Good Bye To Bucky :-(

We had to say good-bye to my Bucky today. He wasn’t feeling good lately, and Mummy & Daddy said that he was having a hard time breathing too. I just want him to be happy, and not to hurt. We took him to his Dr, and we played in a pretty field with him for a little while. When he was tired, Mummy and Daddy sat on the grass with him and pet him. He had his head on the wheel of my stroller, cuz he loves me best. Then his Dr came and they helped Bucky have a nap. I know that he always knew how much we all love him, and I hope that he is OK now. I will miss him.

My Mummy's First Day

'member I told you about this Mother's Day thing? Well that was yesterday, and I think that my Mummy had a good day. I know that I did. We did a whole bunch of cuddling, my Mummy and me and I loved that! Daddy gave Mummy a pretty necklace, a cuddly bear, and I gave her her most favorite flowers in the world.

We were all going to go to Nana's house and have a really big day with lots of Aunts, Uncles and cousins but you know that my Bucky is sick and he's not been feeling so good the end of last week. So we all stayed home and had a nice family day. I wish Bucky would be well, but Mummy says he's our gift and he will have to go to heaven soon. I'll miss him.

My busy days and nights...

Hi everybody! Things have been busy for me as usual. I don't really have any "new" tricks, but I am perfecting my old tricks. I am really getting the hang of stitting up on the couch. I need the support... I'm NOT good at sitting up on my own yet, but I'm working on that too. I talk... and I talk... and I talk - ALL THE TIME. I call my Daddy Blu-Bla... at least that's what my Mummy thinks, and we all laugh about that. Oh yea... I laugh all the time too now. Not extended belly laughs yet, but short laughs and lots of giggles... and I'm usually laughing at my Mummy. :-) I have an appointment with my Dr. John early next week, so I can tell you then EXACTLY how much I weigh and how big I am... but my Mummy did a trial weighing, and we think I'm about 15 1/2 pounds by now. I AM HUGE!

My daddy has been away, and I really miss him a lot! I always get to spend time with him on the weekends and at night, and he is usually in his office in the morning and I get a big cuddle from him after Mummy gets me up. I hear his voice sometimes when Mummy holds this little "phone" to my head.. I like to hear him, it makes me smile! I keep looking around but all I can see is that little "phone". What's a phone anyway????

We have some sad news too... my Bucky is really sick, and he's feeling worse these days. Mummy cries and says that she loves him. I love him too! So do Daddy, Bruin & Cellar. He was at the doggie hospital last night, and I miss seeing him this morning when I got up. I hope he can come home soon, but Mummy and Daddy say if he does come home it probably won't be for long. They are very sad... and so and I. I hope you will say a prayer for my Bucky. All of your prayers helped me SO MUCH, they might help Bucky too.

Well... I'll try to write again soon. There should be a lot of pictures from this coming weekend. From what I can understand this Sunday is a day that all Mummies are loved, hugged, kissed, and they get flowers and gifts. It's all to thank them for all they do for us kids - and I can't wait to thank my Mummy - cuz I LOVE HER!

Walk America 2006

Pic 1:
Nana, Auntie Pam, Daddy, Mummy and Me.

Pic 2:
Nana, Auntie Pam, Daddy, Auntie Tracy and Me.

Pic 3
Me, of course….

Pic 4
The days shining star was my Auntie Pam who probably could have walked another 5 miles. She spent most of the day ahead of the pack (especially on the up hills) and never as much as whispered a complaint! Way to go Auntie Pam!!


Well, we had our Walk America walk yesterday and we had a good time. We walked about 5 miles of the 5.5 mile course… OK, I rode all the way with Daddy pushing me most of the time and Mummy doing some of the pushing too. We had a great time though, the weather was nice, and I got to have a nice nap! All together our team of Ethan’s Journey raised $1500.00 for the March of Dimes, and we all want to thank you soooo much for supporting us!

I LOVE to nap....

I don't know if I've mentioned this before... but I do love a good nap. Normally I like to nap wherever my Mummy & Daddy aren't anticipating that I will nap. So, that means not in my bed....

Happy, Happy Easter!!

Here are a couple of pictures of my new cousin Conner and me. Enjoy!
(Click on the top picture to read the text)

I am 7 Months old today!!

Yesterday I had shots.... this is basically what I looked like.... and you wonder why I don't write more often....

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME...

OK... so I always think that I am going to write to you guys every week... and the weeks come and the weeks go and there isn't enough time for me with all the learning and exploring that I have to do. Honest!!

Let's get you caught up on my activities. I am going to be 7 months old tomorrow, and that's pretty neat! I weigh 14 lbs, 14 ozs and I had my last synergis shot yesterday! I finally outgrew my 0-3 month clothes, and now I am wearing my 3-6 month clothes and I feel like a big boy! Pretty soon, my little green sneakers that my Jayesh Kaka bought me won't fit any longer, and I will move on into a size 2 shoe... WOW! I'm really gonna miss my green sneakers though....

For Firsts check these out:
I tried cereal for the first time on April 2nd. That didn't go over so well with me. The first day I thought it was OK, but by the third day I made Mummy shelf the whole idea. ;-)
I rolled over for the first time on April 8th. Kelly, my PT, was really excited to see that and so was Mummy (who naturally cried!)
I went to the park for the first time yesterday! Mummy took me down the slide, and on the swing. It was fun, but I was SO BUSY looking around at everything - and boy was there a LOT to see.

My two new best friends are my Gerry Giraffe, and my Soothie bottle. Surely you saw the picture above. I love them best right now. Gerry was with me at my first official photo shoot at the Picture People, who did a great job just ask my Daddy & Mummy. And my Soothie bottle is the only one that I will drink more than 10 cc out of!!

I hope you like the pics! Remember that we are still doing the March of Dimes walk on April 30th, and if you haven't had the chance to sponsor any of us yet, you still can by clicking on one of the links below. Thanks and I love you all!

www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah to sponsor my Mummy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah1 to sponsor my Daddy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah2 to sponsor my Nana
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah3 to sponsor my Auntie Tracy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah4 to sponsor my Auntie Pam

If you want to walk with us on our team, and get people to sponsor you you can join on by going to http://www.walkamerica.org/ and sign up with an existing team: Ethan's Journey.

Check Out My Changes!

I've been very busy this week, let me tell you. I did lots of things for the first time, and my PT, Kelly, is very very happy with me. YEAH!! :-D

This week I have managed to reach for a toy and grab it, stick out my tongue, put my toy in my mouth to discover a little more about it, and have some really good tummy time which is helping me keep my head up straight without scrunching up my little shoulders! Man - it has been a lot of hard work but i'm really lovin' it. I paly with my Gerry Giraffe all the time now, and I pull his tail, bite his ear, and gnaw on his check and he doesn't evenc are. He just smiles at me and lets me play!

My family is also going to do the March of Dimes Walk America walk this year. It helps raise money for research to discover technology and other tools to help save the lives of other little preemies like me. I'm really proud of my family, and they say that I'm going on the walk with them!! WOO HOO. Our team name is Ethan's Journey, and so far the walkers on our team are my Mummy, Daddy, Nana, and Aunties Tracy & Pam! I can't believe that they are all going to walk 8 miles to raise money!!! Oh, and I get to ride the whole way. hee hee hee. If you want to help them out to raise money you can click the link to the right, or go to
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah to sponsor my Mummy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah1 to sponsor my Daddy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah2 to sponsor my Nana
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah3 to sponsor my Auntie Tracy
www.walkamerica.org/ethanshah4 to sponsor my Auntie Pam
If you want to walk with us on our team, and get people to sponsor you you can join on by going to www.walkamerica.org and sign up with an existing team: Ethan's Journey.

Now I shall get off my sopabox (whatever that is) and get on with the growing! Talk to you all soon - and I love you!!

The Eyes Have It!!

I think that I'm getting a little better with my posting. It has been about 2 weeks since I last was here, and my aim it to get to doing something each week. Don't hold your breath, like my Mummy would say, cuz I am a very busy boy! :-)

In the last 2 weeks a lot has been going on with me. I went to my final visit with Dr. Gold, my eye guy, and he said that my eyes are not just like a full term babies eyes! So I don't have any of those pesky preemie eye issues now, and I am so happy. Dr. Gold is so nice to me, but he's always peeling my eyes open and holding them open with some contraption and I hate that... I SCREAM the whole time! My poor Daddy is lucky not to be deaf by now from hearing that screaming.... the only other eye doctor that I need to see is a Pedi eye doc to check for lazy eye or any signs of crossed-eyedness in about 4 months time. That should be a snap for me.

Kelly comes to see me every Wednesday, she is the Easter Seals Physical Therapist, and she is really getting to be my friend now. Mummy calls her my 'date'... what's a date?? Anyway, this week I was really happy to see her, and I smiled at her and everything. Next think I know she has me all flipped over doing some 'tummy time' and I am maaaad! I don't like tummy time at all. It's hard work for me, and it makes me cranky. But I guess that now she has Mummy siding with her on this issue, and tummy time is going to be happening often... OY. She also works on helping me relax my neck muscles so that turning my head to the left is not as hard for me. The whole thing is hard work, and it makes me tired...after 30 minutes today, I needed a nap....BAD!

I saw my Dr. John yesterday too. He is so nice to me! I weigh 13 lbs, 2 oz now!! He is so happy with the way I am growing, and he says that I look great. I gave a little muscle flex of the arm when he was checking me out...and I think he noticed cuz he said something about the rolls on my arm....UM, NO... those are MUSCLES! I am going to have some follow up visits with the gastro-something person there to check on my feeding progress, and talk about what Mummy, Daddy & I can do to get me more interested in my bottles. Mummy & Daddy try everything, they really do. I think we are going to get some new bottles soon, Mummy found some that have the same nipple as the pacifier that I got from the NICU and that is my MOST FAVORITE.

I went to the Elliott Wellness Center and had an evaluation there to see how I'm doing on some of my skills... I guess I did OK. But the whole thing took about 2 hours, and I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go to sleep food or no! Jill was there doing testing on me, and I liked her a lot. I smiled a lot at her, and I got to play with toys and stuff. I tried to show how good I was at everything - I did better on some suff than others. I have a lot of work ahead of me with my gross and fine motor skills - but my social skills are FANTASTIC! I see her again in about 4 months... I hope we get to play again.

Well... I need to go and eat now. Not that I have any interest in doing that - but Mummy insists. ;-)

I Found My Hands!

Okay... so this is the greatest thing ever. I'm sitting on my Mummy's lap the other day and I'm chewing on something that I always chew on these days and suddenly I see it moving... little fingers moving around and I'm thinking... what the devil is THAT?? So I start staring and I realize that there are two of them... HANDS! WOW... this is fantastic! It lasts a few seconds before I am distracted by yet something else and my Mummy thinks it's a fluke.

BUT GUESS WHAT???? Just today after we read a book, and I was relaxing in my usual manner (in Mummy's lap with the boppy, chewing my fists) and I start again... first the fingers are moving and I am so captivated by that - and then I realize again that I can move the hands either independantly or together. THIS IS THE BEST! And my fingers... they move all around too and I am loving watching this happen. I watch my hands and fingers moving around for about two minutes today... then I realize that I'm hungry, and I look at my Mummy to feed me and she is smiling away! I love her.

In other news... I went to see my Pedi doctor yesterday, Dr. Hollister, and he is really happy with me. (And who isn't??) I gained some weight in the last couple of weeks, and now I weigh 12 lbs 8.5 ozs. I am HUGE here people.... maybe even gigantic! I have outgrown clothes... my Mummy is happy and sad all at the same time! My Dr. John (that's what he lets me call him! I'm really special) thinks that I am looking great, and that I am gaining weight well. Then he gave me some yummy sugar water... mmmmm... then he stuck me in the legs with something that HURT me. That made me mad - and I turned all red in my face and my mouth just popped open! No sound came out though... until Mummy picked me up. Then I screamed until it started to seem better... and when Daddy held me, everything was good again! I love him!

A woman named Kelly came to our house this morning to see us. I guess she was really here to see me. Mummy says she is with Easter Seals and that she is going to help me catch up... with what?? With Bruin and Bucky? I don't even roll over never mind chase those two around the house...hummmm... But I guess Kelly is going to help me learn to do things like roll over and grab toys, which actually sounds like good fun. Today was kind of hard on me, especially after yesterday with the poking needles into my legs. So I tolerated Kelly holding me and I tolerated her laying me on the floor and letting me watch a toy, but when she rolled me on my side - everything went all wrong! Then my Mummy needed to cuddle me and I just wanted Kelly to go away. :-( She was really nice though. She talked really softly, and she left pretty fast after I was upset. I guess I will see her again next week, and I will try to better next week.

I saw my NICU nurses on Monday too this week. They are all doing so good, and I also saw Dr. F who took such good care of me when I was in the NICU. And I had a good cuddle with My Melina, and with Jenn too, and they were really excited to see how big I am (Superman-Like... I'm telling you) but they couldn't visit long cuz they had other little boys and girls to take care of now. But I love seeing them. :-)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I love you all!!!

I'm Getting Bigger All The Time!

Hi Everybody! Do you remember me? I have been very, very busy here, I have to tell you. I have had a lot of visitors, and I have been growing and growing! Let me tell you what has been happening here at home.

My Nana came up for 2+ weeks of fine visiting and cuddling. She was great to have here and she cuddled and coo'd to me everyday!! She took good care of my Mummy too, helped finish my room (as you already know), and played with Bruin and Bucky. Cellar was happy to see her cuz she likes to sit with Nana and pat at her head to get Nana to pet her. Cellar is a silly cat.

Right after my Nana left to go home, my Jayesh Kaka came from the UK. Now, let me explain to you that Kaka is Uncle in Gujarati, my Daddy's native language, and Kaki is Auntie. So anyway... my Jayesh Kaka came and he brought me all kinds of stuff from he and my Anupa Kaki and from the UK. We had a great visit, and he was very fun to be with. He talked to me a lot and I loved being cuddled by him! He was here for nearly a week and I saw him every day. I went out to dinner for the very first time with my Jayesh Kaka, Mummy & Daddy and I had a great time... OK, so I slept most of the time what can I say?? I'm just little. But they all went to great lengths to make sure that it was a 'safe' place for me to be with no smoking and nobody was to touch me. I'm glad they love me so much! I hope that he will come back and visit me soon, and that I will get to meet my Anupa Kaki too!

THEN... after my Jayesh Kaka left, my Uncle Sanjay came to town. WOW... I must be really popular! My Uncle Sanjay is always really surprised at how BIG I am. Someday I might be big like him, you never know! So he was here for a few days, and we all had a good time. Uncle Sanjay, Mummy & Daddy laugh A LOT. And he lets me sleep on his big chest, which I really like. I can hear his heart beat and it makes me feel calm. While my Uncle Sanjay was here visiting, my Auntie Tracy came by one day too!!! It was great - I got to have all kinds of cuddling with her, and she is silly and makes me smile!

So I spend a bit of time going to the doctors, everybody is trying to make sure that things are going well for me and that I am growing and doing what I need to be doing. I guess that I am doing a pretty good job, and so are Daddy & Mummy cuz I am now 23 1/4 inches long and I weigh in at 12 lbs, 4.5 ozs. The doctors and nurses say that I am really long! I think I will be tall. I have had meetings with the early intervention people and they are going to work with me to get me caught up to my actual age. It's hard when you are born this early because I spend all that time for the first 3 months really still developing and it doesn't count at actual growing in the outside world. So my actual age is a bit over 4 1/2 months, but my "adjusted age" or the age since my due date, is only 9 weeks. Either way I am behind a bit, honestly, since I have the feeding tube and I still forget to breathe. But I am strong and healthy and I know that I will be able to get things right in the next year. OH, and I hear that my eyes are turning hazel - green/brown!

Mummy and Daddy sold their Toyota and bought an older Volvo... I have no idea what any of that means, but they say they did it to make it easier for Mummy to stay home with me, so that works for me. I smile a lot at my Mummy especially when she come to get me up, and when we are sitting and 'talking'. I don't know if she understands any of what I am saying to her, but she seems to keep up. I hope she is taking notes for my memoirs..... this is very vital information that I am giving her everyday. I should ask her.....

Check out my 'Crib'

Hello all, my Mummy, Daddy and Nana have finished putting the finishing touches to my room. Here are some pictures of it.
I have a nice dark crib and as you can see it looks like there is a little space left for me to sleep in! :) I like all my new friends that surround me, I like to look around at them when I'm in my crib. I've tried talking to them but they don't seem to respond, maybe it's because I can't actually say any words yet. My Daddy says that he'll be worried if I do start hearing them talk back to me.
Hopefully you can tell that I have a Safari theme going on in my room. My Daddy has been on Safari in Kenya, so he took some of the pictures, enlarged them and put them up around my room. I can't wait to go on Safari, he says we can go one day, once I'm a little bit bigger.

That fine dresser that you can see was hand painted by my Mummy, Daddy and my Auntie Tracy, they also put on cool looking animal drawer pulls!!!

I also have a nice comfy rocking chair in there, thats where my Mummy rocks me to sleep when I'm cranky :)

And finally the icing on the cake, my toy chest. This is very special, my Auntie Tracy thought of the idea and then created and hand painted the whole thing!!! She's very clever!!

Happy New Year

Happy 2006! I have sucessfully made it through my first New Year. Of course I was asleep long before midnight, and awake early in the morning hours of the New Year for a little bite to eat.

Things are going well in my new home. I like it here a lot, being with Mummy & Daddy everyday. I like to be awake for a few hours at a time and I love to look around and check things out here. Mummy & Daddy take me for walks around the house so that I can stare at everything around. I like lights the best. I can sit for quite a while with my head up - my neck is really strong and sturdy. I have a little time at night - sometimes an hour... sometimes three hours - that I like to test my lungs and vocal cords. Yeah...OK, so I like to yell and scream. Mummy calls it my Crank-A-lankin time... she laughs at me sometimes, and she says that I make sounds like a cat. Hmmmm... no wonder Cellar stares at me.

My Nana is here visiting me for a while. I like that she holds and cuddles me and her voice is nice and soft to listen to. She and Mummy take turns cuddling me while Daddy is at work during the day - it's so good to be me.

I think that maybe I am getting this bottle eating thing a little better than before. I did good today, but we will have to see how tomorrow goes. I am still taking some caffeine and I have a monitor to make sure that I don't forget to breathe. Sometimes the monitor goes off on it's own and it screeches really loud...it makes everybody crazy - I sleep through it mostly. I have gotten 4 new monitors in the last week...Mummy hates the monitor...

I still miss the girls that took such good care of me in the NICU. I miss their voices and their faces. I hear that I will get to see next month when I go back to the hospital for some shot. I would rather just go see them and skip the shot.

More soon