So according to this development timeline we know of, Kaitlyn has been sailing right along nailing every one of her milestones (by her adjusted age)…except one – vocal milestones. You know, the ones where she starts making sounds other than “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.” She has been close, with a “ggggggggggggg” or “bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb” but never anything Tori and I would qualify as a consonants.
Well, as of Saturday, we have officially broken through that milestone.
That’s right boys and girls, we have “ba ba ba ba ba.” It is pretty neat hearing her do something other than the typical screem or grunts that she usually does. I can’t say that I was worried – babies do pretty much everything on their own time – but it is nice to see her finally starting to do something in this arena. I would like to say it is something that we did, and maybe it is, but I am not sure what.
She also recently had her nine month checkup with the Doctor, and everything is going very well. She is 18lbs 6oz and 26.5 inches long. The weight puts her exactly where a nine month old should be, which means she has officially “caught up” with other babies her age. Her height is still trending towards her adjusted age, though she is slowly starting to move up the curve on that as well.
Basically, you can look at her as short and average (adjusted age) or average and fat (actual age). Either way, I would imagine most of you are thinking “so she is taking after her father” and you wouldn’t be far off 
.
We are starting her on stage 3 food, and the doctor wants her on table food by age 1, which means three meals and a snack. For someone who took so long to get herself eating from something other than a tube, she certainly has made up for lost time!
And speaking of, I have been thinking a lot lately about those first few days, and how blessed we were. Yes, it was most definitely touch and go there for a little while, but once she cleared those most critical first days, she really did recover quickly. We were in the NICU less than two weeks…there are literally thousands of babies in this country who spends months in the NICU trying to get strong enough to not be considered critical any more. Yes, we spent months at the hospital as well, but we were in Level II, which is a country club compared to the intensity of the NICU.
These thoughts have made me realize a few things.
1. That our little girl is amazing…strong and stubborn and a fighter.
2. That we were exceedingly blessed to have her go so quickly from “likely to die” to “soon to go home.” That was the swing in less than two weeks, and it is not an exaggeration. We were so close to losing her…a lot closer than I think we ever realized at the time. And within two weeks, not only was she out of danger, but she was no worse off than a normal baby.
And now, here we are, talking about consonants and table food. She is a gift…a miracle, and Tori and I cannot wait for all the ways in which she will continue to amaze us.
-Dad
…since I last posted. I know you have been missing me, and who could blame you? But the ladies have been nagging me to post, so here I am. We really don’t have any sort of specific updates. I guess I can tell you about how life has been outside of the big events.