Pulling to Stand, Again, Again and Again.

Joey is standing more and more these days, and in different places too. Last week he was scooting around in the hallway upstairs and decided he wanted to get back into his bedroom:










The fantastic part about that isn't so much that he stood up at the door, but that he obviously comprehends that the door handle must be grasped and turned in order for the door to open.

He also started standing at one of the baby gates in the living room:








And of course he stands in his crib:

I wish I could figure out a way to reconfigure his bedroom furniture to get the crib away from the window...the blind was a great motivator to get him to stand up but unfortunately it now needs to be replaced since he ripped a giant corner of it off. I'm also a little worried about what we will do once his centre of gravity gets a bit higher and he can fall right out of the crib. He is simply not ready to sleep on a bed, or even on a mattress on the floor. He doesn't understand "bedtime" and there is just no way he'd stay on his mattress to go to sleep. I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Joey was fitted for his new AFOs (ankle/foot orthotics) last week. Up until now he has had SMOs, which only came up to his ankle, but now that he's standing and walking with assistance he needs more stability up into his calves and knees, so these will come up higher on his leg. I went to this appointment armed with several interventions, like toys, books, videos loaded on the camera to distract him with, snacks etc. thnking this would be a nightmare like his haircuts tend to be. To my great surprise he just sat in the chair on his own and allowed the orthotist to do his thing without a complaint. He was actually quite interested in what was going on and wasn't even bothered by the casts being cut off!

And I saved the worst for last...a short video clip of my poor, poor boy at his group therapy session last Friday:

Joey has been attending a therapy group for non-walkers (kids who are at the age that they *should* be walking but aren't due to various disabilities) since January of this year. He basically cries through the whole thing. Gramma Phyllis has been the one to take him to class every week (2x/week over the summer) and while I knew he cried and wasn't happy I really didn't appreciate how bad it was until I went with him last week. It has baffled all of us as to why he hates it so much...it's a fun group where they play and sing songs, the therapists and other children are very friendly, the environment is kid-friendly, he is rested and fed beforehand and the activities are not too difficult for him. If you've ever met Joey you know that he rarely cries, maybe a total of 15 minutes in a 7-day period, so for him to react this way is very unusual. I don't even think we have ANY other video of him crying since he was born!

After much debate Jason and I have decided to let Joey take a break from this class for the next session which starts in 3 weeks. Joey has a lot of changes coming up...a new preschool in just over a week, a new baby in the house any day now...it's probably best to give him a break and maybe try again later. I just can't imagine he's getting very much out of the class when he is so miserable!

As for Joey's new baby brother, we surpassed a milestone yesterday. On Sunday I was exactly 35 weeks 6 days pregnant, which is how far along I was when Joey was born. So as of today I am officially the most pregnant I've ever been, and getting nervous with the realization that this baby can come at any time now. I don't feel ready but I'm not sure if I'll ever truly feel ready. Last weeks' tests seemed to be fine...no ultrasound picture though, apparently a 35-week baby doesn't look like much of anything in an ultrasound picture. The tech said I'm measuring bang on with my dates, which is great, but of course she can't tell me anything else. I haven't received a call so I'm assuming everything else checked out okay. Tomorrow I have another weekly non-stress test at the hospital and if Dr.S. is the on-call doctor I'm going to try and pin him down to an induction date. If he's not there I'll see him Friday morning and should have a definite date booked at that time.

- P, J & J

Joyful Joey

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last updated the blog. So much going on! I'll start with Joey...

It's no coincidence that if you remove the "e" from his name it spells joy, because that is what this kid brings us on a daily basis. Our most recent lesson from Joey? To find enjoyment in the everyday, as he does with our new curtains in the living room:


http://www.dropshots.com/pmq97#date/2009-08-18/07:00:50


(sorry about the link, I can't add videos over 100 MB directly to the blog. The bonus is that there are lots of other Joey videos on dropshots.com!)

He is also now pulling to stand over and over again, but only in 2 places..the couch and his crib. He finishes the move 99%, he just needs to work on getting his left foot under him.


His walking with assistance is getting smoother as well. He has his favourite places to walk to, usually from the front of the house to his swing in the back, but he will walk pretty much anywhere outside. Inside is more of a challenge as he would rather just scoot around on his bum on the comfy carpet and hardwood.





We have a little pool for Joey in the backyard, which he absolutely loves on hot days. So much do that we've taken to giving him his bath in it on occassion.

And on a couple of the hotter days we enjoyed a swim in Zia Jodi and Uncle Jason's pool along with cousin Ty. We finally had the chance to use this floatation aid which we received as a gift somewhere along the way but can't remember from who! If it was you please know that it is the BEST one we've ever used, it fits him perfectly now, requires very little air to blow it up and folds up nice and compact. I'd also love to know where it was purchased :)

Joey and Ty having a "conversation":

We had a chance to get our garage organized and our super-deluxe double stroller finally made it's way out of hibernation. We bought it back in March and it's been waiting patiently to see the light of day. We decided to take it on a test drive, Joey gave it a thumbs up:


We're still on the hunt for this Little Tikes tractor. It's been great for Joey,and with the addition of his new safety gear I actually feel comfortable moving a few feet away from him instead of hovering over the poor kid. This one belongs to his previous nursery school and has to be returned in a few weeks, so if you know where I can find one new or used please let me know.




Aaaaaand of course he took a tumble. But it's okay, he was protected. A few tears and all was well.

Joey's little brother is also doing well. I am now 34 weeks pregnant and things seem to be going smoothly.We haven't had to go back to Mount Sinai at all, which is a blessing. Beginning at 32 weeks my regular OB has been on top of things and I go to the hospital weekly for non-stress tests (NSTs). I've had 3 so far and all three were excellent, the baby seems to be enjoying himself in there and is doing everything he should be. I've had more bloodwork done, everything is checking out fine. I'm still waiting for my most recent bile acids test result and I suspect it will be higher than before as unfortunately the itching is getting worse.

It's hard to believe that a week Saturday I will be 35 weeks 6 days pregnant, which is when Joey was born. I'm hopeful this baby can stay in just a bit longer...Dr. S.would like to induce me somewhere between 37-38 weeks. This pregnancy has flown by compared to my pregnancy with Joey...with him I felt like an elephant, like I was gong to be pregnant with him forever. This time I'm not sure where the time has gone. I finished work on July 30 and have been very busy getting lots of things done around the house before the new arrival. His room is about 90% complete and thanks to Gramma Phyllis taking Joey to his physio group every Thursday and Friday morning I've gotten some bigger projects done too. I'm bracing myself for life with a "typical" newborn, I know we were very spoiled by Joey's infancy. He was such an easy kid, he woke through the night like all babies but would just eat and go back to sleep. He was content all the time, and I'm nervous that this new baby won't be as easy!

Tuesday I have another NST at the hospital, followed by a bio-physical profile ultrasound.I'm excited for the ultrasounf for a few reasons...I've never had an ultrasound past 24 weeks with either pregnancy so I can't wait to see the little guy! I also want to confirm for the 6th time that he really is a boy and not a girl. Most importantlythey are going to be checking the baby's muscle tone, something I didn't realize could be accurately assessed in utero.Apparently it takes a great deal of muscle tone to maintain the fetal position and that's what they're going to be looking at. It would have been so interesting to have had an ultrasound of Joey at 35 weeks....

That's all for now. Hopefully next week I'll have an ultrasound picture to share!

- P, J & J