More About Matthew: occupational therapy

We saw many family members over the weekend who mentioned how they enjoyed reading Matthew's blog. I promised them some more updates since I've slacked off and haven't posted in nearly a month! Our typical week now consists of school work for Maria in the morning, therapy sessions in the afternoon, a couple nights of soccer & dance, a busy work schedule for Michael, and chores and various activities filling up our weekends. We've had doctor appointments for Matthew, both his 12 month well-check and a visit to the cardiologist. He weighted in at 18.5 lbs, and 28.5 and had a lousy reaction to his MMR vaccine 10 days after (covered in red bumps and a fever). His PFO in his heart is still there but should decrease in size, no invasive surgery necessary. We don't need to return to the heart doctor for another year. I still need to get to the lab to do Matthew's CBC and thyroid tests but it's on my list.

We have a fully loaded therapy schedule now, with PT 2x/week, speech increased to 2x/week, and OT 1x/week. OT (occupational therapy- fine motor skills) is our most recent addition and our therapist, Melissa, is awesome. All of the sessions are generally held on Tu-W-Th, allowing Monday and Friday as free days. I can breathe easily on those two days, without anyone coming to the house, and know that the house can stay messy if it's messy. Though I'm very grateful for all of the services we receive and know that they have helped Matthew significantly, it's a lot to juggle with 4 little kids, nap times, feeding times, school work, etc. Once Maria's school year is complete we have a wide open schedule with no activities, so bring on the therapy! Our annual meeting is next Monday, it's a therapy pow-wow where all 3 therapists, our service coordinator, and the county EIOD come together and write up Matthew's new IFSP.

Some of Matthew's recent accomplishments... he's creeping on all fours and pulling up to stand! This is huge, for the longest time his little legs were like Jell-O and bottomed out whenever we would stand him up. And now he's doing it all alone! He still has a fast army crawl and usually beelines for the bathroom, the floor vents, or the front storm door. We're working on cruising, or moving along standing up, now. His babbling has really picked up. Just a couple weeks ago, clear as day, he said, "Hiii Dada." He says a loud, grunting "Hiii" to everyone and waves. He's clapping often and lights up when we sing, "If You're Happy and You Know It." And tonight he did his first sign, "more." Matthew's still nursing about 4 times a day but has tried regular milk and yogurt and liked them. He still doesn't get the hang of the straw cup but does well drinking from a regular cup. He generally eats bananas and rice cereal for breakfast, crackers and a Stage 2 tub for lunch, and another Stage 2 tub for dinner along with food we're eating chopped up into small pieces. Most of the food he spits right back out, but at least he's taking part in what we're eating. The kid could live on crackers if I allowed it though.

But enough of those stats and facts... his favorite things to do is play with his siblings and watch them as they run all around him. They are so sweet to him and he just adores them.