Update - April 14, 2009

Lucy...you got some 'splaining to do!

Mad scientist

Here we are, the day before income tax day. I have always wanted a dependent for tax purposes.

Yesterday, Erin had her 9 month NICU follow up. I was unable to go (I actually do work once in awhile) so Sheila took her. Included in this follow up appointment was a psychologist who came in to do extensive testing on Erin's development, both physical as well as intelligence. Erin rated above average in every category but a few, where she rated superior! It was really thrilling to get the blow by blow from Sheila after the appointment. It tells us that the physical therapy that Erin has been doing is working. While she continues to occasionally demonstrate that there is an impact from the stroke, on a day to day basis a casual observer would never notice it. BTW, she weighed in at a hair under 18 pounds! She stands 28 inches.

Her crawling has progressed to the point where she is a little speed demon. She has certain things that she likes to explore, like the open door leading to the stairs that access the garage. If she notices that the door has been left open for a moment, she likes to head over that way and pretend to be interested in something else, only to suddenly make a beeline for the door. I am not sure where she learned the art of deception, but she is pretty good at seeming to be uninterested in the real object of her affection, only to make her move when she thinks she can get away with it. She is occasionally standing without support, and should be walking relatively soon. As a result, the house is being child-proofed today. This involves installing gates at all of the stairways, and includes drilling lots of holes in our woodwork and banisters to support all of the baby-proofing that we need. It is a small price to pay for her safety, though. We will both feel a lot better about knowing she can't get into too much trouble if we take our eyes off of her for a few seconds.

She continues to try and communicate, and is learning new things daily. Her latest trick involves the little cooing sound she makes on occasion. If you repeat it back to her, she immediately repeats it back to you as often as you are willing to play the game. She has an enormously cute wave that Sheila and her parents taught Erin while they were in Scottsdale. It looks like a prom queen wave, and is hysterical. On more than one occasion I have burst into laughter after trudging sleepily to her room to try and put her back to sleep only to find her standing in her crib, waiving at me while showing off a full megawatt smile. She is looking for a playmate at those times. As soon as you put her back down to sleep, she immediately flips over the pops right back up with the same smile on her face.

Her sleeping issues are continuing unfortunately. There have only been a couple of nights in the last month that didn't involve multiple trips to her room. Monday, I gave up after 2:30 and stayed up all night. That was actually an improvement over the preceeding week, where I was up from midnight on. Unfortunately, that was the same day I had a breakfast meeting and then an all-day meeting with my new bosses and then co-workers from Prudential. Luckily, our CFO sat next to me and literally nudged me every time I nodded off in the afternoon to keep me at least looking interested in the program. I don't think my boss was very impressed. Weird using the word "boss." I much preferred being the boss.

The doctor from the NICU follow up thinks that either Erin is again teething, or is possibly having night terrors. Night terrors can affect babies Erin's age, and involve heavy inconsolable crying that can last for an hour. During that time, all you can do is hold them and try to reassure them. Those aren't the most fun nights, but in the morning Erin seems to remember nothing, and always wakes with a huge smile and is very affectionate.

Our daily routine is pretty well set. I hit the gym at 6 and get home around 7:30 which is right when Erin usually wakes. We spend time looking out her window to check on the world, and then wrestle (my term for changing her diaper) before heading upstairs to join Sheila. We spend about a half hour every morning just the three of us hanging out in our bedroom, and they are usually the best moments of the day.

Most amazing is the fact that seemingly overnight Erin has turned into a little girl. Her personality is growing daily, and it is amazing to watch the development from a little blob to a little girl that has opinions, likes and dislikes, and is clearly headstrong.

Erin greatly enjoyed Scottsdale, and we are headed back in May for 10 days. Our goal is to spend quite a bit more time out there, enjoying the new house. Sheila has done a great job in getting the house in order and fully decorated. Our biggest fear there are scorpions, which can be deadly for a baby. We paid to have the house sealed to keep any scorpions out, but there are still scorpions inside from the construction process. Over a few months, the exterminators should be successful in eradicating the little bastards, but for now we have to be very careful. Sheila was stung on the hand, and I was stung on the foot. It is an incredibly painful experience that I don't wish on anyone. The sting feels like a series of needles shoved all the way into your body. The needles feel like they are on fire. Worse, it lasts for a couple of days. Needless to say, I will be very happy when the exterminators have finished their job.

Erin continues to be very social. We had numerous friends over while in Scottsdale, and while I was out of town Sheila would go out for dinner with friends and take Erin. In every instance, Erin was perfectly behaved and enjoyed by everyone.