Stickers!

Here in the Elm City stickers have become a bit of an obsession. DHV enjoys wearing sticker pants.

And sharing them with Mom.

Stickers have also found their way onto DKV's nose.

And let's not forget Janine!

Nasal Canula!

Leigh had her first trials of nasal canula yesterday and we're happy to report that she did great! SHV and DKV were pretty excited to see her with almost nothing on her face, looking like a real baby.

Family Fun

DKV finally had a day off yesterday so despite the gray skies we packed up and headed to the beach. DHV immediately got to work finding rocks to "bop" into his pail full of water.

Here he is showing his appreciation as DKV offers him a large rock.

He found it particularly amusing when the splash was big enough to get him in the face.

Then he got really brave and headed straight into the water, exclaiming "wa wa" all the while.

In the afternoon, after some napping (DHV) and pumping (SHV) and exercise (DKV), we took a trip over to the hospital (otherwise known as the "abba") to see little Leigh in her new big girl crib. Just like a real baby!

With such easy access, DHV couldn't resist showering his baby sister with kisses. That's our gentle boy!

Actual 3 Month Update

Leigh decided to celebrate her birthday with a solid step forward: she moved onto full-time CPAP yesterday morning and so far, so good. This means that she's finally taking all of her breaths herself! Here she is modeling one of several outfits sent to her by Erin G. and family. Doesn't she look big?!

"Nurse, something doesn't feel right here..."

Earlier this week DKV and SHV slipped out of town for a much needed escape at the beautiful Mayflower Inn. We'd like to thank our generous Trumbull '98 benefactors for this lovely treat. Here we are enjoying the peace and quiet in the spa and the good food and drinks at dinner (yes, that fruity concoction belongs to DKV!)


DHV behaved himself for Janine while we were gone. He waited until today to take a bad fall while attempting to climb into his booster seat unassisted, getting a busted upper lip and a bloody nose in the process.

Fun with stickers fixes everything though!
How 'bout that farmer's tan?

(Almost) 3 Month Update

Leigh is 2 days shy of her 3 month birthday but it's been a while since we gave an update on her progress so we thought we'd go ahead and do it a little early, especially since the news is pretty good.

• All that fortified breast milk is finally doing its job and beefing our little one up - she's weighing in at 3 lbs 15 oz these days!
  
• She's been doing trials of CPAP this week (increasing in both duration and frequency) and handling them like a champ. Hopefully she can switch over completely soon.
  
• Her last 2 eye exams showed improvement. We have our fingers crossed that she'll be able to avoid surgery.
  

And here's how SHV found her this afternoon, hanging out in her isolette wide awake and bright eyed.

More 4th of July Fun

The whole family took a drive down to Wilton on the 5th for a cookout with the Luce family. It was DHV's first experience at a "kids table" away from the quick hands of Mom and Dad. Caroline was more appropriately dressed for this activity.

DHV wasn't eating fast enough for Caroline's taste so she decided to take over.

After dinner, DHV got a taste of his first smores. He was definitely a fan.

He followed that up with his first sparkler. There was a lot of "more!" and "again!" after this and before we knew it all 3 boxes were gone. Thanks K-dawg!!

The 4th of July in the NICU

DHV thought it would be nice to pay his little sister a visit on the 4th of July. He even wore his red, white, and blue to show her what the day was all about.
He practiced "gentle" with Dad...

... and even held a tiny hand.

Finally LRV got exacerbated with Mom: "No more pictures please!"

The Zoo

Moo!

Peacock staredown.

DHV's favorite part, the carousel.

Chalking the driveway wearing a gift from Janine's parents.