Pam

Pam is our Physical Therapist. Well, she's actually Dominick's. We enjoy her visits very much. After this week's visit, she told us she'll be staying with him until he starts to walk. She originally anticipated him walking at about 18 months. He's currently 13 months, so she'll be with us for some time.

Strengthening his core in the exercise ball

Working on supporting his weight with his hands

You probably notice his sweet shiny pink spanks. Those have since been returned to Pam and he now has his own pair in black. The pink ones were the wrong size anyhow.

Final Destination

 

We lowered the crib today. It's now in it's final resting place. I returned home from work, and was told Dominick had pulled himself up to standing in the crib. No photographic evidence yet.

We're making progress!

Dominick has responded very well to physical therapy. He's able to sit up and get back to the floor on his own. Here's proof: 

Hip helpers

Our evaluation went well with Early On. We met with an evaluator and a physical therapist. The physical therapist worked with him for about 30 minutes. She said his joints are very flexible and loose with below average muscle tone for his age. This is most likely because he's very laid back & content. He doesn't have a whole lot of motivation to move because he's usually pretty happy where he is.

She said he's at an 8 month level for his gross motor skills. Otherwise, he's on track for the rest. He feeds himself just fine and babbles appropriately. PT gave us some exercises to do with him. She is hopeful he will make progress quickly. He already improved during the eval. He qualifies for the program, so she comes once a week for one hour.

His first session, she put these on Dominick. They're called Hip Helpers. They're little spandex shorts with the legs sewn together. When he spreads his legs apart, it gives him a wider base so he's more comfortable. The huggers keep his thighs closer together forcing him to go up on his knees when he wouldn't normally while he's on his belly. She suggested LOTS of tummy time. She also showed us some exercises/games to do with him to strengthen his core and back muscles. We're borrowing her shiny bright pink pair of Hip Helpers until our black ones get here.

We've had one session with PT and he's already able to get himself from a sitting position down to his belly when he wants to. That's going to be our biggest hurdle.

Here's a video Jason's sister took while they were here for Dom's birthday. Just to give you an idea of his mobility status.

12 month check-up

We had his check up on the 18th. I posted all the details, then Blogger ate my post on the iPad. This attempt will not be as good or detailed as I'm still pouting.

He weighed in at 23lbs, 3oz and 31.5" long. We had a few concerns. 1) His lack of weight gain since his 9 month exam. He gained 1 pound. He's noticeably thinner, but eats well. 2) His mobility. Broken record here. 3) He sleeps a lot. No complaint here, but we just wanted to make sure it's "normal" to sleep as much as he does.

The Doc said its normal for weight gain to slow down at this point because he's more mobile. Here's how the conversation went:

Pedi: "It's normal for his weight to plateau now that he's mobile."
Me: "He's not mobile"
Pedi: "Well, he crawls."
Me: "Not really. He just started to army crawl."
Pedi: "He cruises, right?"
Me: "No."
Pedi: "Pulls himself up on furniture?"
Me: "No. He can't even get himself to the floor from a sitting position."
Pedi: "Oh."

We enrolled him in a Michigan funded program called Early On. It's a free program that offers a variety of services. The doc gave us the option and we went for it. He's been making forward progress and I've been busy avoiding conversations about his mobility. After all, when people see him they just have to know if he walks and talks and all that. I've been lying lately saying he crawls/walks, because I can't take any more unsolicited advice about it. Someone recently said, "Well, why would he walk when he gets carried everywhere?" and "You just need to put his toys out of reach and he'll go get them if he really wants them." She underestimates the extend of Dominick's laziness/contentedness. When his toys are out of reach, he gladly plays with his feet, or his shirt, or just sits there and babbles. We do NOT carry him everywhere. Much to my dismay, he spends all his waking hours in the same room of our house. I love my happy laid back baby and he has no idea what he's missing, but I do want to make sure there's nothing wrong with him that's keeping him from being mobile.

His doctor wants him back in 6 weeks for a mobility and weight check. He does think he sleeps excessively, but it might just be another part of his personality. He thinks it could be his thyroid, but there's nothing else about him that points to it at this point. He's going to readdress this issue in 6 weeks.

This post was super long, so I'll post later about his Early On visit.