gave them my blog address so they can keep updated on my progress.

Today was an important day for my nurses - it was Nurse's Day and the start of Nurse's Week. I got Lucille and Marianne each a Cookie Bouquet from Cookies by Design. They were both very surprised - I guess they didn't even know it was Nurse's Day today. So if you have any nurses in your life make sure to say "thanks"!

Peyton Nicole Smith