brave girl

Maisie had a busy morning. She was playing on her baby gym mat one minute and when Daddy turned to check on her Maisie had managed to pull herself across the mat and onto the carpet. Daddy will need to have a more watchful eye going forward.

There were also stories to be read. Maisie has been given a couple of new books; Curious George's Happy Halloween which we hope doesn't give Maisie nightmares as it was all about ghosts and witches. Maisie also got baby's very first black and white book.

Maisie was really taken by the large black and white animals in the book. The black and white gives the highest contrast  to the eye and so appears very visible and attractive to Maisie.

Maisie also had her booster jabs today. Maisie was a brave girl and barely cried.

It was a long day and Maisie fell asleep early;

what a big smile - what can Maisie be dreaming of? 

baby massage

A healthcare professional visited Mummy and Daddy and gave them a lesson in baby massage .

There are many physical and psychological  benefits of baby massage; aiding digestion, improves weight gain, leads to better sleep, accelerates brain development,  improving circulation, easing teething pain and bonding.

As you can see Maisie will benefit from baby massage in lots of ways. Mummy is hoping that it will aide Maisie's digestion and help with her discomfort, colic and constipation.

It also has benefits for Mummy and Daddy; bonding, understanding Maisie's cues to what she wants, relaxation. Daddy is really hoping that it will lead to better sleep not only for Maisie but for him too.

This first lesson focused on the legs and tummy. Maisie will get massages every night at bath time and also during the day with nappy changing. This will keep Mummy and Daddy very busy.

Maisie will no doubt be in need of a bit of massage therapy tomorrow after she has her booster injections.

back on track

Maisie was visited by the health visitor for her weekly weigh in - Maisie is back on track with her growth putting on a good weight over the last week.

Maisie now weighs 8lb 6oz - 3.82kgs. This should please her dietitian.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

little rest

It's been a long few days for Maisie having her cousins to visit and she coped very well with all the attention that she got. 

Unfortunately it has not all been enjoyable for my Amazing Maisie as her hernia continues to pop out causing her great discomfort. It is happening more frequently and so long as it keeps popping back in there is still nothing that can be done until the surgeon is seen on the 9th November. 

The length of time that it pops out for varies and can last for an hour or so. Not fun for Maisie nor Mummy and Daddy especially when it's during the night.

Poor wee Maisie had several episodes of the hernia coming out today and unfortunately had very little rest. Mummy had a tough day. Maisie had a bath and a big feed just before bedtime and settled down well. Let's hope that she has a good nights sleep. 

Her unrest during the day could of course be due to missing her cousins giving her lots of attention; 

The youngest generation of Crokers 

Don't worry Maisie you'll see Charlie and Gracie at Christmas

a close call for Maisie

No snow so no snowball fight so needed to find something else to do so;

Daddy saved Maisie from an Alligator attack............

But unfortunately..................

Big sister Meghan was taken by a shark.........

Uncle Jim tired to save her however...........

Uncle Jim got eaten too.

Not sure how this all happened but quite worryingly Maisie seems rather pleased with herself....

"I love it when a plan comes together" 

playing

Maisie didn't sleep too well, partly due to the excitement of her cousins visiting and partly due to her hernia popping out frequently throughout the night - it was a long night especially for Daddy.

This didn't stop Maisie spending the day playing with her cousins Charlie and Gracie. There was lots to do; after a big breakfast there were noisy toys to play with to entertain Maisie and irritate the adults followed by Charlie doing his usual shooting of everyone and everything.

Gracie was a little more attentive making sure that Maisie was happy with a particularly noisy teddy bear although we're not to sure that Gracie was teaching Maisie the correct words to some of the songs - Teddy wouldn't be singing about bogies up his nose would he?

Maisie, Daddy, Charlie, Gracie and Megan spent the afternoon having an adventure; it started with playing on the swings, watching a thousand or so geese land in the next field, filling Gracie's wellington boots with water from a big puddle and then losing Megan's ball.

a wee rest before the dash home to miss the rain

There was a ruin to explore, cliffs to climb, molehills to dig up and a bridge to throw Megan's spare ball from - it was a busy afternoon.

Everyone was looking forward to dinner which was followed by nice hot baths and an earlyish night.

Gracie helping to bathe Maisie

The forecast says snow so tomorrow it could be Maisie's first snowball fight.

proud uncle

It was back to the hospital for Maisie to see the eye doctor again. The eye doctor says that the pictures taken on Tuesday are the best pictures of ROP that have ever been taken.

Unfortunately the pictures show that the right eye is still active and the ROP may be creeping back albeit very slowly - it would be an easy fix though using the laser treatment if the ROP does get worse. The left eye is however looking good. We'll just have to wait and see what will happen - the next appointment is in two weeks back at Optos.

Maisie was very happy to meet her proud Uncle Jim!

Maisie had a really enjoyable day as her cousins Charlie and Gracie came to visit. It was amazing to eventually met them and thank them personally for all the picture they have drawn for Maisie. It's going to be a fun weekend.

Maisie is sure it will be a lot more fun than helping Daddy tidy out his office;

"Daddy are you sure that you need my help?"