Growl!

婆婆 made a handsome outfit for Baby Bunny.  She really loves clothes with a busy pattern.  If these pants are one of the options for her to choose, she will always pick them.  婆婆 made her the top a few days later.  She looks like a little jaguar.  Growl!  By the way, did you notice?  She's standing without holding on to the furniture!  She's only brave enough to do that for a couple of seconds.  But, in this house, we celebrate every milestone.  Hooray!!!

Christmas 2012!

Miss Olivia wishes everyone a Merry Christmas!

Shoes Mama bought for me over the summer.  I can finally fit into them snuggly.

Baby Bunny silly face.  In case you're wondering, I have 5 teeth now.

Getting ready for sleepies.

Mama and Daddy went to San Francisco.  I got to spend 4 days at 婆婆's house!

Baby Bunny Camp-Out

Baby Bunny is camping out at 婆婆's house.  That's because Mama is in San Francisco for the Cell Biology meeting, and Daddy came along to visit a city he has never been.  So, Bun Bun was packed up with her clothes, toys, food and off she went to 婆婆's house.  婆婆's house has all sorts of fun things.  She's got big wooden couches to climb.  胖姨 is there and so is Doggie.  Bun Bun gets to Skype with Mama though.  That is fun, too.

This is my third trip to San Francisco, and my third conference here in 15 years.  Each time, the city looks different, but Chinatown has pretty much stayed the same.  John is doing all the tourist stuff, like going down to Fisherman's Wharf and visiting Alcatraz Island.  I get to learn a lot of cell biology, meet some interesting people, and present a poster.

Back home, the students are taking their final exams.  I will be grading them when I get back.  Then, it is Christmas break.  Although, it's not really a break since I still have lots of work to do...

Baby Bunny Happenings - Growth

It struck me this week how big Baby Bunny has gotten.  On her last wellness visit back in October, her physician thought she wasn't weighing enough for how tall she was.  She suggested we increase her food intake which we willingly obliged.  Since about May or June, she has been growing length-wise and lost her wrist rolls; her cheeks don't even look as chubby any more.  In fact, for several months, she lingered around 16/17 pounds.  So, we got Bun Bun a bigger bowl for her yummies, started to give her more protein, and added fruits to her diet. We aren't due in for another wellness visit until the end of January.  I'm pretty sure she'll be at least 20 pounds.  She's looks so long in her crib that use to look humongous when she first started to sleep in it back over a year ago.  Now that she stands more, she looks so tall.

The daughter of a friend of mine gave birth to a preemie this week.  When the request went out for preemie clothes, I rummaged through Baby Bunny's old clothes to pass on.  My goodness, were they tiny! 

Don't grow up too fast, Baby Bunny!

Baby Bunny Happenings - Shoes

Baby Bunny got a new pair of shoes.  It's a cool pair of sneakers that she wears with baby orthotics.  They help stabilize her ankles.  With them, she's been able to stand and walk a little bit.  I'll have to take some pictures and post them.

Not much happening this week or this weekend.  I'm still recovering from this horrible upper respiratory infection.  It's been a week of stuffed noses and coughing.  I am feeling a ton better.  I'm sure Bun Bun is sick, too.  She's got a running nose with a little bit of cough.  They don't seem to be bothering her too much.  She's still her active self. 

Thankfulness Friday - Immune System

I am sick!  I came down with some sort of upper respiratory infection.  It sure feels like the flu though.  All my energy is completely zapped out of me.  All I feel like doing is crawl into bed and sleep.  I am thankful for my immune system.  It's working hard to fight the infection.  My bones are sore because signals are sent there to recruit more white blood cells.  I am all stuffed up because my neutrophils and macrophages are working over time.  Sure stinks to be sick while on vacation - another forced rest, I suppose.

Now that Thankfulness Friday has complete one whole year, I will come up with another way to update you all with Baby Bunny happenings.  Maybe I'll call it just that.

Thankfulness Friday - Thankful

It will be Thanksgiving Day this coming Thursday.  I have been posting "Thankfulness Fridays" for a year now.  It's hard to believe!

I read over some of my blogs from the past year and am so thankful for the little things and the big things that transpired.  I am thankful for the ginormous milestones Baby Bunny made just this summer.  I am thankful for my job.  I am all the more thankful for my family, especially John.  (He celebrates a birthday tomorrow... Happy Birthday!)  I am thankful for my mom who takes wonderful care of Bun Bun so I can go to work everyday.  Thankful, most of all, for Bun Bun, who makes my little world so much brighter everyday.

Here's a video of Baby Bunny this morning.  She sits like the big boss, taps her hands, and lets out a big belly laugh.

Thankfulness Friday - Drinking all by myself!

Thankfulness Friday - Bun Bun's Smile

Mommy took me to visit Daddy at work, and we got to meet many of his co-workers.  Everyone thought I was so cute.  Uncle Morgan gave me a Chinese outfit; I'm wearing it as my first official Halloween costume.  Do you like my shoes?  I finally grew into them (Mommy had bought them for me months ago).

Grammy (and Pop Pop, too) came by to visit right before the horrible Hurricane Sandy blew through.  We lost power and had to spend the night at 婆婆's house.  I like 婆婆's house; I like silly Doggie and playing on the big wooden sofa.

Yay!!

Thankfulness Friday - Wheeee!

Baby Bunny loves the swing!  She's on a giggle fest when she gets on it.  The weather has been nice still for us to be outside. It's not going to be like this for long though.  In fact, we're expecting hurricane Sandy in a couple of days.  All the weather folks on TV says that this is going to be really bad.  There will be lots of rain and wind.  Power might go out.  This is one of those rush to the grocery store and stock up an supplies kind of storms.

Going down the slide with Daddy is fun!

The video is Bun Bun putting a bucket on her own head.  She likes to empty out all the small toys from the bucket and play with it.  It apparently builds up her core strength and encourages her to use both hands.

Thankfulness Friday - Short Week

This was fall break week.  We got two days off in the beginning of the week.  It's now mid way through the semester.  I spent my two days off wisely... with Baby Bunny.  On Monday, we had a doctor's appointment in the city.  Baby Bunny is doing really well and making good progress.  Monday was rainy.  We got home and just spent the rest of the day hanging out together.  Tuesday was car shop day.  We spent the morning waiting for my car to get state inspected with some repairs that were needed.  Then, another fun-filled afternoon playing on the living room floor.  These were two terrific days with my Baby Bunny!

Now, after threes days back at work, I get another two days this weekend to play with my favorite little girl and her Daddy.

Cruising!

Baby Bunny is cruising.  No, she's not going on a cruise.  Tonight, for the first time, she held on to the railing of her crib and "walked" from one end to the other.  Just three or four baby steps!  But, this is another major milestone for her!  Hope to catch her on video!

Scary Friday... Anxious Saturday... Thankful Sunday

Friday afternoon, Baby Bunny had a 15mo wellness check-up.  She got weighed, measured, checked, poked, and prodded.  She also got another set of vaccines.  Then, the pediatrician got worried looking over a rash on her back.  She thought they were petechiae.  The little red dots were broken blood vessels, likely due to low platelet counts.  The concern was why the platelet counts might be low.  Some viral infections will deplete platelets.  With an Immunology background, I immediately thought leukemia - cancer of the white blood cells.  Plus, individuals with Down Syndrome develop leukemia with higher frequency.  The doctor wrote an order for us to get some blood work done - CBC, complete blood count, including platelets.  She didn't even want us to wait until Monday when we already have another appointment in the city.

We got home around 5pm, and I was going to get on the computer, look for places that would do blood work for babies, and make phone calls.  With Daddy's help, we were able to get to a local hospital that same night and have the lab technician draw some blood.  Now the waiting game.

Sunday morning at 9am, the doctor's office called; platelet counts were absolutely normal.  I am relieved and gave Baby Bunny a smothering hug.  After a groggy Saturday post-vaccines, she seemed a lot happier, too.

Those little red dots are still there.  But, they seemed to be less scary looking now.  I guess we'll always be a little concerned looking at them.

Thankfulness Friday - Super Why!

"Super Why!" is a kids' TV show on PBS.  It's aimed for kids who are just starting to read.  Bun Bun is obsessed with the show.  Whenever it's on TV, she'd become glued to it.  If you stand in front of the TV blocking her view, she'll shift her weight and look around you.

There are four main characters on the show:  Pig, Little Red Riding Hood, Whyatt Beanstalk, and Princess Pea.  They all have super powers.  Pig becomes Alpha Pig and can build letters of the alphabet.  Little Red Riding Hood becomes Wonder Red who has word power.  Whyatt Beanstalk becomes Super Why and has the power to read.  Princess Pea becomes Princess Presto who has spelling powers.  They live in Storybook Village and must read stories to solve mysteries.

Maybe it's the music, colors, or the characters' big eyes...  This is Baby Bunny's latest obsession.

Thankfulness Friday - Choices

Baby Bunny's OT suggested having her choose between two things.  It started with toys.  We'd hold out two toys and let her play with whichever one she reaches out to touch first.  Soon, it was choosing between two books.  We noticed immediately that she has favorites.  She would almost always pick one book over another.  What we thought she had always liked, she actually would never pick.   I've now started to give her choices for the shirts and pants she would wear.  So far, it has been shirts with faces on them, mostly monkey faces.  She also has been picking a matching pair of pants.  It's been very cute to watch her hesitate sometimes before making a decision.  Maybe she really can't decide?   Maybe she knows what she wants when the decision is quick?  Ultimately, she would reach up and with her dainty fingers, tap her choice.  I would like to know what goes on inside her head.

Thankfulness Friday - Bats

Over the past few years, the bats that live up and down the eastern side of US, from New England down to Kentucky, have suffered and died from the White-nose syndrome.  This is caused by fungus that grow on the muzzles of hibernating bats.  The itchiness causes hibernating bats to wake up prematurely and leave their caves in search for food.  Once they leave the caves, they pretty much freeze to death.  Millions of bats have died from this.  In fact, the grounds of cave entrances are covered with bat carcasses and look like a layer of brown carpeting.

The dramatic decrease in the bat population has been obvious in the southeastern PA area.  At twilight, we don't see bats flying overhead anymore.  To me, they are kind of scary looking and carry to stigma of being blood-sucking, disease-carrying creatures.  In the Chinese culture, they are a symbol for prosperity.  But, bats do eat a lot of mosquito.  With the damp summers we've been having, creating breeding grounds for the mosquito, I sure miss these bats. 

Bats are symbols of prosperity in the Chinese culture and adorn Prince Gong's palace in Beijing.

So, recently, I was happy to hear that a small population of bats developed resistance to the White-nose syndrome, and the bat population is climbing back up close to what it was before the crisis.  We even caught one in our attic!  Gasp!

Thankfulness Friday - Summer/Fall

Today is the last of the summer.  My summer technically ended when classes started about a month ago.  Today is the official end of summer.  The weather has gotten cooler.  Soon, we'll start to see the leaves change color.

Fall is a pretty season because of the foliage.  However, it is not my favorite.  It reminds me of the upcoming winter and cold...!  The only reason to look forward to winter is that spring is just around the corner.  Spring is definitely my favorite season.  Everything seems to be waking up.  There's lots and lots of brilliant colors.  My favorite holiday is in the spring - Easter!

I still look forward to the changes in seasons... all of them.  It's time for change.  There are seasons in a life.  I look back and remember this past summer, especially from Bun Bun's point of view.  There were fun trips to the beach, meeting relatives, and meeting lots of milestone.  Before summer is gone for good, I wanted to remember all the fun times.

I wonder what the new season will bring.  What will Bun Bun be doing when fall ends and winter begins?  What new things she will have mastered come next season?  Will she be walking by Christmas?  How many new teeth will she have by then?

For now, here's one last look at the summer of 2012.

Asbury Park, NJ

Baby Bunny learned how to sit up all by herself.

She learned how to crawl.

Atlantic City, NJ

Cowtown flea market at Woodstown, NJ

At the flea market, we did manage to find one nice painting from one of the books we like to read.  And, we bought a fly swap.

Bun Bun's first trip to a local diner.

Zoo!

Yeah... we're going to the zoo!

 This is Baby Bunny's first trip to the Philadelphia Zoo!  It was a grand day.  The weather was perfect!  We saw lots of monkeys, but the lions and other big cats were sleeping.  We saw a giraffe family, some peacocks, big tortoises, some sleeping fruit bats, and turkey vultures.  There were lots and lots of animals!  Baby Bunny wasn't that excited to see the animals in her books.  But, I think she had a great time anyway!

Look, a monkey!

Hi Daddy!  I see a giraffe!

Peacock!

I'm zonked!

Thankfulness Friday - Done!

I finished putting together my dossier for tenure and promotion!  I finished!  I submitted everything electronically about 30 minutes ago!

This being the seventh year of teaching, I have must apply for tenure and promotion to keep my job.  I should have applied last year, but delayed it for a year because Bun Bun was born.  Tenure means that I will be able to keep my job for as long as I want.  Promotion means I become an Associate Professor (from Assistant Professor).  I have to show my colleagues on the Board of Rank and Tenure that I have done enough to keep my job in teaching, research/scholarship, and service.  For most of the summer, I have been working on describing how I have met the criteria for tenure and promotion and assembled a ton of documents to support each of that.

So what happens next?

My colleagues in the department will review my dossier first and decide if they like to keep me around.  Their recommendations will go to the Dean.  The Dean has already asked external reviewers to look over my research projects and evaluate whether my work is significant and worthwhile.  All of this, colleague recommendations and the Dean's evaluations, will then go to the Board of Rank and Tenure.  They will meet over Christmas break and make yet another recommendation to the President and the Board of Trustees.

Come March 15, 2013, I will find out if I get to keep my job.

At least for now, I am done!

Hooray!

Thankfulness Friday - Bun Bun's Agenda

Bun Bun is actually a very good problem solver.  Her solutions are a bit different from what other people might think.  All three of her therapists say she has her own agenda.  She does things her own way.

Exhibit A - Sitting Up
From lying down on her stomach, she swings her legs out into a full split position.  Then she props herself up on her arms into an upright sitting position.  At last, she swings her legs from the side to the front.  It's an effective way for her, but not the best way.  Her PT rather wants her to rotate and swing both legs to the side and use the oblique muscles on her sides.

Exhibit B - Taking Things out from a Box
If something is in a box or container that doesn't come out initially, instead of holding the box firm with one hand and repositioning the object to get it out with her other hand, Bun Bun will grab firm the object and shake it loose out of the container.  Hey!  It works!

She loves to stand in her cribs.  She gets up on her knees first, then grab on the to railing to pull herself to stand.  Then, she flashes a big smile... so proud of herself!

She isn't creeping yet (moving on hands and knees).  I wonder how she'll learn to do that.

Happy Baby!

Hooray!

I can stand!

Bunny (J. Wombatski) and Baby Bunny

Thankfulness Friday - New

One of the best thing about teaching is meeting new groups of students every fall, especially first year students.  I got a good group of freshmen in my Cells class... all 32 of them, bright eyed and bushy tailed, eager to learn.  Most of them have declared Biology majors with intentions of going to medical school.  Some will make it there.  Some will over the course of time decide that they really didn't like science after all.  That's OK.  College is the time to discover.

I've had a good full first week of school.  It started out a little shaky but came around very quickly.  We get Monday off for Labor Day.  It is really the end of the summer.

Muscles!

Baby Bunny's latest trick:  pulling herself up to stand in her crib! She's so proud of herself, too.   She's got a ginormous smile on her face and laughs.

I can feel her little leg muscles tighten up when she stands.

I've been building up some baby biceps myself!  Bun Bun is still around 16 pounds.  But, she's heavy enough for me to get a nice work-out every time I pick her up.

Oh yeah!

Thankfulness Friday - Last Week of Summer

It's not really the end of the summer.  It's the last week of summer vacation before classes start for the new school year.  Well, it's not really summer vacation, either.

When I tell people that I teach in the summer months, most assume that I'm on vacation.  I don't have classes to teach, but I am teaching students in my research lab.  Summer is when I get most of my research work done, and I've always had at least two students every summer in the lab.

This has been a crazy busy summer, but one that has been quite productive.  I did manage to take a few days off and spent them wisely with Bun Bun and Bun Bun's Daddy.  Some days, I just "worked from home" to savor the moments with Baby Bunny.

So, on Monday, classes will start.  I will be teaching two classes again - the Freshman Cells (Introductory Biology) class and the upper level Immunology class.  The Immunology class has a weekly lab, too.  I missed teaching them last fall with the arrival of Baby Bunny.  Hopefully, it'll just be like riding a bike.  I will see some returning students and meet the first year students.  I always liked the start of the fall semester more than the spring.

Thankfulness Friday - Straw

Straw?

For two weeks, I've been looking for a decent straw cup for Bun Bun.  Drinking from a straw is the next skill for Bun Bun to learn.  It has great benefits.  Sucking through a straw uses a different set of muscles in the jaw and lips as well as tongue movements than suckling through a nipple.  To activate and use these muscles will actually help with speech later on.

Bun Bun has been weened off the bottle.  She's been drinking through a sippy cup for several months now.  So, now, it's time to try the straw.

Yesterday, I bought some apple sauce in a pouch.  This way, she can wrap her little lips around the opening of the pouch, and I can squeeze the contents for her to get the idea that yummies come out of this strange thing.  After a few squeezes, she figured out how to suck.  It was pretty amazing how quickly she learned.

After looking through toy stores and on-line catalogs, I ordered some take-and-toss straw cups and a little Mr. Juice Bear straw cup.  They should arrive next week.  I think they'll be great!

Mac & Cheese

Mommy made me a silly hat from newspaper ads.

Mommy's baseball cap... it's too big!

Can you see my tooth?  Ain't it cute?

I like my new tooth!

I'm not much of a mac & cheese kind of gal even though I love food of all kinds.  It's just not something I would particularly crave.  Maybe because it's only got 2 or 3 ingredients and doesn't have too much taste.  A couple of weeks ago, we were at a friend's house for dinner where they were serving mac and cheese made by Annie's Homegrown.  Baby Bunny loved them.  Her little fingers were able to pick up the small little shells.  They were soft enough for her to mash up with her gums.  I've been buying them up recently to add more food variety to her diet.  Some end up on her lap and floor, but she ate most of what was on the plate.

We were at the Down Syndrome Growing Up study, conducted by CHOP, earlier today.  Bun Bun's stats will be part of new set of growth charts for individuals with DS.  Current charts are very much out-dated.  They are in their third year of collecting data.  Every time we visit and Bun Bun gets measured for weight, height, fat content, etc, she earns $25.  Yep.  Bun Bun has been earning money!  It's all for science, too!  Today, she weighed about 16.5 pounds.  She's been stuck around 16 pounds for months now.  She has been growing though.  Most of her calories goes to her stretching out vertically.  She is about 2 feet and 3 or 4 inches tall, slightly more than the 50th percentile in her DS peer group.

Thankfulness Friday - Sleep

For the last couple of nights, I have gotten some restful sleep.  For most of the summer, I've slept restlessly.  I think it's from the stresses at work.  So, I'm thankful to have had two back-to-back good night's rest.  I like sleeping, almost as much as I like eating.  It's an interesting activity, if you ask me.  It's great to be able to shut down for a few hours.  Everybody needs it, from small fruit flies to large whales.  No exception.  On the other hand, it doesn't make too much sense evolutionarily speaking.  Animals tend to be vulnerable to predators when they are asleep.  That's a question I'll have for God in heaven.

Sunday is a big day for me.  It'll be the start of my fourth decade.  I'm thankful to celebrate a birthday.  I could have shared it with Bun Bun.  That was her due date, too.  But, I'm glad she gets her own earlier in the summer.

Not much to update for Bun Bun's tooth.  It's definitely emerging, just taking its own time.

Tooth!

Yup!  That's a tooth.  I saw it with my own eyes!  I heard it, too!

Bun Bun has been drooling more than ever.  She's been biting and gnawing on anything she can get her hands on.  She hasn't been cranky, still pleasant and full of love.

Tooth?

Methinks Bun Bun is getting her first tooth.  Stay tuned!

Thankfulness Friday - 10 months.

In a week, Bun Bun will be 13 months old.  If I went by her due date, she'd be only 11.5 months old.  Over the past several week, her therapist have been testing her to see where she is developmentally, according to a set of guidelines with a long list of developmental milestones babies generally reach.  Bun Bun tested at about a 10-month-old.  We knew she'd be delayed with the Down Syndrome.  Her low muscle tone means most things would be harder for her.  Being 2-3 months behind really isn't terrible.  In fact, I'm thankful.  I'm thankful that I have to start chasing her down because she's belly crawling around the living room, getting into Daddy's stereo system, and finding dust bunnies under the sofa.  I'm thankful that she can sit up in her crib and entertain herself.  I'm thankful that she can pick up small food items and feed herself.  I'm thankful that she can tap the iPad to get the Zoo Zoo Safari animals to dance.  My heart melts when she smiles at me every time I walk through the door after work.  Bun Bun will have to work extra hard in everything she does.  She'll get there, in her own time.  I am thankful.

Thankfulness Friday - Beach!

That's the Atlantic Ocean, Baby Bunny!

Lots of good happenings this week!

1) I got my manuscript submitted on Tuesday.  It was accepted for publication on Thursday!  This is HUGE!  This represents over three years of my work with students.  Needless to say, I am thrilled!

2) Today, I took the day off and convinced John to take Baby Bunny and me to the beach.  Off we went this morning to Asbury Park in New Jersey.  Asbury Park is an interesting little city.  In its heyday... was a fun filled place to visit with a carnival like atmosphere but has gotten quite run down over the years.  Only recently has the city gone through a bit of renaissance.  John used to go there as a kid.  Not much of a beach person, I was only interested in seeing how much Baby Bunny would like to play in the sand.  I think she liked it.  She managed to get sand everywhere.  I think she had a great time.  Daddy even dipped her toe in the Atlantic Ocean.