No! Sleep! For Moses!

For nearly two weeks now, Moses has shunned his long-standing bedtime of 7:30 for one that's 3-5 hours later. Dave and I can't figure out why he's changed his bedtime since we've kept his routine the same, but we think the change might have something to do with Moses' growing mobility.

In the past month, he's quickly progressed from crawling to pulling up to cruising with assistance. Our typical day now consists solely of walking (with me holding his hands for support) : walk to the sofa; walk to the chair; walk to toy basket; walk to the chair again.

This newfangled mobility opened the door to exploring new things, and we're pretty certain the excitement of such novelties has contributed to his new night-owl behavior, and leaving him in his crib, a.k.a The Track, only affords him more time to practice walking, not sleeping. Sure Mos, that's why we put you in your crib each night, to walk.

It's a riot to watch his brain's wheels turn and see him learn such toddler-ish things, but soon, I'll need to walk to the chiropractor; I'm tempted to just resign myself to the hunchback lifestyle and take up residence in the church bell tower across the street.

The wind in his hair, er, hat.

Today Moses and I went to Wagner Park for some fresh air and playtime. He swung (such an odd word) for the first time and really enjoyed it, even at the snail's pace I pushed.





We also hung out in the shade and munched on puffed rice, but with the temperature in the mid-80s, we didn't last too long. Moses used his best non-verbal skills to tell me IT. WAS. TOO. HOT!

-Lindsey

Some Good News

Today Dave, Moses, Granpop (my Dad), and I went to Moses' appointment with the neurosurgeon. Dr. Telfeian said that Moses' case is cosmetic and if Moses were his child, he wouldn't do anything about it. We're relieved to know that he doesn't have any (or potentially have) brain damage or vision problems. However, Dr. Telfeian referred us to a specialist in Dallas for a more thorough exam (he does that for all his cranio cases) and, if necessary, to learn our options for the cosmetic surgery if we feel it's necessary. Thankfully, it really seems like Moses' ridge is less noticeable these days, and we hope that with time it won't even be visible.

On a lighter note...

This afternoon I heard Moses cooing in his room after his nap and caught him doing this.


-Lindsey

Weekend Guests

This weekend, my Mom (Gram) and sisters (Raychel and Paige) came for a visit. They got in late Saturday night, but we spent most of today together. We spent the morning watching and adoring Moses, then walked to Home Cafe for brunch (which I highly recommend).


We also made our usual trip to Barnes & Noble for some magazine reading and book browsing. B & N isn't the safe haven it used to be now that Moses is vocal and mobile, but the children's area allowed him to roam a bit without receiving disapproving looks. I also picked up a waterproof book, "What Floats" for him since he thinks books are best absorbed through the mouth. I already have the five rhyming pages memorized.


-Lindsey

Monkey Business

I had a Eureka! moment tonight. Since Mobility Moses has been bumping his head on anything and everything (read: hardwoods, bookshelves, and tables), I decided to dig into the cache of winter clothes we picked up for future-Moses during last year's end-of-season sales and get out one of the cold-weather hats (read: cranium cushions).

This hat also came with matching slippers.



-Lindsey

A Story in Pictures: Mobility

-Lindsey

Walker, Texas Danger

Here's a very short video of him using his Bumbo as a walker. He would've kept going if it weren't for the chair in his way. We're in for trouble very soon.


-Lindsey

A Week O' Fun Pictures

We've had a wonderful week here. Moses is moving about, eating well, finding his funny bone, and becoming quite the book lover.








-Lindsey

Onward and Upward

Moses has gotten really good at his army crawl so he hasn't shown any interest in traditional crawling: I think the army crawl is gentler on his knees .

Last week, Moses started pulling up on his toys and using them as quasi-walkers. He progressed to this step faster than we expected, and we're still trying to figure out to react. It's fun to watch him, but at the same time, he's always bumping his head and that's not fun for anyone. We really should break down and buy a rug; however, I can't find any I like at a reasonable price. I suppose his head is more important than our living room's aesthetics.


And, we aren't quite sure what he's attempting here.

-Lindsey

That's Amore!

Tonight, Dave fed Moses some Gerber Lasagna, which doesn't resemble lasagna so much as blended Spaghetti-O's. He really enjoyed the new food but did so without swallowing a single piece of the pasta. The pasta bits would just drift around his mouth and imitate hillbilly teeth before oozing from lips to chin to bib.


Dave and I have never laughed so hard. And because we laughed, Moses laughed.

Then we all laughed harder.





-Lindsey

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

We still haven't seen his teeth. It wasn't a big deal to me until I thought I saw them. Ever since then, I've been on the lookout. Every morning I try to get his biggest smile so I can inspect his gums, but it's all been for naught.

But there is hope!

I was looking at our copy of Moses' CT Scan and, lo and behold, I see his teeth. All of them. Now, if only they were date stamped with an ETA.

Top


Bottom

-Lindsey

Hittin' the Bottle

For months now, we've tried to get Moses to take a bottle. Although he's never been fond of them (I blame our infrequent use of them in his early months), he stopped taking them back in March after my kidney stone required he use them for two days. But with the need for Moses to attend a Parent's Day Out in the fall so I can attend on-campus classes fast approaching, I was desperate for him to use one. We tried this bottle and this one too. Nothing worked.

That is until last Saturday, July 14, 2007.

I was cleaning his room, looking for items to stow away in the garage when I spotted the Avent bottles we attempted to use when Moses was teeny tiny but ended up storing because they flowed too fast for him. Could they work? NO! Maybe?

Ready for one more attempt, I filled a small bottle with 3 parts warm water, 1 part white grape juice. Voila! He latched on immediately and drank a whole ounce. ONE OUNCE! And yesterday, 3 ounces. THREE OUNCES! Today, a whole 4 ounce bottle! A WHOLE BOTTLE! He's definitely making progress with his bottle aversion, and when he's 100% cool with juice bottles, we'll begin experimenting with breast milk ones.


My fall semester, and his first attempt at socialization, is safe. Good boy.

-Lindsey

A Pool's Paradise

Today at Wal-Mart, I picked up a baby pool for the Mos-meister. I don't know why I hadn't bought one before, but with such a hot summer, it's better late than never.
When we got home, I set up the Rainbow Baby Pool in the shade and filled it with a teensy bit of warm hose water. It felt lovely, bath time lovely.
Since we were in the privacy (and shade) of our backyard, Moses played "Nude Beach" and enjoyed some diaper-free time. It was a riot. He thought he was taking the BEST BATH EVER.

-Lindsey

Some Bad News

In April, Dave and I noticed a slight ridge forming down the center of Moses' forehead, from hairline to nose. Initially, we thought it was part of the growing process, but by 6 months, it only seemed more pronounced. I researched causes and wasn't happy with what I found so I mentioned it to his pediatrician, Dr. Gray, at his 6 month appointment. Dr. Gray said one of Moses' sutures could be closing early, and we should keep an eye on it.
Well, me and my mom-sized worry couldn't play the waiting game so two weeks later, Dr. Gray checked it out thoroughly and found that his anterior fontanel had closed significantly more since he visit two weeks before. With this news, Dr. Gray scheduled a CT Scan to check out his sutures.
On June 19th, 2007, Moses, Gran (Sally), and I went to Covenant Hospital for the scan. Moses did really well considering he hadn't been allowed to eat for the six hours prior in case sedation was needed: he slept through the whole scan without a sedative.
On Monday, July 9th, Dr. Gray's office called with the results, Craniosynostosis. Moses' Metopic Suture is completely closed. Typically, a child's sutures remain open for the first several years to accommodate brain growth. When a suture closes early, it can sometimes cause developmental delays, disfigurement, or brain damage. Sometimes the closures are only cosmetic and never cause any real damage, but other times, surgery is necessary to open the suture. We're hoping the latter isn't the case with Moses. His case seems very mild in comparison to others we've read about online. He hasn't shown any developmental delays or other symptoms to cause alarm, only the ridging.
He has his next appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Telfeian, on August 6th. Dr. Telfeian will evaluate him, and then we'll know more about our next step. Obviously, we are willing to do anything to help our little boy's wellbeing. We are optimistic about the outcome of all this, but we ask for your prayers as we continue this journey.
Craniosynostosis is most often a fluke occurrence, and it is fairly common--1 in 2,000 kids--so we feel reassured by that. It's also good that we caught it early.

Crawl-ish.

Moses hadn't shown much interest in mobility until the Journeys catalog arrived. Is it his well-known love for paper that lit his auto-mobility fire? Or does yet another member of this household have a shoe fetish? You decide.


-Lindsey

False Alarm

Well, we've tried our hardest to catch a glimpse of "THE TOOTH," but we don't see anything resembling a gnasher. I don't know what I saw yesterday, but whatever it was (a curd of spitup?) is gone. Oh well. He's still the best thing ever:


-Lindsey

TOOTH!

I'm proud to announce that Moses' first tooth, his top left, is breaking through his gum!
I was feeding him bananas when I noticed a white dot on his upper gum. At first, I thought it was a spot of missed banana, but then I realized A) pureed banana isn't exactly known for it's durability b) bananas aren't that white.
I'm trying to get a picture of it, but it's in a very difficult spot to photograph. When Dave gets home from work, we'll put our best smile-provoking skills to the test and get a shot of his pearly white.

-Lindsey

Like a sack of potatoes, a very large sack of potatoes.

Recently, I bought a few clothes for Moses at Gymboree's semi-annual sale, and, holy moly, the kid is wearing 12-18 months---at 7 months old! The clothes look enormous, but sure enough, they fit. I'm amazed and a little sad at the same time. Where did my little boy go? If I must dress this toddler that replaced him, I suppose I'll do it in style. That little orange and green number from my July 2 post is new. Plus this fantastic shirt:


He also got these roll-up cargo pants in khaki and navy blue:



Watch out world, a very dapper man is being groomed for greatness.

-Lindsey

Kingpin

Today at Target, I picked up a plastic bowling set they had in the über-fabulous dollar aisle. I could not have made a better purchase: in just the three hours we've been home, it's proved itself invaluable in terms of teaching him cause and effect. He ceaselessly swats at the erect pins and then watches them scatter and spin on our wood floor.
The only downside of such an economically-minded purchase: the bowling balls. They do not follow the accepted behavior of all things round and, instead, teach him that balls behave as boomerangs and magically return after each roll.

-Lindsey

Time with the G'Rents

Moses' Mimi and Papa (Dave's parents) came to visit this weekend, and they brought Jasmin--Dave's niece--with them. We had a fun, relaxing afternoon hanging out at home and enjoying their company.





-Lindsey