Hello everybody. Thought we would give a update since it has been awhile. I am now back to work and dad is staying home with Zach. It is hard to leave in the morning because that's when Zach is in the best mood. He wakes up smiling everyday !!!!!!!! Guess he is glad to be here, it is almost like he knows what he has been through and appreciates every new day. We went to his first developmental clinic on June 12th. He is exactly where he should be on most activities. A little slow with following sound from the right side, so we will keep an eye on this, it could be because it was a new environment and he got stimulated by everything going on. When on his stomach he reaches for toys and the physical therapist told us that was great, a little ahead of most and all in all no signs he was a preemie, only by size when you look at his actual age.

He weighed in at 14 pounds 7 ounces at this last appointment, and Terry said he is now up over 15 pounds, right where he should be. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length, so he might grow up to be tall. At any rate, he's perfect to me and Terry.

We went to see all the nurses in the NICU after his clinic appointment, and we were fortunate to see Amy, Sharon, and Linda. they were the nurses we got closest to during Zachary's stay. He was making all kinds of noises for Amy, which made her and Terry and I very happy, and Linda and Sharon got to hold him which made us happy. Thank-you to all of the wonderful nurses at the NICU. It was a very good visit for Zachary, Terry and I.

Life of our special Preemie-Inside the NICU and Beyond

I took this picture for two reasons, Zachary loves grabbing hold of things now that he has learned how to, and because I love how he holds his toes curled down. I think it is so cute. Zachary is getting so big now, I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it every day. He is up to 13 pounds now. As Jill said earlier, he eats solids 2 times a day now, I introduced him to prunes last week, and again yesterday, and he introduced them back to me, didn't like them, they went all over his bib and me. So now the new thing is berries, not sure about that yet, we'll try it out on him this weekend. He goes in for his physical therapy appointment on June 12th, to see if he is developing on schedule. I already think he is, from what I see every day, but it's nice to be reassured by the docs. Zachary is so fun now. He cries less, and laughs more. He actually laughs or giggles out loud now, only a little bit, but when he does, it's priceless. He smiles like crazy when I do something that he likes, which is almost all the time. I can usually get him to start smiling if he is crying, by acting stupid, which is easy for me to do. He sleeps most of the night now, only waking up for 1 or 2 feedings, but that usually only takes 30 minutes each, so I only lose 1 hour of sleep now instead of 2 hours as before. Although I sometimes make it up during his morning nap, which he gets in the morning, afternoon and early evening. He usually goes to bed around 7:30-8 pm, but lately it's been more like 9 pm. He likes being outside with me when I do take him out to work around the house, he only gets bored once in awhile, so he will enjoy being outside. Jill and I have a blow up pool, it's pretty big, I can lay all the way down in it, and over Memorial day weekend when it was so hot, I took Zach in the pool with me and he absolutely loved it, for about 1/2 an hour, then of course he got bored, but I was so proud that he didn't cry and liked the water, which is a huge plus for Jill and me since we have a boat on the lake, he's going to love it. Well I guess that's it for now, Zach is starting to stir from his nap.

I'm ready for my close-up

Zach loves his new boppy!