Funny Video

Sweet grins for the camera! In the last post we mentioned that Ayla *loves* when we sing to her- but ONLY if we sing children's songs as she has taken a dislike to Primary Songs....it is quite amusing!

When we sing primary songs or church hymns to her, she begins crying! We're not exactly sure why but it's quite obvious she finds the songs disturbing and will cry big, alligator tears and pull the saddest faces. She began doing this several months ago.

Tonight, Ryan captured her 'dramatics' on camera;

Click here to watch Ayla cry during Primary Songs

It's sad yet amusing- poor Ayla!

In other news: Munkin is learning to wiggle and worm her way around on her stomach- we call it her 'army crawl'. Her therapist thinks she is mere weeks away from figuring out how to scoot with her toes and fore-arms, then there will be no stopping her! Ayla is quite determined to reach an item that she spies and it's fun to watch her 'worm' her way slowly toward the object in her sights.

Click here to watch Ayla wiggling her way around on her stomach

Standing so tall!

Ayla is learning to 'walk' and prefers to stand than sit. Her most favorite thing to do is stand against the couch and bounce. She hasn't quite figured out how to get from a sitting position onto her stomach- but she is close! She is pretty stable in a sitting position and only occassionaly falls over.

Everyday is such a blessing to watch Ayla grow and discover new things- thank you so much for all of your prayers and thoughts! We truly appreciate the kindess and service we have been given!!

Check-Up

Tinkers-Bean and dad hanging out at the doctor's office

Ayla visited the ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor for her quarterly check-up. She enjoys it when the doctor puts a scope up her nose and down her throat to check her vocal chords (not!)......but she endured like a trooper!

Ayla has a nasty ear infection in her right ear- perhaps why she has been scratching at her right eye and rubbing on her ear lately......we assumed it was due to her teething- poor peanut!

Good news; her left vocal chord has *slight* movement. Wahoo!! The doctor was hoping for greater movement but at least there is some and Ayla's voice is getting stronger- her left vocal chord is compensating for the left.

Despite an ear infection- little Ayla is such a happy girl! We adore her cheeser grins and soft giggles....

Hamming it up in her chair!

When she's eating we try to keep her from moving around too much as then her feeding tube becomes dislodged and she gets a 'milk bath'. In the picture above she was kicking and giggling and talking... of course, when I would turn on the video camera she would stop (silly girl!).

Nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby......

Toes poking through!

Munkin is finally outgrowing her 9-month sleepers and graduating into 12 month sleepers!

Playing in her crib- such a good girl!

Ayla is beginning to wake up earlier in the mornings and will roll-over inside her crib and play with her toys and pull on her oximeter. We have a monitor in her room and can usually hear when she awakes but occasionally, we'll peak in and she's laying in her crib with her feet up in the air playing with her toes.

Tinkers-Bean is doing so well and making fabulous strides! Her therapists are pleased with how far she has come in her motor skills and learning to 'eat'. She may not be crawling or officially eating but it's baby steps (literally) for her and we couldn't be more proud! It's fun watching as she learns a new skill; you can see in her eyes and face when she finally 'gets' something.

Ayla LOVES when we sing to her- she will stop whatever she is doing and just listen and watch our mouths intently, grinning when we include her in the song. She likes when we read books to her and make animal sounds; she tries to copy but just not sure how we make those silly noises!

6 Teeth!

Ayla has chompers, 6 of them; 2 on bottom and 4 on top!

Poor peanut has been misery trying to get those two front teeth to pop through but they are coming! Her top teeth are sharp (especially those vampire canines) and when she smiles she reminds us of a Jack-o-lantern with her yellow, missing teeth! We have noticed that Ayla tucks her top teeth underneath her bottom teeth (under bites) when she 'cheeser' grins. She is such a cute ham!

Ayla is infamous for doing something once and not doing it again. An example of this is when she decided to suck on bottle. We got SO EXCITED then she stopped; she did it one day and never again....hhmmm....such is with her 'tasting'. We haven't been able to get her to try new tastes or bite into crackers since last week. We call this: "Ayla time". It's all on HER time and she'll do it when she's ready. After all, it's all about Ayla!

She loves to play with her dad- he's a fabulous jungle gym! Her latest fascination has been with ears and hair...she likes to pull on Ryan's ear and yank my hair....

This is her innocent, "What?" expression. Such a charmer! Seriously, how can one resist those sweet baby blues??

Food Allergies?

Adventures in Ayla-Land.....

On Thursday night we decided to introduce Tinkers-Bean to a variety of new 'tastes' on her tray; Ranch Dressing, Cream Cheese Frosting, Strawberry Yogurt, Crackers and Cheese. Ayla eyed the strange offerings and tentatively began touching and playing with the various piles of food....

She was doing great!

Not much actually made it INTO her mouth but there was a generous amount on her face, fingers, hands and floor. The point of allowing Ayla to play with food is to encourage her to taste and know that it is 'safe' for her.

It's also fun to watch her make a mess!! and she begins drooling soooo much the minute anything touches her lips- hilarious!

After about 10 minutes, Ayla began getting tired and layed her head down on the tray- a hint she is done playing. It was also close to bedtime..... time for bath and then bed (it was around 9:20pm).

As we took Ayla into the bath we noticed that the skin around her face was quickly becoming bright red and her lips began swelling- fast!

We hurriedly bathed her and administered Benadryl. Which by the way, it doesn't tell you on the Benadryl label how much to give a baby under 2 years old (I guessed) so Ryan got on the phone with our family RN (thanks Jerm!!) to inquire. Meanwhile, Ryan hooked Ayla up to her oximeter to make sure she was breathing okay and that her throat wasn't swelling. It's a good thing she didn't get many 'tastes' into her mouth!

This picture was taken about 45 minutes after her reaction so her face looks MUCH better (her lips are still a bit swollen)...but look at those tired little eyes! Ayla was exhausted and it was past her usual bedtime yet she was still being such a good girl!
The next day we called Ayla's pediatrician. We need to give Ayla tastes of anything "new" one-at-a-time...yeah, we kinda knew that...lesson learned!

Cheeser grin! LOVE Ayla's eyelashes
We ran out of children's patches for her eye so had to substitute a larger size until more arrive. It is a little huge and Ayla kept scratching at it...cannot imagine why- it only took up half her face!

Drinking water!
Ayla doesn't actually 'drink' but we do pour a small amount of water into her mouth which she immediately drools out. The idea is to get her used to liquids.

LOVE this picture because you can see Ayla's top teeth coming in! Our little 'Star'
We snagged these sweet sunglasses at one of the booths during the March of Dimes walk- they had 'Ayla' written all over them!

A huge THANK YOU to all who donated towards our March of Dimes walk!!

It's been a fabulous week for Ayla- she is so cute and such a good little girl!

Food is FUN!

Happiness is......

Happiness is...... watching your little girl taste food and NOT GAG or WHINE.

Happiness is.......watching your baby actually allow food INTO her mouth and not immediately throw it onto the floor.

Happiness is....feeling giddy because your tube-fed baby is showing an interest in tasting food on her own for the FIRST TIME.

Happiness is....laughing along with her as she plays in her food and makes a gigantic mess!

Happiness is...watching Ayla progress and break barriers and impress the therapists.

Happiness is....feeling proud of your little girl who continually amazes you!

Ayla decided to show off for her therapists today- and she shocked us all! We have been working with Ayla on her 'swallowing' and 'tasting' but what she did for us today was FANTASTIC!

We began with applesauce, pickles and rice crackers on a tray, allowing Ayla to "play" with her food. The point is to keep this a "safe" exercise and let her be in charge. Ayla got her fingers in the food and then began sucking on her thumb, tasting the food. NO GAG! Then she bit a chunk of cracker off and swirled it around inside her mouth. NO GAG! Eventually, she drooled the chunk of cracker out (she hasn't mastered the swallowing concept). Then came the pickle....again, NO GAG!

Soon, Ayla's eyes began to get very sleepy and she was finished playing.

"Yum! Dill pickle is good! But I am getting so tired- this eating stuff is hard work!"

Ayla fell asleep- in her food! She slowly laid her head down and went out like a light!

Sleeping with her thumb in her mouth and her face in the applesauce.....

Suddenly waking up from her power-nap with food on the face is SCARY!

"Where am I???"

"I don't like this stuff on my face! Get if off right now!"

Later in the evening (after her bath, of course) we decided to try our luck for a second time and see if Ayla would eat for us....

...and SHE DID!!!

Taking a bite out of the rice cracker. Note how she has the proper dainty pinky position- DARLING!

Taking a bite of a Ritz Cracker with a squirt of cheese on the bottom.....

"Aah! Now what do I do with this stuff in my mouth?!?"

She drools it out, of course! Then sucks her thumb.
Playing with cheese and applesauce- what a mix! Yes, Ayla is drooling excessively (she does this whenever she tastes food).

Not asleep but she she decided to get a bit closer to the food; getting in for a good "sniff" perchance? Maybe a lick (if we're lucky!)?

"Mom- all done! Clean me up now!"


To watch Ayla play with her food, Click Here


The other day we found Tinkers-Bean like this:
Sprawled out and fast asleep! She was attempting to sneak in a 'power nap' before bedtime.....

Isn't that precious? She is such a darling little Munkin!

To watch Ayla biting into a cracker, Click Here

Today was a great day in the 'learning-to-eat' department!!

Random Giggles Video

We never know what is going to tickle Ayla's funny bone....apparently, Ryan drinking his smoothie was pretty amusing! She giggled (the ever-elusive, precious giggle) and even produced a few 'belly laughs'!

She really wanted to see what was inside that cup! She also liked the straw and kept trying to push it up her nose (on accident, of course!).

"Oh Yuck! That tastes awful!!" Ayla makes the funniest faces when we put flavors in her mouth! She obviously wasn't impressed with the raspberry smoothie.

Then she drooled the smoothie out...all over her shirt.....bleh

To hear Ayla laughing at the smoothie, click here.

Tinkers-Bean is also beginning to 'walk' with help, of course! She is learning the concept of placing one foot in front of the other. Soon, she'll find her balance and be cruising all over! She is getting so big and we are excited to watch her progress and grow; in a sad sort of way. Our baby is growing up into a pre-toddler!

To watch Ayla stand against the couch, click here

One of Ayla's many "funny faces".

She LOVES the camera and starts to ham-it-up when we bring it out. She still does her "one...two...three...cheese!" smiles. Love this girl!

"Mom- gimmie, gimmie! I really want the camera!!"

It's been warm the past few days so we have taken Ayla out on multiple walks around the neighborhood. She refuses to keep her sunglasses on so most of the walk is spent with her eyes tightly shut or with the hood of the stroller over her face. Her poor little eyes are so sensitive due to the scarring from her surgeries.

Sweet girl fell asleep; she looks SO BIG all sprawled out in her stroller!

We have been practicing "chewing" and "swallowing" with little Ayla and she did wonderful today! Normally she will not allow ANYTHING into her mouth that remotely resembles or smells like food but...today she semi-sucked/chewed on a carmel flavored rice cracker! GO AYLA!

That is a piece of rice cracker hanging off of her lip that she sucked on for a second then drooled out. She became distracted by the camera and wouldn't eat anymore. Silly Munkin!

Check out that knee & tushi action!

Ayla is getting close to crawling- she will sometimes get up on her knees but hasn't quite grasped the concept fully. She scoots on the floor using 'frog legs' and pulling with her arms- it is quite the workout for her but she is determined to get to where she wants to go!

Sisterly Visit

It was beautiful weather so we took Ayla to visit Zoey...

"Hi, sister!"

It's cute how Ayla likes to feel and touch Zoey's picture- so sweet!
Wasn't sure how Ayla would respond to the grass but she appeared to find it quite fascinating! She would dig into the grass and bring it up to her nose for a sniff.

"Bye, bye Zoey! Until Next time!"

This is one of Tinkers-Beans 'crazy-happy-hyper-faces' she pulls throughout the day- it's a new expression we find quite charming!

"Hey mom- gimmie that camera!"

Munkin discovered that her toes taste DELICIOUS!

Ayla wearing tights for the first time- all dressed up with nowhere to go!

Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl!

Another one of Ayla's 'crazy-hyper-happy-faces"!
Look at those adorable CURLS!! Ayla's hair is getting curlier the longer it gets.

As Ayla grows and develops she is becoming more interactive and FUNNY! The faces she pulls and odd sounds she makes are quite amusing......even when she's whining. She is quite the dramatic (already) and is learning to use her cuteness to advantage; she knows we are suckers for a smile and giggle. What a blessing she is! She has brought into our home a sweet spirit and deeper love and appreciation.