Ruby Hope McKee Starling

Ruby has been eating really well the past couple days.  We're hoping this means she'll gain some weight.  I'd love it if she would get above 17lbs and STAY there.

Ruby was was my little helper this afternoon.  We made Banana Walnut Cake.

Ruby is now pulling up to standing on her own.  She is kinda cruzing but gets nervous/scared and won't do it too much.  She is also pretty cautious about sitting down from standing.  Most of the time she fusses until one of us holds her hands as she sits down.  We are so proud of her, for reaching this milestone.

She is talking more and more everyday.  Her favorite words are Mama, Dada, Ella and Bibi.  She has also started dancing to music.  Right now the things that get her grooving are rap or funk.  It's really kinda funny.  It's really stretching the limits of our Indie Rock music collection. She dances by rocking front to back and shaking her head.  Her speech therapist thought she was telling her no, until i explained that's how she dances.  We don't really shake our head No at her.  In fact we really don't have to tell her no very often.  I'm sure that will change soon.  Of course Ruby will always be the perfect child that never does anything wrong....

She is also starting to get the hang of stacking blocks.  She still hasn't mastered putting things into a container, but we're working on it.  These two are what she "failed" during her developmental assessment.  As you can guess she has plenty of opportunity to put her toys into something.  Like the toy box every night, maybe.

It's  summer in Texas.  Our AC is on and we've had highs in the 90's for the past week.  We got Ruby a wading pool and we've been putting it to good use.  We're trying to get prepared for her swimming lesson that start next month.  Our neighborhood is pool on the weekends now and we hope to let her get some experience  this weekend.

We have a check-up on Friday with the GI Doc.  We've weaned her off of the Nexium and we hope that he will give us the boot.  We've hesitated posting about the Nexium, but it's been almost a month since her last dose.  We think we are in the clear.  Ruby takes no regular meds now.  It only took a year, but we did it!  Ruby's weight is the biggest concern.  She is only 16lbs 14oz and way below the curve.  The fevers didn't help much.  We're trying to get her fattened up, but it's hard.  Hopefully in the next weeks she'll gain some.  The options if she deosn't start to gain aren't all that great.  We've come so far.  We hope we don't have to take step back anytime soon.

This is what happens when you leave the camera on the ground in the backyard.  I found several surprise pictures when I downloaded from the camera this morning.

I'm just going to let the pictures explain why I haven't posted much.  Ruby is doing great.  i need to update on everyone on just how great.  However Ruby is keeping me very very busy.

This was all before 9am this morning.

Plus morning naps seem to be a thing of the past.

We decided to go ahead and start some antibiotics even though Ruby had no other symptoms of an infection other than a fever.  De ja vu except she's not on ECMO.  It might be coincidence but the the morning after we started the antibiotics she seemed to be feeling better.  Today for the first time in 2 weeks she drank 17 ounces of pediasure and ate 3 meals and 2 snacks.  She also definitely feels better.  Hopefully this will continue.  She is down to 16lbs 11 ounces.  That WAY off the growth curve.  Hopefully we'll be able to fatten her up in the next week.

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update.  I didn't get my nap today.  I get up at 4:30 to run everyday.  If I don't nap when Ruby does, the evenings get really tough.

I'll leave you with a picture from a few weeks ago.  Eating Guacamole is hard work.

We're waiting until tomorrow to decide about the bloodwork and x-ray.  I want her stuck if she doesn't have to be.

I'm now going to take advantage of a napping baby and possibly get somethings done.

We'll keep everyone posted over the weekend.

Ruby woke-up with 101 fever again this morning.  She had been doing better, but I never felt she was 100%.  We saw Dr. Dan.  He thinks it could be another virus.  We're going to blood work tomorrow if she's not feeling better.  I mentioned her patch and the small possibility that could become infected.  He said a CBC should give an indication if there is something.  There was also talk of a chest x-ray.  Her lungs are clear.  her ears are too.  I never thought I'd hope for an ear infection.

It could just be a virus, but with Ruby we can't be too sure.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm being to paranoid.  I don't want Ruby to get poked and prodded for no reason.  I do however want to make sure this just a "normal" baby thing.

Ruby has pretty much just slept on my lap all day.  She's wake up and kinda play with some toys.  If I try to set her down she cries.  I'm really happy that Netflix has streaming video.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Sorry I didn't do a Mother's day post.  Chris and Ruby made me breakfast.  Then we all made stepping stone with RUby's footprints in it.  Ruby wasn't stable enough for hand and foot prints  when she was born.  She wasn't even stable enough to get a length.  We hope to make the stepping stone thing a tradition.  We spent the day in the back yard.  We took a brake from chores and computers to just have a nice day.  last year Ruby had just come off ECMO and we were in the touch an go period before her repair surgery.  This year it was nice to sit on a blanket in the backyard and play.

We are finally unpacked from our trips.  After I buy more hangers this morning all the clothes will be put away as well.  A family in our neighborhood had a major fire this weekend and needed hangers.  So, now I have an excuse to get a latte and walk around Target.  Hopefully Ruby will feel the same way.

Ruby is definitely 13 months old.  She's my little helper.  She helps by getting all of her books off the shelf and playing peek-a-boo with freshly folded clothes. Also she helps me make sure the kitchen floor gets mopped at least twice a day due to blackberries and hummus that don't quite make it into her mouth. My days of leisurely reading, knitting, or checking my email as she plays IN ONE SPOT are over.  She will however go read in her room for 10-15 minutes by herself.  When she's done she comes and finds me.  It is kinda funny.  It's like she decides she needs some "me time" and crawls down the hallway to her bookshelf.  I can hear in there talking to her bear and reading her books.  My parents used to take away my books instead of grounding me.  I guess we know where she gets it from.

A new development since the fever is that she showing some separation anxiety.  She hasn't really done this before, but she's definitely a mama's girl.  Considering she was 6 weeks old before I got hold her the first time I really don't mind.

It seems summer is here already.  I was hoping we'd have a couple more weeks of 80 degree days.  No such luck.  It's above 90 almost everyday this week and it's only May.  the good thing though is that we've been able to play with the water table and swimming pool. 

Now for the pictures.

She also thinks the hose is a lot of fun.

This was Ruby's response to something Chris said.

I think we asked her if she wanted to go inside.

Here's Ruby enjoying some goldfish in the pool.  As you can see some are stuck on her face. 

Ruby's come so far and we couldn't be prouder of her.  Just to put things in perspective this was Ruby at this time last year.

Ruby is feeling better. Her fever broke around 3 or 4 am this morning.  She's still a bit clingy and grumpy.  Hopefully she'll continue to feel better.

I finally managed to download some pictures from our vacation.  The suitcases are still full of dirty clothes, but the pictures have been downloaded.  Sick babies and laundry don't mix.

We flew in and out of Portland.  We drove down to Eugene (2 hours).  Ruby was a perfect traveler.  The flights were long, but she handled them so well, better than me infact. A couple of the flights had really bad terbulance and all Ruby did was giggle about it.

Here's Ruby giving everyone "more cowbell."

Here's Ruby and I cheering in all the full Marathoners after I finished the Half Marathon. I injured my foot during the race and choose to run the Half Marathon distance instead.  13.1 miles while in pain sounded a bit easier than 26.2.

On our tour of Eugene, OR we stopped to look Steve Prefontaine's rock.

Ruby loved to stand aand check out the view of Portland from our hotel room window.

This was our solution to not having a high chair in our little apartment/hotel room in Portland.  We had a full kitchen so we were able to cook some meals.  Ruby didn't seem to mind having a picnic.

On our last morning in Portland we stopped by Voo-Doo Doughnuts.  Chris got a maple bacon one and Ruby got one with fruit loops on it.  Mine was a standard cream filled one. Ruby actually about half of her doughnut!

It's been a very long and hard day for all of us.  Ruby's fever seemed to peak at 103.4F around noon.  We've been to the doctor and talked to him twice on the phone.  He thinks it's just a virus.  if it doesn't clear up tomorrow we're on our way for blood work.  We're alternating tylenol and mortin every 3 hours.  This tactic is keeping the fever around 101.

I'm afraid that this might get worse before it gets better.

Here's a picture of how we've spent our day.

We're home and have been home for a couple days.  My marathon didn't go as well as planned due to injury.  Not much i can do other than let it heal.  I haven't had a chance to download pictures yet, soon I promise.

Ruby woke at 5am with a fever of 101.  Bad timing since I was hoping to leave for the pool at 5:15.   We had one of those "What do we do, this is normal baby stuff" moments.  I changed her into a onesie and gave her some tylenol.  She then drank a few ounces and fell back asleep.  Her heart rate was little high and she was breathing a little harder than I'd like.  We listened to her lungs and they sounded clear.  It looks like we will be paying Dr. Dan a visit today.  She might have caught something on the trip.  We need her to get little bugs to build her immune system, but we also don't want her end up in the hospital.  Hopefully this is just a "normal" thing.