Wow, Miraculous!

Check out this article. Amazing!


The world's most premature living baby, born at 21 weeks and six days, is headed home after spending four months in a neonatal intensive care unit, Baptist Children's Hospital in Miami announced.
"It was hard to imagine she would get this far. But now she is beginning to look like a real baby," the baby's mother, Sonja Taylor said.




No baby born at less than 23 weeks was previously known to have survived, according to the University of Iowa, which keeps a record of the world's tiniest babies.

"Even though she's only four pounds (1.8 kilos) now, she's plump to me," Taylor said.

When she was born on October 24, Amillia Taylor weighed just 280 grams (10 ounces) and measured 240 centimeters (9.5 inches,) slightly longer than a ballpoint pen, the hospital said.

Doctors said the baby girl is now thriving and well enough to be cared for by her parents at home.

She did suffer a laceration on her head at birth, but healed quickly from the wound.

"She's truly a miracle baby," said William Smalling, a neonatalist at the Baptist Children's Hospital.

He said caring for Amillia in the past month was like navigating uncharted waters.

"We didn't even know what a normal blood pressure is for a baby this small," Smalling said.

The baby was delivered via C-section after attempts to delay a premature delivery failed. She was breathing without assistance at birth and even made several attempts to cry.

The American Association of Pediatrics indicates that babies born at less than 23 weeks of age and 400 grams in weight are not considered viable.

"It may be that we need to reconsider our standard for viability in light of Amillia's case," said Smalling. "Over the years, the technology that we have available to save these premature babies has improved dramatically. Today, we can save babies that would have never survived 10 years ago," he said.





Feb 19 3:52 PM US/Eastern Taken from www.breitbart.com

(I borrowed this from your site, Uncle Jim. I thought it was too good to not share!)

Crawling!!!!

Well, he's done it! Luca has figured out how to crawl! This morning he just got up and went, and was moving all day. He is quite pleased that he is able to move around and get the toys that he wants!

Part of me is so excited for this milestone, and part of me is a bit sad. It's amazing how fast he has grown and changed. It is so hard to believe that in just over 4 months, my baby will be a year old!

I would love to share video of Luca's first successful attempt at crawling, but I don't know how. If anyone knows how to do that on blogger, let me know.

We went for a toboggan ride this afternoon. The weather was gorgeous, so we walked to Northcott to see Grandma and Auntie Megan while they were on their lunch break. It was so nice outside, and Luca fell asleep in the toboggan on the way home.

Happy Birthday Dee!

Today is Dee's 26th birthday! I know that it will be a special day for her, as she received the most wonderful present 8 days ago!

Dee, I hope that you have a great day and may the coming year be filled with laughter and love. It has been so special to be around for the last 8 birthdays. My how we have changed since 1999! :)

Love Jan

More pics...

Here's Luca's picture that was in the Ponoka News in a special feature of "The Babies of 2006". What a cutie!

Adelynn!

We were very excited to go and meet Adelynn on Thursday. She is such a beautiful little miracle! And when I say little, I am not kidding! She seemed so little compared to Luca now (obviously) and when he was born. He was 2 whole pounds bigger, so we never saw him when he was as little as Adelynn is. She is just over 6 lbs and is so petite (like her mom). She has TONS of brown, thick, wavy hair. If it doesn't fall out, Dee will be putting bows and pony tails in there in no time!

Luca was quite curious, he wanted to touch her whenever he was close enough to her. It was interesting to watch, because he has always been the youngest baby. He likes to touch the other kids at playgroup, too. Soon they will be playing with eachother! Here are some pictures from our visit.

Luca likes to stand "by himself" now. Here he is looking out the window. (Don't worry, Chris is actually right there to catch him...)

Luca has also figured out how to give kisses and he loves doing it. As lovely as this is, these kisses are probably ones that really only Mommy and Daddy can really love- they are a bit sloppy! Gotta love those big open mouthed kisses, though!

Have a Happy Family Day long weekend! Chris is headed to somewhere near the NWT border for about 4 days, so Luca and I will be spending the long weekend alone for the most part. On Sunday we will be having dinner at Pat and Joanne's. Tom is home from Ottawa for a visit! :)

So I was bored...

I decide to update Luca's profile, partly because I noticed that it said he was 250 years old for some reason....If you are also bored, have a look. :)

Who is so cute?

I don't really have anything to post, but here are some cute pics from the last week or so.

Luca is getting better, and we are getting some sleep finally. Yahoo!




Hanging out with Grandma on her birthday


















Luca and Grandpa just chillin'
























Future employee???















All tuckered out













You talkin' to me?

Congratulations Dee and Layne!!

Dee and Layne welcomed their baby girl, Adelynn Isabelle yesterday evening! She was 6 lbs 10 oz and came at 37 weeks. (Dee had already had preterm labour issues earlier in the pregnancy). Layne says both mom and baby are doing well.

I am just DYING to see her. I hope Luca gets better soon so we can go visit!

Dee and Layne- Congrats! We love you and are so excited that your long-awaited little darling has arrived safely.

Luca's going to be famous!

So, I forgot to mention in my last post that Luca is going to be famous! Next week's edition of the Ponoka News will feature "The Babies of 2006" and of course, Luca's picture will be there! So, if you have access to the Ponoka News (I think Rimbey does) on Wednesday, February 14th, be sure to pick up a copy! For those of you that can't get it, I will scan it and post it sometime next week.

Luca is sick AGAIN. Sigh. It has been about 6 weeks now that he has been getting better, then catching another strain of a cold. Right now he has a very wet, barking cough and a runny nose. Of course, this means no sleep for anyone in the house. Oh, Joy! I am getting really tired of this cycle. The only way I know how to stop it is to stop spending time with those that are always sick, too. Unfortunately, this might mean dropping out of play group for a while....

Well, off to sterilize some toys to try to kill the germs.

Sigh. (yes, again)

A busy few weeks...

Ok, So it has been a while since I have updated, so this might be a bit long. I will try to break it up into smaller parts for those of you with short attention spans. :) (Mostly Chris, who often tells me my posts are too long to read!)

Playgroup

Luca and I have been attending playgroup for almost a month now. Luca loves to go and interact with the other kids, and it is nice for me to get out, too. Last week I was nursing Luca in a room off the main room at the centre, and they started singing "Old MacDonald". Luca was immediately finished eating and squirming around to try to see around the corner to be a part of the music. I took him to the play room, and all through the song he was kicking his legs and "singing" along. It was great to know that he is actually stimulated by being there.

We are now finished our baby sign classes. It was a 3 week course, and I was sad to see it finish. But, I have gained some very useful signs and am trying to use them consistently with Luca. It seems as if he is beginning to understand them, although he of course is not able to produce them yet. I am even slowly introducing Chris to them as well! ( I have a picture to put in here, but I need to scan it first....hopefully tomorrow. Keep watching for it!)

7 months!

Luca is now 7 months old! I can't believe it some days! He has 2 teeth, is eating solid food (well, mush, anyways!), and is trying his hardest to crawl. He is able to get up on all fours, but can't quite figure out how to get his arms and legs moving together. A few times he has figured out how to move his legs, but not his arms, so he ends up doing a face plant. It is quite funny to watch, but after a few tries, he gets frustrated. It won't be long, though before he is on the move and into everything!

See my 2 teeth!?!?








So Close to being on the move!




Luca is great at scooting backwards, but manages to get himself stuck quite often! It is too funny!






When he can't get where he wants to go, he gets quite frustrated!

Luca had a cold earlier in the month that didn't really go away. He would seem better for a few days and then it would return. So, I took him in to the doctor and he was given antibiotics for a likely sinus infection. After about 2 days on the antibiotics, he was good as new! It was such a relief to have my smiling, happy little boy back!

At the end of January, we went to Okotoks to visit Chris' mom and Nona. Luca was a hit, of course. Although Nona wasn't feeling great that day, she delighted in visiting with Luca. It was a nice afternoon.

A Baby Shower for a Wonderful Friend

The past few weeks I have been very busy planning a baby shower for my very good friend Dee. (As well as attending playgroup and sign classes). Dee and I have been friends for about 8 years, since our first year at Augustana. We both stood up for each other in our weddings, and recently Chris and Dee's husband Layne have been working together. (I guess not so recently- about a year and a half ago Layne started with Rigwatch).

Jessica and Donovan came over a few days before the shower to help me do some baking- Donovan had the best job of all!





As well as the shower, I also decided that it would be a good idea to attempt to make a Memory Quilt for her although I had never made a quilt before. I sent squares to everyone invited to the shower, and had them create something and return it to me. After collecting all the squares and arranging them, it actually only took me about 3 hours (over 2 evenings) to do all the sewing. It turned out really well, and I was so excited to give it to Dee and Layne.


The shower was this past Saturday, and there was a great turn out- about 20 people! I hosted the shower at Dee's house in Airdrie as I thought that this would be easier for her. It was a great day, and she was given some wonderful gifts. And I was pleased that her and Layne liked the quilt. It was such an honor to be able to throw her a shower and to be a part of such a memorable event in their lives.


Dee and Layne with the quilt and Dee and I (and baby Adelynn!)

Well, that's about all the news for now. I will try not to take so long to get another post up. It's amazing how fast the days go by now, though.....

Playgroup and Wee Sign

Luca and I attended a new playgroup yesterday. We had gone to another one in December, but neither Jacquie or I were too thrilled with it. Jacquie heard about a different one in town so we thought we'd check it out.

It is held at Parentlink here in Ponoka. Parentlink is a place that offers programs and resources for families. (Anyone interested should check it out in their community- I think that they are in most communities in Alberta). The playgroup runs from 10-11:30 on Wednesday mornings. They start with free play and the moms can visit, then they have story time, snack time, singing, and crafts, then more free play. It is somewhat structured, yet still relaxed. We will be trying to attend as often as we can. It was nice to be with other moms and Luca loved watching the other kids play, and he liked the singing part, too. Soon he will be in all the commotion as well!

Also offered at Parentlink is Wee Sign. It is a sign language class for parents and babies. I had planned on doing sign with my children while they were still just a dream in my heart. Having taken sign, I felt that I could do some basics with them onmy own. But, I heard about this course last year when Donovan was born, and then this year it happened to be offered at the optimal time for Luca (I think that 6 months and up is the preferred age). So, tonight was our first class. It is a 3 week class. I really enjoyed it (it really refreshed my memory of signs that I had forgotten). Luca was laughing at the instructor- he liked what she was doing, so that is good news! He was at least interested!

Basically it incorporates simple signs into your everyday routines, and is in no way meant to be a substitute for speech. Parents are encouraged to speak while they sign (as are hearing people that sign to the deaf, often encouraged to do), but rather to add simple signs such as eat, drink, mom, dad, etc to their lives. Since children can produce movement before speech, this empowers them to be able to communicate earlier and reduces frustration in parents and children. Studies have also shown that children that are introduced to sign tend to have larger vocabularies sooner than those not signing. Simply for the reason that they are able to put actions to words (and vice versa) earlier than if they did not learn sign, as that is what it is (actions to words).

Anyway, so we are doing that on Thursday evenings for the next 2 weeks. Should be fun, and with any luck, Luca will be able to learn a few signs in the next few months. Of course, he is not expected to start signing right away, but if he is signed to regularly, he will eventually come to understand that a sign represents an event/person/activity and will associate it as so. SO, we'll see. I'll keep you all posted.

Jacquie and I are also doing a "moms" activity next Friday and the centre. Child care is provided there while we will be making jewelry- fun! A nice hour or so with other moms to do something for us...imagine that!

Not related to the Parentlink centre, I am also planning on taking a few community cooking courses in the next few months. One is Thai cooking on February 13th and the other is "The art of cooking" in April. They are just 2 hour classes on one night each. I have been into cooking lately, so this should be fun!

Now that Luca is a little older and I am comfortable in our routines, I am feeling a little more ambitious to get out and try things with and without him. Plus, being at home all the time makes me a little stir crazy!

A January Wedding

On Saturday, we attended Chris' cousin Randy's wedding. It was a nice, simple, family get-together. Both Randy and Anina looked great and seemed very happy. It was also nice to visit with the extended family a bit.

These pictures are mainly for Tom, who would like to see more pictures of the family. So, Tom, here you are:





Shawn looks pretty comfy with Luca...maybe we could start a rumor??? Just kidding, Carrie! :) (And Kaelynn is on the floor in the background playing with balloons)



Randy and Anina Mullin



Nona and her kids


Papa and Luca



Not the greatest picture of the 3 of us, but it is the first since Luca was much smaller, so here it is.

Big Boy Car Seat!

Luca got his "big boy car seat" the other day. He is now in the car seat that he will be in until he is no longer in need of one. This one will become a booster seat as well. (He is still rear facing until 1 year, though.) He seemed to like it- it looked more comfortable, with more room for him to move. It is also much more convenient for me to take him in and out of.

Here is a picture of him in it before it was put into the car (obviously!).







And, of course, the box is the most fun......

Adorable!

Here is the picture that Megan took. (She left the link in the comments section of one of the posts below) I love it! Thanks Megan!

TWO TEETH!!!

Luca has sprouted 2 teeth! They came in a week apart, with the first one making its appearance on December 29th, and the second one breaking through on December 5th. They are his bottom front teeth (usually the first to erupt). Now all I have to do is to somehow teach him not to bite or his days of nursing are numbered....

He is babbling LOTS, and loves to make different sounds. He often surprises himself when he makes a new sound, or a loud sound. It is so neat to watch him learning to use his voice, mouth and tongue all at once in an effort to learn to speak.

He is somewhat mobile now, as well. He now loves to lay on his belly and turn around in circles, propelling himself with his left arm (he can only turn Left so far!). He can also move backwards by kicking his legs (picture the "worm" dance, but in reverse). He gets a bit frustrated when he is actually trying to reach something infront of him and he moves further away from it, but he will learn to move forwards soon, I imagine. He is getting better at lifting himself up on his arms, and I don't think that it will be long before he is able to get his knees up under himself.

Lately we have been working on getting him to fall asleep without being nursed or rocked. He is getting good at soothing himself in his crib and falling asleep. This came about mostly by him, as he used to nurse to sleep. Now he eats, then turns away and falls asleep, so now when he is done eating, I just lay him in his crib awake and he gets comfy and falls asleep. Yippee! So far, this has meant that I am up less during the night to help him fall back asleep when he wakes himself up. He is also able to put himself to sleep at nap time, too. When he appears tired, I feed him and then put him in his crib. Sometimes this takes a little longer for him to fall asleep and he fusses a bit, but he does go to sleep (once in a while with the lulling sound of the vacuum cleaner...whatever works!).

My little boy is growing up! Sniff, sniff!

I am feeling better, but Luca is actually getting worse. He now also has quite a cough, and is often coughing so hard that he is throwing up. So, we have a doctor's appointment tomorrow just to check things out. I am sure that it is just a cold, but better to be safe than sorry, right?

Chris is on his way home after being gone for nearly 2 weeks. He was home for 24 hours last week, and that's all. He is on days off for the next 3 days, so it will be nice to have him home again for a while. Unfortunately, he is coming home with the cold that Luca and I passed on to him when he was home for one night last week. Hopefully some R&R will do the trick.

(Another new post below).

The wrath of the wind

Last night was extremely windy here in Ponoka and from what I hear, around the province. The wind kept me up most of the night. Surprisingly, though, Luca slept through it, and neither of us heard the crack of our tree breaking. We seem to be the only house on the block that suffered any damage...lucky us! I called the town to see if they would come and remove the fallen branch, and they said that they would look at it and if it wasn't on the road that it would be my problem. They came and cut it up with a chainsaw and took it away, which was nice. Of course, we could have done it, but this way it wasn't sitting there all day (or for a day or 2 until we could arrange for Chris or Pat to take care of it). Had this been the summer, my car would have been right where it landed, so good thing I am parked in the garage!

A Christmas to Remember

Christmas was great, but very busy. Christmas is definitely different with a baby around. It was so much fun watching him play with the bows, paper, and eventually his new toys. He also did very well with the busy days and extra people around. Here are a few pictuers from the holidays...





Helping Daddy open his present











Grandma wearing Dad's hat. The hat says "At my age, getting lucky means finding my car in the parking lot". Tee Hee










Luca's puppy dog stocking made with Love from Great Grandma. This is a Johnson family tradition.








It's all about safety...Pat with his "safe" chainsaw is ready to go out and work. Too bad his hard hat is backwards....Oh well, you win some, you lose some! Haha!







Luca got a Radio Flyer wagon!








Donny and Luca playing with Luca's new (noisy!) toy from Auntie Jessica and Donovan.









My cousin Kathryn and her husband Vinjelu. This is a nice picture of you guys! (Side note: Kath- I watched the DVD- cool! It was really interesting.)









Luca and his Mommy!








Grandpa bought the boys their own John Deere, so they can be just like him!




Luca was 6 months old on the 29th. He is now able to sit up for a while on his own, has his first tooth, and has figured out how to wiggle to get himself around. He is definitley becoming more independent!




















He had his 6 month immunizations yesterday. They went better than the past ones did. Chris says it is because he was there for this round of shots. Maybe true. :)
Luca is 20 lbs and 27 inches long. He is still in the 90th percentile for weight and about the 75th percentile for height.

Luca did react a bit to these shots though, and was up most of the night with a fever, and him and I have both got a cold, so to be honest, I don't have much more energy to write a whole lot more. Enjoy the pictures and I will write more in a day or two.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a fantastic 2007!