Happy 16 Months! - April 20

It seems like these posts come quicker and quicker each month! You continue to grow and surprise us each month with your progress and this month you have certainly shown that you are ready to shine bright!

You are completely off of the ventilator 100% now. In fact, it hasn't actually even been plugged in or hooked up for just in case moments since last Wednesday! We're having some trouble getting you adjusted to the trach collar...because you don't need it! It's causing your secretions to be way too thin and difficult for you to manage when you are asleep so we're actually working on getting authorization from the pulminologist to get rid of that too! If she approves, you will just be sleeping with an HME (Heat and Moisture Exchange - aka artificial nose - a small filter that provides humidification just by breathing) and NO MACHINES whatsoever!

You are doing FANTASTIC with weaning off of the tube feeds. You have been eating like crazy and in order to make sure your weight gain is good before next Tuesday, we've pretty much been letting you eat whenever you're hungry...and you've been letting us know! You are currently eating three meals a day (by mouth) and three to four small snacks in between (mostly the Gerber puff snacks). We introduced you to a few new foods this month and you have just devoured them! Here's what all you're eating:

• Purees: carrots, broccoli (as long as it's mixed with something), apple sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green peas, sugar snap peas, avocado, corn, bananas, oatmeal (as long as it's made with apple sauce and not water)
• Solids: teething crackers, puff snacks (particularly the cheddar cheese ones), french fries, steamed carrots, macaroni and cheese, cheese puffs (oops...), Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets
• Tried but didn't like: green beans, pancakes, grilled chicken, scrambled eggs, most breads

You are also doing super well drinking water and learning how to get it out of a cup - can't wait to see what they say next week! 

Your PT is thrilled with how well you're adjusting to the stander after such a short amount of time. The goal is to get you up to one hour a day; we started with one 10-minute session; bumped you up to two 10-minute sessions, and yesterday bumped you up to two 15-minute sessions and you're doing great! We put the tray on the stander today so you had a book and the TV going and were as happy as you could be! Your new boots are working fantastically and your scooting is getting a little more solid every day. You will be mobile before we know it! ALSO - in two weeks the representative from the company that we got your medical stroller from will be coming by to fit you for a gait trainer; they have a small one they can loan out for trial periods and they think it will fit you! SUPER excited about that!

OT is continuing to work on helping you get more use out of your hands, arms and shoulders. You are doing awesome with continuing to stretch and strengthen your arms - reaching behind you, up and out to the side, and grasping things with your fingers. We're still working on some tummy time and lifting exercises because you will need to be able to catch yourself once you start walking and you still don't like those too much.

Speech Therapy is just as excited as we are about the progress with the feeding and even more so the progress with getting the trach downsized and gone! Once the trach is gone we can actually start working on SPEAKING instead of signing. We're already doing a little bit of rewarding to get you to use your voice when you want something instead of just pointing, but you still are only vocalizing the short a sound. Your signing is above fantastic - most babies around your age know 2-5 signs and it's not until around age two that kids will start using two-word phrases (whether they are speaking or signing). So far you can sign: Daddy, Mama, eat, more, finished, please, thank you, open, bath, bye-bye, up, close and can identify your eyes, nose, teeth, tongue, ears, hair, feet and thumbs. We're working on cookie, cracker, help and sister but those are a little more involved signs. (As we continue learning signs, they are becoming more and more difficult because they involve individual fingers or being able to reach or rotate your hands that you aren't quite ready for yet). You are also asking for: more bath, more eat, sleep please, open please, bath please, up please, and more sleep on a regular basis.

You continue to amaze us all and we are so proud of you. We got some shots recently of you out in the pretty spring wildflowers and I think they pretty much sum up how expressive you have become and how amazing your personality is developing.

You will now smile when we ask you too - a super cheesy, big smile...

And you love sticking your tongue out

You've got three more teeth coming in so if the tongue isn't out, the finger is in

You love watching your feet kick - it's your favorite thing about being in the shopping carts

You have also learned that if you make funny or weird faces, someone will laugh at you :)

This is your super excited face - we usually get this one when we guess which toy or book you are pointing at correctly

You love sitting up on things and showing how big you are!

But of course we do still have these moments...