Maternity leave

Charlotte is 6 months now! The time is just flying by now that we are busy bees at home. The past few days have been very eventful. After attempting to take Charlotte out to experience the world, she caught a stomach virus. So, we were in the hospital 3 and a half days. Now we are back to square one with being cautious and keeping Charlotte as healthy as possible. Her room has lots to do and play with, so we will just stick to her room for now. Charlotte loves to explore and play on her playmat. She loves to "talk", roll around, and has recently found her own reflection! Laura has finally started her maternity leave, and David has started back to school. Laura is loving being home with Charlotte every day. It's like having your own personal baby doll that you can dress up and play with whenever you want! They have a great time together. Charlotte has a closet full of fun clothes that Laura bought her as a present to start the "Mommy daughter days." Charlotte is sleeping through the night which makes the days much more fun for Charlotte and Laura because they are both well rested. Charlotte has continuous g-tube feeds until she can swallow by mouth, so she doesn't get hungry at night. We will have our swallow study soon because the speech therapist recommended a follow up swallow study in 12 weeks. Well, the 12th week has arrived. Prayers would be much appreciated because we would love Charlotte to take food by mouth soon. Our household is busy with home health PT, home health OT, home health nursing, weekly platelet transfusions, and frequent other speciality appointments every week. All in all, she is a growing, happy little peanut and we love her to the moon and back. Every day is a new adventure!

A lady about town

This week we are finally starting to enjoy some normalcy of life as a family of three. We have our own routines. Charlotte is able to snuggle in bed with us in the morning. Life is good. This week has been a week of many firsts for Charlotte and the Harris family. When Charlotte was first released from the NICU, Laura was terrified about Charlotte being outside. After a few days of being cooped up in the house, that all began to change. Our pediatrician gave us the OK to take Charlotte outside as long as we were careful about people touching her. Because she was so premature, Charlotte is still very susceptible to getting infections in her lungs, lines, etc. Charlotte goes for daily walks in her stroller. She had her first trip to the grocery store. She has met up with friends twice at the dog park with Chapel. (Ashleigh, in the picture holding Charlotte, was her nurse at the University of Maryland. Her dog Mia is adorable.) She even experienced her first sushi date. We had our first family dinner at a great restaurant called Brothers Sushi right down the street from our house. It looks like Charlotte's social calender is going to start filling up fast!