Nine months old!

Zach is nine months old! I can't believe he's so big already. He's doing really well and is very smart. I wanted to list his favorite things and least favorites, but I'm going to start with least favorites first because there are fewer of those..

Dislikes- long car rides, banana, getting his nose cleaned, waiting for his dinner, teething

Loves:

Baths

Flying on the swings

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and his jumper

Teething cookies and oranges

Walks

He's doing great with the helmet and it is really helping reshape his head. He's had it adjusted twice now and the orthotist said he will only need it for about another month.

The picture on the left was taken in January and the picture on the right was taken a few weeks ago. You can really see how much rounder his head is now.

Zach graduates from physical therapy next week. His torticollis is completely resolved and he is doing great.  He is working on crawling and finally figured out how to go forward yesterday.  He is very mobile and hates to be held in one place.  His therapist is very impressed with his progress.

Zach also loves to talk! It is mostly not real words, but he babbles like a maniac. If you talk to him, he "talks" back, sometimes very earnestly.  He really likes the pets and tries to pet and play with them all the time. Now that he's so mobile, he likes to roll over to where the dogs are lying and try to cuddle with them. They aren't quite sure what to do with him, but the cat loves the extra petting!

I almost forgot, Zach has been teething like crazy lately! He has gotten 3 new teeth in past 3 weeks, for a total of 5 teeth now. I think he's got one more tooth on the way in. 

Zach will see the pediatrician for his 9 month well visit on Wednesday so I'll update more then. Bye for now!

Eight months old!

Today Zach is 8 months old! He's a sweet, silly, funny boy. This month he learned how to give hugs and it's so cute! When you're holding him, he grabs your shoulders and says, "Mmmmm!" He is army crawling in reverse and sitting up like a champ. He loves any toy that makes noise and crawls around banging toys on the floor so they make a sound. He babbles all the time and sings when the radio is on in the car. He loves to eat and his favorite foods are meatballs and fish. His least favorites are bananas and peas. Zach loves bath time and we recently moved him into the big tub from the baby tub. He gets baths every night because the helmet makes him sweaty and he gets all excited when we bring him into the bathroom to get ready. I take his clothes off in his room and then sit him on the bathroom floor while I make sure the water is ready. Every night, he finds his bath toys in the bin next to the tub and digs them all out to go in the tub with him. It's adorable.

Zach is still in PT, but he graduates next month because he no longer has torticollis! I'm not sure if I mentioned that. He has full range of motion in his neck now. His head is also continuing to improve. He goes back for another helmet follow up next Thursday.

The angle isn't great on these pictures, but you can see that his head is getting rounder.

The Helmet- one week in

Zach got the helmet on 2/25/13. He's done amazingly well with it. We worked up to wearing it 23 hours a day and now he only takes it off to change his clothes and for bathtime. We were really nervous the first night he slept with it on, but he only woke up once and went right back to sleep after eating. It hasn't bothered him at all really. In fact, I think it has helped his balance! He is sitting up better than ever and rolling all over the place. He is army crawling backwards and now doesn't mind if he bumps his head. We went back last week for his first follow up appointment and the Orthopedist confirmed that it is already working. His head is already rounding out in the back and the shape is changing. He goes back in 3 weeks to check it checked again.

Seven months old!

On Tuesday, Zach turned 7 months old. I can't believe how fast time is flying. He's so active now! Always moving! He sits really well unassisted and is trying to crawl. So far, he can crawl backwards with his belly on the ground. He gets frustrated when he gets stuck in a corner or against the furniture or when a toy is in front of him out of reach. He is also doing great eating solids. He eats purees and finger foods. He loves everything except peas and bananas. I gave him a chunk of banana the other day and he threw it back at me. He also likes to feed food to the dogs when he doesn't like it.

Physical therapy is going well. Yesterday the therapist told me that he won't qualify for more time with her because he no longer has torticollis! I'm so proud of him. She said he's meeting all his milestones and she's very happy with how far he's come.

Zach hasn't gotten his helmet yet. They called 2 Fridays ago and told us what the insurance would pay and that they were sending it off to be made and that it should be ready in 2 weeks. So it should be ready soon.

Neuro and 6 month doctor's appt

I've been hesitant to write this post because this update makes me sad. Zach saw the neurologist last Monday about the flat spot on the back of his head. He has to get a helmet. We had him fitted for it today. It was terrible. They used plaster to make a mold of his head. We had to hold him down while he thrashed and screamed. He hated it and I felt awful.  He should have his helmet in a few weeks. The doctors think that it will really help him quickly. His head has already improved. The left side of his head has rounded out and the helmet should round out the right. His ears and facial features aren't really affected. I ordered a cool pattern for his helmet, it's a red, green, blue, and white tornado pattern, so at least he'll look cool :). Also, PT has been great for him and is the reason why the left side of his head is so much better. His torticollis is pretty much gone except that he tips his head to the right when he's sleepy.

Zach also saw the pediatrician last week also. He's now 15lbs 7oz and 25 3/4 inches tall. He's gained 3lbs and 1 3/4 inches in two months! Huge growth spurt!

Six months old!

Yesterday Zachary turned 6 months old! I can't believe he is getting so big! He's doing great. He saw the ENT last week and they said his hearing is excellent. His torticollis is so much better and his flat spot is improving. He is babbling like crazy and his favorite "words" are "mama" and "baba". He wakes up every morning saying, "Mama baba mama baba". He rolls from front to back with ease anytime we put him on his tummy. He can sit on his own for about 10 seconds and loves sitting up in the grocery cart now. He has 2 teeth and is working on at least one more. He sleeps really well at night and has been taking long naps during the day. We started feeding him purees around Christmas and he likes everything but bananas and peas. We've started feeding him a few table foods and, while he didn't actually ingest much, he did well with grabbing the food and getting it to his mouth. He has developed into a really cheerful silly personality.

Coming up:

January 28- Neurology appt to assess the flat spot
January 30- 6 month doctor's appt.

Five months old and Z's first Christmas

I know I'm a few weeks late, so sorry. Things have been crazy busy around here. Zach is now 5 months old! He's so big! He's been working on rolling over more and is a pro at going from front to back. He doesn't initiate rolling from back to front, but he doesn't like being on his tummy, so that's not surprising. He also learned to sit up and is getting better at balancing, though he only lasts about 10 seconds before slouching over.
He can now sit up in the high chair at restaurants and in the shopping cart as long as he's strapped in and we are watching him very closely.

We started more solid foods last week. Technically they are purees, but still. He loves applesauce and sweet potatoes, likes peas, and hates banana. Seriously, clamps his mouth shut when offered banana. He must not like the smell.

Last week we took a road trip to Pennsylvania to visit my family.

Zach didn't like the car ride. He made it about 7.5 hours on the way there before freaking out, but only lasted about 2 hours on the way home.

He had a great Christmas though! He got to spend time with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa, which he loved.

He also got to meet Great Grandma Peg, Great Grandpa Jim, Great Great Grandma Ogle, and lots of other aunts, uncles, and cousins. He loved spending time with Auntie Bethe too.

He got lots of really nice gifts.

His favorite gifts were his books, his Laugh & Learn Puppy, and his tool bench.

 Zach also met his friend Maggie, who is 3 weeks younger than he is. They had fun playing near each other. He did reach out and give Maggie a hug when he first saw her though.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve.

Lastly, Zach got one more great gift this holiday season. On Christmas Eve, he cut his first tooth! He had cold symptoms for about a week before so we thought he was sick. We noticed the tooth coming up on the 23rd. It came through on the 24th and the cold symptoms went away. It must feel funny because he keeps running his tongue over it.

I can't believe how much he has grown! He's like a totally different baby now!