milestones | Mixed Up Mommy

Last night Connor cruised the furniture for the first time! He took three side steps to move down the couch, and a little later, got up and did five in a row. I’m itching for him to walk! My back needs it for one. All his doctors concur that he’s right around the 27-pound mark, but apparently they all buy same defective brand of scale because I can tell you he weighs 80. There will be so many more places that we can go to fill our days. I mean, we have fun at the zoo and Tanglewood Farms, but it’s a bit of a work out. A few more months and I’ll be much more excited to receive invites to bouncy house parties because I won’t find myself facedown suffocating in the corner of a castle, being trampled by toddlers. We’ll probably go broke from me buying season passes to everything in a 50-mile radius.

Last week, Chris had to go to NYC for the day for a business meeting. He happened to stumble upon the taping of the Today Show — the last hour with Kathie and Hoda. They pre-tape Friday’s show on Thursday, and that is the episode you can see him wandering around the back, texting me to ask if he’s on TV and poking his head in to see what’s going on. It’s pretty funny. Here are some stills (yellow tie and briefcase strap criss-crossed):

We had a busy weekend. Saturday, Chris and I made the day trip to Birmingham for the TS Alliance regional conference. I took this picture at the Alabama welcome center because it gave me the warm fuzzies.

We got to hear about the latest in clinical studies, surgical techniques and dealing with schools and IEPs — having been on the other side of IEPs as a regular ed teacher, I dread the possibility Connor could need an IEP. Let’s say I’m just a little jaded in that area, having seen first hand what happens when the law requires schools to provide a “free and appropriate education” but doesn’t provide funding or support. Fingers crossed he won’t, but we have to be prepared for the possibilities. The reality is he will most likely start school with one, given his delays. It’s unlikely by pre-k that I won’t feel he needs one, but I can still hope that won’t always be the case. Only time will tell.

My parents got to spend the whole day with Connor from waking up until almost bed time. Everyone survived so I’m booking a trip to the Caribbean.

On Sunday, we met up with the Cruz’s and the Weathersby’s for Boo at the Zoo. We had two pirates, a monkey and a cow. The cow was SUPPOSED to be Cookie Monster, but the manufacturer and I have a serious difference of opinion on what constitutes a 2T. We had to make a last minute dash to Target on the way for a new costume, where we very nearly added a third pirate to our crew.

I wasn’t really sure how the zoo would go with Connor, being that he doesn’t walk yet, and while he loves animals, I wasn’t confident that the distance between him and the zoo animals would intrigue him. For the most part I was right. But the one place I thought he’d be least interested was one of the best. He loved the aviary because every few minutes the birds would all swoop the enclosure together, which he found hilarious as they whirred past his head. He perked up again at the petting zoo, but getting him to look off into the distance to spot the gorillas and giraffes just wasn’t happening.

Zoo Atlanta also put up a tent with a costumed dj, furry dancing animals and loud music. Babies first rave.

This is what happens when you want a picture of all four boys together:

Where's David? Catch him! — Where’s David? Catch him!

Look at you? Ain't nobody got for that. — Look at you? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Next time I'll bring duct tape. — Next time I’ll bring duct tape.

Afterward we picked up food and went back to eat at the Cruz’s where Connor continued his doggy guilt trip on us by expressing his extreme delight over their dog Bacchus. And it was super adorable when David, who is one day older and fully mobile, got down on his knees to crawl along with Connor.

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IEP’s – What do you need to know? (calebsdoggy.wordpress.com)

It’s a strange sensation to watch your child develop in slow motion. Every new skill gained is not just exciting, but so…noticeable. Some parents say things like, “Oh, he just suddenly started crawling” or “she seemed to walk overnight.” Not in our world. It’s kind of fascinating, really, when it gets broken down into bits and pieces — often with the help of a physical therapist trying to explain it to you. How many parents actually notice the first time their kid reflexively throws their hands behind them so they don’t fall backwards from sitting, and even if they do, do they realize how significant that is? Connor isn’t quite crawling, but I’m watching each step along the way. Every new positioning of his legs and body. If you have a typically developing child, did you give it much thought the first time they got into a side sitting position? Because that’s a really big deal, too. What about when they were sitting and playing and pivoted in another direction? The first time they passed an object from one hand to another? Used the pincer grasp? Banged two objects together? Maybe you were excited by the first mamama, but were you just as excited when you finally heard bababa?

The last several weeks have been incredible. Connor used to hit milestones with a lot of lag time in between. And when it seemed like he was about to hit one, it would take forever to actually happen. There was that quick head lift that made me think he was on the verge of having head control, but that took several more weeks. There was the first time not completely flopping over from sitting, but it was months before he mastered it. But we have had a lot of firsts recently, followed by quick mastery. He threw his hands forward to catch himself from falling forward in PT, he rolled to his belly finally (that was just a stubborn thing-he actually rolled the other way on time) and realized rolling could actually serve the purpose of locomotion, he became mobile, he started using consonants, he can pull himself into a sitting position without help, his interest in what is going on around him has quadrupled and he fell in love with Elmo. He started comfortably sitting in the grocery store cart and observably recognizing certain words.

He’s doing really well despite an uptick in recent seizure activity. But he’s also had recent med changes in the weaning of vigabatrin and adding trileptal, so I’m remaining optimistic about that improving. They don’t seems to have a lingering affect, though they have morphed in appearance the last few days. He was having what were suspected to be complex partials in which his body would clench up and he’d stare off to the side unaware. Now they start with him losing awareness briefly and he clenches up, but then he regains awareness and is responsive while his mouth twitches like crazy. It’s like a weird mix of complex partial and simple partial. But what they they truly are remains to be seen.

And the remolding helmet only needs to be worn at night now now!

Through it all, he’s happy and giggly. Well, except for the week from hell with those two teeth coming in. They still aren’t out, but he seems to have settled down. I will go in and get them myself if they start up with him again. I don’t do no sleep.