First Things First

On August 14th, Josephine, Michael and I very joyfully but very quietly left Children's Medical Center for the very first time. (And I say "quietly" because we did all we could do to keep our impending departure a secret from Josephine...seems she always has plans of her own in mind, and generally enforces her will in very dramatic fashion.)  The past few weeks at home have been busy to say the least, but in just that short amount of time Josephine has had a number of notable firsts:

1.) First ride in the car seat (and first experience with motion sickness) - Luckily, she waited until we walked into the house before she decided to baptize her car seat with her lunch.

2.) First experience in her bunny swing - While in the hospital we could tell Josephine really enjoyed the back and forth motion of the glider chair.  We don't have a glider, but the bunny swing seems to get the job done quite nicely.

3.)  First field trip in the stroller - I'll admit, we may not have selected the best day - it was well into the 90s temperature-wise - but once we got going, Josephine breathed in the fresh air, took a look at the beautiful blue sky and promptly fell right to sleep.  This girl really likes to be moving...I'll blame that on the extended time held up in her bed at the hospital.

4.)  First nap in her crib - We've discovered - not that it's any surprise - that Josephine REALLY enjoys being held.  For the first few days at home, we were able to put her down only a handful of times...and that action was generally met with some very persistent and angry crying.  We were thrilled when we were finally able to get her down for a small nap on the nesting pillow in her crib.  She has since mastered the art of napping in the pack-and-play in our living room. 

5.) First bath in the baby bathtub - The entire time Josephine was in the hospital, we were only able to give sponge baths (if any baths were allowed at all.)  Josephine was NOT a fan...which probably
had something to do with being cold and wet at the same time.  After working up some courage (and realizing that we couldn't sponge bathe her forever), I dragged out the ultra-swanky vibrating baby bathtub.  Turns out Josephine really likes baths. (Although, admittedly, she looks rather perturbed in the photo.  It was taken within her first few seconds in the tub and I think she was a little angry something wet was touching her butt.  Once she got a whiff of the lavender scented baby bath she settled in quite nicely.) :)

6.) First double-digit weigh-in - When you consider the number of times we were held in limbo at the hospital due to Josephine's inability to consistently gain weight, her progress over the past three weeks is notable.  In just that short amount of time, she has gone from right around 9 pounds to over 11...and still climbing!  I won't say she's the best eater (this has been one of our big struggles thus far), but she IS gaining, and we and the doctors couldn't be happier about it.

7.) First over-the-head outfit and cloth diaper experience - Home is simply full of novel experiences for Miss Josephine!  The cloth diapers are around on somewhat of a trial basis, however, so far have fully prevented blow-outs and leaks.  (Not something I really anticipated being so excited about. :p)  And since she was only able to wear button-up outfits in the hospital (to insure easy access to her chest for the daily parade of doctors and nurses), we're having fun branching out beyond rompers and sleep-n-play outfits.

8.)  First restful night's sleep - Michael and I likely won't be able to really get a good night's sleep until after the ng tube disappears (round-the-clock feedings are no fun!)...but Josephine recently managed to sleep straight through from about 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.  She's only done it once so far, but it's amazing how much more rested we all felt the next day.  We're going to work on making that event the rule rather than the exception.

9.) First conscious smile - Josephine has been cracking smiles for weeks now...but the majority have been while sleeping or as the result of what I'm guessing is intestinal activity.  Yet she has managed to reveal her sweet smiley self consciously on a few occasions.  So far, bath time seems to be the most consistent smile-watching
opportunity.  We'll list smiling under the same category as restful sleep...an experience we'd definitely like to make more of a rule.

Josephine is still struggling a bit with reflux and we're hoping one
day soon she'll realize that nighttime is for sleeping (and not for strolling "the track" - what we've named the path around the lower story of the house that Josephine insists we walk at 2:00 a.m. for her amusement.)  That said, we're definitely glad to be out of the hospital and at home with our sweet Princess Pea. :)

The next surgery has been tentatively scheduled for October 30th.  Until then, appointments galore...and of course, lots of love, kisses and cuddles for our darling girl.