Moving in Reverse, All Good News
This week Colin has started scootching around, trying to crawl. He'll see something he wants a little in front of him, and tries to move toward it. Unfortunately he doesn't quite have the whole crawling thing down so he has been backing up instead of moving forward! He's had a couple of lucky forward lunges, so I expect we'll see crawling soon. I'm amost wondering if he's saving crawling for when Granpa Buzzy is here next week... wouldn't that be wonderful?!? In the meantime he's certainly not hampered by his inability to crawl. Between his rolling, pivoting, and stretching skills he can pretty much get to whatever he wants, but I know that actual locomotion is not far off!
In other news we had our 6-month checkup with the Craniofacial Team at St. Peter's, and we're looking good! The audiologist tested his hearing two ways, and the ENT doctor also checked his ears, and everything was perfect. Literally!! The ENT guy had an intern and a medical student with him, and he told them to look at Colin's (and I quote) "perfect" eardrums. Our little guy was so good - when the ENT doctor came in we could still hear the child next door howling in outrage from having their ears examined. Colin, on the other hand, sat there calmly while all three of them peered into his ears. What a good boy!!!
The pediatric dentist gave him a pretty thorough exam as well, recommending that I massage Colin's gums (and new teeth) with a wet washcloth daily. This will help keep the teeth clean, acclimate Colin to having things in his mouth (to develop good oral hygiene), and help desensitize the cleft area in his gums. Aparently when there's a cleft in the gums the skin is extra sensitive, and massage can help to alleviate that. He also warned us that when his upper teeth come in at that spot there's a good likely hood that they'll be pointing in odd directions (perhaps at one another). This has to do with the way the bones grow due to the clefting. For now that is just an FYI - they wouldn't look to remove any teeth, and we're just supposed to keep it as clean as we can. (Yes, braces are definitely going to be in our future. cha-ching)
The speech therapist was a fun one... Colin was happy when she came in, so he was sticking his tongue out. And it stayed out! We could tell she was getting concerned that he didn't have control over his tongue because he kept sticking it out at her! I was trying to explain that "tongue out" is his signature move, and a barometer of his mood, not an inability to control his licker! Thankfully he eventually pulled it in for a bit, so she relaxed. Other things she asked about included if he is saying consonants (yes, a few), which vowels (mostly "ooh" and "aaah" sounds, not a lot of "oh" or "eee"), and if in general he is vocalizing (YES!). Her other concern was with his ability to move the lip, which is very good. He can clear a spoon when eating, closes his mouth without difficulty, and seems to have good general mobiility in the entire uppper lip. Eventually during her visit Colin started holding up his end of the conversation and she was pleased with his babbling. If she only knew.... the kid keeps up a running commentary, sometimes for 30 minutes or more!!! Seriously - this boy is his father's child, and I guarantee there will be no problems wth talking!!!
We also met with the social worker, which is always a high anxiety moment for me. While I know (hope) it is utterly irrational, I have this horrible fear that she's going to decide I'm an unfit mother and take Colin away from me. It isn't that I think we're doing anything wrong - this little guy is the center of our universe, and is obviously well cared for and loved - but you always hear these horror stories about how a kid stubs his toe and social services comes in and whisks the child away. Meanwhile they'll never address any problem with the poor kid that's locked in a closet for a month and fed on a diet of pixie stix and pez. Frankly I hate having to meet with her, but since our child is listed with the state as having a birth defect, well... 'dem's da berries.
So, all in all a good day. And assuming there's no signficant issues it looks like we won't meet with the team again until this time next year. Hooray for a healty boy!
In other news we had our 6-month checkup with the Craniofacial Team at St. Peter's, and we're looking good! The audiologist tested his hearing two ways, and the ENT doctor also checked his ears, and everything was perfect. Literally!! The ENT guy had an intern and a medical student with him, and he told them to look at Colin's (and I quote) "perfect" eardrums. Our little guy was so good - when the ENT doctor came in we could still hear the child next door howling in outrage from having their ears examined. Colin, on the other hand, sat there calmly while all three of them peered into his ears. What a good boy!!!
The pediatric dentist gave him a pretty thorough exam as well, recommending that I massage Colin's gums (and new teeth) with a wet washcloth daily. This will help keep the teeth clean, acclimate Colin to having things in his mouth (to develop good oral hygiene), and help desensitize the cleft area in his gums. Aparently when there's a cleft in the gums the skin is extra sensitive, and massage can help to alleviate that. He also warned us that when his upper teeth come in at that spot there's a good likely hood that they'll be pointing in odd directions (perhaps at one another). This has to do with the way the bones grow due to the clefting. For now that is just an FYI - they wouldn't look to remove any teeth, and we're just supposed to keep it as clean as we can. (Yes, braces are definitely going to be in our future. cha-ching)
The speech therapist was a fun one... Colin was happy when she came in, so he was sticking his tongue out. And it stayed out! We could tell she was getting concerned that he didn't have control over his tongue because he kept sticking it out at her! I was trying to explain that "tongue out" is his signature move, and a barometer of his mood, not an inability to control his licker! Thankfully he eventually pulled it in for a bit, so she relaxed. Other things she asked about included if he is saying consonants (yes, a few), which vowels (mostly "ooh" and "aaah" sounds, not a lot of "oh" or "eee"), and if in general he is vocalizing (YES!). Her other concern was with his ability to move the lip, which is very good. He can clear a spoon when eating, closes his mouth without difficulty, and seems to have good general mobiility in the entire uppper lip. Eventually during her visit Colin started holding up his end of the conversation and she was pleased with his babbling. If she only knew.... the kid keeps up a running commentary, sometimes for 30 minutes or more!!! Seriously - this boy is his father's child, and I guarantee there will be no problems wth talking!!!
We also met with the social worker, which is always a high anxiety moment for me. While I know (hope) it is utterly irrational, I have this horrible fear that she's going to decide I'm an unfit mother and take Colin away from me. It isn't that I think we're doing anything wrong - this little guy is the center of our universe, and is obviously well cared for and loved - but you always hear these horror stories about how a kid stubs his toe and social services comes in and whisks the child away. Meanwhile they'll never address any problem with the poor kid that's locked in a closet for a month and fed on a diet of pixie stix and pez. Frankly I hate having to meet with her, but since our child is listed with the state as having a birth defect, well... 'dem's da berries.
So, all in all a good day. And assuming there's no signficant issues it looks like we won't meet with the team again until this time next year. Hooray for a healty boy!
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