One year celebration!

Arabella's birthday fell on February 17th - during the tail end of winter. It was unpleasant, chilly, and more importantly, it was still cold & flu season. Having a big party wasn't worth the risk. 

"We'll have a real birthday celebration when Arabella turns one year corrected", Kiera and I thought. The weather will be nicer and we can have everyone outside for some drinks and barbecue. 

Well, that day finally came...

Arabella turned one year (corrected) in mid-May. It was her 'should-have-been' first birthday, so we sent out a few invitations to our family for early June.

Finally! Let's all celebrate! 

We were so excited to have our family over. Some of them haven't seen Arabella since she was in the hospital, so a gathering like this was very much overdue. 

And Bella was thrilled to be the centre of attention!

Last year we couldn't imagine having so many people around Arabella. We were scared to let anyone else touch or hold her. We were nervous about her fragile bones, germs and exposing her fragile immune system. But now things have improved so much that there's no reason to hold back any longer. 

Go ahead Arabella, put your fingers in that cake!

So many presents! And after we specifically told everyone not to worry about bringing gifts! But of course, everyone loves Bella, and this was her BIG one year celebration. 

Like a unicorn, Arabella is a symbol of purity and grace. She's legendary!

To our entire family, we thank you and we love you for all of the support you've given us during the last year. You guys are the best!

Love,
Arabella 💗

Bella's favourite things

Arabella loves music. Music is her world. 

Since last September she's been especially in love with the Australian children's music group 'The Wiggles'. She claps and dances to all their songs, and it's the only show on TV she'll watch! 

"Dadda, play the song about the 5 little ducks!"

Of course, mom and dad know all of the songs too! Sometimes I find myself randomly signing them in my head throughout the day. They're permanently embedded into my subconscious 😬

And when we need Bella to be calm, music is the only thing that works. We noticed this as soon as we brought her home from the hospital. Music is all she needs to be content.

Play-time with Bella means playing with all the toys she can get her hands on. THIS ONE...no wait...THAT ONE...never-mind...THAT'S THE ONE I WANT!

Toys and books are great for a while, but only for a few minutes until she wants the next one 😄

You know she's concentrating when that tongue is out!  😛

Bad hair day...

Every item she has in front of her is going to be thrown onto the floor. Pretty typical behaviour, right? But it's her favourite!

"Give me that phone, dadda! I know you have games on there!"

Bella wants phones. She wants iPads. TV remotes. Cables and gadgets. Just give me the cool stuff, guys!

She still doesn't talk or babble very much, but she definitely communicates with us. She points and she grunts. And this is her way of saying, "Take me to the swing!"

One of the things her physiotherapist has taught us is to encourage her to stand. 

And Bella's getting better with each passing week. We're still hoping she will start to crawl one day, so we're working on that too!

For now she moves and spins around on her back, which makes tube feeding really difficult. There have been many occasions where her feeding tube will get tangled or dislodge. Formula ends up spilling out...so then it's time for yet another late-night laundry load! That's definitely not one of our favourite things!

Tube feedings are best accomplished while she's in her stroller. Bella can sit comfortably and take in the sights and sounds of the neighbourhood while the pump slowly delivers her food. 

While on our walks, Bella absolutely loves watching other people. If you ask us, she's a little too nosey sometimes!

She loves animals, and isn't afraid to reach out and touch them. Dogs are great, but ducks are her favourite! "Quack quack!" (Bella will open and close her hand to mimic a duck quacking)...

She loves baths, and the weather has been amazing lately, so we'll just pretend that this is her mini outdoor pool. 

She loves to splash and play in the water, and she's not afraid to get wet!

Generally she loves being outside. Smiles all around! Here she is enjoying her outdoor play-tent.

And of course she loves spending her days with Momma. These are just a few of Bella's favourite things!

Mother's Day

This big girl has something say...

"I hope you had a great Mother's Day, Mommy!"

"I may be too little to know much about the world, but I already know my favourite place in it. Right next to you!"

Over the last few weeks we've really enjoyed the outdoors. We're getting out of the house and exposing Arabella to the world. We're still hyper-cautious over germs, hand washing, etc., but compared to last year we're on a whole new level. A normal level!

It feels so good to get out there. 

This was our first Mother's Day at home (last year we were in the hospital, of course) and this time it felt amazing to be able to celebrate comfortably and quietly. 

If Arabella could talk, she'd say, "Thank you for all the time you spend with me, Mommy. For all the walks to the park while dad is at work, for making me laugh and smile, for playing with me, feeding me, spending so much time with me, and giving me so much love. You mean everything to me!"

"I love you, Mommy" 💗

Yummy yummy!

For the last 3 weeks, Arabella's had nothing obstructing her face. It's made such a difference. On top of that, it feels incredible to be able to pick her up without any long tubes or cords. It's like we've all been set free! 

Just look at this picture taken before her surgery...

I can't believe that's the same Bella we see today.

Now she can roll around all she wants, without us worrying about her getting tangled or caught on anything. 

She loves this new-found freedom. There are no more chains to hold her down!

And it's been well over a month since Arabella's g-tube surgery. Before the procedure, she didn't want to eat anything. She would barely lick the spoon, and then she would immediately turn her head away. Her body language would speak volumes. 

Water or juice was out of the question. Every type of food or drink that she took by mouth caused her to gag, retch, and throw up. Eating was not fun. Eating meant pain and discomfort. 

The experts called it a 'feeding aversion', and we wondered how long it would last. They blamed it on reflux. They blamed it on a milk intolerance. They blamed it on the NG tube that was constantly around her throat. They blamed it on her prematurity and all the procedures she went through.

I'm excited to say that we can finally put all of that behind us...

Here's Arabella enjoying some tasty mashed avocado. She enjoys it so much that she sticks her tongue out when she knows it's coming. 

She really likes yogourt...

We give her the spoon and she has a great time. Food is slowly becoming enjoyable - and it makes us so happy to watch her do the most simple things. 

It's like we have a new child in the house!

Here she is munching on some baby crackers...

And even some salami 😂

We've been told to slowly expose her to everything. Arabella will try anything these days, and she'll smack her mouth and lips when she sees Kiera and I eating in the kitchen. So now we all try to eat together, as a family.

Arabella's even started to drink from a sippy-cup. She's discovering a whole different world of tastes and textures. And now that eating has become pleasurable again, we can only hope she continues to eat more and more, so that eventually we can cut back on her formula feeds.

Bella's fed primarily through the g-tube. That's how we ensure she gets enough calories and nutrition. But as she continues to eat more and more, we'll slowly be able to substitute a few real-food meals for formula.

In the coming weeks we'll also be working with a nutritionist to develop a plan for a puree diet that we can hopefully give to Bella through her g-tube. I can only imagine how much bigger and stronger she'll get once we start to give her portions of real food!

The future is so bright for this little one - and just in time for the sunshine. Better get your sun hats out!

Cordless

Arabella has a lot to smile about lately...

Her g-tube has been a total success. It has helped her reflux immensely, to the point where we haven't seen her throw up in weeks. 

And a few days ago, she got the O.K. to come off oxygen, which means no more cannula on her face. 

"Oh boy! Do you really mean that?", says Arabella.

"You bet, Bella. No more tubes on your precious face."

We were so happy to see her tube-free. Finally!

It's such a big difference, isn't it? Now we can leave her face alone, her cheeks and skin are not irritated by the tape, and we don't have to worry about getting the cannula tubing caught or tangled on anything. We can pick her up without hesitation. 

Finally, no attachments. Bella is cordless...

This is the new you, sweetheart.

We can also say goodbye to this loud and obnoxious machine, the oxygen concentrator, which has been running non-stop since we came home in August.

It's time to power it off for good...

Little things sometimes make the biggest difference, don't they?

Now when we're out in public, no one will know she was a preemie unless we tell them. There's no obvious signs that she is (or was) different from any other child. 

She's just a tiny 14 month old...but no one has to know 😉

We have so many things to celebrate lately. So many blessings that we're thankful for each and every day 💗