10 Months Old!

Today Zach is 10 months old. This is one of the few pics I could get with him sitting still, so sorry he's not smiling. He's all over the place these days. He is crawling on his belly, crawling on hands and knees, pulling up, and cruising the furniture. He is trying to stand without holding on, but he falls down.

 His favorite toy is his activity table and his favorite food is strawberries. He could eat a whole pint if we let him. He's really got the eating solids thing down recently and is eating everything in sight. He still isn't a fan of bananas, but he'll eat them if mixed with something else. He eats a mixture of purees and finger foods. Usually he has purees for lunch and finger foods for dinner, unless we're out to eat (then he usually has a puree pouch) or he has left overs from dinner the night before.

He loves to eat!

 

Zach saw the orthotists about the helmet about 1.5 weeks ago. They said he is looking great. He will have to wear the helmet full time until June 5th (his next appointment), then he will wear it only at night until his birthday.

Here is a comparison shot of his head. The center photo was taken in January, before he got the helmet. The rest are from a few weeks ago. Don't mind the booty, the only time he stays remotely still is in the bath!

This kid is crazy, funny, silly, and so loveable.

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.