Juno is 8 months old!

Juno's 8 month birthday was Sunday!

Look at that big girl! She just discovered she has hair, so she always has one hand on her bar and one hand on her head. I actually found her asleep like this the other night--with her legs up and holding onto her bar. It looks uncomfortable, but whatever.

This month, Juno learned how to roll over. I think that's quite a feat, considering she has to lift her legs before she flips herself. The only problem is she can't roll from her tummy to her back, so once she flips onto her tummy, she's stuck. I have to go save her every once in a while.

And if I don't get to her in time..... ohhh, she's sad!
Now that Juno is eating big girl food, she's sleeping much better at night. She usually only wakes up once at night. She loves to eat--especially carrots. If she's sitting on my lap and I'm eating but not sharing with her, she rocks her legs back and forth and moans until I give her something. I find myself feeding her all kinds of things that I would never have given Tempe or Helena at this age--cheesecake, cupcakes, ice cream, cookies. Yeah. I know it's bad.
Still no teeth!
And the best news is... drumroll: the cast comes off on Thursday!!!

Juno is 7 months old!

Our sweet little Juno turned 7 months old about a week ago!

This was a big month for her. She spent almost all of it in her Spica cast, which was not as bad as we thought it would be. Juno put up with it--she wasn't very happy during her time in the cast, but she wasn't miserable. One week before she turned 7 months, the doctor changed her cast to a broomstick cast, which is much more comfortable and allows her to bend at the waist.

We successfully weaned her off of prescription painkillers, which is an accomplishment because she got physically addicted to Lortab after her surgery. But she's clean now!

She started eating "big girl" food--rice cereal, carrots, applesauce, bananas, and crackers and drinking water from her sippy cup. She loves eating anything she can hold in her hand, but isn't interested in being fed by a spoon.

Part of the reason we started her on solid food is because she lost about a pound while in her Spica cast. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you only weigh 12 pounds, it certainly is. Her pediatrician is concerned, but I'm not (yet). All my babies are itty-bitty and all her muscles atrophied over the last few months, so it makes sense that she lost a little weight. I won't worry until she is cast free and not gaining.
Her sleep suffered while she was in her Spica, but she's getting back on track now and most nights she sleeps 3 hour stretches. That sounds awful for a 7-month-old, but after getting up every hour with her for 6 weeks, it is heaven.
Juno hasn't quite figured out the pincer grip (she still clutches things in her fist), but she can transfer things from hand to hand and put them in her mouth.
Juno has no trunk control or upper body strength to speak of, but she can sit up if she leans against the upper bar on her cast.

She may not have upper body strength, but she has some killer abs. She can lift her heavy legs all the way up and hold her toes while she is lying on her back!Overall, Juno is happy, healthy, and thriving. We are so grateful for her sweet, patient spirit! She is such a blessing to our family.

pink and purple striped girl

Can you believe 6 weeks has gone by since Juno's open reduction and Spica cast???

I can't!

But the calendar doesn't lie, and today Juno's Spica was removed and a new cast was put on. Her hips looked good enough for her to go into a different kind of cast--a broomstick cast. It's really two casts, one on each leg from thigh to ankle, held apart by a bar (or two, in her case!) Since it's only on her legs, she can wear normal diapers and bend at the waist! Woohoo! It's the little things that make me happy :)

Here's one last picture of her in her Spica cast. Jason convinced me that we should keep it, so I asked the doctor to save it for me. It actually doesn't smell bad at all--she doesn't sweat yet and we didn't have any blowouts during the 6 weeks she was in it. Right now it's in two pieces, but I'm going to tape it back together.

I was going to mark on her ankle at the bottom of her cast so that we could see how much she grew, but I forgot to. But I can tell you that she grew a lot.

And her she is in her broomstick cast! She's wearing a onesie so you can't see that it's only on her legs. It is so strange holding her without her big bulky cast. She's almost seven months old but she has no trunk control at all. It's like trying to hold a 3-week-old upright! I hope she gets stronger quickly and will learn to sit up soon. I think she will be much happier if she can sit and play with toys instead of laying on her back all the time.

So we've got 6 more weeks in this cast and then hopefully, that will be it!