Ka-ching!

Children's Mercy Hospital (Adele's NICU hospital) sends a periodical "wish list" brochure to my office. I guess at one point someone here made a donation or volunteered and we were put on the mailing list. I always look at the brochure because they include stories from kids who were treated there. I don't expect to see anyone I know, but I still like reading the stories. Anyway, their wish list is a list of items, big and small, that are needed throughout the hospital. Some are every day items like toys and journals and backpacks for kids. The items I find most interesting are the high-dollar items, because it really drives home how much intervention is needed for preemies like Adele. Here's a rundown of the costs, according to the wish list, of the items that assisted Adele at some point during her stay.

• Breast pump -- $1,200 (there were three on the NICU floor for 96(?) babies/nursing moms, and now I feel guilty for complaining that there weren't more available)
• Infantometer -- $1498 (a combination scale/height measuring device)
• Infusion pump -- $3,213 (delivers medication, fluids or food over several minutes or hours)
• Cribs -- $3,405 (they didn't seem THAT fancy, but whatever...)
• Transport monitor -- $5,400 (allows nurses to take patients to other areas of the hospital while still monitoring vitals)
• Infant CPAP machine -- $9,500 (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure is the step between the ventilator and nasal cannuula)
• Incubator -- $33,655 (!!!)
• Critical care ventilator -- $40,000 (The machine that breathes for babies who can't do it themselves. Adele was on and off the vent for the first 2-3 weeks of her life.)

TOTAL -- $97,871

Of course, we were just "renting" the machines for a period of time, but still. It gives you a better idea of WHY it's so expensive it is to care for these little babies and how easy it is to rack up a million-dollar hospital bill in the blink of an eye. There was plenty of other equipment (not to mention medications, supplies, etc.) used during her three-month stay that I can't even begin to estimate the cost of. I wonder what the final bill was for her stay? Hmmm....maybe I should call to see if I can get an itemized record for her file.

Not sure what the point of this post is (ha ha), only that I thought this information was interesting!

On a completely unrelated note, I have an extra-long weekend starting tomorrow. Adele's daycare is closed Thur and Fri and then I have Monday off for MLK day. Adele and I decided to go visit G-ma and Papa Pontow for a few days. We'll come back Saturday morning and spend the rest of the weekend with Daddy since he also has a long weekend. Yay! Maybe if Gma and Papa are lucky, Adele will show off her new tantrum throwing skills! Ooooo...fun!

To all those who are experiencing this deep-freeze, stay warm! I'm ready for spring. :)

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your holidays were happy. Our Christmas was fantastic and a whirlwind of grandparents and cousins and traveling, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Adele made out like a bandit despite the fact that she didn't really seem to care or understand what all the fuss was about. She's set in the toy and clothes departments for a long time, that's for sure. And, thanks to a couple of Christmas gifts, a new word has been added to her vocabulary: Elmo.

Speaking of vocabulary, it seems to me as though she tripled her word bank overnight. I doubt it's THAT many words, but it's enough now that I can't count them easily or even remember most of them when I do try to count them. Unfortunately, she didn't learn how to say "Gam-ma" (grandma) until after our last grandparent visit. In fact, I think she said it for the first time just as we were leaving Wichita after our lunch with Steve's family. Good timing, kid!

I know I said a while back that I'd quit with the "this time last year" comments, but it really is so odd to think back to this time last year and realize how much Adele has changed. I think last holiday time we were still fighting reflux and begging her to drink just a few more ounces of (ridiculously expensive) formula. I know we were thickening every bottle and had tried baby cereal once or twice, maybe. And I think she was just starting to sit up on her own. Man, looking back at my post from this time last year, I can definitely see how much things have changed, especially in Adele's language skills. It will be fun to see what changes this year brings!

Today I noticed what appears to be a new tooth sprouting on the bottom. If you're keeping track, this will be tooth number seven. Yes, she's almost 20 months old (okay, 17 on the low end) and still only six teeth! Since there is a new one coming up, I hope that means the rest are on their way shortly. Now if only toothbrushing time could be more fun for everyone involved.

Well, Adele is handing me her broom, so I guess that means I've got to wrap it up. I'll leave you with a few pictures and our wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009!

The day after Christmas playing with her pound-a-peg toy (and wearing her new penguin slippers!) She looks like such a big kid here!

Cars for Christmas

All snuggled into her Sesame Street/Elmo kiddie couch/fold-out bed.

If you're the praying type...

...I know a family that can use them.

Kayleigh Freeman was born June 23 weighing 1 pound. She's been in the NICU since then (177 days, I believe), fighting hard to stay alive. She's endured more than any child should have to, and unfortunately, it seems she's losing her battle. Please offer up your prayers, thoughts, vibes, whatever your "thing" is, to this family that they may find comfort, strength and peace during this difficult time. http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

I don't want to this post to become about Adele and our journey, but I will say that it is days like this that I hug Adele a little tighter, give her just one more kiss at night, and thank God that our story had a happy ending.

Count your blessings, folks.

Sure is quiet around here...

No new posts in almost three weeks?? Woo! I rock! Bless you, dear reader, if you are still out there!

Things are going swimmingly here. Adele is adorable as ever, and getting smarter by the minute. Well, maybe she's not any smarter, but she seems to learn something new every minute. Her vocabulary is expanding, and she's signing more too. She can sign "milk" and "eat," and she must get it from daycare, because we've been terrible about teaching them at home. We are working on "please" and "thank you" now.

She is quite the helper, which is so cute! She loves to clean and wipe things up, and this is another thing she gets from daycare (because she certainly doesn't get it from us). The other day, Steve left a damp paper towel on a table in the living room. She proceeded to wipe up the table (nothing was spilled on it) and next thing we know, she'd taken the towel to the trash can and thrown it away. Nice! Fast-forward 15 or 20 minutes to when she spilled a few drops of milk on the coffee table. Off she goes, to the trash can, to retrieve the paper towel from before! Clever little thing. She comes back, wipes up her droplets of spilt milk and off to throw the paper towel away. Awesome! She likes to "sweep" too. Man--this child-labor stuff is great! No one told me about this parenting perk! I'm sure it will be short-lived, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

I really wish there was more exciting news to share! She's pretty much a regular old toddler these days, and that doesn't make for blog-worthy reporting. But hey, I'd gladly take that over the alternative.

Oh! I guess the other small news is that she got her first shiner the other day. She was protesting her morning diaper/clothes change, as is the routine these days, and flopped forward right onto the little knobby thing at the corner of her changing table. Ouchie! It was already bright red and swollen by the time we left for daycare, but it actually looked better by the end of the day. Now it's just a little bit red with a bit of a purple undertone. The best part was that happened on the day when I had to take her to the doctor for her flu shot. Luckily our usual nurse was there, so there were no suspicious looks.

One last thing that I remembered: we finally finished our kitchen!! You may remember that earlier this year we put in a new floor, which improved the look immensely. Well, we finally painted (spiced butternut) and got our new dishwasher (yes!) and a light fixture to replace the 90s era track lighting that was over the counter when we moved in. The difference is like night and day. We love it! It makes the dining room and hallway look even dingier now, so I guess that's next on the list...a long time from now.

Okay, now for pics!

Adele and her fresh shiner. You should have seen the other guy!
Our beautiful new kitchen!



I tried to add a video of Adele "sweeping" but it was taking forever to load. I'll have to try that again when I have more time!

Have a good week, everyone!

Happy Friday from Adele

It's cold here now, so we had to break out the winter-weather gear. Love these hats! (Sorry about the photo quality--I took it with Steve's camera phone!)

Okay, I have a question for all you tech-savvy readers. I really need to back up the photos on my computer, but I'm not sure how. I have several questions.

1. What's the best way to backup the photos? CD? External hard drive? Something else? Is there a particular brand or style I should look for in either case?
2. Should I also save a copy on a web-based photo site (Picasa, for instance)?
3. Ideally I'd like to dump some of them off the computer because they eat up so much memory, but I don't know if that's the smartest idea. Should I dump them once I have them backed up? (Ideally twice, which is why I was considering an external backup source (CD or drive) AND the web-based site.) Or should I leave them on my computer, dump all the terrible photos I know I don't want (because they exist--oh, yes, they do), and just buy more memory for my computer and hope THAT speeds it up?
4. Anything else I should know/do/use?

Feel free to email me directly if you can't fit your reply in comments. My email address is dburen @ gmail.com. (Without spaces, of course.)

Thanks, and Happy Friday!

18 months

Adele turned 18 months old on Friday, Nov 7. I know I say this everytime she hits a major birthday milestone, but GEEZ! How did this happen? EIGHTEEN MONTHS? Criminy.

She had her check-up that day (Nov 7) and the stats are

Height: 31.75 inches

Weight: 20 lbs, 9 ounces

Head: 18-something inches (I don't pay too much attention to this stat anymore.)

Her height is now in the 50th percentile for her ACTUAL AGE. That means she is perfectly average height for normal, full-term 18-month-old!! Holy cow. If we adjust that for her gestational age it's somewhere in the 90th percentile (I think--I don't have the chart with me now). Her weight is still on the low side, coming in around the 5th percentile for her actual age. The doctor looked back at Adele's charts and noticed the highest percentile she hit was 25th right around when she was 5 or 6 months old. The doctor isn't concerned, really, since developmentally she's fine. She doesn't think it's a nutritional deficiency or any sort of metabolic issue, so that's good. It's probably a combination of genetics, catch-up growth, and the fact that she's an on-the-go toddler. She looks healthy, though, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

She finally sprouted her two top eye teeth, so that makes a grand total of six. Sigh. Poor kid. Someday she'll catch up in the dental department.

Here are the most recent pictures:

Because I am THE cheapest and laziest mom on the planet, Adele's "moose" Halloween costume consisted of her brown pants, inside out brown sweatshirt and "antlers" from Target. Next year I'll do better. I promise. Hey, she still looks cute, right?


Skeeter wanted in on the action.Her "Mummy Loves Me" Halloween shirt. And I posted this pic mostly because of her sweet, sweet face.
A few weeks ago, my friend Joanne and her daughter, Maggie, came over for lunch. Maggie was born 2.5 weeks before Adele. Maybe she can loan Adele some hair.
Adele and Daddy enjoy one of the last nice fall days.
The Foot Book is always a favorite.
We made a trip to Wichita last weekend to help Steve's mom with some work around the house. Here she is with Adele during our Pei Wei lunch. Mmmm!

For the Grandmas

I've been thoroughly scolded by Grandma Van Horn for not having posted anything since late September, and probably more importantly, no PICTURES since Sept. 16. Bad Mommy! Bad! So, with my tail between my legs I humbly beg your forgiveness. I come bearing gifts--LOTS of new photos!

But first, just a quick catch-up on what she's up to these days.

• Walking everywhere--not quite running yet, but I'M not complaining!
• New words: "no," "bye-bye/bye," "hi," "shoe" (although sometimes it's more just shhhhhh), "gimme" (lovely), "more". She also signs "more" and "all done." She has been saying "uh-oh" and "mommy" and "daddy" for a while now. If your remember pictures of her nursery, I put little dot applique thingies all over and some are right by her changing table. We've been using them as distractions during diaper changes and once in a while we hear her say something that sounds like a garbled version of "circle." Probably only recognizable to us, but since she only says it in relation to the dots, we're sure that's what she's talking about. We're trying to teach her "drink" and/or "milk" in both words and sign language. Hope she picks that up soon, as the "gimme" has got to go, and she says "gimme" most often when she wants her cup.
• She's really good at following directions and understanding what we're saying. The other day she was on her way to the living room and I said, "let's change your diaper first," and she turned around and walked straight to her changing table! Just now, Steve told her she needed socks and she found her socks lying on the footstool and picked them up and tried to put them on her feet! She'll also get her shoes if I ask her to find them, or bring a book if I ask, etc.
• Speaking of books...she loooooooooves books. We read probably 10 books a day (sometimes it's the same book 10 times). We're also trying to teach her how to say "book" but no luck so far. You'd think she'd have picked it up by now, as often as she hears us say "do you want to read that book?"
• One slightly disturbing trend is that in the past week or so, if she is scolded or is told "no" she'll start hitting herself in the head and repeating "no, no, no". It's really sad and very upsetting to us. She doesn't cry or anything, but I'm wondering why she's doing it! We certainly don't hit her and I'm 100% confident in her daycare situation, so I really don't know what's going on. It might just be her way of venting her frustration, but still...we have to get that one to stop.
• We finally got her report from CMH after her developmental screen. Her scores/ranges were 8-10 months for language (which is low, I think, but we knew they'd score her low since she didn't talk much at the appt); 11-12 months for motor skills and 14 months for cognitive development. She was around 16 months actual/13 months adjusted at the time, she's right on par for her adjusted age!
  

I know you're really here for pics, so I won't make you wait any longer!

From mid-September, KU Band Day, Adele devours a good book ("Pat the Bunny," I believe). This is one of the few photos of Adele where I think she actually looks like me!


October 5, we all went to the pumpkin patch!





No one we know in the photo below, I just thought it was a nice picture of a beautiful Kansas farm!

*Here is where I add my political disclaimer. I'm usually not one to vocalize my political views, although if you really know me, you probably know which way I lean (and after this post, you'll definitely know). If you want to discuss politics or express your views, please email me. If you're looking to debate or argue, you can skip it entirely, as I don't find that to be fruitful at all, and I like to stay on good terms with my friends and family. :) *

Having said THAT... Saturday, Oct 18, Adele and I joined 75,000 of our closest friends and went to see Barack Obama speak at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City. It was an awesome day (although my legs and back were killing me after standing for 4 hours) and we had great weather. Adele was a trooper and charmed everyone around us. She fell asleep just before Obama took the stage, though. Oh well! At least she could nap in the stroller and I could enjoy the speech without having to hold her the whole time. We weren't terribly close to the stage, but not way in the back either. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

For a while our line butted up to a grassy knoll, so I let Adele wander around and play in the grass.


The view from our spot in line. The entrance is past that building at the top of the photo and around the corner. When we first arrived it was half as long as it is here, but foolishly we decided to go get lunch thinking it wouldn't grow TOO much in an hour. Sigh...
The line continued behind us, around the corner, to the end of the next intersection and halfway up THAT street. CRAZY.
Obama 08 sign
We played several rounds of "Spot the Secret Service"

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius:
Finally, the main event, Barack Obama! (This is with quite a zoom effect on, and unfortunately things get rather blurry when I'm using the super zoom.)