Halloween Weekend

The month of October was very busy for us, but we finished it out with some Halloween fun. Aiden's 1st Halloween costume was a baby giraffe.

To celebrate Halloween, our neighborhood hosted an all-day children Halloween celebration. We took Aiden to a couple of activities in the afternoon, and then entered him into a children’s Halloween contest. Aiden came in 1st place for his age group. His prize was a gift certificate to the toy store.
Congrats Aiden!

Aiden enjoying the love

September was filled with love from family and friends and Aiden enjoyed every bit of it. Aiden went to his first birthday party this month and had so much fun that he spent the next two days sleeping. Lately he has been paying more attention to his surroundings. He will follow us around the room with his eyes and will lick his lip when he smells food. Aiden has reached a new plateau in his cries and has been yapping up a storm. His current weight is 15lbs 14oz and he is on his way to size 3 diapers. Aiden is coming into his own.

Doing great!

It's definitely been a while since we have updated everyone on Aiden's progress. He is doing very well. We have been to several functions over the last month and most of you have had a chance to see and interact with him. He is still gaining on average 10oz. per week. At the end of August he weighed 11.0lbs 15oz and now he weighs 14.0lbs 11oz. He went from size 1 diaper to size 2 and we have retired atleast 4 outfits a week over the last month. Aiden talks more and sleeps really well at night. Overall, he has been doing great!

Thriving and doing well

For those of you who have not seen Aiden since his party you would be surprise how big he has gotten. At the party he weighed 8lbs 3oz and as of Tuesday he weighed 11lbs 15oz, so he is atleast 12lbs now. Our little man is approaching the normal weight range for his age. Several sources state that 3mos - 4mos old babies generally weigh between 14 and 15.5lbs on average. His weight growth is an important cue that he is developing well. Other developmental milestones range from holding his head at 90 degrees for longer periods to following objects with his eyes more, and for several weeks now he has been holding his weight in his legs while being supported. Overall, Aiden is thriving and doing well.

Time is moving

It's already been almost 3 weeks since Aiden's Welcome Parties. In this short timeframe we have celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary (July 17th), my birthday (July 24th) and Khary's birthday (Aug 1st). Our household this time of the year is like Christmas, a lot of fun, good food, family and friends. I have also started back to work, so Aiden has been home with Khary. This arrangement is working out very well. Aiden began physical therapy (PT) as of last Tuesday. His first assignments were to lift his head up on his own and move it side to side, center his head with the rest of his body, and follow a toy or object with his eyes. He did the first two things very well and he follows the toy only if he is not distracted. His appointment today with the PT went well also and he reportedly weighs 10lbs 6.5oz. Wow he is growing.

Aiden's Welcome Parties (July 18th & 19th)

Both of Aiden's parties this past weekend went great. Thank you to everyone who organized the parties and thank you for the gifts. The top two pictures are generational pics. The top right is 3 generations and the top left is 5 generations. Aiden is our 1st child, 1st grandchild, 1st great grandchild, and the 1st great great grandchild. What a blessing. Aiden weighs 8lbs 3oz, wears size 1 diapers, and 0-3 mos clothes. Check out more pictures here:

https://cid-00094b336e7440b3.events.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Photos?uc=1

Almost 2 weeks

It's been almost two weeks since Aiden has been home. He has adjusted well. He came home weighing 5lbs 14oz and now he weighs 7lbs. We tried to keep Aiden on his hospital feeding schedule of every 4 hours, but despite our efforts Aiden is back to eating every 3 hours. His auntie Tasha has been a great help. When both his daddy and I are tired his auntie comes in from work all excited and ready to take care of him. What a godsend. Aiden is starting to stay awake longer, especially at night =(. When he first came home he was eating 80CC consistently and now he is eating approximately 110CC. Our baby boy is growing healthy and strong.

Aiden is Home

The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. Aiden has been discharged from the hospital and is home. We are very thankful to all the doctors and the nurses who took care of him, and all the friends and family who has been checking on him and praying for him. Our dream has come true. Our happy and healthy baby boy is home!

Countdown to coming home

Aiden is doing great. He is ready to come home. This week has been smooth. No issues with breathing, keeping his heart rate up, eating, sleeping around a lot of noise, holding his temperature, etc. He had his 1-hr car seat test today and he passed with ease. He also had a vision test Tuesday and the doctor stated his eyes are mature and there are no issues. We are expecting him home this weekend. Yahh!! We are very excited. The fun really begins now. =)

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers. Aiden not only gave his daddy a dirty diaper for Father's Day, but he also decided he was ready to come out of the Isolette. Aiden is back in the bassinet and on a countdown to coming home. In preparation to the big day, we have been running around searching for preemie diapers which is sold out in most of our local stores. At the rate Aiden is growing he will be wearing size 1 diapers before we know it. He currently weighs 5lbs 7.1oz and he is drinking 70 CC every 4 hours.

Passed the test

Aiden is drinking 60 CC of milk and now weighs 5lbs 2.5oz. He had both a hearing test and a head scan today. Both of the test results were normal and the doctors do not recommend any further testing. God is good!

Visitor Weekend

This was a weekend full of visitors. Aiden's cousins, aunt, his GG (a.k.a grandmommy), two of his great aunts and great uncles came to visit. Above are just a few pictures we took. Enjoy, happy Monday.

**News Flash**

Aiden's first day on all bottles he not only held up his own bottle, but he also pushed it back into his mouth when he was ready to start drinking again. Great job Aiden!!

It's bottle time

Aiden has been adjusting well to this new hospital. His weight was up and down resulting in a 0 gain from last Wednesday until Sunday night. His nurse believed that he was burning calories to keep himself warm, so she decided to move him back into the Isolette. This has been a positive move for him. Since Monday Aiden has gained 8oz and now weighs 4lbs 11oz! Aiden also started on 1 bottle on Monday. Since he successfully finished the whole bottle without having any breathing issues they have advanced him to 2 bottles on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, and 4 bottles today. As of 9p.m., he finished his fourth bottle for the day so they will be giving him bottles for every feed starting at midnight. Overall, the move to Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital started off rocky, but things are starting to turn around. =)

From Qiana,

Transitional Week

Aiden will be 1-mo old this weekend and today is his great grandmother's birthday. Happy B-day mommy! Aiden is blessed not only with a great grandmother, but also a great great grandmother who calls often to find out how he is doing. This has been a very busy week. Aiden now weighs 4lbs 3oz, he has been taken back off his nasal cannula, he sleeps in a bassinet instead of the incubator, Aiden is starting to consistently latch on while nursing, he went for his first car ride yesterday, and he graduated from Hopkins NICU and is now at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital in Baltimore. Khary and I spent the night at the hospital with him last night, so that we can get to know the nursing staff. His new nurse practitioner lowered his feeds from 35CC to 30CC and he lost weight within the first 12 hours of being there, so we are not too happy with the new direction thus far. As a result we will be at the hospital most of the day for the next couple of weeks until we are comfortable with the level of care he is receiving.