She's Shrinking

Hannah had her 9 month check up today a little early since next week is the big hole closure. We went to a new doctor who was recommended by Zane and Weston. It is such a small world. He looked at her paperwork from San Jose and said "oh I went to Medical school with Dr. Stemmle." Crazy. He was a nice man but we may try his other location because the office girls left something to be desired. I also think a pediatrician's office should be welcoming to little ones by having teddy bear wall paper, but this was a bit cold. I know I am very picky, but as you know I stop at nothing but perfection for Hannah. The main thing is that the doctor is good and we did really like him. He has another office location so that way we ditch the girls that need an attitude adjustment and keep the great doctor. She had to get one shot (the final Hep B) and did fabulous. Hannah currently weighs 18 lbs. 5 oz. which is 50% or dead average for her age/gender. Her head of course continues to be huge 46 cm which is 95%. It's amazing the child can sit up with a head that heavy :) But Hannah is shrinking. Okay not really, her height is just slowing down. She is 27 inches which is 25%. All along she has been around the 70%. Maybe she is going to be more like a Laura Tatum than a Nana Tatum after all. Not that you are short Auntie, you are just the right size :) Hannah is officially on the move. She has not yet mastered the on all fours crawl, but she gets from point A to point B by scooting, dragging, and rolling. The doctor said pretty soon we should expect to see her pull herself up from sitting to standing. He said all looked great! Next regular check up is at one year.

Stinker Face

Dr Knows Best

My Sweet Hannah Gracie, Some day when you are reading this and you think "why did my mommy make me wear those stupid NoNos? I'm sure I would have been a good listener and not put anything in my mouth" I hope you look at this picture and realize it was for your own good. Grandpa bought you your very first pumpkin which you love because it's just your size, but this is your favorite thing to do with it...

Pre-Op

Fun trivia question for the day: What do Peyton Manning (Colts NFL quarterback), Tutankhamen (Egyptian pharaoh), Tom Brokaw (Journalist), Tad Lincoln (President’s son), and Hannah Grace Tatum all have in common? You guessed it! They were all born with cleft palates and in two short weeks Hannah’s will be repaired.

Today we had Hannah’s pre-op appointment with her plastic surgeon. I can’t believe the surgery is here. I figured I would educate a little in case you were interested.

What is a Cleft Palate? A cleft palate is the most common birth defect in the United States occurring in roughly 1 out of every 700 births. Around the 12th week of pregnancy there is a failure in facial development. In typical babies, the skull palates fuse together creating the roof of the mouth. In a cleft baby, it fuses only partly resulting in a gap. In other words, Hannah has a big hole in her mouth that opens up into her nasal passage and ear canal. It can be a result of genetic or environmental factors. Most babies with cleft (about 70%) also have cleft lip. These are the kids you see on the TV commercials.

How is it repaired? Cleft palate is completely fixable! The skin/bone tissue around the cleft is stretched and stitched together. They do not use artificial material or skin graphing. The dr. tries his best to form a uvula but it all depends on how much they can stretch. The important thing is to close the hole, a uvula really serves no function.

Why is it repaired? Closing the hole facilitates feeding, allows for the sucking reflex to work properly, and prevents hearing loss. A cleft palate results in air rushing out the nose during speech. That’s why kids with cleft can sound nasally. This makes speaking difficult and unintelligible. Research shows that the earlier the cleft is repaired the better a child’s speech will be.

So now that you know all about clefts, keep our little one in your prayers. She is strong, brave and will do just fine. The doctor has done this procedure a million times.

Hannah's Cleft

Pictures

Nothing really new to report, but wanted to share some favorite photos of the week:

Hannah wearing one of her new dresses made by Nana. We are so lucky to have such a talented and loving Nana and can't wait to see you in three weeks


Nothing more precious than these moments


Our favorite game, peek a boo

Under the Sea

Yesterday Tim had a furlough day so we took Hannah to the Long Beach Aquarium. We had such a great time. I wasn't sure if Hannah would even be able to focus in and notice the fish, but she really seemed to enjoy looking at the different things. I think she liked the Jellyfish the best because she kept trying to talk to them and touch them through the glass. She even got to be the squid during the Children's program and was in charge of holding the stuffed toy squid for the story "Clark the Toothless Shark." I give her a C for her job performance because while she did hold the squid, she also chewed on his tentacles the entire story. I know Hannah is little and has no idea what marine life is, but I truly feel blessed that we are able to expose Hannah to different things in life. Tim enjoyed touching the bat rays, sharks, sea snails and anemones. I like how playful the sea otters are. I think Hannah liked the bright colors, movement, and funny shapes.

Hannah with her favorite exhibit: Jellyfish


Spider Crabs


Learning about Star Fish


Daddy being Silly as usual in front of the Shark tank

8 Months Old

Hannah is 8 months old today, Wow! We will have an official height and weight check at the end of the month with percentages, but for now, my unofficial weigh in is 19 lbs. So what can an eight month old do? Hannah can sit, stand while holding on, reach up if she wants to be held, scoot around the floor, clap, and play peak a boo. She is very good at learning how to work her own toys. For example she know how to push buttons to make things pop up or to get the music to play. She also sits in the front of shopping carts. She eats three meals a day 7am, noon, and 5pm, plus a bedtime bottle. She loves her food and is a good eater. She wakes up at 6:30am, takes a 30 minute nap from 9-9:30 and an hour and a half nap from 1:30-3. Bedtime is at 8. And yes, she really is that scheduled. She does not like to stray from the schedule and you will pay for it if you try to adjust it. Hannah is happy and smart. Currently she loves any and all toys, mirrors, bath time, eating things, jumping like a maniac in the doorway jumper, playing patty cake, itsy bitsy spider and pretty much all songs. She also loves looking at plants and dogs (except wiener dogs, for some unknown reason she has an aversion to that particular breed.) We are currently working on learning to wave bye bye, and blow kisses. What can we expect in the near future??? A tooth, crawling, walking around the furniture, enough hair to make pig tails, and hopefully babbling mama.

Here is a picture from today