8th month, 1/11 - 2/11

   What an amazing month we have had!  Jackson has learned so many new things in such a short amount of time.  He of course is getting bigger and stronger each day and his personality is by far the best.  Jackson is such a happy baby and for that we are thankful.  Anytime that he's upset, there is definitely a reason.  We just have to figure out what the reason is.  Sometimes it takes us longer than others and anxiety levels raise, but eventually we figure it out, fix the problem, and Jackson goes back to his normal happy self.  

   We have reached the point of Jackson being outside of the womb longer than he was inside.  I must admit that it was a bittersweet day.  I do miss being pregnant, I wish that I could have kept him baking longer, I really, really wish that I could go back in time and tell myself to enjoy the pregnancy instead of being worried about everything, but look at our amazing little boy.  Every fear, worry, tear, etc. was so worth it!  Ok, enough of that! :)

   
   He is on a roll with rolling... See what I did there?  Get it?  On a roll with rolling... Hahaha!  Anyway, he was getting pretty good at rolling tummy to back last month, so I started pushing him more on rolling back to tummy.  I'm sure you can imagine how much he enjoyed that. :)

   He officially rolled back to tummy on his own without me helping when the educational therapist was here for her monthly visit.  It was amazing!  Yes I cried and yes I made him do it again (and again).  He will now roll back to tummy to get to a toy, but will roll back over pretty quickly.  The kiddo just dislikes tummy time.  However, we can now officially say that he has mastered the skill of rolling!!!

   Physical therapy is still working on sitting up and has started to work on moving his legs while on his tummy in preparation for him to start crawling.  She was pretty impressed that he started bringing his knees up while on his tummy all ready.  He still pivots, fairly quickly, on his floor mat to get whatever toy it is that he wants to play with.

   We're still working on sitting up unassisted.  He does very well for a little bit of time, but then he either starts leaning to one side or wobbles and tips over.   We have a few tall toys for him to play with.  They seem to help with him being able to hold on and sit up.  I know that it's only a matter of time for him to sit up by myself.  He is so determined and loves to sit up!

 

   He has figured out how to grab his paci and is able to put it in his mouth and take it out.  It's become kind of a game to him.  He has never been a big paci fan, but he is liking it right now because he is teething.  He bites on it so hard and then takes it out so quickly that it makes a "pop" noise which he finds hilarious.

"This is MY paci mom... Don't even think about it!"

   Speaking of teething, I made some breastmilk pops for him to hopefully help with his sore gums.  He LOVES them!  They are super duper messy, but they seem to help, so I'm ok with the mess.  An awesome friend of ours (Hi Tiffany!) got us a chewbead necklace which he really likes as well.  When all else fails, he still loves to bite on my fingers.  Even though he has all the signs of teething, he still doesn't have any teeth... At least I don't think so.  He will not let me look into his mouth.  Every time that I try, he sticks his tongue out - Stinker!

 

   He found his ears and likes to pull on them, rub them, and just hold his hands over them.  At first I was worried that he may have been getting an earache, but since he does it randomly, pretty much all day, and doesn't have any other symptoms, I've come to the conclusion that he's just exploring.

   We have trialed blueberries, yogurt, and green beans this month.  I made all of them with the exception of the yogurt.  Cost me about $4 and 20 minutes of my time.  The color difference between homemade green beans and store bought is crazy! Jackson wanted nothing to do with the store bought green beans, but he ate all of the ones that I pureed.  Once I knew that he was OK with the blueberries and yogurt by themselves I started mixing them together and he seemed to enjoy them even more.  Blueberry yogurt has become his regular breakfast.

 

 

   Jackson has become very good at holding his bottle.  He doesn't need my help anymore with it... Insert crying sounds.  I was so excited at first because we are also working on using a sippy.  He isn't real fond of the sippy right now and likes to bite it instead of drink from it.  One day at time!

 

 

   I am still reading to him daily.  He has become more interested in the books, even if the interest is just to put them in his mouth. :)  I am also still slowly teaching him some signs.  We've been working on more, all done, milk, eat, mom, and dad.  Sometimes I feel so silly doing the signs, but I know that one day it will just click and he'll start using them to communicate with us.  He has also added a few new "words" to his vocabulary.  He still says ahh boo, but now he also says ga, ba, and ge.  I am determined for his first word to be momma, so we shall see. :)

Our Imagination Library book for this month

    Jackson has just started to wake up again in the middle of the night.   Just when we were in a good routine.   Pretty sure it's just a phase, but it is definitely taking a toll on losing some sleep again.  He is still good at his power naps.  His internal clock is still great at waking him up right at 30 minutes.   Every once in a while he'll sleep for an hour, but those times aren't very common.  He has a new favorite position to sit in while in the rock n play - big and tall and looking back at me.  I feel like he's checking to make sure that I haven't gone anywhere.  We are kind of going through separation anxiety.  It's hard on him and it's super hard on me.  Thank goodness for babywearing!

 

   We had our first big snow of the season.  We got around 4 inches and it was absolutely beautiful.  I love snow, I always have.  We bundled Jackson up and took him outside to enjoy the snow.  He wasn't really sure about it at first, but then he stuck his hand in it and immediately stuck it in his mouth.  Can't wait for when he's big enough to actually play in it.

   Aubie and Chevelle have started to come around more and more.  Every time that Jackson is on the floor playing, both of them will go up to him, sniff him, and then walk away.  Neither one of them are to fond of Jackson toughing them yet.  Chevelle likes to sit on the table while Jackson is eating, especially if he is eating yogurt.  Before Jackson came along Aubie and I had snuggle time everyday.  She would always sit on my lap and fall asleep.  Since Jackson came along, she has been fighting to get her snuggles in.  

Look at him looking at her.  She was determined to stay.

5 minutes after Aubie laid down, Jackson wanted up

   Well, I think that is pretty much it!  It has been an exciting month and I look forward to the months to come and watching him continue to grow, become stronger, and learn new things.  Our next clinic is on February 22nd, so we're getting ready for that.  We are excited about it, but I think we will always be somewhat nervous.  Hopefully all will go well and we will be able to continue on the path that we're currently on.

Crystal

7th month, 12/11 - 1/11

    First and foremost, Matt, Jackson, and I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas/holiday and that your new year is off to a great start.  We had three Christmas celebrations with the first one taking place at our house Christmas Eve morning with Matt's dad's side of the family.  The tradition is that PaPa cooks breakfast for all of us so he came over bright and early. Christmas Eve afternoon my parents arrived from Arkansas. We celebrated Christmas on Christmas morning and then we had an extended family Christmas with Matt's mom, step-dad, sister, and my parents. Overall it was a wonderful Christmas spent with family.

Jackson with his cousin, Abby

   Jackson was spoiled rotten of course.  He was pretty interested in all of his toys and even helped open a couple of them. However, once he got a chunk of wrapping paper, he immediately put it in his mouth.  We have definitely reached the point of everything that he gets his hands on goes directly in his mouth to try it out.  You can definitely tell that we have a little one in the house now.  His toys have taken over the living room.  The poor fur babies have been relocated to the dinning room (unused right now) where we put their sky scrapper so that we could put the tree up.  The sky scrapper hasn't been put back in its original spot yet, but I don't think they care anymore especially since they like playing in Jackson's car and getting into his toy crate.  In other news, my husband was right (did I really just admit that?) and the tree didn't last long since they decided to continually try to climb it and bite the cord.  I really hated that Jackson ended up not having a tree, but there's always next year, I hope!

 

   I decided to make ornaments with Jackson to have a keepsake of how small his hands and feet were for his 1st Christmas.  I used a pretty simple recipe for salt dough that I've used in the past with my kiddos at school.  I tried adding cinnamon to it, but it made the dough too dark and his hand and footprints didn't show up enough for my liking.  He did a great job, but it was interesting trying to get him to lay his hand flat.  The second that his hand touched the dough he tried to close his fist for what I can only assume was to bring the dough up to his mouth.

 



 


   My parents, Jackson, and I went to Opryland to look at the lights a few days after Christmas.  We were excited to see Jackson's reaction to the lights.  I remember there being a lot more lights when we went several years ago.  Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of lights, but it didn't seem to be as big from what I remembered.  However, Jackson was very interested in the lights and opened his eyes real big when he saw a few of the big displays.  Tip for you, it's worth paying for valet parking!  To park yourself it was $15 and we paid $21 (plus tip) for someone else to park it and bring it back to us - no frustation of trying to find a spot, remember where parked, walk however far to get inside, etc. Worth every penny in my opinion!

 

   We didn't do anything for New Years Eve.  I put Jackson down at his normal bedtime, did what I needed to do before I could go to bed, and I was in bed by 11.  I'm pretty sure that even Matt fell asleep before the ball dropped.  Thus is the life with a 6 month old.  I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, except maybe some extra sleep here and there, that would be fabulous!

   At Jackson's 6 month check up he weighed in at 15lbs 12oz and measured 25 1/2 inches long. According to his growth chart he's growing like he should.  He has fat little wrists, chunky little legs, and a sweet chubby belly that Matt and I have stared to love giving belly farts on.

   Jackson's pediatrician gave us the ok for him to start solids!  While it's exciting, it's also kind of nerve racking because of three simple words: cross reactive foods.  Raise your hand if you know what cross reactive foods are.  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?  Let me explain - The day that Jackson was born he was labeled as latex precaution as are all other SB babies.  Because of the connection between SB and a latex allergy, it is recommended to avoid cross reactive foods.  A cross reactivity occurs when the proteins in one substance are like the proteins in another. As a result, the immune system sees them as the same.  The most common, or highest degree of cross reactivity are bananas, avocados, chestnuts, and kiwis.  The moderate degree of cross reactivity are apples, carrots, celery, papaya, potato, tomato, and melon.  There is also a low level of cross reactivity, but I'll let you look those up (http://latexallergyresources.org/cross-reactive-food).  The first time I saw the list of foods my immediate thought was that my kid wasn't going to be able to eat anything.  However, after talking with his doctors and other parents of SB kiddos, I've come to realize that we just need to focus on the high degree and not all of the food listed.  I've also realized that while we do have to be cautious, we also shouldn't deny Jackson any food since we don't have a definite "allergy."  For right now we are going to stay away from the high degree cross reactive foods, but we will trial them in the future.   

   First thing we started was rice cereal.  He was definitely not a fan at first.  Every little bit that went in promptly came back out with a look of "What did you just give me" and disgust.  Slowly, but surely he warmed up to the rice cereal so I started him on sweet potatoes.  He LOVES sweet potatoes!  So far we have trialed sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, apples, and peaches.  He is not a fan of green beans or peaches, but everything else he seems to like.  When he eats peas he does this little shake/twitch thing.  The only way I can describe it is like when I get a cold chill.  At first I thought that it meant that he didn't like them, but he kept grunting and reaching for more so I'm not real sure what to think.

 

   I decided to make my own food for him and did so with peas and mixed vegetables. I was amazed at the color difference between homemade vs. store bought peas.  It's so easy to make the purees and a lot cheaper!  I spent around $3 for both fresh/frozen peas and mixed vegetables and took about 20 minutes of my time to make 17 days worth of purees.

   I was shocked, amazed, and proud at how well Jackson picked up on using a spoon.  It was almost immediate that he knew what to do with it.  At just about every feeding he helps me feed him.  He'll grab onto the spoon and pull it up towards his mouth.  Every once in a while he'll miss and he'll end up with food on his nose, cheek, or even by his eyes, but he doesn't give up.  The boy likes to eat!

 

   Do you remember that neat little ball thing that we bought for Jackson to start practicing holding his bottle?  Yeah, that neat little bottle holder has become an expensive ball that Jackson likes to suck on and smoosh into all different shapes.  However, he has gotten better at holding his bottle without it so I guess that's a good thing.  I think that Jackson has found his favorite toy.  Our neighbor gave Jackson a Fisher Price lion that is really soft and small enough for his hands.  He plays with that lion all day long and loves to suck on its tail.  I've already given it a bath and it could use another one already.  I may need to buy a few more to be on the safe side.

 

   Jackson officially rolled from his tummy to his back!  It was so exciting and I was so lucky to have actually caught it on video!  I was so excited that he finally rolled that I kept making him do it over and over again.  He got so frustrated with me.  Poor kid doesn't stand a chance having a teacher for a mommy.  :)  We are still working on him sitting up unassisted.  He's getting better every day, but he is still pretty wobbly after a few seconds.  One day at a time!  He is so determined and loves to sit up, so much so that he hates when I try to get him to do tummy time.

   Jackson has started to listen and seem interested in books.  He has quite the library already and I'm always on the hunt for more books to add to his collection.  I love reading to him and hope that I'm able to pass down the love for the reading that I have.  If you have kiddos that are age 5 and under and haven't signed up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, you should!  It's a great program that sends out monthly books to those that have signed up.  The book that Jackson got for December is called Where's My Nose and it's super cute and has a "mirror" on the back page.  If you want to know more or sign up, go to https://imaginationlibrary.com/ 

   Well, I guess that's it!  It was a busy month of firsts for little man and I love watching him grow.  It's still hard to believe how fast time is moving.  I can't believe that Jackson is already 7 months old.  I am so proud of all that he has accomplished and can't wait to see what the future holds - I know that it's going to be bright!  I love Jackson's determination, spirit, and personality.  I even love his frustrated grunts that he does - as long as he stops quickly after starting. :)  

 

Crystal

 
















     

6th month, 11/11 - 12/11

   This month has been pretty busy with lots of growing, appointments, traveling for Thanksgiving, and getting ready for Christmas.  Kim will be taking Jackson's 6 month pictures  on the 18th, so I'll add it on here once I get them back.

   On the 15th, the three of us went to get Christmas pictures taken with Matt's sister.  Jackson did a great job until the last 30 minutes or so.  He got pretty cranky because he was tired and hungry.  Kim got some great pictures and our Christmas cards look great!

   Jackson finally got his AFO's (ankle, foot orthosis).  Originally I thought he was going to be getting KAFO's (knee, ankle, foot orthosis) so it was a good surprise to see the AFO's.  They are so cute and tiny.  The guy that did the fitting for them left some room in the front for Jackson's feet to grow some. The plan is for him to not need another pair too soon, so we shall see.  He seems to be very intrigued by them and keeps trying to play with them.

 

   AFO's aren't the easiest thing to get onto a baby's foot.  When we first got them I was struggling to get them on correctly.  Jackson's ankles are very tight and it's hard to get them to stretch to the neutral (90 degree) angle that the AFO's require his feet to be in.  Thankfully I'm part of several spina bifida groups on Facebook and got some great tips when I asked for help.  Now that I've had some practice, I'm feeling more comfortable with them.  However, his feet still slip a little which is very aggravating especially when they do it as soon as I think I got them on right.

   Let's talk fighting naps.  Jackson has become a pro at taking 30 minute power naps.  He has some kind of internal clock that only he can hear and without a doubt he wakes up at exactly 30 minutes. Every once in a while he'll add an extra 5 minutes, but that's it.  Any words of wisdom?  There are days that I feel like pulling my hair out because I can't accomplish anything.  Momma needs a nap too!  Then other days (most days), I love that he's awake for so long and is active.

 

   Tummy time is going so much better now that he isn't wearing the casts.  With the casts he would cry and complain the entire time that he was on his tummy.  Now, with the AFO's he easily goes to his tummy and immediately gets his head up.  He's reaching for his toys and pulls them close to him. He still hasn't rolled unassisted from back to belly, but he's getting pretty good at rolling from belly to back.  So good in fact that if he doesn't want to be on his belly, he immediately rolls back over.  I don't think I've said it in a while... Jackson is quite the stinker.  :)

    




   Jackson loves to sit up!  He is still pretty wobbly, but we're working on it.  He's able to sit up unassisted for quite some time before falling over.  He has a major lean to the right still so I'm working on getting him straight.  There are some days that he won't let me put him in any other position than up.  Thankfully we have a few different ways for him to sit up on his own.  He has his sit me up chair, using the boppy pillow to support him, and if he starts out in a certain leaning forward position he does pretty well.  Along with his chair Jackson has started to really enjoy sitting in his high chair.  I love that he likes it because I'm able to cook or put dishes away while he is sitting up and playing close to me.  It's a win-win!

 

 




   Jackson is starting to hold his bottle better.  Matt bought a handy-dandy bottle holder thing from Amazon.  It's made of silicone and fits fairly well over our bottles.  Jackson is able to get his fingers into the holes and hold on.  While he has gotten pretty good at holding the bottle taking the bottle up to his mouth is a whole other story.  Sometimes it ends up in his ear, sometimes in his nose, and sometimes on his forehead.  Haha!

 

   We have started practicing using a spoon.  It's been so much fun!  He has done a lot better than I was expecting.  I was expecting a total fail on both of our parts, but he's a champ.  We haven't started solids yet (waiting until his 6 month check up) so I've been feeding him the fat that rises to the top of his milk and he loves it!

 

   We had our 2nd spina bifida clinic on 11/23.  Jackson had to have a renal ultrasound to check his kidneys and bladder and then he had his 1st MRI.  I had an MRI done when I was pregnant with Jackson and it was rough.  He really seemed to hate the sound and moved the entire time making it take longer than normal.  It appears that he hates the MRI outside of the womb as well.  It was an interesting process to go through, but it was difficult to watch.  They swaddled him in two blankets and then put a strap over him to keep him in place.  Then they put two small pillows on top of his forehead and two on each side before putting the helmet thing over his head.  I was able to stay in there the entire time, but all I could do was rub his belly to try and calm him.  He cried and screamed the entire time.  It was heartbreaking.  Thankfully it only lasted about 5 minutes, but it definitely felt like a lot longer.

   After the ultrasound and MRI we headed over to Vanderbilt for clinic.  I felt like we were more prepared this time than our first time.  I had questions ready to go and brought everything that we would need.  I love how clinic is set up.  It's so convenient that we stay in the same room and the doctors are the ones that come and go.

   According to the urologist, Jackson's kidneys and bladder look great.  They are the size that they should be and there isn't any sign of kidney disease or damage.  She didn't have any concerns and just told us to keep doing what we're doing.

   Dr. Wellons, the neurosurgeon, came in to discuss the MRI results.  According to him, Jackson's ventricles have increased some along with his head circumference, but both are still within the limits. Prior to this clinic, Jackson was getting head ultrasounds and I know that MRIs are more accurate so I guess what his ventricles are measuring from the MRI are what they truly are in size.  When we got home I started to wonder if maybe the ultrasound measurements were off and that maybe his ventricles had actually stayed the same.  I guess we'll find out when we go to our next clinic in February.  No need to worry about it now.  :)  However, we were instructed by Dr. Wellons to continue to watch for signs of hydrocephalus.

   Physical therapy and occupational therapy were very happy with all of the "tests" that they did to check on Jackson's development.  They want us to continue working on tummy time and encouraging him to lift his head to a 90 degree angle, reach for items in front on him, and rolling.  According to them, he is right on track for his development.

 


 






   Dr. Martus, the orthopedic, came in to talk about Jackson's feet and spine.  He was pleased with everything including the AFO's.  Matt and I expressed our concerns with the AFO's in regards to his feet sweating and it seeming like they weren't fitting correctly.  He gave us some pointers on how to put the AFO's on and told us to take them off a couple of times a day to let his feet air out.  When his feet are out of the AFO's I was instructed to stretch his feet to keep them loose.  According to Dr. Martus the purpose of the AFO's right now is just to maintain the stretch/length of the foot.    

Yummy toes!

    The three of us went to IL for Thanksgiving to visit with my side of the family.  Jackson did great on the car ride like usual.  I'm glad that he seems to enjoy riding in the car.  He did really well at the get together for a while and then he had a meltdown.  There were just so many people there, it was really loud, and I think he got overwhelmed by everyone wanting to hold him.  Matt and I ended up taking him to a quiet spot and just giving him some time to relax and calm down.  I always feel so bad when he starts to cry with someone.  I would hate for someone to take it personally.

   Physical therapy is still going great!  She's working really hard with him and he seems to enjoy it.  However, there have been a few fights when she comes and he decides that he doesn't want to work that day.  Stinker! :)  I love that she's helping him and making him stronger.  I also love that I'm learning right along side her and applying what she does with him throughout the week.

 

   Jackson's personality is really starting to shine through.  He is so funny, sweet, loving, has quite the temper at times, but overall amazing!  He has figured out the pouty face and uses it pretty often.  My heart melts every time that he smiles at me.  His laugh is contagious and he loves to make mouth farts.  He's doing great with blowing raspberries and makes a huge mess with all of his slobber.  He lights up a room and "talks" to everyone he meets.  

 

   Overall, it was a great month!  I can't believe that he is 6 months old.  It honestly feels like it was just the other day that I was in the hospital on bedrest telling Jackson that he had to stay in and keep growing.  How can time be moving so quickly?  Doesn't Father Time understand that we as parents need time to slow down so we can savor each and every moment?  Matt and I are so excited for Christmas.  With him grabbing for things it should be highly entertaining.

Crystal