Great Progress

We've had two meetings now with the occupational therapist, and Johnny is doing wonderfully. They were impressed and said he made such great leaps and bounds that he might just get all caught up a few months earlier than our goal of his 1st birthday! He has found his feet and loves to play with them (stomach muscles developing) and is doing drastically better with his neck. We have a few fun new games to play together as well as an exercise ball to roll around on that will continue to develop his tummy and neck. He continues to be well ahead of the game in other areas, and is shaping up quite well overall. Way to go little guy!

Yesterday we went to Grange Fair with my dad. Johnny really enjoyed all of the people, lights and sounds. We'll be headed back down today right after lunch and meeting up with his aunt Christy. It will be nice to get some more fresh air and exercise. Who knows? Maybe we'll even run into Heather, Averey and Kelsey! The girls start back here with us on Monday morning, and I'm very excited to have them around. The little ones can play together and Averey can help me out.

For now I think I will spend some time playing on the floor with Johnny and having fun with him in the Johnny Jump Up!

Tripping at the Lake

Johnny made the 5 hour drive to the lake without crying even one single time. He slept a good bit of the way and sang to the radio for the rest of it! The week was wonderful and very relaxing. Bancroft finally got to meet his little Johnny, and between the sun, sand and water, we were all enjoying some time off.

Mom's wedding went off without a hitch, other than the minor setback of a park no-alcohol rule they had somehow missed. Everyone dumped their beers and wine into red cups and the cop patrolling the place was none the wiser. Afterward everyone went back to the cabins and let loose.

Things were wonderful for the rest of the week until the evening we decided to take Johnny down to the water for his first dip. I managed to miss a few stairs of the back deck and bite the dust, baby in hand. Johnny practically bounced, but I was freaking out and as worried as can be. Karen called in a friend who is a nurse to check him over. Meanwhile, we realized I had really done a number on my ankle. In falling, I had twisted myself to try and protect the little guy as much as possible and it resulted in a sprain. Needless to say, Johnny will have to wait until next year for his first swim in the "big pond" as his cousins like to call it.

It seemed the excitement had died down until the next afternoon when Johnny Bancroft just about drowned in a rip tide. The coast guard, fire company, cops, EMS and everyone showed up to help. We were rather impressed with their response time, and in the end Johnny was ruled okay. Can my boys please stop giving me heart attacks? I thought that part of life wasn't supposed to start when I'm still this young!

The drive home was rather crazy in 4 hours of intense rain and storm, but Johnny slept the whole way. We couldn't have asked for the times with him in the car to have gone any better. I love my baby boy!

Now we're home and big Johnny is staying with us for a few weeks. It is nice having him around and is so cool to see him interacting with the little one. Having them together under one roof is quite the adventure. I am not looking forward to the army stealing my brother again so soon, but for now I will have to deal with the little time we have left. Hey, who knows? He might just teach the baby a thing or two.

Growing

Lake Week is coming up soon. We leave Friday at noon with GG to go to Lorain, OH. Stephen will follow a few hours later once he is done with his Cinematic Art class final.

This year we can stay the entire week. We have a cabin and will be sharing it with Johnny Bancroft. I am excited about the sand and sun, as well as taking little Johnny for his first dip in the lake. We will be bringing his sun tent, and he will be spending a good bit of time in it. I think today I'll begin packing some of the things that won't be needed tomorrow or Friday morning so that we are closer to being ready. Clothes, Johnny's toys, packs of diapers and wipes, etc. I have to find the kid something to wear for my mom's wedding. I'm sure there is something in the closet that has been handed down that is appropriate. It might not actually fit him yet, but we'll let him swim in it and look cute anyway.

Two days ago Johnny had his 4-month checkup with Dr. Prince and was weighed at 13lbs 14oz, less than 1lb up from a month ago. He measured 26 1/2 inches, which is up by 2in, and registers in the 25th percentile for weight, 95th for height. We have one tall skinny baby on our hands! Can you imagine growing at least 2in every month? Steve says he remembers one summer growing 4in in 3 months. Crazy!

Johnny has a meeting with a therapist from Strawberry Fields this afternoon. It should be interesting, and I'm going to learn about some games I can play with the little guy that will specifically target growth in the areas he is a bit behind on. All of the older generations from my own keep saying that they don't understand how anyone could tell if something was off with him and that he looks perfectly good to them. Personally, I believe that the things people are aware of today that weren't something we would know to look for when I was a kid are very helpful, and I'd like to at least have knowledge of any possibilities of issues to look for as he grows. I believe that if there is anything wrong with him, it would be minor and only take a few changes in how we teach him and how he learns as he grows. I believe that had the awareness existed when I was a child, I could have benefited greatly from an adjusted teaching style, so I'm all for charting his growth on multiple levels and adjusting to help him learn in the way that he understands best.

As for now, we will take it one step at a time and I will spend my time playing fun games with my baby boy!

4 Months!

Today marks Johnny's 4 month "birthday". We met with reps from Early Intervention to assess Johnny's growth physically, mentally & emotionally. As I had guessed, (hence my reason for calling the meeting) he is very very advanced in some ways, and not quite keeping up in others. He qualifies for the program, and will be working with a therapist from Strawberry Fields.

Advanced:
Talking -- very much so!
Rolling
Sleeping on his side
Overnight sleep schedule
Eye contact, following items
Grip
Getting on hands & knees

Normal:
Following Sound
Smiles
Tummy time experience

Behind/Abnormal:
Arching his back
Jerky movements
Excessive movement
Excessive energy
Eating schedule/amount
Napping schedule/amount
Temper

With the help of the Strawberry Fields therapist we are hoping to catch him up or fix the third list above. Apparently the issues he is having and the advances he has made in other areas are a sign of a predisposition to ADHD like his daddy, and bipolar disorder with a possibility of aspergers like his mama. Nothing would be diagnosed for a few years, so those are the things we are to watch for. I'm glad we have the resources and foresight to be watching for these things. When I was a kid there just wasn't much awareness of such problems, so nothing was explained or discovered with me until I was a teenager. If he does have any of those issues, it will be much easier to adjust his lifestyle accordingly when starting to do so at such a young age.

Overall, I believe it was a very good meeting and I feel like we are doing a great job with him. Not that I would wish any of those problems on my child, but I truly believe that if he does have any we would be able to handle them fairly well and keep them from having much in the way of a negative impact on his life. Hooray for being informed and prepared!

Johnny's First Wedding

I love having such a well behaved baby! Today was Lisa & Tim's wedding and even though it was longer than most, (not that Steve and I expect people to be as quick about it as our 23 minute long wedding) he was wonderful! All dressed up and spiffy, Johnny made just about the cutest guest there in his blue sweater vest. He looked around, ate a bottle, and pretty much proved that we had no need to worry about his behavior as he was easier than the other kids who were mobile and running in between pews in the back.

Christy, Steve, Johnny and I set up store in the "Cry Room" above the sanctuary, but really needn't have bothered. We did enjoy the ability to run a commentary among ourselves freely without any worry of disrupting, which proved useful if for nothing more than identifying people Christy and I haven't seen since we were young. "Is that Aunt Ginny?" ~ "She hasn't aged at all!!!" Somehow we found ourselves still whispering even though we knew no one could hear us.

The reception was pretty, and though Johnny finally started to find his voice again, he did pretty well. Steve took him home after dinner so that Christy and I could hang out for a while without having to worry about the baby. Apparently he went home, ate a bottle, then cried for a while until Steve put him back in the car to come pick us up. As always, the car calmed him down. The poor kid didn't take a nap at all today! He just finally fell asleep about an hour ago, meaning he has been up for 12 hours straight.

Consensus is that we're set for the other 4 weddings we have coming up!