“Turkey lurkey doo and turkey lurkey dap, I eat that turkey then I take a nap…” Nov. 18

I hope you are all someplace where you can enjoy the beautiful fall weather we’re enjoying right now. It’s been a gorgeous and sunny couple of days! I know my friends and family upstate are WAY past peak fall colors, but the shots from Central Park on the news this morning were so pretty. I just wanted to take Sarai for her first walk through the park. Next thing you know the tree will be up in Rockefeller Plaza and then it’s all downhill from there!

Sarai, Sarai, Sarai…. she’s doing pretty darn good! Her speech therapist is a little concerned that she doesn’t really focus on anything. Well, not anything. She’ll focus on a face for a short time and she smiles like CRAZY when she’s focused in. But put any toy or doll or any object at all in front of her, and she works to look around it. I called the opthmologist and she said to not be overly concerned as long as she’s focusing on faces. She said, she’s a preemie, so she’s got some catching up to do, but she’s in a normal range for her development. (Plus, she just had an exam and her retinas are fine.)

Her physical therapist says she’s doing great, said today was her best day so far. She’s really pushing up on her arms and hands and can easily roll to her left from her tummy. We had better luck getting her to focus on us with less light in the room and no background noise. So we’ve got to really practice getting her to track our faces with less “stuff” going on around her; making the room darker and leaving the TV off more. That’s our homework!

We’re more than half way through November, and I just have no idea where the time is going! Going back to work is coming TOO fast, I can’t even think about it. I have to get lesson plans ready! Not to mention, Thanksgiving, Sarai’s baptism, our trip to Duke, Christmas… I have no idea how I’ll have time to shop, wrap or send out Christmas cards. AHHHHHHHHH!!! I’m going to throw a big fit on my first day back to school, dig my heals in and say, “You can’t make me go!”

We’re going to Adam’s sister-in-law’s for Thanksgiving. Quick, what’s your favorite Thanksgiving food??

“Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York!” Nov. 11

Hello lovies! What’s new? Sarai wanted me to tell you all she said, “Hola!” And although she’s not a Yankee fan, she’s the tiniest bit happy that a New York team won the World Series. (Shhhh, don’t tell Adam!)

Where do I begin? The presentation I did on cord blood last week went really well I thought. It’s easy to talk about something I feel so strongly about. Thanks so much for inviting me, Stephanie!

I had to run out of the meeting to head up to Syracuse for the weekend. Sarai got to meet some friends and family. It was so great to see everyone and we had a great time. Sarai was really good, thank goodness! So far she’s been pretty good about not embarrassing me in public. We visited with my dad, and Sarai smiled so big for him! And at my mom’s house, she showed everyone how she can roll over and practically crawl! Seriously, not only does she pull her knees up under her body, she flexes her feet and tries to get some traction with her toes to push forward while rocking back and forth trying to move her arms too!

We had a doctor’s appointment today. Sarai got a couple shots (no flu shot for her because she’s too young this season). The doctor was so happy with how well she’s doing. She put her on her stomach and she showed the doctor her crawling motions, and the doctor just said, “Amazing!” She said if she didn’t know there was something “wrong” with her, she never would have guessed. (By the way, the physical therapist said last week that, on a scale of 0-10, 0 being perfect muscle tone, Sarai is about a 2. Not bad at all!)

I was sure Sarai weighed at least 10 lbs, but she’s 9 lbs 3 oz and 23 inches long, which the doctor said is just fine. She doesn’t really fall on the bell curve for her length and weight, she’s below the 5th percentile in both areas because of her prematurity. If she was a dog, she’d be a chihuahua. But she’s progressing steadily on her own curve and will hopefully catch up by the time she’s 2. If you look at her like a 2 month old, she’d fall in the 50th percentile for her length and the 15th for her weight, so she’s maybe more like a beagle!

We have our appointments set for our second trip to North Carolina for the second cord blood infusion. We’re going to drive this time. I can’t wait to see what Dr. Kurtzberg and Dr. Escolar say about Sarai’s progress!