Christmas in the South w/ the Jankes

I have been really fussy the last two days and Mommy and Papi have been trying everything to get me to feel better. Today Mommy told me about the Germans coming for Christmas. Christmas is new to me and I was trying to figure out what Christmas in the Southern United States will be like when the Germans come. This is what I think . . . Looks like fun. I can't wait. Hurry Oma, Opa, and Onkel Christof.

Man, the Germans have got some moves!!! :)

Love
Liam

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Leftover Saturday

Our family has a new tradition to get together the Saturday after Thanksgiving to finish all the Thanksgiving left overs and watch the 'Commonwealth Cup' (University of Virginia and Virginia Tech Football Game). Since the family has members who attended both universities it is always a very animated game.

This year Leftover Saturday was especially nice because most of the family was away for Thanksgiving. The group is normally around 20+ for Thanksgiving and this year it was 8. Thankfully many more were able to make it today and we got to catch up with the ones we missed on Thursday.

Liam got to meet his cousin Paige, who was born 9 days before he was.

Liam meets Paige

What Liam thought about being awakened for a picture - YAWN!


Ann and Abby playing with Connie's suitcase of toys!


Ann's favorite toy this year

Abby and her favorite toy - the fancy earrings

Be thankful you're not me

It's Thanksgiving in the Good Ol' US of A. So this American, German and Germerican wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!! (And if you're wondering how Obama made it in - - quite simple, needed a 4th head and he's the rage right now.) Seriously, we are thankful that each of you is in our life.

And to set the record straight - Thanksgiving did NOT start in New England in 1621. The first recorded meal of Thanksgiving took place in Jamestown, VA in 1607 when the settlers had a meal of thanksgiving to God for safe passage. Just too bad the Yankees couldn't get their history straight when they started publishing history books after the Civil War!!!! Don't trust any people who prefer Dunkin' Donuts to Krispy Kreme. If they can't get donuts right their is no hope they will get history right!!!

With that said - Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!

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Growing, growing

We love seeing how much Liam is growing. We especially see it when we can compare pictures. Today it is the car seat.

2 months ago

Finally starting to fit!!

Can it be . . . ???

Another milestone!! Tobias and I woke up BEFORE Liam today. We are now sitting around wondering when he will wake up. Now we are just working on him sleeping through the night and dropping his 300 feeding. We are hoping that will be his Christmas present to us.

Play time

Each morning we do tummy time and floor time with Liam so that he can work on his upper body strength and practice his push-ups to develop the muscles in his arms, shoulders, upper back, and neck. Tummy time also sets the stage for motor skills like reaching, rolling over. He isn't always the biggest fan of this work out but we enjoy the play time. After he does his 15-20 minutes on his stomach he gets to rest on his back. This was the cute face looking at me after I rolled him over this morning.

Our little pumpkin

This is a hat that our cousin, Kathryn, made for Liam. Now that it is getting cold he is wearing it a lot more. This picture is from this morning as we were heading out.

More than luck

So far Liam is 2 for 2. He has another great night sleeping in his crib. Hopefully we are on a roll!!!

Masking

Last night we went to Traci and Bruce's for dinner. Ann had a little cough so we decided to be extra safe when she was around Liam.


Or course, Abby thought this was just the new thing to do around the baby so she insisted she needed a mask too!

Better safe than sorry!!

Abby introduces Liam to a rattle.

Can we be this lucky

Tobias and I are already convincing ourselves it was just beginner's luck, but Liam slept in his crib and went to sleep without fussing whatsoever. He woke up once to eat at 3:30 AM and went right back to sleep. That means he was in his crib from midnight to nearly 6:00 AM.

At least we know it's possible and he can sleep comfortably there. Can we be this lucky????

Lots of new things

Today was the first time we took Liam to church since his birth. The doctor gave us the all-clear at his 2 month check-up as long we promised not to put him in the nursery and we did not allow people to touch him. I took him in the sling and he did really well. We ended up in the foyer after about 15 minutes, but I could hear the service from there and then I was not worried about all the noises he was making. He feel asleep just before communion and I was able to take him with me. He received his first blessing from the pastor. It was a very special time.

We also began working on rolling over during floor time. It's early for him to do it but the doctor said to start working on it. Tobias did a great job playing with Liam and keeping him engaged.



After floor time Liam had his first bath where he was able to be submerged in the bathwater since he now weighs too much for the hammock. Since he stays a lot warmer that way we ended up having a lot of fun with bath time. This was the first time he did not get so cold he was ready to get out before we were done bathing him.


It's been a fun day. He is getting more and more engaged with us and his surroundings each day. Tonight we begin the transition of night time sleep in his crib. Here's hoping Mommy is strong enough to listen to the crying so he can learn to put himself to sleep.

High School Reunion

Karen as a wedgie - to relive high school humor

Traci and Bruce

Right and Left Bunn - glad we outgrew our high school nicknames!

Last night Tobias and I attended a 'mini-reunion' for Denbigh High School classes '88-'94. It was a reunion organized via our network on Facebook. There were about 80 people who live in the area and it was nice to catch up with old friends.

Growing hands

One of our favorite pictures from the NICU is the picture of Liam holding Tobias' hand when he was only days old. It showed just how tiny he was. Yesterday Liam was napping on Tobias and I got this picture. I think it shows how much Liam is growing - - not to mention his thumbs look like Tobias'!!

The autism touch

One of the recommendations that Liam's doctor made today was to have him around children, especially when he is fussy. Children tend to calm infants well - and this is where it gets very interesting - especially if they are children with autism. I told him Liam has a cousin with autism and he said to make sure he is around her. The science that is emerging indicates that people with autism communicate in a special manner with infants and animals. Just further proof that they are differently-abled.

We now have to look back at how Ann has always reacted to Liam. Whenever she is here and Liam would fuss Ann would run to Liam and say 'Don't worry, Liam. Annie's here.'

2 months old

2.5 weeks old

2 months old

Today Liam is 2 months old, which means his 2 month doctor's appointment. The good news he continues to grow well and put on weight. He is now 21 inches (53.3 cm) and weighs 9 pounds 11 ounces (4394 grams). This means he has more than doubled his body weight since birth, and he has gained 22 ounces in 14 days. The doctor was thrilled. There's no use talking about percentile rankings since they are not adjusted for preemies. The good news is that Liam is on the chart!!! That is a big step for preemies.

From our discussion with the doctor Liam's development is completely normal. The doctor thinks Liam is demonstrating traits of a type-A personality based on the description of his behavior. Nothing wrong with that, just seems to match how I describe his behavior. He must have gotten that from the Jankes. :)

The rough part of the day was starting Liam's vaccinations. To be honest, we did really well with the shots. He then had a follow up blood test to test his bilirubin levels since he is still a little yellow. That blood draw hurt a lot more than the shots and I saw my first tear as he cried during the test.

He is resting now and I suspect the Tylenol he was given will help him rest a bit more today.

Sod on

For those of you who could always find our house because of the embarrassing yard, we took another big step today to get the landscaping more acceptable. We decided to finally do something about the grass. For my English friends - sod on!! Now you'll just have to follow the logical house numbering. :) We're 37, which is logically across the street from 18.

A little better

I hate to say this because I don't want to jinx it . . . but Liam is doing better. The reflux seems to be better controlled with his medicine. Now if we could just do something about his lower gas. Nothing ruins his days and sleep like lower gas. Hopefully he will outgrow it soon. It is difficult to start working on getting him on any kind of schedule until these things are under control.

Recliner days

We are still working to see if we can help relieve some of Liam's discomfort in his digestive system. He started Zantac on Sunday but we are struggling to get the medicine in him, especially in advance of his feeds. He has a lot of discomfort eating and he still seems to struggle with lower gas. We are hoping we can get some advice from the doctor at his 2 month check up on Thursday. Of course, he also starts his immunizations then. Looks like we are in for many 'recliner days' ahead.

We are trying to comfort ourselves by saying that each day his system matures by one day.

Date night!!

Traci and Bruce came over Friday night to watch Liam so that we could have a date and get some sleep. Tobias thought it would be fun to do both at the same time.

A spring walk . . . in November

It's hard to believe it is November when the temperature is 70 degrees (21 celsius). After two dreary days of rain, today has been glorious. The leaves are spectacular this year and the nice weather meant Liam got to go for a walk this afternoon. He loves being in his sling so we took advantage of the day and got some fresh air.

So far we seem to be having a good bit of luck with the home remedies the doctor recommended yesterday for his reflux. We need to give it couple more days to see if things are really improving and then we will try to get him sleeping again in his crib. So far he has not been able to get comfortable there.

Thankfully, the cavalry has arrived and we have been able to get a lot of help from Nanna and Poppa and Onkel Bruce and Tante Traci. We are so lucky to have their help and it makes surviving these early months a lot easier.

The challenge with preemies is that their development starts from their original due date. We are looking forward to all the milestones like sleeping through the night and lessening digestive problems, however the 3-4 month time frame doesn't start from Liam's birth date. It starts from his due date. The first 7 weeks were just for practice.

It's reflux

Liam went to the doctor today and he has reflux. From what the doctor said all babies have reflux but preemies tend to have it worse and it becomes Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).The treatment is essentially the same as treating reflux in adults: 1) keep his head elevated at all times (which means also elevating the head of his crib and changing table) 2) give him Mylanta three times a day 3) add rice cereal to his bottles. If these home remedies don't improve things in 3-4 days then we have a prescription for baby Zantac.

The good news from today is that he is over 9 pounds . His official weight today was 9 pounds 9 oz (4337 grams) but that was with his clothes on. Adjusted weight without clothes is around 9 pounds (4082 grams). Thankfully he is still eating well despite the reflux.

All is NOT quiet on the colic, reflux, heartburn front

Just when we thought we had dodged a bullet, Liam has begun struggling with colic, reflux, and/or heartburn. He has gone from sleeping in his crib at night and waking to eat to crying, grunting, screaming, whimpering, and struggling so badly he has lot his voice. We called the doctor and he wants to see him first thing in the morning. He said a boy his age should not be in pain they way we are describing. So for now we holding him and trying to comfort him as best we can. We have exhausted all the tips we could gather. Hopefully Liam will get some sleep tonight and the doctor will have some insight tomorrow.

Oma and Opa, this didn't start until you left. I think it's Liam way of saying he misses you!

Time change and the Pfannkuchen Express

Last night we experienced our first time change with an infant. It's another sign that life has changed. Instead of gladly going to bed saying 'whoo-hoo, we get another hour of sleep!!' we realized 'falling back' meant another hour during the night shift.

Just to prove us all wrong, Liam slept through the night in his crib only waking to eat. We'd love to think this is a permanent time change, but we suspect we just got lucky. We are encouraged to know that he can do it.


Mami wanted to go to a pancake house during their stay but realized our social calendar was so full we didn't have time to do it. Mami decided to make German pancakes (Pfannkuchen) for breakfast this morning before their flight back. Tobias calls her the Pfannkuchen Express because she makes them lightening fast and everyone gets their own topping: Tobias with Nutella, Papi with Apples and jelly, Lori with peanut butter and syrup, and Mami one with Brie and jelly and one with apples.

The Pfannkuchen Express

Bayern Munich

A typical Sunday afternoon for Tobias consists of watching the Bundesliga soccer games. Today his favorite team was playing (and won). Three generations of Janke men watching soccer together. All that's missing is Onkel Christof.


Liam wide awake for those who have only seen him sleep!!