Playing Catch-up

It's been some time since my last post - obviously. Where has the time gone? I keep getting (gentle) reminders that some people are checking for more regular updates. I have lots of thoughts and lots of photos to share. It's simply a matter of organizing them. It's like my office...so much clutter...and then it gets to the point at which it takes a day of cleaning to sort through everything. I'm not going to write on this blog for an entire day. So rather than catching you up with everything that's taken place over the last four months, I'll just pick up where we are.

First, the details: at her 9-month appointment last week Ellen weighed in at 16 pounds, 5 ounces. On the normal 9-month scale that's a whopping 7th percentile. You should recall that she came 8 weeks early. But even on the 7-month chart Jeanine said she's still only in the 20-something percentile. So, I guess she's little. But...she eats like a champ and sleeps really well at night. Usually from 7 or 7:30 until 6 or 6:30. She's getting occupational therapy (interesting, since she doesn't have a job yet) twice a week and her therapist continues to report that she's making great progress. She's not crawling yet and hates to be on her belly. Maybe she'll learn to walk first. Or she might just be stubborn enough not to move and make us carry her around all the time. Of course, we're both pretty stubborn as well so we may be in for a battle of wills. She has an infectious laugh and a really, really loud shout. Have I mentioned she likes to shout? She doesn't seem to have a medium volume control - only loud and soft.

Jeanine and I often find ourselves commenting on where we were at one year ago. We're experiencing the one-year anniversary of all the stuff. "Remember our first trip to CHoP?" "Remember moving the bed downstairs because the heat was unbearable upstairs?" "Remember making all of those protein shakes?" "Remember all the Wednesday night prayer gatherings?" It's incredible to look back - both good and bad.

Sunday was my first Father's Day. It's hard to respond to all the "Happy Father's Day" greetings I got. Yes, it's happy. But there's still the lingering pain...not the way it's supposed to be. This Sunday we'll continue our journey down memory lane. Each year the Fetal Surgery Department at CHoP holds a family reunion for all the families they have worked with in past years. We'll make the familiar drive down the Parkway to the Turnpike...across the river...into Philly...to the hospital campus. Who knows what awaits us as we make the trip. But we're thankful to our church for allowing the day for our family. I'll post some thought and photos next week after we return.

In the meantime, here are some recent pictures of the little one. Enjoy!