Like Father, Like Son

Two men found in the playtime aftermath.

How we spent our Saturday morning

James: 10-month Check-up

Yesterday, Caleb and I took James for his 9-month check-up that has been rescheduled so many times, it became his 10-month check-up. Caleb is very much a part of the process, as he feels that he is doing his part as the big brother to bring his little brother to the doctor. Since we have been going monthly for RSV shots, Caleb has gotten the routine down. But I was glad to tell him that James would not be getting a shot on this visit. (As a side note, the "RSV season" has ended, and we won't be getting the shots from now on. I don't know if they'll start back up next season or not.)

The visit was very productive, as Dr. R was more congenial than usual, and answered my many questions. But first, the stats!

Weight: 16 lbs, 6 oz  -  50%
Height: 28 in  -  75%
Head circ: 41.3 cm  -  45%

So my little man has gotten some length on him! I still haven't gotten around to moving him to 9-month clothes, but mostly because he's in shorts all the time. 6-month footies would probably not fit him very well.

Questions I asked:

1. Circumcision ok? James's circumcision doesn't look like a normal circumcision to me, and Dr. R said that he has adhesions, which my mom says is scar tissue that pulls skin together where it shouldn't. Dr. R said it should break up between ages 2 and 3 years, and if not, James will undergo another circumcision. Yikes. It doesn't seem uncomfortable to James, and it's not causing blockage or any other issues, so we'll just wait it out and make that decision when necessary.
2. Belly button ok? Ever since James's surgery, his innie belly button has been an outie. That's usually a sign of a hernia, but Dr. R said that if it was a hernia, it was a very small one, and that it should close up on its own. I have noticed the outie is not as much an outie as it used to be, so hopefully that's true.
3. Chest shape ok? Jame's rib cage is a bit of a mystery to me. It's concave at the top, flares at the bottom, and has a large bump over his heart. Dr. R says that the flare at the bottom is probably a result of his heavy breathing prior to surgery; his lungs pushed his ribs out. The bump over his heart is supposedly normal, and everyone's chest over their heart is larger than the rest of the area. I do not find this to be true in the rest of our family, but whatever. As with the other questions, James's chest shape is nothing to worry about, and should right itself with time.
4. Diet into his first year? Dr. R said it should be no problem to move James to cow's milk at his first birthday. We'll still thicken it, of course, but he should transition fine from formula. He also said that baby food would be fine, if James wasn't ready for table food. I guess I knew the answers to these questions, but I still wanted to ask to make sure I was on the right track. This is just one of those instances that shows how I feel like a new mom with James!



James and his therapist

5. Further therapies? I've asked our developmental therapist about starting other therapies with James--speech, physical, occupational--and he has been reticent to recommend it, feeling that what he was doing was sufficient. However, Dr. R feels there's no reason to delay, and I think I agree with him. A faith-based place for special needs children, called Hope Landing, is sending me a large packet of information and forms. Once I've gone through all that, James will be evaluated, and we'll be given a recommendation as to what therapies he currently needs. As a child with DS, he will probably qualify for all of the above therapies, and we could end up going to therapy every day of the week if we chose to. However, we have been cautioned by other families with special needs to not revolve the whole family around one child, and that we don't have to accept every therapy that is offered. Choose the ones that are important for James at the time. So that will take some prayer and wisdom from us when it comes time to make those choices. Hope Landing does not send therapists to the house (unlike the developmental therapist), but it is in town and not too far. It seems like a neat place that incorporates prayer and spiritual development into its plans, plus there are some programs that allow sibling involvement as well. So, I'll probably be writing more about them later.

Little Man loves his toes!

And that's it! That was the doctor's appointment. Very informative, and we don't go back until 12 months. Before that time, James has an appointment with the genetic clinic at Children's and a follow-up appointment with the cardiology department at Children's. I think his heart doctor will be happy to see how much he has grown, and how well he is doing!

James at Nine and a Half Months

 My sweet baby James. How time has flown.

The last month or two have been an awakening for James. It was a sweet moment the first time he really looked at me and reached out his hand to play with my hair. He has been such a content baby that placing toys just out of reach have not been much of an incentive. He'll look at the toy...regard it for a few moments...then decide that things are really fine the way they are. So we all clapped when he lunged for a toy the first time.

He is eating his solid food like a champ, now. He really doesn't seem to like the Gerber Puffs. He prefers the yogurt melts, but still manages to spit them out most of the time. He just can't seem to figure out how to keep it in! I've been using mostly store-bought baby food with him, but I'm going to start incorporating more homemade food. It has more texture, and should be a good stepping stone to solid foods.

James has also gotten a lot more smiley lately. His first big smiles were five months ago in the hospital. Still, it took quite a bit of interaction and eye contact to elicit that smile. Only recently has he started to consistently and quickly respond to people with smiles. If I thought the church members weren't wrapped around his little finger already, he's got them with his smile! And his laughing...sometimes he's on his playmat all by himself just laughing! He is a joyful little boy.

He absolutely adores his brother--a constant in his little life. Caleb can always elicit attention and smiles. Their relationship is truly sweet to see. Recently we went to our outdoor high school graduation. When names were called, all the graduate's friends would whoop and holler, which scared James. He started bawling. Of course, the names kept getting called, and friends kept yelling, so there was no calming him down. Caleb was very concerned, and came in close to James. James held his arms out, and Caleb gave him a big long hug and a kiss, hoping to help him feel better. I have a feeling James will always have a protector in Caleb.

A few days ago, I brought my boys home from a long trip, and the last 30 minutes of the trip (when things are usually at their worst), Caleb was leaning as far as his carseat would allow him toward James. Caleb was laughing a silly, contrived laugh in order to make James smile. And James was certainly smiling! It was fun to see.

James loves to be upright. He has sat unsupported for a few moments by himself, but usually topples over pretty quickly. He's so close, though, and I think he will master it soon!

He's also showing signs of wanting to crawl. He tucks his knees up under him, but leaves his arms slack by his sides. We're encouraging his arms to come out by putting a ball under his belly. He'll get there! Though he is such a content boy, there are times when I know he wishes he could move as he pleases (usually when I'm bathing Caleb in the bath and James is stuck in the bouncy, watching).

At the moment, James moves by rolling. I find him well off the carpet a lot these days! Our floor is too hard for him to be flip-flopping all over the house, but he manages to find enough fun things on the rug to keep him occupied. I think his favorite find is paper. Today he eyed my grocery list through the whole store. I finally gave it to him when I only had a couple items left, and it was a gooey mess in seconds.

Big news: James started waving this last week! It's sort of an awkward arm-flap, and super cute! I love it. I wondered today if he was giving me kisses, but couldn't replicate it, so I'll have to update you on that one some other time.

Ever since he got the jumper figured out, James has been a jumping fiend. I mean, the kid was wearing skin off his toes from jumping! He didn't get blisters or anything, but we started keeping socks on his feet just for jumping. Before that point, James hadn't really put weight on his legs, so I was really happy with this progress. Well, now he won't put weight on his legs except to push off in a jump, so he got banned from the jumper. Sad. But he plays in his exersaucer and just started trying out a walker to encourage sustained standing.

I'm so proud of James. Just like Caleb did (and still does), he makes us smile so much. I love my little cuddle boy. I enjoy all the snuggles, even as I look forward to the day that he says, "Bye Mom. Gotta go play!" as he runs off to join Caleb in some mischief. I'm content to enjoy what I have now, and not worry about when the rest will happen.

Caleb's First Fishing Trip

Caleb and I have been pretend fishing for quite a while: finding curved sticks in the yard, sitting on our bench/boat, casting, setting the hook, reeling it in...oh! the excitement!...and proudly showing off our leaf-fish to anyone who will look. Then we kindly throw the leaf-fish back. We're still waiting on the Big One.

Well, our youth went fishing in a pond the other night, so Caleb was super-excited to be fishing for real! Though I really wanted the pint-sized Snoopy fishing pole of my youth, I had to settle for the adult-sized pole we already had, but he did really well with it...for the first two or three casts. Then he lost interest, because we weren't having as much luck with real fishing as we did with our get-a-fish-every-time pretend fishing. But it was fun nonetheless.

Before heading out to fish, we played at a friend's house, and Caleb snagged this fashionable number from the toy bin. Why he thought it was appropriate fishing attire, I do not know. But it was super-cute.

  My little fisherman.

A fisherman and his pole...and tiger hat.

Reelin' her in!

After fishing was over, and we were back at the friend's house....

Tyler is Caleb's friend, and his first sibling will be born this coming fall. It was sweet to see him with James. He's going to be a good big brother.

James doesn't know what to do with himself: the big boys are giving him all their attention!

Mother's Day Happiness

For Mother's Day this year, Jon planned a Saturday getaway with just our family of four. He knows exactly what I like, and we had a picnic, feeding ducks, and spending time outdoors on the schedule. We had to drive about an hour to get to the park, but it was well worth it. So much fun!

Ack! Can they get any cuter?!

Here come the ducks!

"I'll pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today...." (Name that cartoon)

James loves to sit!

Finding things to throw into the water.

Happy baby.

Now Daddy and Caleb are going on a trek.

James is sacked out.

Caleb ready to go down the slide, but decided Mommy should come with him.

Here we go!

This boy loves dirt.

And anything interesting.

James's Favorite Activities, in Video!

As I said, James is getting more and more active these days. It's like he's suddenly awake! He wants to be upright as much as possible, which frees his hands to hold toys, splash, and generally explore. He loves to laugh, and his nighttime giggle-fests with Mama and Daddy sometimes bring Caleb out of his bed to get in on the action. You can hear him in the background; he came out of his room presumably to go potty, but really because we were having so much fun in there!

Here's his new jumping skill! This was taken the very first day he started jumping, and he's only gotten better! This is a skill that Caleb never learned; he just swung in his jumper, and really still can't jump, though he's getting better.

Recently, I started giving James his baths when Caleb was taking a bath. Instead of using the small baby tub, I just plop him in with Caleb, suds him up, rinse him off, and we're done. James of course wants to sit up, so one day I pulled him to upright, and he started splashing away without me even needing to show him what to do! He splashes like it's serious business!

Someone is not ready to grow up

I've noticed lately that Caleb is having a little more trouble with his little brother. Baby James is no longer the blob in the bouncy seat, content to stare at the world. He is more active, with more toys, and even more attention from church members, if that's even possible. So...some days we get things like this.

Somebody got new rain boots...

Caleb loves puddles, but--sad to say--we haven't had any rain boots, and I've been depriving him of this boyish joy of jumping in puddles. I'd looked around in the available stores, but I really wanted some cute rain boots, not just plain rain boots. I specifically wanted frog boots.

My mother-in-law came through for me, and I don't know who loves the boots more, Caleb or myself!

Easter weekend was rain-free, so we had to make our own puddle with a water hose.

Trying out the puddle

"Can I do it again?"

Heading back for more!

Splish

Splash!