A Tooth!

We were sitting at lunch in Lincoln on our way to Missoula for Landon's evaluation. Dylan was holding Landon and he noticed Landon's first tooth had finally poked through! Landon didn't understand all the excitement!

First Tooth!

Since then his second tooth has popped up. The other lower, front tooth.

He teethes pretty well. A few symptoms - a fever, diaper rash, fussy and extra sleepy announces a new tooth is on its way. He enjoys chewing on anything soft and loves chomping on a frozen Gogurt tube! He is very drooley and soaks many bibs every day! Addison is always quick to remind me if I forget his "neck apron"!

Our New Home

Choteau. A funny little word. It is pronounced Show-doe! I am unsure of the origin of the word and I am having trouble finding out what it means. At the edge of the Rocky Mountain Front we have spectacular views of the mountains. In 15 - 20 minutes we can be driving into some of the last pristine grizzly bear habitat left in the lower 48. To the east are rolling farm lands covered in pheasants! We are surrounded by lakes, streams and many reservoirs. A rock climbers haven, there are many established routes nearby. The town is adorable. Main Street has several shops and restaurants. There is a library, a post office, a one theater Roxy movie theater (with the best movie popcorn I have ever had, it is the REAL butter they use!), an organic market, a great grocery store, a hardware store, two awesome parks, a lumber yard, a church we like, a great school, a ski hill nearby and a vet clinic. What more do you need!? Oh, a great little hospital with a very handsome new health care provider!

The nearest city is about 50 miles away. We head that way to stock up once every couple weeks. Otherwise the town provides us with everything we need.

We have been here over a month already and feel settled in. Could this be the place we finally call home? I hope so! So far we all love it here. We are ready to plant some roots and truly unpack. Dylan and I always talked about raising our family in a small community just like this. I am really loving it. No crowds, no traffic, peaceful, simple. People know you are new here and welcome you. I hope it isn't too soon to say, but Choteau 'feels' like home. Helena never felt that way. I can see us here indefinitely. I am ready to buy some land, build a house and fill up that land with one brown cow, a piglet, chickens, a pygmy goat and a few horses!

A few images from the past several weeks.

Lots of fires lately as the farmers get ready to seed!

The view from right above our house. 

This is Carrot Cake. She lives in our neighborhood and most days is sunning herself in our backyard. 

This property Addison thought we could buy. "All it needs is some paint", she said!

Plenty of wildlife to keep me and my camera busy!

L's Developmental Evaluation

Our L-Man had his first preemie developmental evaluation on April 12th. On this day his adjusted age was 6 months, 2 days old and his real age was 8 months, 27 days. He weighed 15 pounds, 6 ounces (10-25th percentile for adjusted age), he was 25 1/2 inches long (10-25th percentile for adjusted age) and his head circumference was 43 centimeters (25-50th percentile).

Landon waiting for his turn!

Landon was evaluated by one of his perinatologist and two child developmental experts - a occupational therapist and a physical therapist. He sat on my lap in a small room.  We sat across a small table from the occupational therapist and physical therapist. They basically played with Landon -- handed him different toys and watched him play. What they really were doing was evaluating his cognitive and fine motor skills. He was handed 1 - 3 small red die and they watched as he manipulated them in his hands. They watched as he transferred the object from one hand to the other. They watched as he tried to pick up more than one die.  After ringing a bell they handed it to him to watch him figure out how to make it ring. The put the bell on a washcloth and watched him pull the washcloth toward himself to get the bell close enough to pick it up. They dropped a toy on the ground, watching to see if he looked for the toy on the ground. They hid a smaller toy under a larger one to see if he could problem solve to look for the smaller toy under the larger one. They put the die inside a cup to see if he would dump the cup or reach in to get a dice out. They handed him a book and watched him manipulate the pages.  They scored him at the age equivalent of a 7 month old.

Then Landon got really sleepy and decided he wasn't too impressed with the therapists making him perform. When it was time to evaluate his gross motor skills Landon put his two fingers in his month and laid down on the blanket! He cried when they talked to him or tried to perk him back up. If I wasn't in direct sight he cried. Landon did not want to show them how he can roll, get up on his hands and knees or how he scoots. They said he was 'solid and strong' and they had no concerns. He was scored at the age equivalent of a 6 month old.

They also described him as 'quiet and very observant'. This is right on!

He will have a follow-up evaluation when he is 1 year old (adjusted age). He will begin to have his language skills evaluated at the 18 & 36 month evaluations.

After his evaluation we took Landon down to the NICU and said hello to many of his NICU nurses and one other perinatologist. To say the least they were AMAZED by him. They were amazed he has no medical or developmental concerns. A couple nurses took pictures of him to show to the rest of the staff! He continues to amaze everyone!

Landon's main perinatologist is presenting his case at the annual Montana Perinatology Conference in a few weeks. Hopefully with what they learned from Landon more babies born with his condition can be saved! I pray that every baby born with Hydrops Fetalis thrives as much as Landon is.

In My Wedding Dress

Addison Jo - my beautiful daughter - is 4 years and 5 months old and she is enthralled with weddings. She adds new plans to her wedding almost daily. She enjoys looking at pictures from our wedding and she asks for every detail from our wedding.

She asked me to put my wedding dress on. I had a better idea!

{The day before her Auntie Jessica curled her hair beautifully. It made for some gorgeous 'fancy' photos. Fancy is Addi's favorite word and attitude! The bright pink flower and jewel hair clip that she got from Grandma Deaette is a perfect accessory --- describes her style perfectly!}

I have entered the below picture in the Click It Up A Notch April Photo Contest.

A few more images from our fun session!

A few of her plans!

What kind of flowers do you want in your wedding? --- "Pink Roses"
What do you want your dress to look like? --- "A long train with no sleeves. I want them to make it with white flowers on it. "
Where do you want to be married, on a beach, in a church, in the mountains? --- "I can't be married in the mountains because I will have a big train on my dress, because you didn't have a long train on your dress and you couldn't walk in the sticks and rocks. "
Are you going to serve dinner at your wedding? --- "Oh yes." What kind of food are you going to serve? "Cut up carrots and sandwiches with apple juice in fancy glasses."
What else can you tell me about your wedding? "Well, my heels will be white with diamonds. I am going to put my hair in a wedding bun with curls in the back. Do you want me to show you how a wedding bun goes? I am going to have wedding cake with white frosting and white flavored inside. And I want a wedding picture on the wall that looks like a wedding girl like you. It will have slow music for me to get married to."
Who are you going to invite? "You, my dad, Landon and Grandma Deaette and Grandpa Jeff, Papa, Grandma Bobbi, Jessica, Jaci and Jack and Kaidyn, Ella, Ellie & Aunt Sara and all my other friends that I will have."
What color will your groom wear? "Brown with a white rose. His flower will be a rose and mine will be a rose too."
Are you going to have a vail? " A white one like you."
Are you going to wear jewelry? "Yes, I am going to wear jewelry. I will have white earrings and a white necklace with a picture of you on it. I think I will make it."

Easter

We spent Easter at home. Granny and Papa came over and we had a very yummy ham dinner. The kids were all dressed up and tolerated the camera in their faces for most of the day!

On Saturday Addi participated an Easter Egg hunt at the city park. Daddy also hid a bunch of eggs in the yard for her to find on Easter.

Addi found her basket in a kitchen cupboard. She found Landon's for him behind his door.

Emptying her Easter egg loot!

Chewing on his new dinosaur!

Putting out carrots for Addi's wild adoptive bunny, Carrot Cake

Our beloved Granny

Painting with the paints Papa brought

Enjoying the sunshine with Papa

My beautiful family.

For more adorable Easter Pictures please visit my Facebook album.

Landon - Month 7 & Month 8

My sweet Landon. How I love to write about you and all your wonderfulness. Every time you do something, anything new ... I just stop, take it all in and say THANK YOU.

Our Handsome Man. 7 1/2 Months

The past two months have been incredible. He has grown and grown up a lot. On April 15th our little man will be 9 months old!

I remember, like it was yesterday when Addison was 9 months. It was one of my most favorite stages of her first year. I remember vividly sitting with Addison in the park in Salt Lake City. She was in her pink Keen shoes and a paisley blue summer dress. We were sitting under a tree watching the other big kids play. I was eating an apple. I handed Addi my apple -- or she asked me for it, as she often did with food -- and she finished it. Taking bites off the core.  For the first time. I remember teaching her she could not eat the core. This moment it etched in my brain. Forever. A perfect summer moment with my baby girl. She barely had hair. She had a few teeth. She was signing several words, not yet talking much. She wasn't yet crawling. One of the last moments she sat still and let me do the talking! She still thought her mom was pretty cool and really smart!

I wonder what moments I will remember as vividly with Landon.

{Month 7}

: Landon's personality is really started to develop. He is a sweet, funny little boy. He is careful and cautious and intently watches everything that is going on around him. He seems to really study things. Details on shirts, bumps on toys, pieces of fur on stuffed animals.

: He takes in EVERYTHING Addi is doing, usually he is watching with a smile on his face. He lights up when she talks to him and dives towards her. He loves when she holds him, rocks him, and sings him "lullal-byes". Its amazing for their mother to watch them bond and be so in love with each other.

: He has started to think the dogs are the greatest things ever. He gets the biggest smile on his face whenever they walk by. He loves when they stop to pay him attention and seems to like slimy kisses.

: He has started to act bashful. He will bury his face into our shoulders when someone else says hello to him. He definetly prefers being held by Daddy or I, especially if he doesn't recognize the person holding him.

: He knows when you leave a room and smiles when you come back.

: He flaps his arms when excited or when Addison is playing with him.

: He is 'talking' more and more. He makes the m, n, d and o sounds. And will talk back and forth with us.

: He sleeps great and is ready for the day at about 6:30 am. He takes several short naps through out the day with at least one longer nap.

: His hair is really starting to grow thicker!

: He started scooching backwards on his belly. He gets himself up on his hands and knees. He will rock a few times and go back onto his belly.

Loves his Elmo

Loves his dangling toys.

Addi pretending to have a sleep over in Landon's crib.

Too Cute!

Love to play!

Bath time!

Baby Blue Eyes

Silly in Mamma's hat.

Nite-Nite Eyelashes

Out to lunch with my favorites.

Hanging in Daddy's chair watching Mamma pack!

 : He had a little cold this month and it really upset his breathing. He wasn't sleep well. He was really raspy and congested. We put him on a breathing medication for about 3 days to help open everything up and help him breath easier. It helped a lot. He of course made a game out of his treatments! This little man takes everything like it is no big deal! Hard to break these spirits! Within a few days he was all better. 

Smiling through the steam!

{Month 8}

: Landon loves to eat! To say the least! He is nursing less and less and prefers to sit in his chair and eat food! He says, 'mmm mmm mmmm' when he is hungry! It is really adorable! He kicks his feet and flaps his arms in the excitement of me making his food! If you are sitting with him at the table or if he is in his chair he expects to eat! He tries most things we are eating. He loves his little puffs and yogurt bites. He tries to feed himself and has successfully picked up a puff and has gotten it into his mouth. We started cheering and he seemed a little proud! He uses a sippy cup and likes to take drinks from a real cup.

: Landon really enjoys playing with his toys now. He is sitting really well now and will sit and play for quite a while. He still loves to lay under his floor mat and grab at his hanging toys. We retired the bouncing chair. He doesn't LOVE Blue the Bouncy horse like Addi did, but will stand and play for short periods of time. He loves to read. He stops at each page to grab it and taste it!

: He is still getting himself onto his hands and knees, but hasn't moved forward! Hard to get all those parts to work together!

: He has officially rolled from his back to his belly. For months he would get rolled as far over as possible without actually rolling! Now he rolls both ways easily!

: He still isn't much of a gigglier. He will giggle a tiny bit when tickled. Other that than he hasn't giggled those big 'ol baby belly laughs. I think it is for two reasons: 1. We are not as funny as a family as we think we are! and 2. He is still a little skeptical of this world! He loves to smile. I still can't figure out how he gets his mouth open so wide without splitting his cheeks!

: We are trying to learn clapping and high fives.

: I continue to sign to him. He hasn't shown that he is understanding the signs.

: We can ask him, "Where is Kya/Mason?" And he looks down to the floor. He gets "Where is Mamma/Daddy/Addi?" less often!

: When you say "nite nite" to him at the edge of his crib he leans way forward, sort of dive bombing himself to bed and whimpers. He loves going to bed!

: At the end of March he was one ounce away from a whopping 14 pounds (13 lbs. 15 oz.). He is still pretty small. We get confused looks when you tell someone he is 8 months old!

: For about 3 days this month he had a fever ranging from 100-102 degrees. Daddy ruled out an ear infection. Along with the fever he had a diaper rash (very rare for Landon), runny nose and he was extra sleepy. Addi would have these symptoms for a few days then get a tooth! As of today Landon is still tooth-less! Mommy is glad! I am not ready to say good-bye to his beautiful tooth-less grin. Plus the thought of how much he will eat once he gets teeth is scary!!!

First carousel ride. (On the bench with Mamma)

Looking for Grizzly Bears.

Scooching backwards!

Say cheese!

Good morning cuddles. (Daddy is less impressed with the flash at 7 am!)

Up on his knees!

Rockin' with big sis.

First wagon ride!

Just being cute!

First time swinging at the park!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On April 12th Landon goes for a preemie evaluation. The Community Medical Centers offers a free evaluation for all premature babies. I am not sure what to expect, but Landon will be meeting one or several developmental professional who will evaluate his growth and mental development. I don't believe in comparing siblings and other children, they each grow at their own pace. However, based on the 'average growth charts' he is more like a typical 6 month old, than he is an 8 month old. This is normal for premature babies. They tend to develop on their adjusted age (they age they would have been if not born prematurely). I am curious to see how the professionals think he is doing and to learn if he should be receiving any sort of therapy.