OK, couldn't resist. Here are some more recent pictures.

You know, it has occurred to me that if we could somehow get a patent on "cute baby," we could really clean up. How does she manage to look like this in every single picture? Somewhere between wonder and surprise, as if she's never seen a camera before.

"OK, honey, now look like a kewpie doll. Good, good!" Doesn't combing her hair a different way make a big difference?

They make a good team. We're trying to teach both of them to smile. Hannah doesn't know how yet, and Zach doesn't see a reason to—at least, not at the moment. Wait until the hormones settle out a bit.

Here we go! Santa and helper ready to deliver presents (figure out which is which). Hannah was obviously surprised by yet another papparazzi. (This was before she pulled the tube out.)

Getting ready to try out for the Rockettes, Hannah is obviously suspicious about this whole process. Who is that person with the camera, anyway? Does she have authorization to be in this dressing room?

By the way, we have new pictures. Hundreds of them, actually, but here are just a couple of them.

	Hannah likes to ride around on someone's shoulder—probably second or third favorite position. At left, you can see her enjoying a ride. Below, she's working hard at keeping a grip on two things at once—already has more coordination than her old man! Her cheeks have really gotten chapped in the recent weather, but lots of lotion is making it better.

We had a relatively relaxing Christmas break. Friends came over on Christmas Eve, but otherwise we have just "stayed home" and taken it easy--no partying, very little running around shopping.

We had hoped by this time to have Caty visiting with us, but she postponed it from last Saturday to today for us to pick her up, and in the meantime had a relapse of the flu, so for now she is not coming. I am disappointed, but we understand. She hopes she can come down the weekend of Martin Luther King Birthday, since it will be a long weekend.

Hannah pulled her feeding tube out again on Dec. 21, but we really hadn't given her anything by tube except her Zantac since Dec. 13, so the doctor decided we could leave it out until she had one of those 13-ounce days. So far, she's kept up her "production" at 17 ounces or higher.

We've started sticking with the scheduling thing (which we all temperatmentally resist, but which appears to actually be needed by Hannah)—we offer Hannah six ounces, of which she typically takes five or five and a half within 20 minutes or so, and then we don't feed her again for three to three and a half hours, ensuring that she is hungry enough to eat fast enough to fill up before she tires out.

But she has stopped gaining again. The doctor says that if she doesn't gain by Friday, the tube has to go back in AND we will start giving her as much as she'll take in ten minutes and then give her the rest of it by tube, to get her used to taking as much as possible in ten minutes. And we will also have to get up in the middle of the night to give her a complete feeding by tube, in order to get the day's total up to 24.

We really hope she gains, because Janet and I are both already exhausted, and don't need to have to get up in the middle of the night (a complete tube feeding would take at least a half hour, and more like an hour).

Bad news! Hannah lost weight over the weekend, down to 13 pounds, 1 ounce. Fortunately, the doctor didn't seem too concerned--she's looking for overall pattern, so as long as the trend is upward, and averages between a half pound and two-thirds pound weigh gain per day, she'll be OK. I am so hoping we can get the tube out, though. Friday night Hannah managed to pull it all the way out. We found her with it flopping around Saturday morning, still taped to the side of her head. The home health folks had to come out and put it back in again (and this time they taped it more securely, with different stuff so her constant drooling doesn't make the tape come loose), and made arrangements to come back out on Thursday and teach me how to put it back in next time. Turns out the insurance company won't pay for them to come out and put it in again, so we have to learn to do it ourselves. And since Janet just can't hack something like that, it means I'm the one in the barrel on this one.

But she's eating a lot today, thank God.

Janet had her cataract surgery last Thursday and it went well. She had the patch taken off Friday afternoon and got to see Hannnah clearly for the very first time. (She took Hannah back with her when they removed the patch so Hannah would be the first thing she saw.) She is thrilled to NOT be seeing the little halos of light around headlights and street lights at night and can be heard giggling for what seems like no reason as she looks around when we drive at night. She goes back this Friday for another check up and will get new glasses in a couple more weeks. (The doctor said everything looked fine on Friday and there is no sign of a cataract in the other eye which supports the theory that this one was injury induced.)

Good news! Hannah went for her Synagis shot this morning, and while there, she got weighed. She is up to 13 pounds, 6 ounces! Half a pound gained since Monday! All right!!!!

Last Friday, they put the NG tube in Hannah, as Janet wrote about earlier. It was traumatic, but probably more so for Mom and Dad than for Hannah. Not that she liked it, of course, but the tube itself doesn't seem to bother her. I have to admit, though, that I am pleased that she continues to take most of her food from a bottle rather than from the tube. We usually only put four or five ounces a day through the tube, but we hope it's enough to tip her over into gaining weight. We've noticed that when she averages 18 ounces a day, she gains, and when she average 16 ounces a day, she loses, so that seems to be the critical point.

I almost froze to death in Asheville. It didn't seem all that cold to begin with, but we wound up sitting on the sidewalk in 35 degree weather for 90 minutes or so, and the cold just kind of seeped in. It was well worth it--I had a really good visit with Caty, got to catch up on my ex-wife's medical challenges (if that sounds sarcastic, it's not; I really wanted to know), and got to see Jon march. He is so tall! He sports a beard now, too. As he marched by with his drum corps, he looked so serious and tough. I couldn't resist looming out of the crowd and shouting, "Go, Jon!" He tried not to, but he grinned. After the parade, he walked back down to where we were and hugged me. I was so impressed! When I was his age, I'm not sure I was confident enough to hug my dad in public. I wish I had been, and I'm glad he is that self-possessed. Caty is just so full of energy, and Amanda is so in charge of her own life down in Columbia. They've all turned out so well!

Back home, Zach impressed me with taking on the Christmas decorations. Here at the end of the semester, I'm so overcommitted that I just couldn't even think about the tree until after we turn in grades (next Friday), so Zach put the tree together and decorated it on his own. It's wonderful! And without being asked, he put away the dishes. He's really taking on responsibility.

Janet will have her cataract surgery tomorrow. That's what's been causing her the vision problems. They think it probably resulted from an injury she received over 30 years ago! The prognosis is good, because, as the doctor said several times, she's so young. I'll post an update about that, since she doesn't write a whole lot about herself.