I cannot believe that I haven't updated in almost six weeks-Grant has made so much great progress. Everyday I am amazed with what an easy-going, happy boy he is; we are enjoying him so much and I feel spoiled to have such great boys. I will try to give a synopsis of Grant's little achievements this month. I sometimes get so nervous about how he is going to
develop, so I get a bit overexcited about every new thing he does-sorry for the long post.
Little Roly Poly
About a month ago Grant started rolling both directions onto his stomach and now is quite proficient at it. He
occasionally rolls from his stomach to his back, but since he hates being on his back he is not very motivated to do so very often.
Goodbye Tucker Sling
Ever since Grant was out of the
isolette in the
NICU he has slept on a Tucker Sling which is a cotton harness that fits over a foam wedge-it keeps him elevated without sliding down. It really helped with his reflux, but after he started rolling I realized that being strapped in the harness was probably impeding his motor development and contributing to his stiff muscles. About three weeks ago I decided to try to let him sleep like a "normal" baby for a nap. He did so well I never put him back in the sling. Grant slept next to our bed in the pack-and-play until one morning a few weeks ago. I came home from work and Cole ran to the door excitedly saying, "Mommy look what I did". To my shock I saw Grant lying face down on the edge of the bed. Cole had managed to lift Grant up and lay him on our very tall bed. He was totally fine, but I asked Cole like fifty times if he accidentally dropped him or stepped on him. Derek of course was snoring and oblivious to it all. Cole was so proud it was hard to get mad at him, but now Grant sleeps in his room with the door locked to keep Cole out! I am excited that Grant can now sleep without being elevated, I thought that would never happen, and it means a lot to me that I can just lay him down like a "normal" baby-one more sign that he is getting bigger and stronger.
First Foods
We started Grant on solids about three weeks ago. He really was not too fond of the rice cereal and more of it probably ended up on his face than in his mouth. We moved on to squash a few days later, which he loved (after a few spoonfuls). He now is eating all of the stage one veges and fruits and doing such a good job at it. I am so relieved that he loves eating. I have been so nervous because I have read about so many preemies having serious oral aversions and refusing to eat at all-bottles and food- and some end up being tube fed for years. Luckily Grant has always loved his bottles, and I am so happy he loves his fruits and veges as well!
The aftermath of Cole's attempt to feed Grant sweet potatoes
Getting Stronger
Grant started sitting up about a week and a half ago. He had been sitting while leaning on his hands for awhile, but he finally started to sit straighter and lift his hands up and play while he is sitting. He wobbles a bit and falls to the side sometimes, but overall is doing very well. I finally trusted him enough to move from behind him and take some pics, but big brother was close by to catch him if he tipped. Grant loves sitting up and playing with Cole. We still have occupational therapy every Tuesday and physical therapy every Thursday. Right now we working on loosening up his trunk and helping him to reach side to side while sitting and shift his weight around. I really think he has made a lot of good progress lately, and I think moving him out of the sling has helped so much.
Happy Boy!
Grant is such a good, happy boy. Everyday I can't wait for him to wake up from his naps so I can see his sweet smiling face looking up at me. He rarely cries, and only does so if he is hungry or tired. It is also so nice to have a baby sleep well and in his own crib. Grant will sleep 10-11 hours
through the night and then take two naps. Cole did not sleep through the night until he was like nine months old, and that was only after we let him sleep in bed with us (he still
sneaks in bed with us almost every night). I am embarrassed to say, but the only way we were able to get Cole to sleep was to rock him to sleep when he was a baby (which would sometimes take hours) and then to drive him around when he was older; sometimes I would drive around for hours trying to get him to sleep. Despite his poor sleeping, Cole was a great baby too. I know that his poor sleeping habits were mostly our doing, but it is so nice to luck into having a baby who sleeps well. It has been such a hard year for us, but also so rewarding. I am just so grateful that Grant is doing well and seems so happy and well adjusted.
