Baby Blue

We are having one of those days. It is opposite to one of those easy-going days when things roll on at a nice relaxed pace. And the worst this is that it is all my fault, as I can't seem to get into gear, and I seem to be making a myriad of poor decisions.

1. Woke up at 5am, couldn't get back to sleep, so got up at 5.30 and did a bit of work from home. Should have stayed in bed.
2. Sheena didn't get up until 7.30 which is late for her, but I didn't seem to get anything done around the place, and I still seem to be avoid doing anything remotely productive.

3. I took Sheena off to Mother Goose, which is a sing-song session, and that went OK, but it meant that Sheena didn't get her best nap of the day. Should have stayed at home while I had the chance.

4. Sheena has a physio session in an hour, and I am going to have to wake her up so we can get there on time. I hate doing that, especially when she missed her morning sleep. Should not have agreed to the 1pm appointment when that is usually a nap time.

Anyway, I had better start tidying up the place. Probably the main reason I can't get into gear is that 5am wake up...

Here is Sheena looking good in Baby Blue.

I want your glasses

A busy weekend for us, 3 social engagements, but all went well. Have not been getting enough sleep lately, but all 3 of us had a 2 hour nap midday today to help catch up. It helped that we took Sheena swimming so she was pretty worn out, and she had a longer sleep than usual.

Sheena loves trying to get pops glasses.

Holding her Bottle

If it wasn't for the photos I wouldn't believe it. Sheena looks like she has been doing it her whole life, I on the otherhand look completely shocked.

Our own pace.

Sheena and I LOVE our days when we have nothing on. Today is one of those days. Yippee!

Sheena can have her breakfast milk and food in a relaxed fashion. Sheena is a slow eater (like hubby, and for people that know hubby, we are talking s-l-o-w). Today, for example, she woke up at 5.30 (we've just moved out of daylight savings so she thought it was 6.30). She had her juice, which is rapidly becoming water (another Yippee!), then had a play, then had her weetbix. She then had a nap at 8am for about an hour, and when she woke up she had her breastfeed. How very civilised. Creche days it is; give her some juice and a breastfeed when she comes into our bed for a morning cuddle, then shove a few spoonfuls in, and its time to go.

Not surprisingly, Sheena sleeps really well on these days, and she is having her second solid sleep for the day. I wish my life could alternate between busy days and quiet days. I'd get bored if they were all quiet.

Here is Sheena ready for our morning walk. I am going to miss Summer, but she does wear a winter hat well.

Sheena's Big Red Car

Sheena is having a great time these days. Here she is heading out for the evening last night.

Hubby has a new game with her that they both think is great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1se1l3eAtk

Her 'observer' behaviour is a lot less noticeable as she gets stronger. Her little world is expanding, and when she is sitting now, she will pivot around so that she can reach for toys. I think the physio is preparing me for her to be a bum-shuffler. Not that we are not going to try to get her to crawl, but she is proficient in sitting, and much less-so in propping. They're saying that it is not such a big problem if she does end up bum-shuffling, but I have read that crawling is much better developmentally.

Her Great-Auntie met Sheena for the first time, and she thought Sheena didn't seem very delayed compared to other toddlers she knows. Another friend of mine said the same thing a week ago. I wonder if I over-emphasise it too much, but I think I am a bit more in-tune with baby-development because of all the EI sessions we go to. Although she is very alert and friendly, and engaged, there are a lot of subtleties that are very obvious to me. I see 6 month olds going around in their buggies at the shops holding up their heads, and looking about. Sheena will still recline back, as its harder to hold her head up in that position. I could go on and on about all the things I notice, but it doesn't really help matters. The main thing is that she is happy and healthy, and she will get there eventually.

A taste or two of trifle.

We had another party for Sheena yesterday. She had oodles of fun.

She had a taste of trifle, and she all of a sudden re-learnt how to use her spoon. Funny what a bit of cream, chocolate and and sugar will teach you. Hubby had to hide his desert, as we didn't want her up all night on a sugar-high (and he wanted a decent portion himself). Generally we're pretty strict in keeping her diet healthy, but it was her party, so a bit of trifle was on on the menu.

This week, I finally moved her off formula for her midday bottle. She is still breastfed twice a day, but its now 100% cows milk for her other milk feed. It has taken us about a month to slowly take her off formula, as her skin is fairly sensitive to rashes, and I thought it might make it more-so.

Sheena has become quite the camera-poser. She hears the camera turn on, and knows exactly who to look at, and more importantly to turn on a sweet expression.

She has associated "good girl" with being a good girl, and she claps herself. Also, I almost forgot, but she knows her name. This surprised me, because she has got so many pet-names that I thought she'd think her name was gorgeous or something.

Waving Hello

The weirdest thing about being back at work is shifting between baby time and work time. Tuesday is the most extreame. We have Sheena's EI playgroup in the morning, then I go to work at noon. Its a swap from "5 little ducks went swimming one day" to databases, analysis and meetings. This sounds ridiculous, but I am usually tired after the playgroup. There is no let-up for two straight hours. At home when I am playing with bubba, you mix it up between doing a load of washing, calling friends or other things. Therefore, it is easy to realise why Sheena always falls asleep on the 5 minute trip home from playgroup, and then she stays asleep as I move her into bed.

Here is Sheena waving hello.

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Baby Bike Riding

Sheena was very enthusiastic about her first bike ride. Hubby

was probably more so, but Sheena did scream out in excitement when they were speeding downhill. Little thrill-seeker.

Observing Sheena

Today we were meant to celebrate our wedding anniversary by going for a bike ride while Sheena was baby-sat. Unfortunately that didn't work out, as hubby was called into work for day. I can still hear his work phone going off and it is now 15 hours later. He's been working since 5am. Sheena and I still managed to have a very fun day. I cancelled the baby-sitter, and we had oodles of play time.

I have started taking Sheena to private physiotherapy sessions. Sheena had 45 minutes of solid physio to help her gross motor skills. The physio didn't take a really detailed history, which is what I was expecting, she basically went through the basics, but dealt with Sheena in the here-and-now. She read Sheena's cues well. She balanced pushing Sheena when she started to fatigue with an activity, but at the same time didn't push Sheena to the point of getting fed-up or upset. This physio also works at an EI centre, but does private consultations on other days. I am happy to have found her in basically the next suburb. Paediatric Physios are not easy to find, especially ones with a good background in kids with DS.

She certainly looked like an 'observer' in the session. The therapist would show Sheena an interactive toy to encourage Sheena to reach out. Sheena would look at it, maybe clap or definitely seem interested, but then look back at the physio to get her to make it work again. She thinks we are going to have to show Sheena how to pivot, and then how to crawl. Motor driven kids will do this, but observers are happy to watch and take it all in. We have started putting Sheena on a rug in prone, then pulling it across the floor. Same with the pivoting, we will have to physically do it for her until she realises it will make life fun. I find the lack of inclination to move frustrating. Hubby and I are active types, and we never just sit, so its really foreign to us not to want to move and seek things out. These extra physio sessions help me keep focused on it, and keep it fresh and interesting.

She has babbled 'Dada' for a long time, but she has started to match it up with hubby. Hubby is suitably impressed.

Please Play Ball!

Here is Sheena looking awfully cute in her uberbabe outfit. She was desperately looking up at hubby wanting him to play catch.

In other Sheena-news, Sheena had another hearing assessment today. This one is because she was not mature enough at the assessment she had at 11 months (that was their diplomatic way of saying that she wasn't alert enough thanks to her Pred meds). The good news is that her hearing is good. She was responsive to the sounds, and they do a wide variety of sounds that are all important for speech development. Her response was 'age appropriate' which is more lingo that therapists favour in their assessment of developmentally delayed kids. Neither of her ears are blocked at the moment, but we have to monitor that pretty closely for then next couple of years.

Otherwise, Sheena is down with a cold. She is OK, but sleeping a bit more, and coughing like a seal on and off. The fact that her ears are clear while she has a cold impressed the audiologists.

DSAV Fun Day

We went to the DS Annual Picnic. Met up with a few friends, and shared a few stories. Most people couldn't believe how much Sheena has grown recently. She has gone through a little growth spurt. Her hair is growing too, but it is a riot, and won't be tamed.

Here is Sheena in the sandpit. A nice shady spot for the red-one.

Sippee Cup

Sheena used her sippee cup for the first time. No OT involved here, she just happened to want the drinking yoghurt, so decided to go for it. This was one of her 6 month goals that we wrote up less than a month ago. There is an early lesson that we can't under-estimate this one.

Three Months On

My sister is down for a visit from interstate, and I have been trying to explain to her how I have been feeling now that Sheena is well and happy. It took me ages to work out how to articulate it. I am constantly amazed at every little smile, and I regularly say to Hubby, 'can you believe how sick she was?' It isn't post-traumatic shock, because it is a positive feeling, but I think that I went on auto-pilot while she was so poorly, and didn't fully recognise how baaaad she was. It was too desperate to fully acknowledge it. Anyway, after regularly trying to get Aunty Christy to praise Sheena, by saying, Isn't she great now, and Isn't she cute now etc etc, I eventually worked out how to explain my feelings. Extreme RELIEF. I was so terrified when she was sick, that it was that for life. Some kids don't recover from what she had. They either don't make it, or don't develop. As I said, it was literally terrifying. I know that my mum knows exactly how I feel, as she was with Sheena and I when she was at her worst. She completely agrees with me, that the feeling is relief. I wonder when this will pass, but it is only 3 months on.