Yes, there's a Star Trek convention on the bus

Addy did just fine the rest of last week, so we went ahead with our plans to go visit family in IL for Easter.  We split the trip up so we took 2 days going up and 2 days coming back.  Addy seems to have about a 150-200 mile per day tolerance for being in her car seat, which can be stretched by another 50-100 miles if someone sits in the back seat and entertains her.  We did pretty well at coming up with an hour and a half of entertainment, but we had to get a little creative and make up our own verses to "The Wheels on the Bus."  My bus always ends up with an entire zoo's worth of critters on it (the ducks on the bus go "quack, quack, quack"...) but Daddy's bus had various Star Trek critters on it (the captain on the bus says, "warp speed!"...)

Speaking of silly songs to sing to your 5 month old, we're also fans of the "Throw 'em Out the Window" song (a.k.a., "The Defenestration Song").  So far, my favorite extra verse is:

Lizzy Borden took an axe
And gave her father 40 whacks
When she saw what she had done
She threw him out the window
The window, the window, the second story window
When she saw what she had done
She threw him out the window

A first we'd hoped to put off for a while

This weekend and Monday morning Addy had some fluid build up around the scar on her scalp, but none of the other usual symptoms for shunt problems (inconsolable, extra sleepy, lots of nausea, fever, bulging soft spot, neurologic problems, etc).  When I asked the neurosurgeon's nurse what we should do about it, she said to go to the ER to get it checked out.  It sounds all big and scary to say that you have to go to the ER, but it's the most expedient way to get some X-rays and a CT scan.  So we had our first adventure at the local ER on Monday afternoon.  They couldn't find where the fluid was coming from and it was mostly gone by the time the neurosurgeon's nurse finally called me back, so for now we're supposed to keep an eye on things (go back to the ER if she gets worse or there are more symptoms) and get an appointment to see the neurosurgeon in a couple of weeks for a follow-up.

Yesterday her shunt was almost completely back to normal.  She was a little fussy (and insatiably hungry), but I think that may be teething  (and normal).  Today she's back to her old, happy, jabbery self and the shunt is back to normal again.

Lingo

• "Running out of cute" : Getting fussy, usually assumed to be due to hunger.
• "Topping off the cute", "Refilling the cute" : Feeding.
• "Noms" : Food (usually milk).
• "In need of fresh rose petals" : In need of a diaper change.
• "Rule #1 infraction" : Sticking one's fingers down one's throat.
• "Rule #2 infraction" : Misbehaving while nursing.
• "Marinade" : Barf (n), soaked in barf (v).
• "Giggle loop" : A reference to the TV show "Coupling" (the British version, please).  One person giggles, which makes the other person giggle, which makes the first person giggle, which makes the second person giggle, etc.
• "Nose goblins" : Boogers.
  

Lots of new things

New update from SB clinic:  shunt revision looks great; bladder pressure is great; no more antibiotics!
New favorite word:  "vvvthmmmmm" (make sure you're sticking your tongue out when you try to say it)
New favorite trick:  blowing bubbles and the occasional raspberry, especially if she has a mouth full of cereal
New least favorite trick:  rolling over front-to-back (she has to do tummy time first)
New cutest thing ever:  cracks up laughing if you make explosion noises at her

Lots to say, but I'm not sure what it all means

Yesterday we had a fun (and hot and sweaty) time at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens with Aunties Martha and Phyllis who came by for a visit.  After a leisurely stroll through the gardens we stopped for gelato, where Addy entertained us with her longest string of babbling yet.  I don't know what all she was saying, but she would fuss at Derek every time he tried to look away and carry on a conversation with someone else!

75 + 90 = 100% cute

Addy had her 4  month check-up with the pediatrician on Monday.  She's at 90th percentile on weight (15lb 3oz) and 75th on height (24.5 inches)--a slightly pudgy baby.  The best news is that her head circumference hasn't gone up since the shunt revision so she's down to 95th percentile on that!

She's been doing a lot of laughing and giggling lately, which is just adorable.  But she's back to wearing socks on her hands (and not on her feet) because it's just too exciting to discover what the back of her throat feels like.

Cereal is messy

We've tried baby rice cereal a couple of times now.  So far it's mostly messy (and time consuming!) and, while it doesn't seem to be Addy's favorite thing, it's not the most torturous thing for her to endure either.  The first time we tried cereal I mixed it up per the instructions: 1 tbs of cereal to 4-5 tbs of milk.  That's about 1/4 cup of liquid to try to spoon feed to a wiggly, fist-sucking 4 month old.  So the second time I wised up and used teaspoons instead of tablespoons.

Speaking of things that go into Addy's mouth, she seems to have slowed down some on the sticking-her-fingers-down-her-throat trick so we have reduced mitten time to diaper changes and car rides.  She still puts one (or both) hands in her mouth all the time, but the part where she extends her pointer finger has slowed down (knock on wood!).  And now that the weather is warmer, sundresses are her favorite thing to wear because she can grab on to the end of it and stick it in her mouth.