8 months!

Delaney is 8 months old today! It's amazing how the time alternately creeps or flies.
Delaney's a little hoot...she's very curious, quick to grab things that catch her eye. She's getting very good at sitting by herself (but she does have a few wobbles to work out). She's not talking but she's been matching tone...she was doing really well with "Hello" last weekend. If her first word is "hello", does that make her a Mac person?

4th of July in Colorado

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. We spent it in Colorado with my parents. Delaney's still working through her cough, but she had a great time. She was a very happy baby, and really enjoyed hanging out with her grandparents. She spent a lot of time in the car seat, but she was a real trouper and didn't let it bother her too much. DJ also rolled on to her stomach for the first time ("Did you put her on her tummy?!"; now we're just waiting for her to do it again.

I've said it before, but she's a very grabby girl (last night during her bath she grabbed a hold of the water bowl and poured water into her face...she didn't seem to mind). She wants to grab/touch/manipulate everything, and I really think we're going to be in trouble when she gets more mobile.

On the way home we stopped in Greeley so we could meet Delaney's cousin Brigham. We had nice visit (and Ross made some really good brats) and Brigham is a cute little dude.

There are a bunch of new pictures in the album...enjoy!

7 months!

Delaney turned 7 months on Thursday. She's got another cough right now (bronchiolitis) but she's just smiliest girl on the planet.
There are some more pics in the album.

This week we head to Colorado to visit the grandparents. Should be fun!

Assorted Stuff

As of today Delaney is 12 pounds even. She's moving right along, but she still has a fair bit of weight gain to go.

She's really close to sitting up and rolling on to her tummy by herself. She's also a very grabby and very chatty little girl, and very importantly, she has an unending supply of smiles to hand out.

I'm posting 2 videos...the first is Delaney learning a new game, the second is Delaney telling a story.

Yum yum

Delaney had her first solid food today. "Solid" is a relative term, because it was basically rice water. She did really well, and particularly enjoyed blowing bubbles in the spoon (i.e., "motorboating").
New pics in the album...

Six of one...

This weekend we were in Scottsbluff to visit Jess's parents. Delaney had a good time chatting with her grandparents, and she even met her great-grandmother Ellen (and DJ only barfed on me twice).

On Saturday Jess and I went on a date and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Long title, kick-ass flick.
On Sunday Wayne and I went golfing in Bayard. It was a beautiful day for golf, it would have been even better if I could have hit the ball with something resembling consistency.

Today is Delaney's 6-month birthday. She's a killer cutie, and she just keeps growing and growing. She's starting to figure out that she can control her pacifier...she holds it like a little steering wheel. She's also getting very close to turning over..she only needs a little help now.
As always, she's a talker...she tells stories to her toys, to her bottle, to her blanket, to your hand, whatever will listen.

New pics are in the album, enjoy.

On the Road

Delaney goes on her first long trip tomorrow, as we're headed to Scottsbluff for the weekend to visit Grandma & Grandpa Hofmann. Hopefully she does plenty of sleeping during the car ride, and hopefully I don't.

This week Jessica was in Asheville, North Carolina on business, so it was just me and the kiddo. Other than the cough she's working on, we did fine; the house didn't burn down and Delaney was still smiling at me by the time Jess got back.

On Sunday Kristin watched Delaney while I played softball; we're still maintaining that perfect record ( 0-3 ).

Update

On Friday when I picked up Delaney from day care, Sarah the day care worker told me that Delaney had cut loose the loudest burp that Sarah had ever heard from a baby. Daddy's little girl...

Yesterday we went to Deepa's birthday party; it was Delaney's first visit to an Indian restaurant. She didn't sample any of the food, but she did visit just about every corner of the table and met some new people.

Today she went on her very first trip in her stroller, as we went for a walk with Deepa and Maya. Delaney spent most of the trip sleeping, but while she was awake she enjoyed looking at the passing trees.

Yesterday was Delaney's 5-month birthday (already?), so there are new pictures in the web album.




Delaney does tummy time and explains...something.

Updates

Last week Delaney had her 4-month appointment, which went really well.  Her weight was 10 lbs 3oz. (less than 3rd percentile), her length was almost 24 inches (25th percentile), and her head circumference was 16.75 inches (75th percentile).  Obviously her head has experienced a bit of a growth spurt.  I'm not gonna say"orange on a toothpick", but there you go.  Actually, Mom tells me I had a bit of a large noggin as a youngster also; the doctors had her measure my head frequently so as to make sure it wouldn't swallow the sun.  Or something like that.

On Friday we took Delaney to visit the doctors and nurses at the St. Elizabeth NICU.  It was fun to see the people who did so much to take care of Delaney (and us), and they marveled at how much she's grown.

Today Delaney went in for a developmental check-up.  Basically, if you go through the NICU, they keep track of you for a few years to make sure you're hitting all the developmental milestones;  Delaney is right on track.

Also today, we got the official word: it's endex for the heart monitor.  Delaney is now free of all the wires; which means she can now wear clothes with zippers as well as two-piece outfits (and they're just sitting on the hangers, waiting for their chance to shine).  It also means she'll be easier to carry around and do things with; now that the weather is better we'll try and break-in the stroller.

Yay for Lazlo's!

Yesterday Delaney went to her first restaurant, the south Lazlo's. I had a really good burger and Delaney...well, Delaney just sort of sat there.

We also weighed her, and she's now tipping the scale at 10 lbs (almost) even.

4 Months!

Wednesday was Delaney's 4-month birthday. She celebrated by spitting up on her nice yellow outfit.
Papa Wayne and Grandma Janice are here for the weekend, and DJ is always happy to have visitors, especially if they feed her.

Grabby Girl

Delaney's really working on the hand-eye coordination, and is really interested in grabbing, well, pretty much anything she sees (including Daddy's chin). She's not always capable of completing the grab, but she's working on it.

Last week DJ started daycare, and didn't really seem to mind. As long as someone's around to feed her she's pretty happy.

Grampa Terry and Grandma Kathy were here Wednesday through Sunday, and enjoyed hanging out with Delaney. I think they were impressed with the variety of noises she can make (not all of them polite and ladylike).

Dad and I went golfing on Saturday. The temperature was somewhere in the low-40s, so it was wee bit chilly, but it was a lot of fun. Don't ask what the score was.

New pics are in the album...

So far so good

Day care seems to be going well. I'm still getting a feel for the new morning schedule, but I'll get there eventually.

Jessica is in San Diego until Friday for a quarterly meeting; my parents arrive tonight so they can have some quality time with DJ Mac.

Delaney's really digging her hands; you can almost see all the connections being made.

Updates

Much mahalo to Jessica's sister Heidi for coming all the way from Cali to watch Delaney last week. We really appreciated it, and Delaney enjoyed meeting Aunt Heidi and Cousin Lacey (as far as we can tell). If any other Cali people are interested, the line forms to the right.

Heidi also took some really good pics, which are now in the album. Delaney looks really different without the oxygen tubes.

Yesterday we noticed Delaney making several cross-eyed examinations of her hand. Very cool, and kind of funny when her hand distracts her from crying.

Today's the big day...first day at day care.

O2 - DONE!

Delaney went to the hospital for her sleep study last night. This morning's verdict was...no more oxygen! She averaged a 95 oxygen saturation level, and only de-satted 33 times (as opposed to January, when she had over 300 desats); the desats that she had last night were only by a couple of percentage points, and she bounced right back up. She still has to wear her monitor for another 4-6 weeks, but we can handle that. We're really excited to get rid of the oxygen, it'll make it much easier to move around with her and it'll give her cheeks a chance to heal (they're pretty irritated right now).
Her latest weight is 9 lbs 5 oz., she just keeps growing and growing.

Next big event is day care - March 17!

A few updates-

Delaney spent the week with Kristen. They had lots of fun together and Kristen never once ran screaming from the house! Just kidding - it was a great week for both and Kristen said it went too quickly.

My new job is going well. I'm now at The Governance Institute. Its mission is to provide board training and development to hospital boards. Everyone is very nice and it's taking a while, but I'm figuring out what I'm supposed to be doing and think it will be a very rewarding position.

On Feb. 13 I broke two toes on my left foot. Graceful, I know. I got to start my new job with a hobble and a smile. One toe was broken clear through and had twisted (because it wasn't attached to anything) so the doctor had to twist it back and tape it. I wore a funny boot for about 2 weeks and now I'm back in regular shoes.

Joe is home with the wee one this week and then Aunt Heidi and Cousin Lacey are flying in from California to spend the following week with us.

Everyone should send us good thoughts on March 11th. That's Delaney's next test to see if the oxygen can be removed. I'm sure we'll post more about that later.

-Jessica

Weight Weight

We visited with a new pediatrician last night, and Delaney was weighed at 8lbs 14oz.
Moving right along.

3 Months!

Delaney hit her 3-month birthday yesterday. I've said it before, but it's hard to believe it's been that long (or that short).
She's a regular cutie.

Here's her 1-month picture. Feel free to compare and contrast.

More pictures are in the album. Enjoy!

Hangin' with Delaney

I took the week off to stay home with Delaney, since Jessica started her new job on Monday. Everything's been going pretty well, and neither the house or the baby have exploded (but I don't want to jinx it).

She's started smiling more and more. Last night she was grinning after spewing all over Jessica; I told her that wasn't very polite.

Smiley girl

New pics in the slideshow, check 'em out.

Last weekend Delaney got to meet her cousins Ian & Erin. I wasn't there, but I understand a fine time was had by all.

Delaney's been engaging in some sporadic demonstrations of her smiling abilities, which is just so dang cute; unfortunately it's not always easy to grab a picture of said smile.

She's also been stretching out her nighttime sleeping, which we heartily applaud.