Sharkey Family =)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Sean, Kristin, Libby, & Charlie visit! =)

March 24-30
All the way from Philadelphia just to see us! :) Thank you guys again for coming; we had such a great time!!!
Family Fun:

L-R (back): Kristin, Wendy, Me, Sharkey, Sean
L-R (front): Libby, Madeleine, Charlie

The obligatory Wharf shot:

hard to see, but it's Charlie in the stroller, Sean, Libby, and me with Madeleine in the Moby wrap

Charlie entertaining Madeleine while we waited in the car:

As if coming all that way wasn't enough, they even brought birthday presents for Madeleine (which Libby showed Maddie how to open)

Libby even brought some special toys for Madeleine's birthday:

Sweet Peace of Snack Time ;>

FAIRYLAND!!! (Over in Oakland lays this magical kingdom...)

(Madeleine's special Fairy Dress compliments of her cousin Libby. Thank you again, Libby! =)

Notice that Charlie JUST made the height requirements!

Libby (very proper) and Charlie (looking bored!) on the Merry-Go-Round in Fairyland

Playing on the Captain Hook ship. :)

Note: Libby picked out her own FairyLand attire. GREAT choice!! (I only hope Madeleine has the same penchant for fanciness as her cousin!)

The Ferris Wheel ~ Libby and Charlie enjoyed it, but Madeleine is still too small... maybe next year!

Happy Birthday, Sean! While here, Sean celebrated his birthday ~ Sharkey even made him TWO homemade cakes! =)

Perhaps reason to come back NEXT year for Spring Break Part 2??? ;)

Monday, April 13, 2009

Madeleine's Favorite (Birthday) Toy

her little ride-on trike!
Here's a video of Daddy pushing her around:

That's pretty much Sharkey's routine: he gets home from work, and Madeleine immediately heads to the trike for a ride! :)

Thank you, Mimi & PopPop! =)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Things are looking up...

At our meeting with the pediatric gastroenterologist, we found Madeleine gained a pound in 3 weeks, so that's great news. :) Additionally, everything about Madeleine (and her diet) seemed normal to the doctor. After ordering a BUNCH of blood tests, and all coming back normal, the doctor is surmising that Madeleine's (temporary) lack of growth is just a more extreme version of the normal leveling off.
We're going to continue the iron drops, and will go back in a month to make sure everything is still going well. =)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

...and the iron problems continue...

Grr, poor little Madeleine! :(
Just when we thought her iron problems would be behind us, THEY'RE STILL HERE!!!
We initially found out about Madeleine's iron deficiency at her 10 month "well" baby check-up. Blood work showed Madeleine had anemia, so we were told to give her iron drops 3 times a day. Done.
Went back to have her blood checked out a month later, and things looked up. The anemia was gone, but we were told to continue the iron drops for another month as her iron reserves were still low. OK.
Went back yesterday (for what I thought would be our final blood draw), but not so lucky.
The latest blood work shows she no longer has anemia, but her iron stores are even LOWER than before.
So now our quest is to find out where her iron is going.
* Edited to add: Just got back from her (regular) doctor. He did a test to see if there was (microscopic amounts that we couldn't see) of blood in her stool... nothing. Still at square one.
Madeleine's pedi made a referral to a Pediatric GI, and we'll take their first available appointment. We'll keep you posted as soon as we learn anything...

MADELEINE'S STATS

WEIGHT
03/10/2009 7.938 kg (17 lb 8 oz) (4%) 4.28% of growth percentile based on weight-for-age.
01/12/2009 8.051 kg (17 lb 12 oz) (18%)
10/31/2008 7.825 kg (17 lb 4 oz) (43%)
09/15/2008 7.371 kg (16 lb 4 oz) (53%)
07/07/2008 6.435 kg (14 lb 3 oz) (67%)
05/07/2008 5.131 kg (11 lb 5 oz) (68%)
04/13/2008 4.217 kg (9 lb 4.8 oz) (46%)
03/09/2008 6 lb 1 oz

HEIGHT
03/10/2009 0.686 m (2' 3") (4%) 3.81% of growth percentile based on length-for-age.
01/12/2009 0.673 m (2' 2.5") (8%)
10/31/2008
09/15/2008 0.635 m (2' 1") (21%)
07/07/2008 0.603 m (1' 11.75") (34%)
05/07/2008 0.546 m (1' 9.5") (21%)
03/24/2008 0.502 m (1' 7.75") (27%)

HEAD SIZE
03/10/2009 44 cm (17.32") (20%) 20.17% of growth percentile based on head circumference-for-age.
01/12/2009 44 cm (17.32") (38%)
10/31/2008
09/15/2008 42.5 cm (16.73") (49%)
07/07/2008 41 cm (16.14") (55%)
05/07/2008 38 cm (14.96") (34%)
03/24/2008 35.5 cm (13.98") (37%)

BLOOD WORK
TEST DATE------- Jan 12 --------------------- Feb. 11---------Mar 10
Component---- Your Value---Standard Range---Your Value
WBC COUNT------10.9-------6.0-17.0 K/uL -----------------8.0
RBC COUNT-------4.49----- 4.00-5.20 M/uL-----------------5.31
HGB----------------9.8------10.5-13.5 g/dL-----11.3---------12.8
HEMATOCRIT-----30.2------33.0-39.0 % ------37.3---------41.3
MCV----------------67---------70-86 fL-------------------------78
RDW, RBC---------20.5------11.9-15.0 %---------------------19.9
PLATELETS COUNT 355--------140-400 K/uL-----------------449
FERRITIN-------------------22-291 ng/mL-------15--------------9

* If #s are missing, it's b/c we don't have the values; the specific test wasn't done at the time.
This is all the info/knowledge I have. As I learn more, I'll update.

Friday, March 6, 2009

ONE YEAR OLD!!! =)

Thank you for the cards, Grandma & Granddad Sharkey and Mimi & PopPop! (Madeleine REALLY loved 'reading' them!)

Top-Chef Daddy working on the Birthday Cake & Cupcakes!

Oh, No! A little cake mishap!

But it was delicious all the same!

(Quilt pic)

Madeleine has added (& is working on adding) many new tricks to her arsenal. Among them are:

* Pulls up to Standing position (perfected in Mexico)

* Crawling from room to room (longer distances)

* Clapping

*'Reading' her books!!! Finally, Madeleine enjoys reading, both with us and by herself (she'll look at her books, and turn the pages ~ so cute!)

* Sticking out her tongue (Thank you, Sharkey)

* Trying to engage people by smiling at them

* Beginning to (??? strum lips)

* Beginning to wave (Hello/Good-bye)

*"Joking" ~ she'll offer a piece of food, then eat it herself!

** To Sharkey's pleasure, she's starting to make more sounds, now 'Da-Da' is her newest. Here's the best video i could get of it. **DISCLAIMER: LONG VIDEO! GRANDPARENT'S EYES ONLY!!!** Miss Maddie wrestles the camera away from me during the middle of it ~ so strong!

Happy Birthday, Madeleine (AKA 'Ole Fussy Face!), we love you!!!

Mexico!

I'm late in posting this, but here are some pics from our EIGHT glorious days in Mexico!
Getting there is half the fun ~ on the airplane.

Or Not ~ now that she's a 'big girl', someone has no need for naps on the flight, even though clearly exhausted! (super duper.)

We got lucky with the weather; it was GORGEOUS the entire time we were there!

Making Friends is Madeleine's FAVORITE pastime. You can't see them, but that's why she's smiling. :P

Sunset photo-op (or as close to sunset as Madeleine gets!)

Realizing how severe the sun can be in Mexico, I bought a little raft w/ shade at Target before we left. Fortunately, she LOVED it: both playing in it with Daddy swirling her around (great game, Sharkey!) AND floating & staring at people in it, lol!

Here's a little video of their fun. (However, I have to say the video doesn't do their 'game' justice as I would only remember the camera once it was almost time to get out & everyone was getting tired. oh well.)

GIANT IGUANAS! (There were these huge iguanas that would come out ~2pm every day and people would PET them! I joked about setting Miss Maddie down between some for a photo-op. Sharkey wouldn't let me. I did get to do Feeding Baby To Iguana Shot.)