Skinny Minnie

Regan had her 12 month doctor's appointment. Yes, her 12 month. We are behind because of her hospitalization. The good news is that we got to use the Well Child Entrance for only the 2nd time! We were pretty excited. The bad news is that Regan had to get three immunizations and we have another appointment in two weeks. Yunnie is still not able to get her MMR shot because she isn't getting any live vaccines until her immune system blood work comes back. Dr. Jones wants her to get all of the tests so I guess we are going to get more blood sucked out of her later. The other bad news is that Dr. Jones is very concerned about her weight. She has lost a 1/2 a pound since her last physical (1/2/07). So, three months later, she not only has not gained weight, but lost it. She lost over two pounds while she was in the hospital so I think that is her problem, but Dr. Jones was acting really worried. So we have to come back and get weighed in two weeks and then on and on if he isn't satisfied with her weight gain. She currently weighs 19 lbs and is 29.5 inches. Back in January, she was 28.25 inches and weighed 19.8 lbs.

After her doctor's appointment I had to race to a work meeting and my mom watched Regan on her lunch break. My brother than came to my mom's work and watched her. He had just gotten to my mom's when my meeting was over so I felt bad he was woken up for nothing. He is now working nights 11pm -7am, so we really messed up his schedule today.

For Regan's dinner we took her to one of her favorite restaurants: Popeyes. She LOVES fried chicken. She will eat a thigh and a leg in one sitting with all of the sides. That is why I'm amazed she hasn't gained weight. The kid can eat! Today she hardly ate anything, she just wasn't feeling well. She came home and had some sweet potatoes and pudding. We are now both going to crash because the last two nights she has been up several times each night fussing and crying. I think she may be having nightmares because it hasn't been because of hunger. Needless to say, we are having an early night tonight!

The Tyson Chicken Commercial

I'm sure we've all seen this one. It's the Tyson chicken commercial where the dad is playing hide and seek with his two kids. He quickly finds his daughter, but can't find his son. A lady in the background says, "We've got a climber" as dad looks up and sees that the boy has climbed the hallway walls up to the ceiling.





I'm stealing that line ----"I've got a climber".





Regan climbs EVERYTHING. I have to remove the bunkbed ladder everyday because she has now made it up to the second rung and she scares me. She climbs the couch, the chairs, and now the coffee table. She wanted the remote, her Elmo remote is not good enough. So, why don't we just climb on the coffee table to reach the remote. Makes sense to me! My mom sat there to make sure she didn't swan dive off into the tile, but hopefully this is not a habit. She also climbs into the dishwasher, the underneath drawer of the oven and once onto my computer desk.





Regan spoke a new word today. Bye, Bye. She has said mama for a couple of months now, but only a couple times has used it to mean me. Otherwise she could be talking to the trash can calling it mama. Flattering, isn't it?!?! My brother says that she says it when they come back to my house after dropping Konnor and Allison off at school. He tells me that she says it everytime they pull into the driveway. Anyway, today she told my mom and Konnor "bye,bye" and waved as they pulled out of the driveway. My mom and brother have heard her say "wuv you" when they said it to her, but I have yet to get that one! I am pretty positive she said "what" one day when I called her name. Regardless, I can count three words now with her vocabulary that she has used appropriately. 1. no, no, no 2. bye, bye 3. mama





I forgot to mention that the lab called me two days ago to tell me that they didn't draw enough blood from Regan to complete all of her immune system bloodwork. They said if I came back I won't have to wait in line while they get another vial of blood. Whooptee doo. Does that mean that Regan won't require two people to hold her down while one person tries to suck her dry?
I"m thinking not. I'm also thinking I"m not sure I"m going to put her through another blood draw anytime soon. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll talk to him about the tests.

The Pictures:

The first picture is one of my favorites. She is so cute! The next couple are of my little climber. One of Regan's favorite pasttimes is to read. She climbs onto the bed to reach the books. After a little reading, she decided to head into the shower to chase around the bar of soap. She had a great afternoon!

Same day, new post

Photo one is of an alligator that has been hanging out at my seawall. My duck friends did not seem intimidated and still swam up to see if I had any bread. I was worried for them, so I didn't feed them. I didn't want them to hang around! The second photo is Regan with one of her new favorite foods - vanilla pudding. They gave us some in the hospital and she looks so darn cute! The third photo is of Regan's first parade. The weekend after we graduated from the hospital we went to the Edison Festival of Light Parade - in honor of Thomas Edison. We finally got to experience some cold weather and Regan looks so cute in a hat! She even caught some glow necklaces the Miami Dolphins threw out. Too bad that later in the week she tried to eat them and suddenly they were donated to the trash can. She was really bummed about that development.

Yeah, We're Home!

This new blog is to take over where the other blog left off. I am still going to complete her Journey to Me blog so that I can buy the CD as a keepsake for Regan. In the meantime, I wanted to keep everyone up to date on what is happening now in Regan's life. We are feeling so much happier and so much better!

On the Health Front:

Regan was hospitalized one more time following her three week hospital stay, but we only had to stay for a day and a half. We heard some good news and we were discharged! Yeah! Since then, we have had numerous doctor's visits. She was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever after she developed an ugly rash. The doctor came in and said she never thought she would be so glad to tell someone their daughter had Scarlet Fever. I understood!! It is nothing compared to what Regan had gone through earlier. We can handle Strep and Scarlet Fever. No biggie! She was then in the doctor's again for another horrendous rash - turns out it is psoriasis, eczema, and ringworm. Again, we can deal! She had her follow up with the Infectious Disease doctor and she ordered bloodwork to test her immune system functioning. They just want to make sure her immune system is working okay, and that the disease was just so bad she couldn't fight it.

Quote From Dr. Mon:

On our last doctor's follow up with Dr. Mon he told me that he is amazed that Regan was in his office that day. He told me that he truly thought she wasn't going to survive the infection. He said "When I opened her up and saw the infection I knew that no medical intervention would be enough to save her life. She would have to begin to fight it herself". Well, fight she did! He said she must be a very strong little girl to have fought off this huge infection.

For that reason, and the fact that she lived in an orphanage for 11 months of her life, I feel that her immune system is great - the infection was just too much and she fought it off herself with no medical treatment for 5 days before they correctly diagnosed her condition.

About Regan:

Regan is doing so well! She is eating table food now. She just up and put food in her mouth one day. I threw some Wagon Wheels on her highchair tray one day just to give her something to play with while I finished dinner. She suddenly brought them to her mouth and began to eat! She is finally sleeping through the night, for the most part. She is by no means a heavy sleeper and occassionally wakes up and fusses, but we have had some sleep filled nights. One thing I don't get is that Regan is not walking yet, but can climb anything. She climbed up on the couch one day, on her big chair, halfway up the ladder to the bunk bed, and on my computer table. She has the musculature and the balance to walk. She is just not motivated to do so. I think it slows her down and she can motor while cruising! My brother watches Regan during the day so that I can work. Sometimes she gives him a run for his money! She is a pistol! I love her spark, she is one strong willed little girl! Regan loves her mommy and her mommy loves Regan. The silver lining of being in the hospital for 3 weeks is that we have definetly bonded. She is secure enough to play on her own and does "drive bys" to get a hug or a kiss, but then she can play again. She loves to hug and snuggle and I am so glad.

Regan spoke her first word! You'll never guess what it was! It was no. Figures. I was changing her and she said nah, nah, nah just like I say to her no, no, no when I want her to stop doing somthing. She has now perfected her nah into a clear no and has also used it on my mom!

Regan's Hair:

If you notice in any of the pictures that Regan's hair has a mohawk action, it is because I've removed her pigtails and the punk rocker look is the result.