Second Birthday!

If you can believe it, Cailin turned 2 on Monday (9/14)! She had a great day that ended with a skinned knee after she fell pushing her "mower" on the sidewalk--but she bounced back incredibly quickly. We're having a small party for her with Lauren's family (and my Mom) this weekend, but of course she still has no concept of a birthday--or even really of presents...

We're thrilled to report that she's doing incredibly well. She continues to be a very happy little girl, and thankfully, a healthy one too! She's totally off oxygen--although we still have it on hand in case of a particularly nasty cold. She still isn't eating as well as Momma and Dada would like, but she is catching up on the height charts despite not yet registering on the weight charts for her actual age (as opposed to her "adjusted age" or how old she would be had she stayed in Momma's belly for 16 more weeks, which is no longer really considered now that she's two). Her doctors seemed relatively pleased with her growth, although they all would be thrilled with a bit more weight gain--and the healthy lung growth that goes with it.

She's starting to talk a bit, and she understands an incredible amount--much like a typical 2 year old I suppose. She is a bit behind the normal 2 year old for both speech and "gross motor skills"--she should be running and jumping by now and is doing neither yet. But a delay is to be expected, and we're certainly not complaining, or worrying.

We had a wonderful 2 week family vacation this summer which included Ellie (but not Kotie, the cat) for a week at the beach (we rented a dog-friendly house on the bay in New Jersey with some close friends), had some time at home (which included a great day trip to Dutch Wonderland), and finally enjoyed a long Labor Day weekend in the Finger Lakes of New York with some of Lauren's family.

Cailin has been taking swimming lessons all summer, but with something like 0% body fat, doesn't do so well in cold water--even with her adorable little wet suit. Despite rapidly turning blue, she LOVED the first day at the ocean (as you can see from the picture above!). Her enthusiasm for the ocean diminished with each passing day, but we still managed to have a ball. We tried taking her in the lake once, but that was far too cold. She didn't care though, as she loved the few days with her cousins, aunt, uncle and other friends. Ellie loved the lake more than anyone, swimming after balls for hours on end every day, shocking us with the amount of energy she has.

We spoke to the new first year class of medical students at Jefferson about Cailin's journey again last week, and it's really unbelievable to think back on those days in the NICU and contrast it with how well she's doing now. We are incredibly blessed.

Updated pictures are available here. There are a lot of them as it's been a long time since our last post! Speaking of which, we were preparing for the March for Babies when we last posted. We're thrilled to report that Team Cailin Hope raised over $3,500, so thank you for all those that donated and those that joined us for the walk. Unlike 2008, the weather this year was ideal. Lauren and Cailin were even featured on the local news (you can watch the video here), and we were invited to thank the crowd as part of the opening ceremonies, which was an honor.

Anyway, we hope you all had a wonderful summer!

Tim (and Lauren and Cailin)

One Year At Home!

Our apologies for the long delay since our last post, but thankfully, no news has largely been good news. Cailin has had a great winter. As you can see from the album at right or here, she did the commensurate visit with Santa, and as is almost always the case around new people, she was all smiles! She loved her first Christmas with our families--not because she had any clue about the concept of presents, but just because she loved seeing everyone and exploring new (not baby-proofed) houses!

It seems hard to believe that she's been home with us for a year, but it's true, as she came home on February 29th of last year. In that time she's made incredible progress in her development, surpassing most of the milestones for her "adjusted" age (now 14 months), and is catching up with where she should be for her actual age (17.5 months). The doctors would like to see her caught up by the time she's 2, and she seems to be on track to do so--in everything but her weight and height. She's still petite--at just 18 pounds, 2 ounces, but is growing fast enough that the doctors aren't concerned (nor are we). She is still on oxygen when sleeping, and she seems to be growing increasingly unhappy about it. She loves to pick at the tape and pull at the cannula, which we frequently find around her neck--sometimes alarmingly taught. Thankfully the pulsoximeter's charming beeps quickly lets us know if she's not getting enough oxygen so that we can correct the problem!

She's not yet walking, but last week did take several cautious steps on her own under much protest (so I'm told--sadly I was at work). Her wonderful physical therapist was coaxing her to walk to mommy. Apparently many tears were shed, but walk she did. It has not since been repeated, but knowing Cailin she won't let fear hold her back much longer.

As for talking, she's definitely starting to find her voice. We don't understand much of what she says at this point, but we're pretty sure she does say cat, and she can definitely say no. Other words are more debatable... Speaking of our cat, Kotie, some of you may know that she has a reputation of being quite unfriendly to strangers--hissing, striking (she doesn't have front claws) and biting those that might try to pet her. We were fearful that she might react to Cailin in a similar way which might find her seeking a new home (Kotie, not Cailin!), but amazingly, she loves Cailin, and Cailin adores her. Cailin squeals when Kotie enters the room, and Kotie allows Cailin to pet her frequently, and has even allowed Cailin to sneak in a hug or two with barely a protest. Animals are sometimes quite amazing!

We've tried to put Cailin in a bit of a "bubble" during cold and flu season, although it's been broken for things like Santa, family visits, etc. Unfortunately it hasn't been totally successful; Cailin just got over her second cold. It was a nasty one, and she had to go back to wearing oxygen 24 x 7 for a week or so (which was much harder now that she's mobile--it was a challenge chasing her around with a tank, trying to make sure she didn't reach the end of her tether), but she recovered more quickly than I did from the same cold, and is once again off the oxygen except when sleeping, and doing great.

Speaking of how well she's doing, you may recall from posts last year that we are extremely grateful to the March of Dimes, as a number of the treatments that helped to save Cailin's life were a direct result of research funded by the March of Dimes. Lauren has become quite involved with the local March of Dimes, and she and Cailin were recently invited to a photo shoot with the new superintendent of the Philadelphia School District, Dr. Arlene Ackerman. Dr. Ackerman is the Honorary Youth Chair for the 2009 March for Babies. Lauren and Cailin both appear in a number of promotional materials highlighting Dr. Ackerman's commitment to the March of Dimes. Here's an example:

Of course we will be participating in the March for Babies this year as we did last year (hopefully we'll get better weather!), and would certainly appreciate your support of this extremely worthy cause; we'd love to have you join our March in Philadelphia on April 26th! You can go to www.marchforbabies.com/cailinhope to learn more, to sign up or to donate.

We hope you're doing well. As always, thank you for reading about Cailin!