12 months
This morning I was holding Aaron in a standing position (with support from me under his arms) and he supported most of his body weight on his legs for about a minute. A minute!! That was by far the longest time he's ever done that. Normally we'd get 10 to 30 seconds maybe on a good day. I think the "stander" thingy that the PT brought over for him is doing him a world of good. And we've only used it 3 times (10-20 minutes at a time). It is almost like he "gets" it now - that he can actually use his legs for something. Like he's been able to do this all along. He has no balance yet though so I was still doing a lot of the work but he was definitely holding more weight on his legs than ever before.
He still can't get himself into or out of a sitting position (except by way of falling backward) but he can sit for a half hour or so by himself. He isn't crawling or anything close to crawling. He does roll easier but he doesn't roll around the room. He usually just rolls from his back to one side or the other. Ada was crawling, kneeling and pulling to a stand on her first birthday. She could get herself into and out of a sitting position. Asher was creeping along the couch, crawling, pulling to a stand, and walking with a walker push toy.
Aaron can mimic sounds really well right now and will repeat back to you if you say, "Can you say mama?" (Or Dada, baba, papa, baba). He says "che" for cheese, "buh buh" for bye bye and whispers the word "up." He can sign more and milk. He knows how to clap his hands, wave bye bye. He can blink his eyes if we say "blink" and he can make a fishy face with his lips when we say "fishy face." He'll hand you a toy (sometimes) when you ask him, "Can I see it?" And if you sayd "Head butt!" to him he'll lean his forehead in and bonk it into yours. So cute!
He usually goes to bed between 7pm and 8pm, sleeps until 8am-ish and then goes down for his morning nap before 10am. He usually naps until 1pm. Then he goes down again for a nap around 3pm and sleeps until 5 or 6pm. He sleeps A LOT.
These days he is eating oatmeal cereal, yogurt, Cheerios, and fruit for breakfast. He eats a slice of wheat bread, a cheese stick, fruit, and puffies for lunch and sometimes a vegetable too. And for dinner he usually has some type of meat, more fruit, a vegetable and more puffies. He eats a lot of what we have for dinner too though so that varies more. The other night he enjoyed spagetti and little meatballs. He is not a picky eater at all and that is a refreshing change from Asher.
I know that this year will hold many more milestones and memories and I'm excited for all of it, but, I must admit, it is a little bittersweet to be saying goodbye to his first year of life.
Aaron, age 12 months in the stander, with our PT and OT.
12.5 months
Yesterday I took Aaron to the family doctor for his 1 year checkup appointment.
First the good news:
The doctor thinks that his VSD may be gone now because he couldn't hear it at all. Last time (at 9 months) he could still hear a faint murmur. So yay! This should be confirmed at his upcoming cardiologist appointment.
The other good news is good, but may be related to the bad news and that is that he weighs 22 pounds now! So he's back up into the 25th percentile on weight.
The bad news:
His head size pushed into the 97th percentile (this may account for some of his weight gain). Because of the increase in size and because of his gross motor delays, the doctor is suspicious of hydrocephalus and is going to schedule a CT scan. We haven't heard yet when the CT scan will be, but I hope it will be soon because the wait is terrible.
Abe has a big head and at 16 months it was 51cm. Aaron's head was 49cm yesterday. Abe's head was fine, just big. I called my mother-in-law this morning to see if she could tell me what his head size was during his first year of life, but she didn't record this information. The earliest data is at 16 months. At 18 months it was 53cm. Darn. She says though that his head was always big, even at birth, but without factual data I can't rely on this much. So now I don't know if Aaron is just following the same growth pattern as his daddy or not. I do know that Aaron has the same size head that Asher had as a 2 year old and a half inch bigger than Ada's head when she turned two. So it is big. Our doctor said it looks like a 97th percentile head to him.
I'm going to try to do some more reading today about it, but I got scared off yesterday from what I read about it.
You know, well-baby check-ups are supposed to go like this: Undress baby. Weigh. Measure. Talk about all his glorious achievements since you visited last. Administer a few shots maybe. Pass out the Tylenol. Go home. You are not supposed to be told, "By the way, your kid has a gigantic head and now we need to find out if he's dying." (Ok, they didn't use those words, but that is what I heard.)
I don't think I'm going to get a call today from the doctor's office as to when the CT is scheduled because our doctor isn't in today so I don't think his nurse will be in either. We should hear something on Monday though.
Almost 13 months
We finally got the call we've been waiting for so anxiously and little Aaron is just fine! They said his head looks perfectly normal and no follow up is needed. We are so so so sooooo relieved. He just has a big head like his dad. Hooray! (By the way, Aaron slept through the whole CT scan. He fell asleep just before he was called back and didn't wake up until it was all over! This is a huge praise!!)
13 months
Aaron has finally started to roll around the floor. He's really mobile now too. He rolls anywhere he wants to go in the living room. He's not too efficient about it, but he gets where he wants to go most of the time. It's soooo great!
Our PT wants to take advantage of his recent gross motor growth spurt and will be coming out twice a month. Our OT will come once a month, and the DT once a month. That makes 4 visits per month which is a lot - double what we're used to. But it will be good though, I think.
Out PT thinks he may walk by 18 months. He can stand at the couch for a solid minute or so now if I set his legs/feet in a sturdy position. Two weeks ago he was standing for only seconds at a time.
Yay for gross motor growth spurt! He still has a lot of catching up to do, but we're headed in the right direction!
The other goods news is that his VSD heart defect is totally gone now and his aortic regurgitation hasn't changed a bit in 6 months. That's very good news too since it can only get worse, not better. We go back in 6 months for another check. If he has no change then (and the doctor thinks that he won't see any change) then we can go back once a year.
Aaron, age 13 months. Still needed a pillow behind him while sitting since he often fell backwards.
Like that!
14.5 months
Yesterday with met with our PT. Aaron is a master roller now. He can roll very fast to get where he wants to go. About an hour before our PT arrived, I saw Aaron roll onto his stomach, push up onto his elbows and knees and then scoot forward to reach a toy ahead of him! It was his first forward-motion effort! I couldn't get him to repeat it, but it's a start.
He is standing straighter on his legs when we hold his hands or put him up next to an object such as the couch. He can also stand with better balance and more stability.
Our PT showed Aaron how to climb the stairs yesterday. She said he did about 25% of the work, but she was very pleased with that since it was his first time. He instinctively knew to shift his weight onto one leg in order to pull the other leg up. She wants us to practice stair climbing each day. By the way, Aaron hated climbing the stairs. He was so fuming mad that she was making him work! He does not like her! In general, he really doesn't like anyone he doesn't know (or in the case of our PT that he doesn't like) to touch him. He doesn't like our PT because he knows she is going to make him work and stretch his muscles. It's one of those things that is actually pretty darn cute in a way because he gets so mad. But it does take a lot from me to not just grab my poor, mad baby right out her arms and rescue him. But I can't do that - he can do this work, she is not hurting him and he needs to do it. We have an awesome PT and I trust her.
The PT had us bring up the little toy car ride-on that we have. Aaron loved it! But he wants to go fast - he's got an inner daredevil in there. We're trying to teach him to push with his feet, which he did twice and pushed himself backwards - our PT says that's normal for kids to go backwards first.
When we hold Aaron in a standing position he has no inclination to make stepping movements with his feet. It just doesn't seem to occur to him to move one foot then the other. I thought this was instinctive in babies. Our PT said that part of it is that Aaron hasn't crawled yet so he doesn't really know what it feels like to move his legs independently and to shift his weight. She hopes that the stair crawling will help with that and riding on the car - pushing one leg then the other on the floor.
Aaron has hit a major developmental growth spurt in the past 2 months. Since mid-January he has put on 3 pounds and cut 4 new teeth. He is so big now that he can wear 2T stuff! He knows that I'm "mommy" and Daddy is "daddy." He will lean in for a hug, head butt or kisses when asked (he bends his head closer to ours). He can blow kisses, wave hi and bye, make a "fishy face," blink his eyes, and give high fives and "knuckles" when asked. He is babbling a lot more now. He can say mama, mom, and dada and tries to say "more." He can say "cheese" - he says it "cheeeesss" and signs more, all done, and milk. He is still nursing (usually just once a day) making him my longest running nursling (Ada and Asher both weaned at 12 months). He is trying to stack cups and blocks but hasn't quite succeeded in getting it to stay on top yet. He dumps and fills containers. He has mastered the pincer grasp. He is so close to being able to get himself into a sitting position but hasn't quite made it yet.
I think that's about everything... he's a wonderful, adorable little guy. I just love him so much!
~~~
Yesterday Aaron learned how to get himself into a sitting position from a lying down position all by himself!! Go Aaron! He first figured it out in his crib but can do it on our carpeted floor as well (though it is a little harder for him). He did it several times over in the crib and I got it all on video. I am so proud of him, and he was quite pleased with his new talent too! He would giggle and laugh when he got into the sitting position and clap his hands. And when he was in the crib he'd promptly hurl himself backwards onto the mattress so he could do it again. Progress!
Aaron, age 14.5 months. Notice the bend in his knee when weight-bearing on his feet. Abe was helping him support his weight.
15 months
I think the days are gone when I can walk out of my son's well-baby checkup and have experienced a "normal" visit. Last time I took Aaron for his 1 yr. check we walked out with an order for a CT scan because his head was so big and because of his gross motor delays. Today, when the doctor came in the first thing he said was, "Wow, Aaron's file just keeps getting thicker and thicker!" By the time we walked out, the doctor said he'd give us a call in a week. He is going to do some of his own research into Beals Syndrome. He is thinking of referring us to a neurologist and possibly doing a full blood work-up, in part to rule out a thyroid problem.
So, the numbers from today:
Weight 26 lbs. 5 oz. (Up 4 pounds in just 2 months.)
Height 31.5" (Stayed around the 60th percentile.)
Head size 51.25cm (Soaring off the charts literally, above 97th percentile.)
Good news - fine motor skills are doing really well. Bad news - gross motor is significantly delayed.
He says there is a possible thyroid problem, which would explain the rapid growth in weight - up from 10th percentile at 9 months to 75th percentile at 15 months. I asked how much is his big head accounting for his weight gain and he said he can't say for sure. Aaron is still long and fairly lean, but he does have chunkilicous thighs. He has a slender waist. His arms are very long (he can wear 2T shirts for the sleeve length) so that also accounts for some of his weight.
Other things to consider: Abe has a huge head. At 15 months, I believe his head circumference was 53cm, a tad bigger than Aaron's now. Aaron's fontanel on top was still open - a lot - today. Our doctor said it should be closed or no larger than your fingertip. Aaron's is more than a half dollar in size or so. BUT, Abe's was still open at this age, as was Ada's (I'm pretty sure). So, physically, Aaron is really taking after Abe n just about every way. He looks almost like a carbon copy of him. BUT, Aaron is experiencing gross motor delays that Abe nor Ada ever experienced. Both Abe and Ada were walkers at this age. Abe and Ada hit developmental milestones (gross motor) at an almost identical rate.
So, "What's up with Aaron's gross motor delay?" is the question o' the day. Our doctor wants to rule out any chemical or hormonal causes and is still hesitant to blame it entirely on his Beals Syndrome, big head and low muscle tone. He thinks something more may be going on.
So, we wait.
~~~
Heard from the doctor today. He referred us to a geneticist in the big City up north. He said he will hopefully be able to tell us if Aaron's gross motor delays are simply a part of the Beals Syndrome "spectrum" or if we should be looking into other causes. He may refer us to a neurologist.
In other news, Aaron seems to be officially weaned. :-( He hasn't nursed in a few days now and the last time we tried he wasn't interested. I'm glad we nursed through the winter though and that he nursed until he was 15 months old. I feel good about those things, but I'm really sad that this special time is over now. It may never come again. Wow. Very sad. :-(
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