More Pics.......

Here are some more pics of Nate. Some from Father's day. Some are more pics of attempts at rice cereal. We are finding he likes oatmeal better. A couple show his exhaustion after attempting rice cereal.

Click to enlarge.

We started trying rice cereal..

Hello and Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Nate has had a productive couple of weeks. He saw Dr. Gadea for his 6 month checkup/shots. The first pic is of him after the shots. If you go to the next page of the blog (the older posts) there is a near identical picture of him at his 4 month shots. You can see how he is changing bit by bit.

While we were at the appointment, Dr. Gadea asked some questions about Nate and his ability to sit up with assistance, etc. She recommended that we try some rice cereal. The first attempt is on here. He actually did better with the first attempt than he has with subsequent attempts. More pictures will follow, but these are the first night and the neatest of them all.

The toddler in the picture is Blake. He is with Nate during the day at Dea's house. He is a sweet boy and seems to really like Nate. We like him too!

The picture where Patrick is holding Nate and Nate is hanging there represents Nate's new favorite position. Nate loves to hang off of our arm just like that. I have no idea how that could possibly be comfortable, but he loves it.

I have some more pics, but I didn't want to overload one post. I will post more in the next couple of days.

Overall, Nate is doing very well, and we continue to be amazed at his progress and abilities. We are such a blessed family.

Happy half-year birthday Nate!!!

Nate is 6 months old today!!

Dinner with Lynne!!!!

It has been a good week in the Little household. As you will see in the pictures, we got to spend Saturday evening having dinner with our FAVORITE nurse from All Children's Hospital... Nate's primary nurse Lynne!!! She and her husband (Al) joined Nate, Patrick, myself, Grams Linda, Gramps Bill and Nana Paula out for dinner (Grandpa Larry was out of town). It was wonderful to see her again and Nate looked so good in her arms! We had a great time and it was so good to think back at the changes we have all witnessed in Nate since his birth. I hope to have this be a regular event. We love Lynne, and her husband Al is awesome as well.

Last Wednesday, Julie, a Child Development (infant and toddler) specialist administered a Battelle Developmental Inventory on Nate-- it is a way of scoring his development and assessing how far behind he is in his development. Preemies are judged by adjusted age , not actual age until they are supposed to be caught up by age 2. This test scores on Actual age to see how far behind they are. Nate is 6 months ACTUAL age, but 12 weeks ADJUSTED age. He scored very well, and he is not that far behind for ACTUAL age. To qualify for the Early Steps program a child has to have a score of 78 or below on this inventory. Nate scored an 89. They do plan to still follow him, but instead of weekly hour long sessions, it will decrease to once or twice a month (probably twice a month for a couple sessions, then go to once a month). This way Julie can continue to monitor his development occasionally, and will step in if she notices a lag in development or a need for physical occupational or speech therapy. I am pleased to hear these results. I do want Nate to get intervention if he needs it, but am pleased to hear that he is developing well so far. I want to thank Lynne for this. Her education in the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Plan (NIDCAP) and using this knowledge daily in her superior care of Nate had to have a huge bearing on this. For this we are eternally grateful.

Leeann and Patrick


Here are some pictures from the dinner and a few from the week.
Click to enlarge.