Hello everyone,
Well, this will officially be my last post. I'm going back to work in September (3 days/week - Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays), so will be needing the time to mark student work, plan lessons, etc. Sure hope you've enjoyed keeping track of Spencer through this blog, though - I've definitely enjoyed writing it!
As of Friday (4 days ago), Spencer weighed in at 26lbs 3oz. He also grew 1 cm in both length and head circumference this month. To "get around", at this point, he log rolls. Yes, log rolls. If he sees a toy he wants and it's out of his reach, this is what he'll do. It's not pretty, but it works, haha! : ) By way of teeth, he's now the proud owner of 4. The top two and the bottom two. Pretty cute it is. Yup, our little boy is indeed growing up!
A cute thing he does these days is when he's given something in his hand (a toy, a piece of food, whatever), he'll "examine" it. He'll look at one side, then turn it around and look at the other side, then he'll shake it a few times. Then, it might go into the mouth after that. It's pretty funny to watch. I know for some babies, everything immediately goes into the mouth, but for Spencer, he likes to take his time and check it out at every angle first.
We haven't had another asthma attack, thank goodness. Clear for the past 6+ weeks now. I'm hoping it won't happen again, but if it does, I'm hoping they won't crop up often. So far, so good. Same goes with allergies - none to speak of to date. In fact, I was thinking about it since Spencer's turned 1 this past weekend and we've been unbelievably lucky when it comes to illness. Especially considering he's a preemie! Aside from the 2 asthma attacks (the initial one was diagnosed as croup, but because it had exactly the same symptoms as the second one, I'm almost certain that an asthma attack was what it was), Spencer's been remarkably healthy. No fevers at all to speak of, not even a runny nose. Knock on wood!! Drew and I don't get sick too terribly often, so I'm hoping that Spencer follows after us in that regard.
We have him signed up for swimming lessons (Waterbabies 2) and music classes this Fall. The daycare we're bringing him to is called Rainforest and it seems fantastic. It's right around the corner, about a 3 minute drive from us. We go for gradual entry three times the week after next, to "ease him in" to the idea. I'm praying it will all go smoothly!!
Well, that's all the new news for now. Again, thank you for reading his blog all these months .. as I said, I've really enjoyed writing it. If you're ever wanting an update, please don't hesitate to call us. We'd love to hear from you!
Lots of love and hugs,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
PS - Scroll down to see the birthday party pictures ...
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Spencer - 8 Months Corrected
Hi Everyone,
Well, Spencer continues to thrive in the growing department - as of last Wednesday, he was 25 lbs 3 oz! 1 lb 9 oz gain from last month. Percentiles when measured against other 8 month olds: for his head circumference, which is 47 cm, up 0.5 cm - last month he was in the 95% and now is 96%, weight was 98% last month and now is 99%, and length (which is now at 75 cm, up 2 cm) was 93% last month and now is 95%. If measured next to other 11 month olds (Spencer's "actual" age), he'd be at the 80% for head circumference (last month was 75%), 90% for weight (last month was 81st) and 63rd for length (last month was 52nd). Not that I'm surprised in the least, considering how much this boy loves his food! He still cries when he hasn't had enough or if he's not being fed fast enough. Too funny! He eats a whole array of things now and thankfully continues not to show any signs of allergies. I don't give him any jarred food at all anymore - instead, I mash up "regular" food. So far, Spencer likes/will eat everything he's been given. The one thing he makes a funny face with (but still eats it) - surprisingly, considering how yummy it is - is watermelon. Maybe it's the texture he doesn't like. Who knows. He'll still eat it, but I can tell it's not his favourite. Something he really seems to like though is when I blend up an apple to add to his morning cereal and then sprinkle some cinnamon on it. He loves it and gobbles it up at breakneck speed!
Milestone-wise, Spencer is sitting up beautifully now. No more sitting and falling over, sitting and falling over. No interest in crawling yet, though not that I'm wishing for it ... I know how much life will change once he's on the move! Developmentally, Spencer tends to do things according to his corrected age rather than his actual age, which I guess makes sense.
Another fun thing he's just started doing as of about a week ago is clapping his hands. If you say to him, "Pattycake, Spencer", he'll actually clap for you ... most of the time. Drew's mom figured this out and now it's a game to see if he'll do it for you on command or not. 75% of the time, he will. It's very cute!
A sound he likes to make these days is, "Aaa-Ddd". No idea why. Just two sounds he likes the sound of, I guess.
One "scare" to mention that happened on June 21 ... after taking Spencer to Maplewood Farm for a couple of hours, that night at 3am, he woke up wheezing and not being able to take proper breaths. Down to the hospital we went and after a blood test, chest x-ray and doctor exam, it was deemed that Spencer likely has infant-onset asthma. He was given an inhaler complete with a mask ('cause of course, a baby doesn't know how to inhale the medicine in, so it has to be puffed into a storage chamber and the baby then breathes it through the tiny mask that fits over their nose and mouth). I'm told that baby asthma gets triggered by something at this age (in this case, they think it was the animal dander in the air at the farm) ... so basically he doesn't need the inhaler every day, but rather when he's showing signs of being "wheezy". He hasn't needed it since and I'm hoping he won't for a while. It was scary hearing him breathe like that, but thankfully, we're only minutes away from the hospital! Asthma is definitely something I can deal with, considering how premature Spencer was.
We've also been seeing a physio for Spencer's "flat head" ... it's from lying too much on the left side (when he is sleeping or in the car - his head always went to the left) and now - unfortunately - that side has a flat spot to it. The physio gives us exercises to do and insists that we position Spencer's head to the right whenever and wherever possible, which is what we've been very diligent about for the past month now. It seems to be working - I've noticed a difference from a few weeks ago. Thankfully, his head is still soft enough to still be "mold-able" ... one year corrected age (so, in November) is when a head starts hardening up, so we have about four more months to mold it into a nice head shape for him! Some babies have to wear helmets to correct the shape - Spencer was assessed for one, but told that positioning and the exercises in his case would be good enough. Apparently, the "flat head" issue is becoming more and more widespread these days, ever since the push to put babies on their back to sleep (to prevent SIDS) came into practice about fifteen years ago.
Well, that's about all for this post ... the day after tomorrow, we leave on a 3 1/2 week vacation to New Mexico, Texas and the Caribbean and are hoping that Spencer will be a good little traveler! We're looking forward to showing him all there is to see in that part of the world.
So, until next month then!
Thanks for reading,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
PS -Please scroll down to see this month's latest photos. Enjoy!
Well, Spencer continues to thrive in the growing department - as of last Wednesday, he was 25 lbs 3 oz! 1 lb 9 oz gain from last month. Percentiles when measured against other 8 month olds: for his head circumference, which is 47 cm, up 0.5 cm - last month he was in the 95% and now is 96%, weight was 98% last month and now is 99%, and length (which is now at 75 cm, up 2 cm) was 93% last month and now is 95%. If measured next to other 11 month olds (Spencer's "actual" age), he'd be at the 80% for head circumference (last month was 75%), 90% for weight (last month was 81st) and 63rd for length (last month was 52nd). Not that I'm surprised in the least, considering how much this boy loves his food! He still cries when he hasn't had enough or if he's not being fed fast enough. Too funny! He eats a whole array of things now and thankfully continues not to show any signs of allergies. I don't give him any jarred food at all anymore - instead, I mash up "regular" food. So far, Spencer likes/will eat everything he's been given. The one thing he makes a funny face with (but still eats it) - surprisingly, considering how yummy it is - is watermelon. Maybe it's the texture he doesn't like. Who knows. He'll still eat it, but I can tell it's not his favourite. Something he really seems to like though is when I blend up an apple to add to his morning cereal and then sprinkle some cinnamon on it. He loves it and gobbles it up at breakneck speed!
Milestone-wise, Spencer is sitting up beautifully now. No more sitting and falling over, sitting and falling over. No interest in crawling yet, though not that I'm wishing for it ... I know how much life will change once he's on the move! Developmentally, Spencer tends to do things according to his corrected age rather than his actual age, which I guess makes sense.
Another fun thing he's just started doing as of about a week ago is clapping his hands. If you say to him, "Pattycake, Spencer", he'll actually clap for you ... most of the time. Drew's mom figured this out and now it's a game to see if he'll do it for you on command or not. 75% of the time, he will. It's very cute!
A sound he likes to make these days is, "Aaa-Ddd". No idea why. Just two sounds he likes the sound of, I guess.
One "scare" to mention that happened on June 21 ... after taking Spencer to Maplewood Farm for a couple of hours, that night at 3am, he woke up wheezing and not being able to take proper breaths. Down to the hospital we went and after a blood test, chest x-ray and doctor exam, it was deemed that Spencer likely has infant-onset asthma. He was given an inhaler complete with a mask ('cause of course, a baby doesn't know how to inhale the medicine in, so it has to be puffed into a storage chamber and the baby then breathes it through the tiny mask that fits over their nose and mouth). I'm told that baby asthma gets triggered by something at this age (in this case, they think it was the animal dander in the air at the farm) ... so basically he doesn't need the inhaler every day, but rather when he's showing signs of being "wheezy". He hasn't needed it since and I'm hoping he won't for a while. It was scary hearing him breathe like that, but thankfully, we're only minutes away from the hospital! Asthma is definitely something I can deal with, considering how premature Spencer was.
We've also been seeing a physio for Spencer's "flat head" ... it's from lying too much on the left side (when he is sleeping or in the car - his head always went to the left) and now - unfortunately - that side has a flat spot to it. The physio gives us exercises to do and insists that we position Spencer's head to the right whenever and wherever possible, which is what we've been very diligent about for the past month now. It seems to be working - I've noticed a difference from a few weeks ago. Thankfully, his head is still soft enough to still be "mold-able" ... one year corrected age (so, in November) is when a head starts hardening up, so we have about four more months to mold it into a nice head shape for him! Some babies have to wear helmets to correct the shape - Spencer was assessed for one, but told that positioning and the exercises in his case would be good enough. Apparently, the "flat head" issue is becoming more and more widespread these days, ever since the push to put babies on their back to sleep (to prevent SIDS) came into practice about fifteen years ago.
Well, that's about all for this post ... the day after tomorrow, we leave on a 3 1/2 week vacation to New Mexico, Texas and the Caribbean and are hoping that Spencer will be a good little traveler! We're looking forward to showing him all there is to see in that part of the world.
So, until next month then!
Thanks for reading,
Tara, Drew & Spencer xo
PS -Please scroll down to see this month's latest photos. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
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