I should never use the word “Terrible” in a sentence connected to my child. Realize I say this in jest with a grin on my face. Oh my can he get in a heap of trouble though – thus the “terrible” description (but of course he isn’t really \ud83d\ude42 ).<\/p>\n
Before outlining his misdeeds of late, I have some fabulous and astounding news! <\/p>\n
Here are Ty’s new stats:<\/p>\n
Ty is 14 months corrected and 18 months actual. He weighs 25 pounds and is 34 inches long.<\/strong><\/p>\n For his ACTUAL age:<\/p>\n Length – 92%<\/strong> percentile For his CORRECTED age:<\/p>\n Length – OVER 100%<\/strong> percentile Is that incredible? For children that were born at the time he was supposed to have been born, there is NO percentage of children taller than Ty and he is heavier than more than half!!! Under the circumstances of a MICRO preemie, I find this completely astounding!!! Who but God????<\/p>\n The Mommy Dependant Stage<\/strong><\/p>\n I am pleased to announce though that Ty needs his mamma. Just like Tanner, he is going through more of a mommy attachment at the 18 month stage. He isn’t crying when anyone else holds him but he does want mom in the same room and he starts looking for me in a hurry if I disappear. The other day I let him sleep in his playpen while I was napping in my bedroom. When he woke, he was alone in the room. Scary day! He started screaming like the house was on fire. I ran in there to see what the fuss was and realized he was just scared because he didn’t know where mom was. When I picked him up he started kissing me and wouldn’t quit. It was one of the most adorable moments ever. I loved every minute of that mini reunion.<\/p>\n Eyes<\/strong><\/p>\n Part I – Winking<\/p>\n Ty has the most adorable wink. He squints both his eyes at you and scrunches up his nose. There are these little expressions that get forever captured in a mom’s heart. This is one of them.<\/p>\n Part II – Body Parts<\/p>\n Ty is learning what and where his eyes are. He has correctly identified his eyes by pointing about 5 times now.<\/p>\n Part III – Esotropia<\/p>\n I am having trouble believing Ty’s strabismis is pseudo. (Explained all this in an earlier posting). He still looks quite crossed to me – especially when he looks closely at something.<\/p>\n Therapies<\/strong><\/p>\n Physical Therapy is going okay but Ty seems to be in a bit of conflict with his PT. She tries to get him to concentrate on one item and he doesn’t like being corralled. They end up frustrating each other. Last week Ty tried to bite her. Yikes! I am getting ready to schedule is OT eval because it is more and more apparent to me that he needs some OT assistance. His PT described it well. She said he doesn’t have the maturity to grade his motion. In other words, every movement he makes is with the same intensity (which is strong, quick and deliberate). He is highly accurate with these deliberate movements but also painful. He can’t be “soft” for anything. He swipes and scratches and is quite painful if you interrupt his movements. Sadly, I don’t think he can control this…thus the need for OT. Ty’s GI and Ped still want him in ST as well though I am hesitant with that because….<\/p>\n Eating<\/strong><\/p>\n Ty is doing fabulous (comparatively) with eating! He ate a whole hot dog (CUT INTO 1\/8ths and non round pieces LOL) and slice of cheese for lunch today. I have to cut everything up very tiny because he still chokes like crazy but I found hardly a trace of food in his lap or on the floor today and that is a huge milestone for Ty. In the last two weeks he has begun to eat more solids every day. I still ask other people NOT to feed him though because he has to eat tiny bits. The chiropractor this week (mine) was about to feed him animal crackers before I quickly intervened. People assume an 18 month old would be capable…wrong. That is one frustrating thing about Ty’s prematurity. Because he is so big and is doing so well, people now assume two things incorrectly. 1. Preemies are just tiny babies that need longer to catch up. 2. Ty is totally fine and is suffering little to no effects from his prematurity. I understand how a casual observer would arrive at these conclusions but they are not accurate. When their assumptions lead to actions on their part (as in feeding Ty), it is very frustrating to me. People look at me like I am a nut when I am protective of him having no idea what lies beneath the surface. Example – I tried to give him a bottle with watered down gatorade last week and he choked four times. He still can’t manage thin liquid. He aspirated a sip of my coke into his lungs this week as well. That choking incident was a real doozy too. (*Note due to the current controversy – let me just add a footnote. 1. Ty is not on a regular diet of coke and very rarely gets even a taste. His SIP of my coke was an exception. 2. Ty chokes on thin liquid period – the coke point was irrelevant to the choking issue. 3. Ty gets little to no thin liquid in any average week. When he does get minimal amounts, he is closely supervised by mama.) <\/em> While on the eating subject, I should also mention that I have caught Ty snacking on sunscreen, soap, AND Purell this week! Those handy little containers that snap on to the diaper bag worked well for me until Ty discovered what easy access he often has to the diaper bag and the hanging accessories thereof. Aaaghhh! My question is, who would eat these things twice? Yet he does every chance he gets.<\/p>\n Development<\/strong><\/p>\n While we are on this subject, I am excited to report though that Ty learned to walk with his hands being held on July 4rth weekend! This is another big milestone achieved. David was walking Ty around Daniel’s house and I was astounded. I asked him how he managed it and he told me he pulled Ty forward so that he would have to take steps to keep balanced. It worked. He won’t do it much because he is smart enough to know that when I am holding his hands and walking with him, I have control over our destination whereas when he crawls, he reigns supreme. I never question the kids intelligence \ud83d\ude42 . He did walk with the walker Sweetie bought him (as seen in the video) but only at Sweeties house on the carpet. At home he won’t do it because it gets away from him too quickly on our wood laminate floor. He is trying to take a step between the coffee table and the couch though and has managed successfully several times. My goal has been September for unassisted walking. Still hoping…<\/p>\n Ty’s Interests<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. My books – he likes to eat them. 2. The TV – he likes to turn it on and off – this is against the house rules making it even more enticing apparently. 3. The DVD cabinet. 4. The bathroom – he has discovered the toilet. How do you lock a toilet for a baby when you have a 4 year old that waits to the last minute to run for the potty? If I put a lock on the toilet won’t I create catastrophic issues for Tanner? \ud83d\ude42 5. The playroom – generally not picked up with an assortment of toys on the floor not baby approved. 6. Any open container on any surface and darn it – he can now reach on top of the cutout wall behind my sofa – no where to protect my sodas. 7. Tanner’s light saber. It has a button to turn it on and off and one to change the saber light from blue to red. This is Ty’s new favorite toy and he knows how to operate both buttons. Problem – Tanner doesn’t like to share it. 8. The ONE thing though that captures Ty’s attention for the absolute longest is….drumroll….home videos of TY! \ud83d\ude42 LOL. I put the 5 minute birthday video on DVD and Ty will scream at me to play it again as soon as it finishes. He LOVES to watch home movies!!!! Good thing his mommy loves to make them! Somebody appreciates my hard work LOL!<\/p>\n Mom’s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n This is going to sound like a complaint but really it is just a comment in regards to the things we take for granted. Eighteen months ago I was certain that God had called me to raise a child with severe special needs when Ty was born 15 weeks prematurely. Today I question this. His long term needs may be less severe than I first thought (praise God). Still though, I am experiencing the teeniest tiniest forms of heartache that parents of special needs children are faced with. Like watching Ty crawl while his peers run….watching him struggle to eat the tiniest bits of food when peers are handed full crackers…little things in perspective but they are teaching me to be compassionate to the circumstances of others. This weeks event that made me dwell on these comparisons was rooted in my physical pain. For weeks I have been getting terrible headaches and neck aches. I realized this weekend that from the top of my neck to the center of my back – straight down the spine is numb. I finally decided to visit the chiropractor. She kept saying “WOW! You are REALLY out!”. Knew that. Guess what else I KNEW? The cause. Most mommies are not carrying 25 pound children around all the time. 25 pound kids walk. Hurt my heart for other mom’s this week. I believe this is temporary for me. I believe Ty is around the corner from walking. For all those mothers though who are continually lifting and carrying older children who cannot support their own weight…my heart hurts for you and I honor your love and commitment to your precious children. It is hard. Physically it is hard. Emotionally it is hard. And I only understand the tiniest fraction of it.<\/p>\n Having said that though, I am privileged to wear the battle scars of strain. Ty is a marvel and I would carry him all my life. I point this out only because it came to mind this week as I questioned my neck and back issues – I do not intend to complain. I am blessed beyond belief and every price that I have been asked to pay has been utterly small and inconsequential to the incredible miracle of this gift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I should never use the word “Terrible” in a sentence connected to my child. Realize I say this in jest with a grin on my face. Oh my can he get in a heap of trouble though – thus the “terrible” description (but of course he isn’t really \ud83d\ude42 ). Before outlining his misdeeds of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mamas-diaries"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimanddoni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWeight – 40th percentile<\/p>\n
\nWeight – 65% percentile<\/p>\n