Growin' Up

Dear friends,

Lizzie is now nine months old! We can hardly believe how time has flown. Last week's visit to the docs, Lizzie weighed in at 7.22kg - no wonder we've been feeling the strain on our arm when we carry her. She's been having quite a bit of phlegm and gets choked on it easily. It's pretty nerve wracking when we're out in public and your baby starts choking, and vomits, but thank God, every time it happens, she is able to recover quickly, and is back to her cheerful self again in no time.

Thankyou Aunty Yvonne for my lovely backpack!

Recently we had a scary episode in when we were out, and her airway actually got blocked, and she started turning blue. We prayed and managed to clear it. But on the way home, on the express-way, she started gagging again - we couldn't stop the car, as traffic was heavy, and we were on the middle lane - so all we could do was call out to Jesus.

Once again the Lord restored her, and within seconds she began breathing on her own.
Thank God!

On the 6th of April, Lizzie managed to turn over fully onto her belly, and pull her arms out from under her body to support herself (previously she wasn't able to do this, and typically she would roll over, trap her arms under herself, and start calling for help!).

Lizzie has started to pull herself to standing position - her favourite place is at the side of the cot. With a little support on the sides, she's able to stand!

Can't wait to have teeth!

Our girl is becoming real playful (or a terror - when mum and dad are sleep-deprived), just last night the thing that amused her the most was her toy 'turtle-friend' with another toy placed on his head. Everytime the smaller toy dropped off her turtle's head, she would giggle like it was the funniest thing in the world. She also insists on having her own way - wanting to be carried on demand, refusing to spend a single second on her belly (hence the need for 'belly time' everyday), choosing only certain toys to play with, and refusing to take her medicines.

But all in all, it is extremely fun to watch her interact with her toys and people around her.
Even in church, she has taken to watching the older kids running around, gets very excited and 'calls out' to them.

Pouty-pout-pout

We even discovered other people teaching ASL to their toddlers - one little girl signed 'please' and pointed to Lizzie's caterpillar. After letting her play with it, she signed 'thank you'.
Lizzie can sign 'milk-milk' and 'no more', so we're still working on 'mummy' and 'daddy'.

She still keeps saying "Mam-mam" or "Mum-mum" and has the uncanny knack for shaking her head "no" at the right times (like, when we ask her "is Lizzie a naughty girl?")

Playing with her favourite balloon

Now we are full-swing into feeding solids, and she just loves her apple/pear/peach/name a fruit with cereal. Grandma Molly's been making home cooked baby food for Lizzie too, and she seems to love sweet potato and mixed veg.

Serious spoon action

Distracted again!

All done! BURP!

We discovered that rice cereal causes more constipation, because of lower fibre content, so we switched to oat/wheat cereal and it seems to have contributed to the overall improved condition.

Until.... she got constipated again!!!

Now Lizzie is on daily 'Lactus' and we're praying that this will be for the short term, as we want her to 'go' naturally, and well... she's just not liking the taste of it, and putting up fight everytime we try to medicate her.

We finally went to see Dr Marion Aw, a paediatric gastroenterologist, to find out what was going on. She found that a tear was causing Lizzie pain, and made her scared of straining. She suggested we increase the 'Lactus' dose, and continue using it until Lizzie was comfortable with normal bowel movements again. After changing her formula more than four times - we tried out Mamil, Similac, Enfalac A+, Promil - and finally settled on NAN (no palm oil). Still no conclusion!! We're running out of formula to try :(

Other mums and dads out there - if you've got advice with regards to formula we welcome your comments!

In the meantime, please continue to pray for our little girl, that her heart, pulmonary artery and calcium levels will be restored, and that she will have no more constipation, or blockage of her airway.

As we dedicate this blog to our loving Father in heaven, we want to acknowlege His presence in Lizzie's life, in keeping her safe, and in limiting the defects of Di Georges Syndrome to her calcium deficiency and congenital heart defects.

As you can see, she's a happy, healthy, thriving little girl, and she's bringing us joy every single day.

Thank you for your prayers and God Bless,

Elaine