9th month, 2/11 - 3/11

   Ahhhh... Another month has come and gone... Noooooo!  How can Jackson possibly be nine-months-old??  Did I fall asleep on the remote while pressing the fast forward button?  It's been another month full of reaching milestones, learning new things, and growing.  It is amazing how fast babies learn new things.  I love watching Jackson learn, practice, and succeed at all of the milestones.  How is Jackson big enough that he can now sit in the grocery cart?

 

   Jackson can officially sit unassisted!!  Yay!  After physical therapy working so hard with him and us pushing him, he finally got it!  He gets so excited when he first sits up and is so proud of himself.  He still has his moments of tipping over, but they are few and far between now.  I'm still working with him when he reaches to get a toy.

 

   Along with being able to sit unassisted, Jackson has figured out how to push himself up to sitting all by himself!!! It's interesting to watch his process. He gets himself in a side sitting position, "walks" his hands to his front and then pushes up. Every time that he gets himself to the sitting position he gets a huge smile on his face and lets out this sweet little giggle.

Pushing up to sit up  

   Jackson has been working on pushing himself up to a side sit in physical therapy. Guess what I caught him doing one day while he was suppose to me napping.  My original goal was to have him in his crib at New Year's, but because his room was always so cold, we held off.  Since I caught him trying to sit up in his bassinet, there was no going back, he had to go in his crib.  He struggled a little bit at first, but did great his first night.  It's so strange to not have him right next to me anymore, but it's also nice to not have to tip toe around in my own room.  My only complaint would be that when he used to wake up in the middle of the night I could just roll over and rub his tummy until he fell back asleep.  Now, I have to walk all the way across the house to his room.  Oh well!

 

   At Jackson's reevaluation for TEIS, I asked if he could start to receive more physical therapy.  I had to justify why I wanted him to have more, and with my justification he was granted more physical therapy!  We are so excited that he now has therapy twice per week.  We also recently found out that Jackson's PT is putting in the paperwork to get Jackson a stander!  The stander will help Jackson with bearing weight and get him ready to hopefully walk.  It is so exciting!        

   We didn't really celebrate Valentine's Day other than Matt and I wishing each other a happy Valentine's Day.  I bought Jackson a cute outfit from Target that said "Future Heartbreaker," but he decided to go through a growth spurt right before Valentine's Day, so I returned it and got him a different outfit that not only worked for Valentine's, but he'll be able to wear it again - win, win!

"Hey girl, hey!"

   Let's talk separation anxiety - holy moly is it difficult!  I can't get out of his sight for more than a few seconds, if that.  There are some days that he will start getting upset the second that it appears that I may be leaving the room.  Because of the separation anxiety, I've been wearing him more around the house and he's had more highchair time while I'm in the kitchen.  It's a good thing he's cute!  I can't believe how beautiful his eyes are.  I get lost in them everyday.

   I've been asked by several people about Jackson's braces (AFO's).  The main question is "When will he not have to wear them?"  Jackson will more than likely always have to wear some type of brace on his feet/legs for him to be able to walk.  Without the braces, Jackson would be very unsteady and could possible cause damage to his ankles and/or feet by "rolling" them or not standing on them correctly.  With the braces, they will force his ankles and feet to be aligned in the correct position for him to bear weight.  They will help prevent damage to his ankles or feet.  What we don't know is the type of braces he will need.  We won't know that until the time comes for him to start bearing weight.

   We had spina bifida clinic on February 22nd.  We didn't have any major concerns or questions, so we felt more prepared this time than the last two clinics.  First thing that had to be done was the renal ultrasound to check Jackson's kidneys and bladder and the MRI of his head to check his ventricles and Chiari malformation.  He always does great during the ultrasounds, so it was pretty easy and fairly quick.  I absolutely hate the MRI! Two minutes have never felt so long in my life.  It's so hard to watch your child scream and cry and there's absolutely nothing you can do other than rub their arm/belly in hopes to calm them down some.

   The first doctor in was Jackson's neurosurgeon that worked on his spine during the big surgery last April.  Matt and I keep a pretty good eye on Jackson's noggin' with regard to his soft spot and know the signs of hydro, so we weren't expecting any news from the neurosurgeon other than that Jackson's ventricles looked fine.  According to the doctor, he didn't see an increase in size of Jackson's ventricles.  He said the only difference in the current scan from the previous one would be possibly a slight rounding, but nothing that could have been measured.  Yay! He checked out Jackson's scar and everything with it looked fine.

   Physical therapy and occupational therapy were extremely pleased with Jackson's development.  With the exception of bearing weight, Jackson has met every milestone on time or close to on time!  Jackson still has a slight tilt when he's sitting up... There is a muscle on the left side of his neck that no matter how many times it is stretched, it doesn't want to loosen up.  We were given some suggestions to try and get that muscle loose which included using an exercise ball to stretch the entire left side of his body.  We were also given some suggestions to add to his physical therapy workout to try to push him more.  I decided to go ahead and make Jackson some sensory bags to play with while sitting in his highchair.  So far, he really likes them.  My plan is to make him a sensory board... Eventually!  :)

 
     

   Urology checked the ultrasound of his kidneys and bladder and were very happy with both.  The doctor explained that both kidneys and his bladder look great and she is very pleased.  We will have another urodynamic test done in a few months to make sure that he is voiding completely, but so far, it appears that he is.  

   Nutrition asked us about how Jackson was doing with solids, what kind he had tried, if he has had any reactions, and how much milk he was still getting in a day.  According to his chart, he is well proportioned as far as weight and height go.  He is gaining weight at a great rate and she didn't have any concerns.  So far Jackson hasn't really liked pears, peaches, or butternut squash.  I love that he is enjoying so many solids.  He did have a slight reaction to apples so I'll test them again at a later date.  I have introduced him to eggs and we are working on grabbing them with just his pointer finger and thumb.  Right now he is grabbing with is entire fist and then can't really get it into his mouth.  It's going to take some more practice, but I know that he'll get it soon.

   Since we're on the topic of nutrition, this month we have trialed strawberries and spinach.  I bought some frozen strawberries and spinach, pureed them and then froze them in 1oz cubes.  Jackson wasn't sure about either one at first...  The strawberries were pretty tart, but he decided that he really liked them.  He likes them so much that he gets upset when they are all gone.  Spinach on the other hand, he doesn't seem to be a big fan...yet.  I'm hoping that with continuing to get him to try it, he will eventually be ok with it.  Time will tell...

     

   The doctors from orthopedics were the last that we saw and we did have a question/concern for them.  Jackson's legs turn inward.  We notice it more when he doesn't have his AFO's.  The doctor explained that he has tibial torsion.  Tibial torsion is an inward twisting of the shin bones. Tibial torsion causes the feet to turn inward, or have what is also known as a "pigeon-toed" appearance.  He went on to explain that in most cases the tibial torsion fixes itself once the child starts to bear weight. If Jackson's does not after he starts bearing weight and walking, we may be looking at a surgery to correct it.  However, that is down the road and we aren't going to worry about it right now.  We are going to keep an eye on it and try to work on it during PT.

   I've posted a few times about the fur babies and have always said that Chevelle wanted nothing to do with Jackson. Well, take a guess who has finally come around and is actually letting Jackson pet him! Yay! We have already started the "be sweet" because Jackson tries to pull the cat close and we all know that cats can be real jerks.  Aubie would rather watch from a distance...while knocking over a basket of his CLEAN clothes and making it her newest hiding spot! :) 

   Jackson has some chunky legs. So chunky in fact that he ends up with a fat roll on top of his braces.  Imagine a muffin top, but with legs.  We got Jackson's AFO's in November and he's been steadily gaining weight which means that he legs are getting more chunky. Matt and I have been recently talking about when Jackson would need a new pair of braces. I was given a list of signs to look for and so far haven't really seen any of them. 

   One day before PT got to the house, I took Jackson's braces off to let his feet air out.  I noticed that Jackson's right lower leg and foot were turning purple while he was sitting up. I showed the PT and she immediately started doing several tests to see if his hip was possibly dislocated. From all that she did, she didn't think that was the case. However, she had no idea what was going on or what would be causing his lower leg and foot to turn purple while sitting up.  When she laid him back down, his leg would go back to normal color with just a little redness.  I made an appointment with orthopedics to have Jackson checked out.  He was sent for an x-ray and thankfully everything turned out to be fine as far as bones go.  As of right now we still don't have an answer as to what is going on, but I will be bringing it up at Jackson's 9 month appointment on 3/16.  With the guidance of the PT, I am doing more time out of the braces and keeping Jackson on a time limit of how long he can sit up.  I am also massaging his leg to get the blood flowing again.  I posted this picture to the spina bifida groups and was immediately relieved to be told that it is very common.  Good to hear, but still very frustrating.  

   Jackson has had the signs of teething for several months.  In fact, it's gotten to the point where I was starting to question whether or not I knew the signs of teething or if I was just making it up.  However, he has become more of a drool monster, chewing on EVERYTHING, and quite the stinker attitude wise.  So, I feel pretty confident that he should be getting a tooth or teeth soon.  I tried to put baby Orajel on his gums, but he wanted nothing to do with it.  I ended up just giving him a breastmilk pop and he was happy... Well, until it melted, then he had a meltdown.   

   I really do try to be organized, but it is hard and I admit that I'm a stacker.  However, I did organize Jackson's toys into two bins, soft toys and hard toys.  When Jackson is on the floor playing, I tip both bins over and he's to the point of reaching in and pulling out what he wants to play with. Now, if only he would learn to put them back. 

   Well, I guess that's it!  I look forward to the next month and watching Jackson grown and learn more and more.  

Crystal 

  

  

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