Go Cocks!!!

So Campbell has had a pretty eventful week . . . well, actually, her week has been spent making her parents out to be liars . . .

We've noticed that she's not been grabbing at objects very well so we asked for an occupational therapy evaluation. OTs can help with the hand/eye coordination that it takes to reach for, grab, and bring objects to her mouth. Tuesday was the day that the OT came to the house to do her evaluation and guess what . . . magically, Campbell, on the first attempt, began reaching for, grabbing, and bringing objects to her mouth and she hasn't stopped. She can now can reach for objects from her back, side, and from the sitting position.

I've also included a few pictures/videos for your viewing pleasure . . .

Campbell's cousins Jacob and Zachary checking her out . . . Campbell loves her cousins!

Campbell now reaching/grabbing objects.

Here is Campbell with her physical therapist today. Mrs. Kathy was working with Campbell today on sitting up, bringing her feet up, and leaning forward.

After her session today, Campbell had to take a quick nap in order to stay up and watch the USC game tonight . . . GO COCKS!!!! The outfit is courtesy of Nana . . . thank you!

Nana has worked with Campbell on blowing raspberries . . . well after 3 weeks of hard work, Campbell finally blew a raspberry for Mrs. Kathy, Nana, and Aunt Julie.

Finally Campbell and I would like to wish Martha/mommy good luck tonight. She's teaching a class at Winthrop this fall. The class she's teaching is a methods class for teaching students with severe disabilities . . . way to go mommy!

Campbell Wii Fits!!!

Campbell has had a really exciting Saturday. Knowing that we need to instill healthy habits early, we decided that she would Wii Fit today. As you look at the pictures below you'll notice that Campbell has a Mii . . . thanks to her friend Evan!

To begin, the Wii Fit takes her BMI and weight.

BMI 15.86 (which is normal)

Weight - 13lbs

After weighing in Wii Fit had Campbell do a series of balance exercises. After that it will assign Campbell a Wii Fit age. The goal is to be as close to your real age as possible. Here is a video of Campbell's age:

After she registered for use of the Wii Fit, she was able to access the different activities. The first one that she did was some Yoga. She began working on her core breathing. The goal is to be able to take deep breaths while maintaining a strong center of balance. Here is video of her practicing some yoga.

After that it gives her a score based on her center of balance. She scored an 80 (out of 100), which is great! Wii Fit calls Campbell a Yoga Trainer.

Notice that Campbell scored higher than one of Martha's Yoga Core Breathing exercises.

Finally, Campbell ended her first Wii Fit experience by participating in another one of the exercises. She was to shift her balance to get the ball to roll in the hole.

She came pretty close . . . well, we'll keep practicing on her balance.

After her four minutes of Wii Fit, she's tired and asleep in her bed.

Happy 85th Birthday, Grandma!

Today was a special day for 2 reasons.
1st-Campbell wore her first real bow (not counting the one they glued on her head in the NICU). Isn't she cute? Please excuse her shiny-ness in the picture. I had just layered on some lotion because she has some dry skin (you would too if your mommy was wiping spit up off your face every 10 seconds!).

2nd-It was her Great-Grandma's 85th birthday. Here is a picture of Grandma with most of her great-grandchildren (Zachary was taking a nap). Can you find her 2 grown grandchildren that are in the picture?

What's green, tastes like guacamole and is all over Campbell's face?

Today Campbell crossed another milestone . . . she had her first "non-breast milk" meal. Tonight, for the first time, Campbell had a solid food, avocado.

Martha did some reading and decided to skip rice cereal for her first food. We might come back to it later, but she read that it often causes constipation and that babies with reflux have even more trouble with that, so we'll stick with foods that are safer in that area.

Campbell did really well and we think she actually got some in her tummy as well as all over her face!

Here is Campbell's face pre-meal:

Post-meal:

Circus at Sears

On Tuesday of this week, my sister Julie and I decided to take all of the Hopper grandchildren to Sears to get some pictures made for Nana's birthday. If you wonder why the title of this post is "Circus at Sears" it is because that is what we caused.

Just imagine for a monent taking a 6-month-old, a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a rambunctious 7-year-old to get a picture taken...in public...and expect them all to sit together...at the same time...all smiling....oh and looking in the same general direction.

Yeah, it was a circus. I must say that our little angel, Campbell, was the best behaved...but that may be because she can't get away yet. We ended up with a pretty cute picture, but by the end Julie and I were both covered in sweat and exhausted.

Pictures from "Camp Nana"

In addition to her new trick that she unveiled today, Campbell had lots of fun at "Camp Nana". She played with her cousins, Jacob and Zack. Jacob even asked Nana "Jacob hold Campbell?" and he did. I think they all had a lot of fun and Campbell is excited to go back tomorrow. Thanks, Nana, for everything! Also, it was Nana's birthday...Happy Birthday, Nana! What a way to spend your birthday :)

Martha's Worst Nightmare Happened Today . . .

First let me say thanks to everyone who posted or sent Martha an encouraging email today. She really appreciated it.

So Martha's biggest worry has been that she'll do something "first" for her mother since she'll be spending the days with her.

This morning, I called Nana to see how Campbell's day has been. Well, about an hour later I get a call from Nana asking me if Campbell can roll from her front to back. Well, she can't by herself. Martha has to "tuck an arm" to get Campbell to roll over. This morning around noon Campbell had her first "first." She can roll from front to back now unassisted. Yay for Campbell . . . but couldn't she have waited a for week two to start her 'firsts" and not four hours into day ONE???

returning to work =(

So today is a bittersweet day in the Compton household. As most of you know, I (robbie) has been working most of the summer. However, Martha has been off from work since late January. Well, after being home with Campbell for six months, she has to return to work tomorrow (Wednesday).
We're terribly excited that Martha's mother, Campbell's Nana, will be keeping her each day for us (THANK YOU SO MUCH NANA). However, the thought have having to "drop Campbell off" is a tough idea to fathom and accept.
I know this is a "typical" mommy emotion and experience . . . however it's our Pint Sized Princess . . . our Campbell.
Anyway, I'd love it if you would send Martha a word of encouragement as she returns to work tomorrow.

Thanks so much!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Physical Therapy

We've had a pretty good "last week" before Martha has to return to work . . . pout, pout! We knew this day would come . . . . anyway, onto some Campbell news.

First, check out her hair! She's had a hair growth spurt over the past week or so. This picture makes it look reddish . . . however, in person, it's light brown/blondish. She still has those blue eyes . . . cute!!!

The next picture and video is two of Campbell's physical therapy activities. The picture below is her and her boppy. The purpose is for her to hold her head up mid-line.

The video is another way to do the neck exercise. I know what many of you are thinking . . . she's not exercising, she's simply watching Seinfeld. Well, our PT says to use whatever is motivating for her and right now, the only thing motivating is TV. Regardless . . . it works and within a week, we've seen some great improvement in her head movement and control. Keep up the good work Campbell!

Ummm...I don't mean to tattle...but...

These are the words my mom said to me last night after we'd had dinner at their house. She continued to say "you might want to come see what your husband is doing." So, I rushed outside...not knowing quite what to expect. If you know Robbie, you know that sometimes he concocts some crazy ideas and this evening was no exception. This is what I found when I got outside: (click on the picture to see it bigger)


Luckily I know that while Robbie is crazy sometimes, I also know he'd never endanger Campbell. So, my response to my mom was "this is why children have daddies...to do the rough and tumble stuff a mommy would never do." By the way...she loved the ride!

A really random post....

Well, Miss Campbell has had a busy week. To celebrate her 6 month birthday, we headed up to the NICU to visit Nurse Anna and some of our other friends there. We're sad we missed Nurse Christine and Nurse Courtney because they work at night, but it was still a great visit. They were all amazed at how big our baby girl has gotten. They kept talking about her cheeks and squeezing those chubby thighs :)

When we got home we noticed that Campbell's socks are definitely not fitting anymore. These socks are supposed to be up to size 6 months and they are already too small (Campbell is wearing size 3 months clothes). I guess I shouldn't be surprised since her daddy wears a size 17, her aunt wears a size 12, and her Grandma Parker wears a size 11. *Sigh*...I guess she won't have my size 7s...

The pediatrician says we can start on rice cereal but I told Robbie that I didn't think she was ready because she can't sit in her high chair yet... Well, he proved me wrong and look at this big girl! I may have to give in and try the cereal...be on the lookout for pictures to come!

Campbell met a new friend today. Mrs. Kathy will be working with Campbell once a week on her motor skills. Mrs. Kathy is a physical therapist that actually works with me and does individual therapy on the side. Like many preemies, Campbell is delayed on her motor skills (even for her adjusted age) so this weekly therapy will help get her on track!

Apparently her therapy was hard work for Campbell and for Daddy!

Campbell Turns 6 Months Today

So as you have guessed . . . Campbell turned 6 months old today. It's amazing how quickly time has flown. I still remember, like it was yesterday, driving up to the NICU, scrubbing in for 3 minutes (felt like 10), and feeding Campbell 6ml of milk through a syringe. Depending on her nurse and how her day went, we'd be lucky to be able to hold her for 20 minutes before a brady would happen. Then, just as quickly as we got up there, we'd turn right around and come home. For Martha, it was a little different. She's sit up there for 8 hours at a time, keeping Campbell company, hoping, praying for that day that we got to take her home. Well 66 long days later, we got our wish and here we are 4 months past that, 6 in all and we've come a long way.
Just to let you know how life has changed . . . .

• We do not need to drive 45 minutes each way to see her . . . she's either alseep down the hall or here by our side.
• We can now hold her all we want . . . sometimes, because of her, we cannot put her down.
• Today, for the first time, Campbell rolled over from front to back (we did have to position her arm, but she did the actual roll on her own).
• She's now drinking up to 4oz (120ml) of milk at a time (up from 6ml).
• She's now only waking up once at night. (knock on wood) (ok, not all nights, but a lot)
• She can hold her head up, look around, and track our sound and movement.
• She's over 13 lbs (up from 2lbs 1oz)
• She's been cleared by all doctors from typical "preemie" issues (eyes, heart, head, and stomach)
• She now enjoys us . . . by her smiles, laughs, and by the way she looks at us.

It's been a crazy 6 months filled with a lot of ups and some downs . . . but look how far we've come. Martha and I deeply appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and good wishes that you've sent our way. Because we were able to share our lives with you through this blog and of your comments, you've made these past 6 months for us. Thanks for everything and thanks to God for giving us our Pint Sized Princess. Happy 6 month birthday . . . . Campbell.