8.12.2009

Our Little Swimmer


We went to the pool today and I was so excited about how much Gradyn loves the water! I mean, we knew he liked it already because he has always liked to sit in his crab floaty and kick around in the water, or sit in his stroller and watch the other kids play. But, today we took him into the big pool and held him so he could really get kicking and use his arms and he LOVED it! He was kicking and splashing his arms like crazy and smiling and laughing the whole time! I'm so proud to have a good little swimmer! (His daddy, who hates the pool, is not as proud but I told him we might have the next Michael Phelps on our hands so maybe he will be happy when he gets to go to the Olympics some day.....)

Last weekend we went to Decatur to stay with the whole Guenther family for Paul's mom and dad's 30th anniversary and one of his aunt and uncles 30th anniversary. We stayed in cabins right on the Missouri River. It was a fun time! Very hot, but fun to see everyone and catch up.
It's also always fun to see our nephews, Luke and Isaac. Luke has started crawling now so it was cool to watch him do his little crawl around the cabin. We keep trying to tell Grady that he needs to start crawling so he's cool enough to play with Luke, but so far he doesn't seem to care. He has started to get up on his hands and feet in a bear crawl position, a little bit, but no actually crawling yet. He pivots around like crazy and can definately get places if he wants to though!

This is my last week of summer before school starts. I go back on Monday. Next week should be a very interesting week of having to get up before 9:00! I am dreading that part the most! Also, Gradyn will go back to daycare full time and will have a full week there, so it will be an adjustment for all of us. We love our daycare though and they love him! Doreen is already excited to have him back and love on him. I have been to school all 3 days this week so far to get some things done there and Gradyn has come along and been awesome. I was worried about how he would do and if I would actually be able to get anything done, but it has worked out well. He loves to sit up in his stroller and watch me move around the room doing things, or he sits in the office when I make copies and of course everyone who comes in loves to talk to him to keep him entertained! I have gotten a lot done and am thankful he has let me do it!

He was tested by the Physical Therapist on Monday to check to see if he is on track for a 6 month old. She was impressed with him and only had a few minor problems. She said they are things that aren't problems now, but that we need to stay ahead of so they don't become problems in the future. She thinks his hamstrings are tight, which is the reason we got referred to them in the first place, but she doesn't think it is a problem for him. She gave us a few suggestions on things to do with him to help him out and we will get a full report on everything after the speech therapist and occupational therapist tests him. He is sitting up pretty good now and can sit by himself for quite a few moments before he starts to lean over to the side. She showed us how to put him in the corner of a square chair to help him learn where his bottom is and move from there instead of his chest or arms. We are also supposed to help him pivot to his right when he is on his belly crawling around. He only wants to pivot to his left side and always favors leaning towards his left side when he sits up and sits in his high chair too. So, maybe that means he will be left-handed????? But, we don't want him to be over-developed on his left side so that is why we need to help him try to go to his right sometimes too.
One thing we got scolded for was having him in his Bumbo chair for too long. She said that as soon as they start to arch their backs to get out of it they are too big and it hurts them more than it helps them. So, we sadly stopped using the Bumbo since Monday. I'll keep you posted on the rest of the results of his testing and what we will do with the results once we know them. So far the overall consensus is that he is right on track for his age. Both people who have tested/observed him so far think that he is actually pretty advanced for his corrected age since he was premature. They don't think he will qualify for services based on his testing scores so they might qualify him as Developmentally Delayed in order to keep working with him and watching out for him for his first year. They can technically consider him developmentally delayed for the first year since he was born a month early.

Tomorrow night we are going to Bullfest, a PBR bullriding event here in North Platte. It will be Gradyn's first time at bullriding or any type of rodeo event. We'll see how it goes since he sometimes gets scared of loud noises or loud music! I think he will like to sit and watch all the people and the things in front of him.

Oh, and in case you were wondering he has now eaten carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash baby foods! I think his favorite so far is sweet potatoes. We might start on some green veggies this weekend. He is such a good eater! As soon as we put him in his high chair and put his bib on he is opening his mouth ready for his bite and wants to grab the spoon and help out. He is also using a sippy cup at times (even though he can't hold it very well since it's pretty wide) and can hold his bottle for a little bit. He definately reaches for his bottle and gets excited as soon as he sees it sitting on the counter. We think he's going to be quite a drama king! Gets so excited and crazy! And MAD when he's hungry! :)

Hope things are going well for everyone! Please drop us a line if you ever get a chance, we would love to hear how you are doing!

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