Sitting Up, Puffs and Bath Time

I thought I should just do a general post of what Nick has been up to, and post a bunch of photos to go along with it. Nick has been sitting up like a champ. I usually put the boppy around him for those times that he leans a little too far over to get a toy. He had decided that sitting up is a good idea, and would like to do it often.

We also have started eating "puffs". We try cheerios too, but the puffs are flavored (banana and peach yum!) and they dissolve much quicker than cheerios. This helps. We are working on two very important skills... being able to use his figures to pick up small things, and the skills it takes to roll a hard food in his mouth with his tongue. Nick loves puffs. He can pick them up wonderfully. Getting them into his mouth and not down the front of him, is slightly more challenging, but he keeps trying. He gets very excited when you get out the puffs, and often throws a fit when he runs out of puffs. The boy loves to eat!

Bath time has also become a new favorite. I have never seen a baby love to kick and splash so much!

Check Me Out

Nick and I have been working and working on the sitting up thing. Check out what he decided to show me he could do this evening...

Apparently, I just needed to give him the remote control as bribery to sit up.

Nick's 7 month photo shoot

Just learned how to do this at work. We are always trying and doing new things! Of course I had to try it with Nick's photos!

Another Preemie Clinic

Preemie clinic went well on Tuesday. Nick had his monthly weigh in... 15.1 lbs! Such a big guy! They thought his weight gain was decent. ("appropriate gain for his adjusted age, however, not what we had hoped for him to catch up") We went through the feeding schedule again (EVERY TIME?!!) The docs conferred with the occupational therapist, and the nutritionist and finally decided that no matter what they try to get him to do/eat, he is just going to be his own person. REALLY?!!!! I have been trying to say that for these past months.

We aren't going to change anything at this point, which means I wake Nick up to eat once in the middle of the night. We are still on increased calories. They just now have come to the conclusion that while he is not on the growth curve in the place they would like him, he is on his own curve and that is ok. As long as he doesn't deviate from the curve, we are cool. They want to see him back in a month for another weight check. If he is still hovering in the 5th percentile, they are good to let him go and see him back in a few months (versus every month).

So, for now, all is good. The occupational therapist commented that she thought developmentally, he was right on track. She said she couldn't quite gauge everything, but she felt like, given what she saw, the stuff he isn't doing yet, (sitting up) is most likely due to the fact that HE WILL NOT BE STILL. She felt like he can do all these things, he is just so active, he can't be bothered with a little thing like sitting still. She did stop the therapy session and turn to me to ask, "Is he always like this?" Yes! He moves constantly... even in his sleep.

A Taste of Fall

This morning, Nicholas and I spent a little time, going through all of his clothes. Saturday I woke up to some cooler temperatures (It was like 95 last Thursday!). This is the first "real" cool front we have gotten this year. I realized that, while I had bought Nick some fall and winter clothes, I had yet to take the tags off and wash them. Luckily, there was something in the closet that I had washed.

So, this morning while waiting for his ECI therapy appt, I went through his clothes. We are finally almost grown out of 3 month clothes ! YEAH! I packed away all the sleeveless clothes. I packed away most of the 3 month shorts and t-shirts. I got out all the fall clothes, washed them and hung them up. He is all ready for fall! Of course, I watched the news, it will be in the 90's again in a day or so. Welcome to Southeast Texas!

Nick's ECI appointment went well. She gave us some new things to try, and again we are just keeping with the same stuff. Trying to encourage him to sit up and play. Strengthen his shoulders, and use his tummy muscles.

His tummy is doing better, and the diaper rash is doing better as well. I have been letting him be naked as much as I can. He actually spent a lot of the weekend butt naked on a sheet saver from his bed. He loves being naked! Some of the time, I wasn't quite as brave, so I used a cloth diaper on him. Not cleared up yet, but he is getting better.

Rough Couple of Days

The end of the week was rough for poor Nick. He got a stomach bug. This started on Wednesday and continued until Saturday. Stomach bug in a baby = bad case of diaper rash! I felt so bad for him. He would scream every time he had a dirty diaper, but scream even louder when I tried to change him. I tried EVERYTHING! We did desitin, vaseline, soaked in a warm bath with baking soda. For the stomach bug, it was bananas every day from Friday until today. I woke up every 2-3 hours very night from Wednesday - Saturday to change him. He is feeling better, a prescription from the doctor for diaper rash cream helped.

Other than that, we have been good. I am a little concerned, Nick has a preemie clinic appointment on Tuesday. He is no where near the weight they wanted him to be by the next appointment. I am hoping I can use the stomach bug as a reason for the lack of weight gain.

The truth is, I have done everything they have asked. I wake up every night, get him up and feed him a bottle. I have started feeding him foods that have many more calories. Sometimes I think the more calories I give him, the more he burns. I am not sure what the next step is. We have increased the formula to it's maximum calorie giving potential. I think the next step is an additive. I am very hesitant to take this step. If I thought for a moment that his weight was impeding his development, I would be the first to be on board for this. I do not feel that this is the case right now. At this point I am not sure what to think.

I am not going to worry about it too much right now. The appointment isn't until Tuesday, so I will worry about it when we are there. We have physical therapy to look forward to tomorrow. I can't wait for Nick to be able to sit up and crawl. I think he will be a much happier baby when he is mobile. I will be happy too, probably more anxious, but happy.

We are doing well. He has been a champ through the stomach bug and diaper rash. He has even found the delight of his Johnny Jump. He used to just sit in it and twirl. He has figured out that bouncing in it is SO much more fun!

Saturday Attire

I took this with my cell phone camera, sorry for the quality. Just wanted to show you what Nick looks like every Saturday during College Football season.

I have resorted to bribery...

Nick had an ECI therapy appointment on Monday. Mandy (Nick's therapist) was very excited, and impressed that he was showing crawling signs. She thought that was a very positive step. She was not impressed with his lack of sitting up, however. The problem is, he can do it. Some preemies have issues with being able to bend and move properly, especially on their lower extremities. These same babies can't do things like put their feet to their mouth etc. Nick can do all the above, he just chooses not too. He will sit up assisted for a while, but the problem is, I can't keep his attention long enough to get him to stay in that position. He knows that when he is laying down, he has much more mobility. He can roll and roll and grab things with his hands and feet. He can't do those things while sitting, so he would just prefer not too.

I figured if he had a toy that had lots of lights and buttons (his two favorite things right now, which may explain his fascination for the remote-seriously? you are too young for that little man). Anyway, I bought him his own baby laptop. It has shapes and sounds and songs and lights up when you punch buttons.

It worked better than anything thus far, but only because he kept trying to bend over to eat it. Hey, whatever works, right?