Sara Update Week Ending April 21, 2001

Hello Everyone,

This has been a terrific week for Sara. Now that the rash is under control with some oatmeal baths, moisturizing creams and an antihistamine, Sara can concentrate on growing again. Sara is sleeping much better at night and taking great naps during the day.

Big, big news this week.

First, Sara can sit up! She was crawling and then she stopped rolled onto her hip and boom, she sat straight up. She definitely likes it. Now she can crawl to an object, sit up and then hold the object in both hands for examination. She sits really tall and straight. It's adorable. She keeps her feet in front of her and her knees splayed to the side so she can balance.

Second, Sara is talking up a storm this week. She has added all types of new sounds to her repitoire. She can say burrr, brahh, guh, murr, maa, uuhhh, and raa. To us, it's like singing.

Third, Sara is getting teeth! If you look at her bottom gumline, you will see two teeth trying to poke through. They don't seem to give her pain yet, but they can be felt if you rub your finger along her gum.

Fourth, Sara pulled herself up to stand on Saturday!!!!! She was in her crib and then she was standing, holding onto the crib railing. It's amazing. We put video on our website www.alanandvictoria.com so you can see her.

We can hardly imagine another week of so many milestones.

Love to all, Alan and Victoria

Sara Update Week Ending April 14th, 2001

Hi Everyone,

As always, Sara remains as cute as ever. :)

This week with Sara has been focused on diagnosing Sara's sleep problems. As you know she has not been sleeping very much. Although one doctor told us that sleep problems develop in 6-12 month olds and that it was time for Sara to learn how to sleep in her own bed, we figured there must be a medical reason for her behavior. Sara has had great sleeping habits and just letting her cry in her crib did not seem like the best answer for us. We determined that Sara has a rash that is making her itch. Since she can't scratch herself (too advanced) she has been suffering and it has kept her awake. Now that we are working on the rash things have gotten better.

Sara almost sat up today from a lying down position. She actually got into a sitting position from lying down but she had so much momentum going that she sent herself right past upright and fell over.

Although she can't get into a sitting position, she can stay seated if you sit her up. This week Sara went directly from a sitting position to crawling. What she used to do before this week was go from sitting to falling over on her back, rolling over onto her stomach and getting into crawling position. She is now a girl on the go.

On our website, there is video of Sara crawling (www.alanandvictoria.com) but you will need the latest version of RealPlayer or Widows Media Player to see it. The website has directions.

That's it for this week. We have been to the doctor twice and are going to a pediatric allergist tomorrow.

Love to all, Alan and Victoria

Sara Update Week Ending April 7, 2001

Hello Family,

This has been a big week. Three major events.

First, we are starting to give Sara rice cereal every day. Mind you, we are talking about one teaspoon of cereal and two teaspoons of breast milk so it's not that much. It seems to help Sara sleep longer at night so we are pretty excited.

Some of you have asked if Sara is sleeping through the night. First, did you know that "sleeping through the night" as defined in the books is sleeping five consecutive hours? Even so, Sara is not sleeping through the night. She sleeps about 2 or 3 hours at a time, and a good stretch is 4 hours. That's why having her sleep a bit longer would be nice.

Second, Sara is starting to recognize her name. Before this week if you called her name she wouldn't turn (except maybe to see where the sound was coming from). Now she turns when you call her name. Pretty cool.

Third, and the big, big news is that Sara is crawling. Not just moving forward on her tummy, but actually crawling on her hands and knees. It's amazing. More amazing is that she can "cross-crawl" which means she can crawl using one hand and the opposite knee. She is working on technique rather than speed, but she has gotten considerably faster over the week. Our childproofing efforts have gone into overdrive.

Sara loves wires. She will cross a room to examine, chew, pull, wrap and tug on them. We continue to find creative ways to hide, tape, eliminate or consolidate them. We are just barely one step ahead.

We put some new photos up on www.alanandvictoria.com if you want to see.

Love to all, Alan and Victoria