Tuesday, June 4, 2019

It's been a while...


Oh, hello there! It's been a while since we've spoken! It's so nice to see you again.


Little Miss Arabella has been been doing very well. Thank you for asking!


If you must know, this shy girl is currently 2 years + 3 months old, weighs 19 pounds (8.6kg) and is 83cm tall. She's growing nice and steady! 



Since she got her g-tube last year she's been gaining a steady amount of weight, little by little, and it's finally starting to show. We can even see the extra weight gain in her cheeks and around her tummy!



YAY!

The only bad news is that her oral eating has drastically halted in the last 4-5 months. Arabella went from eating entire meals to barely eating at all again. Welcome back eating aversion...



Lucky for us, the g-tube allows us to give her a nutritious blend of food at any time. And so, life goes on. 


This is how March looked like here in Toronto.


Even into April we were wearing winter hats, gloves, boots, and double layers of pants. It felt like one of the longest winters that I could remember. And who can forget all the snow. Snow, snow, and more snow!


But we made the most of it 😁

And do you want to know what else? Somehow we were all able to stay healthy through the winter. No one caught a cold. There were no emergency room visits. There was no drama of any kind. 


How did we avoid the winter flu and colds? It's partly due to luck, and partly due to paranoia 😂


We washed our hands constantly. We took plenty of vitamin C and D. We limited family and friend's visits. And we avoided public places whenever possible. We basically spent a lot of time at home!

The extra precautions are worth it - just ask any preemie parent and they'll tell you.

We were so relieved to have gotten through this winter!

Thursday, May 30, 2019

How old are you?

This little monkey makes me laugh so much!


Bella loves her stroller

Arabella absolutely loves her little stroller. Walks to the park just aren't complete without her "baby" 😂. A few months ago she barely walked, and now she's basically running!


Me!

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Talk the talk and walk the walk!

It took Arabella a long time to start crawling. I mean a really long time. But once she figured it out there was no stopping her. Bella was crawling everywhere suddenly and it completely changed her world. And ours, too!

Then, of course, came walking. That was probably the biggest challenge. After all of the physiotherapy appointments, extra attention, special exercises, etc., we began to see a strong and confident little lady take her first steps. 

Here she was just starting out:



I can't describe the feeling when we saw her take those first steps. It brought tears to our eyes, because we never imagined witnessing something so incredible. Is this the 1 pound baby we saw in the incubator? So fragile and so weak? 

Life is such a trip. I'm blown away when I think back to where she started. 

These days Bella's fully walking on her own. Walking here, walking there, walking nearly everywhere! After her 2nd birthday she really took off - and she hasn't looked back since. It took her much longer than expected but it was so worth the wait. 

Just look at her go!



Arabella, you never cease to amaze and inspire us. We're so very proud of you!!!

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Video: Bella wants to go to the park

Bella just loves to talk and express herself. Her first word was "Dadda", but she's really turning into a Momma's girl lately!

Friday, March 15, 2019

Video: Two years of Arabella



Here's a little video I made in honour of Arabella's 2nd birthday.
Enjoy!