Say Cheese!

Here are a couple videos of Joshua smiling!! It only took me 2 hours to finally get it on video. Enjoy!

SMILE!

Joshua has started to smile!!! He really loves to smile at about 3 am in the morning right after his feed. I haven't figured out why this time is so funny because its not so funny for mommy, but its all worth it when he makes that little grin from cheek to cheek. I tried to get this infamous smile this morning while videoing but of course he wouldn't do it, but enjoy the videos anyway! He has been on the verge of smiling for quite some time now and we were trying all sorts of toys to help him along. We eventually realized that he loves smiling for people not for toys. He loves when we smile at him and when we play with his hands. The best is when he is making his baby noises and smiling at the same time, its almost like he is talking with us!

That is the good news. The bad news....the reflux is still here and its not getting better. It seems like Joshua goes through good days and bad. Lately, he has been waking up because of it and can't fall back asleep. We increased his medicine and have been holding him upright for almost an hour after feeds and even that hasn't helped much. We go back to the doctor in another week, so we are hoping there are some other things we can try.

We have taken Joshua out a little more lately because the weather has been so nice. We have gone for several walks around the neighborhood, walked along the trails at the park, and we even met his friend Christopher and mom Anna for a walk last week. It feels so great to get out of the house for little outings whenever we can. We are still keeping Joshua pretty low key, but soon enough flu and RSV season will be over and we can take him out more and introduce him to lots of friends and family who have yet to meet him.

The countdown begins for having to go back to work...8 days to be exact. Its going to be hard just because I have become so accustomed to being home with Joshua all day. Knowing all we have been through, Im probably a little more emotional than most when it comes to leaving their baby, but he will be in good hands. My fantastic Mother in law will be here for the first week I have to go back and my awesome mom and dad will be here for about 2 and a half months until I am off for summer break in June! LJ can't wait to spend time with his grandparents! (LJ is his nickname from Dad.)Words can't express how thankful Josh and I are to have such amazing generous parents who would do anything to help us.

We are in the process of determining a date for Joshua's baptism and will keep everyone posted on that! As always we thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Much love from Team Altman. Enjoy some pictures!

Close up

Joshua loves being naked!

Scrub a Dub Dub

Enjoying his bath!

Bright eyes

Huh?

Hurray for Bath Time! I think we have a water baby in the works, because there is one thing that Joshua definitely loves and that is bath time. I think its a combination of figuring out what is going on and the warm water feeling good. Baths are also a miracle because it wipes him out and makes him sleep really well for the night. By well I mean 4 hours instead of 3 hours!

We had a visit from ECI...Early Childhood Intervention. Basically they come to your home and assess the cognitive and physical development of your baby. As a preemie, the Neonatologist thought it would be a good idea to have them come out to assess how he is developing. As we expected, he is behind in certain areas but right on track in other areas. As far as physical development, he is doing good. When Joshua was in the NICU, he was always handled and given attention with his head turned to the right. With that lack of movement, he has continued to prefer that side, and the left side has become a little stiff. The physical therapist is going to come out twice a month to work on stretching his neck muscles so he has full range of motion. We also are going to work on lifting his head midline when he is on his tummy. He is a little behind here, but he is a trooper!

Cognitively, they said he is right on track or ahead in some areas. He reacts to our voices and has started smiling when he feels happy. He reacts to loud noises and tracks things in his field of vision. He cries when he is hungry and poopy, and he loves to grasp on to mommy and daddys fingers. He makes all sorts of baby noises especially in his sleep and when he has his binky. Our goals here are to continue to stimulate him with voices and sounds.

We had a doctors appointment last Thursday, and he weighed in at 8 pounds and 7.7 ounces. The weight seems to be distributed in his belly and cheeks because he still has chicken legs, but the rolls are on their way! We will continue to update everyone on his progress in the next couple months, and hope he will catch up soon! Much love from Team Altman.

Happy 3 month Birthday!

Today Joshua is three months old! His gestational age is 1 month, so developmentally he should be acting like a 1 month old. He is so close to smiling...Im just anxiously awaiting it! When Josh and I talk to him and play with him we can tell he is happy, he makes lots of baby noises, but hasn't quite made that conscious smile. Joshua smiles a bunch in his sleep, which unfortunately I read was probably due to gas....so I guess that doesn't count. Darn!

We have been working on lifting his head and giving him lots of tummy time, he is behind on this. Everyday we make sure to put him on his tummy so he will get stronger and stronger and be able to lift that head soon. This morning while we were playing he discovered the excitement of the mirror! He was starting at it and moving all around, it was so fun to watch.


We missed all our doctors appointments except for one last week because of the snow, and it is a possibility we will be missing them this week too! We are said to get anywhere from 1-4" of snow today!! Its so cold outside, but we have been nice and cozy inside. As of 1 week ago, Joshua weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce! He is just climbing those charts, and I am loving all the rolls that go along with it.

Hopefully we will make our appointments tomorrow and we will give the updates of those soon! Thanks for stopping by! Much love from Team Altman.

Superbowl

Joshua letting me know he is hungry!

Stretching!

Getting longer!

3 Months old!

Joshua loves his little hippo blanket

Staring at Mommy

My last look back before moving forward...

Josh and I have been told on numerous occasions, "I'm so sorry for all you have gone through." My response: "No apology needed." In the beginning, I was sad of our situation, and I felt that God had somehow not heard our many prayers. I would kneel on my knees every night hoping that this time God would hear our prayers for Joshua. But looking back, with Joshua sleeping by my side right now with his rosy chubby cheeks and fingers so soft, I realize He heard all along, only He knew exactly how much we could handle. I was oblivious to our strength as a couple and as new parents. We brought Joshua into this world with the idea that we would teach him everything and anything when in reality Joshua has already taught us more about ourselves than we could imagine. We have been blessed, through this situation in more ways than I can count. We have met some amazing caregivers who's passion for their job speaks louder than words. We have befriended families, many of which, are going through or went through similar situations, and I plan to keep in contact with them for many years to come. We have witnessed the caring hearts of so many friends and families who took time to pray for us and gave us the strength to hold our heads high. We have been reminded how fragile life can be, and that family is a prized possession.

So at the end of the day, when the past couple of months come to mind, instead of reminiscing about the hardships, I can't help but wonder....Can you ever thank God enough for all your blessings?

A couple days old

2 months, 27 days old...and growing strong!

I plan on trying for the rest of my life! Because at the end of that journey, is a new wonderful exciting journey with a healthy happy baby. Much love from Team Altman.