Happy Halloween

Monday was a great treat in our home.  Of course its Payton's 1st Halloween and having her home to celebrate it with us is indeed a special treat.

That of course pales in comparison to the other upside this year brought. 

For the 1st time Livy was/is old enough to go Trick or Treating (and understand that with a few short words someone will give her candy).  That means its also the 1st year we were able to raid our kids Halloween stash (though today I'm feeling the suger hangover).

We managed a few pics early on when the excitement of what was to come hadn't taken hold. Once we got Livy on the ground running (literally) there was no time for pics as Livy fought each step to run wild through the streets going door to door and begging for candy.

I have photos but today of all days Dwayne snuck out of the house with the camera.

On other news/updates things with Payton are going well.

She's had her MIC KEY removed and I have photos of the before/after and now that I want to share for any parent who is in the midst of needing a surgically placed tube or are faced with it.  Its looking really good now and has stopped draining so we've stopped covering it.  It seems the granulation tissue is going to hopefully subside simply by 'drying up' as it appears to be doing and possibly coming off like a scab.

Payton has a few appointments this month including a hearing test as CDH babies are more likely to lose their hearing up till the age of 5 than other children.  They don't know why that is but she will be followed till then.  At this point I can safely say that she can hear (thanks to Livy for clarifying that for us on a daily basis).

Payton will also see someone about her physical development as she's obviously behind in that department.  Whether its because of her time in the NICU or because she will always be developmentally delayed due to her defect I don't know but we work hard with her with the exercises we do know and look forward to learing more to help her catch up if its in her to do so.

Last week we noticed that Payton has started smiling a lot. Especially when looking at us and when we talk/coo to her.  She's an incredibly happy baby and is easy to keep settled though more and more we're noticing that she's having her crying fits.  I'm not sure if its a baby thing or if its her digestive system backing up and giving her a tummy ache.  Farts and poops seem to help so its possibly due to her digestive system adjusting as she grows.

And growing she is.  This Thursday will be her next official weigh in but its so obvious now when I lift her that she's a heafty little girl.  We went to the doctor yesterday and our doc was amazed at how much she's grown.  She now has fat on her limbs (when she came home from the hospital she was pretty lean). 

She continues to eat like a champ and though she spits up, its not any more than what I remember Livy spiting up (though I do notice the odd reflux episode during the day - tell tale signs are grimicing and a sort of gagging).  These are few and far between and aren't always accompanied by puking.

As for Payton's doc appointment yesterday, about 10 days ago I noticed that Payton's hip was clicking when we would work out her legs (to help her tummy digest).  Dwayne and Wilma noticed it too.  So we booked an appointment and yesterday the doc wasn't able to duplicate the clicking but she did notice that the fat folds on Payton's legs were asymmetrical (a possible sign of hip issues) though everything else seemed normal.  But because of the early warning that we had from our NICU doctor, our family doc has put in a request for an ultrasound for Payton's hips.    Fortunately if there is something wrong its correctable (though a pain to do so) and that we caught it early as detecting later in life can result in life long issues.

That's it for now though I will have to follow up with photos once the camera is home.