We had another positive week of appointments last week. Jordan’s 9 month appointment showed his height and weight to be in the 50th percentiles. He was injected with one shot this time, and as usual, we are pleasantly sad by his reaction to getting a shot. We are happy that he feels the shot but sad that he is slightly upset.
His reaction is like, “What in the world?” and then “Ok.” The nurses are usually surprised that he gets over it as fast as he does.
We also discussed sleeping habits. Jordan does well according to our books, but that does include waking up for a middle of the night feeding. The pediatrician said as long as he is still nursing we can continue, but when we are ready, he is at the age that he can self soothe in order to start a new routine of sleeping through the entire night.
Honestly I don’t mind getting up, but am sad for the day I’ll have to let him be upset for a little while.
A revisit to Brian the orthotist at Hanger Clinic was scheduled to have the AFOs (Ankle Foot Orthosis) rechecked to ensure they were fit properly. Again our report card gave us an A. We are waiting to hear from Dr. Jones, Jordan’s orthopedic surgeon, to see if getting fit for his standing/walking AFOs would be a good idea.
Jordan’s physical therapy has been going well. Our homework for this week is strengthening his right side. I love working on ideas while we’re playing – placing an object on the opposite side or farther out of reach so he has to really work to get there; playing on his new medicine ball; blocking one side so he has to work harder with the other; and spending time together as a family working toward one goal…helping Jordan become the best he can be.
Some of these activities may sound like we’re enjoying his hard work, but when we hear someone say, “Boy he is getting stronger!” or “Did you see him do that?”, it makes his little grunts of determination pay off.
I was talking to Randy the other day about Jordan’s improvements. We aren’t sure if it’s his stage of development, new handling techniques or movements we are now aware of, but he seems to be making great strides moving his lower extremities.
As a family, our first St. Patrick’s day was one of my favorites we’ve spent together thus far. Of course it started off by Jordan and Randy sleeping in while I set off for the first yard sale of the year. My two favorite finds were a puppet show theater to hang in a doorway and a Leap Frog Word Whammer for the refrigerator.
I spent the rest of the day with my boys and little dog. We went for a walk in a park nearby. My favorite part was when we placed our little dog, Sasha, on the front of the stroller to give her a little break.
We spent the evening watching March Madness, which ended with Randy and I toasting with our own version of McDonalds Shamrock Shakes.
Read more about Megs’ and Randy’s journey of raising a child with spina bifida through her blog, Labor of Love.
