What Can a 4 month old tell us about Jesus?

Turns out quite a bit. We have been talking to O about Jesus from the day she was born. Today, we asked O what she knew about Jesus :-)

We also asked her whether it was time for a bottle and bed ...

You've Come A Long Way Baby

Looking back at some old pictures, you can really see how far O has come. It is really amazing. Way to go O!!!!

We also wonder why nobody told us she looked like an alien when she was first born :-)

What is funnier than a right-side up pig?

An upside down pig, of course!

Yesterday, Mommy set up O's play things and Mommy did not know that she had set up the pig upside down. O was laughing and smiling and just having a grand old time. Mommy had no idea what was so funny. Then she saw! The humor! An upside down pig!

Well, today Mommy is finding out that the little girl with the orange flower in her hair is just as hilarious, and she is right side up. :-)

O is such a happy, smiley, chuckling young angel these days! Such a joy! It seems like it could not be possible that this is the same baby who was edging her way to gaining a title of colicky about a month ago. She is not colicky at all now.

Presently, O is sleeping well and long at night and well enough during the day considering her long nights. We are all getting sleep and we are all happy, smiley and laughing! God is good! Always! God was especially good to us during those difficult first months! He never left us and always strengthened us! God is good company all the time! Especially on sleepless nights at 2 in the morning! God is indeed good! Goodness, Mercy, Love! That is God!

Physical Therapy

O had her PT evaluation today. Gratefully O was in "the mood" to show all that she can do - both the good and the bad. The therapist was amazed that O is able to do many of the things that a baby of her chronological age should be able to do. Normally for a preemie they evaluate milestones based on the corrected age, which is counted from the original due date. Clearly O's willingness to work so hard and Mama O's patience and consistency in working with her are paying off.

The therapist feels that the back-arching and disorganized movement are problematic, not typical, and if not worked out will interfere with O being able to correctly experience the world and impede cognitive development. The most likely culprit is that the core muscles on the front of her torso are too weak relative to the back muscles. She gave us some things to do with her that will get O's brain to think about and respond with her stomach muscles. We need to hold her differently, she showed us a trick that stimulates the stomach muscles, etc. Once again, we have to learn a different set of tricks than what we have seen others use over the years. One thing is to avoid the normal instinct to pat or rub her back (other than during burping) as this causes the back muscles to respond. She says that the weak core muscles are par for the course with Down syndrome and will be something O will have to work on all her life. The weak core and strong back is the opposite of what most babies have so the normal instinct to rub and pat the back helps the balance get resolved in normal babies. In our case, it merely emphasizes the problem.

- Daddy O