Chunky Monkey * 2

Welcome Chunky Monkey #2! After you see Kate's picture from her Santa visit today you will understand where this is coming from. Six months ago, Petey became the original chunky monkey, name coined by his dermatologist (yes, my dog goes to a very EXPENSIVE dog dermatologist). Petey went from 7lbs to 9lbs in like 2 months time. He now is around 11lbs. When we bought him they said he would be around 6-7lbs. Whoops! We will blame it on the Roids he is taking for his allergies. As to Kate...It is crazy how you go from one extreme to another. A month ago I was worried about her gaining enough weight from me nursing her. Now I am concerned my crazy appetite lately has been the cause of this very sudden rapid weight gain. As you can tell, I am already experiencing what I guess people refer to as mother's guilt. If anything goes wrong with Kate from now on, it's my fault (or at least in my head it is). It's like she is my little project, no room for errors. Anyway, I think she is a "healthy" little girl right now. She just likes to snack way too often. And she likes to sleep ridiculously sound during the day and keep her mommy up all night. Last night I didn't go to bed for the first time until 2:30. Yes, this is absurd! Don't worry, my mom is already lecturing me on keeping her up from 6-10pm at night. I wish it was that easy. We will keep trying. We are going to pump her full tonight with a bottle so we can monitor what is going in. Good idea DON! :) Okay, I took a video of Kate's drama. Note her little, "I just want to hear myself", squeals.
Don and I took Kate to the orthopedic pediatrician today. I was nervous, we prayed about it, and everything turned out less of a "big deal" as I anticipated. The doc came in, explained that her sockets were a little shallow and that she would need to wear this harness for 3-6 weeks so that she does not experience arthritis in the hip later in life. She said there is no hip dislocation. Yay! We go back in 3 weeks and they will do an ultrasound and see the progress. The brace is this little canvas thing that is easy to put on and take off and really she can wear all of her normal clothes. The only thing for her to avoid is little gowns that bunch at the bottom. Easy enough! Here is Kate soundly sleeping in her new gear... Okay...here is the much anticipated Santa shot. Let me just say that she really isn't this big. I think Santa was holding her so that everything was pushed up. But our preemie is not such a preemie anymore! We love her dearly!