It’s hard to believe when I think about it, but Skyler is 8 months old now! And, she is two months post-surgery. Two months was the “surgical” recovery time the doctors estimated, even though her heart function still has a lot of recovery time left to go. But her incision and anything else that got cut or moved around during the surgery should be fully healed at this point. I’d say from her activity level and the way we’ve been able to handle her freely lately, she’s been healed from the surgery for a few weeks now.
On Monday we went back to her regular doctor’s office to get her back on her immunization schedule. I think she’s getting used to the idea of exam rooms because she just played with her toys and kicked her legs and grunted (her latest vocal development) when I got her undressed on the exam table. Her favorite part was tearing up the tissue paper that goes over the table. She weighed in at 13 pounds, 11 ounces, which is a 9 ounce gain in one week, and she was 27 inches long. Her weight is still far below the bottom of the growth chart, but her doctor is very pleased with the rate she is gaining, and said to just add another serving of meat to her daily diet to help her muscles get stronger so maybe she’ll start sitting up soon. She also told me some tricks to play with her to help build her core muscles since she won’t play on her tummy.
Speaking of sitting up, I don’t know what her deal is – if she just doesn’t want to sit up or if she really can’t. Today in the bath tub (which she loves now, by the way) she was laying back on the slanted backrest part and just pulled herself up to sitting position with no hands, and sat and played with her feet in the water. She did it all by herself! I’d say that being in the water made her more weightless so it’s easier, but I only use about two or three inches of water. So this makes me really wonder if she just does not want to sit up when I want her to, and she’d just rather roll around on the floor. Either way, it is obvious to me on a daily basis that she is rapidly gaining strength in one way or another!
And now I go to brag – I have the sweetest baby girl in the world! All I have to do is smile at her and she returns the biggest sweetest grin without hesitation. Every morning when I click her carseat into the backseat, I look at her and say “I love you” and she immediately smiles the biggest “I love you too” smile back at me. When she wakes up in the morning she just hums and plays with her stuffed animals until I hear her and go to greet her. I peak over the crib rail and there she goes again, the biggest good morning smile, and she flaps her arms and stomps her feet in excitement. I still go to bed at night and can’t wait till it’s time to get up and see her in the morning. Many times bedtime makes me sad because it’s time that we can’t play with Skyler! It’s probably bad, but I am so not strict about her bedtime. If she is awake and playing, I just let it go until she’s rubbing her eyes. There is just too much fun to be had when she is awake!