Grady at 9 Months

What a great month it's been. Seems Grady is doing something new about every day.

- He's learned how to go from his tummy to a sitting position
- Started pulling up on tables, etc
- Is thinking about crawling on hands and knees. He still using the commando crawl to get to where he wants to go, but just started realizing there may be an easier way of doing it.
- Babbling--whereas he says many sounds including what you could say are mamma and dadda, we don't think he knows what those mean.
- He is even sleeping better (at night). !! He's down to only 2 awakenings and once only woke up 1x. About time. :)
- Laughs ALL the time. When he sees a favorite toy, when daddy makes a funny face, when playing peek-a-boo.

Despite all these great things, he still has a few challenges that Justin and I are working through. Both are residual consequences from being a bit premie and small.

At his 9 month check up this week, the DR was a bit concerned about his weight. Now at 16lbs 2 oz, he's just not catching up like he should be and is even dropping more off the chart. So, we were instructed to pack on the calories. Feed him high-protein and high-fat foods: lots of cheese, whole milk yogurt, meats, tofu, add butter and olive oil to his meals, even use whipped cream. In 6 weeks, he'll have another weight check and DR is optimistic that with these diet additions, his weight will begin to increase again. If not, he'll send us to a nutritionist.

Secondly, his head has been flat in the back since he was very young. After many visits with the craniofacial specialist and countless discussions amongst ourselves, we have decided to proceed with Helmet Therapy. This treatment is 100% effective and Justin and I believe it will eliminate any self confidence issues it may have caused later in life. We feel we need to do everything we can do give our son the best opportunity at a happy, fulfilled life. He was scanned for the helmet this week and will receive it next Friday, December 11th. It's a 4-month treatment in which he wears the helmet for 23.5 hours a day (bath time being the exception). We're going to decorate the helmet and have fun with it--not going to be ashamed or hide behind it. From everyone we've spoken to, Grady won't notice the helmet--the hardest part will be those questions and stares from strangers. We can handle that.


We're so excited this is Grady's first Christmas. We'll be traveling to Chicago and Iowa to see my mom and dad for the holidays. Many many pictures to come next month. :)

In the meantime, enjoy these!
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=stacia.allen&target=ALBUM&id=5411834823577337617&authkey=Gv1sRgCOy6uP_7p9DccQ&feat=email

Merry Christmas!
Stacia and Justin