6 Months Old: Checking In — The Joy of Mira

These past six months FLEW by in all the normal clichéd ways. It’s been an incredible six months, but also extremely challenging and exhaustingly busy. I figured the 6 month mark, half way to Mira’s 1st birthday (how is that even possible), was a good time to give an update on all things MJ.

First … just generally: Mira is pretty awesome. I don’t need to regale you with my emotional details outlining how much I love that girl because it will undoubtedly make you nauseous, but I’ll just say that I had no idea that this level of sheer love for not 1, but 2 little humans was even possible. I’m thankful that my general state of worrying about her has diminished– life feels a whole lot less fragile than it did just a few months ago.

Here a few things Miss Mira has been up to lately:

· Mira is eating like a champ! Besides bottles, she eats basically everything we put in front of her...except peas, HUGE pass on the peas. Some of her favorites include sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peaches and her new favorite; gumming away on cold cantaloupe slices.

· The amount of smiles she produces are unreal. She smiles with her entire face and her entire tongue.

· At six months she FINALLY started sleeping through the night…most of the time, anyway.

· Mira's at the age now where it’s fun and fairly easy to bring her places. She loves taking in all the new sights and sounds.

· Our summer baby is definitely not a fan of the Northeast winter. Mira has made it clear that she prefers the sunshine and warmth.

· She doesn’t give her affection away to just anyone. You really have to work to earn it. Once you are in, she can level you with her smile.

· Mira's favorite movie is The Lorax. She has probably watched it 300 times.

· She loves and adores her big sister. Her face lights up when Ellie pays attention to her which is often as her sister adores her too.

· We attended our first LPA (Little People of America) event! This group has already proven to be an incredible support system for all of us and we look forward to more events in the future.

The Medical Stuff:

· In her first 3 months, Mira went through a nasal endoscopy (not fun), sleep study (really not fun) and a full x-ray of her neck, all yielding good results.

· She has returned to CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) twice, once at 1 month old, and once at 6 months. Her doctor is very happy with her progress and continues to keep a close eye on her development.

· Developmentally, we are starting to see where Mira is behind. Although she is perfectly on track for a baby with Achondroplasia, it is difficult not to compare her to other babies her age. We constantly remind ourselves that Mira will do things on “Mira Time” which has made her milestones even more special.

· We have learned to be creative when it comes to making adjustments for her. A skill, I know, will be vital as she continues to grow. We call it “Mira-proofing.” For example, when she started eating solids, we introduced the high-chair. Due to her lack of full head control, Evan designed a head support system and anti-slip backing using a car seat headrest, some duct tape and shelf liner. Works like a charm!

On a day-to-day basis we don’t worry (too) much about Mira– there are no red flags and she just seems healthy and really happy. We have our concerns, but worrying about whether we love that baby enough certainly isn’t one of them.

6 Months Old. Our special delivery returns to the Special Delivery Unit at CHOP for a visit!