March 23, 2000
March Update
Ok, first things first. Zelly weighs in at 5# 14oz today, is 19" long
with a head 35 cm around. She's growing and sleeping longer at night.
In fact her whole feeding schedule is changing so that she eats less
at night and more during the middle of the day. She's slowed down her
growth rate, only averaging 1/2 oz per day for the past three weeks,
down from the previous rate of 3/4 oz. 'Normal' newborns grow at an
average of 1 oz per day.
She continues to grow more beautiful every day. She's more alert
during the day, picking up her head and looking around, showing more
interest in visual things.
Zelly is learning how to suck her thumb. She's lying on her back,
babbling to herself, her arms zooming around in random motion.
Suddenly one of her hands brushes by her mouth. She opens her mouth,
but too late, the hand has zoomed off again and is now waving in the
air by her ear. Her mouth is open now, ready for another chance at
the elusive digits. Vrroooom, the hand comes by but too fast, but the
other one is close behind. Ah Ha! She captures a knuckle, suck, suck,
suck, zoom, and it's gone again. This goes on for several moments
until at some magical point the reflex to open the mouth coincides
with the arrival of the hand, and, fortuitously, the thumb is
extended. The mouth closes around the thumb and sucks loudly. Her
eye brows are drawn together in concentration. Her other fingers are
open and holding her cheek. Then, just as suddenly as it arrived, the
hand pulls away again, leaving an empty, smacking mouth.
I know this isn't a news flash to other moms, but I can be
entertained for a long time just watching her do this.
Zelly and I are taking walks around the neighborhood on nice days.
And yes, we do actually have a few in March, you just have to
move quickly between spring showers. I pack her up into a snuggli
carrier, wrapping her in a blankie and wedging her into it. She
usually falls asleep instantly.
Ok, that's it for now. Be sure to check the website for new pictures
and just to tide you over, I've attatched a picture of Zelly smiling.
Ok, so maybe it's just a reflexive smile, but it's nice anyway. I had
her propped up on the couch and waited with the polaroid trying to
catch her with her eyes open. Everytime I got ready she started to
nod off. Then she cracked this smile and even with her eyes closed I
knew I had to take the picture. Enjoy.
cam
March 13, 2000
Adoption Day
Here we are on the day Wendy's cross-adoption of Zelly became official. (left to right) Wendy, Camey, Judge Paula Casey holding Zelly, Grandpa David Combs behind her, and Grandma Kathy Combs.
Adoption News
This morning we met with the Judge and 10 mins later Wendy became Zelly's
other legal mother.
I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I want to celebrate
HUGELY that our family is legal, but on the other hand, I'm irritated
that I had to adopt in the first place, so I want to downplay the
procedure.
I guess it's like this: would I celebrate completing medical power of
attorney papers? Ya know, another document that would be unnecessary
if Camey and I could marry.
So, it's done, it was easy (thank goodness!) and, *bonus*, my company
has adoption reimbursement.
wendy, mama to zelly and partner to camey
p.s. there's a new pic up on the web page... and we'll probably have
the adoption pic up later today.
March 10, 2000
Zelly & Harlow
Harlow likes to watch over Zelly while the two of them snuggle in the bassinet. Harlow is very dedicated but even she gets tired of Zelly's kicking and screaming and will then seek the relative peace and quiet of the back of the couch.
March 06, 2000
Eye Check and More
We had two doctors appointments last week. Zelly had her
preemie eye exams and passed with flying colors -- she has no
retina problems related to her premature birth. We also saw the
pediatrician and she's up to 5 lbs, 2 oz and 18 inches long. That
explains why she's growning out of some of her sleepers. Our little
girl
She's in an awkward
inbetween stage where she's getting too big for the very smallest
sleepers but is still too small for the stuff you can get for newborns
in the stores. Luckily we've got a handful that still fit including a
couple of the pretty pink Carter's jammies her Nana (Wendy's mom) got
for her.
Why is she so big? She's been eating extremely well and this
past weekend she really put away the chow. Which, of course,
means more stinkys!! This girl can fart and burp so loudly that it
startles her -- and we can hear it from the next room. It's amazing
that such a small package can make sooo much noise.
We've been working on Wendy's cross-adoption of Zelly and last
week we had our homestudy. Wendy collected glowing reference
letters from friends (thanks!) and the guardian ad-litem conducted an
interview. We just got the post-placement home study report and the
recommendation was positive. Now we're just awaiting word from our
attorney on a court date. From what we've heard the court date is
just a formality, we'll meet with a judge in their chambers and Wendy
will become a legal parent to Hazel. This is a very exciting step for
us and we'll let you all know when it's finalized.
Other updates....
We've opened an education IRA and a second investment account
for Zelly. We're also looking into buying tuition credits from the
state of Washington for her college education.
Zelly is 2 weeks past her due date and 2 1/2 months old. She's
getting more alert all the time. When she's not sleeping or being
grumpy, she has fun talking to herself (or her stuffed animals) and
wiggling her legs and arms all over the place. She may not be able to
focus her eyes yet but she can follow some large movements.
Especially when there's lots of light and dark contrast. It may not
seem possible, but she gets cuter every day.
Well, gotta go, Zelly's telling me (loudly) that it's time to have a
snack between meals. Some days it seems like all I'm doing is feeding
her or getting ready to feed her.... and once she is fed and freshly
diapered I'm faced with the ages-old question - do I nap or do I try
to do 10 things around the house in the (maybe) 2 hours that I have
before she needs to eat next?
Until next time, sleep well and if you happen to be awake at 3 am,
think of Zelly and I working on a bottle and watching World News Now.