Clara's First Report Card

Project Clara has hit a big milestone-She is 8 weeks old today! There were days when we didn't think Mom and Dad would make it here, but we knew Clara would. She is stronger than Todd and I, infinitely. And so, I present to you a progress report...

Clara Caroline Forbes March 27, 2012:
About 2 hours after delivery

HI Mr. Fan!

English: A+
Clara has been talking to Mr. Fan for weeks, and she shows a lot of passion for the topics they discuss in the mornings. Her opinions about mornings (thumbs up), food (not a chance), and baths (number one favorite place) are always well constructed and vigorously delivered.

Math: C-

Dad tests all bottles,
nipples and food that
goes in to our Clara.

While Clara is competent in adding food to her mouth and subtracting it from her stomach (and on to my shirt), she doesn't seem to really grasp the concept of taking and keeping calories in her body in order to help her grow. We believe she might be a Republican as she seems to think that austerity without investment leads to prosperity ;)
We will be keeping a close eye on this behavior.

Physical Education and Health: A-
She has recovered well from her first open heart surgery, her infection, and repeated taping and un-taping of her face. This girl will be turning over any day now, she is loving tummy time, and she only cried a bit when I replaced her NG tube last night (My first time! NG moms, try it from the top instead of going up the nose. Got it on my first try that way!) Rubber hose up your nose!

Clara's progress toward eating orally is definitely slipping backwards. It is breaking our hearts to see her eat less and less, and we are considering a move to a g tube until she is bigger. We will review this option with her cardiologist and pediatrician over the next week, but we have had good advice from heart moms on this, and feel it might be for the best.

As a strange and silly side note to Clara's health: When her heart surgeon, Dr. Burch, re-opened her a few weeks ago to clean out her infection, he came to let me know how it went afterwards. He said, "I remember her now, she has 22q, right? I realized that when I saw she has no thymus." So, he recognizes her better by her insides than her outsides, which made me laugh. And then when the NP Annie was removing her sutures, and Clara started snorting, Annie also remembered who Clara was. She recognizes her by her snorty breathing sounds. I love that these are her 'markers.'

International Business: B+
Clara took her first business trip with me last week. We went to Idaho to visit my sister, er, work on product for an international craft design company. She wasn't super helpful, but she slept great on the drive. She was so excited to see balloons for the first time, especially when tied to her foot and allowing a great view of Aunt Kim's fan. I got a lot of work done while Nana Wallace and Kim's girls took care of Clara, so she gets a high grade here for behaving. Mostly.

Recess: A

Lamby and Minky.
Lamby plays relaxing sounds
that lull her to sleep and
Minky is her favorite
blanket to get naked on
because it is so soft!

Fat Tony. He is a chef/body guard.
He feeds Clara at night and will
trip up or cut feet on anyone
that approaches her. He's a menace.

When Clara is awake and not hungry, she is so happy and good at playing! She has so many friends, real and imaginary.

Her BFF, Mr Fan. A ceiling fan
should be considered a basic on all
baby registries, like diapers and
bottles.

Bop and Corn Bag. She does a
lot of rocking and rolling in this
guy, and loves a warmed
corn bag on her cold toes
and aching belly.

Overall: Super Stupendous +
Life is getting closer to feeling normal again. We haven't seen the inside of a hospital for days and days. We have so much fun watching and laughing at this little face. We're so excited to get to take her places and introduce our little miracle to new friends.
I can't believe we resisted having kids for so long. I wonder what else I was wrong about?


Our Clara, Week by Week: